金皮猪肉质相关组织学特征与CAST基因HinfI多态性的关系研究

本实验选择具有优良肉质的本地金华猪与肉质较差的引进品种皮特兰猪杂交所产的金皮F2代为研究对象,利用PCR-RFLP的方法检测金皮F2代猪CAST基因型的频率,并以肌球蛋白重链（MHC）免疫组织化学、过碘酸希夫反应和苏木精-伊红等多种组织学方法,研究猪背腰最长肌的肌肉组织学特性,并对其进行图像分析,在此基础上采用SAS分析其相互关系。结果发现．PAS染色后肌纤维可区分为三种类型。PAS阴性（Ⅰ）、PAS反应强阳性（Ⅱ-a）和PAS反应强度中间型（Ⅱ-b）。利用肌球蛋白重链单克隆抗体MHCs和MHCf染色结果表明．金皮F2代杂交猪背腰最长肌MHCs阳性（慢肌）纤维的比例为7．62％,快肌纤维为92.38％。CAST基因的扩增产物具有524bp和632bp两个Hinfl多态性片段,定义等位基因为A（114＋192＋400＋632bp）,B（114＋192＋400＋524bp）。AA、BB和AB基因型频率分别为0．1795、0．5897和0．2308,A和B的基因型频率分别为0．4743和0．5256。AA、BB和AB单型对眼肌面积．系水率、pH值、导电率等参数均无显著的影响。CAST基因的HinfI多态性对肌纤维的轴比有显著影响,AA单型有产生较多轴比较大（近似椭圆形）肌纤维的倾向．而BB则控制形成更多的轴比更小（近似于圆形）的肌纤维。具有AA单型的个体具有更多的肌间结缔组织．而具有BB单型的个体的肌间结缔组织较少．AB单型的个体介于两者之间。     

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of thiopentene enantiomers in sheep plasma

An HPLC method was developed to determine the plasma concentrations of R(+)- and S(−)-thiopentone for pharmacokinetic studies in sheep. The method required separation of the thiopentone enantiomers from the corresponding pentobarbitone enantiomers which are usually present as metabolites of thiopentone. Phenylbutazone was used as an internal standard. After acidification, the plasma samples were extracted with a mixture of ether and hexane (2:8). The solvent was evaporated to dryness and the residues were reconstituted with sodium hydroxide solution (pH 10). The samples were chromatographed on a 100 mm × 4 mm I.D.. Chiral AGP-CSP column. The mobile phase was 4.5% 2-propanol in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.2) with a flow-rate of 0.9 ml/min. This gave k′ values of 1.92, 2.92, 5.71, 9.30 and 11.98 for R(+)-pentobarbitone, S(−)-pentobarbitone, R(+)-thiopentone, S(−)-thiopentone, and phenylbutazone, respectively. At detection wavelength of 287 nm, the limit of quantitation was 5 ng/ml for R(+)-thiopentone and 6 ng/ml for S(−)-thiopentone. The inter-day coefficients of variation at concentrations of 0.02, 0.1 and 8 μg/ml were, respectively, 4.8, 4.4 and 3.5% for R(+)-thiopentone and, respectively, 5.0, 4.3 and 3.9% for S(−)-thiopentone (n = 6 each enantiomer). At the same concentrations, the intra-day coefficients of variation from six sets of replicates (measured over six days) were, respectively, 8.0, 8.0 and 8.8% for R(+)-thiopentene and 8.8, 7.4 and 9.6% for S(−)-thiopentone. Linearity over the standard range, 0.01–40 μg/ml, was shown by correlation coefficients> 0.998. This method has proven suitable for pharmacokinetic studies of thiopentone enantiomers after administration of rac-thiopentone in human plasma also and would be suitable for pharmacokinetic studies of the pentobarbitone eantiomers.     

Regulation of alternative splicing of Bcl-x by IL-6, GM-CSF and TPA

The splicing of many alternative exons in the precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) is regulated by extracellular factors but the underlying molecular bases remain unclear. Here we report the differential regulation of Bcl-x pre-mRNA splicing by extracellular factors and their distinct requirements for pre-mRNA elements. In K562 leukemia cells, treatment with interleukin-6 (IL-6) or granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) reduced the proportion of the Bcl-xL variant mRNA while treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) had no effect. In U251 glioma cells, however, TPA efficiently increased the Bcl-xL level. These regulations were also seen for a transfected splicing reporter mini-gene. Further analyses of deletion mutants indicate that nucleotides 1-176 of the downstream intron are required for the IL-6 effect, whereas additional nucleotides 177-284 are essential for the GM-CSF effect. As for the TPA effect, only nucleotides 1-76 are required in the downstream intron. Thus, IL-6, GM-CSF and TPA differentially regulate Bcl-x splicing and require specific intronic pre-mRNA sequences for their respective effects.     

