Single,Double and Quadruple Alanine Substitutions at Oligomeric Interfaces Identify Hydrophobicity as the Key Determinant of Human Neutrophil Alpha Defensin HNP1 Function

HNP1 is a human alpha defensin that forms dimers and multimers governed by hydrophobic residues, including Tyr¹⁶, Ile²⁰, Leu²⁵, and Phe²⁸. Previously, alanine scanning mutagenesis identified each of these residues and other hydrophobic residues as important for function. Here we report further structural and functional studies of residues shown to interact with one another across oligomeric interfaces: I20A-HNP1 and L25A-HNP1, plus the double alanine mutants I20A/L25A-HNP1 and Y16A/F28A-HNP1, and the quadruple alanine mutant Y16A/I20A/L25A/F28A-HNP1. We tested binding to HIV-1 gp120 and HNP1 by surface plasmon resonance, binding to HIV-1 gp41 and HNP1 by fluorescence polarization, inhibition of anthrax lethal factor, and antibacterial activity using the virtual colony count assay. Similar to the previously described single mutant W26A-HNP1, the quadruple mutant displayed the least activity in all functional assays, followed by the double mutant Y16A/F28A-HNP1. The effects of the L25A and I20A single mutations were milder than the double mutant I20A/L25A-HNP1. Crystallographic studies confirmed the correct folding and disulfide pairing, and depicted an array of dimeric and tetrameric structures. These results indicate that side chain hydrophobicity is the critical factor that determines activity at these positions.     

Chromosomal Location and Comparative Genomics Analysis of Powdery Mildew Resistance Gene Pm51 in a Putative Wheat-Thinopyrum ponticum Introgression Line

Powdery mildew (PM) is a very destructive disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Wheat-Thinopyrum ponticum introgression line CH7086 was shown to possess powdery mildew resistance possibly originating from Th. ponticum. Genomic in situ hybridization and molecular characterization of the alien introgression failed to identify alien chromatin. To study the genetics of resistance, CH7086 was crossed with susceptible genotypes. Segregation in F₂ populations and F_2:3 lines tested with Chinese Bgt race E09 under controlled conditions indicated that CH7086 carries a single dominant gene for powdery mildew resistance. Fourteen SSR and EST-PCR markers linked with the locus were identified. The genetic distances between the locus and the two flanking markers were 1.5 and 3.2 cM, respectively. Based on the locations of the markers by nullisomic-tetrasomic and deletion lines of ‘Chinese Spring’, the resistance gene was located in deletion bin 2BL-0.89-1.00. Conserved orthologous marker analysis indicated that the genomic region flanking the resistance gene has a high level of collinearity to that of rice chromosome 4 and Brachypodium chromosome 5. Both resistance specificities and tests of allelism suggested the resistance gene in CH7086 was different from previously reported powdery mildew resistance genes on 2BL, and the gene was provisionally designated PmCH86. Molecular analysis of PmCH86 compared with other genes for resistance to Bgt in the 2BL-0.89-1.00 region suggested that PmCH86 may be a new PM resistance gene, and it was therefore designated as Pm51. The closely linked flanking markers could be useful in exploiting this putative wheat-Thinopyrum translocation line for rapid transfer of Pm51 to wheat breeding programs.     

10种黄酮类抗氧化剂活性差异的理论阐释

借助理论方法,包括结构－活性关系（ＳＡＲ）和最子化学计算阐释了１０种黄酮类抗氧化剂清除自由基活性的痉异。发现ＳＡＲ可以定性地解释抗氧化剂的活性差异。而半经验量子化学方法ＡＭＩ计算的理论参数△ＨＯＦ（抗氧化剂与其抽氢反应产生的自由基的和成热之差）可以对此给出进一步的解释。△ＨＯＦ与抗氧化清除自由基速率常数的对数还有一定相关性,相关系数为－０．７５２３。因此理论方法在解释抗氧化剂的活性差异方面是有效的     

High-level expression of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium notatum</Emphasis> glucose oxidase gene in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pichia pastoris</Emphasis> using codon optimization

