新疆野扁桃天然居群形态变异的研究

为了从数量上分析新疆野扁桃(Amygdalus ledebouriana)天然居群表型性状在居群间和居群内的变异,我们于2007年对分布存新疆的5个野扁桃天然居群的8个表型性状进行了测量和比较分析.结果表明:新疆野扁桃表型性状在居群间和居群内均存在着较丰富的差异,居群内的变异大于居群间的变异,居群间的分化相对较小;利用居群问欧氏距离进行UPGMA聚类分析表明,5个天然居群可以划分为3类,表型性状的欧式遗传距离与地理距离相关不显著.主成分综合分析结果显示:新梢长宽比、叶片长宽比、果核千粒重、果核长宽比及花冠直径等5个表型性状指标是反映新疆野扁桃表型差异的主要因素.     

百合细胞中内生菌的发现

在健康的百合鳞茎、地上茎、叶和幼胚等组织的细胞中发现了“内生菌”。通过光学显微镜、电镜和组培等观察,“内生菌”不影响百合细胞的正常分裂和分化,再生植株健壮。这些细菌还能随着宿主细胞的分裂转移到子细胞。“内生菌”椭圆形或近圆球形。电镜切片菌壁厚,单层,均质,为典型革兰氏阳性菌壁结构。电镜观察结果与光学显微镜观察内生菌的革兰氏染色反应是一致的。     

苜蓿中华根瘤菌代谢组学样品制备方法的研究

代谢组样品制备是代谢组学研究的基础。本文以维生素B12生产菌株苜蓿中华根瘤菌Sinorhizobium meliloti 320为研究对象,通过检测细胞损伤、ATP泄漏、代谢物回收效率以及细胞代谢淬灭效率综合评价细胞淬灭方法,同时对5种提取试剂的提取效率进行比较优化胞内代谢物的提取方法。最终获得苜蓿中华根瘤菌S.meliloti 320的胞内代谢组学样品制备较佳条件:即-20℃40%甲醇淬灭细胞,过滤收集淬灭细胞,甲醇/乙腈/水(体积比为2∶2∶2,外加0.1%的甲酸)与50%甲醇相结合提取胞内代谢物。实验结果显示-20℃的40%甲醇(通过过滤收集细胞)对细胞膜的损伤较小,且细胞代谢淬灭效率和回收效率较高;甲醇/乙腈/水(体积比为2∶2∶2,外加0.1%的甲酸)与50%的甲醇对胞内代谢物的提取效率较高且有互补作用。     

盐生植物海马齿离体再生

建立盐生植物海马齿(Sesuvium portulacastrum)的离体再生体系,为其生物技术改良奠定基础。以海马齿叶片、茎和腋芽为外植体, 在不同激素配比的培养基上进行愈伤组织诱导、继代培养以及不定芽的分化和生根培养。结果表明: 最适愈伤组织诱导的外植体为叶片, 其次为幼嫩的茎段和腋芽。以叶片为外植体, 愈伤组织诱导率最高的培养基为MS+2.0mg·L^–12, 4-D + 0.5 mg·L^–16-BA + 3%sucrose; 芽分化最适培养基为MS + 1.0 mg·L^–1 2, 4-D + 0.2 mg·L^–1 6-BA + 3% sucrose;生根最适培养基为MS + 3%sucrose + 0.1%AC。炼苗移栽后, 成活率可达80%。     

Regional and developmental characteristics of human embryo mosaicism revealed by single cell sequencing

Chromosomal mosaicism is common throughout human pre- and post-implantation development. However, the incidence and characteristics of mosaicism in human blastocyst remain unclear. Concerns and confusions still exist regarding the interpretation of chromosomal mosaicism on preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) results and embryo development. Here, we aimed to estimate the genetic concordance between trophectoderm (TE), inner cell mass (ICM) and the corresponding human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), and to explore the characteristics of mosaicism in human blastocyst and hESCs on a single cell level. The single cell sequencing results of TE cells indicated that 65.71% of the blastocysts were mosaic (23 in 35 embryos), while the ICM sequencing results suggested that 60.00% of the blastocysts were mosaic (9 in 15 embryos). The incidence of mosaicism for the corresponding hESCs was 33.33% (2 in 6 embryos). No significant difference was observed between the mosaic rate of TE and that of ICM. However, the mosaic rate of the corresponding hESCs was significantly lower than that of TE and ICM cells, suggesting that the incidence of mosaicism may decline during embryonic development. Upon single cell sequencing, we found several “complementary” copy number variations (CNVs) that were usually not revealed in clinical PGT-A which used multi-cell DNA sequencing (or array analysis). This indicates the potential diagnostic risk of PGT-A based multi-cell analysis routinely in clinical practice. This study provided new insights into the characteristics, and considerable influences, of mosaicism on human embryo development, as well as the clinical risks of PGT-A based on multi-cell biopsies and bulk DNA assays.     

