Effect of population size on the estimation of QTL: a test using resistance to barley stripe rust

The limited population sizes used in many quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection experiments can lead to underestimation of QTL number, overestimation of QTL effects, and failure to quantify QTL interactions. We used the barley/barley stripe rust pathosystem to evaluate the effect of population size on the estimation of QTL parameters. We generated a large (n=409) population of doubled haploid lines derived from the cross of two inbred lines, BCD47 and Baronesse. This population was evaluated for barley stripe rust severity in the Toluca Valley, Mexico, and in Washington State, USA, under field conditions. BCD47 was the principal donor of resistance QTL alleles, but the susceptible parent also contributed some resistance alleles. The major QTL, located on the long arm of chromosome 4H, close to the Mlo gene, accounted for up to 34% of the phenotypic variance. Subpopulations of different sizes were generated using three methods—resampling, selective genotyping, and selective phenotyping—to evaluate the effect of population size on the estimation of QTL parameters. In all cases, the number of QTL detected increased with population size. QTL with large effects were detected even in small populations, but QTL with small effects were detected only by increasing population size. Selective genotyping and/or selective phenotyping approaches could be effective strategies for reducing the costs associated with conducting QTL analysis in large populations. The method of choice will depend on the relative costs of genotyping versus phenotyping. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

综述: 病毒与宿主细胞的糖基化修饰及相关功能

病毒的复制和对宿主的入侵与自身结构蛋白的糖基化修饰密切相关．对于宿主而言,在病毒感染宿主和宿主抗病毒的过程中,宿主的糖基化过程一方面可抑制病毒的复制和入侵,另一方面可促进病毒对宿主的感染,抑制宿主糖苷酶可抑制病毒的复制．从病毒方面来看,由于病毒自身缺乏糖基化修饰系统,病毒的糖基化过程是借宿主细胞内的合成系统对自身进行糖基化修饰．病毒的糖基化过程对病毒蛋白的折叠与稳定、病毒的感染和入侵、参与识别宿主细胞受体和参与病毒的免疫逃逸等过程起着重要的作用．随着糖基化研究技术的发展,以糖基化为基础的功能应用也越来越深入：如新型病毒疫苗和新型抗病毒药物的研制,以糖蛋白质组学研究为基础的质谱技术和生物信息学方法的发展,以及利用糖基化对病毒性疾病的诊断和治疗等,这些均为糖基化深入研究发展奠定了基础．本文就病毒与宿主细胞糖基化过程、相关功能以及研究应用等进展作一综述．     

N-糖基化移位对乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原中蛋白核酸疫苗的表达及免疫原性的影响

目的：研究N-糖基化移位对乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原中蛋白核酸疫苗体外蛋白表达及小鼠体内体液免疫及细胞免疫应答的影响。方法：通过基因工程中定点突变技术,将乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原中蛋白（MHBs）中第4位氨基酸上连接的糖链去除,或将糖链依次移位至第5、6或7位氨基酸,来构建N-糖基化去除及移位的核酸疫苗,分别命名为Adr—dN4、Adr-N4—5、Adr—N4．6、Adr—N4．7。用上述核酸疫苗与野生型MHBs核酸疫苗（pSW3891／MHBs／Adr,简称Adr）及空载体质粒pSW3891分别用脂质体瞬时转染293T细胞,应用蛋白印迹法检测MHBs的表达。采用肌肉注射法,以各组疫苗分别对BALB／c小鼠于第0、2、4和6周进行免疫．用ELISA法检测小鼠血清中抗．HBs抗体、ELISPOT法检测小鼠表面抗原多肽特异性分泌IFN-T的脾细胞数量。结果：蛋白印迹法结果显示Adr、Adr-dN4、Adr—N4．5、Adr—N4—6、Adr-N4—7体外转染293T细胞后,均可以在293T细胞内表达,且Adr、Adr-N4—5、Adr-N4—7可将表达产物分泌到细胞外。ELISA及EISPOT结果表明：Adr免疫组小鼠抗-HBs终点滴度及表面抗原特异性分泌IFN-γ的脾细胞数量,均略高于其他免疫组小鼠,但与Adr—N4—5、Adr．N4—7相比无统计学差异（P〉0．05）,与Adr-dN4和Adr—N4—6组相比有显著的统计学差异（P〈0．05）。结论：在第5或7位氨基酸附加N-连接糖链,能修补或替代Asn4连接糖链引导MHBs分泌的功能。HBs表达蛋白分泌到细胞外对诱导机体产生特异性细胞和体液免疫是至关重要的。     

