Natural hybridization in heliconiine butterflies: the species boundary as a continuum

Background  

To understand speciation and the maintenance of taxa as separate entities, we need information about natural hybridization and gene flow among species.     

过氧化氢酶抑制剂氨基三唑减轻急性酒精性肝损伤

本文旨在通过观察过氧化氢酶(catalase,CAT)抑制剂氨基三唑(aminotriazole,ATZ)对酒精诱导的急性肝损伤的影响,初步探讨CAT在酒精性肝损伤中的可能作用。以雄性Sprague Dawley(SD)大鼠为实验对象,采用酒精腹腔注射诱导急性肝损伤,在造模前30 min腹腔注射不同剂量ATZ(100~400 mg/kg)或相同体积溶剂(对照)。造模24 h后,检测大鼠血浆天冬氨酸转氨酶(aspartate transaminase,AST)、丙氨酸转氨酶(alanine transaminase,ALT)及乳酸脱氢酶(lactate dehydrogenase,LDH)水平,用HE染色法观察肝组织病理改变程度,用试剂盒检测肝组织内CAT活性、过氧化氢(hydrogen peroxide,H2O2)水平及丙二醛(malondialdehyde,MDA)含量,ELISA法检测血浆中肿瘤坏死因子α(tumor necrosis factor-α,TNF-α)及白介素-6(interleukin-6,IL-6)水平。结果显示,ATZ处理可剂量依赖性降低酒精暴露大鼠血浆中ALT、AST及LDH水平,并减轻酒精诱导的肝组织病理损伤;ATZ可抑制酒精暴露大鼠肝组织内CAT活性、降低H2O2水平及MDA含量;ATZ也可下调酒精暴露大鼠血浆中TNF-α和IL-6水平。以上结果表明,ATZ可减轻酒精诱导的大鼠急性肝损伤,提示CAT可能在酒精性肝损伤中发挥了重要的致病作用。     

氮离子注入诱变选育恩拉霉素高产菌株

利用氮离子注入对链霉菌的诱变效应,筛选高产恩拉霉素的变异菌株。利用不同剂量的氮离子对杀真菌放线菌S.fungicidicus NL629-3菌株进行诱变处理,研究低能氮离子注入对其存活率及产恩拉霉素能力的影响。低能氮离子注入剂量在60×1013ions/cm2时对链霉菌的诱变效应显著,试验得到了5株恩拉霉素产量较高的突变菌株,其中N3-643菌株经连续传代4次,遗传稳定性较好,其摇瓶发酵水平较对照提高了41%,放大发酵生产后平均发酵水平提高25.8%。离子注入诱变是获得高产恩拉霉素突变菌株的有效方法。     

Synthesis of cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants fragments as tools for in vitro allergy diagnosis

Four biotinylated tri and tetrasaccharide fragments of plant and invertebrate N-glycans were synthesized using methyl tert-butyl phenyl (MBP) thioglycosides donors in order to evaluate their involvement in cross-allergies as cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants (CCDs). Various levels of reactivity to anti-bee and anti-HRP antibodies and with sera from allergic patients were observed when the conjugates were coated on streptavidin microplates. The results showed the potential utility of these xylosylated and fucosylated oligosaccharide fragments in determining CCD antibody epitopes.     

Peptidoglycan crosslinking relaxation plays an important role in Staphylococcus aureus WalKR-dependent cell viability

The WalKR two-component system is essential for viability of Staphylococcus aureus, a major pathogen. We have shown that WalKR acts as the master controller of peptidoglycan metabolism, yet none of the identified regulon genes explain its requirement for cell viability. Transmission electron micrographs revealed cell wall thickening and aberrant division septa in the absence of WalKR, suggesting its requirement may be linked to its role in coordinating cell wall metabolism and cell division. We therefore tested whether uncoupling autolysin gene expression from WalKR-dependent regulation could compensate for its essential nature. Uncoupled expression of genes encoding lytic transglycosylases or amidases did not restore growth to a WalKR-depleted strain. We identified only two WalKR-regulon genes whose expression restored cell viability in the absence of WalKR: lytM and ssaA. Neither of these two genes are essential under our conditions and a ΔlytM ΔssaA mutant does not present any growth defect. LytM is a glycyl-glycyl endopeptidase, hydrolyzing the pentaglycine interpeptide crossbridge, and SsaA belongs to the CHAP amidase family, members of which such as LysK and LytA have been shown to have D-alanyl-glycyl endopeptidase activity, cleaving between the crossbridge and the stem peptide. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that peptidoglycan crosslinking relaxation through crossbridge hydrolysis plays a crucial role in the essential requirement of the WalKR system for cell viability.     

