小麦－黑麦－中间偃麦草三属杂种F_1及其花粉植株的细胞遗传学研究

２个小麦－黑麦－中间偃麦草三属杂种Ｆ１的减数分裂方为复杂,中期Ⅰ染色体平均每细胞构型为１９．５３Ⅰ＋１３．４７Ⅱ＋０．７０Ⅲ＋０．０６Ⅳ和１９．９９Ⅰ＋１３．４２Ⅱ＋０．６５Ⅲ＋０．０４Ⅳ＋０．０１Ⅴ,后期Ⅰ染色体分配不平衡,单价体并不一定排列在赤道板上,产生各种类型的异常四分体。１８株花粉植株染色体组成类型多样,在２个花粉植株中分别观察到端体和等臂染色体。单倍体花粉植株中期Ⅰ染色体配对频率较高,交叉值为１．５１－３．８５。本文还讨论了三属杂种和花药培养的结合应用。     

降血脂药物（DEHP）对酰基CoA氧化酶基因反式作用因子的影响

从对照和用ＤＥＨＰ处理的大鼠肝脏提取核蛋白,以含酰基ＣｏＡ氧化酶（ＡＯＸ）基因表达调控部位的ＤＮＡ片段和该基因的不同蛋白结合位点的ＤＮＡ片段作为核蛋白结合反应的探针,通过凝胶电泳迁移率改变实验和Ｓｏｕｔｈｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ印迹分析检查了ＤＥＨＰ对ＡＯＸ基因反式作用因子的影响。结果表明,降血脂药物ＤＥＨＰ可显著增加ＡＯＸ基因反式作用因子的含量和（或）与基因的结合活性,在转录水平上促进基因的表达。     

枯草杆菌BS224菌在防治Ⅲ°烧伤创面感染中痂下组织细菌数量的动态观察

对48例Ⅲ°烧伤病人的创面,定量植入枯草杆菌BS224菌后,分别在24h、48h、72h及96h做痂下组织细菌定量检测。结果显示:枯草杆菌对痂下组织的致病菌有明显的拮抗作用。感染创面的BS224菌体数量24—48小时显著增加,72—96小时而下降。与清洁创面的BS224菌动态变化上相同,呈常态曲线的规律变化。     

Regulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC7 function during the cell cycle.

The yeast Cdc7 function is required for the G1/S transition and is dependent on passage through START, a point controlled by the Cdc28/cdc2/p34 protein kinase. CDC7 encodes a protein kinase activity, and we now show that this kinase activity varies in the cell cycle but that protein levels appear to remain constant. We present several lines of evidence that periodic activation of CDC7 kinase is at least in part through phosphorylation. First, the kinase activity of the Cdc7 protein is destroyed by dephosphorylation of the protein in vitro with phosphatase. Second, Cdc7 protein is hypophosphorylated and inactive as a kinase in extracts of cells arrested at START but becomes active and maximally phosphorylated subsequent to passage through START. The phosphorylation pattern of Cdc7 protein is complex. Phosphopeptide mapping reveals four phosphopeptides in Cdc7 prepared from asynchronous yeast cells. Both autophosphorylation and phosphorylation in trans appear to contribute to this pattern. Autophosphorylation is shown to occur by using a thermolabile Cdc7 protein. A protein in yeast extracts can phosphorylate and activate Cdc7 protein made in Escherichia coli, and phosphorylation is thermolabile in cdc28 mutant extracts. Cdc7 protein carrying a serine to alanine change in the consensus recognition site for Cdc28 kinase shows an altered phosphopeptide map, suggesting that this site is important in determining the overall Cdc7 phosphorylation pattern.     

Phytopathogenic bacteria utilize host glucose as a signal to stimulate virulence through LuxR homologues

Chemical signal-mediated biological communication is common within bacteria and between bacteria and their hosts. Many plant-associated bacteria respond to unknown plant compounds to regulate bacterial gene expression. However, the nature of the plant compounds that mediate such interkingdom communication and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly characterized. Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) causes black rot disease on brassica vegetables. Xcc contains an orphan LuxR regulator (XccR) which senses a plant signal that was validated to be glucose by HPLC-MS. The glucose concentration increases in apoplast fluid after Xcc infection, which is caused by the enhanced activity of plant sugar transporters translocating sugar and cell-wall invertases releasing glucose from sucrose. XccR recruits glucose, but not fructose, sucrose, glucose 6-phosphate, and UDP-glucose, to activate pip expression. Deletion of the bacterial glucose transporter gene sglT impaired pathogen virulence and pip expression. Structural prediction showed that the N-terminal domain of XccR forms an alternative pocket neighbouring the AHL-binding pocket for glucose docking. Substitution of three residues affecting structural stability abolished the ability of XccR to bind to the luxXc box in the pip promoter. Several other XccR homologues from plant-associated bacteria can also form stable complexes with glucose, indicating that glucose may function as a common signal molecule for pathogen–plant interactions. The conservation of a glucose/XccR/pip-like system in plant-associated bacteria suggests that some phytopathogens have evolved the ability to utilize host compounds as virulence signals, indicating that LuxRs mediate an interkingdom signalling circuit.     

