烟粉虱携带番茄黄化曲叶病毒检测及其传入山东省的考证

【背景】番茄黄化曲叶病毒（TYLCV）是由媒介昆虫烟粉虱传播的一种双生病毒,对蔬菜及烟草等经济作物造成严重危害。前人资料表明,该病毒于2006年传人我国南方地区,2007年传人山东省,2008年后在山东各地逐渐蔓延扩散。【方法】为了考证TYLcV传人山东省的时间,本研究利用mtCOI基因对于2005和2006年7—8月份在山东省不同地区作物上共采集的15份烟粉虱样品进行了生物型鉴定,并进一步检测了烟粉虱携带TYLCV情况,同时对PCR扩增产物进行了测序分析。【结果】2005年的4份样品烟粉虱生物型均为B型,均不携带TYLCV。2006年的11份烟粉虱样品为B型与Q型混合样品,其中,2份烟粉虱样品检测到TYLCV,进一步证实该病毒为TYLCV。【结论与意义】本研究首次证实了TYLCV早在2006年就已经传入山东省。研究结果不仅对于防控该病毒具有重要指导意义,而且对于其入侵生物学研究也具有重要参考价值。     

Simulation of sequential batch reactor (SBR) operation for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus

Modeling of the operation of sequential batch reactor (SBR) was performed to find out optimum design parameters for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in a small-scale wastewater treatment plant. The models were set up with material balances on SBR operation and Monod kinetics. The model parameters were obtained to best fit the experimental results in a small scale SBR. The models were useful in optimizing hydraulic retention time (HRT) and successfully simulated operations of SBR in a larger scale. Especially the model predicted well the reactions occurring in the filling period as well as the effect of dilution, and evaluated the performance of SBR process under diverse operating conditions.     

MST1 promotes apoptosis through phosphorylation of histone H2AX

MST1 (mammalian STE20-like kinase 1) is a serine/threonine kinase that is cleaved and activated by caspases during apoptosis. Overexpression of MST1 induces apoptotic morphological changes such as chromatin condensation, but the mechanism is not clear. Here we show that MST1 induces apoptotic chromatin condensation through its phosphorylation of histone H2AX at Ser-139. During etoposide-induced apoptosis in Jurkat cells, the cleavage of MST1 directly corresponded with strong H2AX phosphorylation. In vitro kinase assay results showed that MST1 strongly phosphorylates histone H2AX. Western blot and kinase assay results with a mutant S139A H2AX confirmed that MST1 phosphorylates H2AX at Ser-139. Direct binding of MST1 and H2AX can be detected when co-expressed in HEK293 cells and was also confirmed by an endogenous immunoprecipitation study. When overexpressed in HeLa cells, both the MST1 full-length protein and the MST1 kinase domain (MST1-NT), but not the kinase-negative mutant (MST1-NT-KN), could induce obvious endogenous histone H2AX phosphorylation. The caspase-3 inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-DEVD-fluoromethyl ketone (Z-DEVD-fmk) attenuates phosphorylation of H2AX by MST1 but cannot inhibit MST1-NT-induced histone H2AX phosphorylation, indicating that cleaved MST1 is responsible for H2AX phosphorylation during apoptosis. Histone H2AX phosphorylation and DNA fragmentation were suppressed in MST1 knockdown Jurkat cells after etoposide treatment. Taken together, our data indicated that H2AX is a substrate of MST1, which functions to induce apoptotic chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation.     

Effects of Revegetation on Soil Microbial Biomass,Enzyme Activities,and Nutrient Cycling on the Loess Plateau in China

Revegetation is a traditional practice widely used for soil and water conservation on the Loess Plateau in China. However, there has been a lack of reports on soil microbial–biochemical indices required for a comprehensive evaluation of the success of revegetation systems. In this study, we examined the effects of revegetation on major soil nutrients and microbial–biochemical properties in an artificial alfalfa grassland, an enclosed natural grassland, and an artificial shrubland (Caragana korshinskii), with an abandoned cropland as control. Results showed that at 0–5, 5–20, and 20–40 cm depths, soil organic carbon, alkaline extractable nitrogen and available potassium were higher in natural grassland and artificial shrubland compared with artificial grassland and abandoned cropland. Soil microbial biomass C (Cmic) and phosphorous (Pmic) substantially decreased with depth at all sites, and in abandoned cropland was significantly lower than those of natural grassland, artificial grassland, and artificial shrubland at the depth of 0–5 cm. Soil microbial biomass N (Nmic) was higher in artificial shrubland and abandoned cropland compared with that in natural and artificial grasslands. Both Cmic and Pmic were significantly different between the 23‐year‐old and the 13‐year‐old artificial shrublands at the 0–5 cm depth. The activities of soil invertase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase in natural grassland and artificial shrubland were higher than those in artificial grassland and abandoned cropland. This study demonstrated that the regeneration of both natural grassland and artificial shrubland effectively preserved and enhanced soil microbial biomass and major nutrient cycling, thus is an ecologically beneficial practice for recovery of degraded soils on the Loess Plateau.     

