五步蛇主要数量性状与排毒量的相关分析

本文首次报道了五步蛇身体主要部位的数量性状与其排毒量的关系。其中我们发现与排毒量有关的部位是头积、体粗、体重、佛指长。     

Conditions affecting direct gene transfer into rodent muscle in vivo.

This report extends our previous findings that mouse muscle cells in situ can take up naked DNA injected intramuscularly in vivo. Various conditions such as needle type, speed of injection, volume of injection fluid, tonicity of injection fluid, type of solute, type of muscle, physiologic condition of the muscle and age of the animals were appraised for their effect on the levels of luciferase activity expressed from the pRSVL plasmid. Specific conditions such as the use of normal saline as an injection fluid increased the efficiency of expression. The implantation of DNA pellets was an effective way to deliver DNA to muscle, especially for smaller muscle groups. Also, newborn and adult rat muscles expressed plasmid DNA delivered intramuscularly.     

氨基酸酯水解酶产生菌的筛选及其合成头孢立新的研究

From ten genera and 146 bacterial strains, 22 strains producing alpha-amino acid ester hydrolase were selected. Among them, AS 1.586 and 41-2 were the best. The optimal conditions for synthesis of cephalexin by pseudomonas aeruginosa 1.204 were investigated. The optimal pH and temperature for enzymatic synthesis reaction was pH 6.8 and 25 degrees C, respectively. By using 1% 7-ADCA, 3% PGME and 4% biomass, about 70% of 7-ADCA was converted to cephalexin under the mentioned conditions.     

Chromosome organization revealed upon the decondensation of telophase chromosomes inAllium

Chromosomes of root tip cells ofAllium cepa andAllium sativum were studied in early, middle and late telophase to examine the organization of mitotic chromosomes, taking advantage of the naturally occurring chromosome dispersion during the process of decondensation in telophase. Longitudinal and transverse sections of telophase chromosomes viewed under the transmission electron microscope showed that mitotic chromosomes inAllium were composed of helically coiled 400–550 nm chromatin fibres. In some regions of the longitudinal sections, these chromatin fibres were seen to be orientated parallel to one another but formed roughly a right angle to the long axis of the chromosome. In transverse sections, the telophase chromosome appeared to have a hollow centre encircled by the 400–550 nm chromatin fibre which in turn was a hollow tube structure formed by the coiling of a thinner fibre of 170–200 nm. In addition, cross views of chromatin fibres of 170–200 nm and 50–70 nm were also identified in telophase chromosome preparations. These two organizational levels of chromatin fibres also showed a hollow centre. The process of decondensation of telophase chromosomes is described, and some morphological characteristics associated with the activities of chromosome decondensation are analysed. Based on the observations made onAllium chromosomes in this study, various models of chromosome organization are discussed.     

新疆叶尔羌河流域胡杨林时空格局特征

叶尔羌河流域胡杨林对保障我国新疆南疆地区生态安全有着重要的功能,到目前对该区胡杨林时空格局特征规律的研究极少。基于1995—2015年Landsat TM/OLI长时间序列遥感监测数据,通过土地利用程度变化指数、转移矩阵以及景观指数对叶尔羌河流域胡杨林时空格局变化进行动态监测与分析。结果表明:(1)胡杨林面积从1995年的1916.15 km~2减少到2015年的1652.25 km~2,面积减少了263.90 km~2。永安坝至夏河林场段,耕地向河道扩张,胡杨林转为耕地;而夏河林场至三河口段,水资源匮乏,胡杨林被迫向河道收缩,转为未利用地。(2)胡杨林动态度和空间动态度降低,而胡杨林变化状态指数、斑块密度、最大斑块指数和散布与并列指数增加,斑块结合度指数高,胡杨林空间分布逐渐集中、破碎度降低、连通性增加。流域景观要素连接性逐渐减弱,破碎化程度较高,优势度斑块类型比例逐渐下降,景观类型向复杂化方向发展。(3)1995—2005年胡杨林受气候变化和人类活动的干扰,胡杨林面积减少较快,景观格局变化剧烈,而2005—2015年胡杨林保护措施的实施、区域产业结构的调整以及生态安全输水区域的扩大等,胡杨林面积减少速度减缓,但形势仍较为严峻。在叶尔羌河流域合理利用水资源,统筹协调生活、生产和生态用水、强化水资源管理力度,以及调整产业结构、控制人口增长速度等是该区胡杨林生态系统恢复的有效手段和途径。研究可以为叶尔羌河流域生态系统恢复以及胡杨林保护提供参考。     

Cryo-EM structure of the fatty acid reductase LuxC–LuxE complex provides insights into bacterial bioluminescence

The discovery of reduced flavin mononucleotide and fatty aldehydes as essential factors of light emission facilitated study of bacterial luminescence. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial luminescence have been studied for more than 60 years, the structure of the bacterial fatty acid reductase complex remains unclear. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of the Photobacterium phosphoreum fatty acid reductase complex LuxC–LuxE to a resolution of 2.79 Å. We show that the active site Lys238/Arg355 pair of LuxE is >30 Å from the active site Cys296 of LuxC, implying that catalysis relies on a large conformational change. Furthermore, mutagenesis and biochemical experiments support that the L-shaped cleft inside LuxC plays an important role in substrate binding and reaction. We obtained a series of mutants with significantly improved activity as measured by in vitro bioluminescence assays and demonstrated that the double mutant W111A/F483K displayed the highest activity (370% of the WT). Our results indicated that the activity of LuxC significantly affects the bacterial bioluminescence reaction. Finally, we expressed this mutated lux operon in Escherichia coli but observed that the in vivo concentrations of ATP and NADPH limited the enzyme activity; thus, we conclude that the luminous intensity mainly depends on the level of metabolic energy.     

