OsAGAP, an ARF-GAP from rice, regulates root development mediated by auxin in Arabidopsis

Arf (ADP-ribosylation factor) proteins, which mediate vesicular transport, have little or no intrinsic GTPase activity. They rely on the action of GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) and guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for their function. In the present study the OsAGAP gene in rice, which encoded a protein with predicted structure similar to ArfGAP, was identified. The purified OsAGAP-GST fusion protein was able to stimulate the GTPase activity of rice Arf. Furthermore, OsAGAP can rescue the defect of vesicular transport in the yeast gcs1 delta glo3 delta double-mutant cells. Transgenic Arabidopsis with OsAGAP constitutively expression showed reduced apical dominance, shorter primary roots, increasing number of longer adventitious roots. Many of the phenotypes can be phenocopied by treatment of exogenous indoleacetic acid level (IAA) in wild-type plants. Determination of whole-plant IAA level showed that there is a sharp increase of free IAA in OsAGAP transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings. In addition, removal of the 4-day-old shoot apex could inhibit the adventitious root formation in the transgenic seedlings. These results suggest OsAGAP, an ARF-GAP of rice, maybe involved in the mediation of plant root development by regulating auxin level.     

糖多孢红霉菌同源片段长度与染色体重组率关系的研究

为了探索同源片段长度与糖多孢红霉菌染色体同源重组率的关系,化学合成或用重叠PCR合成带有突变位点、在突变位点两侧长度为（26bp+27bp）、（500bp+576bp）和（1908bp+1749bp）的同源序列,克隆于糖多孢红霉菌同源重组载体pWHM3后,分别构建了pWHM1113、 pWHM1116和 pWHM1119质粒。以PEG介导转化糖多孢红霉菌A226原生质体,3个质粒分别获得每皿30个、69个和170个转化子,但pWHM1113质粒不能与染色体有效整合,pWHM1116质粒与染色体整合率为转化子的2%,而pWHM1119质粒与染色体整合率达到转化子的19%。 pWHM1116和 pWHM1119质粒均可进行有效的染色体二次重组,将突变位位点引入染色体。因此,同源片段长度为（500bp+576bp）或更长时,可与糖多孢红霉菌染色体进行有效的单重组和双重组。     

严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒N蛋白对甘油三酯和总胆固醇含量的影响

目的:研究严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒(SARS-CoV)N蛋白对甘油三酯和总胆固醇含量的影响。方法:检测分析144例SARS患者甘油三脂和总胆固醇含量在发病后的变化;将小鼠随机分组,分别注射生理盐水和SARS-CoV N蛋白,连续给药9 d后检测小鼠血清中甘油三酯和总胆固醇含量的变化。结果:SARS患者的甘油三酯和总胆固醇含量随发病时间有升高变化(P0.05),在发病40 d前后甘油三酯和总胆固醇含量超标的病例数占本时间段内的病例数的比例显著高于其他时间段,而且超标的含量也明显升高。SARS-CoV N蛋白使小鼠体重明显高于对照组(P0.05),甘油三酯含量在39和51 d明显高于对照组(P0.05),总胆固醇含量在21和39 d也明显高于对照组(P0.05)。结论:SARS-CoV N蛋白可以升高小鼠的甘油三酯和总胆固醇的含量,其升高最为明显的时间段与SARS患者的甘油三酯和总胆固醇含量升高的时间段基本一致。由此推测,SARS-CoV N蛋白可能是促使SARS患者发病后甘油三酯和总胆固醇含量升高的重要原因。     

组织工程支架制备中超临界CO2技术的应用*

作为组织工程研究中三大要素之一,组织工程支架可为细胞的附着、迁移和增殖提供理想的环境。传统的组织工程支架制备方法,如粒子沥滤法、相分离法及静电纺丝法等在理论和技术上已较为成熟,但由于大多需要有机溶剂的参与,在制备过程中仍存在有机溶剂难以去除,以及支架孔洞难以控制、连通性较差等问题。超临界二氧化碳(supercritical carbon dioxide,SC-CO₂)密度近似液体,黏度和扩散系数近似气体,具有流动性强、溶解能力大、传热效率高等特殊的理化性质,与传统工艺相结合,可在绿色温和的反应体系中有效规避上述问题,在组织工程支架制备及药物负载方面具有广阔前景。     

The miR156‐SPL9‐DFR pathway coordinates the relationship between development and abiotic stress tolerance in plants

Young organisms have relatively strong resistance to diseases and adverse conditions. When confronted with adversity, the process of development is delayed in plants. This phenomenon is thought to result from the rebalancing of energy, which helps plants to coordinate the relationship between development and stress tolerance; however, the molecular mechanism underlying this phenomenon remains mysterious. In this study, we found that miR156 integrates environmental signals to ensure timely flowering, thus enabling the completion of breeding. Under stress conditions, miR156 is induced to maintain the plant in the juvenile state for a relatively long period of time, whereas under favorable conditions, miR156 is suppressed to accelerate the developmental transition. Blocking the miR156 signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana with 35S::MIM156 (via target mimicry) increased the sensitivity of the plant to stress treatment, whereas overexpression of miR156 increased stress tolerance. In fact, this mechanism is also conserved in Oryza sativa (rice). We also identified downstream genes of miR156, i.e. SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN‐LIKE 9 (SPL9) and DIHYDROFLAVONOL‐4‐REDUCTASE (DFR), which take part in this process by influencing the metabolism of anthocyanin. Our results uncover a molecular mechanism for plant adaptation to the environment through the miR156‐SPLs‐DFR pathway, which coordinates development and abiotic stress tolerance.     

