Oresitrophe and Mukdenia (Saxifragaceae) are epilithic sister genera used in traditional Chinese medicine. The taxonomy of Mukdenia, especially of M. acanthifolia, has been controversial. To address this, we produced plastid and mitochondrial data using genome skimming for Mukdenia acanthifolia and Mukdenia rossii, including three individuals of each species. We assembled complete plastomes, mitochondrial CDS and nuclear ribosomal ETS/ITS sequences using these data. Comparative analysis shows that the plastomes of Mukdenia and Oresitrophe are relatively conservative in terms of genome size, structure, gene content, RNA editing sites and codon usage. Five plastid regions that represent hotspots of change (trnH-psbA, psbC-trnS, trnM-atpE, petA-psbJ and ccsA-ndhD) are identified within Mukdenia, and six regions (trnH-psbA, petN-psbM, trnM-atpE, rps16-trnQ, ycf1 and ndhF) contain a higher number of species-specific parsimony-informative sites that may serve as potential DNA barcodes for species identification. To infer phylogenetic relationships between Mukdenia and Oresitrophe, we combined our data with published data based on three different datasets. The monophyly of each species (Oresitrophe rupifraga, M. acanthifolia and M. rossii) and the inferred topology ((M. rossii, M. acanthifolia), O. rupifraga) are well supported in trees reconstructed using the complete plastome sequences, but M. acanthifolia and M. rossii did not form a separate clade in the trees based on ETS + ITS data, while the mitochondrial CDS trees are not well-resolved. We found low recovery of genes in the Angiosperms353 target enrichment panel from our unenriched genome skimming data. Hybridization or incomplete lineage sorting may be the cause of discordance between trees reconstructed from organellar and nuclear data. Considering its morphological distinctiveness and our molecular phylogenetic results, we strongly recommend that M. acanthifolia be treated as a distinct species. 相似文献
Aah I is a 63-residue alpha-toxin isolated from the venom of the Buthidae scorpion Androctonus australis hector, which is considered to be the most dangerous species. We report here the first chemical synthesis of Aah I by the solid-phase method, using a Fmoc strategy. The synthetic toxin I (sAah I) was renatured in DMSO-Tris buffer, purified and subjected to thorough analysis and comparison with the natural toxin. The sAah I showed physico-chemical (CD spectrum, molecular mass, HPLC elution), biochemical (amino-acid composition, sequence), immunochemical and pharmacological properties similar to those of the natural toxin. The synthetic toxin was recognized by a conformation-dependent monoclonal anti-Aah I antibody, with an IC50 value close to that for the natural toxin. Following intracerebroventricular injection, the synthetic and the natural toxins were similarly lethal to mice. In voltage-clamp experiments, Na(v) 1.2 sodium channel inactivation was inhibited by the application of sAah I or of the natural toxin in a similar way. This work describes a simple protocol for the chemical synthesis of a scorpion alpha-toxin, making it possible to produce structural analogues in time. 相似文献
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between concentrations of Zn and Cu and the activities of superoxide
dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in the heart and liver of young rat pups whose dams were fed a diet supplemented with
caffeine and/or Zn. Four groups of dams with their newborn pups were fed one of the following diets for 22 d: 20% protein
basal diet; the basal diet supplemented with caffeine (2 mg/100 body wt); the basal diet supplemented with Zn (300 mg/kg diet);
or the basal diet supplemented with caffeine plus Zn. The Cu levels in the livers of the pups were decreased by maternal intake
of the caffeine and Zn diet. The maternal intake of the caffeine diet increased Mn-superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) activity and
Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (CUZnSOD) in the heart of the pups. On the other hand, the activity of Cu,ZnSOD was significantly
reduced in the liver of pups whose dams consumed a caffeine, Zn, or caffeine plus Zn diet. Cu, ZnSOD activity in the liver
of the pups seems to be correlated with Cu levels in the tissue. Selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities
in the heart and liver showed no difference among the groups. The effect of dietary caffeine and/or Zn on the activity of
