Expression of baculovirus anti-apoptotic genes p35 and op-iap in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) enhances tolerance to verticillium wilt

Background

Programmed cell death plays an important role in mediating plant adaptive responses to the environment such as the invasion of pathogens. Verticillium wilt, caused by the necrotrophic pathogen Verticillium dahliae, is a serious vascular disease responsible for great economic losses to cotton, but the molecular mechanisms of verticillium disease and effective, safe methods of resistance to verticillium wilt remain unexplored.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In this study, we introduced baculovirus apoptosis inhibitor genes p35 and op-iap into the genome of cotton via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and analyzed the response of transgenic plants to verticillium wilt. Results showed that p35 and op-iap constructs were stably integrated into the cotton genome, expressed in the transgenic lines, and inherited through the T₃ generation. The transgenic lines had significantly increased tolerance to verticillium wilt throughout the developmental stages. The disease index of T₁–T₃ generation was lower than 19, significantly (P<0.05) better than the negative control line z99668. After treatment with 250 mg/L VD-toxins for 36 hours, DNA from negative control leaves was fragmented, whereas fragmentation in the transgenic leaf DNA did not occur. The percentage of cell death in transgenic lines increased by 7.11% after 60 mg/L VD-toxin treatment, which was less than that of the negative control lines''s 21.27%. This indicates that p35 and op-iap gene expression partially protects cells from VD-toxin induced programmed cell death (PCD).

Conclusion/Significance

Verticillium dahliae can trigger plant cells to die through induction of a PCD mechanism involved in pathogenesis. This paper provides a potential strategy for engineering broad-spectrum necrotrophic disease resistance in plants.     

Structural and Stereochemical Studies of Hydroxyanthraquinone Derivatives from the Endophytic Fungus Coniothyrium sp

Four known hydroxyanthraquinones ( 1–4 ) together with four new derivatives having a tetralone moiety, namely coniothyrinones A–D ( 5–8 ), were isolated from the culture of Coniothyrium sp., an endophytic fungus isolated from Salsola oppostifolia from Gomera in the Canary Islands. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis and comparison with reported data. The absolute configurations of coniothyrinones A ( 5 ), B ( 6 ), and D ( 8 ) were determined by TDDFT calculations of CD spectra, allowing the determination of the absolute configuration of coniothyrinone C ( 7 ) as well. Coniothyrinones A ( 5 ), B ( 6 ), and D ( 8 ) could be used as ECD reference compounds in the determination of absolute configuration for related tetralone derivatives. This is the first report of anthraquinones and derivatives from an isolate of the genus Coniothyrium sp. These compounds showed inhibitory effects against the fungus Microbotryum violaceum, the alga Chlorella fusca, and the bacteria Escherichia coli and Bacillus megaterium. Chirality 25:141–148, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Compositional changes in cell wall polysaccharides from chilled and non-chilled cucumber fruit

Cell wall carbohydrate composition and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) content have been determined in chilled (2.5°) and non-chilled (12.5°) cucumber fruit. The major compositional change that accompanied the increased capability for ACC synthesis during chilling was a diminished loss of galactose residues, relative to the loss which occurred at 12.5°. However, the loss of galactose residues increased markedly when fruit were transferred from 2.5° to 20°, and wall galactose levels eventually declined to similar levels in both chilled and non-chilled fruit. Rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose and cellulose content of walls was similar in chilled and non-chilled fruit and did not change substantially upon transfer of fruit to 20°. Upon transfer of chilled fruit from 2.5° to 20°, an increase in the relative amount of galacturonic acid in cell walls occurred; this change did not occur in non-chilled fruit. Thus, chilling stress results in a rapid change in the neutral sugar and galacturonic acid composition of cell wall pectic polysaccharides upon warming.     

