Rhodobacter sphaeroides和Rhodovulum sulidophilum LHII的α和β亚基的交叉作用关系

类球红细菌(Rhodobacter sphaeroides)和嗜硫小红卵菌(Rhodovulum sulidophilum)为不同属的两种光合细菌,前者的捕光系统II由pucB、pucA基因编码产生的β亚基和α亚基组装形成,后者的捕光系统II由pucsB、pucsA基因编码产生的β亚基和α亚基组装形成.将这两组基因交叉组合,克隆到包含puc启动子的表达载体中,得到两个表达质粒即pRKpucsBpucA和pRKpucBpucsA,然后通过接合转移方法分别转入LHI、LHII和RC缺陷型菌株DD13中,两种接合转移菌株都可以形成捕光系统II并进入光合细菌膜系统.     

Adsorption of Ni2+ and Cu2+ using Bio-Mineral: Adsorption Isotherms and Mechanisms

Heavy metal pollution has become one of the most serious environmental pollution problems. This study aimed to determine the adsorption and desorption characteristics of Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺ by bio-mineral which was induced by Bacillus subtilis, and to explore the effect of pH on adsorption characteristics. The results showed that the Langmuir model gave a better fit to the experimental data than the Freundlich model, which demonstrated the adsorption was of a single-molecule layer form. The maximum adsorption capacities of the bio-mineral for Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺ were determined as 67.114 mg/g and 69.930 mg/g, respectively. The desorption rates of Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺ were very low, especially for Ni²⁺ which was almost 0. Besides, the bio-mineral maintained high adsorption capability for metals ions within a wide pH range (pH ≥ 3). It did not show any new phases after adsorption of Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺ tested by FTIR, indicating that the bio-mineral and heavy metal ions might mainly physically be adsorbed. The bio-mineral has a larger internal and external specific surface area, pore volume and colloidal properties which are beneficial for the adsorption of metals ions, but shows limits in desorption. This study provides a theoretical basis for the utilization of bio-mineral and opens a new perspective for the remediation of heavy metals pollution.     

Fasting up‐regulates ferroportin 1 expression via a Ghrelin/GHSR/MAPK signaling pathway

The significant positive correlation between ghrelin and iron and hepcidin levels in the plasma of children with iron deficiency anemia prompted us to hypothesize that ghrelin may affect iron metabolism. Here, we investigated the effects of fasting or ghrelin on the expression of hepcidin, ferroportin 1 (Fpn1), transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), ferritin light chain (Ft‐L) proteins, and ghrelin, and also hormone secretagogue receptor 1 alpha (GHSR1α) and ghrelin O‐acyltransferase (GOAT) mRNAs in the spleen and/or macrophage. We demonstrated that fasting induces a significant increase in the expression of ghrelin, GHSR1α, GOAT, and hepcidin mRNAs, as well as Ft‐L and Fpn1 but not TfR1 proteins in the spleens of mice in vivo. Similar to the effects of fasting on the spleen, ghrelin induced a significant increase in the expression of Ft‐L and Fpn1 but not TfR1 proteins in macrophages in vitro. In addition, ghrelin was found to induce a significant enhancement in phosphorylation of ERK as well as translocation of pERK from the cytosol to nuclei. Furthermore, the increased pERK and Fpn1 induced by ghrelin was demonstrated to be preventable by pre‐treatment with either GHSR1α antagonist or pERK inhibitor. Our findings support the hypothesis that fasting upregulates Fpn1 expression, probably via a ghrelin/GHSR/MAPK signaling pathway.     

Genome-wide association study of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycobacterium avium</Emphasis> subspecies <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paratuberculosis</Emphasis> infection in Chinese Holstein

Background

Paratuberculosis is a contagious, chronic and enteric disease in ruminants, which is caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection, resulting in enormous economic losses worldwide. There is currently no effective cure for MAP infection or a vaccine, it is thus important to explore the genetic variants that contribute to host susceptibility to infection by MAP, which may provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of paratuberculosis and benefit animal genetic improvement. Herein we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genomic regions and candidate genes associated with susceptibility to MAP infection in dairy cattle.

