核酸-蛋白质结合能在剪切位点识别中的应用

把最大信息原理应用到核酸序列的保守位点分析中。利用最大信息原理,推导出了核酸和蛋白质特异性结合时的结合能表达式,并且估计了和蛋白质发生相互作用的核酸序列上的位点范围。为了检验此理论是否较为成功地反映了核酸和蛋白质结合时的实际情况,把它应用到基因内含子剪切位点的识别中,识别结果达到了较高的敏感性和特异性,这说明利用最大信息原理推导结合能表达式及估计核酸序列上参与反应的位点范围的理论是较为成功的。此研究结果一方面有助于核酸和蛋白质相互作用的理解,另一方面,也有助于和蛋白质发生相互作用的各种核酸序列的计算机识别研究。     

Stereology meets electron tomography: towards quantitative 3D electron microscopy

Stereological tools are the gold standard for accurate (i.e., unbiased) and precise quantification of any microscopic sample. The past decades have provided a broad spectrum of tools to estimate a variety of parameters such as volumes, surfaces, lengths, and numbers. Some of them require pairs of parallel sections that can be produced by either physical or optical sectioning, with optical sectioning being much more efficient when applicable. Unfortunately, transmission electron microscopy could not fully profit from these riches, mainly because of the large depth of field. Hence, optical sectioning was a long-time desire for electron microscopists. This desire was fulfilled with the development of electron tomography that yield stacks of slices from electron microscopic sections. Now, parallel optical slices of a previously unimagined small thickness (2-5 nm axial resolution) can be produced. These optical slices minimize problems related to overprojection effects, and allow for direct stereological analysis, e.g., volume estimation with the Cavalieri principle and number estimation with the optical disector method. Here, we demonstrate that the symbiosis of stereology and electron tomography is an easy and efficient way for quantitative analysis at the electron microscopic level. We call this approach quantitative 3D electron microscopy.     

Exploring zipping and assembly as a protein folding principle

It has been proposed that proteins fold by a process called "Zipping and Assembly" (Z&A). Zipping refers to the growth of local substructures within the chain, and assembly refers to the coming together of already-formed pieces. Our interest here is in whether Z&A is a general method that can fold most of sequence space, to global minima, efficiently. Using the HP model, we can address this question by enumerating full conformation and sequence spaces. We find that Z&A reaches the global energy minimum native states, even though it searches only a very small fraction of conformational space, for most sequences in the full sequence space. We find that Z&A, a mechanism-based search, is more efficient in our tests than the replica exchange search method. Folding efficiency is increased for chains having: (a) small loop-closure steps, consistent with observations by Plaxco et al. 1998;277;985-994 that folding rates correlate with contact order, (b) neither too few nor too many nucleation sites per chain, and (c) assembly steps that do not occur too early in the folding process. We find that the efficiency increases with chain length, although our range of chain lengths is limited. We believe these insights may be useful for developing faster protein conformational search algorithms.     

Rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) Breeding among Hassawi Landrace and Egyptian Genotypes for Stem Borer (<i>Chilo agamemnon</i> Bles.) Resistance and Related Quantitative Traits

Rice stem borer (Chilo agamemnon Bles.) is a primary insect pest of rice and is a major limiting factor to rice production. Breeding for insect-resistant crop varieties has been an economic way of integrated pest management (IPM) as it offers a viable and ecologically acceptable approach. This study was aimed to evaluate rice genotypes for their resistance against rice stem borer. Seven parental genotypes with twenty one F1 crosses were evaluated for genotypic variation in field experiments. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences for the studied traits in almost all crosses and parents. In addition, the mean squares of parents versus their crosses were signifi- cant for stem borer resistance and other associated traits. Moreover, both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) variances were highly significant for all characters studied in the F1 generation. Based on GCA, 4 genotypes (Sakha101, Gz6903-3-4-2-1, Gz9577-4-1-1 and Hassawi) exhibited highly significant negative values for stem borer resistance (–0.53, –1.06, –0.18 and –0.49, respectively) indicating they are the best combiners for stem borer resistance. Based on SCA analysis, nine cross combinations showed highly significant negative effects for stem borer resistance. Similarly, the cross Giza178 Hassawi was the best combination with significantly highest value for early maturity. In addition, seven crosses showed highly significant negative SCA for plant height trait. On the other hand, for panicle length, number of primary branches/panicle, panicle weight and 1000-grain weight, seven, four, eight and six crosses showed highly significant positive SCA, respectively. The result further revealed that the non-additive dominance genetic variance was higher than the additive variance for all evaluated traits indicating that non-additive genetic variances have a role in their inheritance. The broad-sense heritability estimates were high for all the studied traits. The stem borer resistance was significantly correlated with panicle weight and 1000-grain weight, which also showed a highly significant correlation with grain yield/plant. Thus these traits can be effectively employed in a breeding program to confer resistance against stem borer infestation in rice. It was further supported by biplot analysis, which clustered these potentially important traits into two quadrants showing their importance in any future breeding program to control stem borer infestation. This study has contributed valuable information for evaluation of genetic diversity in the local rice germplasm and its utilization in futuristic rice genetic improvement programs.     

