黄唇鱼(Bahaba flavolabiata)的全基因组测序和基因组特征研究

黄唇鱼(Bahaba flavolabiata)为国家二级重点保护野生动物、IUCN(世界自然保护联盟)红色名录的极度濒危物种(CR)。基于其样本数量极其有限,全基因组研究可以提供大量与重要性状相关的功能基因和分子标记,从而揭示其重要生命现象的遗传机制。采用二代测序技术于2018年5月完成了黄唇鱼基因组精细图的测序,分析结果表明,测序得到约202 Gb的高质量数据,总测序深度约为317×;组装得到的基因组大小为637.43 Mb,Contig N50约为88 Kb,Scaffold N50约为4.65 Mb;重复序列约142.72 Mb,占比22.39%,预测得到23743个基因、920个t RNA、85个rRNA、176个假基因;98.46%的基因可以注释到NR、GO等数据库中;有67个基因家族是黄唇鱼所特有的。本研究从单碱基错误率、核心基因完整性及二代Reads比对分析3个方面对黄唇鱼基因组精细图的组装结果进行了评估,结果显示所组装的基因区的完整性较好。黄唇鱼基因组序列图谱的绘制完成,对于黄唇鱼自然资源的保护和种质资源挖掘具有极其重要的科学意义。     

一株牛源阿卡斑病毒的分离鉴定

阿卡斑病毒(Akabane virus,AKV)是能引起牛、绵羊、山羊流产、早产、新生胎儿畸形的虫媒性RNA病毒。为了解家畜虫媒病毒在我国西南边境地区的分布和流行情况,本研究对中缅边境西盟县的52份牛抗凝血和140份血清(牛70份、羊70份)中的蓝舌病病毒(Bluetongue virus,BTV)、鹿流行性出血热病毒(Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus,EHDV)、AKV等虫媒病毒进行检测与分离,通过ELISA及qRT-PCR方法检测病毒,通过核酸阳性抗凝血接种BHK细胞传代以分离病毒,通过设计特异性引物,扩增分离毒株S基因721bp片段及M基因816bp片段,通过克隆测序及中和试验以鉴定病毒,最终从38号牛的抗凝血中分离到一株AKV,TCID50为10-3.5/0.1mL,经比对,分离株S片段与日本KS-2/Mo/06毒株亲缘关系最近,核苷酸同源性为97.66%,M片段与中国DHL10M110毒株亲缘关系最近,核苷酸同源性为96.56%。本研究首次报告了从云南边境地区牛群中分离到AKV,证实了西南边境存在AKV的流行,为AKV在我国的流行病学和边境地区疫病风险防控提供了重要参考及有力依据。     

Virological surveillance,molecular phylogeny,and evolutionary dynamics of hepatitis C virus subtypes 1a and 4a isolates in patients from Saudi Arabia

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) subtypes are pre-requisite to predict endemicity, epidemiology, clinical pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection. HCV genotypes 4 and 1 are the most prevalent in Saudi Arabia, however; less consensus data exist on circulating HCV subtypes in infected individuals. This study was aimed to demonstrate the virological surveillance, phylogenetic analysis, and evolutionary relationship of HCV genotypes 4 and 1 subtypes in the Saudi population with the rest of the world. Fifty-five clinical specimens from different parts of the country were analyzed based on 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) amplification, direct sequencing, and for molecular evolutionary genetic analysis. Pair-wise comparison and multiple sequence alignment were performed to determine the nucleotide conservation, nucleotide variation, and positional mutations within the sequenced isolates. The evolutionary relationship of sequenced HCV isolates with referenced HCV strains from the rest of the world was established by computing pairwise genetic distances and generating phylogenetic trees. Twelve new sequences were submitted to GenBank, NCBI database. The results revealed that HCV subtype 4a is more prevalent preceded by 1a in the Saudi population. Molecular phylogeny predicts the descendants’ relationship of subtype 4a isolates very close to Egyptian prototype HCV strains, while 1a isolates were homogeneous and clustering to the European and North American genetic lineages. The implications of this study highlight the importance of HCV subtyping as an indispensable tool to monitor the distribution of viral strains, to determine the risk factors of infection prevalence, and to investigate clinical differences of treatment outcomes among intergenotypic and intragenotypic isolates in the treated population.     

