Neuroactive diol and acyloin metabolites from cone snail-associated bacteria

The bacterium Gordonia sp. 647 W.R.1a.05 was cultivated from the venom duct of the cone snail, Conus circumcisus. The Gordonia sp. organic extract modulated the action potential of mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons. Assay-guided fractionation led to the identification of the new compound circumcin A (1) and 11 known analogs (2–12). Two of these compounds, kurasoin B (7) and soraphinol A (8), were active in a human norepinephrine transporter assay with K_i values of 2575 and 867 nM, respectively. No neuroactivity had previously been reported for compounds in this structural class. Gordonia species have been reproducibly isolated from four different cone snail species, indicating a consistent association between these organisms.     

Genetic diversity of Bartonella quintana in macaques suggests zoonotic origin of trench fever

Bartonella quintana is a bacterium that causes a broad spectrum of diseases in humans including trench fever. Humans were previously considered to be the primary, if not the only, reservoir hosts for B. quintana. To identify the animal reservoir and extend our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary history of B. quintana, we examined blood samples from macaques and performed multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis. We demonstrated the prevalence of B. quintana infection was common in macaques from main primate centres in mainland China. Overall, 18.0% (59/328) of rhesus macaques and 12.7% (39/308) of cynomolgus macaques were found to be infected with B. quintana by blood culture and/or polymerase chain reaction. The infection was more frequently identified in juvenile and young monkeys compared with adult animals. In contrast with the relatively low level of sequence divergence of B. quintana reported in humans, our investigation revealed much higher genetic diversity in nonhuman primates. We identified 44 new nucleotide variable sites and 14 novel sequence types (STs) among the B. quintana isolates by MLST analysis. Some STs were found only in cynomolgus macaques, while some others were detected only in rhesus macaques, suggesting evidence of host‐cospeciation, which were further confirmed by phylogenetic analysis and Splits decomposition analysis. Our findings suggest that trench fever may primarily be a zoonotic disease with macaques as the natural hosts.     

Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity

Neutral and niche theories give contrasting explanations for the maintenance of tropical tree species diversity. Both have some empirical support, but methods to disentangle their effects have not yet been developed. We applied a statistical measure of spatial structure to data from 14 large tropical forest plots to test a prediction of niche theory that is incompatible with neutral theory: that species in heterogeneous environments should separate out in space according to their niche preferences. We chose plots across a range of topographic heterogeneity, and tested whether pairwise spatial associations among species were more variable in more heterogeneous sites. We found strong support for this prediction, based on a strong positive relationship between variance in the spatial structure of species pairs and topographic heterogeneity across sites. We interpret this pattern as evidence of pervasive niche differentiation, which increases in importance with increasing environmental heterogeneity.     

Phylogeny,species diversity and biogeographic patterns of the genus Tricleocarpa (Galaxauraceae,Rhodophyta) from the Indo-Pacific region,including T. confertus sp. nov. from Taiwan

Among four different genera in Galaxauraceae, species diversity of the genus Tricleocarpa Huisman & Borowitzka is underestimated and requires further examination. In this study, we explored a molecular phylogeny of Tricleocarpa with an emphasis on Taiwan species and reassessed species diversity of the genus from the Indo-Pacific region based on analyses of rbcL and COI-5P sequences and morphological observations. The molecular analyses showed that species of Tricleocarpa examined are grouped into seven clades: six clades in the T. cylindrica group (the T. cylindrica complex, T. confertus, T. jejuensis, T. natalensis and two uncharacterized T. ‘cylindrica’ clades) and one clade as the T. fragilis group. Overall, at least 12 species in Tricleocarpa were detected from the Indo-Pacific region, including a new species, T. confertus S.-L. Liu & S.-M. Lin, from Taiwan. Among them, T. confertus can be separated from other species of Tricleocarpa by a thallus consisting of dichotomous or trichotomous, articulated and moniliform branches with smooth surfaces, constrictions at nodes and slightly anti-triangular in shape. The cystocarp morphology of T. confertus is similar to the T. cylindrica group by having paraphyses intermixing with gonimoblast filaments. Recognition of this new species from other species is also supported by the DNA-based, algorithmic species delimitation approaches. With the combination of molecular phylogeny and species diversity reassessment, our phylogeographic analysis supported a trend that species in the T. fragilis group are restricted in their distribution to subtropical and tropical areas whereas species in the T. cylindrica group have a wide distribution, ranging from temperate through to tropical areas.     

Development,validation and pilot screening of an in vitro multi-cellular three-dimensional cancer spheroid assay for anti-cancer drug testing

It has been demonstrated that two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cancer cell proliferation assay for anti-cancer drug screening is a very artificial model and cannot represent the characteristics of three-dimensional (3D) solid tumors. The multi-cellular in vitro 3D tumor spheroid model is of intermediate complexity, and can provide a bridge to the gap between the complex in vivo tumors and simple in vitro monolayer cell cultures. In this study, a simple and cost-effective cancer 3D spheroid assay suitable for small molecule anti-cancer compound screening was developed, standardized and validated on H292 non-small lung cancer cell line. A pilot screening with this assay was performed utilizing a compound library consisting of 41 anti-cancer agents. The traditional 2D monolayer cell proliferation assay was also performed with the same cell line and compounds. A correlational study based on the IC₅₀ values from the 2D and 3D assays was conducted. There is low correlation with the two sets of biological data, suggesting the two screening methods provide different information regarding the potency of the tested drug candidates.     

