宏组学方法在污水处理系统中的应用进展

污水生物处理由微生物生理过程驱动,宏组学方法能够获得不同水平的分子信息,为认识污水处理系统中的微生物提供了新途径。本文对宏基因组学、宏转录组学、宏蛋白质组学与代谢组学等宏组学方法的发展进行综述,着重介绍各组学及整合宏组学在污水处理系统中的研究现状,并指出其应用前景。     

中国异极衣科地衣二新记录种

该文综合运用形态学、解剖学和化学等方法对山东大型地衣进行分类研究,发现了两个中国新记录种,即德氏蜂窝衣(Heppia despreauxii)和多孢小极衣(Lichinella myriospora).德氏蜂窝衣隶属于蜂窝衣属(Heppia),生于光线充足且裸露的土壤上,主要识别特征为下皮层缺失、子实层IKI+蓝色;多...     

Genetic differentiation and phylogeography of rotifer Polyarthra dolichoptera and P. vulgaris populations between Southeastern China and eastern North America: High intercontinental differences

Genetic differentiations and phylogeographical patterns of small organisms may be shaped by spatial isolation, environmental gradients, and gene flow. However, knowledge about genetic differentiation of rotifers at the intercontinental scale is still limited. Polyarthra dolichoptera and P. vulgaris are cosmopolitan rotifers that are tolerant to environmental changes, offering an excellent model to address the research gap. Here, we investigated the populations in Southeastern China and eastern North America and evaluated the phylogeographical patterns from their geographical range sizes, geographic–genetic distance relationships and their responses to spatial‐environmental factors. Using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene as the DNA marker, we analyzed a total of 170 individuals. Our results showed that some putative cryptic species, also known as entities were widely distributed, but most of them were limited to single areas. The divergence of P. dolichoptera and P. vulgaris indicated that gene flow between continents was limited while that within each continent was stronger. Oceanographic barriers do affect the phylogeographic pattern of rotifers in continental waters and serve to maintain genetic diversity in nature. The genetic distance of P. dolichoptera and P. vulgaris populations showed significant positive correlation with geographic distance. This might be due to the combined effects of habitat heterogeneity, long‐distance colonization, and oceanographic barriers. Furthermore, at the intercontinental scale, spatial distance had a stronger influence than environmental variables on the genetic differentiations of both populations. Wind‐ and animal‐mediated transport and even historical events of continental plate tectonics are potential factors for phylogeography of cosmopolitan rotifers.     

Prediction of Protein-Protein Interactions Using Protein Signature Profiling

Protein domains are conserved and functionally independent structures that play an important role in interactions among related proteins. Domain-domain inter- actions have been recently used to predict protein-protein interactions (PPI). In general, the interaction probability of a pair of domains is scored using a trained scoring function. Satisfying a threshold, the protein pairs carrying those domains are regarded as "interacting". In this study, the signature contents of proteins were utilized to predict PPI pairs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis ele- gans, and Homo sapiens. Similarity between protein signature patterns was scored and PPI predictions were drawn based on the binary similarity scoring function. Results show that the true positive rate of prediction by the proposed approach is approximately 32% higher than that using the maximum likelihood estimation method when compared with a test set, resulting in 22% increase in the area un- der the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. When proteins containing one or two signatures were removed, the sensitivity of the predicted PPI pairs in- creased significantly. The predicted PPI pairs are on average 11 times more likely to interact than the random selection at a confidence level of 0.95, and on aver- age 4 times better than those predicted by either phylogenetic profiling or gene expression profiling.     

高盐溶液预处理幽门螺杆菌对蒙古沙土鼠胃黏膜损伤作用

目的 探讨高盐预处理的幽门螺杆菌(H.pylori)对胃黏膜的损伤作用。 方法 将30%高盐预处理前后的胃癌来源的H.pylori菌株(4854)灌胃蒙古沙土鼠(MGs),在灌胃后13、26和73周解剖动物,通过组织病理学检查、免疫组化染色和黏膜厚度测量,探讨高盐预处理的H.pylori对胃黏膜的损伤作用。 结果 与未加盐预处理的相应菌株相比,高盐预处理组小鼠的慢性炎症、黏膜变性/坏死、腺体萎缩伴肠上皮化生的发生率较低,黏膜糜烂/溃疡和黏膜上皮增生的发生率较高,差异均有统计学意义(t=8.325 6,P=0.040 8)。第73周,高盐预处理4854菌株组胃体和胃窦黏膜增生显著高于未加盐预处理组(t=12.802 4,P=0.035 1;t=16.536 0,P=0.043 8)。 结论 高盐预处理改变了H.pylori的体内致病性,有助于阐明H.pylori感染与高盐饮食在胃病中的相互作用模式。     

The ER membrane protein complex subunit Emc3 controls angiogenesis via the FZD4/WNT signaling axis

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein complex (EMC) regulates the synthesis and quality control of membrane proteins with multiple transmembrane domai...     

Expression of glucagon sensitivity by transformed MDCK cells normally unresponsive to glucagon: early commitment to differentiation

A cloned line of canine kidney cells (MDCK) transformed with Harvey murine sarcoma virus, in contrast to the parental, untransformed line, expressed glucagon sensitivity only under controlled culture conditions. The glucagon sensitivity of transformed MDCK cells appeared after 10 days of culture if plated at less than 100,000 cells/dish or after 3 days if cells were plated at greater than 300,000 cells/dish. As there was no effect of conditioned medium from glucagon-sensitive cells on insensitive cells, media components seemed not to be involved in this phenomenon. Glucagon sensitivity appeared more readily in defined as opposed to serum-containing medium. In fact, as little as 2% fetal bovine serum inhibited the expression of glucagon sensitivity when included in defined medium over the course of the experiment. Furthermore, when transformed MDCK cells were exposed to serum for only the first 24 hr of culture, glucagon sensitivity on day 11 was identical to that of cells exposed to serum throughout the entire experiment. In contrast, exposure to serum later in culture (days 4-8) had no inhibitory effect on the expression of glucagon sensitivity on day 11. The data suggest that differentiation, or glucagon sensitivity, occurs when transformed, glucagon-insensitive cells achieve a critical high density and that differentiation is sensitive to inhibition by serum only during the first 24 hr of culture.     

ZAKβ antagonizes and ameliorates the cardiac hypertrophic and apoptotic effects induced by ZAKα

ZAK (sterile alpha motif and leucine zipper containing kinase AZK), a serine/threonine kinase with multiple biochemical functions, has been associated with various cell processes, including cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cardiac hypertrophy. In our previous reports, we found that the activation of ZAKα signaling was critical for cardiac hypertrophy. In this study, we show that the expression of ZAKα activated apoptosis through both a FAS‐dependent pathway and a mitochondria‐dependent pathway by subsequently inducing caspase‐3. ZAKβ, an isoform of ZAKα, is dramatically expressed during cardiac hypertrophy and apoptosis. The interaction between ZAKα and ZAKβ was demonstrated here using immunoprecipitation. The results show that ZAKβ has the ability to diminish the expression level of ZAKα. These findings reveal an inherent regulatory role of ZAKβ to antagonize ZAKα and to subsequently downregulate the cardiac hypertrophy and apoptosis induced by ZAKα.