低氧诱导因子与低氧性肺动脉高压发病机制的研究进展

低氧性肺动脉高压(HPH)是慢性肺源性心脏病和慢性高原病等发病的重要病理生理变化之一,其特点主要是以低氧性肺血管收缩反应增强和肺小动脉中层平滑肌细胞的异常增生(重建)为主。虽然HPH的发病机制仍不清楚,但近来研究表明内皮素(ET)、血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)、促红细胞生成素(Epo)和一氧化氮(NO)是HPH的重要致病因子。它们可在低氧诱导因子—1(HIF—1α)介导或在增加的血流切应力和氧应激反应刺激下产生,并发挥相应的作用。本文将对HIF在低氧性肺动脉高压发病中的重要作用及其进展作一简要概述。     

禾谷镰孢菌果胶裂解酶PelA的生物学功能分析

果胶裂解酶是果胶酶的重要成员之一,能够通过B-消除作用,催化降解（1—4）-α-D-聚半乳糖醛酸。本研究首次鉴定出禾谷镰孢茵中的一个果胶裂解酶PelA,并在体外检测了其生化特性。PelA基因（FGSG_02386）的cDNA被克隆并进行了原核表达,同时构建了单基因敲除突变体。将重组质粒pET-28a（＋）-PelA转化蛋白表达菌株大肠杆菌BL21表达目的蛋白,纯化后的蛋白具有果胶裂解酶活性。酶活性测定结果显示,该酶的活性受到外界环境因素如温度、钙离子浓度和pH条件的影响,其最适反应条件为50℃,CaCl：浓度0-5mmol·L^-1,pH8-5。在侵染小麦胚芽鞘时PelA单基因突变体的毒力较野生型菌株并没有出现明显变化。     

A Fungal Insecticide Engineered for Fast Per Os Killing of Caterpillars Has High Field Efficacy and Safety in Full-Season Control of Cabbage Insect Pests

Fungal insecticides developed from filamentous pathogens of insects are notorious for their slow killing action through cuticle penetration, depressing commercial interest and practical application. Genetic engineering may accelerate their killing action but cause ecological risk. Here we show that a Beauveria bassiana formulation, HV8 (BbHV8), engineered for fast per os killing of caterpillars by an insect midgut-acting toxin (Vip3Aa1) overexpressed in conidia has both high field efficacy and safety in full-season protection of cabbage from the damage of an insect pest complex dominated by Pieris rapae larvae, followed by Plutella xylostella larvae and aphids. In two fields repeatedly sprayed during summer, BbHV8 resulted in overall mean efficacies of killing of 71% and 75%, which were similar or close to the 70% and 83% efficacies achieved by commercially recommended emamectin benzoate but much higher than the 31% and 48% efficacies achieved by the same formulation of the parental wild-type strain (WT). Both BbHV8 and WT sprays exerted no adverse effect on a nontarget spider community during the trials, and the sprays did not influence saprophytic fungi in soil samples taken from the field plots during 4 months after the last spray. Strikingly, BbHV8 and the WT showed low fitness when they were released into the environment because both were decreasingly recovered from the field lacking native B. bassiana strains (undetectable 5 months after the spray), and the recovered isolates became much less tolerant to high temperature and UV-B irradiation. Our results highlight for the first time that a rationally engineered fungal insecticide can compete with a chemical counterpart to combat insect pests at an affordable cost and with low ecological risk.     

Ongoing Spillover of Hantaan and Gou Hantaviruses from Rodents Is Associated with Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) in China

Background

Longquan City, Zhejiang province, China, has been seriously affected by hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) since the first cases were registered in 1974. To understand the epidemiology and emergence of HFRS in Longquan, which may be indicative of large parts of rural China, we studied long-term incidence patterns and performed a molecular epidemiological investigation of the causative hantaviruses in human and rodent populations.

Method/Principal Findings

During 1974–2011, 1866 cases of HFRS were recorded in Longquan, including 20 deaths. In 2011, the incidence of HFRS remained high, with 19.61 cases/100,000 population, despite the onset of vaccination in 1997. During 1974–1998, HFRS cases in Longquan occurred mainly in winter, while in the past decade the peak of HFRS has shifted to the spring. Notably, the concurrent prevalence of rodent-borne hantaviruses in the region was also high. Phylogenetic analyses of viral sequences recovered from rodents in Longquan revealed the presence of novel genetic variants of Gou virus (GOUV) in Rattus sp. rats and Hantaan virus (HTNV) in the stripe field mice, respectively. Strikingly, viral sequences sampled from infected humans were very closely related to those from rodents.

Conclusions/Significance

HFRS represents an important public health problem in Longquan even after years of preventive measures. Our data suggest that continual spillover of the novel genetic variant of GOUV and the new genetic lineage of HTNV are responsible for the high prevalence of HFRS in humans. In addition, this is the first report of GOUV associated with human HFRS cases, and our data suggest that GOUV is now the major cause of HFRS in this region.     

The Peniophorella praetermissa species complex (Basidiomycota)

The corticioid basidiomycete Peniophorella praetermissa has long been regarded as a morphologically variable species complex. An ITS-based phylogenetic study based on a worldwide sampling was carried out using parsimony and Bayesian inference. The resulting trees feature three major clades, further divided into well-supported subclades. These could be considered as distinct species, a contention that is further supported by crossing test data. Only two out of the eight phylogenetic lineages identified can be distinctly morphologically characterized: P. odontiaeformis and P. subpraetermissa. P. odontiaeformis is an odontioid species with a paleotropical distribution whereas the taxa in the remaining subclades have smooth basidiomata and are distributed in temperate areas. P. subpraetermissa is known only from the type collection and is distinguished microscopically by its reddish brown apically encrustated cystidia. Taxa in the remaining subclades are impossible to distinguish from each other morphologically, and therefore, are viewed as a species complex, P. praetermissa s. lat. One of the subclades, which is widely distributed but restricted to the Northern hemisphere, is proposed to represent P. praetermissa s. str. An epitype is selected from the same area as the holotype, among the specimens studied here. However, the geographically most widespread clade with many representatives from both hemispheres is here referred to as P. pertenuis, a taxon that was previously considered a synonym to P. praetermissa.