EB病毒潜伏膜蛋白1多态性与鼻咽癌的关系

为了分析广东地区鼻咽癌病人和非鼻咽癌病人携带的Epstein-Barr病毒（EBV）潜伏膜蛋白1（LMP1）基因多态性,探讨LMP1基因羧基端缺失30个碱基的EBV是否与华南地区鼻咽癌高发有关。为此收集了初始的107例鼻咽癌病人和106例非鼻咽癌肿病人的漱口液,用巢式PCR扩增LMP1羧基端,观察缺失型LMP1的构成比。同时,测序分析缺失型LMP1编码区序列,了解缺失型LMP1多态性与鼻咽癌的关联度。结果：在50％的样品中可检出LMP1基因,缺失型LMP1在鼻咽癌病人和非鼻咽病人的构成比相似,约占70？％,原型和缺失型LMP1混合感染少见（0－6％）。另外,广州地区的缺失型LMP序列与上海、台湾、香港地区的缺失型LMP1基因高度同源,鼻咽癌病人是和非鼻咽癌病人携带的缺失型LMP1基因序列基本相同。此结果表明,广州地区流行的LMP1羧基端缺失30个碱基的EBV株,漱口液中检测出的缺失型与原型LMP1构成比约为7：3,在鼻咽癌病人和非鼻咽癌病人此分布情况相似。     

盐度和CO2倍增环境下碱蓬幼苗呼吸酶活性的变化

研究了生长在正常大气ＣＯ２和ＣＯ２倍增环境中的盐生植物碱蓬（Ｓｕａｅｄａｓａｌｓａ）幼苗呼吸酶活性对ＫＣｌ和ＮａＣｌ的反应．结果表明,在ＣＯ２倍增（７００μｌ·Ｌ－１）和正常大气ＣＯ２（３５０μｌ·Ｌ－１）下,３００ｍｍｏｌ·Ｌ－１ＫＣｌ和ＮａＣｌ均能抑制琥珀酸脱氢酶（ＳＤＨ）和苹果酸脱氢酶（ＭＤＨ）活性,而异柠檬酸脱氢酶（ＩＤＨ）活性为ＮａＣｌ抑制、ＫＣｌ促进;ＮａＣｌ和ＫＣｌ明显抑制细胞色素氧化酶（ＣＯ）和光呼吸中乙醇酸氧化酶（ＧＯ）、羟基丙酮酸还原酶（ＨＰＲ）活性;并指出在ＫＣｌ胁迫下,ＣＯ２使三羧酸循环（ＴＣＡＣ）的运行变慢,ＮａＣｌ胁迫下使其加快,ＴＣＡＣ运行限速步骤与ＭＤＨ无关,ＣＯ为盐对呼吸代谢影响的重要位点．另外,Ｋ＋、Ｎａ＋对蛋白表达的影响有差异,ＣＯ２可使盐胁迫下的碱蓬幼苗蛋白表达降低．     

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) interacts with Bim and inhibits Bim-mediated apoptosis

The pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bim acts as a sensor for apoptotic stimuli and initiates apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. To identify novel regulators of Bim, we employed the yeast two-hybrid system and isolated the human gene encoding macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a ubiquitously expressed proinflammatory mediator that has also been implicated in cell proliferation, the cell cycle and carcinogenesis. The interaction between MIF and Bim was confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo protein interaction assays. Intriguingly, protein complexes between MIF and the three major Bim isoforms (BimEL/BimL/BimS) could be detected in HEK293 and K562 cells, especially in cells undergoing apoptosis. Moreover, exogenous expression of MIF partially inhibited Bim-induced apoptosis in HEK293 cells. SiRNA-mediated knockdown of MIF increased apoptosis in K562 cells exposed to the chemical oxidant diamide. Endogenous MIF may regulate the pro-apoptotic activity of Bim and inhibit the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria.     

The inhibitory effect of BSP-A1/-A2 on protein kinase C and tyrosine protein kinase

Bovine seminal plasma contains a group of similar proteins, namely BSP-A1, BSP-A2, BSP-A3, and BSP-30-kDa (collectively called BSP proteins), and they are secreted by the seminal vesicles. In our study, we purified the BSP-A1/-A2 through affinity chromatography and found for the first time that BSP-A1/-A2 can inhibit the activity of protein kinase C (PKC) and tyrosine protein kinase (TPK). The inhibition was dose dependent. When the PKC and TPK activities are expressed as the logarithm of percentage activity taking the activity in the absence of the BSP-A1/-A2 as 100%, there is a linear relationship between the their activities and the dose of BSP-A1/-A2.