New contributions to the biodiversity of ciliates (Protozoa,Ciliophora) from Antarctica,including a description of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gastronauta multistriata</Emphasis> nov. spec.

Antarctica is a remote and isolated biotope which makes it an ideal location for studying new and endemic species. Since there is little literature available on the diversity of ciliates in this area, a taxonomic survey of ciliates from melt-water of Collins glacier, King George Island, was carried out from January to March 2006. As a result, the morphology and infraciliature of five ciliates, including one new species, are described using live observations and silver staining: Gastronauta multistriata nov. spec., Neokeronopsis asiatica Foissner et al., 2010, Paraholosticha muscicola Kahl, 1932, Oxytricha sp., and Cyclidium glaucoma Müller, 1786. Gastronauta multistriata nov. spec. is distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: cell size in vivo on average 80 × 40 μm; 5–9 kineties in left ciliary field; 18–23 kineties in right ciliary field, including 10–12 postoral kineties; 7–10 preoral kineties; dorsal brush along anterior dorsal margin, consisting of 5–8 groups of basal bodies. The only minor differences between the current population of N. asiatica and a previously described Antarctic population are the numbers of caudal cirri (6–10 vs. 8–15) and dorsal kineties (11–13 vs. 12–18). Paraholosticha sterkii is synonymised with P. muscicola. The Antarctic population of C. glaucoma corresponds well with a former population from China, the only difference being the number of kinetids in SK _n (11–17 vs. 9–11). This work will contribute to the understanding of ciliate diversity in this little studied area.     

黄孢原毛平革菌抗营养阻遏产漆酶诱变育种及其产酶特性

【目的】筛选能抗营养阻遏产漆酶的黄孢原毛平革菌,论证其产漆酶的确定性及抗营养阻遏产木质素酶的可行性,为白腐菌产酶代谢调控、木质素降解机理的研究奠定基础。【方法】利用重复紫外诱变法,以愈创木酚富氮鉴别培养基筛选目标菌株;比较不同营养条件下菌体生长与产酶动力学差异研究产酶营养调控机理;通过热处理、排除锰离子和加入过氧化氢酶等不同措施论证黄孢原平毛平革菌能否产生漆酶。【结果】3种不同方法均证实选育到的pcR5305和pcR5324菌株在限氮与富氮条件下均能产生漆酶,pcR5305和pcR5324在限氮条件下产漆酶分别达到203.5、187.6 U/L;在富氮条件下为220.6、183.9 U/L,而原菌株pc530在两种条件下都基本不产生漆酶。二菌株产漆酶调控方式不同,pcR5305漆酶产生与菌体生长同步,而pcR5324漆酶产生却受营养氮阻遏。二菌株同时具有抗营养阻遏高产木质素过氧化物酶(LiP)和锰过氧化物酶(MnP)(分别为LiP 1343.2、MnP 252.2 U/L;LiP 1169.5、MnP 172.4 U/L)的能力。【结论】筛选到的黄孢原毛平革菌变异菌株能产漆酶,同时表现了抗营养阻遏产漆酶、木质素过氧化物酶和锰过氧化物酶的能力,具有重要的生产应用与理论研究价值,为白腐菌产酶代谢调控机理研究提供了原始菌株并奠定了良好的基础。     

Factors influencing parasitism of Trichogramma dendrolimi on eggs of the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis

Laboratory studies were made to determine the capacity of Trichogramma dendrolimi to parasitize eggs of Ostrinia furnacalis, as affected by the rearing host species, substrate of host eggs, host age, original locality of host populations, and cold storage of host eggs. Wasps reared from eggs of Antheraea pernyi showed parasitic capacity on eggs of O. furnacalis on average twice as high as that of the wasps reared from eggs of Corcyra cephalonica. When the age of O. furnacalis eggs at 26 °C increased from 0–6 h to 18–24 h, the proportion of wasps that successfully parasitized host eggs, the number of host eggs parasitized, and the rate of parasitization all decreased by >50%. The number of O. furnacalis eggs parasitized per female T. dendrolimi increased with the number of host eggs available, and reached 22.9 in a 24 h period. However, the parasitic capacity of female T. dendrolimi on eggs of O. furnacalis laid on plant leaves was similar to that of O. furnacalis eggs laid on wax paper. Levels of parasitism of O. furnacalis eggs from two widely separated localities, i.e. Changchun (43.50° N, 125.20° E) and Hangzhou (30.18° N, 120.07° E), were similar. Cold storage of O. furnacalis eggs at 4 °C for 5 days did not affect parasitization. Results obtained in this study indicate that although O. furnacalis is a less preferred and less suitable host than many other hosts, such as Dendrolimus punctatus, Actias selene ningpoane, Philosamia cynthia, A. pernyi, C. cephalonica, within the host-species range of T. dendrolimi, the parasitoid has the potential to achieve 50–60% or even higher rates of parasitization of O. furnacalis eggs in corn fields under suitable conditions, and could be used in the biological control of the pest.     

