SOBIR1 requires the GxxxG dimerization motif in its transmembrane domain to form constitutive complexes with receptor‐like proteins

Receptor‐like proteins (RLPs), forming an important group of transmembrane receptors in plants, play roles in development and immunity. RLPs contain extracellular leucine‐rich repeats (LRRs) and, in contrast with receptor‐like kinases (RLKs), lack a cytoplasmic kinase required for the initiation of downstream signalling. Recent studies have revealed that the RLK SOBIR1/EVR (SUPPRESSOR OF BIR1‐1/EVERSHED) specifically interacts with RLPs. SOBIR1 stabilizes RLPs and is required for their function. However, the mechanism by which SOBIR1 associates with RLPs and regulates RLP function remains unknown. The Cf immune receptors of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), mediating resistance to the fungus Cladosporium fulvum, are RLPs that also interact with SOBIR1. Here, we show that both the LRR and kinase domain of SOBIR1 are dispensable for association with the RLP Cf‐4, whereas the highly conserved GxxxGxxxG motif present in the transmembrane domain of SOBIR1 is essential for its interaction with Cf‐4 and additional RLPs. Complementation assays in Nicotiana benthamiana, in which endogenous SOBIR1 levels were knocked down by virus‐induced gene silencing, showed that the LRR domain as well as the kinase activity of SOBIR1 are required for the Cf‐4/Avr4‐triggered hypersensitive response (HR). In contrast, the LRRs and kinase activity of SOBIR1 are not required for facilitation of Cf‐4 accumulation. Together, these results suggest that, in addition to being a stabilizing scaffold for RLPs, SOBIR1 is also required for the initiation of downstream signalling through its kinase domain.     

山西庞泉沟银露梅群落物种多样性的海拔格局

采用样地调查的方法, 对山西庞泉沟银露梅(Potentilla glabra)群落的结构特征、物种多样性随海拔梯度的变化以及沿海拔梯度群落的相似性进行了研究, 并通过R语言对群落α多样性指数间的相关性进行了分析。结果表明: (1) 银露梅群落各层的α多样性指数除生态优势度指数(D)沿海拔梯度的变化不明显外, 其它各指数的变化基本一致。银露梅群落在海拔 1 700-1 900 m与2 100-2 300 m区间内, 灌木层和草本层的α多样性指数均较高, 在海拔1 900-2 000 m区间则较低。另外, 银露梅群落各α多样性指数间除J₂外均呈显著正相关。(2) 随着海拔间隔的增加, 灌木层和草本层的4个β多样性指数的变化均呈上升趋势, 并且草本层随海拔间隔的增加β多样性指数整体比灌木层高。(3) 银露梅群落Jaccard相似性指数随着海拔间隔的增大逐渐减小, 而当海拔达到2 300 m以上时, 群落间的相似性升高, 群落相对稳定。     

Cis-regulatory elements used to control gene expression in plants

Plant biotechnology is a dynamically developing science, which comprises many fields of knowledge. Novel plant genetic engineering findings highly influence the improvement of industrial production. These findings mostly concern cis-regulatory elements, which are sequences controlling gene expression at all developmental stages. They comprise of promoters, enhancers, insulators and silencers, which are used to construct synthetic expression cassettes. Examples of most important cis-regulatory elements are reviewed in the present paper. Variability among core promoters content and distal promoter regions impedes evaluation of interactions between them during the artificial promoters construction. Synthetic promoters and artificial expression cassettes trigger a significant increase in gene expression level, better properties and quality of a product. Accumulating knowledge about gene promoters, cis sequences and their cooperating factors allows uniform expression systems and highly predictable results.     

Worldwide distribution of transposable element copy number in natural populations of Drosophila simulans

Abstract.— Transposable elements (TEs), which promote various kinds of mutations, constitute a large fraction of the genome. How they invade natural populations and species is therefore of fundamental importance for understanding the dynamics of genetic diversity and genome composition. On the basis of 85 samples of natural populations of Drosophila simulans , we report the distributions of the genome insertion site numbers of nine TEs that were chosen because they have a low average number of sites. Most populations were found to have 0–3 insertion sites, but some of them had a significantly higher number of sites for a given TE. The populations located in regions outside Africa had the highest number of sites for all elements except HMS Beagle and Coral , suggesting a recent increase in the activity of some TEs associated with the colonization patterns of Drosophila simulans . The element Tirant had a very distinctive pattern of distribution: it was identified mainly in populations from East Africa and some islands in the Indian Ocean, and its insertion site number was low in all these populations. The data suggest that the genome of the entire species of Drosophila simulans may be being invaded by TEs from populations in which they are present in high copy number.     

金黄色葡萄球菌基因表达的DNA扣除法

[目的]金黄色葡萄球菌作为一种分布广泛的致病微生物和研究革兰氏阳性菌遗传背景的模式菌株,利用real-time RT PCR对相关毒素及调控基因进行表达定量分析,在生物、医学、食品检测等领域具有较大研究价值.[方法]对制备好的反转录(RT,含有cDNA和DNA)和非反转录(RTˉ,仅含DNA)样品进行Real-time PCR检测,根据经典(1 E)ˉ△△Ct相对定量算法并结合PCR效率公式建立一种基因表达相对定量分析的DNA扣除法,将得到的Ct值转换为各样品含量,从RT样品中扣除RTˉ样品的量,无需DNaseⅠ酶解处理就可以去除DNA的影响,RTˉ样品的检测结果还可同时作为稳定的DNA内参.[结果]采用以上方法分析金黄色葡萄球菌肠毒素A基因(sea)、16S rRNA和RNA Ⅲ的表达情况,在含有葡萄糖的NB培养基中sea的相对转录水平随着葡萄糖浓度的增大而升高,RNAⅢ的相对转录水平随葡萄糖浓度的变化而产生小幅度的波动,16S rRNA在菌体生长初期时的表达量较为稳定;与绝对定量法比较,结果差异较小(均小于15%),且差异不显著(p＞0.05).[结论]这种基于DNA扣除法的Real-time RT PCR相对定量方法可以有效的对金黄色葡萄球菌的基因表达进行分析.     

