Characterization of two NADPH: Cytochrome P450 reductases from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are commonly involved in biosynthesis of endogenous compounds and catabolism of xenobiotics, and their activities rely on a partner enzyme, cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR, E.C.1.6.2.4). Two CPR cDNAs, GhCPR1 and GhCPR2, were isolated from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). They are 71% identical to each other at the amino acid sequence level and belong to the Class I and II of dicotyledonous CPRs, respectively. The recombinant enzymes reduced cytochrome c, ferricyanide and dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) in an NADPH-dependent manner, and supported the activity of CYP73A25, a cinnamate 4-hydroxylase of cotton. Both GhCPR genes were widely expressed in cotton tissues, with a reduced expression level of GhCPR2 in the glandless cotton cultivar. Expression of GhCPR2, but not GhCPR1, was inducible by mechanical wounding and elicitation, indicating that the GhCPR2 is more related to defense reactions, including biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.     

Secondary metabolites from anti-insect extracts of endophytic fungi isolated from Picea rubens

The extracts of a selection of 150 foliar fungal endophytes isolated from Picea rubens (red spruce) needles were screened by LC-MS and assayed for toxicity. Three of these strains that were toxic to the forest pest Choristoneura fumiferana (eastern spruce budworm) in dietary bioassays were selected for further study. Their culture extracts were analyzed by LC-NMR spectroscopy, and the major metabolites were isolated by LC-MS-SPE or PTLC/column chromatography and characterized. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses including 2D NMR, HRMS and by comparison to literature data. Compounds 1 and 5-7 are hitherto unknown whereas compounds 2 and 3 are natural products described for the first time. Compound 4 is reported for the first time as a fungal metabolite and 8-9 were identified as known fungal metabolites in genera.     

Plant defense elicitors: Analogues of jasmonoyl-isoleucine conjugate

Our understanding of plant defensive mechanisms against herbivore and pathogen attack has significantly increased over the past decade. The complex cascade of defensive events is initiated and controlled by a network of interacting plant hormones. Especially, the conjugate of jasmonate and isoleucine is a major regulator which controls gene expression and production of secondary metabolites after (a)biotic challenges. This review offers a survey of both natural and synthetic mimetics of the natural hormone which can be used for a selective manipulation and the study of the plant’s secondary metabolism.     

抗褐变剂对雷公藤愈伤组织生长和次生代谢产物含量的影响

以雷公藤（Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f.）根愈伤组织为材料,以NT为基本培养基,添加不同浓度硫代硫酸钠、抗坏血酸、柠檬酸、硝酸银、聚乙烯吡咯烷酮以及活性炭,探讨抗褐变剂对雷公藤愈伤组织生长、抗褐化和雷公藤内酯醇及总生物碱含量的影响。结果表明：除较低浓度柠檬酸以外,其他抗褐变剂均不同程度抑制雷公藤愈伤组织的生长。培养基中添加不同浓度硫代硫酸钠、抗坏血酸、柠檬酸、聚乙烯吡咯烷酮以及活性炭,雷公藤愈伤组织褐化程度不但没有得到控制,反而使褐化加重。但所有处理中,愈伤组织中内酯醇含量明显升高,其中加入50mg/L柠檬酸处理的内酯醇含量为对照的2.4倍。培养基中加入10～50mg/L硝酸银不仅能抑制雷公藤愈伤组织褐变,内酯醇的含量也随着硝酸银浓度的增加而增加。供试抗褐变剂中除较低浓度硫代硫酸钠以外,其他处理对雷公藤总生物碱的合成起抑制作用。     