The glucose oxidase (GOD) gene from Penicillium notatum was expressed in Pichia pastoris. The 1,815 bp gene, god-w, encodes 604 amino acids. Recombinant GOD-w had optimal activity at 35–40°C and pH 6.2 and was stable, from pH 3 to 7 maintaining >75% maximum activity after incubation at 50°C for 1 h. GOD-w worked as well as commercial GODs to improve bread making. To achieve high-level expression of recombinant GOD in P. pastoris, 272 nucleotides involving 228 residues were mutated, consistent with the codon bias of P. pastoris. The optimized recombinant GOD-m yielded 615 U ml⁻¹ (2.5 g protein l⁻¹) in a 3 l fermentor—410% higher than GOD-w (148 U ml⁻¹), and thus is a low-cost alternative for the bread baking industry.     

微流控芯片电泳及其法医学应用

在光学性能良好的Brofloat玻璃电泳芯片上,利用自行搭建的共聚焦激光诱导荧光检测系统,通过对芯片管道表面修饰、筛分介质、分离电场强度、进样方式、电泳温度、进样时间等条件的优化,对含15个STR基因座的法医DNA样品进行电泳分离测试实验.通过对芯片电泳条件优化获得了本电泳系统的最佳条件,成功实现8 min内完成DNA样品片段的分离,表明该微流控芯片电泳系统在法医DNA快速分析方面具有良好的应用前景.     

菹草茎叶微界面O2时空动态

采用高分辨率光纤氧微电极测定了富营养化水体中沉水植物菹草(Potamogeton crispus)茎叶微界面(0—2.0 mm)氧(O_2)。菹草叶微界面O_2浓度梯度具明显的时空变化。时间上,菹草叶微界面O_2浓度具有明显的生长阶段变化和昼夜变化。幼苗期和快速生长期微界面O_2浓度增加幅度较小,稳定期叶表O_2浓度梯度增加幅度最大,衰亡期叶微界面O_2浓度受附着物影响具明显的空间梯度。菹草叶微界面O_2表现为昼高夜低的单峰变化模式,主要受光照和温度的影响。空间上,越接近茎叶表面,O_2浓度越高。顶部幼叶微界面O_2浓度梯度增加较平缓,中部成熟叶微界面O_2浓度梯度变化最陡,波动幅度最大,中部茎和基部衰老叶微界面O_2浓度梯度由于受密集附着物的影响,在附着物表面达到最大值,进入附着层后略有下降。结果表明,菹草茎叶微界面O_2时空变化主要受附着物和植物光合放氧能力的影响。光纤微电极是一种分析植物叶微界面氧时空分布的理想工具,对深入研究植物微界面在富营养化水体中养分的迁移转化具有重要意义,可为水生植物生理生态研究提供有力工具。     

来源卤化二型聚酮类生物合成基因簇的两种关键功能基因鉴定与表达

为催化卤化产物,挖掘具有生物活性的新卤化物提供新的方法途径,拟构建卤化酶原核表达载体催化天然卤化物的卤化过程.对链霉菌Streptomyces sp.FJS31-2基因组中一个II型PKS类产物zunyimycin生物合成基因簇进行系列分析,针对其中的后修饰酶卤化酶基因和单加氧酶基因进行原核表达纯化.通过分子生物学手段...     

Emotional Noun Processing: An ERP Study with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation

Reading is an important part of our daily life, and rapid responses to emotional words have received a great deal of research interest. Our study employed rapid serial visual presentation to detect the time course of emotional noun processing using event-related potentials. We performed a dual-task experiment, where subjects were required to judge whether a given number was odd or even, and the category into which each emotional noun fit. In terms of P1, we found that there was no negativity bias for emotional nouns. However, emotional nouns elicited larger amplitudes in the N170 component in the left hemisphere than did neutral nouns. This finding indicated that in later processing stages, emotional words can be discriminated from neutral words. Furthermore, positive, negative, and neutral words were different from each other in the late positive complex, indicating that in the third stage, even different emotions can be discerned. Thus, our results indicate that in a three-stage model the latter two stages are more stable and universal.