A reporter gene analysis of penicillin biosynthesis gene expression in Penicillium chrysogenum and its regulation by nitrogen and glucose catabolite repression.

Vectors which possess a truncated niaD gene encoding nitrate reductase were developed to allow targeted gene integration during transformation of an niaD mutant Penicillium chrysogenum host. The Penicillium genes pcbC and penAB are immediately adjacent to each other and are divergently transcribed, with an intergenic control region serving as their promoters. Gene fusions were constructed with a reporter gene, uidA, which encodes beta-glucuronidase. The pcbC-penAB intergenic region was fused to the uidA gene in both orientations so that regulated expression of each structural gene could be investigated. These fusion genes were targeted to the chromosomal site of the niaD locus of P. chrysogenum, and their expression was examined under different growth conditions. The expression of each of these penicillin biosynthesis genes was found to be regulated by nitrogen repression, glucose repression, and growth stage control.     

Effects of low root zone temperatures on the early stages of symbiosis establishment between soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and Bradyrhizobium japonicum

It is known that low root zone temperatures (RZT) have moreeffect on infection and early nodule development than on nitrogenfixation by soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. However, therehave been no studies regarding how the low RZT inhibit the infectionstages of soybean. Two controlled environment experiments wereconducted to examine the effect of low RZT on bacterial attachmentto, and infection thread penetration of, soybean root hairs.The experimental designs were (1) plants maintained at 25, 17.5or 15C RZT, or transferred from 25 or 17.5 to 15C RZT at either0.5, 1, 2, or 7d after inoculation (DAI), (2) early symbioticestablishment between soybean and Bradyrhizobium japonicum wasexamined microscopically under three RZT (15, 17.5 and 25C).These results indicated that (1) keeping plants at 25C only0.5 DAI prior to transfer to a 15C RZT accelerates the onsetof N₂ fixation at 15C RZT by 6 d, (2) at RZT between 25 and17.5C the infection processes were progressively delayed astemperature declined, (3) RZT less than 17C strongly inhibitedinfection steps, such that when RZT dropped 8.5C from 25 to17.5C infection initiation was delayed 1 d, while when RZTdropped only 2.5C from 17.5 to 15C, infection initiation wasdelayed another 2 d. Key words: Bradyrhizobium japonicum, low temperature, nodulation, soybean     

Expression of mouse metallothionein-I gene confers cadmium resistance in transgenic tobacco plants

Transgenic tobacco plants containing a mouse metallothionein-I (MT-I) gene fused to the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV 35S) promoter and nopaline synthase (nos) polyadenylation site were obtained by transforming tobacco leaf discs with an Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain carrying the chimaeric gene. Transformants were directly selected and rooted on medium containing cadmium and kanamycin. A total of 49 individual transgenic tobacco plants were regenerated. Among them 20% showed a very high expression level and their growth was unaffected by up to 200 M cadmium, whereas the growth of control plants was severely affected leaf chlorosis occurred on medium containing only 10 M cadmium. The concentration of MT-I in leaves of control and transgenic tobacco was determined with Cd/haemoglobin saturation assay, a polarographic method and western blotting. In addition, seeds from self-fertilized transgenic plants were germinated on medium containing toxic levels of cadmium and scored for tolerance/susceptibility to this heavy metal. The ratio of tolerant to susceptible plants was 3:1 indicating that the metallothionein gene is inherited as a single locus.     

New killing system controlled by two genes located immediately upstream of the mukB gene in Escherichia coli

The nucleotide sequence was determined of the region upstream of the mukB gene of Escherichia coli. Two new genes were found, designated kicA and kicB (killing of cell); the gene order is kicB-kicA-mukB. Promoter activities were detected in the regions immediately upstream of kicB and kicA, but not in front of mukB. Gene disruption experiments revealed that the kicA disruptant was nonviable, but the kicB-disrupted mutant and the mutant lacking both the kicB and kicA genes were able to grow. When kicA disruptant cells bearing a temperature-sensitive replication plasmid carrying the kicA ⁺ gene were grown at 30° C and then transferred to 42° C, the mutant cells gradually lost colony-forming ability, even in the presence of a mukB ⁺ plasmid. Rates of protein synthesis, but not of RNA or DNA synthesis, fell dramatically during incubation at 42° C. These results suggested that the kicB gene encodes a killing factor and the kicA gene codes for a protein that suppresses the killing function of the kicB gene product. It was also demonstrated that KicA and KicB can function as a post-segregational killing system, when the genes are transferred from the E. coli chromosome onto a plasmid.     

河南叶县下寒武统辛集组单板类和腹足类化石的研究

本文描述和讨论了河南叶县杨寺庄下寒武统辛集组单板类１３种,腹足类２种,未定类１种。其中包括２新属６新种：Ｒｅｐｅｎｏｃｏｎｕｓ ｘｉｎｊｉｅｎｓｉｓ ｇｅｎ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｓｃｅｎｅｌｌａ ｐｙｃｎａ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｓｅｃｕｒｉｃｏｎｕｓ ｖｕｌｇａｒｉｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｏｂｔｕｓｏｃｎｕｓ ｇｒｏｓｓｉｃｏｓｔｕｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｉｇｏｒｅｌｌｉｎａ ｐｒｏｂｏｓｃｉｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｇａｌ     

卡拉胶固定粘质赛氏菌产碱性蛋白酶的研究

将粘质赛氏菌(Seratia marcescens)包埋于卡拉胶中,发现2．5％的卡拉胶适于固定该菌产碱性蛋白酶。固定化细胞在其较适宜产酶培养基中发酵,酶活力一般可达400u/ml,在卡拉胶中添加3％玉米粉和1%豆饼粉或2％砂子制备固定化细胞,其产酶能力分别提高了25%和23．9％;固定化细胞颗粒越小,其产酶能力越高。采用摇瓶半连续发酵。其产酶半衰期为14次(24小时为一个周期);而用环流器进行半连续发酵,其产酶半衰期为52次(12小时为一个周期),产酶效率分别比游离细胞摇瓶发酵的产酶效率高11．8％和45．07％,而环流器半连续发酵的产酶效率比摇瓶半连续发酵高29．7％。     

银杏授粉研究初报

本文报道银杏授粉的适宜品种,气候条件、不同时期、方法、浓度、雌花不同发育阶段等试验结果．为提高银杏的座果率提供有效的技术措施。     

ON A NEW PTEROSAUR (ZHEJIANGOPTERUS LINHAIENSIS GEN. ET SP. NOV.) FROM UPPER CRETACEOUS IN LINHAI, ZHEJIANG, CHINA

Largepterosaurwithamaximumwingspanofmorethan5metres.Theskullislowerandlonger,withoutmiddlecrestorsupraoccipita1crest.ThenasaIandpre-orbita1fenestraareconfluentcompletely,andoccupyaboutha1foftheskulI1ength.Thetoothlessbeakisslenderandpointed.The1ongneckiscomposedbyse-venslendercervicalvertebrae.Thenotariumconsistsofsixco-ossifiedanteriordorsalvertebrae-ThetaiIisextremlyshort.lthassixpairsof"A"shapegastralia.Theanteriorlimbsarestrong;thehumerusarethickandshort;thewing-metacarpalbonearelongert…