Expression of the alpha3/beta1 isoform of human Na,K-ATPase in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris

Na,K-ATPase is a crucial enzyme for ion homeostasis in human tissues. Different isozymes are produced by assembly of four alpha- and three beta-subunits. The expression of the alpha3/beta1 isozyme is confined to brain and heart. Its heterologous production has so far never been attempted in a lower eukaryote. In this work we explored whether the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is capable of expressing the alpha3/beta1 isoform of human Na,K-ATPase. cDNAs encoding the alpha(3) and the beta(1)-subunits were cloned under the control of the inducible promoter of Pichia pastoris alcohol oxidase 1. Pichia pastoris could express the single alpha3- and beta1-subunits and even coexpress them after methanol induction. beta1-subunit was produced as a major 44-kDa glycosylated polypeptide and alpha3 as a 110-kDa unglycosylated polypeptide. Expression at the plasma membrane was limited in shaking flask cultures but by cultivating P. pastoris cells in a fermenter there was a 10-fold increase of the number of ouabain binding sites per cell. The exported enzyme was estimated to be about 0.230 mg L(-1) at the end of a bioreactor run. Na,K-ATPase proved active and the dissociation constant of the recombinant enzyme-ouabain interaction was determined.     

N-糖基化位点鉴定方法和非经典N-糖基化序列

蛋白质的N-糖基化修饰是生物体调控蛋白质在组织和细胞中的定位、功能、活性、寿命和多样性的一种普遍的翻译后方式。N-糖基化位点是理解糖链功能的重要前提之一。应用新的糖蛋白、糖肽富集技术和质谱技术,科学家们在不同组织中完成了对N-糖基化位点的鉴定。此外,不同于经典三联子的N-糖基化序列的发现使人们对N-糖基化过程的认识向纵深发展。     

Autophagy-related protein 32 acts as autophagic degron and directly initiates mitophagy

Autophagy-related degradation selective for mitochondria (mitophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved process that is thought to be critical for mitochondrial quality and quantity control. In budding yeast, autophagy-related protein 32 (Atg32) is inserted into the outer membrane of mitochondria with its N- and C-terminal domains exposed to the cytosol and mitochondrial intermembrane space, respectively, and plays an essential role in mitophagy. Atg32 interacts with Atg8, a ubiquitin-like protein localized to the autophagosome, and Atg11, a scaffold protein required for selective autophagy-related pathways, although the significance of these interactions remains elusive. In addition, whether Atg32 is the sole protein necessary and sufficient for initiation of autophagosome formation has not been addressed. Here we show that the Atg32 IMS domain is dispensable for mitophagy. Notably, when anchored to peroxisomes, the Atg32 cytosol domain promoted autophagy-dependent peroxisome degradation, suggesting that Atg32 contains a module compatible for other organelle autophagy. X-ray crystallography reveals that the Atg32 Atg8 family-interacting motif peptide binds Atg8 in a conserved manner. Mutations in this binding interface impair association of Atg32 with the free form of Atg8 and mitophagy. Moreover, Atg32 variants, which do not stably interact with Atg11, are strongly defective in mitochondrial degradation. Finally, we demonstrate that Atg32 forms a complex with Atg8 and Atg11 prior to and independent of isolation membrane generation and subsequent autophagosome formation. Taken together, our data implicate Atg32 as a bipartite platform recruiting Atg8 and Atg11 to the mitochondrial surface and forming an initiator complex crucial for mitophagy.     

拟南芥细胞中存在中间纤维的研究

利用整装电镜制样与选择性抽提技术,在拟南芥（Ａｒａｂｉｄｏｐｓｉｓｔｈａｌｉａｎａ （Ｌ．） Ｈｅｙｎｈ） 愈伤组织细胞质中观察到直径１０ ｎｍ 左右的纤维网络结构。免疫印迹分析表明纤维的主要成分是６ 种多肽,它们分别与动物角蛋白单克隆抗体ＡＥ１ 、ＡＥ３ 有免疫交叉反应。利用间接免疫荧光技术,与ＡＥ１ 和ＡＥ３ 反应的抗原呈弥散状定位于整个细胞质中,而且１０ ｎｍ 纤维可以在体外重新组装。以上结果表明,在拟南芥细胞质中存在类角蛋白的中间纤维。以动物中间纤维基因的保守序列为引物,采用ＲＴ＿ＰＣＲ技术,进一步从这一模式植物中克隆到一个ｃＤＮＡ片段,这可能为从分子水平上证明植物中间纤维的存在提供了一个线索     

