Mitogenomic phylogeny of the Percichthyidae and Centrarchiformes (Percomorphaceae): comparison with recent nuclear gene-based studies and simultaneous analysis

Delineation of the fish family Percichthyidae (Percomorphaceae) has a long and convoluted history, with recent morphological-based studies restricting species members to South American and Australian freshwater and catadromous temperate perches. Four recent nuclear gene-based phylogenetic studies, however, found that the Percichthyidae was not monophyletic and was nested within a newly discovered inter-familial clade of Percomorphaceae, the Centrarchiformes, which comprises the Centrarchidae and 12 other families. Here, we reexamined the systematics of the Percichthyidae and Centrarchiformes based on new mitogenomic information. Our mitogenomic results are globally congruent with the recent nuclear gene-based studies although the overall amount of phylogenetic signal of the mitogenome is lower. They do not support the monophyly of the Percichthyidae, because the catadromous genus Percalates is not exclusively related to the freshwater percichthyids. The Percichthyidae (minus Percalates) and Percalates belong to a larger clade, equivalent to the Centrarchiformes, but their respective sister groups are unresolved. Because all recent analyses recover a monophyletic Centrarchiformes but with substantially different intra-relationships, we performed a simultaneous analysis for a character set combining the mitogenome and 19 nuclear genes previously published, for 22 centrarchiform taxa. This analysis furthermore indicates that the Centrarchiformes are divided into three lineages and the superfamily Cirrhitoidea is monophyletic as well as the temperate and freshwater centrarchiform perch-like fishes. It also clarifies some of the relationships within the freshwater Percichthyidae.     

TWO DIFFERENT SPECIES OF EUGLENA,E. GENICULATA AND E. MYXOCYLINDRACEA (EUGLENOPHYCEAE), ARE VIRTUALLY GENETICALLY AND MORPHOLOGICALLY IDENTICAL1

We investigated the similarity of a single Euglena myxocylindracea strain, isolated originally by Bold and MacEntee, to several Euglena geniculata strains on both morphological and DNA levels. We found the three DNA stretches, consisting of fragments coding for the parts of cytoplasmic and chloroplast small subunit rRNA, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of cytoplasmic rDNA, with the combined length of 4332 nucleotides, are identical in E. myxocylindracea and E. geniculata, strain SAG 1224‐4b. Morphological differences between E. myxocylindracea and any E. geniculata strain examined were well within the range of E. geniculata variability as well. The only difference behind the distinction of E. myxocylindracea from E. geniculata is the presence of the second chloroplast in the latter. However, we were able to induce the appearance of the second chloroplast in the cells of E. myxocylindracea and its disappearance in the cells of E. geniculata by changing the composition of the culture media. We therefore conclude that E. myxocylindracea Bold and MacEntee should be regarded as an environmental form of E. geniculata Dujardin. For the first time the morphology of E. geniculata chloroplasts was shown as revealed by confocal laser microscopy.     