阿魏蘑液体发酵过程菌体形态变化对产漆酶的影响

本文旨在研究阿魏蘑菌体形态与漆酶产量之间的关系。结果显示,玻璃珠的添加可改变发酵过程中菌体形态,漆酶产量在球状菌体条件下高于丝状、絮状菌丝：直径分布在0.2~0.4 mm范围的菌球对漆酶的合成具有明显的促进作用;适合的葡萄糖、玉米粉和麸皮添加量,对直径在0.2~0.4 mm范围的菌球形成具有重要影响。此外,添加惰性载体同样可以控制菌球的直径分布,但对漆酶的合成无促进作用。     

我国不同基因型水痘-带状疱疹病毒流行毒株gE基因序列分析

为进一步了解我国不同地区流行的水痘—带状疱疹病毒(VZV)病毒株的基因型分布和分析代表性病毒株gE基因序列。于2010年12月至2011年6月期间,收集来自北京市、长春市、拉萨市和乌鲁木齐市4个地区水痘和带状疱疹患者的疱疹液拭子和皮肤痂片,共计18份。用单个核苷酸多态性(SNP)谱的方法确定病毒株的基因型。然后采用聚合酶链反应(PCR)方法扩增gE基因的全长片段,并进行测序分析。SNP分析显示18个病毒株的基因型共为4种,其中有7株属于clade2遗传支,1株属于clade3遗传支,4株为clade5遗传支。另有6株病毒兼有不同遗传支的特征,按照目前国际通用的分型方法不能归属于任何明确的遗传支。对不同病毒株gE基因序列分析,除了发现3个国外已有报道的1个同义突变(T660C)和2个反义突变(C119T、C1606A),还发现了3个新的反义突变(C56T、C1109T和C917A)和4个同义突变(C54T、T1075C、T816C和G279A)。首次在我国新疆自治区发现了clade5遗传支的VZV,在长春市还发现了目前尚未能分型的6株病毒。对部分病毒株gE基因序列分析,在gE的e1和c1抗原表位的编码区内中检出1个新型反义突变(C917A),需要进一步研究该突变对该病毒免疫原性和致病性的影响。     

Morphology,ontogeny and molecular phylogeny of a new brackish water ciliate Bakuella subtropica sp. n. (Ciliophora,Hypotricha) from southern China

This paper investigates the morphology, ontogenesis and small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene-based phylogeny of a new urostylid ciliate, Bakuella subtropica sp. n., discovered from the estuary of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, southern China. The new species is diagnosed by its elongate body, one buccal and one parabuccal cirrus, midventral complex comprised of 9–23 midventral pairs and one or two midventral rows extending to four fifths of body length, yellow-brown to yellow-greenish cortical granules and an estuary habitat. Its main ontogenetic features are: (1) in the proter, the parental adoral zone of membranelles is completely renewed by new structures and old midventral pairs join the formation of frontal-midventral-transverse cirral anlagen (FVT-anlagen); (2) in the opisthe, the oral primordium originates apokinetally, FVT-anlagen are formed besides and some old midventral cirri join the formation; (3) the anlagen for marginal rows and dorsal kineties develop intrakinetally; and (4) the numerous macronuclear nodules fuse into a single mass before dividing. Based on the SSU rDNA sequences, phylogenetic analyses show a close relationship between Bakuella subtropica sp. n., Apobakuella and Neobakuella, forming a clade separated from the other genera in the family Bakuellidae. Available morphological and ontogenetic data challenge the monophyly of Bakuellidae.     

Morphology of three new marine Frontonia species (Ciliophora; Peniculida) with note on the phylogeny of this genus

Members of the ciliate genus Frontonia are common colonizers of periphytic communities in aquatic biotopes. Recent studies indicate that their species diversity is higher than previously supposed. In this study the morphology and infraciliature of three new species, Frontonia sinica spec. nov., F. pusilla spec. nov., and F. elegans spec. nov., isolated from coastal waters of China, were investigated using live observation and silver impregnation methods. Frontonia sinica differs from its congeners by the following combination of characters: ellipsoidal body, about 116 somatic and five or six vestibular kineties, peniculi 1 and 2 four-rowed, peniculus 3 two-rowed, and a single contractile vacuole. Frontonia pusilla has about 72 somatic kineties, four-rowed peniculi 1 and 2, a two-rowed peniculus 3, and two contractile vacuoles. Frontonia elegans has 73 somatic kineties, four-rowed peniculi 1 and 2, a three-rowed peniculus 3, and two contractile vacuoles. In the present work, six new small-subunit rRNA gene sequences of six Frontonia species are used to construct the phylogenetic trees. Our phylogenetic analysis supports that the genus Frontonia may be paraphyletic. Meanwhile, no pattern of correlation could be found between the structures of peniculi and the phylogenetic relationships of Frontonia species in the present study.