POTENTIAL UTILITY OF MITOCHONDRIAL CYTOCHROME B AND ITS MRNA EDITING IN RESOLVING CLOSELY RELATED DINOFLAGELLATES: A CASE STUDY OF PROROCENTRUM (DINOPHYCEAE)1

Difficulties often occur in separating closely related dinoflagellate species. In this study, the potential utility of mitochondrial cytochrome b (cob) gene sequence and mRNA editing characteristics was assessed using Prorocentrum Ehrenberg as a model. The cob sequences and the patterns of their mRNA editing were analyzed for several Prorocentrum taxa. Results revealed little difference in cob sequence and mRNA editing characteristics between geographic populations of P. minimum (Pavillard) Schiller, while a notable difference was detected between different species (P. minimum and P. micans Ehrenberg). Furthermore, these P. minimum populations consistently formed a tight cluster on phylogenetic trees inferred from cob sequences as well as mRNA editing characteristics, whereas different Prorocentrum species were well separated, with a genetic distance of 0.0042±0.0024 for the former and 0.0141±0.0012 for the latter (P<0.01; two‐tailed t‐test). When the analysis was applied to the case of P. donghaiense Lu et Goebel and CCMP1517 strain of P. dentatum Stein, no differences were detected between these two taxa with respect to cob mRNA editing pattern and only small differences equivalent to those between P. minimum populations were detected in terms of cob sequence. On the cob sequence‐ and editing‐based phylogenetic trees, P. donghaiense and P. dentatum CCMP1517 consistently clustered together at a position sister to P. minimum. The results suggest that cob, combined with its mRNA editing, can potentially be a useful delineator of Prorocentrum species, and that P. donghaiense and P. dentatum CCMP1517 are most likely the same species and both are closely related to P. minimum.     

Nm23-H1/NDPK-A基因在大肠杆菌中的高效表达及产物纯化的研究

利用聚合酶链反应（ＰＣＲ）技术扩增人二磷酸核苷激酶Ａ亚基（ＮＤＰＫ－Ａ）基因,即ｎｍ２３－Ｈ１／ＮＤＰＫ－Ｋ基因的编码序列,经序列分析后,定向克隆于表达质粒载体ｐＢＶ２２０,在大肠杆菌ＤＨ５α中高效表达出重组人ＮＤＰＫ－Ａ．表达产物为可溶性的非融合蛋白,占菌体总蛋白４２％．斑点ＥＬＩＳＡ法鉴定表明表达产物与ＮＤＰＫ－Ａ标准抗血清呈阳性反应．以ＤＥＡＥ纤维素弱阴离子交换层析、ＣｉｂａｃｒｏｎＢｌｕｅ染料亲和层析结合高效液相排阻色谱技术纯化ｒＮＤＰＫ－Ａ,得纯度为９６．７％的目标蛋白．以反相高效液相色谱法进行酶活性分析,表明纯化的ｒＮＤＰＫ－Ａ能催化ＡＴＰ＋ＵＤＰ＝ＡＤＰ＋ＵＴＰ的反应,比活性为８００Ｕ／ｍｇ蛋白．     

PEG修饰的辣根过氧化物酶及其在非水介质中的性质

酶的化学修饰可以明显提高酶在有机相中的活力。通过氧化过氧化物酶（ＨＲＰ）的糖链后引入氨基再连接甲氧基聚乙醇（ＰＥＧ）５０００和在酶的肽链上连接ＰＥＧ５０００,发现ＨＲＰ多肽链上修饰后的酶在水相中的活力几乎没有变化,但通过氧化糖链连接ＰＥＧ的酶在水相中的活力下降近２倍。在甲苯及二氧六环含量较高的体系中,修和均呈上升趋势。特别在甲苯体系中两种修饰酶活力都比未经修饰的酶提高了近２倍。稳定性研究表明,不论     

膜表面质子可能是ATP合成的主要驱动力

利用细胞压破碎仪破碎鼠肝线粒体,得到了具有良好生物活性的ＳＭＰ,其呼吸控制率为１．４。分别采用荧光探针ｏｘｏｎｏｌＶＩ和ａｃｒｉｄｉｎｅｏｒａｎｇｅ,利用荧光淬灭法测定了丙二酸滴定过程中,ＳＭＰΔΨ和ΔｐＨ的变化趋势,结果表明：当丙二酸浓度达到０．７５ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ时,ΔΨ的建立完全被抑制,而ΔｐＨ仍然保持了８３．９％。当丙二酸浓度达到１．００ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ时,ΔｐＨ的建立才完全被抑制。ＳＭＰＡＴＰ合成活性的测定显示,当ΔΨ的建立被完全抑制,而ΔｐＨ仍然存在时,仍有部分ＡＴＰ合成活性（３４．１％）。上述现象为膜表面高能质子是ＡＴＰ合成的主要驱动力的观点提供了又一佐证。此外,当丙二酸浓度从０ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ增加到０．７５ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ时,尽管ΔΨ与ΔｐＨ的变化不很大,但ＳＭＰＡＴＰ合成活性却出现明显降低,与氧化呼吸链活性的变化类似,二者呈对数关系,也表明ＡＴＰ合成很可能与ΔμＨ＋并不直接相关,而与膜表面质子流量呈更为紧密的关系     