Inhibition of the HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteases by curcumin and curcumin boron complexes

Curcumin, a relatively non-toxic natural product isolated from Curcuma longa, is a modest inhibitor of the HIV-1 (1050 = 100 μM) and HIV-2 (IC₅₀ = 250 μM) proteases. Simple modifications of the curcumin structure raise the IC₅₀ value but complexes of the central dihydroxy groups of curcumin with boron lower the IC₅₀ to a value as low as 6 μM. The boron complexes are also time-dependent inactivators of the HIV proteases. The increased affinity of the boron complexes may reflect binding of the orthogonal domains of the inhibitor in intersecting sites within the substrate-binding cavity of the enzyme, while activation of the ,β-unsaturated carbonyl group of curcumin by chelation to boron probably accounts for time-dependent inhibition of the enzyme.     

LEP and LEPR are possibly a double-edged sword for wound healing

Wound healing is a complex and error-prone process. Wound healing in adults often leads to the formation of scars, a type of fibrotic tissue that lacks skin appendages. Hypertrophic scars and keloids can also form when the wound-healing process goes wrong. Leptin (Lep) and leptin receptors (LepRs) have recently been shown to affect multiple stages of wound healing. This effect, however, is paradoxical for scarless wound healing. On the one hand, Lep exerts pro-inflammatory and profibrotic effects; on the other hand, Lep can regulate hair follicle growth. This paper summarises the role of Lep and LepRs on cells in different stages of wound healing, briefly introduces the process of wound healing and Lep and LepRs, and examines the possibility of promoting scarless wound healing through spatiotemporal, systemic, and local regulation of Lep levels and the binding of Lep and LepRs.     

Thermostability enhancement of polyethylene terephthalate degrading PETase using self- and nonself-ligating protein scaffolding approaches

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hydrolase enzymes show promise for enzymatic PET degradation and green recycling of single-use PET vessels representing a major source of global pollution. Their full potential can be unlocked with enzyme engineering to render activities on recalcitrant PET substrates commensurate with cost-effective recycling at scale. Thermostability is a highly desirable property in industrial enzymes, often imparting increased robustness and significantly reducing quantities required. To date, most engineered PET hydrolases show improved thermostability over their parental enzymes. Here, we report engineered thermostable variants of Ideonella sakaiensis PET hydrolase enzyme (IsPETase) developed using two scaffolding strategies. The first employed SpyCatcher-SpyTag technology to covalently cyclize IsPETase, resulting in increased thermostability that was concomitant with reduced turnover of PET substrates compared to native IsPETase. The second approach using a GFP-nanobody fusion protein (vGFP) as a scaffold yielded a construct with a melting temperature of 80°C. This was further increased to 85°C when a thermostable PETase variant (FAST PETase) was scaffolded into vGFP, the highest reported so far for an engineered PET hydrolase derived from IsPETase. Thermostability enhancement using the vGFP scaffold did not compromise activity on PET compared to IsPETase. These contrasting results highlight potential topological and dynamic constraints imposed by scaffold choice as determinants of enzyme activity.     

Subcellular Distribution and Chemical Forms of Cadmium in the Medicine Food Homology Plant <i>Platycodon grandiflorum</i> (Jacq.) A.DC.

Although Platycodon grandiflorum (Jacq.) A.DC. is a renowned medicine food homology plant, reports of excessive cadmium (Cd) levels are common, which affects its safety for clinical use and food consumption. To enable its Cd levels to be regulated or reduced, it is necessary to first elucidate the mechanism of Cd uptake and accumulation in the plant, in addition to its detoxification mechanisms. This present study used inductively couple plasma-mass-spectrometry to analyze the subcellular distribution and chemical forms of Cd in different tissues of P. grandiflorum. The experimental results showed that Cd was mainly accumulated in the roots [predominantly in the cell wall (50.96%–61.42%)], and it was found primarily in hypomobile and hypotoxic forms. The proportion of Cd in the soluble fraction increased after Cd exposure, and the proportion of insoluble phosphate Cd and oxalate Cd increased in roots and leaves, with a higher increase in oxalate Cd. Therefore, it is likely that root retention mechanisms, cell wall deposition, vacuole sequestration, and the formation of low mobility and low toxicity forms are tolerance strategies for Cd detoxification used by P. grandiflorum. The results of this study provide a theoretical grounding for the study of Cd accumulation and detoxification mechanisms in P. grandiflorum, and they can be used as a reference for developing Cd limits and standards for other medicine food homology plants.