The Drosophila caspase Ice is important for many apoptotic cell deaths and for spermatid individualization, a nonapoptotic process

Caspase family proteases play important roles in the regulation of apoptotic cell death. Initiator caspases are activated in response to death stimuli, and they transduce and amplify these signals by cleaving and thereby activating effector caspases. In Drosophila, the initiator caspase Nc (previously Dronc) cleaves and activates two short-prodomain caspases, Dcp-1 and Ice (previously Drice), suggesting these as candidate effectors of Nc killing activity. dcp-1-null mutants are healthy and possess few defects in normally occurring cell death. To explore roles for Ice in cell death, we generated and characterized an Ice null mutant. Animals lacking Ice show a number of defects in cell death, including those that occur during embryonic development, as well as during formation of adult eyes, arista and wings. Ice mutants exhibit subtle defects in the destruction of larval tissues, and do not prevent destruction of salivary glands during metamorphosis. Cells from Ice animals are also markedly resistant to several stresses, including X-irradiation and inhibition of protein synthesis. Mutations in Ice also suppress cell death that is induced by expression of Rpr, Wrinkled (previously Hid) and Grim. These observations demonstrate that Ice plays an important non-redundant role as a cell death effector. Finally, we demonstrate that Ice participates in, but is not absolutely required for, the non-apoptotic process of spermatid differentiation.     

研究性实验教学模式的探讨

从教学过程、教学效果等方面探讨了微生物学实验课程实施研究性实验教学模式的必要性以及具体实施的方法。实践表明,研究性实验教学模式对培养学生的创新意识,提高学生的实践能力等方面有积极的作用。     

粳稻SRAP分子标记遗传群的构建与分析

用超级稻品种‘沈农606’和普通粳稻‘丽江新团黑谷’为亲本杂交获得的102份F_2代单株,通过SRAP分子标记遗传分析,构建了包含14个连锁群,由129个多态性位点组成的水稻连锁图谱,此图谱覆盖基因组长度1671.5 cM,平均图距13.0 cM。连锁群上有17.2%的多态性位点表现偏分离,偏分离标记在连锁群上存在热点区域。     

植物糖信号与激素信号之间的联系

植物激素与糖作为信号分子,调控植物生长发育过程中的种子萌发、幼苗生长、根和叶的分化、花芽形成、果实成熟、胚形成和衰老等.拟南芥糖信号转导突变体与激素信号转导突变体的表型、遗传、生理与分子生物学的研究表明,糖与各种植物激素之间存在复杂的关系.文章介绍葡萄糖与ABA、乙烯、IAA、CTK、GA等激素之间的联系.     

SAR and molecular mechanism study of novel acylhydrazone compounds targeting HIV-1 CA

We synthesized a series of acylhydrazone compounds bearing naturally occurring amino acids’ side chains as HIV assembly inhibitors. Biological evaluation indicated that the compounds had anti-SIV and capsid assembly inhibitory activities. The structure–activity relationship (SAR) study showed that compounds bearing proper aromatic side chains had potential antiviral activities. The molecular modeling experiments revealed the molecular mechanism that they could bind to CA in the same manner as CAP-1 and occupy two more grooves.     

Polyploidy‐associated genomic instability in Arabidopsis thaliana

Formation of polyploid organisms by fertilization of unreduced gametes in meiotic mutants is believed to be a common phenomenon in species evolution. However, not well understood is how species in nature generally exist as haploid and diploid organisms in a long evolutionary time while polyploidization must have repeatedly occurred via meiotic mutations. Here, we show that the ploidy increased for two consecutive generations due to unreduced but viable gametes in the Arabidopsis cyclin a1;2‐2 (also named tardy asynchronous meiosis‐2) mutant, but the resultant octaploid plants produced progeny of either the same or reduced ploidy via genomic reductions during meiosis and pollen mitosis. Ploidy reductions through sexual reproduction were also observed in independently generated artificial octaploid and hexaploid Arabidopsis plants. These results demonstrate that octaploid is likely the maximal ploidy produced through sexual reproduction in Arabidopsis. The polyploidy‐associated genomic instability may be a general phenomenon that constrains ploidy levels in species evolution. genesis 48:254–263, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

