Fe- and S-Metabolizing Microbial Communities Dominate an AMD-Contaminated River Ecosystem and Play Important Roles in Fe and S Cycling

Indigenous Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria play important roles both in the formation and the natural attenuation of acid mine drainage (AMD). Due to its low pH and Fe-S-rich waters, a river located in the Dabaoshan Mine area provides an ideal opportunity to study indigenous Fe- and S-metabolizing microbial communities and their roles in biogeochemical Fe and S cycling. In this work, water and sediment samples were collected from the river for physicochemical, mineralogical, and microbiological analyses. Illumina MiSeq sequencing indicated higher species richness in the sediment than in the water. Sequencing also found that Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria were the dominant microorganisms in the heavily and moderately contaminated areas. Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria found in the water were aerobes or facultative anaerobes, including Acidithiobacillus, Acidiphilium, Thiomonas, Gallionella, and Leptospirillum. Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria found in the sediment belong to microaerobes, facultative anaerobes, or obligatory anaerobes, including Acidithiobacillus, Sulfobacillus, Thiomonas, Gallionella, Geobacter, Geothrix, and Clostridium. Among the dominant genera in the sediment, Geobacter and Geothrix were rarely detected in AMD-contaminated natural environments. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that pH, S, and Fe concentration gradients were the most important factors in structuring the river microbial community. Moreover, a scheme explaining the biogeochemical Fe and S cycling is advanced in light of the Fe and S species distribution and the identified Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria.     

IKBKE protein activates Akt independent of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/PDK1/mTORC2 and the pleckstrin homology domain to sustain malignant transformation

Serine/threonine kinase Akt regulates key cellular processes such as cell growth, proliferation, and survival. Activation of Akt by mitogenic factor depends on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). Here, we report that IKBKE (also known as IKKε and IKKi) activates Akt through a PI3K-independent pathway. IKBKE directly phosphorylates Akt-Thr308 and Ser473 independent of the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain. IKBKE activation of Akt was not affected by inhibition of PI3K, knockdown of PDK1 or mTORC2 complex. Further, this activation could be inhibited by Akt inhibitors MK-2206 and GSK690693 but not the compounds (perifosine and triciribine) targeting the PH domain of Akt. Expression of IKBKE largely correlates with activation of Akt in breast cancer. Moreover, inhibition of Akt suppresses IKBKE oncogenic transformation. These findings indicate that IKBKE is an Akt-Thr308 and -Ser473 kinase and directly activates Akt independent of PI3K, PDK1, and mTORC2 as well as PH domain. Our data also suggest that Akt inhibitors targeting the PH domain have no effect on the tumors in which hyperactive Akt resulted from elevated IKBKE.     

Preliminary results on nematicidal activity from culture filtrates of Basidiomycetes against the pine wood nematode,Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Aphelenchoididae)

One hundred and eighty one fungal species that were isolated from the fresh fruiting bodies collected in the Mountains of Pu Er County of Yunnan Province, China were tested on the pine wood nematode,Bursaphelenchus xylophilus in vitro. Each fungal species was grown in Czapek broth and potato dextrose broth (PDB). Fifteen filtrates fromAmauroderma austrosinense, Amauroderma macer, Filoboletus sp.,Laccaria tortilis, Lactarius gerardii, Lentinula edodes, Oudemansiella longipes, Oudemansiella mucida, Peziza sp.,Pleurotus sp.,Sinotermitomyces carnosus (two strains),Strobilomyces floccopus, Termitomyces albuminosus, Tylopilus striatulus grown on PDB were found to be pathogenic to the tested nematodes. Eleven filtrates fromAmanita junguillea, Amanita sp.,Daedalea sepiaria, Fistulina hepatica, Omphalotus olearius, Oudemansiella mucida, Peziza sp.,Pleurotus pulmatus, Ramaria sp.,Tricholoma conglobatum, Tylopilus striatulus grown on Czapek broth were also pathogenic to the nematodes. When screening for nematicidal potential of fungi, it is important to study the growth medium conditions necessary to obtain the optimal nematicidal effect as fungal filtrates growing on different liquid media showed a very inconsistent toxicity towards nematodes.     

Optimization of sulfated modification conditions of tremella polysaccharide and effects of modifiers on cellular infectivity of NDV

Based on our previous research, sulfated modification conditions of Tremella polysaccharide (TPS), the chlorosulfonic acid to pyridine (CSA-Pry) ratio, reaction temperature and time, were optimized by L₉ (3⁴) orthogonal design taking the yield and degree of sulfation (DS) of modifiers as indexes. Two TPSs, TPS_tp and TPS_70c, were modified under optimized conditions. The effects of two modifiers, sTPS_tp and sTPS_70c, on cellular infectivity of NDV were determined by MTT method taking the non-modified TPS_tp, TPS_tc and TPS_70c as controls. The results showed that the optimized modification conditions were reaction temperature of 80 °C, CSA-Pry ratio of 1:6 and reaction time of 1.5 h. Five polysaccharides at proper concentrations could significantly inhibit the infectivity of NDV to CEF. The virus inhibitory rates of sTPS_tp at 1.563 μg mL⁻¹ group were the highest and significantly higher than those of other three non-modified polysaccharide groups in three sample-adding modes. This indicated that sulfated modification could significantly improve the antiviral activity of TPS. sTPS_tp possessed the best efficacy and would be as a component of antiviral polysaccharide drug.     