血清Irisin、SOST、H2S与膝骨关节炎合并骨质疏松症患者骨密度、骨代谢标志物的相关性及其预测价值

摘要 目的：探讨血清鸢尾素（Irisin）、骨硬化蛋白（SOST）、硫化氢（H₂S）与膝骨关节炎（KOA）合并骨质疏松症（OP）患者骨密度、骨代谢标志物的相关性,分析Irisin、SOST、H₂S预测KOA合并OP的价值。方法：选取2020年4月至2023年4月我院收治的179例KOA患者,根据是否合并OP将其分为OP组（68例）和非OP组（111例）。检测血清Irisin、SOST、H₂S和骨代谢标志物骨钙素（OC）、骨碱性磷酸酶（BALP）、Ⅰ型原胶原N-端前肽（PINP）、抗酒石酸酸性磷酸酶异体（TRACP5b）水平,股骨颈、腰椎L1～4骨密度。Pearson分析血清Irisin、SOST、H₂S与股骨颈、腰椎L1～4骨密度和血清骨代谢标志物的相关性,受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线分析血清Irisin、SOST、H₂S对KOA合并OP的预测价值。结果：OP组血清Irisin、H₂S、OC、BALP、PINP水平,股骨颈、腰椎L1～4骨密度低于非OP组（P＜0.05）,TRACP、SOST水平高于非OP组（P＜0.05）。OP组血清Irisin、H₂S水平与股骨颈、腰椎L1～4骨密度,血清OC、BALP、PINP水平呈正相关（P＜0.05）,与血清TRACP水平呈负相关（P＜0.05）;SOST水平与股骨颈、腰椎L1～4骨密度,血清OC、BALP、PINP水平呈负相关（P＜0.05）,与血清TRACP水平呈正相关（P＜0.05）。Irisin、SOST、H₂S预测KOA合并OP的曲线下面积为0.784、0.773、0.755,联合预测KOA合并OP的曲线下面积为0.908,高于单独预测。结论：KOA合并OP患者血清Irisin、H₂S水平降低、SOST水平增高,低水平Irisin、H₂S和高水平SOST与骨密度降低、骨代谢异常有关,可用于预测KOA合并OP患者骨代谢异常状态和骨质流失风险。     

基于16S rDNA的系统发育分析在微生物进化关系中的应用

系统发育树的构建是现代生命科学研究中的重要技术,是分析未知菌种与其他菌种的亲缘关系,为进一步了解生物的进化关系的重要依据。对系统发育树的构建进行了详细的介绍。并对其在微生物进化研究中的具体应用进行了阐述。     

我国分离的肠道病毒71型(SHZH03病毒株)全基因组核苷酸序列分析

对肠道病毒71型(enterovirus 71,EV71)中国(深圳)分离株SHZH03进行了全基因组(未包括多聚腺苷尾)7406个碱基的核苷酸序列测定.结果表明,SHZH03株与其它肠道病毒71型毒株相比,在编码区没有核苷酸的缺失和插入,其5′UTR和3′UTR区的长度和序列有一定的差异.核苷酸同源性比较结果表明,在P1区SHZH03株与SHZH98株、中国台湾流行株(TW2086、TW2272)的同源性较高(分别为92.5%,90.1%和87.9%),与新加坡流行株SIN5666、SIN5865及标准株MS、BrCr的同源性则在81%左右,而与Coxsackievirus A16(Cox.A16)的同源性最低(63.6%).氨基酸同源性比较结果表明,在P1区SHZH03株与Cox. A16的同源性最低,但在P2和P3区SHZH03株与Cox.A16的同源性最高.P1区的遗传进化分析表明,SHZH03株和中国台湾1998年流行的EV71毒株的亲缘关系较近,属于同一型(genogroup),而与标准株BrCr和MS的亲缘关系较远.上述结果有助于肠道病毒71型的基础研究和中国对于EV71所致疾病的预防.     

Importance of the leader region of mRNA for translation initiation of ColE2 Rep protein

Translation initiation of mRNA encoding the Rep protein of the ColE2 plasmid required for initiation of plasmid DNA replication is fairly efficient in Escherichia coli cells despite the absence of a canonical Shine-Dalgarno sequence. To define sequences and structural elements responsible for translation efficiency of the Rep mRNA, a series of rep-lacZalpha translational fusions bearing various mutations in the region encoding the leader region of the Rep mRNA was generated and tested for the translation activity by measuring the beta-galactosidase activity. We showed that the region rich in A and U between the stem-loop II structure and GA cluster sequence, formation of the stem-loop II structure, but not its sequence, and the region between the GA cluster sequence and initiation codon are important along with the GA cluster sequence for efficient translation of the Rep protein. The existence of these important regions in the leader region of the Rep mRNA may explain the mechanism of inhibition of the Rep protein translation by an antisense RNA (RNAI), which is complementary to the leader region.     

