The L6 membrane proteins--a new four-transmembrane superfamily

L6, IL-TMP, and TM4SF5 are cell surface proteins predicted to have four transmembrane domains. Previous sequence analysis led to their assignment as members of the tetraspanin superfamily. In this paper, we identify a new sequence (L6D) that is strikingly similar to L6, IL-TMP, and TM4SF5. Analyses of these four sequences indicate that they are not significantly related to genuine tetraspanins, but instead constitute their own L6 superfamily.     

禾缢管蚜在不同温度条件下的飞行能力

通过利用昆虫飞行磨对室内饲养的禾缢管蚜Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus)在不同温度(8℃一30℃)条件下飞行能力的测试结果。试验结果表明,禾缢管蚜的飞行距离和飞行时间在12℃～20℃时较大,平均飞行距离为6.614～8.219 km,平均飞行时间为5.074～7.003 h。在15℃时,单个个体的最大飞行距离和最长飞行时间分别达到26.231 km和21.153h：在8℃～10℃条件下禾缢管蚜较难起飞,即使起飞后飞行时间和距离均很短。在 23℃以上禾缢管蚜的飞行时间和距离逐渐缩短,30℃时禾缢管蚜起飞后很快就停止飞行。飞行速度随温度增高而加快,平均飞行速度在8℃时为o.781km/h,在30℃时达1.605km/h。     

GenoBaits Soy40K: a highly flexible and low-cost SNP array for soybean studies

<正>Dear Editor,Soybean(Glycine max [L.] Merr.) provides more than half of the oilseeds and more than a quarter of protein worldwide. It is estimated that the production of soybean has to be doubled by 2050 to meet the needs of the rapidly increasing consumption of soybean seeds along with a continuously increasing population(Ray et al., 2013). As such, development of a genotyping platform with high throughput, high efficiency and high precision but low-cost is urgently needed to accelerate...     

Probiotic Lactobacillus johnsonii BS15 Promotes Growth Performance,Intestinal Immunity,and Gut Microbiota in Piglets

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins - Numerous studies have investigated the beneficial effects of Lactobacillus johnsonii strain BS15 on mice and broilers. This study aimed to understand the...     

Isolation and characterization of a human novel RAB (RAB39B) gene

Rab proteins are small-molecular-weight GTPases that control vesicular trafficking in eukaryotic cells. During the large-scale sequencing analysis of a human fetal brain cDNA library, we isolated a cDNA clone encoding a novel Rab protein, which showed 74.2% identity with previously isolated Rab39A at the amino acid level. RAB39B was expressed in a variety of human tissues and located in human chromosome Xq28. It consisted of two exons spanning 3764 bp of human genomic DNA.     

In vitro assessment of the antimicrobial activity of new N-acyl-thiourea derivatives

The qualitative screening of the susceptibility spectra of different microbial strains to the newly synthesized substances complexes was performed by adapted disk diffusion techniques, while the quantitative assay of the minimal inhibitory concentration (M.I.C., microg/cm3) value was based on liquid medium serial microdilutions. The compounds were solubilized in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The in vitro biological screening effects were tested against a microbial inoculum of approximately 1.5 x 10(8) UFC/cm3, corresponding to 0.5 McFarland standard density, obtained from Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis), Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungal strains (Candida albicans). In order to investigate the influence of the subinhibitory concentration of the tested substances on the expression of different virulence features, the strains were incubated overnight in the presence of the newly synthesized thiourea derivatives (vol:vol) and different virulence features were investigated, i.e: adherence capacity to the cellular substrate represented by HeLa cells and to inert substrata quantified by slime test and soluble enzymatic virulence factors (haemolysins and other pore-forming toxins, proteases activity, DN-ase and siderophores production). The cytotoxicity was assessed microscopically, by observing the effect of the tested compounds on the cellular substratum integrity.     