Chiral symmetry conservation principle

We show a chiral symmetry conservation principle based on chemical kinetics using stochastic results. Suppose the chiral symmetry conservation is evoked, and our universe can be considered globally asymmetric. In that case, there are at least two mirrored asymmetric universes if all the chiral properties are strongly correlated. However, if the chiral correlations are weak or nonexistent, there are possibly Many-(Chiral-Symmetry)-Worlds. Alternatively, if our universe is only locally asymmetric, there could be a single universe with segregated chiral regions. The possible mechanisms of the primordial chiral symmetry breaking can only be found if the chiral symmetry is not truly conserved by assuming the initial racemic conditions. In that case, our universe is asymmetric and could be alone. On the other hand, if the chiral symmetry is conserved, there is no chance of finding the primordial chiral symmetry breaking. Based on this conservation (or not), it is possible to infer two opposite hypotheses, where two general scenarios about the chiral universes are possible.     

How parasitoid females produce sexy sons: a causal link between oviposition preference, dietary lipids and mate choice in Nasonia

Sexual selection theory predicts that phenotypic traits used to choose a mate should reflect honestly the quality of the sender and thus, are often costly. Physiological costs arise if a signal depends on limited nutritional resources. Hence, the nutritional condition of an organism should determine both its quality as a potential mate and its ability to advertise this quality to the choosing sex. In insects, the quality of the offspring's nutrition is often determined by the ovipositing female. A causal connection, however, between the oviposition decisions of the mother and the mating chances of her offspring has never been shown. Here, we demonstrate that females of the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis prefer those hosts for oviposition that have been experimentally enriched in linoleic acid (LA). We show by (13)C-labelling that LA from the host diet is a precursor of the male sex pheromone. Consequently, males from LA-rich hosts produce and release higher amounts of the pheromone and attract more virgin females than males from LA-poor hosts. Finally, males from LA-rich hosts possess three times as many spermatozoa as those from LA-poor hosts. Hence, females making the right oviposition decisions may increase both the fertility and the sexual attractiveness of their sons.     

做好绩效考核工作需要明确和把握的基本问题与原则问题

在医疗卫生机构深入推进绩效考核的过程中,广泛存在认识、概念、思路、方法等许许多多让人困惑不解或众说纷纭的问题。面对错综复杂的局面及前所未有的挑战,如何理论联系实际,在把握原则的前提下创造性地开展绩效考核工作是当前各方普遍关注的热点及难点,其中最重要的就是要概念清楚、思路清楚、方法清楚。就此问题进行论述。     

糖脂毒性对胰腺β细胞的功能损伤作用及机制

现在关于高糖高脂对胰腺β细胞的毒性机制已经有了明显的进展,但还不完全清楚。实际上,β细胞响应过量营养物质的过程是一个连续的过程,包括β细胞补偿和β细胞功能失调。在早期,β细胞应对高糖高脂的反应是一个积极主动的过程;而到后期,过量的糖脂会导致胰岛素分泌下降,削弱胰岛素基因表达量,并促进胰岛β细胞凋亡。最终对2型糖尿病的发展有促进作用。综述了近年来细胞水平和分子水平,在葡萄糖存在的条件下,脂肪酸对胰腺β细胞的损伤作用及其机制的研究进展,重在说明葡萄糖和脂肪酸在2型糖尿病发展中的共同作用。