沉水植物性状对不同氨氮脉冲的响应差异

全球气候变化背景下,未来降水强度和频率发生改变,极端降水事件可使水体中的氨氮含量在短时间内显著增加,对沉水植物的生长造成影响。然而,沉水植物对氨氮脉冲式变化(浓度与频率)的形态和生理响应机制仍不明确。选取两种常见的沉水植物苦草(Vallisneria natans)和黑藻(Hydrilla verticillata),设置不同底质(黏土和砂土)、不同氨氮脉冲模式(CK:对照组,即不加氨氮;P1:低浓度×高频率;P2:高浓度×低频率)和处理阶段(氨氮脉冲阶段和解除脉冲阶段),测定植株形态和生理性状,研究不同脉冲模式的影响差异和脉冲解除后的潜在影响。研究结果表明,(1)氨氮脉冲改变沉水植物的形态和生理性状,其中高浓度低频率氨氮脉冲对沉水植物的生长抑制作用最大。(2)氨氮脉冲解除一个月后,两种沉水植物的生物量较对照组无显著差异,而生理性状(如游离氨基酸和可溶性碳水化合物含量)较对照组差异较为明显,表明形态性状基本得到恢复,而氨氮脉冲对沉水植物生理性状的影响更为强烈而持久。(3)在解除脉冲阶段,苦草游离氨基酸含量仍显著高于对照组,而黑藻游离氨基酸含量较对照组差异较小,表明黑藻对氮的利用周转效率更高。(4)底质类型影响了苦草生理性状对氨氮脉冲的响应,即砂土中游离氨基酸和可溶性碳水化合物含量的变化幅度较黏土中更大。因此,氨氮脉冲效应与脉冲浓度和频率、底质类型、植物种类及其形态和生理性状密切相关。研究结果说明了沉水植物生理性状作为评估植物环境适应性的重要性,可为全球气候变化背景下湖泊生态系统沉水植被的管理提供科学参考。     

长期养分添加对贝加尔针茅草原土壤微生物群落的影响

土壤微生物是土壤生态系统的重要组成部分,是土壤生态系统物质循环和能量流动的主要参与者,在维持土壤生态系统过程和功能方面发挥着关键作用。以内蒙古贝加尔针茅草原为研究对象,采用磷脂脂肪酸(PLFA)技术,探讨连续12年氮(N)、磷(P)、钾(K)养分单一添加和复合添加条件下草地土壤理化性质、微生物群落结构特征的变化及其主要影响因素。结果表明,长期养分添加条件下,土壤有机碳和全氮均无显著变化,但磷(P、NP、PK、NPK)和钾(K、NK、PK、NPK)添加处理分别显著提高了土壤速效磷和速效钾含量(P < 0.05)。单一氮添加显著增加了土壤硝态氮和铵态氮含量,并显著降低了土壤pH值(P < 0.05)。单一磷和钾添加均提高了土壤细菌、真菌、放线菌和总PLFA含量,而单一氮添加和复合养分添加(NP、NK、PK、NPK)均显著降低了以上指标的含量(P < 0.05)。此外,各养分添加处理均未显著改变革兰氏阳性细菌与革兰氏阴性细菌比(G⁺/G^-),但含氮的复合添加处理(NP、NK、NPK)均显著降低了真菌与细菌比 (F/B) (P < 0.05)。相关性分析结果表明,多种微生物PLFA含量与速效磷和铵态氮显著负相关,与土壤pH值显著正相关。基于冗余分析和随机森林模型分析发现土壤pH值和土壤磷含量是影响土壤微生物群落特征的主要驱动因素。综上,长期养分添加显著改变了土壤速效养分含量和土壤pH值,并显著影响了土壤微生物群落结构。     

基于科研素质培养的“分子生物学”课程教学改革

作为迅速发展的前沿学科及连续性与承接性很强的实验性学科,"分子生物学"课程对于构建研究生知识体系、培养研究生的科研素养、创新意识和工程实践能力具有重要作用。为满足"新工科"人才培养的需求,我们基于成果导向教育(Outcome-Based Education,OBE)理念,整合教学内容,改革教学方法,借助现代信息化教学平台,以学习小组为单位,开展课堂竞猜、翻转课堂、课堂讨论等教学活动;运用基于问题的学习(Problem-BasedLearning,PBL)法,建立"互动式"的教学模式;设计过程化考核与终结性考核相结合的多元化考核体系,培养研究生的创新能力和工程实践能力,建立一种适合于本校生物工程专业研究生培养的"分子生物学"教学体系。研究生参与教学效果评估及科研成果随访的结果表明,该探索取得了良好的教学效果,为"新工科"背景下生物工程领域的研究型综合创新人才的培养奠定了基础。     

OB增效剂对斜纹夜蛾核多角体病毒的增效作用

本文以OB作为斜纹夜蛾核多角体病毒（Spodoptera litura nucleopolyhedrovirus,SpltNPV）的增效剂,对斜纹夜蛾Spodoptera litura幼虫进行生物测定,结果表明,在0．25％-1．00％的浓度范围内,随着OB增效剂浓度的提高,其对斜纹夜蛾核多角体病毒的增效作用也随着提高,最高增效倍数达85．1倍;在2～4龄幼虫范围内,随着虫龄的增大,OB增效剂对斜纹夜蛾核多角体病毒的增效作用也增加;而随着温度的升高,增效剂的增效作用无显著提高。     

