Molecular cloning and function analysis of the stay green gene in rice

Chloroplasts undergo drastic morphological and physiological changes during senescence with a visible symptom of chlorophyll (Chl) degradation. A stay green mutant was identified and then isolated from the japonica rice (Oryza sativa) cv. Huazhiwu by gamma-ray irradiation. The stay green mutant was characterized by Chl retention, stable Chl-protein complexes, and stable thylakoid membrane structures, but lost its photosynthetic competence during senescence. The gene, designated Stay Green Rice (SGR), was cloned by a positional cloning strategy encoding an ancient protein containing a putative chloroplast transit peptide. SGR protein was found in both soluble and thylakoid membranes in rice. SGR, like the gene for pheophorbide a oxygenase (PaO), was constitutively expressed, but was upregulated by dark-induced senescence in rice leaves. Senescence-induced expression of SGR and PaO was enhanced by ABA, but inhibited by cytokinin. Overexpression of SGR reduced the number of lamellae in the grana thylakoids and reduced the Chl content of normally growing leaves. This indicates that upregulation of SGR increases Chl breakdown during senescence in rice. A small quantity of chlorophyllide a accumulated in sgr leaves, but this also accumulated in wild-type rice leaves during senescence. Some pheophorbide a was detected in sgr leaves in the dark. According to these observations, we propose that SGR may be involved in regulating or taking part in the activity of PaO, and then may influence Chl breakdown and degradation of pigment-protein complex.     

Effects of herbivore stress by Aphis medicaginis Koch on the Malondialdehyde contents and the activities of protective enzymes in different alfalfa varieties

The study focused on the dynamics of Malondialdehyde (MDA) contents and the activities of protective enzymes in the leaves of alfalfa varieties with various resistances to Aphis medicaginis Koch. The results showed that susceptible varieties always had higher MDA contents than resistant varieties, and the MDA contents tended to rise in both susceptible and resistant varieties in period of the varieties were pierced and sucked by aphids. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activities in susceptible varieties were lower than those in resistant varieties, and in both susceptible and resistant varieties the SOD and POD activities tended to rise at first and then decline, and the PAL activities rose to their peaks and then tended to remain stable. In the susceptible and resistant varieties the catalase (CAT) activities appeared to rise and decline alternatively; the PPO activities in resistant varieties were lower than those in susceptible varieties in early growth, but higher than those in susceptible varieties in later growth. It follows that infested by aphids, susceptible and resistant varieties had the MDA contents, variations of SOD, POD, PAL and PPO activities were closely correlated with their aphid resistances, hence these indexes could be used as physiological indexes for testing aphid resistance of alfalfa, whereas the relations of their CAT activities to their resistances needed to be further studied.     

苦瓜的营养价值、化学成分以及药理作用研究进展

本文总结了半个多世纪来国内外学者对苦瓜的研究,为苦瓜进一步开发提供了借鉴。     

无叶假木贼和盐爪爪提取物的抗菌活性

无叶假木贼和盐爪爪地上部分乙醇提取物、不同溶剂萃取部分对供试病原细菌和真菌均表现出较好的抑制作用,其乙酸乙酯萃取部分和正丁醇萃取部分的抗菌活性明显强于石油醚萃取部分和水部分。结果表明,无叶假木贼中抗菌活性成分主要为极性中等的化合物,且很可能是具弱碱性、易与酸成盐的生物碱类。盐爪爪中抗菌活性成分同样为极性中等的化合物。     

生物柴油植物黑皂树开发利用研究

能源短缺和环境污染是当前人类社会所面临的巨大挑战,生物柴油的推广和应用是现阶段解决替代燃油的重要途径之一。黑皂树种子油是很好的生物柴油原料,目前在许多热带地区大力种植黑皂树。我国华南、西南地区的一些干旱荒地可以种植黑皂树。我们对黑皂树油在柴油机上的应用研究证明:黑皂树油在气温35℃条件下,可以直接在各种柴油机上起动和应用;黑皂树油中掺入20%的轻柴油,其黏度大大降低,冷机起动性能和热效率等均与轻柴油相当。因此,黑皂树油的应用比目前国外使用的生物柴油更经济,是一种很有发展前途的能源植物。     

小麦光温敏雄性不育相关基因的DDRT－PCR分析及功能预测

 以小麦光温敏雄性不育系BS210为试材,分别在北京顺义（可育环境）和安徽阜阳（不育环境）两种诱导育性表现的生态环境下种植,并于雌雄蕊分化期、药隔形成期、花粉母细胞形成期、四分体期和单核期5个时期提取小穗组织的RNA,利用DDRT-PCR方法分离不育系在光、温因子诱导下的差异表达mRNA,并通过反向Northern 进行验证.对获得的20条差异表达的EST进行了测序和BLAST分析,得到了4个候选基因的片段,对其进行5′Race 扩增、序列分析及功能预测.结果表明：它们分别与水稻的DNA修复重组蛋白基因rad50、小麦穗部表达的LRR重复序列型类受体激酶基因、玉米叶片坏死斑点L1s1基因的序列相似性分别为89%、89%和88%,另外还筛选到1个未知功能的新基因片段,它和rad50分别在可育和不育环境下表达的mRNA具有相同的5′端编码区,但3′端非编码区     

