Ligand binding to symmetrical FeZn hybrids of variants of human HbA with modifications in the alpha1-beta2 interface

The equilibria of oxygen binding to and kinetics of CO combination with the symmetrical iron-zinc hybrids of a series of variants of human adult hemoglobin A have been measured at pH 7 in the presence of inositol hexaphosphate (IHP). In addition, the kinetics of CO combination have also been measured in the absence of IHP. The hybrids have the heme groups of either the alpha or the beta subunits replaced by zinc protoporphyrin IX, which is unable to bind a ligand and is a good model for permanently deoxygenated heme. The variants examined involve residues located in the alpha1beta2 interface of the hemoglobin tetramer. Alterations of residues located in the hinge region of the interface are found to affect the properties of both the alpha and the beta subunits of the protein. In contrast, alterations of residues in the switch region of the interface have substantial effects only on the mutant subunit and are poorly communicated to the normal partner subunit. When the logarithms of the rate constants for the combination of the first CO molecule with a single subunit in the presence of IHP are analyzed as functions of the logarithms of the dissociation equilibrium constants for the binding of the first oxygen under the same conditions, a linear relationship is found. The relationship is somewhat different for the alpha and beta subunits, consistent with the well-known differences in the geometries of their ligand binding sites.     

棉株上烟粉虱若虫种群的垂直分布与统计方法研究

对烟粉虱Bemisiatabaci在棉花植株上的垂直分布调查发现 ,烟粉虱在棉株各部位均有分布 ,且分布极不均匀 ,统计分析表明棉株各部位间烟粉虱的种群数量存在显著的差异。棉花顶部烟粉虱的若虫数量约占全棉株若虫总量的 1 6%,通过对棉株各部位烟粉虱的若虫数量与整株若虫总量的回归分析 ,建立了相应的回归方程式     

云南省6个松墨天牛种群形态差异分析

对云南省松墨天牛Monochamus alternatus Hope 6个地理种群159个个体体长、前胸背板纵长、前胸背板横宽值及前胸背板斑纹进行了差异系数计算、聚类分析及判别分析.各松墨天牛种群间的差异系数均小于1.28;聚类分析表明,畹町种群形态与其他5个种群差异较大;基于4个形态特征建立的判别函数可以将畹町种群与云南其他种群区别开来.畹町种群与其他松墨天牛种群的形态差异可能由于其遗传差异造成.     

An ordered EST catalogue and gene expression profiles of cassava (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Manihot esculenta</Emphasis>) at key growth stages

A cDNA library was constructed from the root tissues of cassava variety Huanan 124 at the root bulking stage. A total of 9,600 cDNA clones from the library were sequenced with single-pass from the 5′-terminus to establish a catalogue of expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Assembly of the resulting EST sequences resulted in 2,878 putative unigenes. Blastn analysis showed that 62.6% of the unigenes matched with known cassava ESTs and the rest had no ‘hits’ against the cassava database in the integrative PlantGDB database. Blastx analysis showed that 1,715 (59.59%) of the unigenes matched with one or more GenBank protein entries and 1,163 (40.41%) had no ‘hits’. A cDNA microarray with 2,878 unigenes was developed and used to analyze gene expression profiling of Huanan 124 at key growth stages including seedling, formation of root system, root bulking, and starch maturity. Array data analysis revealed that (1) the higher ratio of up-regulated ribosome-related genes was accompanied by a high ratio of up-regulated ubiquitin, proteasome-related and protease genes in cassava roots; (2) starch formation and degradation simultaneously occur at the early stages of root development but starch degradation is declined partially due to decrease in UDP-glucose dehydrogenase activity with root maturity; (3) starch may also be synthesized in situ in roots; (4) starch synthesis, translocation, and accumulation are also associated probably with signaling pathways that parallel Wnt, LAM, TCS and ErbB signaling pathways in animals; (5) constitutive expression of stress-responsive genes may be due to the adaptation of cassava to harsh environments during long-term evolution.     

