Comparison of cold resistance physiological and biochemical features of four Herba Rhodiola seedlings under low temperature

To discuss the cold resistance performance of different Herba Rhodiolae and successfully transplant Herba Rhodiolae to the Gansu plateau area for nursing, domestication and planting, this paper systematically studies six physiological and biochemical features of Rhodiola kirilowii, Rhodiola algida, Rhodiola crenulata and Herba Rhodiolae that are closely associated with cold resistance features and concludes with the cold resistance capability of Rhodiola kirilowii. In the selected six main indexes of the Herba Rhodiolae, the POD, SOD and CAT activity and MDA and Pro content in the leaf are the main physiological and biochemical indexes to indicate the cold resistance performance of four Herba Rhodiolae seedlings and can be regarded as the preliminary indexes to assess the winter performance of Herba Rhodiolae. The research work will provide the theoretical basis for the wild variants of Herba Rhodiolae and GAPJ base construction.     

Effects of BmCPV Infection on Silkworm Bombyx mori Intestinal Bacteria

The gut microbiota has a crucial role in the growth, development and environmental adaptation in the host insect. The objective of our work was to investigate the microbiota of the healthy silkworm Bombyx mori gut and changes after the infection of B. mori cypovirus (BmCPV). Intestinal contents of the infected and healthy larvae of B. mori of fifth instar were collected at 24, 72 and 144 h post infection with BmCPV. The gut bacteria were analyzed by pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. 147(135) and 113(103) genera were found in the gut content of the healthy control female (male) larvae and BmCPV-infected female (male) larvae, respectively. In general, the microbial communities in the gut content of healthy larvae were dominated by Enterococcus, Delftia, Pelomonas, Ralstonia and Staphylococcus, however the abundance change of each genus was depended on the developmental stage and gender. Microbial diversity reached minimum at 144 h of fifth instar larvae. The abundance of Enterococcus in the females was substantially lower and the abundance of Delftia, Aurantimonas and Staphylococcus was substantially higher compared to the males. Bacterial diversity in the intestinal contents decreased after post infection with BmCPV, whereas the abundance of both Enterococcus and Staphylococcus which belongs to Gram-positive were increased. Therefore, our findings suggested that observed changes in relative abundance was related to the immune response of silkworm to BmCPV infection. Relevance analysis of plenty of the predominant genera showed the abundance of the Enterococcus genus was in negative correlation with the abundance of the most predominant genera. These results provided insight into the relationship between the gut microbiota and development of the BmCPV-infected silkworm.     

Galectin-1-Induced Autophagy Facilitates Cisplatin Resistance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in Taiwan. Although chemotherapy is the primary treatment for HCC patients, drug resistance often leads to clinical failure. Galectin-1 is a beta-galactoside binding lectin which is up-regulated in HCC patients and promotes tumor growth by mediating cancer cell adhesion, migration and proliferation, but its role in chemoresistance of HCC is poorly understood. In this study we found that galectin-1 is able to lead to chemoresistance against cisplatin treatment, and subsequent inhibition has reversed the effect of cell death in HCC cells. Moreover, galectin-1 was found to induce autophagic flux in HCC cells. Inhibition of autophagy by inhibitors or knockdown of Atg5 cancels galectin-1-induced cisplatin resistance in HCC cells. Increase of mitophagy triggered by galectin-1 was found to reduce the mitochondrial potential loss and apoptosis induced by cisplatin treatment. Finally, using an in situ hepatoma mouse model, we clearly demonstrated that inhibition of galectin-1 by thiodigalactoside could significantly augment the anti-HCC effect of cisplatin. Taken together, our findings offer a new insight into the chemoresistance galectin-1 causes against cisplatin treatment, and points to a potential approach to improve the efficacy of cisplatin in the treatment of HCC patients.     