昼间气象条件对城市道路绿化带空气净化效果的影响——以太原市为例

道路绿化带可以净化空气,改善道路环境,道路中的小气候条件会改变道路污染物扩散方式和速度,进而会影响到绿化带对污染物净化效果。气象条件对道路绿地对大气污染物净化效果影响的研究将有助于了解道路绿地的净化途径,为改善城市道路环境提供依据。对太原市18个道路绿地气象因子和5种主要污染物浓度进行了观测。结果表明:夏季,太原市城市道路内各气象要素之间存在一定的相关性,气温和地温正相关显著,空气相对湿度与地温及气温呈显著和极显著负相关。大部分情况下,有绿地非机动车道污染物平均浓度低于无绿地非机动车道对照点平均浓度,即道路绿地起到了对道路污染物的净化作用。道路绿地对污染物的净化百分率与气象因子存在显著的回归关系,并可以建立达到统计显著水平的回归方程,但不同污染物受不同的主导气象因子影响。气象条件会影响道路绿地对道路污染物的净化效果,今后的城市建设和道路绿地规划中应更多地考虑气象条件对绿地净化效果的影响。     

A protein–protein interaction map reveals that the Coxiella burnetii effector CirB inhibits host proteasome activity

Coxiella burnetii is the etiological agent of the zoonotic disease Q fever, which is featured by its ability to replicate in acid vacuoles resembling the lysosomal network. One key virulence determinant of C. burnetii is the Dot/Icm system that transfers more than 150 effector proteins into host cells. These effectors function to construct the lysosome-like compartment permissive for bacterial replication, but the functions of most of these effectors remain elusive. In this study, we used an affinity tag purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS) approach to generate a C. burnetii-human protein-protein interaction (PPI) map involving 53 C. burnetii effectors and 3480 host proteins. This PPI map revealed that the C. burnetii effector CBU0425 (designated CirB) interacts with most subunits of the 20S core proteasome. We found that ectopically expressed CirB inhibits hydrolytic activity of the proteasome. In addition, overexpression of CirB in C. burnetii caused dramatic inhibition of proteasome activity in host cells, while knocking down CirB expression alleviated such inhibitory effects. Moreover, we showed that a region of CirB that spans residues 91–120 binds to the proteasome subunit PSMB5 (beta 5). Finally, PSMB5 knockdown promotes C. burnetii virulence, highlighting the importance of proteasome activity modulation during the course of C. burnetii infection.     

A secreted ribonuclease effector from Verticillium dahliae localizes in the plant nucleus to modulate host immunity

The arms race between fungal pathogens and plant hosts involves recognition of fungal effectors to induce host immunity. Although various fungal effectors have been identified, the effector functions of ribonucleases are largely unknown. Herein, we identified a ribonuclease secreted by Verticillium dahliae (VdRTX1) that translocates into the plant nucleus to modulate immunity. The activity of VdRTX1 causes hypersensitive response (HR)‐related cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana and cotton. VdRTX1 possesses a signal peptide but is unlikely to be an apoplastic effector because its nuclear localization in the plant is necessary for cell death induction. Knockout of VdRTX1 significantly enhanced V. dahliae virulence on tobacco while V. dahliae employs the known suppressor VdCBM1 to escape the immunity induced by VdRTX1. VdRTX1 homologs are widely distributed in fungi but transient expression of 24 homologs from other fungi did not yield cell death induction, suggesting that this function is specific to the VdRTX1 in V. dahliae. Expression of site‐directed mutants of VdRTX1 in N. benthamiana leaves revealed conserved ligand‐binding sites that are important for VdRTX1 function in inducing cell death. Thus, VdRTX1 functions as a unique HR‐inducing effector in V. dahliae that contributes to the activation of plant immunity.     

ALKBH5/MAP3K8 axis regulates PD-L1+ macrophage infiltration and promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors.M6A is a novel epigenetic modification that have been emerged as vital regulators for the progression of HCC. However, the regulatory role, clinical significance and the details of the modification, such as the impact on the local tumor environment, remain largely unclear. Our study showed that ALKBH5 was highly expressed in HCC and high ALKBH5 expression predicted a worse prognosis of HCC patients. Prediction of ALKBH5 function by tissue samples and single cell sequencing Gene Set Variation Analysis. Primary CD3 + T lymphocytes and bone marrow-derived macrophages were used to evaluate the effect of ALKBH5 on immune microenvironment. The results indicated that ALKBH5 promote HCC cell proliferation, metastasis and PD-L1+macrophage recruitment. Mechanistically the results showed that ALKBH5 regulates MAP3K8 expression in a m6A dependent manner which mediates the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells. ALKBH5 also promotes the activation of JNK and ERK pathways through upregulating MAP3K8, thus regulating the expression of IL-8 and promoting macrophage recruitment. Taken together, these data show that ALKBH5 promotes HCC growth, metastasis and macrophage recruitment through ALKBH5/MAP3K8 axis and it may serve as a potential diagnostic marker and target for treatment of HCC patients.