Isolation and characterization of 19 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers in the devil stinger, Inimicus japonicus (Synanceiidae)

Inimicus japonicus, the devil stinger, has an extensive distribution along the coast of China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Nineteen highly polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated and characterized in I. japonicus. Twenty-eight individuals from a wild population were tested for polymorphism using this set of polymorphic microsatellite markers. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 14. The ranges of observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.500-0.892 and 0.521-0.910, respectively. Significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were detected at two loci. To the best of our knowledge, these were the first microsatellite loci characterized from the Synanceiidae; they can be used for estimating genetic diversity, population structure studies, parentage analysis, genetic linkage map construction, germplasm classification and identification, gene identification, quantitative trait loci mapping, and marker-assisted selection in breeding of I. japonicus and other species of this family.     

天山东部不同海拔西伯利亚落叶松对气候变暖的响应分析

利用树木年轮气候学方法,探讨了在气候变暖情景下,天山东部上中下限西伯利亚落叶松（Larix sibirica）树木径向生长与气候因子之间的响应关系,并利用冗余分析对其关系进行了验证。结果表明：不同海拔的差值年表（RES）要比标准年表（STD）的特征参数大,具有更高的信噪比和平均敏感度,含有较多的环境信息且更能代表树木总体变化;海拔2160m处的年表（L1）在快速升温（1985年）后,树木年轮宽度与降水和温度的相关性明显减弱;海拔2430m处的年表（L2）在两个时段内与降水和温度的关系均较弱;海拔2700m处的年表（L3）在1985~2013年时段内对降水和气温的正响应均增强。树木径向生长对单月气候因子的响应在前一年11、12月份显著性更高,当年6、7月份气温与树轮宽度指数具有更高的相关性。气候变暖使树木径向生长不断减小的特征在低海拔地区表现更为明显。上中下限西伯利亚落叶松对气温升高的敏感性降低。高海拔地区西伯利亚落叶松的径向生长主要受温度的影响,而中低海拔地区主要受降水与温度的共同影响。     

Cloning and expression of manganese superoxide dismutase of the silkworm, Bombyx mori by Bac-to-Bac/BmNPV Baculovirus expression system

Superoxide dismutase (SODs) are metalloenzymes that catalyze the dismutation of the superoxide anion to molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide and, thus, form a crucial part of the cellular antioxidant defense mechanism. In this paper, we used the total fat body RNA of silkworm, Bombyx mori L. to clone and sequence a 648-bp Mn-SOD cDNA fragment through RT-PCR. Furthermore, a newly established Bac-to-Bac/BmNPV Baculovirus expression system was used to overexpress the recombinant Mn-SOD enzyme in silkworm larvae. The hemolymph was collected from the infected larvae 96 h post-infection and subjected to a 12 % SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. A 18.0-kDa protein was visualized after rBacmid/BmNPV/SOD infection. The SOD enzyme activity was determined with a tetrazolium salt for detection of superoxide radicals generated by xanthine and xanthine oxidase and its peak appeared in 96 h post-infection with 2.7 times of the control larvae. The availability of large quantities of SOD that the silkworm provides should greatly facilitate the future research and testing of this protein for potential application in medicine.     

东亚腹链蛇消化道嗜银细胞的分布及形态学观察

应用Grimelius银染法研究了东亚腹链蛇（Amphiesma vibakari）消化道嗜银细胞的分布密度及形态。结果表明：在东亚腹链蛇的消化道中嗜银细胞分布广泛,见于全消化道。其分布密度曲线大致呈波浪形,其中胃部是嗜银细胞分布密度的高峰,胃幽门次之,回肠分布密度最低。嗜银细胞形态多样,主要以锥体形为主,其次还有圆形、椭圆形。广泛分布于上皮细胞基部、上皮细胞之间、腺泡上皮细胞之间。结论：东亚腹链蛇消化道嗜银细胞分布型的形成与各部位消化功能有关;根据其形态,我们认为东亚腹链蛇消化道内嗜银细胞具有内分泌、外分泌、旁分泌3种功能。     

Silkworm, Bombyx mori larvae expressed the spider silk protein through a novel Bac-to-Bac/BmNPV baculovirus

Abstract:  The silkworm has become an ideal multicellular eukaryotic model system for basic research. The major advantages of expressing foreign genes in silkworm larvae are the low cost of feeding, the extremely high levels of expression achievable compared with expression in cell lines and increased safety because the baculovirus is noninfectious to vertebrates. In this study, we used a recently developed Bombyx mori Nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) bacmid to express the spider flagelliform silk gene in silkworm larvae. The recombinant bacmid baculoviruses (rBacmid/BmNPV/Flag) were introduced into the first-day larvae of the fifth instar by subcutaneous injection. The worms presented symptoms typical of NPV infection from 72 h after injection compared with control. The haemolymph was collected from the infected larvae 120 h post-infection and the recombinant 6× His-tagged Flag protein was purified by the Ni-NTA spin kit under denaturing conditions with 8  m urea. A 37.0-kDa protein was visualized both in rBacmid/BmNPV/Flag-infected haemolymph and eluting fraction. The results showed that the Bac-to-Bac/BmNPV baculovirus expression system is an efficient tool to express the target gene in silkworm larvae, which takes only 7–10 days for generating recombinant baculovirus, compared with the traditional homologous recombination method, which needs at least 40 days for multiple rounds of purification and amplification of viruses.     