共表达甲型流感病毒M1和HA抗原的重组杆状病毒的构建

为构建同时表达流感病毒M1和HA抗原的重组杆状病毒,采用PCR扩增流感病毒A/PR/8/34株的M1基因和去除信号肽的HA基因,将两基因克隆到杆状病毒转座载体pFastBac Dual的两个启动子下游的多克隆位点,筛选出阳性重组转座载体pFastBac Dual-M1-HA。将其转化含有杆状病毒穿梭载体(Bacmid)的DH10Bac感受态细胞,通过抗生素、蓝白斑筛选和PCR鉴定获得重组杆状病毒穿梭载体rBacmid-M1-HA,在脂质体介导下转染Sf9昆虫细胞,获得重组杆状病毒rBac-M1-HA。提取重组病毒基因组,通过PCR鉴定外源基因插入成功。间接免疫荧光和Western-blot检测表明,该重组杆状病毒在Sf9昆虫细胞中成功地表达了M1和HA。应用杆状病毒/昆虫细胞系统成功共表达流感病毒M1和HA抗原,为研究流感病毒VLP的形成机制和开发新型流感疫苗奠定了基础。     

Influenza A virus-binding activity of glycoglycerolipids of aquatic bacteria

As the aqueous sphere has been proposed to be an important source medium for the virus infection of land animals, the glycolipids of some aquatic organisms were examined for human influenza A virus-binding activity. Active compounds were not found among the eight echinoderm gangliosides, but two active non-sialylated glycoglycerolipids were isolated from an aquatic bacterium, Corynebacterium aquaticum. The structural formula of one of them, H632A, was elucidated to be 1-14-methyl-hexadecanoyl-3-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl-(1-->3)-6-(12-met hyl-tetradecanoyl)-1-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl]-sn-glycerol. The latter together with reported one elsewhere, S365A, 1-14-methyl-hexadecanoyl-3-[alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->3)-6-(12-meth yl-tetradecanoyl)-1-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl]-sn-glycerol, apparently bound to three human influenza viruses, A/PR/8/34 (H1N1), A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2), and A/Memphis/1/71 (H3N2), exhibiting 7-12% (H632A) and 10-22% (S365A) of the activities of the control substances (Neu5Acalpha2-3-paragloboside and Neu5Acalpha2-6- paragloboside). Additionally, these glycolipids were assumed to have virus-neutralizing activities for the following two reasons: (i) The hemagglutination and hemolysis activities of the viruses were inhibited by the glycolipid. (ii) The leakage of a cytosolic enzyme (lactate dehydrogenase) from Madin-Darby canine kidney cells on virus infection was prevented by the glycolipids to nearly the same extent as by fetuin. This is the first evidence of the binding- and neutralizing-abilities of native glycoglycerolipids as to influenza viruses.     

Comparative proteomics analysis of silkworm hemolymph during the stages of metamorphosis via liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry

The silkworm is a lepidopteran insect that has an open circulatory system with hemolymph consisting of blood and lymph fluid. Hemolymph is not only considered as a depository of nutrients and energy, but it also plays a key role in substance transportation, immunity response, and proteolysis. In this study, we used LC‐MS/MS to analyze the hemolymph proteins of four developmental stages during metamorphosis. A total of 728 proteins were identified from the hemolymph of the second day of wandering stage, first day of pupation, ninth day of pupation, and first day as an adult moth. GO annotations and categories showed that silkworm hemolymph proteins were enriched in carbohydrate metabolism, proteolysis, protein binding, and antibacterial humoral response. The levels of nutrient, immunity‐related, and structural proteins changed significantly during development and metamorphosis. Some, such as cuticle, odorant‐binding, and chemosensory proteins, showed stage‐specific expression in the hemolymph. In addition, the expression of several antimicrobial peptides exhibited their highest level of abundance in the hemolymph of the early pupal stage. These findings provide a comprehensive proteomic insight of the silkworm hemolymph and suggest additional molecular targets for studying insect metamorphosis.     

伴侣素的发现者——霍维茨

伴侣素（chaperonin）是辅助蛋白质正确折叠过程中的重要元件,可有效防止蛋白质错误折叠和聚集,对细胞正常功能发挥和发育具有十分重要的意义。伴侣素功能缺陷或异常可导致许多神经退行性疾病如帕金森综合症等的发生,因此伴侣素介导的蛋白质折叠的研究对该类疾病的治疗具有重要帮助。伴侣素于1989年由霍维茨发现,经过近20年研究,人们对其作用机理和生理功能有了较为全面的理解,从而为应用奠定了基础。