芒果APl同源基因的克隆及其生物信息学分析

我们采用RT-PCR方法克隆了2个APl同源基因全长cDNA,分别命名为MAPl-1(GenBank accession No.FJ529206)和MAPl-2(GenBank accession No.FJ529207).MAPl-1编码247个氨基酸,开放阅读框长度为741 bp,蛋白质分子量为28.54kD,等电点为8.31;MAPl-2编码248个氨基酸,开放阅读框长度为744 bp,蛋白质分子量为28.78 kD,等电点为8.70.同源性分析表明,它们的核苷酸序列与其它木本植物APl同源基因的一致性为72%～81%.实验分析表明,MAPl-1和MAPl-2第1至第61个氨基酸含有一个MADS盒结构域,第88至第178个为K盒结构域;两个基因均定位于细胞核,且功能位点分布存在着不同,推测这两个基因在花器官发育过程中的功能存在差异.蛋白二级结构预测显示,MAPl-1蛋白有12个a-螺旋,4个β折叠区,14个β-转角;而MAPl-2蛋白有11个a-螺旋,5个β折叠区,15个β-转角:其大多数氨基酸具有亲水性.本研究有助于进一步了解芒果的开花分子机理及成花的生物学发育阶段.     

Engineering mouse apolipoprotein A-I into a monomeric, active protein useful for structural determination

Apolipoprotein AI (apoAI), the major protein component of HDL, is one of the best predictors of coronary artery disease (CAD), with high apoAI and HDL levels being correlated with low occurrences of CAD. The primary function of apoAI is to recruit phospholipid and cholesterol for assembly of HDL particles. Like other exchangeable apolipoproteins, lipid-free apoAI forms a mixture of different oligomers even at 1.0 mg/mL. This self-association property of the exchangeable apolipoproteins is closely associated with the lipoprotein-binding activity of this protein family. It is unclear if the self-association property of apolipoprotein is required for its lipoprotein-binding activity. We developed a novel method for engineering an oligomeric protein to a monomeric, biologically active protein. Using this method, we generated a monomeric mouse apoAI mutant that is active. This mutant contains the first 216 residues of mouse apoAI and replaces six hydrophobic residues with either polar or smaller hydrophobic residues at the defined positions (V118A/A119S/L121Q/T191S/T195S/T199S). Cross-linking results show that this mutant is greater than 90% monomeric at 8 mg/mL. CD, DSC, and NMR results indicate that the mutant maintains an identical secondary, tertiary structure and stability as those of the wild-type mouse apoAI. Lipid-binding assays suggest that the mutant shares an equal lipoprotein-binding activity as that of the wild-type apoAI. In addition, both the monomeric mutant and the wild-type protein make nearly identical rHDL particles. With this monomeric mouse apoAI, high-quality NMR data has been collected, allowing for the NMR structural determination of lipid-free apoAI. On the basis of these results, we conclude that this apoAI mutant is a monomeric, active apoAI useful for structural determination.     

Aptamer selection for the detection of Escherichia coli K88

In this study, the first group of single-stranded DNA aptamers that are highly specific to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88 was obtained from an enriched oligonucleotide pool by the SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment) procedure, during which the K88 fimbriae protein was used as the target and bovine serum albumin as counter targets. These aptamers were applied successfully in the detection of ETEC K88. They were then grouped under different families based on the similarity of their secondary structure and the homology of their primary sequence. Four sequences from different families were deliberately chosen for further characterization by fluorescence analysis. Having the advantage of high sensitivity, fluorescence photometry was selected as single-stranded DNA quantification method during the SELEX process. Aptamers with the highest specificity and affinity were analyzed to evaluate binding ability with E. coli. Since ETEC K88 is the only type of bacterium that expressed abundant K88 fimbriae, the selected aptamers against the K88 fimbriae protein were able to specifically identify ETEC K88 among other bacteria. This method of detecting ETEC K88 by aptamers can also be applied to bacteria other than ETEC K88.     

温度对香蕉花蓟马发育和存活的影响

通过在人工气候箱内饲养香蕉花蓟马,测定了14、18、22、26℃和30℃5个温度下香蕉花蓟马不同虫态的发育历期,分析了温度与香蕉花蓟马发育速率的关系,计算了其发育起点温度、有效积温及存活率。结果表明:香蕉花蓟马各虫态的发育历期随温度的升高而缩短,发育速率和温度之间有很大的相关性;香蕉花蓟马卵、一龄若虫、二龄若虫、预蛹、蛹及世代的发育起点温度分别为8.26、10.56、7.92、9.17、9.53、8.69℃,世代的有效积温为153.81d·℃。26℃下香蕉花蓟马的世代存活率最高,为63.16%;30℃下的存活率最低,为46.34%。     

92份棉花资源遗传多样性的SSR分析

选用均匀分布于棉花全基因组的132个SSR标记,对精选的92个棉花品种(系)进行分析,结果表明,共扩增出494个多态性条带,每个引物平均3.69个.等位基因变异的多态性信息含量(PIC)在0.010 0～0.871 4之间,平均为0.546 6.采用NTSYS-pc软件计算品种对间的相似系数, 92个品种之间的成对相似系数平均为0.729 2±0.135 0,变幅在0.411 8～0.957 5之间,其中陆地棉种内48.94%的品种对相似系数≤0.800 0,海岛棉种内50.91%的品种对相似系数≤0.800 0,表明此自然群体的遗传基础较为宽泛.根据Jaccard's相似系数所得的UPGMA聚类图和系谱追溯的结果显示,此群体中品种的选育过程复杂,血统来源多样,存在较高程度的遗传多样性.     

过量铜、锌对外生菌根菌牛乳牛肝菌生物量、呼吸和糖酵解酶活性的影响

在过量铜或锌胁迫下,独立培养的外生菌根菌牛乳牛肝菌（Suillus     

融合基因umcel5N-CBM的构建、表达及融合酶性质分析

BM,并实现了融合基因在大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)pLysS中的表达.研究结果表明,融合酶Umcel5N-CBM与结晶纤维素(avicel)以及滤纸粉末的结合能力比原始酶Umcel5N提高了约一倍,但未显示出降解结晶纤维素的新活性,说明在结晶纤维素的降解过程中,纤维素酶的催化功能域起到关键作用.     

DNA methylation changes in photoperiod-thermo-sensitive male sterile rice PA64S under two different conditions

Epigenetic modification can occur at a high frequency in crop plants and might generate phenotypic variation without changes in DNA sequences. DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that may contribute to environmentally-induced phenotypic variations by regulating gene expression. Rice Photoperiod-Thermo-Sensitive Genic Male Sterile (PTGMS) lines can transform from sterility to fertility under lower temperatures and short-day (SD) conditions during anther development. So far, little is known about the DNA methylation variation of PTGMS throughout the genome in rice. In this study, we investigated DNA cytosine methylation alterations in the young panicles of PTGMS line PA64S under two different conditions using methylation sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) method. Compared with the DNA methylation level of PA64S under lower temperatures and SD conditions (fertility), higher methylation was observed in PA64S (sterility). The sequences of 25 differentially amplified fragments were successfully obtained and annotated. Three methylated fragments, which are homologous to D2, NAD7 and psaA, were confirmed by bisulfite sequencing and their expression levels were also evaluated by qPCR. Real time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that five of the six selected methylated genes were downregulated in PA64S (sterility). These results suggested that DNA methylation may be involved in the sterility–fertility transition of PA64S under two different environmental conditions.