草原沙漠化过程中植物叶面积的变化及其与土壤因子的关系

在自然状态下,对沙质草原沙漠化过程中主要植物叶面积变化及其与土壤因子的关系进行了研究。结果表明:随着沙漠化加剧,羊草和糙隐子草的比叶面积在沙漠化初期(梯度Ⅰ)下降显著(P0.01),菊叶萎陵菜和冰草的比叶面积在沙漠化后期(梯度Ⅲ)下降显著(P0.05),寸草苔比叶面积下降不显著(P0.05),冷蒿比叶面积从沙漠化中、后期开始显著增加(P0.05),扁蓿豆比叶面积从沙漠化初期开始显著增大(P0.01);羊草、糙隐子草和冷蒿的叶面积指数总体上呈显著下降趋势(P0.01),扁蓿豆叶面积指数显著增加(P0.01);羊草、糙隐子草叶面积指数与土壤粘粒、C、N含量、土壤含水量呈显著正相关(P0.01),与土壤C/N比呈显著负相关(P0.01);冷蒿和扁蓿豆叶面积指数与土壤因子的相关性和上述二者正好相反(P0.05);在叶面积指数与土壤因子线性拟合中,糙隐子草叶面积指数与土壤C/N拟合最高(R2=1),其次是羊草叶面积指数与土壤含水量的拟合(R2=0.992),扁蓿豆叶面积指数与土壤C/N拟合最低(R2=0.268)。土壤C/N是影响草原沙漠化过程中共有种叶面积的关键因子(P0.05),其影响大小为糙隐子草羊草冷蒿扁蓿豆。     

Flavonoid profiling among wild type and related GM wheat varieties

Pleiotropic effects are one of the main concerns regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This includes unintended side effects of the transgene or its genome insertion site on the regulation of other endogenous genes, which could potentially cause the accumulation of different secondary metabolites that may have not only an impact on diet as repeatedly worried by the public but also on the environment. Regarding amount and possible environmental effects, flavonoids represent the most prominent group of secondary metabolites in wheat. Many flavonoids function as signalling or defence molecules. We used a robust and reproducible analytical method to compare the flavonoid content of genetically modified (GM) wheat (Triticum aestivum L., Gramineae) expressing genes that confer increased fungal resistance with their non-GM siblings. The transgenes provide either a broad-spectrum fungal defence (chitinase/glucanase from barley) or bunt-specific resistance by a viral gene (KP4). Significant differences in flavonoid composition were found between different wheat varieties whereas different lines of GM wheat with increased antifungal resistance showed only minor differences in their flavonoid composition relative to their non-GM siblings. In a field test, no significant differences were detectable between infected and non-infected wheat of the same variety regardless of the presence of the transgene. Our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that the transgenes we used to increase wheat defence to fungal pathogens do not interfere with the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. More significantly, the genetic background resulting from conventional breeding has a direct impact on the biological composition of flavonoids, and thus possibly on the environment.     

Geometric criteria for the non-existence of cycles in predator-prey systems with group defense

In this paper, we study the existence of cycles in a predator-prey system in which the prey species is equipped with the group defense capability. Some geometric criteria are developed, relating the location of the two positive equilibria on the prey isocline and the non-existence of cycles. We show that under a general geometric condition, if both positive equilibria lie on a downslope or both lie on an upslope of the prey isocline, cycles do not exist.     

Suggested mitochondrial ancestry of nonmitochondrial ATP/ADP carrier

One of the major evolutionary events that transformed an endosymbiotic bacterium into a mitochondrion was the acquisition of the ATP/ADP carrier (AAC) in order to supply the host with respiration-derived ATP. Along with the mitochondrial carrier, an unrelated carrier is known, which is characteristic of intracellular chlamydiae, plastids, parasitic intracellular eukaryote Encephalitozoon cuniculi, and the genus Rickettsia of obligate endosymbiotic α-proteobacteria. This nonmitochondrial carrier was recently described in rickettsia-like endosymbionts (RLE), a group of obligate intracellular bacteria classified with the order Rickettsiales, which have diverged after free-living α-proteobacteria but before sister groups of the Rickettsiaceae assemblage (true rickettsiae) and mitochondria. Published controversial phylogenetic data on nonmitochondrial AAC were re-analyzed in the present work, using both DNA and protein sequences and various methods including Bayesian analysis. The data presented are consistent with the classic endosymbiont theory for the origin of mitochondria and suggest that even the last but one common ancestor of rickettsiae and organelles was an endosymbiotic bacterium, in which AAC first originated.