Evaluation of the Diversity of Probiotic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clostridium</Emphasis>, and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bifidobacterium</Emphasis> Using the Illumina-Based Sequencing Method

Bacterial species of Bacillus, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium in the intestinal tract have been used as probiotics. Selections for probiotic candidates by the culture-based approaches are time-consuming and labor-consuming. The aim of this study was to develop a new method based on sequencing strategies to select the probiotic Bacillus, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium. The Illumina-based sequencing strategies with different specific primers for Bacillus, Clostridium, and Bifidobacterium were applied to analyze diversity of the genera in goat feces. The average number of different Bacillus, Clostridium, and Bifidobacterium OTUs (operational taxonomic units) at the 97% similarity level ranged from 1922 to 63172. The coverage index values of Bacillus, Clostridium, and Bifidobacterium calculated from the bacterial OTUs were 0.89, 0.99, and 1.00, respectively. The most genera of Bacillus (37.9%), Clostridium (53%), and Bifidobacterium (99%) were detected in goat feces by the Illumina-based sequencing with the specific primers of the genera, respectively. Higher phylogenetic resolutions of the genera in goat feces were successfully established. The results suggest that the selection for probiotic Bacillus, Clostridium, and Bifidobacterium based on the Illumina sequencing with their specific primers is reliable and feasible, and the core Bacillus, Clostridium, and Bifidobacterium species of healthy goats possess the potentials as probiotic microbial consortia.     

Down-regulating IL-6/GP130 targets improved the anti-tumor effects of 5-fluorouracil in colon cancer

Recent studies have confirmed that IL-6/GP130 targets are closely associated with tumor growth, metastasis and drug resistance. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most common chemotherapeutic agent for colon cancer but is limited due to chemoresistance and high cytotoxicity. Bazedoxifene (BZA), a third-generation selective estrogen receptor modulator, was discovered by multiple ligand simultaneous docking and drug repositioning approaches to have a novel function as an IL-6/GP130 target inhibitor. Thus, we speculated that in colon cancer, the anti-tumor efficacy of 5-FU might be increased in combination with IL-6/GP130 inhibitors. CCK8 assay and colony formation assay were used to detect the cell proliferation and colony formation. We measured the IC₅₀ value of 5-FU alone and in combination with BZA by cell viability inhibition. Cell migration and invasion ability were tested by scratch migration assays and transwell invasion assays. Flow cytometric analysis for cell apoptosis and cell cycle. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect Bad, Bcl-2 and Ki-67 mRNA expression and western blotting (WB) assay analyzed protein expression of Bad/Bcl-2 signaling pathway. Further mechanism study, WB analysis detected the key proteins level in IL-6/GP130 targets and JAK/STAT3, Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. A colon cancer xenograft model was used to further confirm the efficacy of 5-FU and BZA in vivo. The GP130, P-STAT3, P-AKT, and P-ERK expression levels were detected by immunohistochemistry in the xenograft tumor. BZA markedly potentiates the anti-tumor function of 5-FU in vitro and in vivo. Conversely, 5-FU activation is reduced following exogenous IL-6 treatment in cells. Further mechanistic studies determined that BZA treatment enhanced 5-FU anti-tumor activation by inhibiting the IL-6/GP130 signaling pathway and the phosphorylation status of the downstream effectors AKT, ERK and STAT3. In contrast, IL-6 can attenuate 5-FU function via activating IL-6R/GP130 signaling and the P-AKT, P-ERK and P-STAT3 levels. This study firstly verifies that targeting IL-6/GP130 signaling can increase the anti-tumor function of 5-FU; in addition, this strategy can sensitize cancer cell drug sensitivity, implying that blocking IL-6/GP130 targets can reverse chemoresistance. Therefore, combining 5-FU and IL-6/GP130 target inhibitors may be a promising approach for cancer treatment.     

我国汉族和彝族rRNA基因多态性的研究

人类ｒＤＮＡ顺序既偏偏保守性积蓄高的转录区,又有变异性较大的不转录间隔区。随着对ｒＤＮＡ结构的不断认识,发现对不转录间隔区特征的研究在分子群体遗传学上具有重要的价值。我们运用ｒＤＮＡ基因探针和Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎ印迹法对甸汉族和彝族ｒＲＮＡ基因３＇端不转录间隔区作多态性分析,ＲＦＬＰ特征揭示两个民族有广泛的共性,又有各自的特点,这一遗传标志对少数民族群体遗传学乃至我国民族的迁移和演化的研究有重要意义。     

