Tri13 and Tri7 determine deoxynivalenol- and nivalenol-producing chemotypes of Gibberella zeae

Gibberella zeae, a major cause of cereal scab, can be divided into two chemotypes based on production of the 8-ketotrichothecenes deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV). We cloned and sequenced a Tri13 homolog from each chemotype. The Tri13 from a NIV chemotype strain (88-1) is located in the trichothecene gene cluster and carries an open reading frame similar to that of Fusarium sporotrichioides, whereas the Tri13 from a DON chemotype strain (H-11) carries several mutations. To confirm the roles of the Tri13 and Tri7 genes in trichothecene production by G. zeae, we genetically altered toxin production in 88-1 and H-11. In transgenic strains, the targeted deletion of Tri13 from the genome of 88-1 caused production of DON rather than NIV. Heterologous expression of the 88-1 Tri13 gene alone or in combination with the 88-1 Tri7 gene conferred on H-11 the ability to synthesize NIV; in the latter case, 4-acetylnivalenol (4-ANIV) also was produced. These results suggest that Tri13 and Tri7 are required for oxygenation and acetylation of the oxygen at C-4 during synthesis of NIV and 4-ANIV in G. zeae. These functional analyses of the Tri13 and Tri7 genes provide the first clear evidence for the genetic basis of the DON and NIV chemotypes in G. zeae.     

Cholesterol efflux from larval Manduca sexta fat body in vitro: high-density lipophorin as the acceptor

The objective of this study was to characterize the transfer of cholesterol from Manduca sexta larvae fat body to high-density lipophorin. [³H]-Cholesterol-labeled fat body was incubated with lipophorin under different conditions and cholesterol transfer was determined. Transfer rate exhibited a hyperbolic dependency on lipophorin concentration with an apparent K_m of 3.6 mg/ml, which is consistent with either an aqueous diffusion mechanism of cholesterol transfer or a receptor-mediated process. Several results, including the high K_m, the high activation energy, and the lack of Ca²⁺ dependence favor aqueous diffusion model. In addition, anti-lipid transfer particle antibodies had only a small inhibitory effect, suggesting it is not involved in cholesterol transfer. However, the transfer was inhibited in the presence of suramin, which would be consistent with a receptor-mediated process. The effects of suramin may be complex because it can change membrane properties when bound to the lipophorin receptor and affect the rate of cholesterol desorption. The preponderance of data suggests that the export of cholesterol from fat body to lipophorin follows a simple aqueous diffusion pathway. Although we cannot completely exclude some contribution from a receptor-mediated pathway, it seems that if such a pathway were present, it represents a minor route.     

Reprogramming of the activity of the activator/dissociation transposon family during plant regeneration in rice

Many aspects of epigenetic phenomena have been elucidated via studies of transposable elements. An active transposable element frequently loses its ability to mobilize and goes into an inactive state during development. In this study, we describe the cyclic activity of a maize transposable element dissociation (Ds) in rice. In rice genome, Ds undergoes the spontaneous loss of mobility. However, an inactive state of Ds can be changed into an active state during tissue culture. The recovery of mobility accompanies not only changes in the methylation patterns of the terminal region of Ds, but also alteration in the steady state level of the activator (Ac) mRNA that is expressed by a constitutive CaMV 35S promoter. Furthermore, the Ds-reactivation process is not random, but stage-specific during plantlet regeneration. Our findings have expanded previous observations on Ac reactivation in the tissue culture of maize.     

Larval development of Crangon hakodatei Rathbun (Decapoda: Crangonidae) reared in the laboratory

Complete larval development of Crangon hakodatei Rathbun isdescribed, based on material hatched in the laboratory fromovigerous females. The species has six zoeal stages and onepostlarval stage. The morphological characters of the larvaland postlarval stages are described with illustrative figuresand compared with those of two congeneric species. The zoealstages of C. hakodatei can be distinguished from those of otherCrangon species in the number of segments of the antennule peduncle,the number of setae on the antennal scale and basis of the maxillipeds,and the stages of appearance of pereiopods. The first zoealstage in the seven species of Crangon are compared and an annotatedkey for distinguishing them is also provided.     