海平面上升对粤港澳大湾区沿海生境脆弱性评估

全球气候变暖所导致的海平面上升和快速城镇化将对沿海生境的分布和景观格局造成重大影响。评估海平面上升影响下的滨海湿地的脆弱性是对区域生态环境进行修复治理的重要依据。以粤港澳大湾区为例,基于SLAMM模型和Fragstas模型,针对六种海平面上升和土地利用耦合情景,对红树林、盐沼和潮滩三类海岸生境在2100年的面积变化、分布状况和脆弱程度进行了预测和分析。结果表明:1) 随着海平面上升,红树林和潮滩生境遭受严重退化。其中,红树林高脆弱性区主要分布在西江口、珠江口和黄茅海东岸。潮滩高脆弱性区则平均分布在大湾区沿海地带。相比之下,盐沼生境受海平面上升的影响较小。2) 与红树林和潮滩相比,土地利用模式对盐沼生境的影响最为显著。在保护已开发用地的情景下,珠江口西侧的盐沼面积大幅增加,脆弱性程度低。在保护所有旱地的情景下,盐沼生境面积虽然基本维持,但景观格局破坏严重,脆弱性程度高。本研究建议针对高脆弱区,动态调整土地利用策略,清理沿海湿地向内迁移的空间,增强沿海生境应对海平面上升的适应性。本研究可为沿海湿地的管理和保护提供科学支持。     

Plasmodium falciparum Transfected with Ultra Bright NanoLuc Luciferase Offers High Sensitivity Detection for the Screening of Growth and Cellular Trafficking Inhibitors

Drug discovery is a key part of malaria control and eradication strategies, and could benefit from sensitive and affordable assays to quantify parasite growth and to help identify the targets of potential anti-malarial compounds. Bioluminescence, achieved through expression of exogenous luciferases, is a powerful tool that has been applied in studies of several aspects of parasite biology and high throughput growth assays. We have expressed the new reporter NanoLuc (Nluc) luciferase in Plasmodium falciparum and showed it is at least 100 times brighter than the commonly used firefly luciferase. Nluc brightness was explored as a means to achieve a growth assay with higher sensitivity and lower cost. In addition we attempted to develop other screening assays that may help interrogate libraries of inhibitory compounds for their mechanism of action. To this end parasites were engineered to express Nluc in the cytoplasm, the parasitophorous vacuole that surrounds the intraerythrocytic parasite or exported to the red blood cell cytosol. As proof-of-concept, these parasites were used to develop functional screening assays for quantifying the effects of Brefeldin A, an inhibitor of protein secretion, and Furosemide, an inhibitor of new permeation pathways used by parasites to acquire plasma nutrients.     

Statistical Application and Challenges in Global Gel-Free Proteomic Analysis by Mass Spectrometry

Global gel-free proteomic analysis by mass spectrometry has been widely used as an important tool for exploring complex biological systems at the whole genome level. Simultaneous analysis of a large number of protein species is a complicated and challenging task. The challenges exist throughout all stages of a global gel-free proteomic analysis: experimental design, peptide/protein identification, data preprocessing and normalization, and inferential analysis. In addition to various efforts to improve the analytical technologies, statistical methodologies have been applied in all stages of proteomic analyses to help extract relevant information efficiently from large proteomic datasets. In this review, we summarize current applications of statistics in several stages of global gel-free proteomic analysis by mass spectrometry. We discuss the challenges associated with the applications of various statistical tools. Whenever possible, we also propose potential solutions on how to improve the data collection and interpretation for mass-spectrometry-based global proteomic analysis using more sophisticated and/or novel statistical approaches.