中华蜜蜂Malvolio基因 Acmvl 的克隆及组织表达分析

【目的】本研究克隆了中华蜜蜂Apis cerana cerana Malvolio (Mvl)基因的cDNA序列,分析了其编码蛋白的结构特点,并探讨其mRNA在内勤蜂、采蜜蜂和采粉蜂各部位组织中的表达差异,以期为该基因的生物学功能研究提供参考。【方法】利用RT-PCR技术从中华蜜蜂内勤蜂头部组织中扩增和克隆获得Acmvl的全长序列,并采用多种生物信息学软件分析Acmvl蛋白的结构特征;采用Real-time PCR对中华蜜蜂Acmvl在内勤蜂、采蜜蜂和采粉蜂各组织中的表达特征进行分析。【结果】Acmvl基因cDNA全长为2 130 bp（GenBank登录号：KP662686）,编码587个氨基酸,预测该蛋白分子量为65.86 kD,等电点为6.03,无信号肽,存在11个跨膜结构域、9个糖基化位点和14个潜在磷酸化位点;系统发育树分析结果显示,中华蜜蜂Acmvl与其他膜翅目昆虫Malvolio聚为一支,与小鼠Mus musculus和人Homo sapiens Nramp家族的Nramp2聚为另一大分支,且与小鼠、水稻 Oryza sativa 、黑腹果蝇 Drosophila melanogaster 和酵母Saccharomyces cerevisiae的Nramp家族同源体在跨膜区、跨膜区带电残基及转运蛋白特征结构域上有很高的保守性,尤其是与Nramp2。Acmvl 基因在中华蜜蜂各部位组织中均有表达,但高表达于内勤蜂的胸部及采蜜蜂和采粉蜂的腹部和足部,提示该基因表达的差异影响采集行为。【结论】Acmvl 属于Nramp基因家族,可能为Nramp2的同源基因,该基因影响采集行为可能与转运Cu²⁺, Mn²⁺和Fe²⁺（尤其是Fe²⁺）有关。     

The highly conserved negatively charged Glu141 and Asp145 of the G-protein-coupled receptor RXFP3 interact with the highly conserved positively charged arginine residues of relaxin-3

Relaxin-3 is a newly identified insulin/relaxin superfamily peptide that plays a putative role in the regulation of food intake and stress response by activating its cognate G-protein-coupled receptor RXFP3. Relaxin-3 has three highly conserved arginine residues, B12Arg, B16Arg and B26Arg. We speculated that these positively charged arginines may interact with certain negatively charged residues of RXFP3. To test this hypothesis, we first replaced the negatively charged residues in the extracellular domain of RXFP3 with arginine, respectively. Receptor activation assays showed that arginine replacement of Glu141 or Asp145, especially Glu141, significantly decreased the sensitivity of RXFP3 to wild-type relaxin-3. In contrast, arginine replacement of other negatively charged extracellular residues had little effect. Thus, we deduced that Glu141 and Asp145, locating at the extracellular end of the second transmembrane domain, played a critical role in the interaction of RXFP3 with relaxin-3. To identify the ligand residues interacting with the negatively charged EXXXD motif of RXFP3, we replaced the three conserved arginines of relaxin-3 with negatively charged glutamate or aspartate, respectively. The mutant relaxin-3s retained the native structure, but their binding and activation potencies towards wild-type RXFP3 were decreased significantly. The compensatory effects of the mutant relaxin-3s towards mutant RXFP3s suggested two probable interaction pairs during ligand–receptor interaction: Glu141 of RXFP3 interacted with B26Arg of relaxin-3, meanwhile Asp145 of RXFP3 interacted with both B12Arg and B16Arg of relaxin-3. Based on these results, we proposed a relaxin-3/RXFP3 interaction model that shed new light on the interaction mechanism of the relaxin family peptides with their receptors.     

人MDM2基因真核表达载体的构建及其与p53的相互作用

目的:构建带Flag标签的MDM2真核表达载体,并检测MDM2与p53的相互作用。方法:从人乳腺文库中PCR扩增MDM2编码序列,将其插入pcDNA3.0-Flag载体,转染293T细胞后用Western印迹检测其在293T细胞中的表达,并通过免疫共沉淀实验检测MDM2与p53的相互作用。结果:双酶切和测序结果表明,Flag-MDM2真核表达载体构建成功,转染293T细胞后成功表达;免疫共沉淀实验证明Flag-MDM2与p53存在相互作用。结论:构建了带Flag标签的人MDM2真核表达载体,并检测了MDM2与p53之间的相互作用,为研究MDM2的功能奠定了基础。     

ADI1, a methionine salvage pathway enzyme,is required for Drosophila fecundity

Background

Methionine, an essential amino acid, is required for protein synthesis and normal cell metabolism. The transmethylation pathway and methionine salvage pathway (MTA cycle) are two major pathways regulating methionine metabolism. Recently, methionine has been reported to play a key role in Drosophila fecundity.