康惠尔水胶体透明贴对阿奇霉素引起的静脉炎的预防作用

目的:观察康惠尔水胶体透明贴对使用阿奇霉素引起的静脉炎的疗效与效果。方法:从我院2009年1月-2010年1月的呼吸内科患者中选择100例使用阿奇霉素静脉输液治疗的患者。分为观察组与对照组,每组50名使用阿奇霉素静脉输液治疗的患者。普通组使用普通透明贴,对照组患者使用康惠尔水胶体透明贴。对两组患者进行比对。结果:观察组的50名患者使用普通透明贴,16例未发生静脉炎,发生静脉炎为34例;对照组的50名患者使用康惠尔水胶体透明贴,仅有2例发生静脉炎的患者。对照组与普通组相比,对照组结果好于普通组,P<0.05差距有显著统计学意义。结论:使用康惠尔水胶体透明贴可以有效的减少呼吸内科患者使用阿奇霉素造成的静脉炎发生率。     

拉西地平对高温高湿应激大鼠血管平滑肌细胞GRP78 和CHOP 表达的影响

目的:探讨钙离子拮抗剂拉西地平对高温高湿应激大鼠血管平滑肌细胞内内质网应激相关因子葡萄糖调节蛋白78(glucose-regulated protein of 78kD,GRP78)和C/EBP环磷酸腺苷反应元件结合转录因子同源蛋白(CAAT/enhancer binding protein homologous protein,CHOP)表达的影响。方法:将60只雄性SD大鼠随机分为对照组、高温高湿组、拉西地平组,每组20只。按实验时间(2w、4w、6w、8w)的不同,各组又分为4个亚组,每个亚组5只大鼠。用颈动脉插管法测定各组大鼠的平均动脉压(MAP);用免疫组织化学法检测GRP78和CHOP的表达水平。结果:①高温高湿各组的MAP随着实验时间的延长呈逐渐递增的趋势,高温高湿4w、6w、8w亚组的MAP均显著高于相应的对照组和拉西地平组(P<0.05)。②随着实验时间的延长,高温高湿组GRP78表达量不断增加,6w达到最大值,8w表达减弱。高温高湿4w、6w、8w亚组GRP78表达量均高于相应对照组和拉西地平组,有显著性差异(P<0.05)。③高温高湿组2w、4w、6w、8w亚组CHOP表达量组间比较有显著性差异(P<0.05),8w亚组表达达到最高值;高温高湿组6w、8w亚组与相应对照组和拉西地平组比较有显著性差异(P<0.05)。结论:高温高湿应激可引起血管平滑肌细胞内质网应激反应,导致GRP78表达及CHOP表达的不对称增加,提示高温高湿应激可引起血管平滑肌细胞的损害;拉西地平可以减轻内质网应激,逆转高温高湿应激所致的血管平滑肌细胞的损伤作用,对血管平滑肌细胞有保护作用。     

Mammalian prenatal development: the influence of maternally derived molecules

Normal fetal development is dependent upon an intricate exchange between mother and embryo. Several maternal and embryonic elements can influence this intimate interaction, including genetic, environmental or epigenetic factors, and have a significant impact on embryo development. The interaction of the genetic program of both mother and embryo, within the uterine environment, can shape the development of an individual. Accumulating data from animal models indicate that prenatal events may well initiate long‐term changes in the expression of the embryo genetic program, which persist, or may only become apparent, much later in the individual's life. Also, environmental conditions during prenatal development may prompt the adoption of different developmental pathways, leading to alternative life histories. This review focuses on environmental factors, specifically maternally derived molecules, to illustrate how they can influence in utero embryonic development and, by extension, adult life.     

HETEROZYGOSITY AND GROWTH IN MARINE BIVALVES: FURTHER DATA AND POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS

In a natural population of two-year-old mussels, shell length was correlated with degree of heterozygosity. There was no correlation between an individual's glycogen level and its degree of heterozygosity, but when individuals were grouped in heterozygosity classes a near-significant correlation was observed between degree of heterozygosity and mean glycogen level corrected for the effects of sex and stage of gonad development. There was no correlation between degree of heterozygosity and index of gonad development. Such a correlation would have provided support for the hypothesis (Zouros and Foltz, 1984) that dependence of time of spawning on heterozygosity may explain the observed heterozygote-deficiency. The causes of heterozygote-deficiency, a common phenomenon in populations of marine bivalves, remain obscure. The observed heterozygosity-growth correlation is examined in the light of the controversy of whether allozymes act as markers in linkage association with genetic conditions that are responsible for the differences in growth among individuals or are themselves the agents of the correlation. The observations that 1) the contributions of individual loci to the correlation vary among populations, 2) the correlation is observed in samples from natural populations but not among progeny from pair matings, and 3) the correlation is nearly always accompanied with heterozygote-deficiency in the population are more compatible with the first explanation and suggest that the growth-heterozygosity correlation results mostly from associative overdominance and to a lesser extent from the direct contributions of scored loci to growth.