Identifying normal embryos from reciprocal translocation carriers by whole chromosome haplotyping

正Reciprocal translocation is a chromosomal structural abnormality that arises when two non-homologous chromosomes rearrange and attach with each other, an incidence that occurs in about 1/500to 1/625 newborns (Mackie and Scriven, 2002). This event typically does not lead to any significant loss of genetic material, thus reciprocal translocation carriers do not exhibit any severe abnormal     

Conservation analysis of long non-coding RNAs in plants

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are gene regulators that have vital roles in development and adaptation to the environment in eukaryotes. However, the structural and evolutionary analyses of plant lncRNAs are limited. In this study, we performed an analysis of lncRNAs in five monocot and five dicot species. Our results showed that plant lncRNA genes were generally shorter and had fewer exons than protein-coding genes. The numbers of lncRNAs were positively correlated with the numbers of protein-coding genes in different plant species, despite a high range of variation. Sequence conservation analysis showed that the majority of lncRNAs had high sequence conservation at the intra-species and sub-species levels, reminiscent of protein-coding genes. At the inter-species level, a subset of lncRNAs were highly diverged at the nucleotide level, but conserved by position. Interestingly, we found that plant lncRNAs have identical splicing signals, and those which can form precursors or targets of miRNAs have a conservative identity in different species. We also revealed that most of the lowly expressed lncRNAs were tissue-specific, while those highly conserved were constitutively transcribed. Meanwhile, we characterized a subset of rice lncRNAs that were co-expressed with their adjacent protein-coding genes, suggesting they may play cis-regulatory roles. These results will contribute to understanding the biological significance and evolution of lncRNAs in plants.     

No evidence for MHC‐based mate choice in wild giant pandas

Major histocompatibility complex genes (MHC), a gene cluster that controls the immune response to parasites, are regarded as an important determinant of mate choice. However, MHC‐based mate choice studies are especially rare for endangered animals. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), a flagship species, has suffered habitat loss and fragmentation. We investigated the genetic variation of three MHC class II loci, including DRB1, DQA1, and DQA2, for 19 mating‐pairs and 11 parent‐pairs of wild giant pandas based on long‐term field behavior observations and genetic samples. We tested four hypotheses of mate choice based on this MHC variation. We found no supporting evidence for the MHC‐based heterosis, genetic diversity, genetic compatibility and “good gene” hypotheses. These results suggest that giant pandas may not use MHC‐based signals to select mating partners, probably because limited mating opportunities or female‐biased natal dispersal restricts selection for MHC‐based mate choice, acknowledging the caveat of the small sample size often encountered in endangered animal studies. Our study provides insight into the mate choice mechanisms of wild giant pandas and highlights the need to increase the connectivity and facilitate dispersal among fragmented populations and habitats.     

Five New Alkaloids from the Roots of Sophora flavescens

Five new quinolizidine alkaloids, including three sparteine‐type alkaloids ( 1  –  3 ) and two cytisine‐type alkaloids ( 4 and 5 ), along with four known ones, were isolated from the roots of Sophora flavescens. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic techniques including IR, UV, NMR, and HR‐ESI‐MS. All the compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.     

Noninvasive photoacoustic and fluorescent tracking of optical dye labeled T cellular activities of diseased sites at new depth

The migration of immune cells is crucial to the immune response. Visualization of these processes has previously been limited because of the imaging depth. We developed a deep‐penetrating, sensitive and high‐resolution method to use fast photoacoustic tomography (PAT) to image the dynamic changes of T cells in lymph node and diseases at new depth (up to 9.5 mm). T cells labeled with NIR‐797‐isothiocyanate, an excellent near‐infrared photoacoustic and fluorescent agent, were intravenously injected to the mice. We used fluorescence imaging to determine the location of T cells roughly and photoacoustic imaging is used to observe T‐cell responses in diseased sites deeply and carefully. The dynamic changes of T cells in lymph node, acute disease (bacterial infection) and chronic disease (tumor) were observed noninvasively by photoacoustic and fluorescence imaging at different time points. T cells accumulated gradually and reached a maximum at 4 hours and declined afterwards in lymph node and bacterial infection site. At tumor model, T cells immigrated to the tumor with a maximum at 12 hours. Our study can not only provide a new observing method for immune activities tracking, but also enable continuous monitoring for therapeutic interventions.      

鼢鼠阴道内异物与种群自然调节研究初报

鼢鼠阴道内异物与种群自然调节研究初报曹志东（甘肃省定西地区种草养畜中心,７４３０００）ＡＰｒｅｌｉｍｉｎａｒｙＲｅｐｏｒｔｏｆｔｈｅＦｏｒｅｉｇｎＢｏｄｙｉｎｔｈｅＶａｇｉｎａｏｆＭｙｏｓｐａｌａｘａｎｄｔｈｅＮａｔｕｒａｌＲｅｇｕｌａｔｉｏｎｏｆｔ...     

