Genetic differentiation within the inbred C57BL/6J mouse strain

The C57BL/6J (B6) inbred mouse strain is commonly used in biomedical researches. However, some unexpected inconsistency was reported compared with previous studies, and in most cases, it can be attributed to environmental, epigenetic or stochastic differences. The goal of this study was to investigate the genetic stability of the B6 strain maintained in different breeders. B6 mice purchased from five Chinese commercial breeders were examined, and mitochondrial D-loop sequence and 18 microsatellite loci were genotyped. There is no difference in the D-loop sequences, but variations exist in the nucleic microsatellite markers. Combining the data from MGI_4.01, a significant divergence is observed among those mice. The present study indicates that different B6 mice share the common maternal lineage and are still inbred in each breeder, but subline divergence occurs.     

Sexual competitiveness of a transgenic sexing strain of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata

The sterile insect technique (SIT), when used for the control of the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), generally relies on the release of sterile flies of only the male sex. Male selection is achieved through the use of a genetic sexing strain (GSS) in which females are killed by heat treatment in the generation prior to release. Transgenic sexing strains (TSS) have been developed that perform the same function of female-lethality, this time by withholding tetracycline (or related compounds) from the larval diet. The use of TSS may allow for certain problems associated with conventional GSS, such as strain instability and reduced productivity in mass-rearing, to be avoided. The performance, and principally the sexual competitiveness, of released male flies is important for the success of an SIT control programme. This study describes field cage experiments in which the competitiveness of males from a TSS (OX3376B) was compared with that of a conventional GSS (VIENNA-8) and two wild-type strains (TOLIMAN and ARG). When competing for female mates with wild-type males, OX3376B male performance was acceptable. When OX3376B males competed directly for mates with VIENNA-8 males, VIENNA-8 slightly outperformed the TSS males. Parallel tests, in which wild-type males competed with either OX3376B or VIENNA-8 males, showed that males from both sexing strains were highly competitive with wild-type males. These results suggest that OX3376B in particular, and TSS in general, show sufficiently good mating competitiveness to merit further research into their suitability for eventual use in SIT programmes.     

Mic1-3KO tachyzoite a live attenuated vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis derived from a type I strain shows features of type II strain

Vaccination with live attenuated parasites has been shown to induce high level of protection against Toxoplasma gondii. In this study we compared the Mic1-3KO tachyzoite (a live attenuated strain) with the parental wild type (WT) tachyzoite in terms of virulence in mice in vivo, dissemination in mouse tissues and persistence in mouse brain. Survival of mice infected with the Mic1-3KO parasites correlated with reduced parasite burden in mouse tissues compared to the parental strain. Like the WT parasite, Mic1-3KO is able to form tissue cysts in vivo which are not, in our experimental conditions, infectious when given by oral route. Infection with the attenuated tachyzoite induced lower levels of cytokine and chemokine than with the parental strain. These data demonstrate that the deleted strain derived from a type I strain behaves like type II strain in outbred mice in terms of virulence, dissemination in mouse tissue and persistence in brain.     

150例酵母样真菌的菌种分布及其耐药性分析

目的分析引起医院酵母样真菌感染的菌种分布及其耐药性,以指导临床合理用药。方法对2007年10月-2008年10月的住院患者送至真菌室所分离的150株酵母样真菌,采用血清学鉴定及API 20C AUX酵母样真菌鉴定试剂条进行鉴定,采用ATB FUNGUS3进行药敏试验。结果分离到150株酵母样真菌,其中自假丝酵母菌94株（62．67％）,光滑假丝酵母菌14株（9．33％）,热带假丝酵母菌12株（8．00％）,无名假丝酵母菌10株（6．67％）,季也蒙假丝酵母菌6株（4．00％）,近平滑假丝酵母菌6株（4．00％）,其他酵母菌8株（5．33％）。以呼吸内科（54．67％）、老年科（9．33％）、皮肤性病科（9．33％）、血液科（8．67％）分离率最高。150株酵母菌对5氟胞嘧啶（5-FC）、两性霉素B（AmB）、氟康唑（FCA）、伊曲康唑（ITR）、伏立康唑（VRC）的敏感菌株分别为144、150、131、104、147株,敏感率分别为96．00％、100％、87．33％、69．33％、98．00％。结论真菌感染的因素有很多,临床分布科室广泛,临床上应重视真菌检测及真菌药敏试验,根据检测结果合理应用抗真菌药物。     

Large‐scale identification of genetic design strategies using local search

In the past decade, computational methods have been shown to be well suited to unraveling the complex web of metabolic reactions in biological systems. Methods based on flux–balance analysis (FBA) and bi‐level optimization have been used to great effect in aiding metabolic engineering. These methods predict the result of genetic manipulations and allow for the best set of manipulations to be found computationally. Bi‐level FBA is, however, limited in applicability because the required computational time and resources scale poorly as the size of the metabolic system and the number of genetic manipulations increase. To overcome these limitations, we have developed Genetic Design through Local Search (GDLS), a scalable, heuristic, algorithmic method that employs an approach based on local search with multiple search paths, which results in effective, low‐complexity search of the space of genetic manipulations. Thus, GDLS is able to find genetic designs with greater in silico production of desired metabolites than can feasibly be found using a globally optimal search and performs favorably in comparison with heuristic searches based on evolutionary algorithms and simulated annealing.     

