Bacillus subtilis strain L1 promotes nitrate reductase activity in Arabidopsis and elicits enhanced growth performance in Arabidopsis,lettuce, and wheat

Journal of Plant Research - Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a group of bacteria that promote plants growth in the rhizosphere. PGPRs are involved in various mechanisms that...     

Glycine metabolomic changes induced by anticancer agents in A549 cells

Amino Acids - Glycine plays a key role in rapidly proliferating cancer cells such as A549 cells. Targeting glycine metabolism is considered as a potential means for cancer treatment. However, the...     

Alteration of protein homeostasis mediates the interaction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Staphylococcus aureus

Intracellular protein degradation is essential for the survival of all organisms, but its role in interspecies interaction is unknown. Here, we show that the ClpXP protease of Pseudomonas aeruginosa suppresses its antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, a common pathogen co-isolated with P. aeruginosa from polymicrobial human infections. Using proteomic, biochemical, and molecular genetic approaches, we found that this effect is due to the inhibitory effects of ClpXP on the quorum sensing (QS) of P. aeruginosa, mainly by degrading proteins (e.g., PhnA, PhnB, PqsR, and RhlI) which are critical for the production of QS signal molecules PQS and C4-HSL. We provide evidence that co-culturing with S. aureus induces a decrease in the activity of ClpXP in P. aeruginosa, an effect which was also achieved by the treatment of P. aeruginosa with N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), a widespread chemical present on the surface of diverse cell types from bacteria to humans. These findings extend the range of biological events governed by proteolytic machinery to microbial community structure, thus also suggesting that a chemical-induced alteration of protein homeostasis is a mechanism for interspecies interactions.     

Requirements for human embryonic stem cells

‘Requirements for Human Embryonic Stem Cells’ is the first set of guidelines on human embryonic stem cells in China, jointly drafted and agreed upon by experts from the Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research. This standard specifies the technical requirements, test methods, test regulations, instructions for use, labelling requirements, packaging requirements, storage requirements and transportation requirements for human embryonic stem cells, which is applicable to the quality control for human embryonic stem cells. It was originally released by the China Society for Cell Biology on 26 February 2019 and was further revised on 30 April 2020. We hope that publication of these guidelines will promote institutional establishment, acceptance and execution of proper protocols, and accelerate the international standardization of human embryonic stem cells for applications.     

肠膜明串珠菌蔗糖磷酸化酶的酶学表征及在催化合成α-熊果苷中的应用

将来源于肠膜明串珠菌Leuconostoc mesenteroides ATCC 12291的蔗糖磷酸化酶(Sucrose phosphorylase,SPase)基因进行密码子优化后将其插入到pET-28a中构建表达载体pET-28a-spase,诱导大肠杆菌Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)/pET-28a-spase表达制得SPase粗酶液,将重组SPase纯化后进行酶学表征。结果表明,重组SPase的比酶活为213.98 U/mg,纯化倍数为1.47倍,酶活回收率达87.80%。该酶最适温度为45℃,最适pH为6.5,该酶对蔗糖的Km为128.8 mmol/L,Vmax为2.167μmol/(mL·min),kcat为39 237.86 min-1,利用重组SPase催化氢醌合成α-熊果苷,最优条件为:氢醌添加量为40 g/L,蔗糖/氢醌的摩尔比为5:1,重组SPase 250 U/mL。在25 mmol/L的吗啉乙磺酸(MES)缓冲液(pH 7.0)中,反应温度30℃,避光反应24 h后终止反应,再用500 U/mL的糖化酶40℃处理2.5 h。α-熊果苷产量达98 g/L,氢醌的转化率接近99%。综上所述,文中克隆并研究了重组SPase,并建立了其在α-熊果苷生产中的应用。