Phytopathogenic bacteria utilize host glucose as a signal to stimulate virulence through LuxR homologues

Chemical signal-mediated biological communication is common within bacteria and between bacteria and their hosts. Many plant-associated bacteria respond to unknown plant compounds to regulate bacterial gene expression. However, the nature of the plant compounds that mediate such interkingdom communication and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly characterized. Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) causes black rot disease on brassica vegetables. Xcc contains an orphan LuxR regulator (XccR) which senses a plant signal that was validated to be glucose by HPLC-MS. The glucose concentration increases in apoplast fluid after Xcc infection, which is caused by the enhanced activity of plant sugar transporters translocating sugar and cell-wall invertases releasing glucose from sucrose. XccR recruits glucose, but not fructose, sucrose, glucose 6-phosphate, and UDP-glucose, to activate pip expression. Deletion of the bacterial glucose transporter gene sglT impaired pathogen virulence and pip expression. Structural prediction showed that the N-terminal domain of XccR forms an alternative pocket neighbouring the AHL-binding pocket for glucose docking. Substitution of three residues affecting structural stability abolished the ability of XccR to bind to the luxXc box in the pip promoter. Several other XccR homologues from plant-associated bacteria can also form stable complexes with glucose, indicating that glucose may function as a common signal molecule for pathogen–plant interactions. The conservation of a glucose/XccR/pip-like system in plant-associated bacteria suggests that some phytopathogens have evolved the ability to utilize host compounds as virulence signals, indicating that LuxRs mediate an interkingdom signalling circuit.     

不同预处理对小鼠粪样菌群高通量测序分析结果的影响

应用高通量测序技术比较不同预处理对小鼠粪样菌群结构的影响,以期为后续相关研究提供参考依据。采集昆明小鼠新鲜粪样,分为原始粪样组、生理盐水处理组和PBS处理组,提取粪样DNA,采用Illumina MiSeq平台进行测序对3组样本的16S rRNA V3~V4区基因文库进行生物信息学分析。结果显示,3组样本拥有共同的OTUs 188个,不同预处理对粪样微生物多样性和丰度产生影响,生理盐水处理组、PBS处理组和原始粪样组分别检出14、11、12个门,3组样本共有门11个;分别检出24、21、21个纲,3组样本共有纲20个;分别检出62、55、59个科,3组样本共有科26个;分别检出147、126、137个属,3组样本共有属117个。总体来看,生理盐水处理组微生物多样性和丰度相对最高,原始粪样组次之,PBS处理组最低。粪样经生理盐水处理后,能在一定程度上提高肠道菌群检测的准确性。     

脏器微血管对荧光素钠通透性的实验方法

大鼠颈动脉注射１％ＦｌＮａ,荧光显微镜下活体观察肠系膜微血管血流状态及ＦｌＮａ的渗出情况,并在不同时间点经股动脉采血,测定血浆内ＦｌＮａ浓度随时间的变化,利用组织匀浆测定不同脏器中ＦｌＮａ的分布,再辅以冰冻切片进行观察。活体观察发现,ＦｌＮａ注入体内后,经微血管迅速向周围组织渗出,最后汇集于淋巴管,血浆及组织匀浆ＦｌＮａ浓度的测定表明,ＦｌＮａ浓度随时间的变化呈指数衰减,各脏器ＦｌＮａ的分布极不相同。冰冻切片也显示了同样的分布差别。这些结果表明,我们所建立的方法可直观、定量地反映ＦｌＮａ在微血管的通透情况。     

人体超微弱发光图像中的信号检验

用近期研制的具有单光子探测能力的超高灵敏度成像系统获得了人体体表生物超微弱发光的强度数据。为分析图像中的信号检验,二项分布被用于人手不同时间累积发光图像中的信号显著性检验,证实人手存在超微弱生物发光,手指的发光强度在３００～５５０ｐｈｏｔｏｎｓ／ｓ范围内,全手的发光强度在８５０～１２００ｐｈｏｔｏｎｓ／ｓ范围内。     

高压静电场处理沙棘插条生根状况的初步研究

用高压静电场处理沙棘插条研究生根状况,方法简便易于处理,该装置适于进行大规模的处理,从目前研究表明：高压静电场对沙棘插条有正刺激效应,并以电场强度为３．９ｋｖ／ｃｍ,时间为４０分钟处理最佳。     

用细胞色素C法检测非真空电子束辐射的间接作用

本文提出了一种检测非真空电束辐射的间接作用的一种方法,根据氧化型和还原型的细胞色素Ｃ的吸收光谱不同,从而测量非真空电子束作用对应的辐射分解的自由基总量。     

Binding characterization of the iron transport receptor from the outer membrane of Escherichia coli (FepA): differentiation between FepA and FecA

The dissociation constants for the binding of ferric enterobactin with FepA and FecA are quantitated with displacement experiments. It is found that K _d for FepA is 12 times lower than the one for FecA. This indicates that FepA is an high-affinity receptor while FecA binds ferric enterobactin with a lower affinity. Monoclonal antibodies specific for binding epitopes of FepA inhibit the binding of ferric enterobactin with purified FepA. These same antibodies do not inhibit the binding of ferric enterobactin with purified FecA. This indicates that the binding epitopes in FecA and FepA are different.     

开启防御之门: 植物抗病小体

NLR蛋白是存在于植物和动物中的一个免疫受体大家族, 具有核苷酸结合域并富含亮氨酸重复序列。植物NLR通过识别病原菌特异效应子开启免疫信号转导。第1个植物NLR抗性蛋白于25年前克隆, 但其激活机制仍不清楚, 至今仍未获得一个完整的NLR蛋白结构。最近, 柴继杰、周俭民和王宏伟实验室合作解析了第一个植物完整NLR ZAR1激活前后的结构, 研究成果以两篇论文形式发表在“科学”杂志上, 填补了NLR介导的免疫信号转导研究领域的空白。该文简要总结了相关研究进展, 讨论了NLR免疫信号转导研究领域尚需解决的问题。