实验性X综合征大鼠模型的建立

目的　建立一种典型的X综合症动物模型。方法　雄性SD大鼠施行两肾一夹术后普通饲料喂养 4周 ,诱发肾性高血压 ,继以高果糖饲料喂养 4周 ,诱导建立X综合症模型。结果　术后 4周 ,大鼠仅出现收缩压升高 ,血糖、血脂未见明显改变。高果糖饲料喂养 4周后 ,大鼠出现高血糖、高胰岛素血症、胰岛素抵抗、高血压和高脂血症。结论　肾性高血压形成后高果糖饮食 1个月 ,可诱导SD大鼠出现典型的X综合症 ,为研究胰岛素抵抗及其伴随的心血管疾病提供了一种理想的动物模型。     

Pxl1p, a paxillin-like protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, may coordinate Cdc42p and Rho1p functions during polarized growth

Rho-family GTPases Cdc42p and Rho1p play critical roles in the budding process of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, it is not clear how the functions of these GTPases are coordinated temporally and spatially during this process. Based on its ability to suppress cdc42-Ts mutants when overexpressed, a novel gene PXL1 was identified. Pxl1p resembles mammalian paxillin, which is involved in integrating various signaling events at focal adhesion. Both proteins share amino acid sequence homology and structural organization. When expressed in yeast, chicken paxillin localizes to the sites of polarized growth as Pxl1p does. In addition, the LIM domains in both proteins are the primary determinant for targeting the proteins to the cortical sites in their native cells. These data strongly suggest that Pxl1p is the "ancient paxillin" in yeast. Deletion of PXL1 does not produce any obvious phenotype. However, Pxl1p directly binds to Rho1p-GDP in vitro, and inhibits the growth of rho1-2 and rho1-3 mutants in a dosage-dependent manner. The opposite effects of overexpressed Pxl1p on cdc42 and rho1 mutants suggest that the functions of Cdc42p and Rho1p may be coordinately regulated during budding and that Pxl1p may be involved in this coordination.     

Loss of plasmids of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato during prolonged in vitro cultivation

In the present study we analyzed stability of plasmid content in 34 Borrelia strains of three different species (13 Borrelia afzelii, 10 Borrelia garinii and 11 Borrelia burgodorferi sensu stricto) using pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). During long-term in vitro cultivation consisting of 50 passages, plasmid loss was established in 46% of B. afzelii, 40% of B. garinii and 36% of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto strains. Loss of plasmids occurred as early as between the 5th and 10th passage, affected only plasmids in the range 9-41 kb but not plasmids in the range 50-68 kb and manifested with the loss of one to up to three plasmids.     

Endogenous Hydrogen Sulfide is Involved in Asymmetric Dimethylarginine-induced Protection Against Neurotoxicity of 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-pyridinium Ion

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, is profoundly protective against 1-methy-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP⁺)-induced neurotoxicity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction contributes to the neurotoxicity of MPP⁺; while hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a pivotal endogenous antioxidant. This study is to assess the potential role of endogenous H₂S in the neuroprotection of ADMA against MPP⁺-induced toxicity in PC12 cells. We showed that ADMA prevented MPP⁺-induced inhibition of endogenous H₂S generation through inhibiting the down-regulation of cystathionine-β-synthetase (CBS, the major enzyme responsible for endogenous H₂S generation in PC12 cells) expression and activity elicited by MPP⁺. ADMA obviously attenuated MPP⁺-triggered accumulation of intracellular ROS, dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), release of cytochrome c (Cyt-c), and downregulation of Bcl-2 protein expression in PC12 cells. Inhibition of CBS activity by amino-oxyacetate and CBS silencing with a short hairpin RNA vector targeting rat CBS gene reversed the protective action of ADMA against MPP⁺-caused cytotoxicity, ROS overproduction, and MMP loss in PC12 cells. These results indicate that the protection of ADMA against MPP⁺-mediated neurotoxicity involves the melioration of MPP⁺-induced inhibition of endogenous H₂S generation. Our findings suggest that modulation of H₂S production provide new therapeutic targets for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease, such as Parkinson’s disease.     

Knowledge-based virtual screening of HLA-A*0201-restricted CD8+ T-cell epitope peptides from herpes simplex virus genome

A novel knowledge-based method is developed to virtually screen potential HLA-A?0201 binders from large-scale peptide candidates. This method utilizes the information from both the crystal structures and experimental affinities of various peptides bound with HLA-A*0201 to construct a single-position mutation free energy profile for accurately characterizing HLA-A*0201-peptide interaction and for effectively predicting the binding affinities of peptides to HLA-A*0201. We employ this method to analyze physicochemical properties and structural implication underlying the specific recognition and association between the HLA-A*0201 and a large panel of peptide segments generated from the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genome, and to evaluate the binding potencies of these peptide candidates to HLA-A*0201. As a result, 288 out of 38,020 candidates are predicted as the potential high-affinity binders of HLA-A*0201, from which three most promising peptides are picked out for further development of potent vaccines against HSV-1. In addition, we also demonstrate that this newly proposed method can successfully identify 8 known binders and 3 known nonbinders from the glycoproteins D and K of HSV-1.