β-甘露聚糖酶和木聚糖酶基因在大肠杆菌中共表达

【目的】β-甘露聚糖酶和木聚糖酶都属于半纤维素酶,它们已经同时运用于工农业生产的许多领域。构建β-甘露聚糖酶和木聚糖酶共表达菌株并进行相关评价。【方法】通过设计一个共同的酶切位点,将菌株Bacillus subtilis BE-91中的β-甘露聚糖酶和木聚糖酶基因串联到表达载体pET28a(+)上,转化大肠杆菌构建了一株能够共表达β-甘露聚糖酶和木聚糖酶的菌株B.pET28a-man-xyl。【结果】菌株诱导21 h后,发酵液中β-甘露聚糖酶和木聚糖酶的酶活分别为713.34 U/mL和1455.83 U/mL,是胞内酶活的11.8倍和2.53倍。【结论】SDS-PAGE分析、水解圈活性检测和胞外酶与胞内酶酶活检测表明:两个酶均以功能蛋白独立分泌到胞外。此外,与β-甘露聚糖酶和木聚糖酶单独酶解半纤维素相比,复合酶的酶解效果更好。菌株的成功构建为复合酶制剂(半纤维素酶制剂)的研究和生产奠定基础。     

Altered Plasma Concentrations of Trace Elements in Ulcerative Colitis Patients Before and After Surgery

Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is a classical surgery for ulcerative colitis patients. However, knowledge on trace element alteration in patients who had undergone this surgery is limited. This study was conducted to assess trace element alteration in patients with ulcerative colitis before and after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. Preoperative (40) and postoperative (35) ulcerative colitis patients were studied. The dietary assessment of trace element intake was undertaken by a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Patients' trace element status of zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, calcium, iron, and vitamin D₃ was assessed by measuring their blood concentrations. We found that with the similar dietary intake, there was no statistical difference in the concentrations of plasma copper, iron, calcium, and vitamin D₃ in the two groups (P?>?0.05). Compared with preoperative patients, postoperative patients had higher concentrations of plasma zinc (14.51?±?4.75 μmol/l) and manganese (0.21?±?0.11 μmol/l) and lower concentrations of plasma selenium (0.86?±?0.58 μmol/l). Both preoperative and postoperative mean concentrations of plasma calcium and vitamin D₃ were below their reference range, respectively. We conclude that IPAA does not seem to alter patients' abnormal trace elements completely. It is important to monitor and supply some specified trace elements even in postoperative patients.     

金华市郊10种杂草的热值和灰分含量及其适应意义

在金华市郊,选择了婆婆纳(Veronica didyma)、水蓼(Polygonum hydropiper)、车前(Plantago asiatica)、北美车前(Plantago virginica)、毛茛(Ranunculus japonicus)、商陆(Phytolacca acinosa)、鹅观草(Roegneria kamoji)、早熟禾(Poa annua)、北美独行菜(Lepidium virginicum)、窃衣(Torilis japonica)等10种常见杂草,测定了生殖生长时期这些杂草不同器官的热值和灰分含量。研究结果表明, 10种杂草花穗、叶、茎和根的干重热值的平均值分别为15.942、14.293、13.344和13.463 kJ/g,去灰分热值平均为16.983、16.219、14.480和15.233 kJ/g,整体上表现出花穗 > 叶 > 根 > 茎的趋势;10种杂草的花穗、叶、茎和根中的平均灰分含量为6.127%、11.899%、8.071%、11.383%,叶片和根中的灰分含量较高,花穗与茎中的较低。对于北美车前来讲,随着生长时间的推移,北美车前的营养器官热值下降,随着种群密度的上升,北美车前的繁殖器官干重热值上升。采取低热值策略可能是杂草适应严酷环境的选择方式,具有进化上的积极意义。     