Length–weight relationships for 15 fish species from the Three Gorges Reservoir

The length–weight relationships (LWRs) for 15 fish species from the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) were described in this paper. Specimens were collected using gill nets (mesh size: 6, 8, 10, 12 cm), cage net (mesh size: 1 cm), benthic fyke net (mesh size: 1 cm), hook longlines (80 m long, 3 barbless hooks per meter line) and electrofishing (power: 1,500 w; distance of electrodes: 1–2 m; water depth: 0.2–1.0 m; water area: 1–2 m²; catch by dip net [mesh size: 0.4 cm]) at four sections of the TGR, monthly in June–August and October–November in 2017 and 2018. The first LWR reference for Zacco acutipinnis (Bleeker, 1871), Discogobio brachyphysallidos Huang, 1989, Squalidus nitens (Günther, 1873), Leptobotia pellegrini Fang, 1936, Sinibotia reevesae (Chang, 1944), Pseudobagrus tenuifurcatus (Nichols, 1931), Pseudobagrus medianalis (Regan, 1904), Liobagrus marginatoides (Wu, 1930), Glyptothorax fokiensis (Rendahl, 1925), and Ctenogobius szechuanensis (Liu, 1940) and new maximum total length for 12 species are provided.     

Hydrologic balance,net primary productivity and water use efficiency of the introduced exotic Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla plantation in south-western China

Aims Land cover changes can disrupt water balance and alter the partitioning of precipitation into surface runoff, evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. The widely plantedEucalyptustrees in south-western China have the potential to bring about hydrologic impacts. Our research aims to elucidate the hydrologic balance characteristics of the introduced exoticEucalyptus grandis×Eucalyptus urophyllaplantation and to assess whether its high productivity results from high water use efficiency (WUE) or large water consumption.     

Detoxification of insecticides,allechemicals and heavy metals by glutathione S‐transferase SlGSTE1 in the gut of Spodoptera litura

Insect glutathione S‐transferases (GSTs) play important roles in detoxifying toxic compounds and eliminating oxidative stress caused by these compounds. In this study, detoxification activity of the epsilon GST SlGSTE1 in Spodoptera litura was analyzed for several insecticides and heavy metals. SlGSTE1 was significantly up‐regulated by chlorpyrifos and xanthotoxin in the midgut of S. litura. The recombinant SlGSTE1 had V_max (reaction rate of the enzyme saturated with the substrate) and K_m (michaelis constant and equals to the substrate concentration at half of the maximum reaction rate of the enzyme) values of 27.95 ± 0.88 μmol/min/mg and 0.87 ± 0.028 mmol/L for glutathione, respectively, and V_max and K_m values of 22.96 ± 0.78 μmol/min/mg and 0.83 ± 0.106 mmol/L for 1‐chloro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzene, respectively. In vitro enzyme indirect activity assay showed that the recombinant SlGSTE1 possessed high binding activities to the insecticides chlorpyrifos, deltamethrin, malathion, phoxim and dichloro‐diphenyl‐trichloroethane (DDT). SlGSTE1 showed higher binding activity to toxic heavy metals cadmium, chromium and lead than copper and zinc that are required for insect normal growth. Western blot analysis showed that SlGSTE1 was induced in the gut of larvae fed with chlorpyrifos or cadmium. SlGSTE1 also showed high peroxidase activity. All the results together indicate that SlGSTE1 may play an important role in the gut of S. litura to protect the insect from the toxic effects of these compounds and heavy metals.     

Adaptive basal phosphorylation of eIF2α is responsible for resistance to cellular stress-induced cell death in Pten-null hepatocytes

The α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) is a key translation regulator that plays an important role in cellular stress responses. In the present study, we investigated how eIF2α phosphorylation can be regulated by a tumor suppressor PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) and how such regulation is used by PTEN-deficient hepatocytes to adapt and cope with oxidative stress. We found that eIF2α was hyperphosphorylated when Pten was deleted, and this process was AKT dependent. Consistent with this finding, we found that the Pten-null cells developed resistance to oxidative glutamate and H(2)O(2)-induced cellular toxicity. We showed that the messenger level of CReP (constitutive repressor of eIF2α phosphorylation), a constitutive phosphatase of eIF2α, was downregulated in Pten-null hepatocytes, providing a possible mechanism through which PTEN/AKT pathway regulates eIF2α phosphorylation. Ectopic expression of CReP restored the sensitivity of the Pten mutant hepatocytes to oxidative stress, confirming the functional significance of the downregulated CReP and upregulated phospho-eIF2α in the resistance of Pten mutant hepatocytes to cellular stress. In summary, our study suggested a novel role of PTEN in regulating stress response through modulating the CReP/eIF2α pathway.