Sequence variation in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) pigmentation gene and its role in the cryptic coloration of two South American sand lizards

In reptiles, dorsal body darkness often varies with substrate color or temperature environment, and is generally presumed to be an adaptation for crypsis or thermoregulation. However, the genetic basis of pigmentation is poorly known in this group. In this study we analyzed the coding region of the melanocortin-1-receptor (MC1R) gene, and therefore its role underlying the dorsal color variation in two sympatric species of sand lizards (Liolaemus) that inhabit the southeastern coast of South America: L. occipitalis and L. arambarensis. The first is light-colored and occupies aeolic pale sand dunes, while the second is brownish and lives in a darker sandy habitat. We sequenced 630 base pairs of MC1R in both species. In total, 12 nucleotide polymorphisms were observed, and four amino acid replacement sites, but none of them could be associated with a color pattern. Comparative analysis indicated that these taxa are monomorphic for amino acid sites that were previously identified as functionally important in other reptiles. Thus, our results indicate that MC1R is not involved in the pigmentation pattern observed in Liolaemus lizards. Therefore, structural differences in other genes, such as ASIP, or variation in regulatory regions of MC1R may be responsible for this variation. Alternatively, the phenotypic differences observed might be a consequence of non-genetic factors, such as thermoregulatory mechanisms.     

两个育性相关基因在几类小麦雄性不育材料中的表达研究

以1B/1R类K型不育系K3314A及其保持系3314B,非1B/1R类K型不育系732A及其保持系732B,YS温敏雄性不育小麦A3017为材料,提取不同温度处理下各时期小穗的总RNA进行反转录,对AY914051和AY660990两个目标基因进行半定量PCR和电泳分析,测定其在小麦中的表达变化趋势,以分析其与这几种不育系的育性相关关系,探讨这几种不育小麦败育的关键发育时期。结果表明,除AY914051基因在2种保持系3314B和732B中表达量变化不大之外,其它均有明显差异;2个目标基因与这几种雄性不育系的败育有关,但与育性相关程度不同,不育系两个目的基因的表达受温度变化影响程度明显大于保持系。由实验结果推测,1B/1R类K型不育系、非1B/1R类K型不育系和YS温敏雄性不育系的败育关键时期为单核期或单核期至二核期之间;温度差异可能会导致YS温敏雄性不育系的育性相关基因表达时期错位,错位后的表达差异积累可能最终导致其败育。     

AcMNPV肌动蛋白核定位基因的亚细胞定位

当前细胞核内肌动蛋白的功能是一个研究热点,核内存在肌动蛋白并参与细胞核内发生的许多生命活动。杆状病毒是迄今唯一报道的利用核内肌动蛋白进行复制增殖的病原微生物,为核内肌动蛋白的结构与功能的研究提供了独特的系统。有报道显示AcMNPV的ie-1,pe38,ac4,he65,ac102和ac152基因与肌动蛋白单体的核转运有关,然而关于这六个基因的亚细胞定位及其在肌动蛋白入核过程中的功能并没有深入的研究。本文首次揭示了这六个基因的亚细胞定位,IE1和AC152是全细胞分布,PE38和AC102也为核质分布,但主要分布在细胞核中,而AC4和HE65定位于细胞质。但AC102和IE1可以分别介导AC4和HE65入核。同时我们发现当使用外源强启动子OpIE2,在转染ie-1或pe38之后表达ac4和he65可以部分招募肌动蛋白单体入核,而时序性共转染这四个基因则可招募最多肌动蛋白单体入核。对肌动蛋白核定位基因在细胞中的定位分析为进一步了解杆状病毒介导肌动蛋白入核的分子机理提供支持。     

Identification of positive selection in disease response genes within members of the Poaceae

Millions of years of coevolution between plants and pathogens can leave footprints on their genomes and genes involved on this interaction are expected to show patterns of positive selection in which novel, beneficial alleles are rapidly fixed within the population. Using information about upregulated genes in maize during Colletotrichum graminicola infection and resources available in the Phytozome database, we looked for evidence of positive selection in the Poaceae lineage, acting on protein coding sequences related with plant defense. We found six genes with evidence of positive selection and another eight with sites showing episodic selection. Some of them have already been described as evolving under positive selection, but others are reported here for the first time including genes encoding isocitrate lyase, dehydrogenases, a multidrug transporter, a protein containing a putative leucine-rich repeat and other proteins with unknown functions. Mapping positively selected residues onto the predicted 3-D structure of proteins showed that most of them are located on the surface, where proteins are in contact with other molecules. We present here a set of Poaceae genes that are likely to be involved in plant defense mechanisms and have evidence of positive selection. These genes are excellent candidates for future functional validation.     

