植物DNA甲基化及胁迫诱导的变异

DNA中碱基的化学修饰近年来一直是生命科学领域研究的热点之一。DNA甲基化是一种常见的表观遗传现象,它能在不改变DNA序列的前提下改变遗传表型。各种胁迫因素能诱导植物DNA甲基化产生变异,但其应答胁迫机制仍然未知。本文对植物DNA甲基化研究进展进行了综述,结合本课题组的研究结果,对7Li离子束注入、~(60)CO-γ射线诱变诱导产生的DNA甲基化变异进行了报道,以期为DNA甲基化可能参与涉及植物的表型可塑性提供一定的依据。     

香港岛黄桐森林群落分析

 香港岛以黄桐(Endospermum chinense)等为优势的森林群落,具有较多的热带植物区系和较复杂的群落结构,是我国南亚热带低地常绿阔叶林的代表类群。     

Confounding from cryptic relatedness in haplotype-based association studies

Cryptic relatedness was suggested to be an important source of confounding in population-based association studies (PBAS). The impact of cryptic relatedness on the performance of haplotype phase inference and haplotype-based association tests is not clear. In this study, we used the Hapmap genetic data to simulate a set of related samples. We evaluated the accuracy of haplotype phase inferred by PHASE 2.1 and calculated the power, type I error rates, accuracy and positive prediction value (PPV) of haplotype frequency-based association tests (HFAT) and haplotype similarity-based association tests (HSAT) under various scenarios, considering relatedness levels, disease models and sample sizes. Cryptic relatedness appeared to slightly increase the accuracy of haplotype phase inference. We observed significant negative effect of cryptic relatedness on the performance of HFAT and HSAT. Ignoring cryptic relatedness may increase spurious association results in haplotype-based PBAS.     

马铃薯StSnRK2.1基因克隆与生物信息学分析

SnRK2基因对植物的逆境胁迫具有重要的调节作用,以马铃薯‘陇薯3号’(Solanum tuberosum)为试材,采用RT-PCR方法从马铃薯试管苗中克隆得到1个SnRK2.1基因cDNA,命名为StSnRK2.1,提交GenBank注册,注册号为JX280911。通过生物信息学分析,该基因开放阅读框全长1 008 bp,编码335个氨基酸。预测蛋白质分子量约为37.77 kD,等电点为5.37,蛋白质二级结构预测α-螺旋42.39%,延伸链16.42%,β-折叠7.46%,无规卷曲33.73%,具有疏水性,为膜内蛋白。亚细胞定位显示该基因出现在细胞质及微体中的可能性较大。肽链可能有7处丝氨酸磷酸化位点,2处苏氨酸磷酸化位点,以及3处酪氨酸磷酸化位点,因此推测该基因在植物抗逆中有重要的作用。     

DcR3/TR6 modulates immune cell interactions

DcR3/TR6, a secreted protein, is a member of TNF receptor family. Its ligands include FasL, LIGHT, and TL1A, all TNF family members. TR6 can interfere with FasL- or LTbetaR-mediated apoptosis; it can also inhibit T-cell costimulation by blocking the two-way signaling between TR2 and LIGHT, and the one-way signaling from TL1A to DR3. In this study, we discovered that TR6 was secreted by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated by T-cell mitogens. It inhibited actin polymerization of T cells upon mitogen stimulation, and repress T-cell pseudopodium formation, which is known to be important for cell-cell interaction. As a consequence, T-cell aggregation stimulated by alloantigens, anti-CD3 or PHA was suppressed by either soluble or solid phase TR6-Fc. This result suggests that TR6 might regulate T-cell interaction with other cells such as antigen-presenting cells (APC) or their fellow T cells by preventing them from forming inseparable cell clusters, which are undesirable for the progression of immune responses.     

GS3, a major QTL for grain length and weight and minor QTL for grain width and thickness in rice, encodes a putative transmembrane protein

The GS3 locus located in the pericentromeric region of rice chromosome 3 has been frequently identified as a major QTL for both grain weight (a yield trait) and grain length (a quality trait) in the literature. Near isogenic lines of GS3 were developed by successive crossing and backcrossing Minghui 63 (large grain) with Chuan 7 (small grain), using Minghui 63 as the recurrent parent. Analysis of a random subpopulation of 201 individuals from the BC₃F₂ progeny confirmed that the GS3 locus explained 80–90% of the variation for grain weight and length in this population. In addition, this locus was resolved as a minor QTL for grain width and thickness. Using 1,384 individuals with recessive phenotype (large grain) from a total of 5,740 BC₃F₂ plants and 11 molecular markers based on sequence information, GS3 was mapped to a DNA fragment approximately 7.9 kb in length. A full-length cDNA corresponding to the target region was identified, which provided complete sequence information for the GS3 candidate. This gene consists of five exons and encodes 232 amino acids with a putative PEBP-like domain, a transmembrane region, a putative TNFR/NGFR family cysteine-rich domain and a VWFC module. Comparative sequencing analysis identified a nonsense mutation, shared among all the large-grain varieties tested in comparison with the small grain varieties, in the second exon of the putative GS3 gene. This mutation causes a 178-aa truncation in the C-terminus of the predicted protein, suggesting that GS3 may function as a negative regulator for grain size. Cloning of such a gene provided the opportunity for fully characterizing the regulatory mechanism and related processes during grain development.     

全雌系苦瓜ACC氧化酶基因cDNA克隆及序列分析

为研究1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸氧化酶(ACC氧化酶,ACO)基因在苦瓜性别分化中的作用,以全雌系苦瓜‘X-Hei-d-d’花蕾为试材,采用RT-PCR和RACE技术获得了ACC氧化酶基因(Mc-ACO1)的全长cDNA序列。该序列为1 137 bp(GenBank登录号:FJ459813),其完整开放阅读框长1 005 bp,编码334个氨基酸,预测分子量为37.30 kD,肽链N端缺失ACOs家族典型的1个保守区和2个保守二价铁离子/抗坏血酸依赖型双加氧酶氨基酸残基。序列分析表明,植物ACO基因的演化与其来源植物亲缘关系的一致性较高;与其他物种相比,苦瓜Mc-ACO1不同的氨基酸序列主要表现在肽链N端;苦瓜Mc-ACO1应属于黄瓜Cs-ACO2类成员,功能可能与性别分化相关。     

禽流感H5N1病毒感染BALB/c小鼠的细胞免疫动态变化

[目的]测定H5N1病毒感染BALB/c的小鼠模型的细胞免疫动态变化,探讨病毒对机体免疫系统的影响。[方法]通过流式细胞仪测定CD3+T、CD4+T、CD8+T等细胞免疫变化。[结果]感染H5N1病毒的小鼠血液中CD3+T、CD4+T、CD8+T细胞数量下降(P<0.05),脾脏中T细胞数量下降的趋势与血液相同,CD4+T/CD8+T的比例上升,只是两者的时间有所差别。[结论]说明病毒对细胞免疫T细胞数量影响较大,而且CD8+T受到的影响更为明显,反应了机体特异性细胞免疫功能受抑制,并且彼此之间的平衡受到破坏。