Rice Crinkly4 receptor-like kinase positively regulates culm elongation and amino acid K532 is not essential for its kinase activity

Receptor-like kinases (RLKs) play important roles in multiple aspects of plant growth and development. As a member of the TNFR-like RLK subfamily, rice Crinkly4 (OsCR4) functions mainly in epidermal cell differentiation in many organs. Here we show that in addition to its essential role in epidermal cell differentiation in the palea and lemma, OsCR4 positively regulates rice culm elongation, similar to maize CR4. Although OsCR4 is an active kinase, like CR4 in maize and ACR4 in Arabidopsis, the conserved amino acid K532 in OsCR4 is not essential for its kinase activity in vitro. Whether other conserved amino acids are required for its kinase activity and the relationship between its activity and function in plant development remain to be investigated.     

猪源大肠杆菌Nissle 1917菌株的分离鉴定

【目的】证实大肠杆菌Nissle 1917作为自然菌株存在于动物猪体内,并能从猪粪便中分离。建立大肠杆菌Nissle 1917的原位杂交鉴定方法。【方法】采集135份健康断奶仔猪的新鲜粪便制备DNA模板,以人源大肠杆菌Nissle 1917为阳性对照菌株,分别针对Nissle 1917的I型菌毛亚单位Fim A、F1C菌毛亚单位Foc A及两个质粒pMUT1和pMUT2的相关基因序列设计5对特异性引物进行PCR扩增;并将其中427 bp大小的质粒片段pMUT2(a)作为目的片段回收纯化,用地高辛随机引物标记法制成DNA探针。【结果】从其中的2份DNA模板中扩增出上述5对特异性引物PCR预期大小相符的片段,初步认为大肠杆菌Nissle 1917可能存在于猪体内。应用制备的探针通过菌落原位杂交的方法从2份阳性粪便样品中筛选出2株阳性菌落,通过血清学检验、PCR扩增和测序进一步鉴定为阳性Nissle 1917菌株。【结论】动物源益生菌Nissle 1917的分离鉴定,为优良动物源益生菌研究和应用奠定了基础。     

Intentionally introduced species: more easily invited than removed

Alien species are brought into countries world wide on a massive scale for agricultural production, ex situ conservation, landscape aesthetics, gardens, and ecosystem restoration. Unfortunately, some of these species have escaped and adversely impacted on regional as well as global biodiversity conservation and agricultural production. To reduce such risks, it is necessary to implement specific and effective measures. Since various government departments and institutions are involved in the management of alien species, it is difficult to prevent native and agroecosystems from being invaded by invited species. We propose the establishment of a supervision and inspection continuum over intentional species introduction, similar to that which exists in some countries over unintentional species introductions. Namely, a justification of the necessity to import, a risk assessment, assurances as to provision of an adequate containment facility assessment, and a damage-limitation protocol should that need to be invoked. These requirements should be satisfied before an alien species is knowingly imported, and the necessary follow-up supervision is important post- importation.     

几种常用杀虫剂对蚜虫天敌——瓢虫的影响

作者等就11种常用杀虫剂对蚜虫的重要天敌——瓢虫进行了毒性测定,观察了它们对瓢虫的各个虫态的影响。 供试药剂 20％乐果乳剂、50％敌敌畏乳剂、50％对硫磷乳剂、50％内吸磷乳剂、25％三硫磷乳剂、50％杀螟硫磷乳剂、50％磷胺液剂、20％酚开普敦乳剂、6％丙体六六六乳剂、6％丙体六六六可湿性粉(W、P)、2.5％鱼籐精乳剂。 供试瓢虫 异色瓢虫Leis axyridis,室内饲养;龟纹瓢虫Propylaea japonica,田间采回。     

High-level production of poly (β-<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-malic acid) with a new isolated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aureobasidium pullulans</Emphasis> strain

Poly (β-l-malic acid) (PMLA) is a water-soluble polyester with many attractive properties in chemical industry and medicine development. However, the low titer of PMLA in the available producer strains limits further industrialization efforts and restricts its many potential applications. In order to solve this problem, a new strain with the distinguished high productivity of PMLA was isolated from fresh plants samples. It was characterized as the candidate of Aureobasidium pullulans based on the morphology and phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer sequences. After the optimization of culture conditions, the highest PMLA concentration (62.27 g l⁻¹) could be achieved in the shake flask scale. In addition, the contribution of the carbon flux to exopolysaccharide (EPS) and PMLA could be regulated by the addition of CaCO₃ in the medium. This high-level fermentation process was further scaled up in the 10 l benchtop fermentor with a high PMLA concentration (57.2 g l⁻¹) and productivity (0.35 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹), which are the highest level in all the literature. Finally, the suitable acid hydrolysis conditions of PMLA were also investigated with regard to the production of l-malic acid, and the kinetics of PMLA acid hydrolysis was modeled to simulate the whole degradation process. The present work paved the road to produce this multifunctional biomaterial (PMLA) at industrial scale and promised one alternative method to produce l-malic acid in the future.     

Cerebrospinal fluid Th1/Th2 cytokine profiles in children with enterovirus 71‐associated meningoencephalitis

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection can cause severe neurological complications including meningoencephalitis (ME) in some patients with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). However, to date no studies have reported changes in cytokine concentrations and their correlations with clinical variables in patients with ME following EV71 infection. In this study, responses of Th1/Th2 cytokine, including IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐10, TNF‐α and IFN‐γ, in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with EV71‐related HFMD with ME and patients with febrile convulsions (FC) were analyzed using cytometric bead array technology. It was found that CSF IL‐6 and IFN‐γ concentrations were significantly higher in patients with EV71‐related ME than in those with FC. Additionally, both CSF IL‐6 and IFN‐γ concentrations were correlated with CSF cytology, fever duration and duration of hospital stay. More interestingly, a positive correlation between CSF IL‐6 and IFN‐γ concentrations was observed. Finally, receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that when a cutoff value of 9.40 pg/mL was set for IL‐6, the sensitivity and specificity were 84.5% and 85.5%, respectively, for discriminating EV71‐related ME from FC. In conclusion, IL‐6 and IFN‐γ may be associated with EV71‐induced neuropathology.