NO3-胁迫及恢复对黄瓜幼苗叶片叶绿素荧光参数及ATPase活性的影响

通过水培试验,探讨了不同NO₃^-浓度胁迫及恢复对黄瓜幼苗叶片叶绿素含量、叶绿素荧光参数及ATPase活性的影响.结果表明,胁迫7 d后,高浓度NO₃^-(168 mmol·L^-1)可极显著提高叶绿素a、叶绿素b、总叶绿素和类胡萝卜素含量,极显著提高初始荧光(F_o)、Mg ATPase和Ca-ATPase活性,而PSⅡ原初光能转化效率(F_v/F_m)、PSⅡ潜在活性(F_v/F_o)和PSⅡ光合电子传递量子效率(ΦPSⅡ),却随NO₃^-浓度的增加而降低.恢复7 d后,所有处理叶绿素和类胡萝卜素含量均低于对照;初始荧光基本都恢复至对照水平;PSⅡ原初光能转化效率和PSⅡ光合电子传递量子效率在NO₃^-浓度低于126 mmol·L^-1时,基本恢复至对照水平,而高于这一水平时,仍显著低于对照;PSⅡ潜在活性在NO₃^-浓度为42和126 mmol·L^-1的处理基本达对照水平,其它处理仍极显著低于对照;Mg-ATPase和Ca-ATPase活性均出现先降低后升高的变化趋势.     

一类潜伏期和染病期均传染且具非线性传染率的流行病模型

研究了一类潜伏期和染病期都传染的具非线性传染率的SEIS流行病模型,确定了各类平衡点存在的条件阈值,讨论了各平衡点的稳定性,揭示了潜伏期传染和染病期传染对流行病发展趋势的共同影响．     

食用蕈菌硒多糖研究进展

食用蕈菌硒多糖是无机硒与蕈菌多糖结合而成的有机硒化合物,兼有二者的活性。该文综述了食用蕈菌硒多糖的组成分析、提取、分离纯化以及生理功能、应用现状等方面的研究进展。     

从大庆原油样品中分离和初步筛选菌株

目的:根据目标菌株的特性,应用选择培养基筛选出提高石油三次采油采收率的菌株,并对其进行相关性质的鉴定。方法:从大庆原油样品中经过富集培养,平板分离。结果:获得2株细菌,1号菌株属于假单胞菌属,2号菌株属于芽孢杆菌属。对两株细菌进行了定性分析,结果表明两株细菌均能产酸、产气、产表面活性剂。证明其具有降低原油黏度的作用。     

MAPK-Activated Protein Kinase 2 Is Required for Mouse Meiotic Spindle Assembly and Kinetochore-Microtubule Attachment

MAPK-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2), a direct substrate of p38 MAPK, plays key roles in multiple physiological functions in mitosis. Here, we show for the first time the unique distribution pattern of MK2 in meiosis. Phospho-MK2 was localized on bipolar spindle minus ends and along the interstitial axes of homologous chromosomes extending over centromere regions and arm regions at metaphase of first meiosis (MI stage) in mouse oocytes. At metaphase of second meiosis (MII stage), p-MK2 was localized on the bipolar spindle minus ends and at the inner centromere region of sister chromatids as dots. Knockdown or inhibition of MK2 resulted in spindle defects. Spindles were surrounded by irregular nondisjunction chromosomes, which were arranged in an amphitelic or syntelic/monotelic manner, or chromosomes detached from the spindles. Kinetochore–microtubule attachments were impaired in MK2-deficient oocytes because spindle microtubules became unstable in response to cold treatment. In addition, homologous chromosome segregation and meiosis progression were inhibited in these oocytes. Our data suggest that MK2 may be essential for functional meiotic bipolar spindle formation, chromosome segregation and proper kinetochore–microtubule attachments.     

Respiration in Adipocytes is Inhibited by Reactive Oxygen Species

It is a desirable goal to stimulate fuel oxidation in adipocytes and shift the balance toward less fuel storage and more burning. To understand this regulatory process, respiration was measured in primary rat adipocytes, mitochondria, and fat‐fed mice. Maximum O₂ consumption, in vitro, was determined with a chemical uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation (carbonylcyanide p‐trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP)). The adenosine triphosphate/adenosine diphosphate (ATP/ADP) ratio was measured by luminescence. Mitochondria were localized by confocal microscopy with MitoTracker Green and their membrane potential (Δψ_M) measured using tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester perchlorate (TMRE). The effect of N‐acetylcysteine (NAC) on respiration and body composition in vivo was assessed in mice. Addition of FCCP collapsed Δψ_M and decreased the ATP/ADP ratio. However, we demonstrated the same rate of adipocyte O₂ consumption in the absence or presence of fuels and FCCP. Respiration was only stimulated when reactive oxygen species (ROS) were scavenged by pyruvate or NAC: other fuels or fuel combinations had little effect. Importantly, the ROS scavenging role of pyruvate was not affected by rotenone, an inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I. In addition, mice that consumed NAC exhibited increased O₂ consumption and decreased body fat in vivo. These studies suggest for the first time that adipocyte O₂ consumption may be inhibited by ROS, because pyruvate and NAC stimulated respiration. ROS inhibition of O₂ consumption may explain the difficulty to identify effective strategies to increase fat burning in adipocytes. Stimulating fuel oxidation in adipocytes by decreasing ROS may provide a novel means to shift the balance from fuel storage to fuel burning.     