Fungal dual-domain LysM effectors undergo chitin-induced intermolecular,and not intramolecular,dimerization

Chitin is a homopolymer of β-(1,4)-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and a major structural component of fungal cell walls. In plants, chitin acts as a microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP) that is recognized by lysin motif (LysM)-containing plant cell surface-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that activate a plethora of downstream immune responses. To deregulate chitin-induced plant immunity and successfully establish infection, many fungal pathogens secrete LysM domain-containing effector proteins during host colonization. The LysM effector Ecp6 from the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) leaf mold fungus Cladosporium fulvum can outcompete plant PRRs for chitin binding because two of its three LysM domains cooperate to form a composite groove with ultra-high (pM) chitin-binding affinity. However, most functionally characterized LysM effectors contain only two LysMs, including Magnaporthe oryzae MoSlp1, Verticillium dahliae Vd2LysM, and Colletotrichum higginsianum ChElp1 and ChElp2. Here, we performed modeling, structural, and functional analyses to investigate whether such dual-domain LysM effectors can also form ultra-high chitin-binding affinity grooves through intramolecular LysM dimerization. However, our study suggests that intramolecular LysM dimerization does not occur. Rather, our data support the occurrence of intermolecular LysM dimerization for these effectors, associated with a substantially lower chitin binding affinity than monitored for Ecp6. Interestingly, the intermolecular LysM dimerization allows for the formation of polymeric complexes in the presence of chitin. Possibly, such polymers may precipitate at infection sites to eliminate chitin oligomers, and thus suppress the activation of chitin-induced plant immunity.

Fungal LysM effectors composed of two LysM domains bind chitin via intermolecular LysM dimerization, leading to polymers that may precipitate to eliminate chitin from infection sites to prevent the activation of host immune receptors.     

A backbone‐dependent rotamer library with high (ϕ, ψ) coverage using metadynamics simulations

Backbone‐dependent rotamer libraries are commonly used to assign the side chain dihedral angles of amino acids when modeling protein structures. Most rotamer libraries are created by curating protein crystal structure data and using various methods to extrapolate the existing data to cover all possible backbone conformations. However, these rotamer libraries may not be suitable for modeling the structures of cyclic peptides and other constrained peptides because these molecules frequently sample backbone conformations rarely seen in the crystal structures of linear proteins. To provide backbone‐dependent side chain information beyond the α‐helix, β‐sheet, and PPII regions, we used explicit‐solvent metadynamics simulations of model dipeptides to create a new rotamer library that has high coverage in the (ϕ, ψ) space. Furthermore, this approach can be applied to build high‐coverage rotamer libraries for noncanonical amino acids. The resulting Metadynamics of Dipeptides for Rotamer Distribution (MEDFORD) rotamer library predicts the side chain conformations of high‐resolution protein crystal structures with similar accuracy (~80%) to a state‐of‐the‐art rotamer library. Our ability to test the accuracy of MEDFORD at predicting the side chain dihedral angles of amino acids in noncanonical backbone conformation is restricted by the limited structural data available for cyclic peptides. For the cyclic peptide data that are currently available, MEDFORD and the state‐of‐the‐art rotamer library perform comparably. However, the two rotamer libraries indeed make different rotamer predictions in noncanonical (ϕ, ψ) regions. For noncanonical amino acids, the MEDFORD rotamer library predicts the χ ₁ values with approximately 75% accuracy.     

Cell delivery systems: Toward the next generation of cell therapies for type 1 diabetes

Immunoprotection and oxygen supply are vital in implementing a cell therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Without these features, the transplanted islet cell clusters will be rejected by the host immune system, and necrosis will occur due to hypoxia. The use of anti‐rejection drugs can help protect the transplanted cells from the immune system; yet, they also may have severe side effects. Cell delivery systems (CDS) have been developed for islet transplantation to avoid using immunosuppressants. CDS provide physical barriers to reduce the immune response and chemical coatings to reduce host fibrotic reaction. In some CDS, there is architecture to support vascularization, which enhances oxygen exchange. In this review, we discuss the current clinical and preclinical studies using CDS without immunosuppression as a cell therapy for T1D. We find that though CDS have been demonstrated for their ability to support immunoisolation of the grafted cells, their functionality has not been fully optimized. Current advanced methods in clinical trials demonstrate the systems are partly functional, physically complicated to implement or inefficient. However, modifications are being made to overcome these issues.     

Breeding of High Daptomycin-Producing Strain by Streptomycin Resistance Superposition

Daptomycin is a cyclolipopeptide antibiotic produced by Streptomyces roseosporus. It is widely used to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections; however, daptomycin yield in wild strains is very low. To improve the daptomycin production by the strain BNCC 342432, a modified method of ribosome engineering with superposition of streptomycin resistance was adopted in this study. The highest-yield mutant strain SR-2620 was obtained by increasing streptomycin resistance of BNCC 342432, and achieved daptomycin production of 38.5 mg/l in shake-flask fermentation, 1.79-fold higher than the parent strain and its heredity stability was stable. The morphological characteristics of the two strains were significantly different, and the 440^th base G of the rpsL gene in the mutant strain was deleted, which resulted in a frameshift mutation. Our results demonstrate that gradually increasing strain resistance to streptomycin was an effective breeding method to improve daptomycin yield in S. roseosporus. Open in a separate window