遮荫对‘保佳红’桃树叶片快速叶绿素荧光诱导动力学曲线的影响

以3年生桃品种‘保佳红’为试材,于不同生育时期采用人工遮阴的方法,在叶片生长的不同时期分别设置100%(CK)、80%、60%、40%和20% 自然光照的5个光照强度处理,利用快速叶绿素荧光诱导动力学曲线分析技术,研究了不同光强对桃树叶片快速叶绿素荧光诱导动力学曲线及其参数的影响。结果表明：（1）桃树各生长时期的叶片最大荧光值均随着光照强度的减弱而依次升高。（2）在PSⅡ能量分配比率方面,遮阴下的叶片提高了用于电子传递的量子比率(φ_Eo),降低了用于热耗散的的量子比率(φ_Do)。（3）在PSⅡ反应中心活性方面,遮阴使得单位反应中心吸收的光能(ABS/RC)、捕获的光能(TRo/RC)、用于传递电子的能量(ETo/RC)和用于热耗散的能量(DIo/RC)均下降。（4）各时期不同光强处理的最大光化学效率F_v/F_m均在中午时段出现下降,且光照强度越大,降幅越大,说明桃叶在中午会出现强光抑制。研究认为：在遮阴条件下,桃叶天线色素吸收和捕获的光能减少,PSⅡ反应中心活性降低,但其可以通过增加能量在电子传递方面的分配比率来提高对光能的利用。     

Encephalomyocarditis Virus 3C Protease Relieves TRAF Family Member-associated NF-κB Activator (TANK) Inhibitory Effect on TRAF6-mediated NF-κB Signaling through Cleavage of TANK

TRAF family member-associated NF-κB activator (TANK) is a negative regulator of canonical NF-κB signaling in the Toll-like receptor- and B-cell receptor-mediated signaling pathways. However, functions of TANK in viral infection-mediated NF-κB activation remain unclear. Here, we reported that TANK was cleaved by encephalomyocarditis virus 3C at the 197 and 291 glutamine residues, which depends on its cysteine protease activity. In addition, encephalomyocarditis virus 3C impaired the ability of TANK to inhibit TRAF6-mediated NF-κB signaling. Interestingly, we found that several viral proteases encoded by the foot and mouth disease virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, and equine arteritis virus also cleaved TANK. Our results suggest that TANK is a novel target of some viral proteases, indicating that some positive RNA viruses have evolved to utilize their major proteases to regulate NF-κB activation.     

Alternative Transposition Generates New Chimeric Genes and Segmental Duplications at the Maize p1 Locus

The maize Ac/Ds transposon family was the first transposable element system identified and characterized by Barbara McClintock. Ac/Ds transposons belong to the hAT family of class II DNA transposons. We and others have shown that Ac/Ds elements can undergo a process of alternative transposition in which the Ac/Ds transposase acts on the termini of two separate, nearby transposons. Because these termini are present in different elements, alternative transposition can generate a variety of genome alterations such as inversions, duplications, deletions, and translocations. Moreover, Ac/Ds elements transpose preferentially into genic regions, suggesting that structural changes arising from alternative transposition may potentially generate chimeric genes at the rearrangement breakpoints. Here we identified and characterized 11 independent cases of gene fusion induced by Ac alternative transposition. In each case, a functional chimeric gene was created by fusion of two linked, paralogous genes; moreover, each event was associated with duplication of the ∼70-kb segment located between the two paralogs. An extant gene in the maize B73 genome that contains an internal duplication apparently generated by an alternative transposition event was also identified. Our study demonstrates that alternative transposition-induced duplications may be a source for spontaneous creation of diverse genome structures and novel genes in maize.     

Exposure to serotonin adversely affects oligodendrocyte development and myelination in vitro

Serotonin (5‐hydroxytryptamine, 5‐HT) has been implicated to play critical roles in early neural development. Recent reports have suggested that perinatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) resulted in cortical network miswiring, abnormal social behavior, callosal myelin malformation, as well as oligodendrocyte (OL) pathology in rats. To gain further insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying SSRIs‐induced OL and myelin abnormalities, we investigated the effect of 5‐HT exposure on OL development, cell death, and myelination in cell culture models. First, we showed that 5‐HT receptor 1A and 2A subtypes were expressed in OL lineages, using immunocytochemistry, Western blot, as well as intracellular Ca²⁺ measurement. We then assessed the effect of serotonin exposure on the lineage development, expression of myelin proteins, cell death, and myelination, in purified OL and neuron‐OL myelination cultures. For pure OL cultures, our results showed that 5‐HT exposure led to disturbance of OL development, as indicated by aberrant process outgrowth and reduced myelin proteins expression. At higher doses, such exposure triggered a development‐dependent cell death, as immature OLs exhibited increasing susceptibility to 5‐HT treatment compared to OL progenitor cells (OPC). We showed further that 5‐HT‐induced immature OL death was mediated at least partially via 5‐HT2A receptor, since cell death could be mimicked by 5‐HT2A receptor agonist 1‐(2,5‐dimethoxy‐4‐iodophenyl)‐2‐aminopropane hydrochloride, (±)‐2,5‐dimethoxy‐4‐iodoamphetamine hydrochloride, but atten‐uated by pre‐treatment with 5‐HT2A receptor antagonist ritanserin. Utilizing a neuron‐OL myelination co‐culture model, our data showed that 5‐HT exposure significantly reduced the number of myelinated internodes. In contrast to cell injury observed in pure OL cultures, 5‐HT exposure did not lead to OL death or reduced OL density in neuron‐OL co‐cultures. However, abnormal patterns of contactin‐associated protein (Caspr) clustering were observed at the sites of Node of Ranvier, suggesting that 5‐HT exposure may affect other axon‐derived factors for myelination. In summary, this is the first study to demonstrate that manipulation of serotonin levels affects OL development and myelination, which may contribute to altered neural connectivity noted in SSRIs‐treated animals.

     

荒漠甲虫小胸鳖甲抗冻蛋白的酵母表达及应用

昆虫抗冻蛋白(Antifreeze protein,AFP)的抗冻活性很高,可应用于生物组织和细胞的低温保存。为了在酵母中表达荒漠甲虫小胸鳖甲Microdera punctipennis抗冻蛋白Mp AFP698,并确定其在低温下的保护作用,本文通过构建真核表达载体p PIC9K-Mpafp698,转化巴斯德毕赤酵母GS115,诱导表达小胸鳖甲抗冻蛋白Mp AFP698。利用免疫印迹(Western blotting)分析Mp AFP698蛋白的特异性表达,结果显示Mpafp698基因可整合到酵母基因组中并分泌表达,且酵母自身蛋白很少分泌表达。检测抗冻蛋白的低温保护作用,结果发现,小胸鳖甲抗冻蛋白可显著改善冷冻小鼠肝脏等器官的细胞形态,降低血细胞在4℃的溶血率,提高SF9细胞冻融后的存活率。本研究表明,小胸鳖甲AFP可以在毕赤酵母中分泌表达,便于纯化,有良好的低温保护效果。