Identification of a new gene PA5017 involved in flagella-mediated motility, chemotaxis and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Flagella-mediated motility is recognized as one of the major factors contributing to virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. During a screening of a mini-Mu transposon mutant library of P. aeruginosa PA68, a mutant partially deficient in swimming and swarming motility was identified in a new locus that encodes a predicted protein of unknown function annotated PA5017 in the P. aeruginosa PAO1 genome sequence. Chemotaxis plate assay indicated that inactivation of the PA5017 gene led to a decreased chemotactic response. Complementation of the PA5017 mutant with the wild-type PA5017 gene restored normal motility and chemotaxis phenotype. A promoter-lacZ reporter activity assay of the cheYZAB operon from chemotaxis gene cluster 1 showed that there was almost a twofold difference in expression levels of the wild-type PA68 and the PA5017 mutant. This suggested that the PA5017 affected expression of the cheYZAB operon negatively. Further study showed that inactivation of the PA5017 gene in PA68 led to increased biofilm formation in a static system and to the formation of a heterogeneous biofilm in a flow-chamber system. These results suggested that PA5017 possibly affected flagellum-dependent motility and in turn biofilm formation via the chemotaxis signal transduction pathway.     

烟草—TMV相互作用中质膜NADPH氧化酶的组装

比较 Ｎ Ｎ 烟草（与烟草花叶病毒（ Ｔ Ｍ Ｖ）发生非亲和相互作用）和普通烟草 ３００２ 品种（与 Ｔ Ｍ Ｖ 发生亲和相互作用）在烟草— Ｔ Ｍ Ｖ 的相互作用中质膜 Ｎ Ａ Ｄ Ｐ Ｈ 氧化酶的组装激活、产生活性氧的差异．用两相法制备密闭的正向型质膜（ Ｐ Ｍ）囊泡,以 Ｓ Ｏ Ｄ 敏感的 Ｎ Ａ Ｄ Ｐ Ｈ 依赖的 Ｃｙｔ ｃ 的还原表示 Ｎ Ａ Ｄ Ｐ Ｈ 氧化酶的活性,用人类噬中性白细胞 Ｎ Ａ Ｄ Ｐ Ｈ 氧化酶亚基 ｐ４７ ｐｈｏｘ 的抗体对烟草叶片蛋白进行免疫学检测．结果显示在两种烟草叶片胞质中均存在与 ｐ４７ ｐｈｏｘ 亚基的抗体发生免疫交叉反应的相同分子量的蛋白,该蛋白在 Ｔ Ｍ Ｖ 侵染 Ｎ Ｎ 基因烟草后可向质膜发生转移,且伴随有氧化酶活性的升高．而对于普通烟草则无氧化酶膜组分和酶活性的明显变化．以上结果表明,烟草叶片质膜上存在与哺乳动物 Ｎ Ａ Ｄ Ｐ Ｈ 氧化酶相类似的氧化酶,它的组装和激活可能是烟草— Ｔ Ｍ Ｖ 非亲和相互作用早期活性氧的主要来源．     

Artificial inoculation of banana tissue culture plantlets with indigenous endophytes originally derived from native banana plants

Fusarium wilt disease of banana is one of the most harmful fungal diseases affecting banana production worldwide. We hypothetically proposed that the loss of indigenous endophytes in tissue culture propagation of banana might be related to increased disease severity on banana plants. In the present study, a mixture of uncultivated endophytes, which was originally derived from native healthy banana plant in plantation, was used to artificially inoculate banana tissue culture plantlets. A broad spectrum of bacterial communities was detected in the roots of artificially inoculated plantlets by 16S ribosomal RNA gene analysis, and γ-Proteobacteria was identified as the dominant group. Banana wilt pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense race 4 was inoculated to the plantlets after potting to investigate disease progress. With early diagnosis of fungal pathogen infection, 54% reduction was detected in artificially inoculated plantlets compared to endophyte-free control plantlets. The re-introduction of naturally-occurring endophytes into tissue culture banana plantlets led to a 67% suppression rate of wilt disease at the fifth month after pathogen infection on plantlets in the greenhouse. In addition to disease suppression, growth of host plantlets was also promoted with the inoculation of endophytes. The artificial inoculation method provided a foundational understanding of ecological enrichment to control banana wilt disease in future.     