Cuttine edge: T cells from aged mice are resistant to depletion early during virus infection

Aging is associated with decreased expansion of T cells upon stimulation. In young mice, infection induces a transient T cell depletion followed by the development of an Ag-specific T cell response that controls the infection. We found that T cells were depleted early after infection with E55 + murine leukemia retrovirus in young, but not aged, mice. Adoptive transfer experiments showed donor T cells of young, but not aged, mice were depleted due to apoptosis in various tissues of young recipients. However, T cells of neither young nor aged donors were depleted in aged recipients. These results indicate that both environmental and intrinsic cellular properties limit depletion of T cells of aged mice and suggest a novel explanation for the decreased T cell response associated with aging.     

Association of an aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase with a putative metabolic protein in archaea

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are essential enzymes that catalyze attachment of amino acids to tRNAs for decoding of genetic information. In higher eukaryotes, several synthetases associate with non-synthetase proteins to form a high-molecular mass complex that may improve the efficiency of protein synthesis. This multi-synthetase complex is not found in bacteria. Here we describe the isolation of a non-synthetase protein from the archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii that was copurified with prolyl-tRNA synthetase (ProRS). This protein, Mj1338, also interacts with several other tRNA synthetases and has an affinity for general tRNA, suggesting the possibility of forming a multi-synthetase complex. However, unlike the non-synthetase proteins in the eukaryotic complex, the protein Mj1338 is predicted to be a metabolic protein, related to members of the family of H(2)-forming N(5),N(10)-methylene tetrahydromethanopterin (5,10-CH(2)-H(4)MP) dehydrogenases that are involved in the one-carbon metabolism of the archaeon. The association of Mj1338 with ProRS, and with other components of the protein synthesis machinery, thus suggests the possibility of a closer link between metabolism and decoding in archaea than in eukarya or bacteria.     

Aminoacylation of an unusual tRNA(Cys) from an extreme halophile

The extreme halophile Halobacterium species NRC-1 overcomes external near-saturating salt concentrations by accumulating intracellular salts comparable to those of the medium. This raises the fundamental question of how halophiles can maintain the specificity of protein-nucleic acid interactions that are particularly sensitive to high salts in mesophiles. Here we address the specificity of the essential aminoacylation reaction of the halophile, by focusing on molecular recognition of tRNA(Cys) by the cognate cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase. Despite the high salt environments of the aminoacylation reaction, and despite an unusual structure of the tRNA with an exceptionally large dihydrouridine loop, we show that aminoacylation of the tRNA proceeds with a catalytic efficiency similar to that of its mesophilic counterparts. This is manifested by an essentially identical K(m) for tRNA to those of the mesophiles, and by recognition of the same nucleotide determinants that are conserved in evolution. Interestingly, aminoacylation of the halophile tRNA(Cys) is more closely related to that of bacteria than eukarya by placing a strong emphasis on features of the tRNA tertiary core. This suggests an adaptation to the highly negatively charged tRNA sugar-phosphate backbone groups that are the key elements of the tertiary core.     

Low frequency of horizontal and vertical transmission of two begomoviruses through whiteflies exhibits little relevance to the vector infectivity

Transmissions of plant viruses between individuals of their vector insects through mating are rare events. Recently, three begomoviruses were found to be transmitted between males and females of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci through mating, and two viruses were shown to be transmitted transovarially to progeny. However, results between reports were not consistent. Here we examined the horizontal and vertical transmission of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCNV) by the B and Q biotypes of B. tabaci, using virus isolates and whitefly colonies established recently in China. Both TYLCV DNA and TYLCCNV DNA were shown to be transmitted horizontally and vertically by each of the two biotypes of the whitefly, but frequency of transmission was usually low. In transovarial transmission, virus DNA was detected in eggs and nymphs but not in the adults of the first generation progeny, except in the combination of TYLCV and Q biotype whitefly where 2–3% of the offspring adults contained the virus DNA. We also showed that the first generation adults, which developed from eggs of viruliferous whiteflies, were not infective to plants. These results demonstrated that for the viruses and whiteflies tested here low frequency of horizontal and vertical transmission can be expected but these two modes of transmission are unlikely to have much epidemiological relevance in the field.     

毛胶薯蓣多糖胶与常用植物胶的流变性比较研究

用毛胶薯蓣提取分离毛胶薯蓣多糖胶(DSP)。将DSP与其他四种胶(瓜尔胶、魔芋胶、白芨胶、海藻酸钠)的粘度与浓度、温度、pH、降解时间、冻融变化及耐盐性的关系,以及起泡性能进行了比较研究。结果表明:DSP溶液的浓度与粘度正相关;温度在0~40℃间具有良好的热稳定性,40~90℃间其粘度随温度的升高而降低,且符合阿累尼乌斯动力学曲线;pH的改变、冻融变化和加入氯化钠、氯化钙对DSP粘度的影响甚微;同时DSP还具有优良的起泡性。