用基因芯片技术分析铝胁迫下小麦的基因表达谱

目的:采用基因表达谱分析方法,探讨小麦耐铝的分子机理。方法:利用抑制消减杂交(SSH)技术,以小麦的铝敏感品种Chisholm及其耐铝近等基因系Chisholm-T(其耐铝性来自小麦品种Atlas66)的根尖为材料,构建了2个铝胁迫后的SSHcDNA文库,共含有1628个表达序列标签(EST),利用这些EST制作了小麦根系的cDNA基因芯片。以cDNA基因芯片为平台,在铝胁迫后6h、1d、3d和7d,分别比较Chisholm和Chisholm-T之间的基因表达谱差异。结果:在各个时间点,耐铝和不耐铝小麦材料之间约有5%的EST表现出差异表达。对所有差异表达的EST进行测序分析,序列数据经Pipe-Online2.0进行毗连序列群(contig)拼接,发现只有8.3%的重复序列。结论:SSH是一种非常有效的差减和均一化的建库方法。对有功能注释的差异表达基因进行功能分类分析,表明这些基因参与了植物体内的电子传递、信号传导、植物保护和次生物质的代谢活动。     

Recombinant production of a VL single domain antibody in Escherichia coli and analysis of its interaction with peptostreptococcal protein L

A kappa-light chain from a Fab expression system was truncated by the insertion of a stop codon in the gene sequence to produce a variable light (VL) single domain antibody (dAb). Here, we describe the expression of dAb in the periplasm of Escherichia coli through fermentation in a defined media. Immunoglobulin binding domains from peptostreptococcal protein L (PpL) have been shown to bind specifically to kappa-light chains. We have produced recombinant PpL, at high yield, and this was used to custom-produce PpL-Sepharose affinity columns. Here, we show that the affinity purification of VL dAb by this method is simple and efficient with no apparent loss in protein at any stage. The truncated dAb protein product was confirmed by electrospray mass spectrometry and N-terminal sequencing. When analyzed by SDS-PAGE it was shown to be over 95% pure and produced at yields of 35-65 mg/L of culture medium. The dAb protein produced was shown by NMR and CD to be a folded beta-sheet domain. This domain is bound by PpL with a Kd of approximately 50 nM as determined by stopped-flow fluorimetry.     

Daily temperature gradients and processes of organogenesis in apical meristem of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumis sativus</Emphasis> L.

We studied the influence of daily temperature gradients on organogenesis in apical and axil shoot meristems at different developmental stages in Cucumis sativus L. The level of organogenic activity of meristems was determined according to the number of leaf primordia on the main and lateral shoots, number of 2nd order shoots, and rudiments of flowers of different levels of development. At the studied ontogenetic stages (mesotrophic seedling or juvenile state), plants were grown under the controlled conditions: photoperiod 12 h, light intensity 100 Wt/m², range of mean daily temperatures 20…30°C, and daily temperature gradients ?20…+20°C. After the temperature treatment, some plants were returned to the optimal, for growth and development, conditions for two weeks (aftereffect). Three types of organogenic activity of meristems in response to the influence of variable daily temperatures were described: stimulation, inhibition, or absence of effect. The phenomenon of stimulation includes two subtypes: optimization, when a maximum effect, observed at other constant temperatures, was attained under the influence of variable temperatures and maximization, when maximum values markedly exceeded those at constant temperatures. The patterns described are preserved on the whole in the aftereffect of daily temperatures.     

Cloning,characterization, and transformation of the phosphoethanolamine <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-methyltransferase gene (<Emphasis Type="Italic">ZmPEAMT1</Emphasis>) in maize (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zea mays</Emphasis> L.)

N-methylation of phosphoethanolamine, the committing step in choline (Cho) biosynthesis in plants, is catalyzed by S-adenosyl-l-methionine: phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEAMT, EC 2.1.1.103). Herein we report the cloning and characterization of the novel maize phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase gene (ZmPEAMT1) using a combination of bioinformatics and a PCR-based allele mining strategy. The cDNA sequence of ZmPEAMT1 gene is 1,806 bp in length and translates a 495 amino acids peptide. The upstream promoter sequence of ZmPEAMT1 were obtained by TAIL-PCR, and contained four kinds of putative cis-acting regulatory elements, including stress-responsive elements, phytohormone-responsive elements, pollen developmental special activation elements, and light-induced signal transduction elements, as well as several other structural features in common with the promoter of rice and Arabidopsis homologies. RT-PCR analysis showed that expression of ZmPEAMT1 was induced by salt stress and suppressed by high temperature. Over-expression of ZmPEAMT1 enhanced the salt tolerance, root length, and silique number in transgenic Arabidopsis. These data indicated that ZmPEAMT1 maybe involved in maize root development and stress resistance, and maybe having a potential application in maize genetic engineering. Note: Nucleotide sequence data are available in GenBank under the following accession numbers: maize (Zea mays, ZmPEAMT1, AY626156; ZmPEAMT2, AY103779); rice (Oryza sativa, OsPEAMT1/Os01g50030, NM_192178; OsPEAMT2/Os05g47540, XM_475841); wheat (Triticum aestivum, TaPEAMT, AY065971); Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana, AtNMT1/At3g18000, AY091683; AtNMT2/At1g48600, NM_202264; AtNMT3/At1g73600, NM_106018); oilseed rape (Brassica napus, BnPEAMT, AY319479), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum, AF328858), spinach (Spinacia oleracea, AF237633).