A comparative kinetic analysis of nitrate and ammonium influx in two early-successional tree species of temperate and boreal forest ecosystems

Root NO₃ ^? and NH₄ ⁺ influx systems of two early‐successional species of temperate (trembling aspen: Populus tremuloides Michx.) and boreal (lodgepole pine: Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) forest ecosystems were characterized. NO₃ ^? and NH₄ ⁺ influxes were biphasic, consisting of saturable high‐affinity (HATS) and constitutive non‐saturable low‐affinity transport systems (LATS) that were evident at low and relatively high N concentrations, respectively. NO₃ ^? influx via HATS was inducible (IHATS); nitrate pre‐treatment resulted in 8–10‐fold increases in the V_max for influx in both species. By contrast, HATS for NH₄ ⁺ were entirely constitutive. In both species, V_max values for NH₄ ⁺ influx were higher than those for NO₃ ^? uptake; the differences were larger in pine (6‐fold) than aspen (1·8‐fold). In aspen, the K_m for NH₄ ⁺ influx by HATS was approximately 3‐fold higher than for IHATS NO₃ ^? influx, while in pine the K_m for IHATS NO₃ ^? influx was approximately 3‐fold higher than for NH₄ ⁺ influx. The aspen IHATS for NO₃ ^? influx appeared to be more efficient than that of pine (V_max values for aspen being approximately 10‐fold higher and K_m values being approximately 13‐fold lower than for pine). By contrast, only small differences in values for the NH₄ ⁺ HATS were evident between the two species. The kinetic parameters observed here probably result from adaptations to the N availabilities in their respective natural habitats; these may contribute to the distribution and niche separation of these species.     

热带森林中的斑块动态与物种多样性维持

斑块作为景观要素之一,直接到景观结构的空间格局及其内部各要素之间的相互关系,其动态也将导致景观格局的变化。异质性的斑块在自然森林中是普遍存在的,这就是说,顶极森林中仍然存在着由不同种类或不同生长时期的植物种群组成的森林斑块。由自然或人为干扰所驱动的森林生长循环导致敢这些斑块在空间上的镶嵌,对于持定的地域片段,也导致了不同生长时期的森林斑块的周期性循环。在热带森林中,森林的生长循环由林窗期（ｇａｐ     

乙型肝炎表面抗原疑难判定血清的研究

用中国药品生物制品检定所检定合格的国内外HBsAgEIA试剂及ABBOTT抗 HBs、抗 HBcEIA试剂 ,对所收集的 13份HBsAg疑难判定血清进行检测 ,并用PCR方法检测血清中HBVDNA ,结果显示国内外HBsAg试剂对部分HBVDNA阳性样品的检出率差异较大 ,提示这些样品可能为S基因突变株或HBsAg含量较低 ,因此 ,HBsAgEIA试剂的敏感度仍有待进一步提高 ,并应进一步研制检测S基因突变株的HBsAg诊断试剂。     

Synthetic biology platform of CoryneBrick vectors for gene expression in Corynebacterium glutamicum and its application to xylose utilization

Currently, the majority of tools in synthetic biology have been designed and constructed for model organisms such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In order to broaden the spectrum of organisms accessible to such tools, we established a synthetic biological platform, called CoryneBrick, for gene expression in Corynebacterium glutamicum as a set of E. coli-C. glutamicum shuttle vectors whose elements are interchangeable with BglBrick standard parts. C. glutamicum is an established industrial microorganism for the production of amino acids, proteins, and commercially promising chemicals. Using the CoryneBrick vectors, we showed various time-dependent expression profiles of a red fluorescent protein. This CoryneBrick platform was also applicable for two-plasmid expression systems with a conventional C. glutamicum expression vector. In order to demonstrate the practical application of the CoryneBrick vectors, we successfully reconstructed the xylose utilization pathway in the xylose-negative C. glutamicum wild type by fast BglBrick cloning methods using multiple genes encoding for xylose isomerase and xylulose kinase, resulting in a growth rate of 0.11?±?0.004 h^?1 and a xylose uptake rate of 3.35 mmol/gDW/h when 1 % xylose was used as sole carbon source. Thus, CoryneBrick vectors were shown to be useful engineering tools in order to exploit Corynebacterium as a synthetic platform for the production of chemicals by controllable expression of the genes of interest.     

