Migration patterns of Gentiana crassicaulis,an alpine gentian endemic to the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains

The Himalaya–Hengduan Mountain region is one of the hotspots of biodiversity research. The uplift of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and the Quaternary glaciation caused great environmental changes in this region, and the responses of many species in the QTP to the Quaternary climate are still largely unknown. The genetic structure and phylogeographical history of Gentiana crassicaulis Duthie ex Burk, an endemic Chinese alpine species in this area, were investigated based on four chloroplast fragments and internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrITS) sequences of 11 populations. The populations with highly diverse chloroplast haplotypes were mainly found at the edge of the QTP. There were two main haplotypes of nrITS clones, one shared by the Yunnan and Guizhou populations, and the other by the remaining populations. The population with the highest diversity was the Gansu population, located at the edge of the plateau. Based on molecular dating, the diversification of G. crassicaulis at the edge of the plateau occurred before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and the species may have completed its expansion from the edge to the platform. Ecological niche models were conducted to predict the distributional ranges of G. crassicaulis at present, during the LGM, and during the last interglacial (LIG) period. The results demonstrated that G. crassicaulis survived on the QTP platform and at the edge during the LGM but afterward retreated from the platform to the southern edge, followed by expansion to the platform.     

ICAM在着床期小鼠PBLC及EC/DC中表达的研究(英文)

细胞粘附分子（ＣＡＭ）可介导细胞间及细胞与间质之间的相互作用并传导信息,参与机体胚胎发育、免疫调节、炎症反应、组织修复及肿瘤转移等生理和病理过程。细胞间粘附分子１（ＩＣＡＭ１）是主要的ＣＡＭ分子之一,可表达于活化的细胞,内皮细胞等。人膜是母体与胚胎滋养层直接接触的特殊组织、已发现蜕膜细胞在着床过程中参与了局部免疫耐受的形成,但对着床期ＩＣＡＭ１在蜕膜细胞表达的动态研究鲜见报道。本研究采用免疫荧光、多参数流式细胞术,分别从整体和局部角度、着床过程中外周血淋巴细胞（ＰＢＬＣ）及子宫内膜／蜕膜（ＥＣ／ＤＣ）细胞ＩＣＡＭ１的不同表达特点进行了动态观察和对比性分析。结果发现,ＩＣＡＭ１在着床期ＰＢＬＣ及ＥＣ／ＤＣ中的表达均存在明显的动态变化（Ｔａｂ．１;Ｆｉｇｓ．１＆２）。ＩＣＡＭ１在ＰＢＬＣ中的表达于妊娠第一天（Ｄ１）即开始降低,Ｄ２降至最低;与此不同,ＩＣＡＭ１在ＥＣ／ＤＣ中的表达于Ｄ２开始降低,Ｄ４降至最低,Ｄ５开始恢复,但尚未恢复到对照水平。结果表明,ＩＣＡＭ１在蜕膜局部的表达调节方式不同于外周血;ＩＣＡＭ１表达阳性的外周血,淋巴细胞和蜕膜细胞均代表着活化的功能性细胞,这些细胞表面ＩＣＡＭ     

Role of the ErbB-4 carboxyl terminus in gamma-secretase cleavage

The ErbB-4 receptor tyrosine kinase has a PDZ domain recognition motif at its carboxyl terminus. The first step in ErbB-4 proteolytic processing is a metalloprotease-dependent cleavage of the receptor ectodomain, which is not influenced by deletion of this motif. Metalloprotease cleavage of ErbB-4 produces a membrane-associated 80-kDa fragment that is a substrate for subsequent gamma-secretase cleavage, which releases the cytoplasmic domain from the membrane and allows nuclear translocation of this fragment. Deletion of the PDZ domain recognition motif does abrogate the gamma-secretase cleavage of ErbB-4. The wild-type 80-kDa ErbB-4 fragment forms an association complex with presenilin, thought to be the catalytic moiety of gamma-secretase activity. However, this association is significantly impaired by loss of the PDZ domain recognition motif from ErbB-4. Deletion of this ErbB-4 motif prevents the nuclear localization of the ErbB-4 cytoplasmic domain. Data also show that the basal cleavage of wild-type ErbB-4 by this proteolytic system can produce a sufficient level of ErbB-4 processing to negatively influence cell growth and that loss of the PDZ domain recognition motif abrogates this response.     

