吸附剂及培养基组成对香荚兰细胞悬浮培养产生香兰素的影响

本文报道了培养基的组成及添加吸附剂对香荚兰细胞悬浮培养产生香兰素的影响。结果表明,添加吸附剂活性炭及XAD-2后,香荚兰细胞产生的香兰素含量明显增加,而且活性炭的效果优于XAD-2;香荚兰细胞在全组成的MS培养基中香兰素含量均低于由矿物质盐组成培养基中的含量。可以考虑采用二步培养法来培养香荚兰细胞及产生香兰素。     

Production of 3-hydroxypropionate homopolymer and poly(3-hydroxypropionate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) copolymer by recombinant Escherichia coli

Conversion of 3-hydroxypropionate (3HP) from 1,3-propanediol (PDO) was improved by expressing dehydratase gene (dhaT) and aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (aldD) of Pseudomonas putida KT2442 under the promoter of phaCAB operon from Ralstonia eutropha H16. Expression of these genes in Aeromonas hydrophila 4AK4 produced up to 21 g/L 3HP in a fermentation process. To synthesize homopolymer poly(3-hydroxypropionate) (P3HP), and copolymer poly(3-hydroxypropionate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HP4HB), dhaT and aldD were expressed in E. coli together with the phaC1 gene encoding polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase gene of Ralstonia eutropha, and pcs' gene encoding the ACS domain of the tri-functional propionyl-CoA ligase (PCS) of Chloroflexus aurantiacus. Up to 92 wt% P3HP and 42 wt% P3HP4HB were produced by the recombinant Escherichia coli grown on PDO and a mixture of PDO+1,4-butanediol (BD), respectively.     

Inhibition of severe acute respiratory syndrome virus replication by small interfering RNAs in mammalian cells

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an acute respiratory infectious disease that spread worldwide in early 2003. The cause was determined as a novel coronavirus (CoV), SARS-associated CoV (SARS-CoV), with a single-stranded, plus-sense RNA. To date, no effective specific treatment has been identified. To exploit the possibility of using RNA interference as a therapeutic approach to fight the disease, plasmid-mediated small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were generated to target the SARS-CoV genome. The expression of siRNAs from two plasmids, which specifically target the viral RNA polymerase, effectively blocked the cytopathic effects of SARS-CoV on Vero cells. These two plasmids also inhibited viral replication as shown by titer assays and by an examination of viral RNA and protein levels. Thus, our results demonstrated the feasibility of developing siRNAs as effective anti-SARS drugs.     

Heterotic patterns in rapeseed (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis> L.): I. Crosses between spring and Chinese semi-winter lines

Chinese semi-winter rapeseed is genetically diverse from Canadian and European spring rapeseed. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of semi-winter rapeseed for spring rapeseed hybrid breeding, to assess the genetic effects involved, and to estimate the correlation of parental genetic distance (GD) with hybrid performance, heterosis, general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) in crosses between spring and semi-winter rapeseed lines. Four spring male sterile lines from Germany and Canada as testers were crossed with 13 Chinese semi-winter rapeseed lines to develop 52 hybrids, which were evaluated together with their parents and commercial hybrids for seed yield and oil content in three sets of field trials with 8 environments in Canada and Europe. The Chinese parental lines were not adapted to local environmental conditions as demonstrated by poor seed yields per se. However, the hybrids between the Chinese parents and the adapted spring rapeseed lines exhibited high heterosis for seed yield. The average mid-parent heterosis was 15% and ca. 50% of the hybrids were superior to the respective hybrid control across three sets of field trials. Additive gene effects mainly contributed to hybrid performance since the mean squares of GCA were higher as compared to SCA. The correlation between parental GD and hybrid performance and heterosis was found to be low whereas the correlation between GCA_{(f + m)} and hybrid performance was high and significant in each set of field trials, with an average of r = 0.87 for seed yield and r = 0.89 for oil content, indicating that hybrid performance can be predicted by GCA_{(f + m)}. These results demonstrate that Chinese semi-winter rapeseed germplasm has a great potential to increase seed yield in spring rapeseed hybrid breeding programs in Canada and Europe.     

近岸海洋线虫与细菌、古菌的共现性及其对碳、氮循环的影响

【目的】初步探究海洋线虫与微生物的相互作用对碳、氮循环的影响。【方法】利用16S r RNA和18S r RNA基因高通量测序方法,对33个近岸沉积物样品中细菌、古菌和真核生物的多样性进行调查;对海洋线虫与细菌、海洋线虫与古菌的共现性进行网络分析,并采用Spearman统计学方法,识别出与海洋线虫共现性呈显著相关性的微生物种类。【结果】在夏季,红树林和潮间带泥滩样品中线虫OTU平均相对丰度基本呈随深度增加而递减趋势;冬季的红树林样品中发现相类似变化规律,只有在冬季潮间带泥滩样品中线虫OTU平均相对丰度在深层较高于表层。相对丰度最高的海洋线虫隶属于单宫目(47%)、色矛目(19%)、刺嘴目(16%)和垫刃目(9%),它们与热源体古菌、深古菌、γ-和δ-变形菌等微生物有显著正/负相关关系。【结论】在香港米埔湿地沉积物中,与相对丰度最高的5种线虫显著相关的几大类微生物均在碳、氮、硫等元素循环方面起十分重要的作用,暗示海洋线虫与微生物潜在的相互作用对元素地球化学循环具有重要影响。研究结果有助于深入了解线虫在生态系统中未被揭示的生态功能,有助于更清晰地认识海洋线虫在底栖生态系统中所扮演的角色。     

