Genome Sequence and Comparative Genomics Analysis of a Vibrio cholerae O1 Strain Isolated from a Cholera Patient in Malaysia

The genome sequence analysis of a clinical Vibrio cholerae VC35 strain from an outbreak case in Malaysia indicates multiple genes involved in host adaptation and a novel Na⁺-driven multidrug efflux pump-coding gene in the genome of Vibrio cholerae with the highest similarity to VMA_001754 of Vibrio mimicus VMA223.     

Reaction mechanism of surfactant‐sensitized chemiluminescence of bis(2,4,6‐trichlorophyenyl) oxalate and hydrogen peroxide induced by gold nanoparticles

The chemiluminescence (CL) of bis(2,4,6‐trichlorophyenyl) oxalate with hydrogen peroxide in the present of cationic surfactant and gold nanoparticles was studied. The CL emission was obviously enhanced in the presence of surfactant at a suitable concentration, with a synergetic catalysis effect exhibited. Different sizes of gold nanoparticles (15 and 50 nm) showed different effects on CL intensity. Mechanisms of the CL reaction and sensitization effect are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pre‐copulation intervals,copulation frequencies,and initial progeny sex ratios in two biotypes of whitefly,Bemisia tabaci

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) is a species complex, and its systematic classification requires controlled crossing experiments among its genetic groups. Accurate information on pre‐copulation intervals, copulation frequencies, and initial frequency of egg fertilization of newly emerged adults is critical for designing procedures for collecting the virgin adults necessary for these experiments. In the literature, considerable variation is reported between B. tabaci populations, with respect to the length of the pre‐copulation interval and the initial frequency of egg fertilization. Here, we used a video‐recording method to observe continuously the copulation behaviour of the Mediterranean/Asia Minor/Africa (B biotype) and the Asia II (ZHJ1 biotype) groups of B. tabaci. We also recorded the initial frequency of egg fertilization, as determined by the sex of the progeny. When adults were caged in female–male pairs on leaves of cotton plants, the earliest copulation events occurred 2–6 h after emergence; at 12 h after emergence 56–84% of the females had copulated at least once, and nearly all (92–100%) had copulated at least once by 36 h after emergence. Both females and males copulated repeatedly. Approximately 80 and 20% of copulation events occurred during the photophase and scotophase, respectively. By 72 h post‐emergence, the females of the B and ZHJ1 biotypes had copulated on average 6.1 and 3.9 times, respectively. When adults were caged in groups on plants 1–13 h after emergence, 30–35% of the eggs deposited during this period were fertilized, and approximately 90% of females were fertilized by the end of the 13 h. Although timing of copulation differed in detail between the two genetic groups, the results demonstrate that B. tabaci adults can start to copulate as early as 2–6 h post‐emergence and the majority of females can become fertilized on the day that they emerge.     

Classical Raman spectroscopic studies of NADH and NAD+ bound to liver alcohol dehydrogenase by difference techniques

We report the Raman spectra of reduced and oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH and NAD+, respectively) and adenosine 5'-diphosphate ribose (ADPR) when bound to the coenzyme site of liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH). The bound NADH spectrum is calculated by taking the classical Raman difference spectrum of the binary complex, LADH/NADH, with that of LADH. We have investigated how the bound NADH spectrum is affected when the ternary complexes with inhibitors are formed with dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) or isobutyramide (IBA), i.e., LADH/NADH/Me2SO or LADH/NADH/IBA. Similarly, the difference spectra of LADH/NAD+/pyrazole or LADH/ADPR with LADH are calculated. The magnitude of these difference spectra is on the order of a few percent of the protein Raman spectrum. We report and discuss the experimental configuration and control procedures we use in reliably calculating such small difference signals. These sensitive difference techniques could be applied to a large number of problems where the classical Raman spectrum of a "small" molecule, like adenine, bound to the active site of a protein is of interest. The spectrum of bound ADPR allows an assignment of the bands of the bound NADH and NAD+ spectra to normal coordinates located primarily on either the nicotinamide or the adenine moiety. By comparing the spectra of the bound coenzymes with model compound data and through the use of deuterated compounds, we confirm and characterize how the adenine moiety is involved in coenzyme binding and discuss the validity of the suggestion that the adenine ring is protonated upon binding. The nicotinamide moiety of NADH shows significant molecular changes upon binding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Protection of mice against Sendai virus pneumonia by non-neutralizing anti-F monoclonal antibodies

