不同生育期花生叶片蛋白质含量及氮代谢相关酶活性分析

以5个珍珠豆型花生(Arachis hypogaea Linn.)品种(系)‘汕E’(‘Shan E’)、‘汕G’(‘Shan G’)、‘TH’、‘TJ’和‘泉花7号’(‘Quanhua No.7’)为研究对象,分析了花针期、结荚期和饱果期花生叶片中可溶性蛋白质含量及硝酸还原酶(NR)、谷氨酰胺合成酶(GS)和谷氨酸脱氢酶(GDH)活性的变化趋势,并比较了5个品种(系)荚果和秆产量的差异。结果表明:在3个生育期内,5个花生品种(系)叶片可溶性蛋白质含量和GDH活性的变化趋势基本一致,而NR和GS活性的变化趋势则有差异。其中,可溶性蛋白质含量均呈"低—高—低"的变化趋势,在结荚期最高;GDH活性均逐渐升高,至饱果期达最高;‘泉花7号’叶片NR活性呈"高—低—高"的变化趋势,而其他4个品种(系)叶片NR活性均逐渐降低;‘汕E’、‘TJ’和‘泉花7号’叶片GS活性呈逐渐降低趋势,而‘汕G’和‘TH’叶片GS活性呈"低—高—低"的变化趋势。总体上看,5个品种(系)中,‘汕G’和‘泉花7号’叶片的可溶性蛋白质含量及NR和GDH活性、‘汕E’叶片的NR和GS活性以及‘TH’叶片的GDH活性均较高。5个品种(系)的2个产量指标(单株荚果鲜质量和单株秆鲜质量)均有明显差异,总体上看,‘汕G’、‘泉花7号’和‘TH’的2个产量指标均较高,而‘汕E’和‘TJ’的2个产量指标均较低。综合分析结果显示:‘汕G’和‘泉花7号’叶片可溶性蛋白质含量及NR和GDH活性均相对较高,其荚果和秆产量也均较高,表明花生荚果和秆产量与不同生育期叶片氮代谢水平有一定关系。     

Effect of octanal on the mycelial growth of Penicillium italicum and P. digitatum

The present study investigated the antifungal activity of octanal against Penicillium italicum and P. digitatum. Results showed that octanal exhibited strong antifungal activity against the test pathogens in a dose-dependent manner. Scanning electron microscopy observation revealed that octanal obviously altered the morphology of P. italicum and P. digitatum hyphae by causing the loss of cytoplasm and distortion of mycelia. A rapid increase in the membrane permeability of P. italicum and P. digitatum was observed after treated with octanal at minimum inhibitory concentration or minimum fungicidal concentration, evidenced by the release of cell constituents, the extracellular conductivity and the extracellular potential of hydrogen. In addition, octanal apparently induced a decrease in total lipid contents of P. italicum and P. digitatum cells. These results suggested that the antifungal activity of octanal against P. italicum and P. digitatum can be attributed to the disruption of the cell membrane integrity and the leakage of cell components.     

PA2800 Plays an Important Role in Both Antibiotic Susceptibility and Virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important human pathogen which causes a variety of infections. P. aeruginosa infections are often difficult to treat due to the pathogen’s resistance to many antibiotics. Previously, it has been reported that a transposon insertion mutant in gene PA2800 of P. aeruginosa PAO1 was more sensitive to tetracycline and ciprofloxacin. Further characterization of this gene, a vacJ homolog, in this study indicated that this gene plays an important role in both antibiotic susceptibility and virulence in P. aeruginosa. The role of PA2800 in antibiotic susceptibility probably signifies its involvement in maintaining outer membrane stability, similar to the role of vacJ in E. coli and Shigella flexneri. However, in contrast to vacJ in other bacteria, PA2800 also affects antibiotic susceptibility by affecting the expression of oprH in P. aeruginosa. As shown by in vivo studies using a Drosophila melanogaster infection model, significantly increased virulence was observed in the PA2800 mutant when compared to the wild type, and such a difference is likely a result of disrupted outer membrane stability and altered expression of znuA in the mutant. The role of PA2800 or vacJ in antibiotic susceptibility and pathogenicity seems to be unique in P. aeruginosa in which it affects both outer membrane stability as well as gene expression.     

Functional analysis of the seven in absentia ubiquitin ligase family in tomato

Seven in absentia (SINA) protein is one subgroup of ubiquitin ligases possessing an N‐terminal cysteine‐rich really interesting new gene (RING) domain, two zinc‐finger motifs, and a C‐terminal domain responsible for substrate‐binding and dimerization. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), the SINA gene family has six members, and we characterize in this study all tomato SINA (SlSINA) genes and the gene products. Our results show that SlSINA genes are differentially regulated in leaf, bud, stem, flower, and root. All SlSINA proteins possess RING‐dependent E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, exhibiting similar specificity towards the E2 ubiquitin‐conjugating enzyme. SlSINA1/3/4/5/6 are localized in both cytoplasm and nucleus, whereas SlSINA2 is exclusively localized in the nucleus. Moreover, all SlSINAs can interact with each other for homo‐ or hetero‐dimerization. The functionality of SlSINA proteins has been investigated. SlSINA4 plays a positive role in defense signalling, as manifested by elicitation of E3‐dependent hypersensitive response‐like cell death; the other SlSINAs are negative regulator and capable to suppress hypersensitive response cell death. Transgenic tomato plants overexpressing SlSINA2 exhibit pale‐green leaf phenotype, suggesting SlSINA2 regulates chlorophyll level in plant cells, whereas transgenic tomato plants overexpressing SlSINA5 have altered floral structure with exserted stigma, implicating SlSINA5 plays a role in flower development.     

Evaluation of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Pulmonary Metastases: A Meta-Analysis

Background

To evaluate the evidence comparing video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and open thoracotomy in the treatment of metastatic lung cancer using meta-analytical techniques.

Methods

A literature search was undertaken until July 2013 to identify the comparative studies evaluating disease-free survival rates and survival rates. The pooled odds ratios (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated with the fixed or random effect models.

Results

Six retrospective studies were included in our meta-analysis. These studies included a total of 546 patients: 235 patients were treated with VATS, and 311 patients were treated with open thoracotomy. The VATS and the thoracotomy did not demonstrate a significant difference in the 1-,3-,5-year survival rates and the 1-year disease-free survival rate. There were significant statistical differences between the 3-year disease free survival rate (p = 0.04), which favored open thoracotomy.

Conclusions

The VATS approach is a safe and feasible treatment in terms of the survival rate for metastatic lung cancer compared with the thoracotomy. The 3-year disease-free survival rate in the VATS group is inferior to that of open thoracotomy. The VATS approach could not completely replace open thoracotomy.