Differential expression and regulation of expansin gene family members during fruit growth and development of ‘Shijia’ longan fruit

In this work, five expansin cDNAs (DlExp1–5) from ‘Shijia’ longan fruit were isolated and characterized. Moreover, the expression profiles of five expansin genes and the effect of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and thidiazuron (TDZ) on their expressions were investigated. The results showed that five expansins exhibited different expression patterns during fruit growth and development. DlExp1 was constitutively expressed in the pericarp while the levels of DlExp1 mRNA in the aril were very high at early stage of fruit development, and decreased gradually from 28 to 77 days after anthesis (DAA). DlExp2 and DlExp4 were related to the growth of pericarp, whereas the expression of DlExp2 and DlExp5 in the aril decreased from 28 to 77 DAA. In addition, NAA and TDZ applied at the stage of rapid pericarp (21 DAA) or aril growth (56 DAA) increased the accumulations of DlExp1 and DlExp2 mRNA in the pericarp and aril, while NAA and TDZ had no or little effect on the accumulations of DlExp3, DlExp4 and DlExp5. DlExp1 and DlExp2 also accumulated highly in rapidly growing tissues, such as young stems and leaves. These findings indicated that Exp genes played a different role in longan fruit growth and showed different response to plant growth substances.     

菹草茎叶微界面O2时空动态

采用高分辨率光纤氧微电极测定了富营养化水体中沉水植物菹草(Potamogeton crispus)茎叶微界面(0—2.0 mm)氧(O_2)。菹草叶微界面O_2浓度梯度具明显的时空变化。时间上,菹草叶微界面O_2浓度具有明显的生长阶段变化和昼夜变化。幼苗期和快速生长期微界面O_2浓度增加幅度较小,稳定期叶表O_2浓度梯度增加幅度最大,衰亡期叶微界面O_2浓度受附着物影响具明显的空间梯度。菹草叶微界面O_2表现为昼高夜低的单峰变化模式,主要受光照和温度的影响。空间上,越接近茎叶表面,O_2浓度越高。顶部幼叶微界面O_2浓度梯度增加较平缓,中部成熟叶微界面O_2浓度梯度变化最陡,波动幅度最大,中部茎和基部衰老叶微界面O_2浓度梯度由于受密集附着物的影响,在附着物表面达到最大值,进入附着层后略有下降。结果表明,菹草茎叶微界面O_2时空变化主要受附着物和植物光合放氧能力的影响。光纤微电极是一种分析植物叶微界面氧时空分布的理想工具,对深入研究植物微界面在富营养化水体中养分的迁移转化具有重要意义,可为水生植物生理生态研究提供有力工具。     

凹唇壁蜂的耐寒性及生殖潜力研究

在滞育期和滞育结束后 (成虫出茧之前 ) ,分别测定凹唇壁蜂越冬成虫的耐寒性 ,结果表明 :滞育期成虫的过冷却点和体液冰点分别为 -2 6 4 8℃和 -2 0 91℃ ,解除滞育后分别为 -1 8 4 0℃和-1 1 78℃。自然条件下 ,凹唇壁蜂在我国北方大部分地区可安全越冬。在筑巢前期 ,对雌蜂的生殖系统解剖观察发现 ,卵巢由 6根卵巢管组成 ,卵母细胞总数平均为 55 9± 4 4 6个 ,卵原区在成虫筑巢期不再产生卵母细胞。     

改良konno手术治疗肥厚梗阻性心肌病6例及文献复习

目的:总结改良Konno手术治疗6例肥厚型梗阻型心肌病及文献复习。方法:回顾性分析2003年8月至2009年1月我院6例肥厚型梗阻性心肌病,所有病人胸闷、心悸、心前区疼痛、头晕、晕厥。全部接收改良konno手术,2例同时进行二尖瓣成形术,主动脉阻断时间30～63分钟,平均为47.6分钟。体外循环时间45～96分钟,平均为74.5分钟。结果:手术顺利,无并发症出现,病人康复,平均随访2月～5年,左室流出道压差均小于20mmHg(p0.01),症状缓解。结论:改良Konno手术能够彻底解除左室流出道梗阻,并发症较少,仍然是肥厚型梗阻性心肌病的最佳治疗方法之一。     

Terpenoid and phenolic metabolites from the fungus xylaria sp. associated with termite nests

Three new sesquiterpene acids, xylaric acids A-C (1-3, resp.), and a new tetralone (=3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one) derivative, 4, along with nine known compounds, xylaric acid D (5), hydroheptelidic acid (6), gliocladic acid (7), chlorine heptelidic acid (8), trichoderonic acid A (9), 16-(α-D-mannopyranosyloxy)isopimar-7-en-19-oic acid (10), 16-(α-D-glucopyranosyloxy)isopimar-7-en-19-oic acid (11), 5-carboxymellein (12), and naphthalen-1,8-diol 1-O-α-D-glucopyranoside (13) have been isolated from the solid culture of the ascomycete fungus Xylaria sp. associated with termite nest. The structures of these compounds were elucidated primarily by NMR experiments. The absolute configurations of compounds 1-3 and 5-9 were determined by combination of X-ray data and CD spectral analysis. The absolute configuration of 4 was assigned by Snatzke's method. Compounds 8 and 11 showed slight cytotoxicities against two cell lines A549 and SGC7901.     