东方肉座菌EU7-22纤维素内切酶Ⅰ的异源表达

[目的]实现东方肉座菌纤维素内切酶EGⅠ在毕赤酵母中的表达,获得重组EGⅠ。[方法]通过RT-PCR获得EGⅠ开放阅读框。将EGⅠ成熟肽和PHO1信号肽的DNA片段插入p PIC3. 5K后,重组表达载体电转化毕赤酵母。通过甲醇诱导表达和镍柱纯化获得EGⅠ。以羟甲基纤维素钠检测活性,以肽N-糖苷酶F分析N-糖基化,以SDSPAGE分析表达情况和糖基化修饰。[结果]获得EGⅠ分泌表达菌株,诱导96 h后上清液活性为0. 513±0. 002 U/m L,纯化后的EGⅠ活性为0. 558±0. 012 U/mg。SDS-PAGE表明EGⅠ分子量在100～180 k Da,远高于预测值47. 3k Da,经肽N-糖苷酶F处理后,降至63～75 k Da。[结论]实现了EGⅠ的分泌表达,获得活性为0. 558±0. 012 U/mg的糖基化重组EGⅠ。     

Production of large quantities of isotopically labeled protein in Pichia pastoris by fermentation

Heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris has many of the advantages of eukaryotic expression, proper folding and disulfide bond formation, glycosylation, and secretion. Contrary to other eukaryotic systems, protein production from P.pastoris occurs in simple minimal defined media making this system attractive for production of labeled proteins for NMR analysis. P.pastoris is therefore the expression system of choice for NMR of proteins that cannot be refolded from inclusion bodies or that require post-translational modifications for proper folding or function. The yield of expressed proteins from P.pastoris depends critically on growth conditions, and attainment of high cell densities by fermentation has been shown to improve protein yields by 10–100-fold. Unfortunately, the cost of the isotopically enriched fermentation media components, particularly 15NH4OH, is prohibitively high. We report fermentation methods that allow for both 15N- labeling from (15NH4)2SO4 and 13C-labeling from 13C-glucose or 13C-glycerol of proteins produced in Pichia pastoris. Expression of an 83 amino acid fragment of thrombomodulin with two N-linked glycosylation sites shows that fermentation is more cost effective than shake flask growth for isotopic enrichment.     

Arabinogalactan Glycosyltransferases Target to a Unique Subcellular Compartment That May Function in Unconventional Secretion in Plants

We report that fluorescently tagged arabinogalactan glycosyltransferases target not only the Golgi apparatus but also uncharacterized smaller compartments when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. Approximately 80% of AtGALT31A [Arabidopsis thaliana galactosyltransferase from family 31 (At1g32930)] was found in the small compartments, of which, 45 and 40% of AtGALT29A [Arabidopsis thaliana galactosyltransferase from family 29 (At1g08280)] and AtGlcAT14A [Arabidopsis thaliana glucuronosyltransferase from family 14 (At5g39990)] colocalized with AtGALT31A, respectively; in contrast, N‐glycosylation enzymes rarely colocalized (3–18%), implicating a role of the small compartments in a part of arabinogalactan (O‐glycan) biosynthesis rather than N‐glycan processing. The dual localization of AtGALT31A was also observed for fluorescently tagged AtGALT31A stably expressed in an Arabidopsis atgalt31a mutant background. Further, site‐directed mutagenesis of a phosphorylation site of AtGALT29A (Y144) increased the frequency of the protein being targeted to the AtGALT31A‐localized small compartments, suggesting a role of Y144 in subcellular targeting. The AtGALT31A localized to the small compartments were colocalized with neither SYP61 (syntaxin of plants 61), a marker for trans‐Golgi network (TGN), nor FM4‐64‐stained endosomes. However, 41% colocalized with EXO70E2 (Arabidopsis thaliana exocyst protein Exo70 homolog 2), a marker for exocyst‐positive organelles, and least affected by Brefeldin A and Wortmannin. Taken together, AtGALT31A localized to small compartments that are distinct from the Golgi apparatus, the SYP61‐localized TGN, FM4‐64‐stained endosomes and Wortmannin‐vacuolated prevacuolar compartments, but may be part of an unconventional protein secretory pathway represented by EXO70E2 in plants.