Anesthetic Isoflurane or Desflurane Plus Surgery Differently Affects Cognitive Function in Alzheimer’s Disease Transgenic Mice

Anesthesia/surgery could be associated with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease neuropathogenesis. However, whether surgery under different anesthetics has different effects on cognitive function remains largely unknown. We therefore set out to compare effects of anesthetic isoflurane or desflurane plus surgery on cognitive function and hippocampus levels of synaptic marker (postsynaptic density-95 and synaptophysin) and ATP. Five-month-old AD Transgenic (Tg) (FAD5X) and wild-type male mice received isoflurane or desflurane plus abdominal surgery. We assessed cognitive function in Barnes maze and measured hippocampus levels of postsynaptic density-95, synaptophysin, and ATP in the mice. We determined whether vitamin K₂ could mitigate these anesthesia/surgery-induced changes. Isoflurane, but not desflurane, plus surgery increased escape latency and escape distance in Barnes maze probe test and reduced postsynaptic density-95, synaptophysin, and ATP levels as compared to control condition in AD Tg mice. Vitamin K₂ attenuated the anesthesia/surgery-induced changes in the AD Tg mice. These findings suggest that isoflurane, but not desflurane, plus surgery might induce cognitive impairment via causing brain energy deficits. Pending confirmative studies in both animals and humans suggest desflurane could be a better choice for AD patients when surgery is needed. Moreover, vitamin K₂ could treat cognitive deficiency associated with anesthesia and surgery.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel naphthoquinone fused cyclic aminoalkylphosphonates and aminoalkylphosphonic monoester

A series of novel naphthoquinone fused cyclic alpha-aminophosphonates, 2-alkoxy-3,4-dihydro-2H-naphtho[2,3-e][1,4,2]oxazaphosphinane-5,10-dione 2-oxide 3-17 and naphthoquinone fused cyclic alpha-aminophosphonic monoester 18 were synthesized for the first time. These cyclic alpha-aminophosphonates were evaluated for antitumor activity on four human tumor cell lines, and three of them showed significant cytotoxicity (IC(50): 0.019-5.15 microM) comparable to that of the reference drug doxorubicin. Furthermore, inhibition assays for topoisomerase II-mediated relaxation of supercoiled DNA indicated that the naphthoquinone fused cyclic aminophosphonates were catalytic inhibitors of topoisomerase II.     

尼罗罗非鱼traf6基因表达谱及信号转导

肿瘤坏死因子受体相关因子6(TRAF6)是一种重要的接头蛋白,在Toll样受体/白细胞介素-1受体(TLR/IL-1R)超家族所触发的信号通路中起重要作用,与先天性免疫密切相关。文章研究了尼罗罗非鱼(Oreochromis niloticus)traf6的表达模式和初步的功能。在健康鱼中,traf6转录本广泛表达于所有受检组织中,在血液中表达水平最高,在肝脏中最低。在不同的胚胎发育阶段也检测到traf6的表达。在无乳链球菌体内感染后,大多数受检组织中traf6 mRNA的表达量上调。此外,LPS、Poly I:C和S.agalactiae可显著诱导尼罗罗非鱼巨噬细胞traf6的表达。此外,在HEK293T细胞中过表达表明,TRAF6分布于细胞质中,可显著提高NF-κB的活性。免疫共沉淀(Co-IP)实验表明,TRAF6可与IRAK1(白细胞介素-1受体相关激酶1)相互作用,IRAK1在TLR/IL-1R信号通路中也起重要作用。在体内,TLR2、TLR21和TLR13b的过表达可上调traf6 mRNA的表达水平,表明TRAF6参与了TLR2、TLR21和TLR13b介导的信号转导,提示TRAF6在病原体入侵的免疫应答中起重要作用。     

土地利用模型时间尺度预测能力分析——以CLUE\|S模型为例

模型模拟是生态学中的重要方法,特别是当实验不可进行时.在不同预案下基于模型的土地利用预测对于土地利用规划和政策制定具有十分重要意义.然而,很多研究没有对模型在研究区的时间尺度预测能力加以分析,从而可能导致模拟结果的不可靠.以岷江上游地区为例,采用Kappa指数系列对CLUE-S模型在研究区的时间尺度预测能力进行研究.结果表明CLUE-S模型在岷江上游地区时间尺度上的最大预测能力为22a,超过时间预测能力的预测结果不可靠.研究为土地利用模型模拟时间尺度确定提供了一种有效的方法.