寄生鳜鱼鳃部河鲈锚首吸虫的摄食特点

本文报道了鳜鱼［Ｓｉｎｉｐｅｒｃａｃｈｕａｔｓｉ（Ｂａｓｉｌｅｗｓｋｙ）］鳃上寄生的河鲈锚首吸虫［Ａｎｃｙｒｏｃｅｐｈａｌｕｓｍｏｇｕｒｎｄａｅ（Ｇｕｓｓｅｖ）］的食物组成及其能量储存的形式。联苯胺—过氧化物酶染色显示河鲈锚首吸虫摄食宿主的血液,过碘酸Ｓｃｈｉｆｆ氏反应显示其也摄食宿主的粘液。尽管在河鲈锚首吸虫的肠腔发现残余的细胞,但这些细胞是否为宿主的鳃组织细胞尚待进一步的研究证实。河鲈锚首吸虫体内储存有大量的脂肪,表明有氧代谢的存在并可能是能量供给的主要形式,尽管在虫体的实质中也有糖原的存在。     

Use of molecule imprinting-chemiluminescence method for the determination of tamoxifen in breast cancer sufferers' urine.

The reaction between soluble Mn(IV) and tamoxifen can produce chemiluminescence and formaldehyde can enhance this chemiluminescence reaction. A tamoxifen molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized and its adsorption selectivity to tamoxifen in aqueous solution was evaluated. Using a synthesized tamoxifen MIP as the recognition material and a soluble Mn(IV)-formaldehyde-tamoxifen chemiluminesence system as the detection system, a new molecule imprinting-chemiluminesence method of determination of tamoxifen was established. The response range of this method was 1.0 x 10(-7)-6.0 x 10(-6) g/mL, with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.997. The detection limit was 4 x 10(-8) g/mL. The relative standard deviation for 5.0 x 10(-7) g/mL tamoxifen solution was 4.1% (n = 9).     

Photosynthesis and conductance of spring-wheat leaves: field response to continuous free-air atmospheric CO2 enrichment

Spring wheat was grown from emergence to grain maturity in two partial pressures of CO₂ (pCO₂): ambient air of nominally 37 Pa and air enriched with CO₂ to 55 Pa using a free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) apparatus. This experiment was the first of its kind to be conducted within a cereal field without the modifications or disturbance of microclimate and rooting environment that accompanied previous studies. It provided a unique opportunity to examine the hypothesis that continuous exposure of wheat to elevated pCO₂ will lead to acclimatory loss of photosynthetic capacity. The diurnal courses of photosynthesis and conductance for upper canopy leaves were followed throughout the development of the crop and compared to model-predicted rates of photosynthesis. The seasonal average of midday photosynthesis rates was 28% greater in plants exposed to elevated pCO₂ than in contols and the seasonal average of the daily integrals of photosynthesis was 21% greater in elevated pCO₂ than in ambient air. The mean conductance at midday was reduced by 36%. The observed enhancement of photosynthesis in elevated pCO₂ agreed closely with that predicted from a mechanistic biochemical model that assumed no acclimation of photosynthetic capacity. Measured values fell below predicted only in the flag leaves in the mid afternoon before the onset of grain-filling and over the whole diurnal course at the end of grain-filling. The loss of enhancement at this final stage was attributed to the earlier senescence of flag leaves in elevated pCO₂. In contrast to some controlled-environment and field-enclosure studies, this field-scale study of wheat using free-air CO₂ enrichment found little evidence of acclimatory loss of photosynthetic capacity with growth in elevated pCO₂ and a significant and substantial increase in leaf photosynthesis throughout the life of the crop.     

中国四种龟的细胞遗传研究

本文研究了我国四种龟类动物的核型、Ｃ带和Ａｇ－ＮＯＲ＿ｓ。结果表明金头闭壳龟的核型２ｎ＝５２（１４Ｍ＋２ＳＭ＋４ＳＴ＋６Ｔ＋２６ｍ）,ＮＦ＝７２,核型模式为８＋５＋１３,一对次缢痕位于Ｉ组的Ｎｏ．１ｐｉｎｔｅｒ;三线闭壳龟核型２ｎ＝５２（１２Ｍ＋４ＳＭ＋４ＳＴ＋６Ｔ＋２６ｍ）,ＮＦ＝７２,８＋５＋３,黄缘盒龟的核型　２ｎ＝５２（１６Ｍ＋４ＳＴ＋６Ｔ＋２６ｍ）,ＮＦ＝７２,８＋５＋１３,一对次缢痕位于Ｉ组Ｎｏ．１ｐｉｎｔｅｒ;黄额盒龟２ｎ＝５２（１６Ｍ＋２ＳＭ＋４ＳＴ＋６Ｔ＋２４ｍ）,ＮＰ＝７４,９＋５＋１２,有４对次缢痕,分别位于Ｉ组的Ｎｏ．１ｐｉｎｔｅｒ,Ｎｏ．３ｐｐｅｒ,Ｎｏ．７ｐｐｅｒ和Ｎｏ．６（Ｘ染色体）ｑｐｅｒ。黄额盒龟有１对异型（ＸＹ型）性染色体,其余３个种没有。这四种龟的全部染色体都出现着丝粒区Ｃ带正染。它们都仅出现１对ＡｇＮＯＲｓ,其中黄额盒龟的Ａｇ－ＮＯＲｓ。位于ＩＩ组的Ｎｏ．５ｑｐｅｒ,其余３个种的Ａｇ－ＮＯＲ＿ｓ位于Ｉ组的Ｎｏ．７ｑｔｅｒ。本文还阐述了近缘种间核型的演化机制和黄额盒龟性染色体分化的途径。