一种利用STO饲养层细胞制备拟胚体的新方法

建立了一种利用STO饲养层细胞制备拟胚体的新方法。该方法选用生长至80%饱和密度的STO细胞,经丝裂霉素C(10 mg/ml)处理4 h后以8×104 cm-2的密度接种培养12 h,制备饲养层,再将ES-D3细胞以1×104 cm-2的密度接种其上,首先用含mLIF的DMEM培养液培养24 h,再更换拟胚体诱导培养液,5～9天后获得了各成熟阶段的拟胚体。形态结构和分化潜能等研究表明,该方法制备的拟胚体结构典型,具有产生3个胚层谱系来源的功能细胞的潜能。与传统拟胚体制作方法如悬滴培养法相比,具有操作简便,拟胚体形成率高,重复性好等优点,是开展哺乳动物早期胚胎发育和干细胞分化研究的理想工具。     

我国H7N2亚型禽流感病毒CK/HB/1/02株分离鉴定

从鸡组织中获得了一株分离物,能凝集鸡红细胞,经负染后电镜观察可见球形、外被囊膜的病毒颗粒,直径约90～100nm;经血凝抑制和神经氨酸酶抑制试验鉴定为H7N2亚型禽流感病毒(Avian in fluenza virus,AIV),命名为A/Chicken/Hebei/1/2002(H7N2)(简称CK/HB/1/02).将该病毒接种SPF鸡,测得静脉接种致病指数(IVPI)为0.00,剖检可见实验鸡多种组织器官有出血性变化,判为低致病力AIV;接种后7d从实验鸡泄殖腔棉拭中回收到病毒,并在血清中检测到H7亚型AIV抗体.经RT-PCR扩增了病毒HA1基因片段(约1.1kb),测定其核苷酸序列并与GenBank中的序列比较.结果表明,该病毒的HA1基因序列与AIV标准株A/Afri.Star./Eng Q/79(H7N1)的HA1基因同源性最高,为99.4%;与以色列和意大利H7N2AIV的同源性较高,为96.8%～98.2%;与美国H7N2病毒的同源性很低,约为81.0%;其HA裂解位点的氨基酸序列为KGR-GLF-,符合低致病力AIV的特征.     

Activation of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase but Not of p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways in Lymphocytes Requires Allosteric Activation of SOS

Thymocytes convert graded T cell receptor (TCR) signals into positive selection or deletion, and activation of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK), p38, and Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) has been postulated to play a discriminatory role. Two families of Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factors (RasGEFs), SOS and RasGRP, activate Ras and the downstream RAF-MEK-ERK pathway. The pathways leading to lymphocyte p38 and JNK activation are less well defined. We previously described how RasGRP alone induces analog Ras-ERK activation while SOS and RasGRP cooperate to establish bimodal ERK activation. Here we employed computational modeling and biochemical experiments with model cell lines and thymocytes to show that TCR-induced ERK activation grows exponentially in thymocytes and that a W729E allosteric pocket mutant, SOS1, can only reconstitute analog ERK signaling. In agreement with RasGRP allosterically priming SOS, exponential ERK activation is severely decreased by pharmacological or genetic perturbation of the phospholipase Cγ (PLCγ)-diacylglycerol-RasGRP1 pathway. In contrast, p38 activation is not sharply thresholded and requires high-level TCR signal input. Rac and p38 activation depends on SOS1 expression but not allosteric activation. Based on computational predictions and experiments exploring whether SOS functions as a RacGEF or adaptor in Rac-p38 activation, we established that the presence of SOS1, but not its enzymatic activity, is critical for p38 activation.