Results

Here, we revealed that the MTA cycle plays a crucial role in Drosophila fecundity using the mutant of aci-reductone dioxygenase 1 (DADI1), an enzyme in the MTA cycle. In dietary restriction condition, the egg production of adi1 mutant flies was reduced compared to that of control flies. This fecundity defect in mutant flies was rescued by reintroduction of Dadi1 gene. Moreover, a functional homolog of human ADI1 also recovered the reproduction defect, in which the enzymatic activity of human ADI1 is required for normal fecundity. Importantly, methionine supply rescued the fecundity defect in Dadi1 mutant flies. The detailed analysis of Dadi1 mutant ovaries revealed a dramatic change in the levels of methionine metabolism. In addition, we found that three compounds namely, methionine, SAM and Methionine sulfoxide, respectively, may be required for normal fecundity.

Conclusions

In summary, these results suggest that ADI1, an MTA cycle enzyme, affects fly fecundity through the regulation of methionine metabolism.     

Consequences of Whole-Genome Triplication as Revealed by Comparative Genomic Analyses of the Wild Radish Raphanus raphanistrum and Three Other Brassicaceae Species

Polyploidization events are frequent among flowering plants, and the duplicate genes produced via such events contribute significantly to plant evolution. We sequenced the genome of wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), a Brassicaceae species that experienced a whole-genome triplication event prior to diverging from Brassica rapa. Despite substantial gene gains in these two species compared with Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata, ∼70% of the orthologous groups experienced gene losses in R. raphanistrum and B. rapa, with most of the losses occurring prior to their divergence. The retained duplicates show substantial divergence in sequence and expression. Based on comparison of A. thaliana and R. raphanistrum ortholog floral expression levels, retained radish duplicates diverged primarily via maintenance of ancestral expression level in one copy and reduction of expression level in others. In addition, retained duplicates differed significantly from genes that reverted to singleton state in function, sequence composition, expression patterns, network connectivity, and rates of evolution. Using these properties, we established a statistical learning model for predicting whether a duplicate would be retained postpolyploidization. Overall, our study provides new insights into the processes of plant duplicate loss, retention, and functional divergence and highlights the need for further understanding factors controlling duplicate gene fate.     

春季—冻融交替时期9种落叶及半常绿小灌木抗寒性综合评价

在春季—冻融交替时期,以北京地区迎春、金叶女贞、小花溲疏等9种落叶及半常绿小灌木一年生枝条为试材,通过人工模拟降温,测定其在4~-20℃低温胁迫下的6个生理响应指标,并对各指标进行相关性分析。结果表明,相对电导率、半致死温度、游离-脯氨酸含量和相对含水量这4个生理指标可作为9种小灌木抗寒性的评价指标。利用主成分分析、隶属函数法进行抗寒性综合评价,发现9种小灌木的抗寒性强弱顺序为:小花溲疏紫叶小檗太平花红王子锦带迎春连翘金叶女贞棣棠金山绣线菊。通过聚类分析可将9种小灌木分为3类,小花溲疏和紫叶小檗归为一类,其抗寒性相对较好;太平花、红王子锦带、迎春和连翘聚成一组,抗寒性一般;金叶女贞、棣棠和金山绣线菊聚在一起,抗寒性相对较差。     

雌雄及性畸变疣荔枝螺P450芳香化酶差异的研究

有机锡(Organotin)是至少含有一个Sn-C共价键的金属有机化合物,由于其对水生生物具有显著的杀生作用,20世纪70年代就被作为新型防污涂料而广泛用于船坞事业,目前世界已超过60%深海船只均使用含有机锡的防污漆涂料。有机锡的半衰期较长,在天然水体中半衰期可达几个月,当与悬浮颗粒物结合转移到沉积物以后则更加稳定,半衰期高达2至10年以上。显然有机锡已成为人为引入海洋环境中毒性最大的物质之一。