Transformation of Aspergillus nidulans using the argB gene

Transformation of Aspergillus nidulans has been achieved using a chimeric vector comprising Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus nidulans DNA. Protoplasts of argB^? strains (defective for the ornithine carbamoyl transferase [carbamoylphosphate: l-ornithine carbamoyltransferase, EC 2.1.3.3] gene) of A. nidulans were incubated with plasmid pSal43 containing the cloned argB⁺ gene in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) and CaCl₂. Transformant progeny was of three types; the majority were small slow-growing colonies which were non-viable when transferred to MM. The remaining large colonies, which were recovered at a frequency of 50 μg^?1 DNA in the best experiments, made up the other two types. One group were mitotically stable, showing no evidence of instability; the other comprised unstable types which segregated apparent transformant and parental phenotypes. The apparent transformants showed similar segregational properties. Southern hybridizations with a stable transformant suggested that it arose following integration of the argB⁺ at the arg locus. Analysis of an unstable transformant suggested that possibly more than one copy of the plasmid was integrated and then subjected to rearrangement.     

Intercellular communication and the control of growth: X. Alteration of junctional permeability by thesrc gene. A study with temperature-sensitive mutant Rous sarcoma virus

Summary To study changes of junctional membrane permeability associated with transformation, the junctions and the nonjunctional membranes of quail embryo-, chick embryo- and mouse-3T3 cell cultures, infected with temperature-sensitive mutant Rous sarcoma virus, were probed with fluorescent-labelled glutamate. Junctional permeability fell in the transformed state. In the quail cells, the fall was detectable within 25 min of shifting the temperature down to the level (permissive) at which tyrosine-phosphorylation by the viralsrc gene product is expressed. This reduction of junctional permeability is one of the earliest manifestations of viral transformation. Normal permeability was restored within 30 min of raising the temperature to the nonpermissive level, a reversibility that could be displayed several times during the span of a cell generation. The reversal seems to reflect a reopening of cell-to-cell channels rather than a synthesis of new ones; it is not blocked by protein-synthesis inhibition. Treatments with cyclic AMP and phosphodiesterase inhibitor or with forskolin, which stimulate serine and threonine phosphorylation—the type of phosphorylation on which normal junctional permeability depends (Wiener & Loewenstein, 1983,Nature 305433)—did not abolish, in general, the junctional effect of the virus;src tyrosine-phosphorylation apparently overrides the junctional upregulation mediated by cyclic AMP. Nonjunctional membrane permeability was not sensibly affected by the virus. It was affected, however, by temperature: lowering the temperature from the nonpermissive to the permissive level caused the nonjunctional permeability to fall, andvice versa. This change was unrelated to transformation. Its secondary effect on junctional transfer is in the opposite direction to that produced by the temperature-activated viral transformation.     

Changes in surface glycopeptides after malignant transformation of rat liver cells and during the regression of hepatoma cells

Normal liver cells, Zajdela's hepatoma cells, and regressing hepatoma cells were metabolically labeled with either radioactive glucosamine or mannose. Glycopeptides obtained by exhaustive pronase digestion of these cells were compared after fractionation by gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-6. Chemical analysis, affinity chromatography on immobilized lectins, alkaline treatment, and susceptibility toward endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase and tunicamycin revealed dramatic changes in the glycopeptide patterns of transformed cells during the recovery of normal phenotype. The most prominent feature was the presence on the surface of hepatoma cells of a large glycopeptide, which was absent from normal liver cells and disappeared almost completely during the regression of hepatoma cells. This large glycopeptide had a Mr of 70,000, contained essentially O-glycosidically linked glycan chains, and did not result from a hypersialylation. N-glycosidically linked glycopeptides, high-mannose, and complex-type oligosaccharides were present in distinct proportions according to the differentiation state. Transformation of liver cells led to a reduction of high-mannose type oligosaccharides and an increase in the degree of branching of complex-type oligosaccharides. In addition, "bisected" glycopeptides were present only on hepatoma cells. The pattern of N-linked glycopeptides of normal liver cells was recovered during the regression of hepatoma cells. The origin of glycopeptide differences between normal and transformed cells and the evidence of a relation between carbohydrate changes, in particular the appearance of a large glycopeptide, and tumorigenicity are discussed.     

Soluble vs insoluble hexavalent chromate

Soluble CaCrO₄ and insoluble PbCrO₄ were tested for induction of mutation to 6-thioguanine (base-substitution, deletion, addition, and frameshift mutations) or ouabain (base-substitution mutations) resistance in Chinese hamster ovary cells and morphological transformation in C3H/101/2 mouse embryo cells. CaCrO₄ induced dose-dependent cytotoxicity and mutation to 6-thioguanine resistance, but did not induce mutation to ouabain resistance or morphological transformation. Highly cytotoxic amounts of CaCrO₄ induced conversion of 10T1/2 cells to adipocytes, but cell lines derived from such cells were not transformed. PbCrO₄ was not mutagenic in either mutation assay but induced a dose-dependent, low frequency of focus formation. Cell lines established from these foci had a 3–5-fold increased saturation density, grew in soft agarose, and were tumorigenic in nude mice. Chronic exposure to CaCrO₄ or PbCl₂ did not induce transformation, PbCl₂ was inactive even at acutely cytotoxic concentrations, and sequential treatments with CaCrO₄ and PbCl₂ did not induce transformation. Light and scanning electron microscopy showed progressive cytoplasmic engulfment of PbCrO₄ particles and extensive vacuolization of cells in contact with the particles. No particles were observed inside of vacuoles. We suggest that internalization of PbCrO₄ and the associated cellular stress response may be related to PbCrO₄-induced neoplastic transformation of 10T1/2 cells.     

