Chromosome banding and FISH with rDNA probe in the diploid and tetraploid loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus

The chromosomes of the diploid and tetraploid loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus were analyzed by staining with Ag, chromomycin A₃ (CMA₃)/distamycin A (DA), and DA/4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with 5.8S + 28S rDNA as a probe. Nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) were mapped to the telomeric region of the short arms of the largest (first) metacentric chromosome pair in the diploid loach with 2n = 50 and the homologous quartet in the tetraploid loach with 4n = 100. The NORs were positive at the same region of the first metacentric chromosome for Ag and CMA₃/DA stainings, but negative for DA/DAPI staining. Four signals at the homologs within the same quartet suggest the duplication of the entire genome from diploid to tetraploid status. However, a size difference was detected between the rDNA signals by FISH and CMA₃ banding.     

Improving simvastatin bioconversion in Escherichia coli by deletion of bioH

Simvastatin is an important cholesterol lowering compound and is currently synthesized from the natural product lovastatin via multistep chemical synthesis. We have previously reported the use of an Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3)/pAW31 as the host for whole-cell biocatalytic conversion of monacolin J acid to simvastatin acid. During fermentation and bioconversion, unknown E. coli enzyme(s) hydrolyzed the membrane permeable thioester substrate dimethylbutyryl-S-methyl mercaptopropionate (DMB-S-MMP) to the free acid, significantly decreased the efficiencies of the whole-cell bioconversion and the downstream purification steps. Using the Keio K-12 Singe-Gene Knockout collection, we identified BioH as the sole enzyme responsible for the observed substrate hydrolysis. Purification and reconstitution of E. coli BioH activity in vitro confirmed its function. BioH catalyzed the rapid hydrolysis of DMB-S-MMP with kcat and Km values of 260+/-45 s(-1) and 229+/-26 microM, respectively. This is in agreement with previous reports that BioH can function as a carboxylesterase towards fatty acid esters. YT2, which is a delta bioH mutant of BL21(DE3), did not hydrolyze DMB-S-MMP during prolonged fermentation and was used as an alternative host for whole-cell biocatalysis. The rate of simvastatin acid synthesis in YT2 was significantly faster than in BL21(DE3) and 99% conversion of 15 mM simvastatin acid in less than 12 h was achieved. Furthermore, the engineered host required significantly less DMB-S-MMP to be added to accomplish complete conversion. Finally, simvastatin acid synthesized using YT2 can be readily purified from fermentation broth and no additional steps to remove the hydrolyzed dimethylbutyryl-S-mercaptopropionic acid is required. Together, the proteomic and metabolic engineering approaches render the whole-cell biocatalytic process more robust and economically attractive.     

Self-organizing circuit assembly through spatiotemporally coordinated neuronal migration within geometric constraints

Background

Neurons are dynamically coupled with each other through neurite-mediated adhesion during development. Understanding the collective behavior of neurons in circuits is important for understanding neural development. While a number of genetic and activity-dependent factors regulating neuronal migration have been discovered on single cell level, systematic study of collective neuronal migration has been lacking. Various biological systems are shown to be self-organized, and it is not known if neural circuit assembly is self-organized. Besides, many of the molecular factors take effect through spatial patterns, and coupled biological systems exhibit emergent property in response to geometric constraints. How geometric constraints of the patterns regulate neuronal migration and circuit assembly of neurons within the patterns remains unexplored.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We established a two-dimensional model for studying collective neuronal migration of a circuit, with hippocampal neurons from embryonic rats on Matrigel-coated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). When the neural circuit is subject to geometric constraints of a critical scale, we found that the collective behavior of neuronal migration is spatiotemporally coordinated. Neuronal somata that are evenly distributed upon adhesion tend to aggregate at the geometric center of the circuit, forming mono-clusters. Clustering formation is geometry-dependent, within a critical scale from 200 µm to approximately 500 µm. Finally, somata clustering is neuron-type specific, and glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons tend to aggregate homo-philically.

Conclusions/Significance

We demonstrate self-organization of neural circuits in response to geometric constraints through spatiotemporally coordinated neuronal migration, possibly via mechanical coupling. We found that such collective neuronal migration leads to somata clustering, and mono-cluster appears when the geometric constraints fall within a critical scale. The discovery of geometry-dependent collective neuronal migration and the formation of somata clustering in vitro shed light on neural development in vivo.     