转cry1Ac＋cry2Ab基因棉与转cry1Ac＋剧咯邢基因棉荒地的生存竞争能力

【背景】此研究为“十二五”转基因生物新品种培育国家项目中创建新的转基因棉花品种环境安全评价技术而设。【方法】以转双价双成抗虫基因（cry1Ac＋cry2Ab）棉和转双价抗虫、抗除草剂基因（cry1Ac＋肼强阳）棉为观察品种,非转基因棉赣棉11号为对照品种,在荒地用撒播和3cm深度播种2种方式,于2011年5月一2012年3月对棉花出苗率、株高、生育进程、棉吐絮瓣数、絮瓣脱落率、自生苗等生存竞争能力进行比较,检测、评价其杂草化的风险,并探讨、验证检测技术的可行性。【结果】在荒地条件下,以2种方式播种的转cry1Ac＋cry2Ab基因棉和转cry1Ac＋EP5P5基因棉与非转基因棉相比,上述各项指标的竞争能力总体上未表现显著优势。【结论与意义】转cry1Ac＋cry2Ab基因棉和转cry1Ac＋EPSPS基因棉在荒地条件下生长无杂草化风险。同时,研究证明,在荒地自然生态条件下,可以采用撒播和3cm深度播种方法检测新的转基因棉花品种在生存竞争能力上的杂草化风险,在测评上有互为参照效应,为定性评价新的转基因棉花品种的杂草化风险提供了保障。     

玉米与其他六种植物NBS类抗病基因的进化比较分析

具有核苷酸结合位点(nucleotide binding site,NBS)的抗病基因在植物抵抗各种病原菌侵染中起关键作用。对玉米全基因组中具有NBS结构的基因进行鉴定和分析,并结合水稻、高粱、拟南芥、百脉根、苜蓿和杨树的NBS类基因比较其在数量、复制、染色体定位和亲缘关系上的进化差异。发现玉米NBS类基因数量、复制数和成簇基因数均明显少于其他植物。低复制频率可能导致玉米NBS类基因较少,并推测可能导致其功能具有多样性。在基因染色体定位上,除高梁外,玉米与其他五种植物相似,呈不均衡分布。此外,进化树分析表明玉米NBS类基因与高粱的亲缘关系最近,与拟南芥的最远,在物种间表现出较高的保守性。结果对掲示玉米NBS基因的进化特点与发掘有益的NBS类抗病基因提供了重要的理论依据。     

番茄COBRA基因克隆、表达模式及生物信息学分析

COBRA作为一种重要的胞外糖基磷脂酰肌醇(GP-I)锚定蛋白,影响植物细胞壁中纤维素含量及细胞的定向伸长。目前已有多个拟南芥、玉米及水稻的COBRA基因的突变体被研究。而有关番茄COBRA基因克隆的研究尚未见报道。本研究利用RT-PCR技术克隆了一个假定编码番茄COBRA蛋白的SlCOBRA基因,并在GenBank注册(JN398667)。序列测定和分析表明,该序列由6个外显子组成,编码444个氨基酸残基;氨基酸序列中存在COBRA蛋白的CCVS保守基序,N端的跨膜信号肽及C-末端的疏水性尾部和GPI锚定ω-位点。系统进化分析表明番茄SlCOBRA与拟南芥AtCOB具有80%氨基酸序列同源性,聚在一个分支上。Real-time PCR分析番茄各个组织中COBRA基因的表达结果表明番茄COBRA为组成型表达,在营养器官(根、茎、叶)中的表达量高于花和果实,尤其在成熟的果实中(从转色期到红熟期)表达量明显减少。