云南常见牛肝菌属真菌中汞含量及食用安全评价

汞(Hg)是危害人类健康的主要重金属元素之一,多数食用菌对Hg有很强的富集能力,测定食用菌中Hg含量,并对其进行食用安全性评价具有重要意义。采用冷原子吸收直接测汞仪系统测定85份云南常见牛肝菌属真菌菌盖、菌柄中总Hg含量;以同一牛肝菌子实体菌盖与菌柄总Hg含量比(Q(C/S))分析牛肝菌属真菌对Hg的富集特征;根据联合国粮农组织和世界卫生组织(FAO/WHO)现行每周Hg允许摄入量(provisional tolerable weekly intake,PTWI)标准和中国GB 2762—2012规定的食用菌中Hg限量标准评价样品的食用安全性。结果表明,菌盖和菌柄中总Hg含量分别在0.13~22.00、0.20~8.40 mg·kg-1DW,不同产地、种类及不同采集年份的样品中总Hg含量存在明显差异;同一牛肝菌菌盖、菌柄总Hg含量比(Q(C/S))在0.28~4.08,92%的样品Q(C/S)1,表明多数样品中菌盖对Hg的富集能力强于菌柄。根据GB 2762—2012规定的食用菌及其制品中总Hg含量限量标准(≤0.1 mg·kg-1),发现所有测试样品的总Hg含量均超标;根据PTWI标准,假设成年人(60 kg)每周食用300 g新鲜牛肝菌,则多数样品Hg摄入量低于允许摄入量,无安全风险,而少数样品Hg摄入量高于允许摄入量,食用有一定的潜在风险。同时,牛肝菌总Hg含量与种类、产地、采集时间等因素密切相关,采食及安全评价需综合考虑这些因素。     

Ci antagonizes Hippo signaling in the somatic cells of the ovary to drive germline stem cell differentiation

Many stem cell populations are tightly regulated by their local microenvironment (niche), which comprises distinct types of stromal cells. However, little is known about mechanisms by which niche subgroups coordinately determine the stem cell fate. Here we identify that Yki, the key Hippo pathway component, is essential for escort cell (EC) function in promoting germline differentiation in Drosophila ovary. We found that Hedgehog (Hh) signals emanating primarily from cap cells support the function of ECs, where Cubitus interruptus (Ci), the Hh signaling effector, acts to inhibit Hippo kinase cascade activity. Mechanistically, we found that Ci competitively interacts with Hpo and impairs the Hpo-Wts signaling complex formation, thereby promoting Yki nuclear localization. The actions of Ci ensure effective Yki signaling to antagonize Sd/Tgi/Vg-mediated default repression in ECs. This study uncovers a mechanism explaining how subgroups of niche cells coordinate to determine the stem cell fate via Hh-Hippo signaling crosstalk, and enhances our understanding of mechanistic regulations of the oncogenic Yki/YAP signaling.     

肉鸭发酵床抗生素、重金属累积及细菌耐药性的演变特性

【目的】了解肉鸭发酵床使用过程中抗生素、各类金属元素累积特性,细菌抗生素耐受性演变特性。【方法】2011年11月至2013年7月,江苏某肉鸭发酵床养殖场饲养肉鸭期间,选取刚制作完成发酵床的鸭舍,和饲养4批次、8批次肉鸭时的鸭舍,检测发酵床中抗生素、金属元素含量,及发酵床中细菌的抗生素耐受水平。【结果】肉鸭发酵床垫料内强力霉素残留量因每批次肉鸭饲料中的使用而显著上升,氧氟沙星未现在垫料内累积。发酵床垫料饲养至8批次肉鸭时,垫料内耐受16、100μg/m L强力霉素三种可培养细菌的平均菌落数与比例为最高,而耐受8、50μg/m L氧氟沙星的平均菌落数、菌落数比例未现明显的增长趋势。发酵床使用过程中,垫料内As、Pb、Hg元素含量未显著增加,Cd元素检测量极低,Zn、Mn元素含量增加趋势明显,Cu、Cr元素累积速度缓慢。【结论】每批次使用强力霉素可在多批次肉鸭饲养后显著增加发酵床垫料中强力霉素含量,显著增强垫料中肠道菌群耐受强力霉素能力,Zn、Mn元素含量总体呈上升趋势。     

Multiplex genotyping based on the melting temperature of a single locked nucleic acid probe

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) is a modified RNA nucleotide that can be incorporated at specific positions to generate probes with the desired length, melting temperature (T_M), and specificity. Here, we describe a method of multiplex genotyping based on dramatic shifts in the T_M of a single dual-labeled LNA probe. Using this method, two varieties of the hairtail fish Trichiurus lepturus can be distinguished from each other, as well as from Trichiurus japonicus, based on a 1- to 2-bp difference in a fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1. The shift in T_M was 15 °C for a 1-bp mismatch and 27 °C for a 2-bp mismatch, indicating remarkable specificity. We anticipate that the method will be widely useful in applications such as species identification that require accurate, multiplex, and efficient detection of DNA polymorphisms.     

Mapping the Dynamics Landscape of Conformational Transitions in Enzyme: The Adenylate Kinase Case

Conformational transition describes the essential dynamics and mechanism of enzymes in pursuing their various functions. The fundamental and practical challenge to researchers is to quantitatively describe the roles of large-scale dynamic transitions for regulating the catalytic processes. In this study, we tackled this challenge by exploring the pathways and free energy landscape of conformational changes in adenylate kinase (AdK), a key ubiquitous enzyme for cellular energy homeostasis. Using explicit long-timescale (up to microseconds) molecular dynamics and bias-exchange metadynamics simulations, we determined at the atomistic level the intermediate conformational states and mapped the transition pathways of AdK in the presence and absence of ligands. There is clearly chronological operation of the functional domains of AdK. Specifically in the ligand-free AdK, there is no significant energy barrier in the free energy landscape separating the open and closed states. Instead there are multiple intermediate conformational states, which facilitate the rapid transitions of AdK. In the ligand-bound AdK, the closed conformation is energetically most favored with a large energy barrier to open it up, and the conformational population prefers to shift to the closed form coupled with transitions. The results suggest a perspective for a hybrid of conformational selection and induced fit operations of ligand binding to AdK. These observations, depicted in the most comprehensive and quantitative way to date, to our knowledge, emphasize the underlying intrinsic dynamics of AdK and reveal the sophisticated conformational transitions of AdK in fulfilling its enzymatic functions. The developed methodology can also apply to other proteins and biomolecular systems.