脊椎动物视蛋白基因分子进化的研究进展

视觉是动物获取外界信息的重要途径,在动物的捕食、配偶选择及讯息传递等方面均有重要作用,对动物的进化具有深远而广泛的影响[1].经过科学家的不懈努力,生态因素被认为是引导视觉系统进化的一个主要因素[1,2].     

snthr-1Bao稀毛小鼠突变基因的精确定位及克隆鉴定

snthr^-1Bao稀毛小鼠是本实验室培育的呈单基因隐性遗传的突变系小鼠,突变基因已被初步定位于第9号染色体末端;为了精确定位并鉴定snthr^-1Bao稀毛小鼠的突变基因,将(C57BL/6J×snthr^-1Bao)F₁代互交繁殖F₂代小鼠4 400余只,其中稀毛小鼠1 100只,并在2个微卫星、35个可能的简单序列重复标记（simple sequence repeat,SSR）及3个酶切扩增多态性序列（c1eaved amplified polymorphic sequences,CAPS）标记中找到4个合适的基因组标记。利用这些标记及F₂代稀毛小鼠将突变基因精确定位到第9号染色体距着丝粒117.763 kb及119.129 kb之间1.367 Mb的范围内,在其间的21个基因中确定Plcd1为稀毛突变的强力候选基因。通过对基因组的直接测序,发现snthr^-1Bao稀毛小鼠基因组上有一个14 883 bp的缺失,这一缺失包含了Plcd1基因的4—15号外显子及Vill基因的10—19号外显子。推测极可能是Plcd1基因缺失导致snthr^-1Bao小鼠出现稀毛表型。     

Refined localization of the Escherichia coli F4ab/F4ac receptor locus on pig chromosome 13

Diarrhoea in newborn and weaned pigs caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) expressing F4 fimbriae leads to considerable losses in pig production. In this study, we refined the mapping of the receptor locus for ETEC F4ab/F4ac adhesion ( F4bcR ) by joint analysis of Nordic and Swiss data. A total of 236 pigs from a Nordic experimental herd, 331 pigs from a Swiss experimental herd and 143 pigs from the Swiss performing station were used for linkage analysis. Genotyping data of six known microsatellite markers, two newly developed markers ( MUC4gt and HSA125gt ) and an intronic SNP in MUC4 ( MUC4-8227 ) were used to create the linkage map. The region for F4bcR was refined to the interval SW207 – S0075 on pig chromosome 13. The most probable position of F4bcR was in the SW207 – MUC4 region. The order of six markers was supported by physical mapping on the BAC fingerprint contig from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Thus, the region for F4bcR could be reduced from 26 to 14 Mb.     

特矮稻ED基因的遗传定位和分析

赤霉素（GA3）鉴定表明,一种新型特矮稻（命名为‘特矮稻-2’）的GA3信号转导途径正常,施加外源GA3不能恢复到正常植株的高度,说明此种矮稻的矮化机制与GA3无关。来源于组合‘特矮稻-2’ב日本晴’的F2群体的遗传分析表明,‘特矮稻-2’的特矮性状受1对隐性基因控制。采用SSR分子标记,将该矮秆基因定位于第12染色体上的RM519和RM235标记之间,遗传距离分别为15.9和22.0cM,该基因暂命名为ED。     

Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping of Flag-leaf Ligule Length in Rice and Alignment with ZmLG1 Gene

A doubled haploid （DH） population, which consists of 120 lines derived from anther culture of a typical indica and japonica hybrid‘CJ06＇/‘TNI＇, was used in this study. Ligule lengths of flag leaf were investigated for quantitative trait loci （QTL） mapping using the DH population. Five QTLs （qLL-2, qLL.4, qLL-6, qLL-IO and qLL-12） controlling the ligule length （LL） were detected on chromosomes 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12, with the variances explained 11.4%, 13.6%, 27.8%, 22.1% and 11.0%, respectively. Using four known genes of ZmGL1, ZmGL2, ZmGL3 and ZmGL4 in maize from the MaizeGDB, their homologs in rice were aligned and integrated into the existing simple sequence repeats linkage map by in silico mapping. A ZmLG1 homolog gene, OsLG1 encoding a squamosa promoter binding protein, was located between the markers RM255 and RM280, which is just identical to the interval of qLL.4 on the long arm of chromosome 4. The results are beneficial to dissection of the ligule molecular mechanism and the study of cereal evolution.     

Genetic Analysis and Fine Mapping of Two Genes for Grain Shape and Weight in Rice

To identify genetic loci controlling grain weight, an elite indica rice variety, Baodali, with large grains was identified and used in this study. Its derived F2, F3 and BC2 F2 with another japonica rice variety Zhonghua 11 were used as mapping populations. Linkage analyses demonstrated that two genes controlling grain weight, designated as GW3 and GW6, were mapped to chromosome 3 and chromosome 6, respectively. Fine mapping delimited GW3 to a 122 kb physical distance between two sequence tagged site markers （WGWt6 and WGW19） containing 16 open reading frames annotated by The Institute for Genomic Research （http：//www.tigr.org）. GW6 was further mapped between two simple sequence repeat markers （RM7179 and RM3187）. These results are useful for both marker assisted selection of grain weight, and for further cloning of GW genes, which will contribute to the dissection of the molecular mechanism underlying grain weight in rice.     