Parkin and Mitofusins Reciprocally Regulate Mitophagy and Mitochondrial Spheroid Formation

Mitochondrial homeostasis via mitochondrial dynamics and quality control is crucial to normal cellular functions. Mitophagy (mitochondria removed by autophagy) stimulated by a mitochondrial uncoupler, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), requires Parkin, but it is not clear why Parkin is crucial to this process. We found that in the absence of Parkin, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone induced the formation of mitochondrial spheroids. Mitochondrial spheroid formation is also induced in vivo in the liver by acetaminophen overdose, a condition causing severe oxidative mitochondrial damages and liver injury. Mitochondrial spheroids could undergo a maturation process by interactions with acidic compartments. The formation of this new structure required reactive oxygen species and mitofusins. Parkin suppressed these mitochondrial dynamics by promoting mitofusin degradation. Consistently, genetic deletion of mitofusins without concomitant expression of Parkin was sufficient to prevent mitochondrial spheroid formation and resumed mitophagy. Mitochondrial spheroid formation and mitophagy could represent different strategies of mitochondrial homeostatic response to oxidative stress and are reciprocally regulated by mitofusins and Parkin.     

Gramene: a resource for comparative grass genomics

Gramene (http://www.gramene.org) is a comparative genome mapping database for grasses and a community resource for rice. Rice, in addition to being an economically important crop, is also a model monocot for understanding other agronomically important grass genomes. Gramene replaces the existing AceDB database ‘RiceGenes’ with a relational database based on Oracle. Gramene provides curated and integrative information about maps, sequence, genes, genetic markers, mutants, QTLs, controlled vocabularies and publications. Its aims are to use the rice genetic, physical and sequence maps as fundamental organizing units, to provide a common denominator for moving from one crop grass to another and is to serve as a portal for interconnecting with other web-based crop grass resources. This paper describes the initial steps we have taken towards realizing these goals.     

人类胚胎对植入的调控

胚胎植入是一个十分复杂的过程,需要胚泡和子宫内膜之间的协同作用。植入过程中,胚泡和内膜之间的通讯和相互作用仍是生殖医学领域中尚未解决的问题。最近的研究取得了一些进展,发现在人类胚胎植入的定位和粘会过程中,胚胎能对子宫内膜上皮的分子,如趋化因子,粘附分子,抗粘附分子和瘦素进行旁分泌调控。     

叶绿体转化体系研究进展

叶绿体转化具有表达效率高,安全性高,遗传稳定,以及多基因可以同时转化等特点。真核或原核的外源基因都能在叶绿体中进行成功表达,至少有20种植物成功的进行了叶绿体转化。叶绿体作为生物反应器具有广阔的应用前景。     

植被的PE（可能蒸散）指标与植被气候分类（三）

Holdridge的生命地带分类系统由于其指标的计算十分简便与对植被的对应性强而受到国际植被生态学界与环境科学研究者的重视。特别是近年来在环境的评价、生态区划与预测全球变化对生态系统的影响等方面得到较多采用。该系统对中国各植被地带的气候台站资料进行计算分析的结果表明有较好的适应性。但由于该系统发展于中美洲的热带地区,因而在中国的亚热带地区须进行局部的调整。但采用该系统将有利于与世界各地的气候—植被分类系统的统一与对比研究。通过回归计算表明,该系统的可能蒸散率(PER)指标与CHIKUGO模型的辐射干燥度(RDI)显著相关。因而可以采用便于取得资料与易于计算的PER来进行潜在第一性生产力(NPP)的估算。对中国各植被地带的计算结果令人满意,可进一步用于在全球变化条件下,中国各植被地带或生态系统主要类型及其NPP变化的预测。     

Analysis of K-ras and p53 mutations in mesotheliomas from humans and rats exposed to asbestos

Malignant mesothelioma is known to be associated with asbestos exposure. However, the mechanism of mesothelial carcinogenesis in relation to the activation of proto-oncogenes or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes remains unclear. In this study, the PCR-Primer Introduced Restriction Site (PCR-PIRS) assay was employed to examine mutations in the K-ras proto-oncogene in mesothelioma tissues from workers exposed to asbestos and from rats treated with asbestos. Mutations in exons 5-8 of the p53 tumor suppressor gene were determined by direct DNA sequence analysis. Results of the PCR-PIRS analysis revealed no mutations in codons 12, 13 or 61 of the K-ras gene in any of the 17 human or 22 rat mesothelioma tissue samples. These results were confirmed by direct DNA sequence analysis. No mutations were found in exons 5-8 of the p53 gene in any of the mesothelioma tissue samples analyzed. These results and the results reported by others indicate that the K-ras proto-oncogene and p53 tumor suppressor gene may not play a critical role in the induction of mesothelioma by asbestos either in humans or in rats.