Reorganization and condensation of chromatin in mitotic prophase nuclei of Allium cepa

This paper studies the process and features of chromosome construction in mitotic prophase cells of Allium cepa. The results showed that a prominent reorganization of chromatin occurred during G₂-early prophase. The 250–400 nm thick compact chromatin threads in G₂ nuclei began to disorganize into about 30, 100 and 220 nm chromatin fibres which constituted the loosely organized chromosome outlines in early prophase before chromosome condensation. In middle prophase, chromosome condensation was characterized by the formation of many condensed regions (aggregates of chromatin), which increased in size (1–1.5 m) when prophase proceeded. Meanwhile, the chromatin threads that constituted and connected the condensed regions became increasingly thicker (120–250 nm). In late prophase adjacent condensed regions fused to form cylinder-shaped chromosomes. Based on these observations, we come to the conclusion that the construction of prophase chromosomes is a two-step process, that is, the reorganization and condensation of chromatin. In addition, we report the study of silver-stained, DNA- and histone-depleted prophase chromosomes, describe morphological features of the non-histone protein (NHP) residue in early, middle and late prophase chromosomes, and discuss the roles of NHPs in chromosome construction.     

Recent structural variations in the Medicago chloroplast genomes and their horizontal transfer into nuclear chromosomes

Medicago is a genus of legumes (Fabaceae) that resemble common clovers with pinnately trifoliate leaves and spirally coiled seed pods, and Medicago sativa is a famous forage crop throughout the world. In this study, we systematically assembled the complete plastid genomes of 18 Medicago species, representing 35 Medicago accessions, whose genome size ranged from ~119 to 125 kb, and identified one novel inverted repeat (IR) in two accessions of Medicago soleirolii (PI537242 and PI537243), albeit of no IRs in the most accessions. We built a phylogenetic tree based on common protein-coding sequences of 55 Medicago accessions in 38 species, which were placed into five clades with a divergence since 9.37 million years ago. Global alignment revealed independent genome evolution events, including eight inversions in nine species and four intron losses (ILs) in 10 species, among which four inversions and two ILs have not been reported previously. Within 109–111 unique genes, ndhA, rpl2, and ycf3 were under positive selection in 54 Medicago accessions. Finally, by aligning chloroplast genes against the nuclear genome assembly of M. sativa cultivar “Zhongmu No.1”, we found that a large number of chloroplast gene fragments were horizontally transferred to nuclear chromosomes in alfalfa, especially on the chr3:47518422–48722257 coordinates of chromosome 3. Our comprehensive exploration of Medicago chloroplast genomes provided insights for the understanding of Medicago diversity and their genomic evolution events.     

Beneficial effect of fluorocarbon emulsion media on the function of neuromuscular preparations in vitro

The effects of liquid fluorocarbons as bathing media were determined by use of in vitro neuromuscular preparations. Rat hemidiaphragms were bathed in either oxygenated fluorocarbon (FC) emulsion or standard oxygenated Krebs solution. Contractile force in response to simple supramaximal nerve stimuli as well as to high frequency stimulation was greater, while twitch:tetanus ratio was smaller in FC emulsion. With such medium, post-tetanic potentiation of contraction was also more consistently observed. Indirectly stimulated diaphragms survived longer in FC emulsion. After cessation of oxygenation, oxygen tension (ρO(2)) of the medium declined more rapidly with Krebs than with FC emulsion; ρO(2) directly correlated with force of contraction. Similarly, in the chick biventer cervicis preparation, FC emulsion enhanced nerve-stimulated force of contraction; returning the preparation to standard Krebs solution reversed this phenomenon. Dose-resonse curves of muscle contraction in response to acetycholine and KCl administration were shifted upward during FC emulsion superfusion. Frequency of miniature endplate potentials was lower in FC emulsion than that observed in Krebs solution, measured from the same cell of the rat diaphragm. Resting membrane potentials were also greater in muscle cells sampled from FC emulsion-bathed preparations. These data suggest that FC emulsion is superior to standard Krebs solution as a bathing medium for in vitro neuromuscular preparations by virtue of the high solubility of oxygen in it.