Multiple solvent crystal structures of ribonuclease A: An assessment of the method

The multiple solvent crystal structures (MSCS) method uses organic solvents to map the surfaces of proteins. It identifies binding sites and allows for a more thorough examination of protein plasticity and hydration than could be achieved by a single structure. The crystal structures of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNAse A) soaked in the following organic solvents are presented: 50% dioxane, 50% dimethylformamide, 70% dimethylsulfoxide, 70% 1,6‐hexanediol, 70% isopropanol, 50% R,S,R‐bisfuran alcohol, 70% t‐butanol, 50% trifluoroethanol, or 1.0M trimethylamine‐N‐oxide. This set of structures is compared with four sets of crystal structures of RNAse A from the protein data bank (PDB) and with the solution NMR structure to assess the validity of previously untested assumptions associated with MSCS analysis. Plasticity from MSCS is the same as from PDB structures obtained in the same crystal form and deviates only at crystal contacts when compared to structures from a diverse set of crystal environments. Furthermore, there is a good correlation between plasticity as observed by MSCS and the dynamic regions seen by NMR. Conserved water binding sites are identified by MSCS to be those that are conserved in the sets of structures taken from the PDB. Comparison of the MSCS structures with inhibitor‐bound crystal structures of RNAse A reveals that the organic solvent molecules identify key interactions made by inhibitor molecules, highlighting ligand binding hot‐spots in the active site. The present work firmly establishes the relevance of information obtained by MSCS. Proteins 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Microelectrode array evaluation of gut pacemaker activity in wild-type and mice

Interstitial cells of Cajal in the myenteric plexus region (ICC-MyP) form a network and generate basal pacemaking electrical activity. This morphological feature leads us to believe that these cells may be essential for the coordinating actions of gastrointestinal (GI) motility. We aim to propose a new method for functional assessment of ICC electrical activity and its network. Field potentials in a 1 mm² region were simultaneously measured using an 8 × 8 microelectrode array (MEA) with a polar distance of 150 μm. The extracellular solution contained nifedipine and tetrodotoxin (TTX) to suppress activities of smooth muscle cells and neurons, respectively. We compared spatial electrical activities between ileal muscle preparations from wild-type (WT) and W/W^v mice. In spatio-temporal analyses, basal electrical activities were well synchronized with a propagation delay in WT, while those in W/W^v were small in amplitude and irregular in occurrence. The power spectrum in WT had a prominent peak corresponding to the frequency of ICC-MyP pacemaker activity, while that of W/W^v lacked it. Consequently, the ratio of the spectral power in 9.4–27.0 cpm was significantly larger in WT than in W/W^v. In conclusion, MEA measurements demonstrated that the network-forming ICC-MyP not only generates but also coordinates basal electrical activities. Disorders of GI motility based on morphological and functional impairments of ICC network with the range of several hundreds of micrometers, could be uncovered in future extensive studies.     

Mouse Shh is required for prechordal plate maintenance during brain and craniofacial morphogenesis

In humans, holoprosencephaly (HPE) is a common birth defect characterized by the absence of midline cells from brain, facial, and oral structures. To understand the pathoetiology of HPE, we investigated the involvement of mammalian prechordal plate (PrCP) cells in HPE pathogenesis and the requirement of the secreted protein sonic hedgehog (Shh) in PrCP development. We show using rat PrCP lesion experiments and DiI labeling that PrCP cells are essential for midline development of the forebrain, foregut endoderm, and ventral cranial mesoderm in mammals. We demonstrate that PrCP cells do not develop into ventral cranial mesoderm in Shh^−/− embryos. Using Shh^−/− and chimeric embryos we show that Shh signal is required for the maintenance of PrCP cells in a non-cell autonomous manner. In addition, the hedgehog (HH)-responding cells that normally appear during PrCP development to contribute to midline tissues, do not develop in the absence of Shh signaling. This suggests that Shh protein secreted from PrCP cells induces the differentiation of HH-responding cells into midline cells. In the present study, we show that the maintenance of a viable population of PrCP cells by Shh signal is an essential process in development of the midline of the brain and craniofacial structures. These findings provide new insight into the mechanism underlying HPE pathoetiology during dynamic brain and craniofacial morphogenesis.     

THE GENETIC ARCHITECTURE OF REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION IN LOUISIANA IRISES: HYBRID FITNESS IN NATURE

Negative epistasis in hybrid genomes commonly results in postzygotic isolation between divergent lineages. However, some genomic regions may be selectively neutral or adaptive in hybrids and thus may potentially cross species barriers. We examined postzygotic isolation between ecologically similar species of Louisiana Iris: Iris brevicaulis and I. fulva to determine the potential for adaptive introgression in nature. Line-cross analyses allowed us a general overview of the gene action responsible for fitness-related traits. We then used a QTL mapping approach to detect genomic regions responsible for variation in these traits. Although hybrid classes suffered reduced fitness for many traits, hybrid means were equivalent to at least one of the parental species in overall estimates of maternal and paternal fitness during the two years of the field study. The genetic architecture underlying the fitness-related traits varied across field site and year of the study, thus emphasizing the importance of the environment in determining the degree of postzygotic isolation and potential for introgression across natural hybrid zones.