The role of the soil seed and seedling bank in the regeneration of diverse plant communities in the subtropical Ailao Mountains,Southwest China

We compared species composition and diversity of the soil seed and seedling banks in three secondary vegetation types (shrubland, Populus bonatii forest, Lithocarpus regrowth forest) and a primary old-growth forest in the subtropical Ailao Mountains of southwestern China to clarify the importance of seed and seedling banks for forest dynamics. The average species richness was the highest in soil samples from the shrubland (26.80 ± 1.98), and the lowest from the primary forest (9.93 ± 0.50). The density of germinable tree seeds increased from the secondary vegetation to the primary forest, and the density of shrub, forb, and graminoid seeds decreased significantly. The most abundant seedlings recorded in soil samples were light-demanding species in the shrubland and Populus bonatii forest. For ground flora, the number of shrub seedlings strongly decreased with the increase in stand age, and shade-tolerant tree seedlings tended to increase. The species similarity between the seed bank and the aboveground vegetation in all sites was low (Sørensen’s index = 0.11–0.33), however, the shrubland had higher similarity compared with the other three plant communities. In the primary forest, light-demanding woody species dominated in soil seed banks, while shade-tolerant species dominated in the overstory and the forest floor. In the primary forest, seedlings of dominant tree species were rare in the understory, and no seeds of the dominant species were found in the soil. Results indicated that the early stages of vegetation recovery should take into account the possibility of recovering soil seed bank processes. However, colonization and establishment of tree seedlings will be difficult once a primary forest is destroyed.     

薜荔（Ficus pumila L.）传粉的代价

种间关系中一方以自身生长过程中的一部分物质和能量为对方所利用的现象便是一个物种为对方付出的代价。在中性的种间关系中,两个物种彼此不受影响,无所谓代价;在偏性的种间关系中,受害者付出无谓的代价,受益者得到无偿的利益（如寄主与寄生物、被捕食者与捕食者之间...     

栗色圆孔牛肝菌中的三种甾醇成分

从栗色圆孔牛肝菌（Ｇｙｒｏｐｏｕｓ　ｃａｓｔａｎｅｕｓ）中分离得到三种甾醇类化合物：（Ⅰ）β－ｅｒ－ｇｏｓｔｅｒｏｌ;（Ⅱ）５α,８α－ｅｐｉｄｉｏｘｙｅｒｇｏｓｔａ－６,２２－ｄｉｅｎ－３β－ｏｌ; （Ⅲ）ｅｒｇｏｓｔａ－６,２２－ｄｉｅｎ－３β,５β,８β－ｔｒｉｏｌ。以上三种甾醇均是首次从栗色圆孔牛肝菌中获得,其中化合物（Ⅲ）的构型未见有其它文献报道。     

Heme synthesis increases artemisinin-induced radical formation and cytotoxicity that can be suppressed by superoxide scavengers

Artemisinin (ART) is a sesquiterpene lactone natural product that is widely used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of malaria. Artemisinin and its derivatives are also selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells, which can be modulated by altering heme synthesis. Cytotoxicity to cancer cells is thought to involve generation of oxidative stress, although conflicting data exist. We have analyzed reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation using the fluorescent probes 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCF) and dihydroethidine (HET) upon exposure to dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in Molt-4 leukemia cells. HET fluorescence correlated with dose-dependent DHA-induced cytotoxicity, increased within 30 min of DHA exposure, and was significantly enhanced by increasing heme synthesis. Protein levels of copper,zinc-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), manganese-superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidases 1/2 were also found to increase with DHA exposure. 4-hydroxy-tempol (TEMPOL) and DF-Mn, MnSOD mimetics, could significantly inhibit ROS generation and reduce cell death. Production of superoxide appears to be a central mediator of cytotoxicity from DHA.     

Production of xylanase from a newly isolated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium</Emphasis> sp. ZH-30

A new strain of Penicillium sp. ZH-30 that produces xylanase was isolated from soil. According to the morphology and comparison of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA gene sequence, the strain Penicillium sp. ZH-30 was identified as a strain of Penicillium oxalicum. When xylan or wheat bran was used as substrate at 30°C for 3 days under submerged cultivation, xylanase production was 5.3 and 13.3 U ml⁻¹, respectively. The temperature and pH for optimum activity were 50°C and 5.0–6.0, respectively.