144 Sculpting light with DNA origami

We used the DNA origami method (Rothemund, 2006) for the fabrication of self-assembled nanoscopic materials (Seeman, 2010). In DNA origami, a virus-based 8?kilobase-long DNA single-strand is folded into shape with the help of ～ 200 synthetic oligonucleotides. The resulting DNA nanostructures can be designed to adopt any three-dimensional shape and can be addressed through DNA hybridization or chemical modification with nanometer precision. We have realized that complex assemblies of nanoparticles, including magnetic, fluorescent, and plasmonic nanoparticles. Such nanoconstructs may exhibit striking optical properties such as strong optical activity in the visible range (Kuzyk et al., 2012). To this end, plasmonic particles were assembled in solution to form helices of controlled handedness. We achieved spatial control over particle placement better than 2?nm and attachment yields of 97% and above. As a collective optical response emerging from our dispersed nanostructures, we detected pronounced circular dichroism (CD) originating from the plasmon–plasmon interactions in the particle helices. In recent experiments, we were able to show that the optical response of chiral biomolecules can be transferred from the UV into the visible region in plasmonic hotspots. Thus, sensitive detection of chiral biomolecules may become feasible in the near future. We also found that the orientation of the helices in respect to the incoming light beam critically influences the resulting CD spectra. Our results can be explained with theoretical models based on plasmonic dipole interaction and demonstrate the potential of DNA origami for the assembly of metafluids with designed optical properties.     

Facile tethering of stable and unstable proteins for optical tweezers experiments

Single-molecule force spectroscopy with optical tweezers has emerged as a powerful tool for dissecting protein folding. The requirement to stably attach “molecular handles” to specific points in the protein of interest by preparative biochemical techniques is a limiting factor in applying this methodology, especially for large or unstable proteins that are difficult to produce and isolate. Here, we present a streamlined approach for creating stable and specific attachments using autocatalytic covalent tethering. The high specificity of coupling allowed us to tether ribosome-nascent chain complexes, demonstrating its suitability for investigating complex macromolecular assemblies. We combined this approach with cell-free protein synthesis, providing a facile means of preparing samples for single-molecule force spectroscopy. The workflow eliminates the need for biochemical protein purification during sample preparation for single-molecule measurements, making structurally unstable proteins amenable to investigation by this powerful single-molecule technique. We demonstrate the capabilities of this approach by carrying out pulling experiments with an unstructured domain of elongation factor G that had previously been refractory to analysis. Our approach expands the pool of proteins amenable to folding studies, which should help to reduce existing biases in the currently available set of protein folding models.     

Differential effects of paraoxonase 1 (PON1) polymorphisms on cancer risk: evidence from 25 published studies

Paraoxonase is an HDL-associated enzyme that plays a preventive role against oxidative stress, which is thought to contribute to cancer development. PON1 activity varies widely among individuals, which is in part related to two common nonsynonymous polymorphisms in the PON1 gene (Q192R and L55M). The polymorphisms in PON1 have been implicated in cancer risk. However, results from the studies to date have been conflicting. To clarify the association, a meta-analysis was performed for 7,073 cases and 9,520 controls from 25 published case–control studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association. Significant associations between PON1-L55M but not Q192R polymorphism and total cancer were observed from all the comparisons. In stratified analyses, PON1-55M allele was a risk factor for breast cancer. Similarly, increased risk was observed for prostate cancer (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.01–1.36, P _{heterogeneity} = 0.260) and Caucasian population (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02–1.38, P _{heterogeneity} = 0.1) of the LM genotype, compared with the LL genotype. For PON1-Q192R polymorphism, PON1-192R allele was a decreased risk factor for cancer in the Asian group (RR vs QQ: OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.38–0.98, P _{heterogeneity} = 0.268; QR vs QQ: OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.52–0.96, P _{heterogeneity} = 0.130; RR + QR vs QQ: OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.53–0.95, P _{heterogeneity} = 0.135). Although some modest bias could not be eliminated, this meta-analysis suggests that the PON1-55M allele is a risk factor for the development of cancer, in particular for breast cancer. Future studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to further evaluate these associations.     

Biotype status and distribution of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Shandong province of China based on mitochondrial DNA markers

Bemisia tabaci has caused significant crop losses in China during the last decade. Recent research has shown that two potentially invasive variants, biotypes B and Q, have been found in several regions of China. Our objective was to determine the biotype status and the distribution of B. tabaci in Shandong province, an important agricultural region of China. Based on mitochondrial DNA markers, both biotypes B and Q were detected, with B being the predominant biotype. The results indicate that the more recently introduced biotype Q has not only been located in China but also has established and spread in some regions.