Incorporation of the transmembrane hydrophobic domain of glycophorin into small unilamellar phospholipid vesicles Ion Flux studies

Human erythrocyte glycophorin is one of the best characterized integral membrane proteins. Reconstitution of the membrane-spanning hydrophobic segment of glycophorin (the tryptic insoluble peptide released when glycophorin is treated with trypsin) with liposomes results in the production of freeze-fracture intrabilayer particles of 80 Å diameter (Segrest, J.P., Gulik-Krzywicki, T. and Sardet, C. (1974) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71, 3294–3298), with particles appearing at or above a tryptic insoluble peptide concentration of 4 mmol per mol phosphatidylcholine. In the present study, increasing concentrations of tryptic insoluble peptide were added to sonicated small unilamellar egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles and the rate of efflux of ²²Na⁺ was examined by rapid (30 s) gel filtration on Sephadex G-50. Below a concentation of 3–5 mmol tryptic insoluble peptide/mol phosphatidylcholine, ²²Na⁺ efflux occurs at a constant slow rate at given tryptic insoluble peptide concentrations. Above a concentration of 3–5 mM, the rate of efflux is biphasic at given tryptic insoluble peptide concentrations, exhibiting both an initial fast and a subsequent slow component. On the basis of graphic and computer curve-fitting analysis, with increasing tryptic insoluble peptide concentration, the rate of the slow component reaches a plateau at a tryptic insoluble peptide concentration of 3–5 mM and remains essentially constant until much higher concentrations are reached; the fast component increases linearly with increasing tryptic insoluble peptide concentration well beyond 5 mM. The most consistent interpretation of this data is as follows. The slow ²²Na⁺ efflux component is due to perturbations of small unilamellar vesicle integrity by tryptic insoluble peptide monomers. At a tryptic insoluble peptide concentration of 3–5 mmol/mol, a critical concentration is reached following which there is intrabilayer tryptic insoluble peptide self-association. The fast ²²Na⁺ efflux component is due to the increasing presence of tryptic insoluble peptide self-associated multimers the 80-Å particles seen by freeze-fracture electron microscopy) which results in a significantly larger bilayer defect than do tryptic insoluble peptide monomers. The failure of complete saturation of efflux by the fast component is ascribed to the presence of two populations of small unilamellar vesicles, some of which contain tryptic insoluble peptide multimers and some of which do not.Addition of cholesterol to the tryptic insoluble peptide/phosphatidylcholine vesicles decreases the rate of ²²Na⁺ efflux by inhibiting primarily the fast component. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy indicates that the presence of cholesterol has no effect on the size, number or distribution of 80-Å intra-bilayer particles in the tryptic insoluble peptide/phosphatidylcholine vesicles. These results are consistent with a mechanism to explain the fast Na⁺ efflux component involving protein-lipid boundary perturbations.Efflux of ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ from phosphatidylcholine vesicles is also enhanced by incorporation of tryptic insoluble peptide, but only if divalent cations (Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺) are present in the external bathing media as well as inside the sonicated vesicles. If monovalent Na⁺ only is present in the bathing media no ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ efflux is seen. Under conditions where ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ efflux is seen, both a fast and a slow component are present, although both appear lower than corresponding rate constants for ²²Na⁺ efflux. These results suggest a coordinated mechanism for ion efflux induced by tryptic insoluble peptide and, together with the ²²Na⁺ efflux studies, may have mechanistic implications for the transbilayer phospholipid exchange (flip-flop) suggesed to be induced at glycophorin/phospholipid interfaces (de Kruiff, B., van Zoelen, E.J.J. and van Deenen, L.L.M. (1978) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 509, 537–542).     

Single-cell transcriptomic atlas of primate cardiopulmonary aging

Aging is a major risk factor for many diseases,especially in highly prevalent cardiopulmonary comorbidities and infectious diseases including Coronavirus Diseas...     

近60年秦岭山地旱涝变化规律

随着极端气候变化,山地灾害频发。基于秦岭山地32个气象站点的实测数据,以标准化降水蒸散指数(SPEI)为旱涝量化指标,研究了过去60年秦岭山地旱涝时空变化特征、频率、周期等变化规律,结果表明：(1)1960—2019年,秦岭山地年SPEI指数以0.124/10a的速度下降,其中,90.23%的面积呈显著下降趋势,1.96%的面积呈显著上升趋势,并在1990年发生干旱突变;秦岭北坡的干旱化趋势大于南坡,且高海拔地区干旱化更为明显。(2)突变前秦岭山地湿润比例平均值为36.94%,突变后下降为18.19%;干旱比例由突变前的17.64%急剧上升到突变后的38.19%;突变前30年秦岭山地极端干旱事件、严重干旱事件极少发生,发生频率几乎为0;突变后30年严重干旱和极端干旱事件发生频率增加,秦岭南北坡极端湿润和严重湿润事件近乎销声匿迹。(3)整体上,太阳黑子与秦岭山地旱涝变化以显著负相关关系为主;ENSO事件对秦岭山地的旱涝变化影响较大,在La Nina年易发生洪涝事件,在El Ni1o年易发生干旱事件;在不同时域范围内,海表温度距平(SSTA)对秦岭山地旱涝变化的影响不同：1990年以前,S...     