Site of synthesis,metabolism and translocation of senecionine N-oxide in cultured roots of Senecio erucifolius

Root cultures of Senecio erucifolius (Asteraceae) efficiently took up and incorporated [¹⁴C]putrescine and [¹⁴C]arginine into the pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA) senecionine N-oxide. Pulse-chase experiments covering a growth period of 10 to 19 days revealed the absence of any significant alkaloid turnover. The only metabolic activity was a slow but progressive transformation of senecionine N-oxide into its dehydrogenation product, seneciphylline N-oxide. Tracer experiments with single roots showed that the sites of enhanced PA synthesis coincided with the sites of preferred protein synthesis, i.e. root apices, indicating a close correlation between growth activity and alkaloid synthesis. Long-term pulse-chase experiments (10 to 12 days) with ¹⁴C-labelled arginine, putrescine and senecionine fed to single roots indicated that in spite of its metabolic inertia, senecionine N-oxide is a mobile compound which is translocated into tissues newly grown during the chase.Dedicated to Dr. Friedrich Constabel on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

双向转换的系统结构调控方法与半干旱地区的农作物布局

一、临猗县农业生产条件特点及存在问题临猗县位于山西西南部,是晋南盆地中的一个大县。全县面积1356km~2,耕地1.0×10~5ha,水浇地5.27×10~4ha,占耕地的52.7%,人均占有耕地0.227ha。地势平坦,土地肥沃,农业生产条件较好。年降水量为500mm 左右,最高年份曾达到849.8mm,其中5—10月份的降雨量为450mm 左右,同期≥10℃的活动积温在     

Further Studies on Substrates Inducing Metacyclogenesis in Trypanosoma cruzi

Epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi, Peru strain, incubated in Contreras' artificial triatomine urine transformed into metacyclic trypomastigotes when 10 mM L-glutamine, L-asparagine or D-fructose was added to the medium. Metacyclogenesis with these substrates was comparable to the percent metacyclic morphotype formation induced by L-proline and significantly greater than that stimulated by 10 mM D-glucose. Sodium acetate (10 mM) increased transformation induced by L-proline, and L-hydroxyproline (10 mM) increased transformation induced by D-fructose. Phosphoenolpyruvate (10 mM) inhibited L-proline-induced metacyclic trypomastigote stage formation. Three antimetabolites, azetidine 2-carboxylate (5 mM), malonic acid (1 mM), and desthiobiotin (5 mM), completely inhibited D-fructose-induced but not L-proline-induced transformation. The Costa Rica, Y, and CL strains of T. cruzi showed different patterns of percent metacyclogenesis with substrates that induce transformation in the Peru strain.     

Ethylene production by shoot-forming and unorganized crown-gall tumor tissues of Nicotiana and Lycopersicon cultured in vitro

We have studied ethylene biosynthesis in cloned crown-gall cell lines of Nicotiana tabacum L., N. glutinosa L., and Lycopersicon esculentum (L.) Mill. transformed by the A6 strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith and Townsend) Conn. or a tms (shooty) mutant strain, A66. Both the synthesis of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclo-propane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) and the conversion of ACC to ethylene were affected by crown-gall transformation. All A6-transformed cell lines contained about 50 times more ACC than the A66-transformed cell lines, indicating that the tms genes stimulate ACC synthesis. On the other hand, A6-transformed N. tabacum and L. esculentum cell lines showed a very low capacity to convert ACC to ethylene when compared with A66-transformed cells of the same species. These differences in ACC-dependent ethylene formation were stable and could not be modified by supplying auxin to the culture medium. In contrast, both the A6- and A66-transformed N. glutinosa cell lines showed a low capacity for ACC-dependent ethylene production. Thus, the low-ethylene-forming phenotype did not seem to be under direct control of the tms genes and appeared to be part of the host response to crown-gall transformation. All cell lines exhibiting the low-ethylene-forming phenotype grew as unorganized tissues in culture, whereas cell lines showing a high capacity to convert ACC to ethylene formed shoots. Thus, ACC-dependent ethylene formation may be useful for studying host factors important in determining tumor phenotype.Abbreviations ACC 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid - NAA -naphthalencacetic acid     

玉米FAD2基因RNA干涉表达载体的构建及转化

根据已克隆的ZmFAD2基因(GenBank登陆号:DQ496227)设计引物,通过RT-PCR扩增得到120 bp的特异性基因片段作为hpRNA干涉片段。利用pUCCRNA i与pUb i.cas为中间载体,成功构建了含Ub iqu itin启动子和hpRNA i片段的干涉表达载体p1 300 UFIFN。以自主选育的高油玉米自交系幼胚为材料,诱导、继代出胚性愈伤组织,利用携带p1 300 UFIFN质粒的根癌农杆菌LBA4404对其进行遗传转化。对抗性植株进行PCR检测,共获得6株转基因阳性株。