NaCl胁迫对甜菊不同品种幼苗生长的影响

采用基质培养法,用含3.0、3.5、4.0、4.5和5.0 g·L-1NaCl的Knop营养液进行胁迫处理,对5个甜菊(Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni)品种幼苗的生长指标及其耐盐性进行了分析和评价.结果表明:在NaCl胁迫条件下,5个品种幼苗地上部分和地下部分的干质量、株高、根长、叶片数、叶片长度、叶片宽度以及主茎节数和分枝数等生长指标均低于对照,且随NaCl质量浓度的提高总体上呈逐渐降低的趋势,但不同品种各指标的降幅存在明显差异.NaCl胁迫对'中山3号'和'守田2号'幼苗地上部分和地下部分的干质量影响较小,对'中山2号'和'守田3号'幼苗地上部分和地下部分的干质量有较大影响.在NaCl胁迫条件下,5个甜菊品种幼苗的根冠比均大于对照;'中山2号'和'守田3号'幼苗的根冠比随NaCl质量浓度的提高呈先增大后减小的趋势,并在4.0 g·L-1 NaCl胁迫条件下达到最大;其他3个品种的根冠比均随NaCl质量浓度的提高呈现缓慢增加的趋势.NaCl胁迫对根长的抑制作用小于株高,对叶片长度的影响小于叶片宽度.相关性分析结果表明,甜菊幼苗的叶片数和分枝数与地上部分干质量的相关性显著,是导致地上部分干质量下降的重要原因.根据实验结果,供试甜菊品种按耐盐性从强至弱依次排序为 '中山3号'、'守田2号'、'中山4号'、'守田3号' 和'中山2号',其中'中山3号'和 '守田2号'耐盐性较强且各项生长指标均相对良好,可作为优良的甜菊耐盐种质资源进行深入研究.     

上海市郊沿海防护林防护效应的研究

为分析上海市郊沿海防护林的防护效应,于2009年夏季对人民塘水杉(Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng)基干林带前后不同观测点的风速、气温和空气相对湿度等气候因子进行了观测,并对该林带前后1 km处的防台风效应进行了比较;另外,以滨海森林公园的红叶椿(Ailanthus altissima 'Hongye' )林分为观测对象,比较分析了林带内不同垂直高度处的防风效应.结果表明,水杉基干林带具有明显的防风效果,林带内至林带后65 m范围内的风速较林带前均有不同程度的下降,以林带后25 m处的风速最低;在"莫拉克"台风登陆期间,水杉基干林带在较大尺度上具有明显的降低风速的作用;水杉基干林带在一定程度上能降低局部气温、提高空气相对湿度,以林带内的气温最低、空气相对湿度最高,从而达到改善林后小气候的作用.红叶椿林分内不同垂直高度处的防风效应有一定的差异,其中垂直高度2 m处的风速最大,而树冠处(垂直高度5 m)的风速最低.     

一株撕裂蜡孔菌的分离培养及其系统发育分析

目的:分离出一株撕裂蜡孔菌(Ceriporia lacerata),通过PDAY培养基培养后,进行了培养特性及系统发育分析.方法:PDAY培养基培养菌丝体,电镜扣描获得菌丝微观形态,利用分子生物学方法对其rRNA基因内转录间区(ITS区)进行了克隆测序,与Genbank中已有的有关序列进行比较.结果:其ITS区与撕裂蜡孔菌同源率为98.8%～100%,属于一单独分支中,与白囊耙齿菌(Irpex lacteus)、射脉菌(Phlebia albida)及齿白木层孔菌(Leucophellinus irpicoides)的同源率为83.7%、81.2%及83.5%.结论:形态结果及分子鉴定表明撕裂蜡孔菌(Ceriporia lacerata)培养成功,菌丝体的获得为进一步开发利用提供了依据.     

Enhanced Anti-tumor Activity by the Combination of the Natural Compounds (?)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate and Luteolin: POTENTIAL ROLE OF p53*

Natural dietary agents have drawn a great deal of attention toward cancer prevention because of their wide safety margin. However, single agent intervention has failed to bring the expected outcome in clinical trials; therefore, combinations of chemopreventive agents are gaining increasingly popularity. In the present study, we investigated a combinatorial approach using two natural dietary polyphenols, luteolin and EGCG, and found that their combination at low doses (at which single agents induce minimal apoptosis) synergistically increased apoptosis (3–5-fold more than the additive level of apoptosis) in both head and neck and lung cancer cell lines. This combination also significantly inhibited growth of xenografted tumors in nude mice. The in vivo findings also were supported by significant inhibition of Ki-67 expression and increase in TUNEL-positive cells in xenografted tissues. Mechanistic studies revealed that the combination induced mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in some cell lines and mitochondria-independent apoptosis in others. Moreover, we found more efficient stabilization and ATM-dependent Ser¹⁵ phosphorylation of p53 due to DNA damage by the combination, and ablation of p53 using shRNA strongly inhibited apoptosis as evidenced by decreased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and caspase-3 cleavage. In addition, we observed mitochondrial translocation of p53 after treatment with luteolin or the combination of EGCG and luteolin. Taken together, our results for the first time suggest that the combination of luteolin and EGCG has synergistic/additive growth inhibitory effects and provides an important rationale for future chemoprevention trials of head and neck and lung cancers.     

