Kinetic study on starch hydrolysis using a glucose/maltose sensing system

Summary A dual-enzyme electrode flow injection system that can simultaneously determine glucose and maltose is used for an on-line study of starch hydrolyses catalysed by amylases. With the working system, determinations can be made every 2 minutes. A 10 L sample size with recycled back-flow minimises any loss of the reaction medium. The production, growth and decay of glucose and maltose concentrations during starch hydrolysis under various enzymatic conditions can thus be closely monitored, making it useful for the study of the catalytic kinetics of amylases and in screening and analysing enzyme systems.     

提高赤红壤旱地生态系统土壤肥力问题的研究

提高赤红壤旱地生态系统土壤肥力问题的研究高志强（福建农业大学土地与环境学系,福州３５０００２）ＳｏｉｌＦｅｒｔｉｌｉｔｙＩｍｐｒｏｖｅｍｅｎｔｏｆＵｐｌａｎｄＬａｔｅｒｉｔｉｃＲｅｄＳｏｉｌＥｃｏｓｙｓｔｅｍ．￥ＧａｏＺｈｉｑｉａｎｇ（Ｄｅｐａｒｔｍ...     

Genotoxicity of heated cooking oil vapors.

Epidemiological studies of lung cancer in Chinese women indicated that factors other than cigarette smoking are related to lung cancer risk. A case-control study suggested that indoor air pollution, particularly from cooking oil emissions, may be involved. Condensates of volatile emissions from rapeseed and soybean cooking oils were prepared and found to be genotoxic in short-term tests including the Salmonella mutation assay, SV50 forward-mutation assay, and sister-chromatid exchange assay, as well as the micronucleus assay in mouse bone marrow. In contrast, condensates from rapeseed oil with butylated hydroxyanisole or hydrogenated rapeseed oil were not mutagenic, implicating oxidation products as the cause for mutagenicity. Peanut oil and lard condensates were not mutagenic in any assay. The association of exposure to Chinese rapeseed cooking-oil emissions and lung-cancer risk may be related to the mutagenic component of these condensates.     

Agrin induces phosphorylation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

Agrin causes acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) on chick myotubes in culture to aggregate, forming specializations that resemble the postsynaptic apparatus at the vertebrate skeletal neuromuscular junction. Here we report that treating chick myotubes with agrin caused an increase in phosphorylation of the AChR beta, gamma, and delta subunits. H-7, a potent inhibitor of several protein serine kinases, blocked agrin-induced phosphorylation of the gamma and delta subunits, but did not prevent either agrin-induced AChR aggregation or phosphorylation of the beta subunit. Experiments with anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies demonstrated that agrin caused an increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of the beta subunit that began within 30 min of adding agrin to the myotube cultures, reached a plateau by 3 hr, and was blocked by treatments known to block agrin-induced AChR aggregation. Anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies labeled agrin-induced specializations as they do the postsynaptic apparatus. These results suggest that agrin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the beta subunit may play a role in regulating AChR distribution.     

Oleosin KD 18 on the surface of oil bodies in maize. Genomic and cDNA sequences and the deduced protein structure

Oleosins are newly discovered, abundant, and small Mr hydrophobic proteins localized on the surface of oil bodies in diverse seeds. So far, most of the studies have been on the general characteristics of the proteins, and only one protein (maize KD 16) has been studied using a cDNA clone containing an incomplete coding sequence. Here, we report the sequences of a genomic clone and a cDNA clone of a new maize oleosin (KD 18). There is no intron in the gene. The 5'-flanking region contains potential regulatory elements including RY repeats, CACA consensus, and CATC boxes, which are presumably involved in the specific expression of the proteins in maturing seeds. The deduced amino acid sequence was analyzed for secondary structures. We suggest that KD 18 of 187-amino acid residues contains three major structural domains: a largely hydrophilic domain at the N terminus, a hydrophobic hairpin alpha-helical domain at the center, and an amphipathic alpha-helix domain at the C terminus. These structural domains are very similar to those of oleosin KD 16. However, the KD 18 and KD 16 amino acid sequences as well as nucleotide sequences are highly similar only at the central domain (72 and 71%, respectively). The similarities are highest at the loop region of the alpha-helical hairpin. These results suggest that KD 18 and KD 16 are isoforms, encoded by genes derived from a common ancestor gene. We propose that the hairpin domain acts as an indispensible internal signal for intracellular trafficking of oleosins during protein synthesis as well as an anchor for oleosins on the oil bodies. The other two domains can undergo relatively massive amino acid substitutions without impairing the structure/function of the oleosins or have evolved to generate oleosins having different functions.     

