毛竹APX基因系统进化与表达分析

抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(aseorbate peroxidase, APX)是植物活性氧代谢中重要的抗氧化酶之一,尤其是叶绿体中清除H₂O₂的关键酶,也是维生素C代谢的主要酶类。该文基于生物信息学方法,利用毛竹的基因组及转录组数据鉴定毛竹中的APX基因家族成员,并对其编码的蛋白基本理化性质、基因结构、启动子元件、系统进化及共线性关系、重复串联基因、GO注释及表达模式进行综合分析,共鉴定出21种编码APX的基因。结果表明:(1)PeAPX基因家族成员多为不稳定疏水蛋白,基因结构、基序及结构域相对较为保守,大多数APX基因具有高度保守的内含子模式。(2)系统进化关系显示毛竹APX基因与水稻APX基因有着较高的同源性关系,PeAPX具有较高的进化保守性。(3)Ka/Ks分析表明PeAPX基因都经历了纯化选择压力,此外在每个APX基因的启动子序列中发现有许多与应激反应和植物激素相关的顺式作用元件,结合表达量分析,表明毛竹APX基因在毛竹生长发育中起着正向促进作用。该研究为进一步了解毛竹APX基因家族基本功能及其抗氧化机制提供了一定的参考,为毛竹APX基因功能的深层次鉴定提供了重要依据。     

Family ties and child obesity in Italy

This paper examines the impact of overweight family members on weight outcomes of Italian children aged 6–14 years. We use an original dataset matching the 2012 cross sections of the Italian Multipurpose Household Survey and the Household Budget Survey. Since the identification of within-family peer effects is known to be challenging, we implement our analysis on a partially identified model using inferential procedures recently introduced in the literature and based on standard Bayesian computation methods. We find evidence of a strong, positive effect of both overweight peer children in the family and of overweight adults on children weight outcomes. The impact of overweight peer children in the household is larger than the impact of adults. In particular, the estimated confidence sets associated to the peer children variable is positive with upper bound around one or larger, while the confidence sets for the parameter associated to obese adults often include zero and have upper bound that rarely is larger than one.     

The Modular Organisation and Stability of a Thermostable Family 10 Xylanase

The thermophilic marine bacterium Rhodothermus marinus produces a modular family 10 xylanase (Xyn10A). It consists of two N-terminal family 4 carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) followed by a domain of unknown function (D3), and a catalytic module (CM) flanked by a small fifth domain (D5) at its C-terminus. Several truncated mutants of the enzyme have been produced and characterised with respect to biochemical properties and stability. Multiple calcium binding sites are shown to be present in the two N-terminal CBMs and recent evidence suggests that the third domain of the enzyme also has the ability to bind the same metal ligand. The specific binding of Ca²⁺ was demonstrated to have a pronounced effect on thermostability as shown by differential scanning calorimetry and thermal inactivation studies. Furthermore, deletion mutants of the enzyme were less stable than the full-length enzyme suggesting that module interactions contributed to the stability of the enzyme. Finally, recent evidence indicates that the fifth domain of Xyn10A is a novel type of module mediating cell-attachment.     

Glycoside hydrolase family 31 Escherichia coli α-xylosidase

Escherichia coli YicI is a retaining α-xylosidase, which strictly recognizes the α-xylosyl moiety at the non-reducing end, belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 31 (GH 31). We have elucidated key residues determining the substrate specificity at both glycone and aglycone sites of Escherichia coli α-xylosidase (YicI). Detection of distinguishing features between α-xylosidases and α-glucosidases of GH 31 in their close evolutionary relationship has been used for the modification of protein function, converting YicI into an α-glucosidase. Aglycone specificity has been characterized by its transxylosylation ability. YicI exhibits a preference for aldopyranosyl sugars having equatorial 4-OH as the acceptor substrate with 1,6 regioselectivity, resulting in transfer products. The disaccharide transfer products of YicI, α-d-Xylp-(1→6)-d-Manp, α-d-Xylp-(1→6)-d-Fruf, and α-d-Xylp-(1→3)-d-Frup, are novel oligosaccharides, which have never been reported. The transxylosylation products are moderately inhibitory towards intestinal α-glucosidases.