Location of a gene regulating drought-induced abscisic acid production on the long arm of chromosome 5A of wheat

The accumulation of abscisic acid (ABA) by detached and partially dehydrated wheat leaves is known to be inherited in a quantitative manner. The location of genes having a major effect on drought-induced ABA accumulation in wheat was determined using a set of single chromosome substitution lines and populations derived from a cross between a high-ABA- and a low-ABA-producing genotype. Examination of a series of chromosome substitution lines of the high-ABA genotype Ciano 67 into the low-ABA recipient Chinese Spring showed that chromosome 5A carries gene(s) that have a major influence on ABA accumulation in a drought test with detached and partially dehydrated leaves (DLT). A similar DLT was used to examine ABA accumulation in a population of F₂ plants and doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from the cross between Chinese Spring (low-ABA) and SQ1 (high-ABA) in which the F₂ population (139 plants) and DH lines (96 lines) were also mapped partially with molecular markers. Analysis of variance of ABA accumulation between and within marker allele classes in the F₂ confirmed the location of a gene(s) regulating ABA accumulation on the long arm of chromosome 5A. MAPMAKERQTL showed the most likely position for the ABA quantitative trait locus (QTL) to be between the loci Xpsr575 and Xpsr426, about 8 cM from Xpsr426. A similar trend for high ABA accumulation was found in DH lines having the SQ1 allele at marker loci in the same region of chromosome 5AL, but the QTL effect was not significant. The function of the QTL is discussed.     

Linkage disequilibrium in crosses between Illinois maize strains divergently selected for protein percentage

The objectives of this study were two fold: (1) to determine whether divergent selection for kernel protein concentration, which produced the Illinois high protein (IHP), Illinois low protein (ILP), reverse low protein (RLP), and reverse high protein (RHP) maize (Zea mays L.) strains, had generated coupling-phase linkages among genes controlling protein concentration or other traits and (2) to measure the effectiveness of random mating in reducing linkage disequilibrium in segregating generations from crosses between the strains. To achieve these objectives, design III progenies from the F₂ and F₆ (produced by random mating the F₂) from the crosses of IHP × ILP, IHP × RHP, ILP × RLP, and RHP × RLP were evaluated. Estimates of additive variance for percent protein in the crosses of IHP × ILP and ILP × RLP were significantly less in the F₆ than in the F₂ indicating the presence of coupling-phase linkages in the parents and their breakup by random mating. In addition, a significant reduction in dominance variance for grain yield from the F₂ to the F₆ in IHP × ILP suggested the presence of repulsion-phase linkages. No other evidence of coupling or repulsion-phase linkages was found for any of the traits measured. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of long-term divergent selection in the development of coupling-phase linkages and of random mating to dissipate linkage disequilibrium.Research supported by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station     

Purification and PCR-based cDNA cloning of a plastidial n-6 desaturase

A plastidial membrane-bound n-6 desaturase from spinach (Spinacia oleracea) was purified from chloroplast envelope membranes by anion exchange, cation exchange and ferredoxin-affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the protein was estimated by SDS-PAGE to be 40 kDa. The highest specific activity of the desaturase in the final preparation was 196 nmol/min per mg protein with free oleic acid as the substrate. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the blotted protein was determined and used for the construction of a degenerated and inosine-containing oligonucleotide primer for PCR experiments with cDNA transcribed from leaf mRNA. A 3-RACE experiment with this primer amplified a single band of 1500 bp that after sequencing showed an open reading frame of 382 amino acids corresponding to a protein of 43 kDa. The 5 end of the cDNA was amplified by a 5-RACE experiment and isolated as a 500 bp fragment. Sequencing of this DNA revealed an additional 65 amino acids at the N-terminus of the native protein that are attributed to a plastidial leader peptide. With appropriate primers derived from these sequences a full-length clone was amplified by PCR and sequenced. Comparison of the plastidial oleate desaturase with the homologous enzyme from cyanobacteria showed about 50% amino acid homology. Comparison with other desaturases revealed three histidine boxes with the general sequence HXXXH that are highly conserved in all membrane-bound desaturases. These boxes might be involved in metal ion complexation required for reduction of oxygen.     

旋毛虫肌幼虫ES抗原的基因克隆及高效表达

作者对编码旋毛虫肌幼虫ES抗原的部分结构基因进行了克隆、鉴定和表达。用RNA PCR技术直接从旋毛虫肌幼虫总RNA中反转录并扩增出0．7kh的靶DNA,酶切分析后将其克隆到融合表达载体pEx3lC中。SDS—PAGE电泳表明,含重组子的大肠杆菌能够表达出一分子量为37kDa的融合蛋白(P37),后者占菌体总蛋白的22%以上,并以包含体形式存在于菌体中。经对纯化后表达蛋白的ELlSA检测,证明它能被猪旋毛虫病阳性血清和抗旋毛虫单克隆抗体识别。研究结果揭示,重组蛋白P37对于研制旋毛虫病诊断抗原和免疫抗原具有潜在的应用价值。     

Detection and Typing of Human Rotavirus in Reference to Repeated Acute Gastroenteritis in Infants

Stool specimens from infants who visited a clinic because of acute gastroenteritis were tested for the presence of human rotavirus. Among the samples obtained were specimens taken from seven patients who had visited the clinic at two different times. In six of these seven children, human rotavirus (HRV) was detected in only one of the specimens taken (i.e. during only one of the two visits). One patient was shown to have excreted HRV twice; in both cases the HRV was serotyped to be type 1. The present results indicate that the symptomatic reinfection of HRV was not a widely occurring phenomenon in the group of infants tested.     

杂交水稻及其“三系”线粒体DNA的AP—PCR指纹图谱

为了研究水稻（Ｏｒｙｚａ ｓａｔｉｖａ Ｌ．）细胞质雄性不育（ＣＭＳ）与线粒体基因组的关系,应用ＡＰ－ＰＣＲ 分析,用７ 个任意单引物对６ 种水稻品系线粒体ＤＮＡ 进行了扩增。水稻线粒体ＤＮＡ 的ＡＰ－ＰＣＲ 产物可分为三种类型：（１）所有供试品系均能扩增的片段,它们代表了线粒体ＤＮＡ 在进化上的保守性序列。有４ 个引物检测到这类片段。（２）２ 个以上水稻品系共同出现而在全部供试材料间存在差异的扩增片段,这类片段是检测水稻线粒体ＤＮＡ多态性的主要来源。（３）一种细胞质类型所特有的扩增片段,从引物Ｒ２ 和Ｖ５ 的扩增产物中发现了这类片段,它们可能与ＣＭＳ有关联。另外,ＷＡ型不育系珍汕９７Ａ 与其杂种之间在６ 个引物的扩增图谱上均存在不同程度的差异,说明两者的线粒体ＤＮＡ序列结构可能存在某种差别     

Detection of mycoplasma contaminations by the polymerase chain reaction

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used for the general detection ofMollicutes. 25Mycoplasma andAcholeplasma species were detected including important contaminants of cell cultures such asM. orale, M. arginini, M. hyorhinis, M. fermentans, A. laidlawii and additional human and animal mycoplasmas. PCR reactions were performed using a set of nested primers defined from conserved regions of the 16S rRNA gene. The detection limit was determined to be 1 fg mycoplasma DNA, which is equivalent to 1–2 genome copies of the 16S rRNA coding region. The identity of the amplification products was confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis and restriction enzyme analysis. DNA from closely and distantly related micro-organisms did not give rise to specific amplification products. The method presented here offers a much more sensitive, specific and rapid assay for the detection of mycoplasmas than the existing ones.