a-NAA及UV-B辐射对栝楼幼苗生长及蒸腾作用的影响

 研究了温室条件下紫外线-B（UV-B）辐射（0.029 J·m-2·s-1）和外施α-萘乙酸（α-NAA）（2 mg·L-1）相互作用对栝楼（Trichosanthes kirilowii）幼苗生长及蒸腾速率的影响。本实验设一个对照（T0）和3个处理：外施α-NAA（T1）,增加UV-B辐射（T2）,增加UV-B辐射并外施α-NAA（T3）。实验结果：增强UV-B辐射明显降低栝楼的株高及叶面积,根、茎、叶重均较对照低,因而总生物量也较对照低,干物质积累量减少。UV-B辐射增强,对栝楼植株含水量几乎无影响,但却明显增加叶气孔阻力,降低蒸腾速率。与对照（T0）相比,外施α-NAA（T1）明显增加株高及叶面积,根、茎、叶重均增加,因而单株总生物量较对照增加,但干物质积累量增幅不大,植株水分含量较对照略高;叶气孔阻力呈降低趋势,蒸腾速率呈增大趋势。在有UV-B辐射下外施α-NAA（T3）,与T2相比,植株高度、叶重及叶面积降低趋势明显减轻,但根、茎生物量,单株总生物量及干物质积累量并无明显增加;叶气孔阻力降低,蒸腾速率增大。分析认为,栝楼幼苗根系发达,根冠比接近1,而UV-B辐射下补充α-NAA对根、茎影响小,同时本试验处理时间短（5周）,表现为对生物量增加及干物质积累量的影响效果不明显,但株高、叶面积明显增加,且在一定程度上减小了叶的气孔阻力,增大了蒸腾速率。结果表明：UV-B辐射能对栝楼的根、茎、叶生物量及干物质积累量产生影响,同时也能引起栝楼叶气孔阻力增加及蒸腾速率降低,但若同时外施α-NAA,则这种影响有减轻的趋势。该结果暗示,α-NAA能增强栝楼幼苗对UV-B辐射的耐受能力,可能是弥补了UV-B辐射引起的IAA含量的降低,减少了内源ABA的积累,减轻叶片气孔阻力,增大蒸腾速率,促进了植株生长。     

Utilization of PEI-modified Corynebacterium glutamicum biomass for the recovery of Pd(II) in hydrochloric solution

A new type of biosorbent was developed for binding anionic precious metals through cross-linking waste biomass Corynebacterium glutamicum with polyethylenimine (PEI). This biomass was evaluated for the removal and recovery of palladium and compared to commercial adsorbents, such as Amberjet 4200 Cl, Lewatit Monoplus TP 214, SPC-100, and SPS-200. The kinetic experiments revealed that the sorption equilibrium was reached with 30 min for the PEI-modified biomass. The maximum uptake of the biosorbent was 176.8 mg/g, which was calculated using the Langmuir model. The Pd(II) maximum uptake exhibited the following order: Amberjet 4200 Cl > Lewatit Monoplus TP 214 > PEI-modified biomass > SPC-100 > SPS-200. Acidified thiourea in 1.0 M HCl was used to desorb Pd(II) from all of the sorbents examined.     

Characterization by high-resolution crystal structure analysis of a triple-helix region of human collagen type III with potent cell adhesion activity

Collagen is one of the most abundant and important proteins in the human body. Human collagen type III (hCOL3A1) belongs to the fibril-forming collagens and is widely distributed in extensible connective tissue like skin, internal organs, or the vascular system. It plays key roles in wound healing, collagen fibrillogenesis, and normal cardiovascular development in human. The charged residues are considered to be an important characteristic of hCOL3A1, especially for collagen binding and recognition. Here we found that a triple helix fragment of hCOL3A1, Gly489-Gly510, contained multiple charged residues, as well as representative Glu-Lys-Gly and Glu-Arg-Gly charged triplets. We solved the crystal structure of this new fragment to a high-resolution of 1.50?Å and identified some important conformations of this new triple-helix region, including strong hydrogen bonds in interchain and interhelical interactions in addition to obvious flexible bending for the triple helix. We also found that the synthetic collagen peptides around this region exhibited potent activities through integrin-mediated peptide-membrane interaction. We then developed a method to produce a recombinant protein consisting of 16 tandem repeats of the triple-helix fragment of hCOL3A1 with strong activity without cytotoxicity. These results provide a strong base for further functional studies of human collagen type III and the method developed in this study can be applied to produce hCOL3A1-derived proteins or other tandem-repeat proteins with membrane adhesion activity.     

Expansion or extinction: deterministic and stochastic two-patch models with Allee effects

We investigate the impact of Allee effect and dispersal on the long-term evolution of a population in a patchy environment. Our main focus is on whether a population already established in one patch either successfully invades an adjacent empty patch or undergoes a global extinction. Our study is based on the combination of analytical and numerical results for both a deterministic two-patch model and a stochastic counterpart. The deterministic model has either two, three or four attractors. The existence of a regime with exactly three attractors only appears when patches have distinct Allee thresholds. In the presence of weak dispersal, the analysis of the deterministic model shows that a high-density and a low-density populations can coexist at equilibrium in nearby patches, whereas the analysis of the stochastic model indicates that this equilibrium is metastable, thus leading after a large random time to either a global expansion or a global extinction. Up to some critical dispersal, increasing the intensity of the interactions leads to an increase of both the basin of attraction of the global extinction and the basin of attraction of the global expansion. Above this threshold, for both the deterministic and the stochastic models, the patches tend to synchronize as the intensity of the dispersal increases. This results in either a global expansion or a global extinction. For the deterministic model, there are only two attractors, while the stochastic model no longer exhibits a metastable behavior. In the presence of strong dispersal, the limiting behavior is entirely determined by the value of the Allee thresholds as the global population size in the deterministic and the stochastic models evolves as dictated by their single-patch counterparts. For all values of the dispersal parameter, Allee effects promote global extinction in terms of an expansion of the basin of attraction of the extinction equilibrium for the deterministic model and an increase of the probability of extinction for the stochastic model.