Complete Genome Sequence of Hepatitis E Virus from Rabbits in the United States

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a single-strand positive-sense RNA virus in the family Hepeviridae. The disease caused by HEV, hepatitis E, is an important public health problem in developing countries of Asia and Africa and is also endemic in many industrialized countries, including the United States. HEV has been identified from several other animal species in addition to humans, including the pig, chicken, mongoose, deer, rabbit, ferret, bat, and fish. Here we report the complete genome sequence of the first strain of HEV from rabbits in the United States. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the U.S. rabbit HEV is a distant member of the zoonotic genotype 3 HEV, thus raising a concern for potential zoonotic human infection. A unique 90-nucleotide insertion within the X domain of the ORF1 was identified in the rabbit HEV, and this insertion may play a role in the species tropism of HEV.     

Conformationally altered aortic myosin light chains

Aorta smooth myosin contains two types of light chain, LC20 and LC17, which fold together with the N-terminal region of each heavy chain to form the globular head region of myosin. We demonstrate an altered conformation of LC20 after its separation from heavy chain by high concentrations of urea, on the basis of the following evidende: 1) A polyclonal antibody against LC20 was not able to recognize this conformationally altered form; 2) Myosin reconstituted from heavy chains and urea-dissociated light chains exhibited extremely low ATPase activity. Circular dichroism unfolding profiles showed that light chains dissociated from heavy chains by SDS appeared to be more stable than those generated by urea dissociation.     

Identification and characterization of a pregnane steroid recognition site that is functionally coupled to an expressed GABAA receptor

Conclusion Based on the pharmacological and biochemical evidence to date, especially that derived from the recombinantly expressed receptor studies, the suggestion that a novel GBRC-linked steroid recognition site exists becomes a cogent argument. The high affinity of the steroid site for certain naturally occurring metabolites of progesterone and glucocorticoids favors a physiologic role for these steroids in the regulation of brain excitability. Clearly, investigations of such a regulatory role is warranted. If present, it provides an important example of endocrine control of a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS. Moreover, as we gain a greater understanding of the molecular organization of the GBRC, the putative steroid site provides a novel target for the rational design of therapeutic agents for the treatment of anxiety, epilepsy, and insomnia.Special issue dedicated to Dr. Eugene Roberts.     

高等植物叶片中的硝酸还原酶活性稳定因子

从小麦、油菜、浮萍、番茄、烟草的叶片中分离得到NR-SF。不同植物材料中NR及NR-SF能起交叉反应;不同NR-SF影响NR酶动力学性质相同;不同NR-SF的凝胶电泳谱带显示蛋白和糖蛋白性质。NR-SF广泛存在于植物细胞中。     

Ornithine lipid of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: its distribution in some slow- and fast-growing mycobacteria

An ornithine-amide lipid is present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Its structure was established by a combination of chemical analysis and mass spectrometry. 3-Hydroxyoctadecanoic and 3-hydroxyeicosanoic acids (and homologues) were found to be linked through an amide bond to the alpha-amino group of L-ornithine, the hydroxyl group of the fatty acid being esterified mainly by tuberculostearic acid (10-methyloctadecanoic acid). This ornithine-amide lipid was detected in several other slow-growing pathogenic mycobacteria by thin layer chromatography, but not in an avirulent strain (H37 Ra) of M. tuberculosis. In each case mass spectrometry showed that all the structures were identical, thus revising an earlier reported structure for the lipid from M. bovis.     

Two temporally synthesized charge subunits interact to form the five isoforms of cottonseed (Gossypium hirsutum) catalase.

Five charge isoforms of tetrameric catalase were isolated from cotyledons of germinated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) seedlings. Denaturing isoelectric focusing of the individual isoforms in polyacrylamide gels indicated that isoforms A (most anodic) and E (most cathodic) consisted of one subunit of different charge, whereas isoforms B, C and D each consisted of a mixture of these two subunits. Thus the five isoforms apparently were formed through combinations of two subunits in different ratios. Labelling cotyledons in vivo with [35S]methionine at three daily intervals in the dark, and translation in vivo of polyadenylated RNA isolated from cotyledons at the same ages, revealed synthesis of two different subunits. One of the subunits was synthesized in cotyledons at all ages studied (days 1-3), whereas the other subunit was detected only at days 2 and 3. This differential expression of two catalase subunits helped explain previous results from this laboratory showing that the two anodic forms (A and B) found in maturing seeds were supplemented with three cathodic forms (C-E) after the seeds germinated. These subunit data also helped clarify our new findings that proteins of isoforms A, B and C (most active isoforms) accumulated in cotyledons of plants kept in the dark for 3 days, then gradually disappeared during the next several days, whereas isoforms D and E (least active isoforms) remained in the cells. This shift in isoform pattern occurred whether seedlings were kept in the dark or exposed to continuous light after day 3, although exposure to light enhanced this process. These sequential molecular events were responsible for the characteristic developmental changes (rise and fall) in total catalase activity. We believe that the isoform changeover is physiologically related to the changeover in glyoxysome to leaf-type-peroxisome metabolism.     

闽北地区四代三化螟发生动态Fuzzy预测模型研究

根据Fuzzy数学原理和三化螟生物学特性,组建了四代三化螟发生动态综合预测模型经对福建省将乐县16年四代三化螟发生期、发生量回报及1995年的预报,拟合率及正确率均达100％。     

中国盲走螨属Agilis群种类记述（蜱螨亚纲：植绥螨科）

本文新建立盲走螨属ａｇｉｌｉｓ群并限定了该群的主要特征,归纳了世界上已描述的８种,其中分布于我国的３种,此外描述了３个新种。     

铅锌矿尾矿场植被重建的生态学研究Ⅰ.尾矿对种子萌发的影响

在实验条件下,供试的林木、农作物及牧草种子均能在铅锌矿尾矿中萌发,其中萌发率与非污染土壤中的相近,多数种子的萌发速率低于对照组。供试植物幼苗出土30天内没有死苗现象,但与对照相比,株高下降28.4%,复叶数减少34.1%,生物量下降52.6%.