植物泛素/26S蛋白酶体途径的研究进展

泛素/26S蛋白酶体途径（ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway,UPP）是目前已知最有效的、最具特异性的蛋白质降解途径。该途径介导了真核生物80%-85%的蛋白质降解,参与了细胞多项生命活动过程,对于维持细胞正常生理功能具有重要意义。研究结果表明,植物生长发育的诸多方面以及干旱胁迫响应等过程都受到该途径的调控。概述了泛素/26S蛋白酶体途径及其在植物生长发育过程中的作用,并着重阐述了由泛素-蛋白连接酶E3介导的植物干旱胁迫响应及其作用机制的研究进展。     

Single point mutation on the gene encoding dysbindin results in recognition deficits

The dystrobrevin‐binding protein 1 (DTNBP1) gene is a candidate risk factor for schizophrenia and has been associated with cognitive ability in both patient populations and healthy controls. DTNBP1 encodes dysbindin protein, which is localized to synaptic sites and is reduced in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of patients with schizophrenia, indicating a potential role in schizophrenia etiology. Most studies of dysbindin function have focused on the sandy (sdy) mice that lack dysbindin protein and have a wide range of abnormalities. In this study, we examined dysbindin salt and pepper (spp) mice that possess a single point mutation on the Dtnbp1 gene predicted to reduce, but not eliminate, dysbindin expression. By western blot analysis, we found that spp homozygous (spp ?/?) mutants had reduced dysbindin and synaptosomal‐associated protein 25 (SNAP‐25) in the prefrontal cortex, but unaltered levels in hippocampus. Behaviorally, spp mutants performed comparably to controls on a wide range of tasks assessing locomotion, anxiety, spatial recognition and working memory. However, spp ?/? mice had selective deficits in tasks measuring novel object recognition and social novelty recognition. Our results indicate that reduced dysbindin and SNAP‐25 protein in the prefrontal cortex of spp ?/? is associated with selective impairments in recognition processing. These spp mice may prove useful as a novel mouse model to study cognitive deficits linked to dysbindin alterations. Our findings also suggest that aspects of recognition memory may be specifically influenced by DTNBP1 single nucleotide polymorphisms or risk haplotypes in humans and this connection should be further investigated.     

Formation of an infinite beta-sheet arrangement dominates the crystallization behavior of lambda-type antibody light chains

The packing interactions in crystals of human lambda-type antibody light chain dimers have been reviewed. These homologous proteins are composed of individually specific variable domains, but all have very similar constant domain sequences. The proteins do not emulate each other in their overall crystallization behavior: each attains an individually characteristic space group or unit cell dimensions. However, each of these protein crystals has one unit cell dimension in common, 72.4(+/- 0.2) A. Examination of the protein packing in these crystals reveals that the common cell dimension is a consequence of a packing arrangement of their constant domains, which is conserved in all three crystals. In this striking arrangement, beta-sheets of adjacent constant domains are placed in juxta-position to form an "infinite chain". Although this constant domain packing pattern is rigorously conserved, the variable domain packing arrangements in each of these crystals are different. The conservation of the "infinite" beta-sheet pattern suggests that the constant domain interactions dominate the thermodynamic energy of lattice formation, probably through a combination of specific hydrogen bond formations and by a decrease in the solvent-accessible surface. A single amino acid substitution prohibits this characteristic interneighbor hydrogen bond pattern in the homologous kappa-type light chains. This may explain the observation that very few kappa-type light chains have been crystallized.     

氮磷肥配施对冬小麦灌浆期光合参数及产量的影响

在西北绿洲生态条件下, 实验设4个处理, 即165(N₁)和225 kg·hm^-2(N₂)2个氮素(纯氮)水平及105(P₁)和165 kg·hm^-2(P₂)2个磷素(P₂O₅)水平, 研究了氮磷肥配施对冬小麦(Triticum aestivum)品种临抗2号光合特性及产量的影响。结果表明, 低氮(165 kg·hm^-2)处理组的净光合速率(P_n)、气孔导度(G_s)及蒸腾速率(T_r)日变化均呈双峰曲线, 有光合“午休”现象; 高氮(225 kg·hm^-2)处理可减弱甚至使光合“午休”现象消失; 高磷(165 kg·hm^-2)和低磷(105 kg·hm^-2)处理对光合特性的影响差异不显著。N₂P₂具有最高的群体叶面积指数(LAI)、群体光合速率(CAP)、穗粒数、亩穗数、千粒重及产量, 且与N₁P₁和N₁P₂的差异均达显著水平, 与N₂P₁则无显著差异。但N₂P₂水分利用效率(WUE)低于N₂P₁, 显著高于N₁P₁和N₁P₂ (N₁P₁高于N₁P₂, 但无显著差异)。氮肥对光合“午休”的影响大于磷肥, 二者互作效应差异不显著。该实验条件下, 当N、P分别为225和105 kg·hm^-2时有利于提高冬小麦的光合速率及产量。