Metal-organic open frameworks with one-dimension channels assembled with pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic acid and N-containing auxiliary ligands: Syntheses, crystal structures, and physical characterization

Four new complexes, {[Mn(imH)₂(pdc)]·H₂O}_n (1), [Zn₂(pdc)₂(H₂O)₅]·2H₂O (2), [Zn(imH)₂(pdc)]·H₂O (3), {[Zn₂(pdc)₂(bpy)(H₂O)₂]·5H₂O}_n (4) [imH = imidazole pdc = pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylate, bpy = 4,4′-bipyridine] have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized by elemental analysis, IR, PXRD, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyses. All the four complexes display a three-dimensional (3D) open framework with one-dimensional (1D) channels that are filled with lattice water molecules. Particularly, in 4, the lattice water molecules form an infinite water chain. Both 1 and 4 consist of 1D polymeric chains. While 2 contains a dinuclear Zn(II) unit, and 3 is a mononuclear complex. Further, the result of thermal analysis of 1 and 2 shows the robustness of the overall supramolecular three-dimensional architecture. Complexes 1, 3, and 4 exhibit strong fluorescent emissions in the solid state at room temperature and could be significant in the field of photoactive materials.     

Structure and Activity of the Metal-independent Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase YK23 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), a key enzyme of gluconeogenesis and photosynthetic CO₂ fixation, catalyzes the hydrolysis of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) to produce fructose 6-phosphate, an important precursor in various biosynthetic pathways. All known FBPases are metal-dependent enzymes, which are classified into five different classes based on their amino acid sequences. Eukaryotes are known to contain only the type-I FBPases, whereas all five types exist in various combinations in prokaryotes. Here we demonstrate that the uncharacterized protein YK23 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae efficiently hydrolyzes FBP in a metal-independent reaction. YK23 is a member of the histidine phosphatase (phosphoglyceromutase) superfamily with homologues found in all organisms. The crystal structure of the YK23 apo-form was solved at 1.75-Å resolution and revealed the core domain with the α/β/α-fold covered by two small cap domains. Two liganded structures of this protein show the presence of two phosphate molecules (an inhibitor) or FBP (a substrate) bound to the active site. FBP is bound in its linear, open conformation with the cleavable C1-phosphate positioned deep in the active site. Alanine replacement mutagenesis of YK23 identified six conserved residues absolutely required for activity and suggested that His¹³ and Glu⁹⁹ are the primary catalytic residues. Thus, YK23 represents the first family of metal-independent FBPases and a second FBPase family in eukaryotes.     

Comparative proteome analysis of splenic lymphocytes in long-term high-fat diet and dietary supplement with lipoic acid mice

The objective of this investigation was to explore possible molecular changes for role of a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced oxidative stress in splenic lymphocytes, and whether a dietary lipoic acid (LA) supplement could attenuate these changes. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed one of three diets 10 weeks and outcome measures centered on parameters of oxidative stress and lymphocytes apoptosis in spleen. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used to compare the proteomes of splenic lymphocytes with three dietary groups. Differentially expressed spots whose expression altered over three fold were identified by MALDI-TOF MS. In this study, HFD resulted in oxidative stress in mice spleen, and significantly increased apoptotic percentage of splenic lymphocytes. Bioinformatic evaluation results of MALDI-TOF MS showed that 20 differentially expressed protein spots were known to be involved in many processes associated with cell function, such as cytoskeleton, energy metabolism and oxidative stress, signal transduction and cell defense. In conclusion, these results indicate that HFD-induced oxidative stress could lead to the functional decline of splenic lymphocytes, and LA supplement attenuates the alterations of protein expression to maintain the basic biological processes.     

Protective effects of pre-germinated brown rice diet on low levels of Pb-induced learning and memory deficits in developing rat

Lead (Pb) is a known neurotoxicant in humans and experimental animals. Numerous studies have provided evidence that humans, especially young children, and animals chronically intoxicated with low levels of Pb show learning and memory impairments. Unfortunately, Pb-poisoning cases continue to occur in many countries. Because the current treatment options are very limited, there is a need for alternative methods to attenuate Pb toxicity. In this study, the weaning (postnatal day 21, PND21) rats were randomly divided into five groups: the control group (AIN-93G diet, de-ionized water), the lead acetate (PbAC) group (AIN-93G diet, 2 g/L PbAC in de-ionized water), the lead acetate + WR group (white rice diet, 2 g/L PbAC in de-ionized water; PbAC + WR), the lead acetate + BR group (brown rice diet, 2 g/L PbAC in de-ionized water; PbAC + BR) and the lead acetate + PR group (pre-germinated brown rice diet, 2 g/L PbAC in de-ionized water; PbAC + PR). The animals received the different diets until PND60, and then the experiments were terminated. The protective effects of pre-germinated brown rice (PR) on Pb-induced learning and memory impairment in weaning rats were assessed by the Morris water maze and one-trial-learning passive avoidance test. The anti-oxidative effects of feeding a PR diet to Pb-exposed rats were evaluated. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined by flow cytometry. The levels of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate were determined by HPLC. Our data showed that feeding a PR diet decreased the accumulation of lead and decreased Pb-induced learning and memory deficits in developing rats. The mechanisms might be related to the anti-oxidative effects and large amount of GABA in PR. Our study provides a regimen to reduce Pb-induced toxicity, especially future learning and memory deficits in the developing brain.