智力水平还是文化表现?——尼安德特人与现代人文化精致程度差异研究述评

尼安德特人和解剖学意义上的现代人在文化精致程度上的区别已经争论了很长时间,考古学者希望能得出一个确定的答案,两个假设应运而生:智力水平(尼人不能发展出精致的文化)与文化表现(尼人不需要发展出精致程度较高的文化)。古人类与考古材料显示智力水平假设有缺陷:尼人的基因进入了现代人的基因库中,而且他们有能力学习现代人的技术,在"过渡工业"的材料中可以找到相关证据;与此同时,至今还未找到关系到智力水平的大脑结构证据证明尼人智力水平不如现代人。检验文化表现假设的前提是尼人与早期现代人在智力水平上没有差异,却呈现出不同的社会网络和社会组织。本文在讨论尼人与现代人人口与社会交流的基础上,认为现代人复杂的社会组织切割了尼人的生活环境,同时火山爆发引起了资源短缺,最终导致了尼人在欧洲灭绝。     

A novel membrane based process to isolate photosystem-I membrane complex from spinach

The isolation of photosystem-I (PS-I) from spinach has been conducted using ultrafiltration with 300 kDa molecular weight cut-off polyethersulfone membranes. The effects of ultrafiltration operating conditions on PS-I activity were optimized using parameter scanning ultrafiltration. These conditions included solution pH, ionic strength, stirring speed, and permeate flux. The effects of detergent (Triton X-100 and n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside) concentration on time dependent activity of PS-I were also studied using an O₂ electrode. Under optimized conditions, the PS-I purity obtained in the retentate was about 84% and the activity recovery was greater than 94% after ultrafiltration. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation of a membrane protein using ultrafiltration alone.     

Serum miR-128-2 Serves as a Prognostic Marker for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Circulating miRNAs are promising biomarkers for predicting the aggressiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in the serum of HCC patients with different Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, and to investigate the potential of serum miRNAs as biomarkers for patient outcomes. In the discovery stage, TaqMan Low-Density Array was used to test the difference in levels of serum miRNAs between 20 patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) and 20 patients without PVTT. The detected serum miRNAs then were validated in 182 patients. Fifteen serum miRNAs showed more than two-fold higher expression in patients with PVTT, and miR-128-2 was found to be significantly up-regulated and was selected for further validation. In the validation stage, patients were divided into two groups with low or high serum miR-128-2 using the median expression level of all 182 cases as the cut-off point. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with low level of serum miR-128-2 had favorable trends of survival (log rank = 13.031, p < 0.001). The median survivals for patients with a low and high level of serum miR-128-2 were 625 (95% CI, 527–722) days and 426 (95% CI, 362–491) days, respectively. MiR-128-2 was also an independent factor of overall survival (p = 0.001, HR 2.793, 95%CI 1.550, 5.033). Serum levels of the ubiquitously expressed miR-128-2 showed no significant correlation with parameters of liver damage or liver function. In addition, expressions of miR-128-2 in HCC tissues were up-regulated in comparison with adjacent non-tumor tissues. In conclusion, serum level of miR-128-2 serves as a noninvasive biomarker for the overall survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.     

NF-κB激活gp96转录从而促进肝细胞生长、细胞周期进展和细胞转化

【目的】探讨乙肝感染中gp96上调的机制及其可能发挥的病理学机制。【方法】首先通过生物信息学、Real-time PCR、荧光报告基因和Western blot研究NF-κB激活gp96表达的机制。进一步通过在肝细胞中过表达或敲低gp96的水平,运用CCK-8法和流式检测分析gp96对肝细胞增殖、凋亡,和细胞周期的影响,通过检测肝细胞EMT发生和细胞集落形成实验,分析gp96对于HCC发生的作用。【结果】NF-κB与gp96启动子上NF-κB结合位点结合,激活gp96的表达。实验结果显示,gp96能够促进肝细胞增殖、抑制凋亡,促进细胞周期从静息期向分裂期的转化,同时促进肝细胞EMT发生和细胞集落的形成。【结论】NF-κB通过活化gp96启动子上调其表达,为HBV慢性感染上调gp96的机制提供了线索,同时提示gp96在慢性炎症引发HCC过程中发挥重要作用。     

嗜热毛壳菌热稳定脂肪酶基因(Im)的克隆及其在毕赤酵母中的表达

研究从嗜热毛壳菌Chaetomium thermophilum中克隆了一个新的脂肪酶基因(lm).其中DNA序列包含一个由870个碱基构成的开放阅读框,编码289个氨基酸,含有4个内含子,没有信号肽序列.序列提交GenBank,登录号为GU338248.将该基因在毕赤酵母中表达.在甲醇的诱导下,重组蛋白得到了高效表达,第6天的表达量最高,蛋白达到0.428mg/mL,酶活力为19.77U/mg.SDS-PAGE检测该蛋白的分子量为35kDa.该脂肪酶的最适反应温度为60℃,具有热稳定性,在40-80℃热稳定,80℃处理60min仍有65％的相对酶活.该酶最适反应pH值为10.0,在pH 9.0--12.0酶活相对稳定.该酶具有较好的热稳定性和耐碱性,具有良好的工业应用价值.