A stapled chromogranin A-derived peptide homes in on tumors that express αvβ6 or αvβ8 integrins

Rationale: The αvβ6- and αvβ8-integrins, two cell-adhesion receptors upregulated in many tumors and involved in the activation of the latency associated peptide (LAP)/TGFβ complex, represent potential targets for tumor imaging and therapy. We investigated the tumor-homing properties of a chromogranin A-derived peptide containing an RGDL motif followed by a chemically stapled alpha-helix (called “5a”), which selectively recognizes the LAP/TGFβ complex-binding site of αvβ6 and αvβ8.Methods: Peptide 5a was labeled with IRDye 800CW (a near-infrared fluorescent dye) or with ¹⁸F-NOTA (a label for positron emission tomography (PET)); the integrin-binding properties of free peptide and conjugates were then investigated using purified αvβ6/αvβ8 integrins and various αvβ6/αvβ8 single - or double-positive cancer cells; tumor-homing, biodistribution and imaging properties of the conjugates were investigated in subcutaneous and orthotopic αvβ6-positive carcinomas of the pancreas, and in mice bearing subcutaneous αvβ8-positive prostate tumors.Results: In vitro studies showed that 5a can bind both integrins with high affinity and inhibits cell-mediated TGFβ activation. The 5a-IRDye and 5a-NOTA conjugates could bind purified αvβ6/αvβ8 integrins with no loss of affinity compared to free peptide, and selectively recognized various αvβ6/αvβ8 single- or double-positive cancer cells, including cells from pancreatic carcinoma, melanoma, oral mucosa, bladder and prostate cancer. In vivo static and dynamic optical near-infrared and PET/CT imaging and biodistribution studies, performed in mice with subcutaneous and orthotopic αvβ6-positive carcinomas of the pancreas, showed high target-specific uptake of fluorescence- and radio-labeled peptide by tumors and low non-specific uptake in other organs and tissues, except for excretory organs. Significant target-specific uptake of fluorescence-labeled peptide was also observed in mice bearing αvβ8-positive prostate tumors.Conclusions: The results indicate that 5a can home to αvβ6- and/or αvβ8-positive tumors, suggesting that this peptide can be exploited as a ligand for delivering imaging or anticancer agents to αvβ6/αvβ8 single- or double-positive tumors, or as a tumor-homing inhibitor of these TGFβ activators.     

Overcoming resistance to rapalogs in gliomas by combinatory therapies

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive brain tumor type, with a mean patient survival of approximately 1 year. Many previous analyses of the glioma kinome have identified key deregulated pathways that converge and activate mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Following the identification and characterization of mTOR-promoting activity in gliomagenesis, data from preclinical studies suggested the targeting of mTOR by rapamycin or its analogs (rapalogs) as a promising therapeutic approach. However, clinical trials with rapalogs have shown very limited efficacy on glioma due to the development of resistance mechanisms. Analysis of rapalog-insensitive glioma cells has revealed increased activity of growth and survival pathways compensating for mTOR inhibition by rapalogs that are suitable for therapeutic intervention. In addition, recently developed mTOR inhibitors show high anti-glioma activity. In this review, we recapitulate the regulation of mTOR signaling and its involvement in gliomagenesis, discuss mechanisms resulting in resistance to rapalogs, and speculate on strategies to overcome resistance. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Inhibitors of Protein Kinases (2012).     

九种蟋蟀mtDNA-16S rRNA基因序列及其系统进化(直翅目:蟋蟀科)

蟋蟀科5属9个种的线粒体16S rRNA基因部分序列被测定或从Gen Bank获得,比较其同源性,计算核苷酸使用频率,并构建NJ和MP分子系统树。在获得的449bp的序列中A、T、C和G碱基含量分别为31．8％、36．9％、9．9％和21．4％,A T平均含量为68．7％。研究结果表明：所研究的5属9种蟋蟀聚成3个聚类簇,斗蟋属先与灶蟋属汇合,再与棺头蟋属构成聚类簇Ⅰ;油葫芦属黑脸油葫芦和北京油葫芦与蟋蟀属的家蟋相聚构成聚类簇Ⅱ;蟋蟀属的田蟋单独构成聚类簇Ⅲ。