Metabolome profiling reveals metabolic cooperation between Bacillus megaterium and Ketogulonicigenium vulgare during induced swarm motility

The metabolic cooperation in the ecosystem of Bacillus megaterium and Ketogulonicigenium vulgare was investigated by cultivating them spatially on a soft agar plate. We found that B. megaterium swarmed in a direction along the trace of K. vulgare on the agar plate. Metabolomics based on gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) was employed to analyze the interaction mechanism between the two microorganisms. We found that the microorganisms interact by exchanging a number of metabolites. Both intracellular metabolism and cell-cell communication via metabolic cooperation were essential in determining the population dynamics of the ecosystem. The contents of amino acids and other nutritional compounds in K. vulgare were rather low in comparison to those in B. megaterium, but the levels of these compounds in the medium surrounding K. vulgare were fairly high, even higher than in fresh medium. Erythrose, erythritol, guanine, and inositol accumulated around B. megaterium were consumed by K. vulgare upon its migration. The oxidization products of K. vulgare, including 2-keto-gulonic acids (2KGA), were sharply increased. Upon coculturing of B. megaterium and K. vulgare, 2,6-dipicolinic acid (the biomarker of sporulation of B. megaterium), was remarkably increased compared with those in the monocultures. Therefore, the interactions between B. megaterium and K. vulgare were a synergistic combination of mutualism and antagonism. This paper is the first to systematically identify a symbiotic interaction mechanism via metabolites in the ecosystem established by two isolated colonies of B. megaterium and K. vulgare.     

糖皮质激素快速抑制牛蛙椎旁神经节B细胞快兴奋性突触后电位

用单个方波电刺激牛蛙离体椎旁经节前纤维,细胞内记录节后Ｂ细胞快兴奋性突后电位,观察糖皮质激素对Ｂ细胞ｆ－ＥＰＳＰ的快速抑制作用。结果发现,ＧＣ灌注３ｍｉｎ,。Ｂ细胞ｆ－ＥＰＳＰ的幅值减小,撤除ＧＣ后,ＥＰＳＰ的幅值恢复到对照水平。作用具有剂量信赖性。     

发展城郊游憩活动的效益：———以抚顺市高湾经济特区为例

１前言随着我国经济的高速发展,特别是实行双休日以来,城镇居民的假期游憩活动呈现大幅度上升的趋势。各大城市利用城郊风光,如山地、水库、森林、草地以及人文古迹等开辟了多种形式的游憩地,供人们游乐活动、旅游度假。抚顺市高湾经济特区位于抚顺市西部,距市中心１...     

蚯蚓纤溶酶的分离纯化及部分序列的测定

以新鲜蚯蚓为原料,经过保温抽提、乙醇沉淀、DEAE-SepharoseFastFlow离子交换层析、Lysine-Sepharose4B亲和层析以及SDS-PAGE制备电泳等纯化步聚,得到一种纯度达95％以上的蚯蚓纤溶酶．该酶具有强烈的溶解纤维蛋白的作用及蛋白酶活性,平板法测得其比活性为90OUK单位／毫克蛋白,TAME法测得其比活性为2500O单位／毫克蛋白．酶学性质研究表明其最适反应温度为65℃,最适反应PH值为8．5．该酶的分子量为33kD,等电点为pH3．5．还对该酶进行了氨基酸组成分析,并测定了其N端部分序列．     

不同生境下荒漠植物红砂-珍珠猪毛菜混生根系的垂直分布规律

植物种间相互作用及其对环境胁迫的响应一直是物种共存和生物多样性维持研究的一个热点, 从地下根系入手来探讨混生群落植物种间关系及其对环境胁迫响应的研究少见报道。该文以荒漠草原区(灵武)、典型荒漠区(张掖)和极端荒漠区(酒泉) 3个不同生境条件下单生与混生红砂(Reaumuria soongarica)和珍珠猪毛菜(Salsola passerina)为实验材料, 采用分层取样法对其垂直根系参数进行测定和分析, 探讨了两种植物根系分布对混生及荒漠环境梯度的响应。结果表明: 同一生境条件下, 混生红砂和珍珠猪毛菜比根长和比表面积均高于单生, 说明红砂、珍珠猪毛菜混生后其根系相互作用关系表现为互惠, 促进了植株对土壤养分和水分的吸收。不同生境条件下, 同一生长方式的红砂根系分布深度均大于珍珠猪毛菜, 且根系消弱系数也普遍高于珍珠猪毛菜, 说明二者在不同生境条件下占据不同生态位, 红砂表现为深根性, 根系位于土壤深层, 珍珠猪毛菜表现为浅根性, 根系分布于土壤浅层。随着荒漠环境胁迫增强, 单生和混生红砂与珍珠猪毛菜的比根长和比表面积均呈现出极端荒漠区>典型荒漠区>草原荒漠区的规律, 且生境越干旱, 混生群落根系分离越明显; 单生与混生红砂根系消弱系数也逐渐增大, 在极端干旱区达到最大值, 珍珠猪毛菜变化不大, 表明红砂-珍珠猪毛菜混生群落根系生态位分离随荒漠环境胁迫增强而加大, 验证了环境胁迫梯度假说。可见“地上聚生, 地下分离”的混生方式可能是红砂-珍珠猪毛菜混生群落适应干旱胁迫环境的生长策略。