antioxidant enzymes in the heart and liver were different in young rats. The activities of these enzymes in the heart were
lower than in the liver of 22-d-old rats. Our experiments indicate that the heart has limited defenses against the toxic effects
of peroxides when compared to the liver. 相似文献
It has previously been suggested that inhibition of the proofreading 3-5 exonuclease activity of DNA polymerase may play an important role in generation of UV-induced mutations inEscherichia coli. Our previous work showing that overproduction of , the proofreading subunit of DNA polymerase III, counteracts the SOS mutagenic response ofE. coli seemed to be consistent with this hypothesis. To explore further the nature of the antimutagenic effect of we constructed plasmid pMK17, which encodes only two of the three highly conserved segments of — Exol and ExoII; the third segment, ExoIII, which is essential for 3–5 exonuclease activity, is deleted. We show that at 40°C, over-production of the truncated e subunit significantly delays production of M13 phage, suggesting that the protein retains its capacity to bind to DNA. On the other hand, the presence of pMK17 in atrpE65 strain growing at 40°C causes a 10-fold decrease in the frequency of UV-induced Trp+ mutations. This antimutagenic effect of the truncated s is effectively relieved by excess UmuD,C proteins. We also show that the presence of plasmid pIP21, which contains thednaQ49 allele encoding an subunit that is defective in proofreading activity, almost completely prevents generation of UV-induced mutations in thetrpE65 strain. We propose that the DNA binding ability of free , rather than its 3–5 exonuclease activity, affects processing of premutagenic UV-induced lesions, possibly by interfering with the interaction between the UmuC-UmuD-RecA complex and Pol III holoenzyme. This interaction is probably a necessary condition for translesion synthesis. 相似文献
Retinitis pigmentosa is the most prevalent inherited disorder of the retina. It can be autosomal dominant (adRP), autosomal recessive (arRP) or X-linked (XLRP). A form of adRP mapping to chromosome 7q was reported in a large Spanish pedigree. We have typed DNA from the members of another Spanish family for polymorphic markers from the known candidate genes. Positive lod scores were obtained only for the markers located on 7q31-35, giving a maximum lod score of 2.98 (3.01 by multipoint analysis) at = 0.00 for D7S480. A brief clinical evaluation is given. 相似文献
Both the pineal nonapeptide hormone arginine vasotocin (AVT) (2.5 μg) administered intra-nasally and the pineal indole melatonin (50 mg) administered intravenously to three male narcoleptics (two with auxiliary symptoms and one with sleep attacks only), dramatically increased the amount of REM sleep and decreased REM sleep latency. The duration of the sleep onset REM periods in the two narcoleptics with auxiliary symptoms increased by more than 100 percent after AVT and melatonin administration. In the narcoleptic with sleep attacks only both AVT and melatonin induced REM periods at sleep onset. The hypothesis is advanced that narcolepsy represents an impairment of the melatonin-AVT control in the induction and circadian organization of REM sleep associated with an immaturity of REM triggering centers. 相似文献
Four hybridomas obtained from mice immunized with human adenocarcinomas of colon or stomach produce antibodies that bind specifically in solid-phase radioimmunoassay to the ceramide pentasaccharide that contains the lacto-N-fucopentaose III sequence of sugars. Binding of the antibodies to the glycolipid is inhibited by lacto-N-fucopentaose III, but not by structurally related oligosaccharides. The antibodies bind to glycolipids of erythrocytes, granulocytes, and certain normal and malignant tissues. 相似文献
In this study an attempt was made to elucidate the possible mechanism of the brain microsomal (Na+-K+)ATPase inhibition based on the assumption that glycoprotein part of the enzyme is exposed on the outer membrane surface. In our experiments the modification with concanavalin A of sugar end groups exposed by neuraminidase treatment resulted in a significant decrease of the brain (Na+-K+)ATPase activity. The percentage of the enzyme inhibition by concanavalin A binding to the neuraminidase-treated preparation corresponds to the amount of liberated sialic acids. The modification of the glycoprotein part of the brain (Na+-K+)ATPase complex by neuraminidase and concanavalin A treatments did not affect K+-nitrophenylphosphatase activity. 相似文献