不同干扰素应答慢性乙型肝炎患者的基因组DNA甲基化谱差异分析

α干扰素,包括长效干扰素——聚乙醇化α干扰素(PEG-IFNα),是临床用以治疗慢性乙型肝炎的首选药物。但干扰素治疗通常只能在有限的患者中获得完全应答。目前干扰素治疗应答相关指标预测的灵敏度与特异度远未令人满意,因此继续寻找潜在的与干扰素疗效预测相关的分子标记仍是一个十分有意义的工作。为探讨慢性乙型肝炎患者基因组DNA甲基化状态与干扰素治疗疗效的关系,本研究采用RocheNimbleGen人甲基化DNA免疫共沉淀-芯片(MeDIP-chip)技术,分析20例不同干扰素疗效慢性乙型肝炎患者的血浆基因组启动子甲基化谱差异,并利用MeDIP-定量聚合酶链反应(MeDIP-qPCR)检验部分基因启动子区域DNA甲基化的水平。结果显示,与快速应答组相比,无应答组中有588个基因启动子区甲基化水平存在显著差异(P0.05)。这些基因主要涉及多个信号通路,即钙离子信号通路、细胞周期调节通路、肝脏代谢相关通路等。MeDIP-qPCR验证与芯片结果的一致性超过80%。本研究为探讨差异甲基化基因在干扰素应答中的作用及发现潜在的预测干扰素疗效的血液分子标记奠定了基础。     

抗人AEG-1单克隆抗体可变区基因克隆及序列分析

AEG-1基因位于人染色体8q22,编码582个氨基酸,参与多种信号转导途径并与多种恶性肿瘤的发生、发展及生物学表型密切相关。为更好地探讨AEG-1生物学功能,以纯化的pGSTag-AEG-1蛋白免疫BALB/c小鼠,应用细胞融合技术并经筛选及鉴定,获得了分泌抗人AEG-1单克隆抗体的杂交瘤细胞株1E3;Western blot及免疫组化证实该细胞株分泌的单克隆抗体能与肿瘤细胞中AEG-1蛋白特异性结合;RT-PCR方法从1E3细胞中克隆出抗AEG-1抗体的VH和VL基因片段,通过测序分析、碱基和蛋白序列的比对确认该株抗体为鼠源性IgG的轻、重链可变区基因。进一步运用Kabat System在线分析系统对VH和VL基因进行结构分析,确证FWRs和CDRs的结构完整,VH编码117个氨基酸;VL编码119个氨基酸,属于轻链κV家族。实验结果为进一步研究AEG-1与恶性肿瘤发生、发展的关系及在其临床诊断中的应用奠定了基础。     

Substantial reorganization of China's tropical and subtropical forests: based on the permanent plots

There is evidence that climate change induced tree mortalities in boreal and temperate forests and increased forest turnover rates (both mortality and recruitment rates) in Amazon forests. However, no study has examined China's tropical and subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests (TEBF) that cover >26% of China's terrestrial land. The sustainability of this biome is vital to the maintenance of local ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, climatic regulation), many of which may influence patterns of atmospheric circulation and composition at regional to global scales. Here, we analyze time‐series data collected from thirteen permanent plots within China's unmanaged TEBF to study whether and how this biome has changed over recent decades. We find that the numbers of individuals and species for shrub and small tree have increased since 1978, whereas the numbers of individuals and species for tree have decreased over this same time period. The shift in species composition is accompanied by a decrease in the mean diameter at breast height (DBH) for all individuals combined. China's TEBF may thereby be transitioning from cohorts of fewer and larger individuals to ones of more and smaller individuals, which shows a unique change pattern differing from the documented. Regional‐scale drying is likely responsible for the biome's reorganization. This biome‐wide reconstitution would deeply impact the regimes of carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation and have implications for the sustainability of economic development in the area.     

Hepatitis C viral evolution in genotype 1 treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced patients receiving telaprevir-based therapy in clinical trials

Background

In patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C infection, telaprevir (TVR) in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin (PR) significantly increased sustained virologic response (SVR) rates compared with PR alone. However, genotypic changes could be observed in TVR-treated patients who did not achieve an SVR.

Methods

Population sequence analysis of the NS3•4A region was performed in patients who did not achieve SVR with TVR-based treatment.

Results

Resistant variants were observed after treatment with a telaprevir-based regimen in 12% of treatment-naïve patients (ADVANCE; T12PR arm), 6% of prior relapsers, 24% of prior partial responders, and 51% of prior null responder patients (REALIZE, T12PR48 arms). NS3 protease variants V36M, R155K, and V36M+R155K emerged frequently in patients with genotype 1a and V36A, T54A, and A156S/T in patients with genotype 1b. Lower-level resistance to telaprevir was conferred by V36A/M, T54A/S, R155K/T, and A156S variants; and higher-level resistance to telaprevir was conferred by A156T and V36M+R155K variants. Virologic failure during telaprevir treatment was more common in patients with genotype 1a and in prior PR nonresponder patients and was associated with higher-level telaprevir-resistant variants. Relapse was usually associated with wild-type or lower-level resistant variants. After treatment, viral populations were wild-type with a median time of 10 months for genotype 1a and 3 weeks for genotype 1b patients.

Conclusions

A consistent, subtype-dependent resistance profile was observed in patients who did not achieve an SVR with telaprevir-based treatment. The primary role of TVR is to inhibit wild-type virus and variants with lower-levels of resistance to telaprevir. The complementary role of PR is to clear any remaining telaprevir-resistant variants, especially higher-level telaprevir-resistant variants. Resistant variants are detectable in most patients who fail to achieve SVR, but their levels decline over time after treatment.