Sonic hedgehog signaling regulates Gli3 processing, mesenchymal proliferation, and differentiation during mouse lung organogenesis

Lack of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling, mediated by the Gli proteins, leads to severe pulmonary hypoplasia. However, the precise role of Gli genes in lung development is not well established. We show Shh signaling prevents Gli3 proteolysis to generate its repressor forms (Gli3R) in the developing murine lung. In Shh(-/-) or cyclopamine-treated wild-type (WT) lung, we found that Gli3R level is elevated, and this upregulation appears to contribute to defects in proliferation and differentiation observed in the Shh(-/-) mesenchyme, where Gli3 is normally expressed. In agreement, we found Shh(-/-);Gli3(-/-) lungs exhibit enhanced growth potential. Vasculogenesis is also enhanced; in contrast, bronchial myogenesis remains absent in Shh(-/-);Gli3(-/-) compared with Shh(-/-) lungs. Genes upregulated in Shh(-/-);Gli3(-/-) relative to Shh(-/-) lung include Wnt2 and, surprisingly, Foxf1 whose expression has been reported to be Shh-dependent. Cyclins D1, D2, and D3 antibody labelings also reveal distinct expression patterns in the normal and mutant lungs. We found significant repression of Tbx2 and Tbx3, both linked to inhibition of cellular senescence, in Shh(-/-) and partial derepression in Shh(-/-); Gli3(-/-) lungs, while Tbx4 and Tbx5 expressions are less affected in the mutants. Our findings shed light on the role of Shh signaling on Gli3 processing in lung growth and differentiation by regulating several critical genes.     

Rapid determination of gatifloxacin in biological samples and pharmaceutical products using europium‐sensitized fluorescence spectrophotometry

A europium‐sensitized fluorescence spectrophotometry method using an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (SDBS), was developed for the determination of gatifloxacin (GFLX). The GFLX–Eu³⁺–SDBS system was studied and it was found that SDBS significantly enhanced the fluorescence intensity of the GFLX–Eu³⁺ complex (about 25‐fold). The optimal experimental conditions were determined as follows: excitation and emission wavelengths of 338 and 617 nm, pH 7.5, 3.0 × 10^–6 mol/L europium(III), and 5.0 × 10^–5 mol/L SDBS. The enhanced fluorescence intensity of the system (ΔI_f) showed a good linear relationship with the concentration of GFLX over the range 1.0 × 10^–8–8.0 × 10^–7 mol/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.9990. The detection limit (S:N = 3) was determined as 1.0 × 10^–9 mol/L. This method has been successfully applied for the determination of GFLX in pharmaceuticals and human urine/serum samples. Compared with most other methods reported, the rapid and simple procedure proposed here offered higher sensitivity, wider linear range and good stability. The luminescence mechanism of the system is also discussed in detail. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

马铃薯卷叶病毒基因间隔区的克隆及序列分析

根据已报道的马铃薯卷叶病毒基因组序列．设计合成一对特异性引物,以马铃薯卷叶病毒中国分离株（ＰＬＲＶ－Ｃｈ）的ＲＮＡ为模板,反转录合成ｃＤＮＡ第一条链,经ＰＣＲ扩增后克隆于ｐＵＣ１９质粒中,进一步用ＰＣＲ鉴定、限制酶切分析和序列分析,结果表明：ＰＬＲＶ－Ｃｈ基因间隔区由１９７个核苷酸组成,与国外报道的荷兰ＰＬＲＶ－Ｎ加拿大ＰＬＲＶ－Ｃ,澳大利亚ＰＬＲＶ－Ａ,苏格兰ＰＬＲＶ－Ｓ各株系核苷酸序列具有很高的同源性,同源率依次为９９％、９８％、９３％、９８％。