植物内生细菌的生物薄膜(biofilm)

生物薄膜(biofilm)指微生物菌体互相黏附一起或附着到一些材料表面,并由胞外多聚物基质对其包埋的生长状态。生物薄膜是微生物形成的对生存环境(包括定殖宿主)相适应的结构。近年来随着人们对微生物与环境相互作用研究的日益重视,对生物薄膜的研究已经迅速发展起来。该文从植物内生细菌的角度,总结并论述了生物薄膜结构形成、生理生化性质、以及生物学功能等,并针对当前国内对生物薄膜概念使用不规范甚至不正确的问题,提出了自己的观点。     

FERONIA is involved in phototropin 1-mediated blue light phototropic growth in Arabidopsis

Plant shoot phototropism is triggered by the formation of a light-driven auxin gradient leading to bending growth. The blue light receptor phototropin 1(phot1) senses light direction, but how this leads to auxin gradient formation and growth regulation remains poorly understood. Previous studies have suggested phot1’s role for regulated apoplastic acidification, but its relation to phototropin and hypocotyl phototropism is unclear. Herein, we show that blue light can cause phot1 to interact with...     

微生物学教学中大学生科学探究与创新意识培养的教学案例

从若干具体教学案例出发,介绍如何在微生物学教学中倡导科学研究方法思想:观察现象,提出问题,进行假说,科学实验,形成理论;注意介绍重要生物学里程碑事件或重大理论突破的发现和证明的科学探究过程,帮助学生建立创新意识。另外,结合自身科研实例开展教学工作,并在考试中注重考察解决实际问题的能力。     

克氏原螯虾嗜水气单胞菌噬菌体的分离鉴定和应用

为分离获得致病性嗜水气单胞菌烈性噬菌体,鉴定和研究其生物学特性,为克氏原螯虾细菌性疾病的防治和治疗提供依据,研究以患病克氏原螯虾分离到的致病性嗜水气单胞菌为宿主菌,从湖泊水体中分离到多株噬菌体,对其中一株烈性噬菌体Ph-0进行了生物学特性的分析,包括噬菌斑形态的观察,最佳感染复数的测定,一步生长曲线的绘制,热稳定性的测...     

基于绿色GDP和生态足迹的江西省生态效率动态变化研究

生态效率是循环经济与可持续发展的有效测度,其测度方法一直是相关研究领域的热点和难点。鉴于绿色GDP能反映出剔除资源损耗和生态环境影响的国民经济净收益,生态足迹则更能全面地衡量经济发展中消耗的各种物质、能源以及带来的环境影响,基于WBCSD提出的生态效率定义及核算方法,创新性地从绿色GDP和生态足迹的视角改进生态效率度量模型,并以江西省为研究对象,对其2000—2015年间的生态效率变化轨迹及成因进行衡量与分析。结果表明:(1)2000—2015年江西省单位面积生态足迹的绿色GDP即生态效率总体呈上升趋势,15年来提升了4.57倍,与此同时,绿色GDP、生态足迹也呈上升趋势,但绿色GDP的增速明显高于生态足迹的增速;(2)江西省绿色GDP占总的GDP的比例处于不规则波动状态,平均为84.61%,其中自然资源损耗价值、环境退化损失价值和资源环境改善效益也呈不规则波动,三者皆呈现出先上升后下降的趋势,其中自然资源损耗对绿色GDP的影响较为显著;(3)江西省生态足迹不断增加,总生态足迹15年来增加了83.6%,年平均增长率为4.26%,从生态足迹构成来看,各土地利用类型生态足迹均呈波动上升趋势,其中牧草地足迹增长最为显著;(4)江西省生态足迹的主要类型是牧草地足迹、耕地足迹和化石能源用地足迹,其中牧草地足迹比重最大,并且保持波动上升趋势,其次是耕地和化石能源用地足迹,但两者比重均呈小幅下降趋势。从生态效率度量模型的创新性、适应性和生态效率的提高途径等方面进行了详细的探讨。     

卧龙自然保护区生态系统服务福祉贡献评估:当地居民的视角

福祉贡献是生态系统服务的核心,也是生态系统管理和恢复的目标之一。从当地居民的角度,以卧龙自然保护区为例,调查了生态系统服务的福祉贡献,研究了生态系统服务、福祉贡献和受益者之间的联系。研究表明,从福祉角度看,24种生态系统服务的福祉贡献存在差异,表现为社会福祉高于个人福祉。从生态系统服务类型来看,调节服务的福祉贡献高于文化服务和供应服务,特别是净化空气、预防自然灾害和淡水供应这3项生态系统服务的福祉贡献最高。从生态系统服务的变化趋势和福祉贡献来看,由于生物多样性保护和生态恢复政策的实施,采集、传统农作物、牲畜和土壤肥力等生态系统服务呈下降趋势,其中土壤肥力是下降趋势明显且对受访者福祉贡献较大的生态系统服务类型,可确定为关键的生态系统服务。多元方差分析和逻辑斯蒂回归分析表明,生态系统服务的福祉贡献与受访者的性别、年龄、职业、收入构成等因素显著相关。研究分析了影响生态系统服务福祉贡献差异性的原因并提出了相应的管理对策。