宋代海底沉船“南海Ⅰ号”出水木质文物中细菌类群

【目的】通过对"南海Ⅰ号"沉船出水木质文物标本中细菌类群的分析,了解饱水木质文物中的细菌类群并推测细菌对木质文物损害的机制。【方法】应用Illumina Mi Seq测序平台对采自该沉船的10份木质文物标本中细菌V3–V4序列进行测序与分析,比较各标本中细菌群落的组成差异。【结果】根据97%序列相似性得到3 780不同的细菌OTUs,分属34目、35科的187个属;多数细菌OTU属于变形菌门(Proteobacteria)细菌,占全部细菌OTU的52.9%,在细菌纲水平上γ-变形菌纲(γ-Proteobacteria)(占17.9%)是丰度最高的细菌纲。德沃氏菌属(Devosia)(3.5%)是"南海一号"沉船样品丰度最高的属,其他分别属于甲基娇养杆菌属(Methylotenera)(2.4%)、鼠尾菌属(Muricauda)(1.2%)。其中氢噬胞菌属(Hydrogenophaga)、中国农大湖积物杆菌(Lacibacter cauensis)、德氏食酸菌(Acidovorax delafieldii)、德沃斯氏菌属(Devosia)、沉积物杆状菌属(Sediminibacterium)、缺陷短孢单胞菌(Brevundimonas diminuta)和门多萨假单胞菌(Pseudomonas mendocina)在所有样品中均可检测到。【结论】"南海Ⅰ号"沉船出水木质文物存在着种类丰富的好氧与厌氧细菌种类,多种细菌类群具有较好的纤维素降解能力与铁硫元素转化能力,控制细菌群落中参与分解纤维素的细菌与铁硫循环菌活性对于保护木质文物有重要作用。     

l‐cysteine desulfhydrase‐related H2S production is involved in OsSE5‐promoted ammonium tolerance in roots of Oryza sativa

Previous studies revealed that rice heme oxygenase PHOTOPERIOD SENSITIVITY 5 (OsSE5) is involved in the regulation of tolerance to excess ammonium by enhancing antioxidant defence. In this study, the relationship between OsSE5 and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), a well‐known signalling molecule, was investigated. Results showed that NH₄Cl triggered the induction of l ‐cysteine desulfhydrase (l ‐DES)‐related H₂S production in rice seedling roots. A H₂S donor not only alleviated the excess ammonium‐triggered inhibition of root growth but also reduced endogenous ammonium, both of which were aggravated by hypotaurine (HT, a H₂S scavenger) or dl ‐propargylglycine (PAG, a l ‐DES inhibitor). Nitrogen metabolism‐related enzymes were activated by H₂S, thus resulting in the induction of amino acid synthesis and total nitrogen content. Interestingly, the activity of l ‐DES, as well as the enzymes involved in nitrogen metabolism, was significantly increased in the OsSE5‐overexpression line (35S:OsSE5), whereas it impaired in the OsSE5‐knockdown mutant (OsSE5‐RNAi). The application of the HT/PAG or H₂S donor could differentially block or rescue NH₄Cl‐hyposensitivity or hypersensitivity phenotypes in 35S:OsSE5‐1 or OsSE5‐RNAi‐1 plants, with a concomitant modulation of nitrogen assimilation. Taken together, these results illustrated that H₂S function as an indispensable positive regulator participated in OsSE5‐promoted ammonium tolerance, in which nitrogen metabolism was facilitated.     

Hispidin produced from Phellinus linteus protects against peroxynitrite- mediated DNA damage and hydroxyl radical generation

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the progression of many chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. One such mediator of oxidative stress is peroxynitrite, which is highly toxic to cultured neurons and astrocytes, and has been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of various types of neuronal diseases. Therefore, searching for natural compounds with peroxynitrite-scavenging activity might be an effective therapy for peroxynitrite-mediated cytotoxicity. Hispidin, a phenolic compound from Phellinus linteus (a medicinal mushroom), has been shown to possess strong antioxidant, anticancer, and antidiabetic properties. However, the astrocyte protective efficacy of hispidin has been not examined. This study was undertaken to investigate whether the astrocyte protective effect of hispidin is associated with inhibition of peroxynitrite-induced DNA damage, a critical event leading to peroxynitrite-mediated cytotoxicity. Our results showed that peroxynitrite can cause DNA damage in φX-174 plasmid DNA and rat primary astrocytes. The presence of hispidin (10-20μg/ml) was found to significantly inhibit peroxynitrite-induced DNA damage and cytotoxicity. EPR spectroscopy demonstrated that the formation of DMPO-hydroxyl radical adduct (DMPO-OH) from peroxynitrite, and that hispidin potently diminished the adduct signal in a concentration-dependent manner. Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that hispidin can protect against peroxynitrite-mediated cytotoxicity, DNA damage and hydroxyl radical formation.