小溪自然保护区非盐环境土壤中嗜盐和耐盐菌多样性

【目的】研究湖南小溪国家级自然保护区普通非盐环境(ordinary non-saline environment)土壤样品中可培养嗜盐及耐盐细菌(含放线菌)多样性。【方法】采用纯培养法和基于16S rRNA基因序列的系统发育分析对样品中嗜盐及耐盐细菌多样性进行研究。【结果】用补充5%-20%(w/v)NaCl的MA、ISP2、ISP5、NA和HAA培养基从土壤样品中分离到114株细菌,其中8株为中度嗜盐菌,19株为轻度嗜盐菌,87株为耐盐菌。根据形态观察和部分生理生化实验结果去冗余,选取61个代表性菌株进行基于16S rRNA基因序列的系统发育多样性分析。结果表明,这些菌株属于细菌域(Bacteria)的3个大的系统发育类群(门;phylum)(Actinobacteria,Firmicutes,Proteobacteria)的16个科、18个属,代表了41个物种。多数菌株属于Firmicutes门(38株,62.3%)和Actinobacteria门(18株,29.5%)。大多数菌株与其系统发育关系最密切的已知物种的典型菌株之间存在一定的遗传差异(16S rRNA基因序列相似性为96.9%-99.8%),其中有7个菌株(JSM070026,JSM081004,JSM081006,JSM081008,JSM083058,JSM083085,JSM084035)代表7个潜在新种(potential novel species)。【结论】研究结果表明,湖南小溪国家级自然保护区普通非盐环境土壤中存在较为丰富的可培养嗜盐及耐盐细菌多样性,并且潜藏着较多新的微生物类群(物种)。     

Development trends in taxonomy,with special reference to fungi

Taxonomy is a traditional subject, but it still receives attention and has become a topic of much discussion in recent years. Many of these discussions have raised concerns about the future of taxonomy, especially with regard to the workforce responsible for the discovery of new species in the context of declining biodiversity. Previous discussions were based on the taxonomic data of plants and animals, but the status of fungal taxonomy has not been mentioned. Fungi have one of the highest levels of biodiversity among all living organisms, second only to insects. The discussion of the future of taxonomy without the inclusion of fungal data is incomplete. Here, we present the results of analyses based on all new fungal taxa published since 1753. Fungal taxonomy is an ever‐growing area of study with increasing numbers of new taxa being described and growing numbers of fungal taxonomists. Compared with plants and most animal groups, there has been a much sharper increase in the rate at which new fungal taxa are being described. Furthermore, the number of taxonomists studying fungi has increased at a faster speed than those studying plants or animals. This indicates that fungal taxonomy is a prosperous subject and a dynamic area for scientific studies, and that it deserves much more attention and support. The study of fungal taxonomy will deepen our understanding of the biodiversity of our planet.     

MST1 promotes apoptosis through phosphorylation of histone H2AX

MST1 (mammalian STE20-like kinase 1) is a serine/threonine kinase that is cleaved and activated by caspases during apoptosis. Overexpression of MST1 induces apoptotic morphological changes such as chromatin condensation, but the mechanism is not clear. Here we show that MST1 induces apoptotic chromatin condensation through its phosphorylation of histone H2AX at Ser-139. During etoposide-induced apoptosis in Jurkat cells, the cleavage of MST1 directly corresponded with strong H2AX phosphorylation. In vitro kinase assay results showed that MST1 strongly phosphorylates histone H2AX. Western blot and kinase assay results with a mutant S139A H2AX confirmed that MST1 phosphorylates H2AX at Ser-139. Direct binding of MST1 and H2AX can be detected when co-expressed in HEK293 cells and was also confirmed by an endogenous immunoprecipitation study. When overexpressed in HeLa cells, both the MST1 full-length protein and the MST1 kinase domain (MST1-NT), but not the kinase-negative mutant (MST1-NT-KN), could induce obvious endogenous histone H2AX phosphorylation. The caspase-3 inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-DEVD-fluoromethyl ketone (Z-DEVD-fmk) attenuates phosphorylation of H2AX by MST1 but cannot inhibit MST1-NT-induced histone H2AX phosphorylation, indicating that cleaved MST1 is responsible for H2AX phosphorylation during apoptosis. Histone H2AX phosphorylation and DNA fragmentation were suppressed in MST1 knockdown Jurkat cells after etoposide treatment. Taken together, our data indicated that H2AX is a substrate of MST1, which functions to induce apoptotic chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation.     