Isolation and Sequence Characterization of Mammary Derived Growth Inhibitor Gene of Riverine Buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis)

In this study, attempts have been made to identify and characterize water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) mammary derived growth inhibitor (MDGI) gene, isolated from a mammary gland cDNA library of lactating buffalo. The complete MDGI cDNA was of 698 nucleotides, consisting 61 nucleotides in 5′ UTR, coding region of 402 nucleotides, and 235 nucleotides representing the 3′ UTR. Comparison of nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence data with that of MDGI//fatty acid binding protein (FABP) of other species shows three buffalo specific nucleotide changes while seven nucleotide changes were common to cattle and buffalo. Buffalo and cattle MDGI had 100% amino acid sequence similarity, which also shared three amino acid changes: 34 (Ala-Gly), 109 (Leu-Met), and 132 (Glu-Gln) as compared to other species. Comparison with FABPs reported from other cattle tissues revealed highest amino acid sequence similarity with FABP-heart (100%) and least with FABP-liver (20.5%). Phylogenetic analysis revealed cattle MDGI to be closest to buffalo, while mouse MDGI was distantly placed, whereas different tissue derived FABPs of cattle showed FABP-heart closest and FABP-epidermis most distantly placed from buffalo MDGI. This report also differs from the earlier findings that MDGI is intermediate of FABP-heart and adipose.     

Exploration of Natural and Artificial Sequence Spaces: Towards a Functional Remodeling of Membrane-bound Cytochrome P450

Abstract

Two complementary methods are described that associate in vitro and in vivo steps to generate sequence diversity by segment directed saturated mutagenesis and family shuffling. A high-throughput DNA chip-based procedure for the characterization and potentially the equalization of combinatorial libraries is also presented. Using these approaches, two combinatorial libraries of cytochrome P450 variants derived from the CYP1A subfamily were constructed and their sequence diversity characterized. The results of functional screening using high-throughput tools for the characterization of membrane P450-catalyzed activities, suggest that the 204–214 sequence segment of human CYP1A1 is not critical for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon recognition, as was hypothesized from previous data. Moreover, mutations in this segment do not alter the discrimination between alkoxyresorufins, which, for all tested mutants, remained similar to that of wild-type CYP1A1. In contrast, the constructed CYP1A1–CYP1A2 mosaic structures, containing multiple crossovers, exhibit a wide range of substrate preference and regioselectivity. These mosaic structures also discriminate between closely related alkoxyresorufin substrates. These results open the way to global high-throughput analysis of structure–function relationships using combinatorial libraries of enzymes together with libraries of structurally related substrates.     

38份晾晒烟种质资源遗传关系的SSR分析

利用SSR标记技术对38份晾晒烟种质资源的遗传关系进行了分析。从自己开发的近3000对烟草SSR引物中随机选出30对引物,在38份供试材料中共检测出173个等位基因,每对SSR引物可检测的等位基因数为2~11个,平均为5.77个。38份材料间遗传相似系数（GS）的变化范围为0.165-0.928,平均GS 为0.546。表明38份晾晒烟的遗传多样性丰富,遗传差异较大,亲缘关系较远。聚类分析表明,在L1（GS-0.165）处可将38个品种分为2大类,即晾晒烟类群和美国从烟草起源地收集的烟草（TI：Tobacco Instruction）类群;晾晒烟类群又可进一步分为4组,其聚类结果与所期望的结果基本一致。表明SSR是一种有效、稳定和可靠的分子标记,能较好地从分子水平上揭示烟草(尤其是晾晒烟)种质资源的遗传背景和亲缘关系。