Epigenetic-genetic chromosome dosage approach for fetal trisomy 21 detection using an autosomal genetic reference marker

Background

The putative promoter of the holocarboxylase synthetase (HLCS) gene on chromosome 21 is hypermethylated in placental tissues and could be detected as a fetal-specific DNA marker in maternal plasma. Detection of fetal trisomy 21 (T21) has been demonstrated by an epigenetic-genetic chromosome dosage approach where the amount of hypermethylated HLCS in maternal plasma is normalized using a fetal genetic marker on the Y chromosome as a chromosome dosage reference marker. We explore if this method can be applied on both male and female fetuses with the use of a paternally-inherited fetal single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) allele on a reference chromosome for chromosome dosage normalization.

Methodology

We quantified hypermethylated HLCS molecules using methylation-sensitive restriction endonuclease digestion followed by real-time or digital PCR analyses. For chromosome dosage analysis, we compared the amount of digestion-resistant HLCS to that of a SNP allele (rs6636, a C/G SNP) that the fetus has inherited from the father but absent in the pregnant mother.

Principal Findings

Using a fetal-specific SNP allele on a reference chromosome, we analyzed 20 euploid and nine T21 placental tissue samples. All samples with the fetal-specific C allele were correctly classified. One sample from each of the euploid and T21 groups were misclassified when the fetal-specific G allele was used as the reference marker. We then analyzed 33 euploid and 14 T21 maternal plasma samples. All but one sample from each of the euploid and T21 groups were correctly classified using the fetal-specific C allele, while correct classification was achieved for all samples using the fetal-specific G allele as the reference marker.

Conclusions

As a proof-of-concept study, we have demonstrated that the epigenetic-genetic chromosome dosage approach can be applied to the prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 21 for both male and female fetuses.     

Automated high-content live animal drug screening using C. elegans expressing the aggregation prone serpin α1-antitrypsin Z

The development of preclinical models amenable to live animal bioactive compound screening is an attractive approach to discovering effective pharmacological therapies for disorders caused by misfolded and aggregation-prone proteins. In general, however, live animal drug screening is labor and resource intensive, and has been hampered by the lack of robust assay designs and high throughput work-flows. Based on their small size, tissue transparency and ease of cultivation, the use of C. elegans should obviate many of the technical impediments associated with live animal drug screening. Moreover, their genetic tractability and accomplished record for providing insights into the molecular and cellular basis of human disease, should make C. elegans an ideal model system for in vivo drug discovery campaigns. The goal of this study was to determine whether C. elegans could be adapted to high-throughput and high-content drug screening strategies analogous to those developed for cell-based systems. Using transgenic animals expressing fluorescently-tagged proteins, we first developed a high-quality, high-throughput work-flow utilizing an automated fluorescence microscopy platform with integrated image acquisition and data analysis modules to qualitatively assess different biological processes including, growth, tissue development, cell viability and autophagy. We next adapted this technology to conduct a small molecule screen and identified compounds that altered the intracellular accumulation of the human aggregation prone mutant that causes liver disease in α1-antitrypsin deficiency. This study provides powerful validation for advancement in preclinical drug discovery campaigns by screening live C. elegans modeling α1-antitrypsin deficiency and other complex disease phenotypes on high-content imaging platforms.     

A Recombination Hotspot in a Schizophrenia-Associated Region of GABRB2

Background

Schizophrenia is a major disorder with complex genetic mechanisms. Earlier, population genetic studies revealed the occurrence of strong positive selection in the GABRB2 gene encoding the β₂ subunit of GABA_A receptors, within a segment of 3,551 bp harboring twenty-nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and containing schizophrenia-associated SNPs and haplotypes.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In the present study, the possible occurrence of recombination in this ‘S1–S29’ segment was assessed. The occurrence of hotspot recombination was indicated by high resolution recombination rate estimation, haplotype diversity, abundance of rare haplotypes, recurrent mutations and torsos in haplotype networks, and experimental haplotyping of somatic and sperm DNA. The sub-segment distribution of relative recombination strength, measured by the ratio of haplotype diversity (H_d) over mutation rate (θ), was indicative of a human specific Alu-Yi6 insertion serving as a central recombining sequence facilitating homologous recombination. Local anomalous DNA conformation attributable to the Alu-Yi6 element, as suggested by enhanced DNase I sensitivity and obstruction to DNA sequencing, could be a contributing factor of the increased sequence diversity. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis yielded prominent low LD points that supported ongoing recombination. LD contrast revealed significant dissimilarity between control and schizophrenic cohorts. Among the large array of inferred haplotypes, H26 and H73 were identified to be protective, and H19 and H81 risk-conferring, toward the development of schizophrenia.

Conclusions/Significance

The co-occurrence of hotspot recombination and positive selection in the S1–S29 segment of GABRB2 has provided a plausible contribution to the molecular genetics mechanisms for schizophrenia. The present findings therefore suggest that genome regions characterized by the co-occurrence of positive selection and hotspot recombination, two interacting factors both affecting genetic diversity, merit close scrutiny with respect to the etiology of common complex disorders.