Nine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed to F protein of Sendai virus were obtained and characterized for their protective ability against Sendai virus infection in mice. None of the MAbs showed hemagglutination-inhibition (HI), hemolysis-inhibition (HLI), or neutralization (NT) activities in vitro when assayed by standard methods. Some of the MAbs, however, showed complement-requiring NT (C-NT) and complement-requiring hemolysis (C-HL) activities when assayed in the presence of complement. Passive immunization experiments revealed that the MAbs with higher C-NT and C-HL activities showed protective activity against Sendai virus pneumonia in mice, and that some MAbs with IgG1 isotype having neither C-NT nor C-HL activity also showed the protective activity. Digestion of the MAbs with pepsin which split immunoglobulin molecules into F(ab')2 and Fc fragments greatly suppressed the protective activity. These results suggest that not only complement-mediated immunological responses such as immune virolysis but also antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and/or immune phagocytosis, in which complement system is not necessarily involved, play an important role in the protection of mice from Sendai virus infection.     

抗阿特拉津转基因大豆植株后代的遗传分析

本试验用阿特拉津溶液涂抹、荧光诱导动力学检测、分子杂交等方法对抗阿特拉津转基因大豆植株的后代进行了鉴定,在第二代及第三代中检测到了抗性基因的存在,表明从龙葵中得到的此抗阿特拉津 psbA 基因不仅能导人大豆叶绿体基因组中获得表达,而且可以遗传到后代。     

维西香茶菜的二萜成分

维西香茶菜Rabdosia weisiensis C. Y. Wu产云南西北部海拔2600米沟谷中,其化学成分的研究未见报道。从该植物叶的乙醚提取物中,分得两个二萜成分,一为已知成分trichorabdal A(2),一为新成分,命名为维西香茶菜甲素weisiensin A(1)。 维西香茶菜甲素weisiensin A(1),C_(26)H_(36)O_9,mp 298—300℃,其~(13)C NMR谱显示存在三个CH_3,三个CH_2,八个CH,三个四取代碳,三个Ac,二个烯碳和一个羰基     

紫茎泽兰的化学成分初报

紫茎泽兰(Eupalorium adenophorum Spreng)原产中美墨西哥,现在滇南一带广泛分布,对林、牧业生产造成严重危害。其化学成分研究未见报道。 从紫茎泽兰的叶和花序中,分到九个单体,经详细的光谱解析和与标准品对照,其中五个成分的化学结构分别为:正三十二烷n-dotriacontane(1),β-谷甾醇β-sitosterol(2),豆甾醇stigmasterol(3),蒲公英醇棕榈酸酯taraxasteryl palmitate(4),蒲公英醇乙酸酯taraxastcryl acetate(5)。     

Differential amplification of antifreeze protein genes in the pleuronectinae

Summary The organization of antifreeze protein (AFP) genes in the yellowtail flounder was investigated by Southern blotting and the characterization of clones from a genomic library. This flounder, like the closely related winter flounder, has a set of 10–12 linked but irregularly spaced AFP genes. However, it lacks the tandemly amplified set of 20 such genes that are present in the winter flounder. DNA sequence analysis of a tandemly repeated gene from winter flounder showed that it can code for one of the two most abundant AFP components in the serum. Consistent with this higher AFP gene dosage, the peak serum AFP level in midwinter was 9 mg/ml in the winter flounder and only 4 mg/ml in the yellowtail flounder. A recent amplification of the AFP gene in the winter flounder lineage might be responsible for the higher serum AFP levels in this fish. This increase in gene dosage might have helped the winter flounder colonize the ice-laden, shallow-water niche that it currently occupies along the east coast of North America. Genomic Southern blotting of two other righteye flounders, the smooth flounder and the American plaice, illustrates another example of a differential amplification of AFP genes that correlates with a species' exposure to ice.