Oral and intranasal administration of somatostatin DNA vaccine mediated by attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium to promote growth of piglets

An attenuated strain of Salmonella typhimurium has been used as a carrier for oral and intranasal genetic immunization. Here, we evaluate the efficacy of a vaccine strain of S. typhimurium. CSO22 (pGM-CSF/SS, plasmid granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor/somatostatin) expressing two copies of SS genes. A total of 115 piglets, aged 2 months old, were either orally or intranasally immunized against the vaccine strain CSO22 (pGM-CSF/SS) with three dosages (5 × 10(10) colony forming units (CFU), 5 × 10(9) CFU and 5 × 10(8) CFU). For oral immunization, the specific anti-SS antibodies were detected in the immunized piglets. The levels of SS antibodies in the high-dose immunized group (5 × 10(10) CFU) were significantly higher than that in the phosphate buffered saline immunized group (P < 0.01) and 40% of animals were positive in SS antibodies in the high-dose immunized group. Moreover, the weight gain of the high-dose group was increased by 20.86%, 10.26% and 15.30% during 4, 8 and 12 weeks, respectively, after immunization in comparison to the control. For intranasal immunization, the growth of the low-dose group was increased by 10.23% in the whole test period (12 weeks). In conclusion, our results suggest that the recombinant strain could elicit anti-SS antibodies and improve the growth performance of immunized piglets, and that the oral immunization program is better than the intranasal program.     

Design considerations for massively parallel sequencing studies of complex human disease

Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS) allows sequencing of entire exomes and genomes to now be done at reasonable cost, and its utility for identifying genes responsible for rare Mendelian disorders has been demonstrated. However, for a complex disease, study designs need to accommodate substantial degrees of locus, allelic, and phenotypic heterogeneity, as well as complex relationships between genotype and phenotype. Such considerations include careful selection of samples for sequencing and a well-developed strategy for identifying the few "true" disease susceptibility genes from among the many irrelevant genes that will be found to harbor rare variants. To examine these issues we have performed simulation-based analyses in order to compare several strategies for MPS sequencing in complex disease. Factors examined include genetic architecture, sample size, number and relationship of individuals selected for sequencing, and a variety of filters based on variant type, multiple observations of genes and concordance of genetic variants within pedigrees. A two-stage design was assumed where genes from the MPS analysis of high-risk families are evaluated in a secondary screening phase of a larger set of probands with more modest family histories. Designs were evaluated using a cost function that assumes the cost of sequencing the whole exome is 400 times that of sequencing a single candidate gene. Results indicate that while requiring variants to be identified in multiple pedigrees and/or in multiple individuals in the same pedigree are effective strategies for reducing false positives, there is a danger of over-filtering so that most true susceptibility genes are missed. In most cases, sequencing more than two individuals per pedigree results in reduced power without any benefit in terms of reduced overall cost. Further, our results suggest that although no single strategy is optimal, simulations can provide important guidelines for study design.     

中西医结合治疗功能性消化不良的临床分析

目的：探讨中西医结合治疗功能性消化不良的临床疗效。方法：对228例的功能性消化不良患者给予中西医结合治疗,并与120例西医治疗的患者进行疗效对照。结果：中西医结合组与对照组显效率和总有效率分别为1.3％和22．5％、97．8％和71．7％,均有显著性差异（P〈0．05）两组患者都没有发生严重的不良反应。结论：中西医结合辨证治疗疗效显著,值得临床推广。     

普罗布考对糖尿病大鼠肾组织氧化应激的影响

目的研究普罗布考（Probucol）对糖尿病大鼠肾组织氧化应激的影响。方法采用腹腔注射链脲佐菌素（STZ）建立糖尿病大鼠模型。30只Wistar大鼠分为正常对照组（NC）、糖尿病组（DM）、糖尿病普罗布考治疗组（DP）。8周末称取体重、肾重、计算肾肥大指数（肾重/体重）,检测尿白蛋白排泄率（UAER）;测定各组生化指标包括血糖（BG）、胆固醇（TC）、三酰甘油（TG）、血清肌酐（SCr）、血尿素氮（BUN）;检测肾组织中丙二醛（MDA）的含量及超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）与谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSH-Px）活性;肾组织切片行PAS染色分析肾小球面积及肾小球体积。结果 DM组大鼠肾重、肾重/体重、UAER、TC、TG、SCr、BUN、肾小球面积、肾小球体积较NC组均明显增加,DP组上述改变较DM组均明显减轻（P〈0.05）。DP组肾组织中MDA含量明显低于DM组,SOD、CAT、GSH-Px活性明显高于DM组（P〈0.05）。结论普罗布考可能部分通过减轻肾组织氧化应激反应实现对糖尿病大鼠肾脏的保护作用。     

Evaluating factors that influence microbial synthesis yields by linear regression with numerical and ordinal variables

In the production of chemicals via microbial fermentation, achieving a high yield is one of the most important objectives. We developed a statistical model to analyze influential factors that determine product yield by compiling data obtained from engineered Escherichia coli developed within last 10 years. Using both numerical and ordinal variables (e.g., enzymatic steps, cultivation conditions, and genetic modifications) as input parameters, our model revealed that cultivation modes, nutrient supplementation, and oxygen conditions were the three significant factors for improving product yield. Generally, the model showed that product yield decreases as the number of enzymatic steps in the biosynthesis pathway increases (7-9% loss of yield per enzymatic step). Moreover, overexpression of enzymes or removal of competitive pathways (e.g., knockout) does not necessarily result in an amplification of product yield (P-value>0.1), possibly because of limited capacity in the biosynthesis pathway to accommodate an increase in flux. The model not only provides general guidelines for metabolic engineering and fermentation processes, but also allows a priori estimation and comparison of product yields under designed cultivation conditions.