Results

Using Illumina Bovine 50?K (54,609 SNPs) and GeneSeek HD (138,893 SNPs) chips, two analytical approaches were performed, GRAMMAR-GC and ROADTRIPS in 937 Chinese Holstein cows, among which individuals genotyped by the 50?K chip were imputed to HD SNPs with Beagle software. Consequently, 15 and 11 significant SNPs (P?<?5?×?10^??5) were identified with GRAMMAR-GC and ROADTDRIPS, respectively. A total of 10 functional genes were in proximity to (i.e., within 1?Mb) these SNPs, including IL4, IL5, IL13, IRF1, MyD88, PACSIN1, DEF6, TDP2, ZAP70 and CSF2. Functional enrichment analysis showed that these genes were involved in immune related pathways, such as interleukin, T cell receptor signaling pathways and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), implying their potential associations with susceptibility to MAP infection. In addition, by examining the publicly available cattle QTLdb, a previous QTL for MAP was found to be overlapped with one of regions detected currently at 32.5?Mb on BTA23, where the TDP2 gene was anchored.

Conclusions

In conclusion, we identified 26 SNPs located on 15 chromosomes in the Chinese Holstein population using two GWAS strategies with high density SNPs. Integrated analysis of GWAS, biological functions and the reported QTL information helps to detect positional candidate genes and the identification of regions associated with susceptibility to MAP traits in dairy cattle.

     

Comparative sequence and structure analysis of eIF1A and eIF1AD

Background

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 1A (eIF1A) is universally conserved in all organisms. It has multiple functions in translation initiation, including assembly of the ribosomal pre-initiation complexes, mRNA binding, scanning, and ribosomal subunit joining. eIF1A binds directly to the small ribosomal subunit, as well as to several other translation initiation factors. The structure of an eIF1A homolog, the eIF1A domain-containing protein (eIF1AD) was recently determined but its biological functions are unknown. Since eIF1AD has a known structure, as well as a homolog, whose structure and functions have been extensively studied, it is a very attractive target for sequence and structure analysis.

Results

Structure/sequence analysis of eIF1AD found significant conservation in the surfaces corresponding to the ribosome-binding surfaces of its paralog eIF1A, including a nearly invariant surface-exposed tryptophan residue, which plays an important role in the interaction of eIF1A with the ribosome. These results indicate that eIF1AD may bind to the ribosome, similar to its paralog eIF1A, and could have roles in ribosome biogenenesis or regulation of translation. We identified conserved surfaces and sequence motifs in the folded domain as well as the C-terminal tail of eIF1AD, which are likely protein-protein interaction sites. The roles of these regions for eIF1AD function remain to be determined. We have also identified a set of trypanosomatid-specific surface determinants in eIF1A that could be a promising target for development of treatments against these parasites.

Conclusions

The results described here identify regions in eIF1A and eIF1AD that are likely to play major functional roles and are promising therapeutic targets. Our findings and hypotheses will promote new research and help elucidate the functions of eIF1AD.

     

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and its potential application

The widely distributed Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A. ferrooxidans) lives in extremely acidic conditions by fixing CO₂ and nitrogen, and by obtaining energy from Fe²⁺ oxidation with either downhill or uphill electron transfer pathway and from reduced sulfur oxidation. A. ferrooxidans exists as different genomovars and its genome size is 2.89–4.18 Mb. The chemotactic movement of A. ferrooxidans is regulated by quorum sensing. A. ferrooxidans shows weak magnetotaxis due to formation of 15–70 nm magnetite magnetosomes with surface functional groups. The room- and low-temperature magnetic features of A. ferrooxidans are different from other magnetotactic bacteria. A. ferrooxidans has potential for removing sulfur from solids and gases, metals recycling from metal-bearing ores, electric wastes and sludge, biochemical production synthesizing, and metal workpiece machining.

     

Affinity Laminated Chromatography Membrane Built‐in Electrodes for Suppressing Polysulfide Shuttling in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are promising candidates for energy storage, but suffer from capacity and cycling challenges caused by the serious shuttling effect of polysulfide (PS) ions. To address these issues, a sodium alginate (SA)‐derived affinity laminated chromatography membrane built‐in electrode is designed. This is the first attempt to utilize this type of membrane, which is widely used for the selective adsorption of proteins, in the battery field. An ordered multilayer structure throughout the electrode can easily be obtained, and the number of membrane layers can be also conveniently controlled by varying the cross‐linking time of SA. The PS shuttling effect is efficiently suppressed and the permeability of PSs is reduced by enveloping the carbon/sulfur powder in ultrathin laminated chromatography membranes. As a result, these designed electrodes deliver a superhigh initial capacity of 1492 mA h g^?1, with a capacity retention almost 20% higher than the contrast. This low‐cost and easily mass‐producible strategy inspired by affinity chromatography is expected to effectively solve the PS shuttling problem toward high‐loading and long‐lifetime Li–S batteries in practice.