基于空间面板STIRPAT模型的水足迹影响因素分析——以山东省为例

随着中国水资源供需矛盾加剧,虚拟水成为地区水资源管理中不可或缺的一环,为提高地区水资源综合利用效率和探索水资源区域一体化管理提供了新思路。采用“自下而上”法核算了山东省17个城市农业、工业、生活、生态与灰水足迹,在分析2009—2018年水足迹时空分布规律基础上,综合运用探索性空间数据分析方法、面板数据STIRPAT模型和空间杜宾模型,揭示了水足迹的空间自相关特征,量化分析了人口数量、富裕程度、技术进步、城镇化和产业升级等影响因素对水足迹的本地影响效应与空间溢出效应。结果显示：(1)2009—2018年山东省水足迹总量均呈现波动上升的变化趋势;空间布局上呈现东部沿海和西部平原水足迹高,中部山地水足迹低的特点。(2)山东省水足迹具有正向的空间自相关性,相比地理位置相邻,水足迹的空间相关性受人口数量因素影响更大,表现出明显的“高高”聚集和“低低”聚集特征,但是受到经济因素的主要影响,区域间水足迹空间相关性随时间发展逐渐下降。(3)人口数量是山东省水足迹增长的重要来源,经济增长是推动各地区间水资源竞争关系的最重要因素。城镇化能够缓解本地水资源压力,技术进步和产业升级不仅能缓解本地水资源压力,...     

Single-cell transcriptomic atlas of primate cardiopulmonary aging

Aging is a major risk factor for many diseases,especially in highly prevalent cardiopulmonary comorbidities and infectious diseases including Coronavirus Diseas...     

Two Magnaporthe appressoria‐specific (MAS) proteins,MoMas3 and MoMas5, are required for suppressing host innate immunity and promoting biotrophic growth in rice cells

In the devastating rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, six Magnaporthe appressoria‐specific (MAS) proteins are encoded by MoGAS1, MoGAS2 and MoMAS3–MoMAS6. MoGAS1 and MoGAS2 were previously characterized as M. oryzae virulence factors; however, the roles of the other four genes are unknown. Here, we found that, although the loss of any MAS gene did not affect appressorial formation or vegetative growth, ∆Momas3 and ∆Momas5 mutant strains (but not the others) were reduced in virulence on susceptible CO‐39 rice seedlings. Focusing on ∆Momas3 and ∆Momas5 mutant strains, we found that they could penetrate host leaf surfaces and fill the first infected rice cell but did not spread readily to neighbouring cells, suggesting they were impaired for biotrophic growth. Live‐cell imaging of fluorescently labelled MoMas3 and MoMas5 proteins showed that during biotrophy, MoMas3 localized to the apoplastic compartment formed between fungal invasive hyphae and the plant‐derived extra‐invasive hyphal membrane while MoMas5 localized to the appressoria and the penetration peg. The loss of either MoMAS3 or MoMAS5 resulted in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in infected rice cells, resulting in the triggering of plant defences that inhibited mutant growth in planta. ∆Momas3 and ∆Momas5 biotrophic growth could be remediated by inhibiting host NADPH oxidases and suppressing ROS accumulation. Thus, MoMas3 and MoMas5 are novel virulence factors involved in suppressing host plant innate immunity to promote biotrophic growth.     

脂肪组织源性干细胞研究进展

增加具有完整功能的种子细胞数目是细胞移植的首要环节。近来研究发现,成体动物脂肪组织中含有大量的具有多向分化潜能的间充质干细胞,在特定条件下可分化为多种组织细胞,如脂肪细胞、成骨细胞、软骨细胞、肌细胞及神经星状细胞等,且具有极强的自我复制能力,有望成为组织工程理想的种子细胞。本文综述了脂肪组织源性干细胞（ADSCs）的发现、生物学特性、多向分化潜能、应用前景及存在的问题。