Shear strain in the adventitial layer of the arterial wall facilitates development of vulnerable plaques

Myocardial infarction and stroke are two of the leading causes of death and primarily triggered by destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques. Fatty streaks are known to develop at sites in the arterial wall where shear stress is low. These fatty streaks can develop into more advanced plaques that are prone to rupture. Rupture leads to thrombus formation, which may subsequently result in a myocardial infarction or stroke. The relation between shear stress on the inner (endothelial) layer of the arterial wall in relation to plaque development has been studied extensively. However, a causal relation between adventitial shear forces and atherosclerosis development has never been considered.Arterial stiffening increases with age and may facilitate an increase in shear strain in the adventitial layer, an axial shear between artery and surrounding tissue. In the adventitial layer, a large number of inflammatory cells and perivascular structures are present that are subjected to shear strain. Cyclic strain applied to endothelial cells stimulates neovascularisation via different pathways. The conduit arteries in the human body (e.g. coronary and carotid artery) have their own nutrition supply: the vasa vasorum, which is located in the adventitial layer and sprouts into the intimal layer when atherosclerotic plaque develops. Increased plaque neovascularisation makes the plaques more prone to rupture. Therefore we hypothesize that increased shear strain facilitates the development of vulnerable plaques by stimulation of atherosclerotic plaque neovascularisation that sprouts from the adventitial vasa vasorum. Validation of this hypothesis paves the road to the use of adventitial shear strain (measured using a noninvasive ultrasound technique) as risk assessment in plaque.     

仙台病毒BB1株6个编码基因的克隆及表达

在仙台病毒BB1株全基因组序列测定的基础上,用反转录和PCR方法获得了核蛋白基因(N),磷蛋白基因(P),神经血凝素基因(HN),基质蛋白基因(M)、融合蛋白基因(F)和聚合酶蛋白基因(L)等6个编码基因全长克隆;测序结果表明,其序列与Genbank中登录的序列(DQ219803)完全一致。为了提供仙台病毒基因组载体拯救和包装所需的反式作用蛋白,将N、P、M、F、HN和L分别克隆到腺病毒穿梭表达载体pDC316上,将它们分别与腺病毒基因组质粒pBHGlox△E1,3Cre共转染HEK293细胞,获得了6种复制缺陷性重组腺病毒Ad5-N、Ad5-P、Ad5-M、Ad5-F、Ad5-HN和Ad5-L。酶切结果表明6种重组腺病毒穿梭质粒构建正确;用PCR方法证明所获得的6种重组腺病毒分别携带了上述6个编码基因;用重组腺病毒感染LLC-MK2细胞后用Western blotting和免疫荧光方法检测到了相应仙台病毒编码基因的表达。本研究为仙台病毒BB1株全长基因组的拼接和病毒载体包装系统组建打下了基础。     

乳酸杆菌临床应用的研究进展

从乳酸杆菌及制剂类型、作用机制、应用研究、未来的发展前景等方面进行综述。     

Identification and characterization of antibiotic resistance genes in Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus plantarum

Aims:  The study aimed to identify the resistance genes mediating atypical minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin and chloramphenicol within two sets of representative strains of the species Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus plantarum and to characterize identified genes by means of gene location and sequencing of flanking regions.
Methods and Results:  A tet (W) gene was found in 24 of the 28 Lact. reuteri strains with atypical MIC for tetracycline, whereas four of the six strains with atypical MIC for erythromycin were positive for erm (B) and one strain each was positive for erm (C) and erm (T). The two Lact. plantarum strains with atypical MIC for tetracycline harboured a plasmid-encoded tet (M) gene. The majority of the tet (W)-positive Lact. reuteri strains and all erm -positive Lact. reuteri strains carried the genes on plasmids, as determined by Southern blot and a real-time PCR method developed in this study.
Conclusions:  Most of the antibiotic-resistant strains of Lact. reuteri and Lact. plantarum harboured known plasmid-encoded resistance genes. Examples of putative transfer machineries adjacent to both plasmid- and chromosome-located resistance genes were also demonstrated.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  These data provide some of the knowledge required for assessing the possible risk of using Lact. reuteri and Lact. plantarum strains carrying antibiotic resistance genes as starter cultures and probiotics.