Ecological restoration and factors regulating phytoplankton community in a hypertrophic shallow lake,Lake Taihu,China

A restoration program for the control of cyanobacterial blooms and the re-establishment of submerged macrophytes was conducted in Meiliang Bay of Lake Taihu since 2003. The effect of this ecological projects on plankton community and water quality, and factors regulating phytoplankton community were investigated in 2005. In general, some improvements of water quality occurred in the ecological restoration region, especially in the region of restoring aquatic macrophytes, where we detected significant reduction of nutrients. However, it seems the abundance of phytoplankton cannot be effectively control by the present ecological engineering. The phytoplankton abundance was high in the target restoration zone. Results of CCA and correlation analysis indicate that the phytoplankton community was mainly controlled by physico-chemical factors. Cyanobacteria species were positively related with pH, temperature, TP and TSS, while negatively related with TN, TN/TP and conductivity. The most discriminant variable was TN/TP, which explained 15% of the total variance of phytoplankton. However, TN was more important for the fluctuation of TN/TP than TP. It suggested that TN may be the ultimate factor controlling the phytoplankton community in Lake Taihu. Variation partitioning analysis showed that the pure contribution of crustacean was low for the variation of phytoplankton, suggesting that top-down control by crustacean zooplankton was weak in Lake Taihu. In general, this study suggested the reduction of nutrient load should be more important than top-down control using zooplankton for the ecosystem restoration in Lake Taihu.     

花椒叶浸提液对土壤微生物数量和土壤酶活性的影响

通过用花椒叶浸提液浇灌盆栽花椒幼苗,研究浸提液对土壤酶和土壤微生物的影响.结果表明, 花椒叶浸提液使根际土中细菌、真菌和放线菌数量以及微生物总数均有不同程度的减少,根际土中真菌和放线菌的数量变化呈降-升-降-升的趋势.20、60和80 g·L^-1浓度的叶浸提液使非根际土中细菌的数量显著增加21.59%、107.55%和8.62%,而40 g·L-1浓度的叶浸提液则使非根际土中细菌数量显著降低22.56%.叶浸提液使根际土蛋白酶、蔗糖酶和酸性磷酸酶活性明显低于非根际土相应的酶活性,而过氧化氢酶和多酚氧化酶活性则显著升高.土壤的蛋白酶活性与蔗糖酶活性呈显著正相关,与土壤放线菌数量呈显著负相关;多酚氧化酶活性与蔗糖酶活性呈显著负相关,与细菌、真菌、放线菌以及微生物总数呈显著正相关;放线菌只与蛋白酶、多酚氧化酶、蔗糖酶3种酶活性及真菌呈显著相关,与过氧化氢酶、酸性磷酸酶以及细菌和微生物总数的相关性均不显著.     

热休克预处理对TNF-α诱导的RAW264.7巨噬细胞迁移的影响

热休克反应是机体中一个重要的内源性保护机制,但其对TNF-α诱导的单核/巨噬细胞迁移有无影响目前尚不清楚.采用酶联免疫吸附实验观察TNF-α(20μg/L)刺激RAW264.7巨噬细胞4h后炎症因子IL-1β、IL-6、IL-15的表达情况;Western blot验证热休克预处理诱导热休克蛋白表达的增加;利用细胞趋化实验观察热休克预处理(42℃,1h)对TNF-α所致巨噬细胞迁移的影响.研究发现,TNF-α可明显促进RAW264.7细胞株中IL-1β、IL-6、IL-15等炎症因子的释放;热休克预处理诱导热休克蛋白HSP70、HSP90、HSP25表达增加;细胞趋化实验发现TNF-α处理的RAW264.7细胞迁移能力较正常对照组明显增强,而热休克预处理组巨噬细胞的迁移能力较单纯TNF-α处理组明显减弱.上述结果表明,热休克预处理抑制TNF-α所致巨噬细胞的迁移.