Phylogenetic analysis of 48 gene families revealing relationships between Hagfishes, Lampreys, and Gnathostomata

It has become clear that the extant vertebrates are divided into three major groups, that is, hagfishes, lampreys, and jawed vertebrates.Morphological and molecular studies, however, have resulted in conflicting views with regard m their interrelationships. To clarify the phylogenetic relationships between them, 48 orthologous protein-coding gene families were analyzed. Even as the analysis of 34 nuclear gene families supported the monophyly of cyclostomes, the analysis of 14 mitochondrial gene families suggested a closer relationship between lampreys and gnathostomes compared to hagfishes. Lampreys were sister group of gnathostomes. The results of this study sup-ported the eyclostomes. Choice of outgroup, tree-making methods, and software may affect the phylogenetic prediction, which may have caused much debate over the subject. Development of new methods for tackling such problems is still necessary.     

酵母脂肪酶分子进化及催化合成(S)-1,4-苯并二口恶烷*

Objective: 1,4-Benzodioxane is an important chiral intermediate for antihypertensive (Proroxan and Doxazosin), antidepressant (MCK-242) and other drugs, and it displays a broad spectrum of applications in the pharmaceutical field. Currently, in spite of high-yield advantage of chemical synthesis, there are some problems of environmental pollution and low production safety. Using lipase to catalyze synthesis of 1,4-benzodioxane provides a new pathway of green synthesis of 1,4-benzodioxane. However, natural enzymes face the dilemma of poor enantioselectivity. Therefore, molecular evolution was performed on Candida antarctica lipase B, and a technical route for the catalytic synthesis of 1,4-benzodioxane was established. Methods: Firstly, the key amino acid residues involved in substrate binding and conversion in the active center of Candida antarctica lipase B were analyzed, and saturation mutagenesis libraries on the interaction sites were constructed. Improved mutants with high efficiency and high enantioselectivity were then obtained using HPLC detection. Furthermore, catalytic synthesis conditions of mutant D223N/A225K were systematically optimized. Results: The results indicated that the mutants mainly derived from the pairwise site D223/A225 (such as D223N/A225K and D223G/A225W) were biased towards the synthesis of (S)-isoforms, while most of the mutants derived from the pairwise site E188/I189 (such as E188D/I189M) showed a bias for the synthesis of (R)-isoforms. Compared with WT, the ee_s value of the best mutant D223N/A225K to synthesize (S)-1,4-benzodioxane was increased from 11.9% to 29.3%. After systematic optimization of the reaction conditions, an ee_s value of (93.9±0.16)% and a conversion rate of (47.5±2.33)% were achieved using mutant D223N/A225K to catalyze kinetic resolution of methyl (R,S)-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxylate in n-butanol/phosphate buffered saline (20∶80, V/V) biphasic solvent at 37℃ for 50 min. Conclusion: An efficient kinetic resolution of methyl (R,S)-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxylate was successfully achieved by molecular evolution and optimization of conditions, which provides a new example for the creation of new enzymes by protein engineering technology, and also provides a theoretical and technical foundation for the efficient synthesis of (S)-1,4-benzodioxane molecules by enzymatic methods.     

甘肃石峡口旧石器遗址第1地点发掘报告

石峡口遗址第1地点位于甘肃省张家川回族自治县川王乡石峡口村,遗址埋藏在清水河右岸一级阶地中。遗址地层分为7层,其中第5、6层中包含丰富的文化遗物,分别命名为第1、2文化层。2015年对该遗址的试掘共发现用火遗迹2处、石制品406件、动物化石201件、古人类牙齿化石1件、串珠装饰品2件以及烧骨、大量的石质碎屑和碎骨等。遗址两个文化层的文化特征基本一致,是一处包含较多细石叶技术产品的遗址。石制品总体以微型、小型居多;原料主要为石英、燧石;细石核类型丰富,除楔形、柱形、锥形外,古人类还直接选用形态不规则的块状毛坯剥离细石叶,显示了熟练的细石叶工艺;普通石片的生产方法主要为硬锤锤击法,偶见砸击法;石器类型包括边刮器、端刮器和两面尖状器等。动物化石比较破碎,经初步鉴定有普氏羚羊、马科、鸵鸟等种类。遗址的年代为17.2~18.5ka cal BP,处于末次盛冰期(LGM),文化时代属于旧石器时代晚期晚段。     

巴西研制出人造肛门开合器

巴西巴拉纳州天主教大学科学家德保拉研制出一种“人造肛门（结肠造口）开合器”，有望帮助安装了人造肛门的患者减轻痛苦。目前，德保拉的发明已经入围法国欧特仁集团设立的科技创新奖评审的最后一轮，德保拉有机会赢得100万欧元奖金。评奖最后结果将于10月1日揭晓。德保拉希望自己能够获奖，利用奖金改进仪器并将其投放市场。     

面状前吻吸虫生活史的研究

本文报告面状前吻吸虫的全程生活史。首次发现其第一中间宿主－寻氏肌蛤通过大量的观察研究确认其胞蚴只有一代，尾蚴和囊蚴都有不同程度的现象，同时还指出后蚴的发育与水温有密切关系。     

中口短咽吸虫Brachylaima mesostoma(Rud.,1803)Baer,1933的生活史研究(Trematoda:Brachylaimidae)

寄生于鸟类和哺乳类的短咽科(Brachylaimidae)中的短咽属(Brachylaima)吸虫经记述有60余种,但有关生活史的报道不上10种。本文报道在福州二种陆地蜗牛,Bradybaena similaris和Cathaica ravida sieboldtiana,体内所见的一种短咽类吸虫的幼虫期包括胞蚴,尾蚴和后期尾蚴的观察。因此成熟的后期尾蚴人工感染八哥(Acridotheres c.cristatellus)雏鸟获得中口短咽吸虫(Brachylaima mesostoma)的成虫。本吸虫的天然终宿主在福州有八哥和黑鸫(Turdus merulamandarinus)。