Occurrence and dominance of yeast species in naturally fermented milk from the Tibetan Plateau of China

To determine which yeasts are present in the naturally fermented milks of China, 69 samples made by the nomads of Tibet were collected from the Tibetan Plateau in China. From these samples, 225 strains of yeast were isolated and identified using conventional microbiological analysis and gene sequencing analysis of the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA. The results showed that the total concentration of yeasts in these samples ranged from 5.01 to 8.97 log10 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL (6.91?± 1.02 log10 CFU/mL; mean?± SD). The number of cultivable yeasts was higher in the samples from Qinghai (7.55?± 0.75 log10 CFU/mL) than those from Tibet (6.21?± 0.79 log10 CFU/mL, P?< 0.05). Moreover, there were 15 phylotypes in these 69 samples. Among these phylotypes, Kluyveromyces marxianus (49.3%, frequency percentage), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (62.3%), and Pichia fermentans (46.4%) appeared frequently and can be considered the most common culturable species in naturally fermented milk products. Traditional fermented Mongolian cow milk featured a wide diversity of yeast species, including Issatchenkia orientalis, Kazachstania unisporus, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Candida pararugosa, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Geotrichum sp., Kazachstania unisporus, Geotrichum fragrans, Debaryomyces hansenii, Yarrowia lipolytica, Trichosporon gracile, and Pichia membranifaciens. This study provides new data on yeast composition in naturally fermented milk and shows the yeast biodiversity of fermented milk products from the Tibetan Plateau of China.     

Intergenomic single nucleotide polymorphisms as a tool for bacterial artificial chromosome contig building of homoeologous Brassica napus regions

Background

Homoeologous sequences pose a particular challenge if bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contigs shall be established for specific regions of an allopolyploid genome. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) differentiating between homoeologous genomes (intergenomic SNPs) may represent a suitable screening tool for such purposes, since they do not only identify homoeologous sequences but also differentiate between them.

Results

Sequence alignments between Brassica rapa (AA) and Brassica oleracea (CC) sequences mapping to corresponding regions on chromosomes A1 and C1, respectively were used to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms between the A and C genomes. A large fraction of these polymorphisms was also present in Brassica napus (AACC), an allopolyploid species that originated from hybridisation of A and C genome species. Intergenomic SNPs mapping throughout homoeologous chromosome segments spanning approximately one Mbp each were included in Illumina’s GoldenGate® Genotyping Assay and used to screen multidimensional pools of a Brassica napus bacterial artificial chromosome library with tenfold genome coverage. Based on the results of 50 SNP assays, a BAC contig for the Brassica napus A subgenome was established that spanned the entire region of interest. The C subgenome region was represented in three BAC contigs.

Conclusions

This proof-of-concept study shows that sequence resources of diploid progenitor genomes can be used to deduce intergenomic SNPs suitable for multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based screening of multidimensional BAC pools of a polyploid organism. Owing to their high abundance and ease of identification, intergenomic SNPs represent a versatile tool to establish BAC contigs for homoeologous regions of a polyploid genome.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-560) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

黄芩苷对家兔离体子宫平滑肌的作用

目的:观察黄芩苷对家兔离体子宫平滑肌收缩的作用及其与Ca2+的关系.方法:制作常规离体家兔子宫平滑肌肌条,考察黄芩苷对子宫肌条反应的影响.结果:(1)黄芩苷(5-10mmol-L-1)剂量依赖抑制子宫平滑肌收缩;(2)黄芩苷对催产素及高K去极化液中Ca2+所致的离体子宫平滑肌收缩均呈剂量依赖性抑制;使CaC12累积量-效曲线非平行性右移,最大效应下降,呈非竞争性抑制;(3)且对子宫平滑肌依细胞内、外Ca2+两种收缩成分均呈抑制作用.结论:黄芩苷对家兔离体子宫平滑肌条的抑制作用,可能与其拮抗Ca2+有关.     

Nitro as a novel zinc-binding group in the inhibition of carboxypeptidase A

2-Substituted 3-nitropropanoic acids were designed and synthesized as inhibitors against carboxypeptidase A (CPA). (R)-2-Benzyl- 3-nitropropanoic acid showed a potent inhibition against CPA (K(i)=0.15 microM). X-ray crystallography discloses that the nitro group well mimics the transition state occurred in the hydrolysis catalyzed by CPA, that is, an O,O'-bidentate coordination to the zinc ion and the two respective hydrogen bonds with Glu-270 and Arg-127. Because the nitro group is a planar species, we proposed (R)-2-benzyl-3-nitropropanoic acid as a pseudo-transition-state analog inhibitor against CPA.     

Coumaroyl flavonol glycosides from the leaves of Ginkgo biloba.

Two coumaroyl flavonol glycosides, isorhamnetin 3-O-alpha-L-[6"'-p-coumaroyl-(beta-D)-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-rhamnopyranoside], and kaempferol 3-O-alpha-L-[6"'-p-coumaroyl-(beta-D)-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-rhamnopyranoside]-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, were isolated from the n-BuOH extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves. These two, together with six other flavonol glycosides, kaempferol 3-O-alpha-L-[6"'-p-coumaroyl-(beta-D)-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-rhamnopyranoside], quercetin 3-O-alpha-L-[6"'-p-coumaroyl-(beta-D)-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-rhamnopyranoside], quercetin 3-O-alpha-L-[6"'-p-coumaroyl-(beta-D)-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-rhamnopyranoside]-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-2)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside, quercetin 3-O-beta-rutinoside, and quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, showed profound antioxidant activities in DPPH and cytochrome-c reduction assays using the HL-60 cell culture system.