Decreased Expression of Transporters Reduces Folate Uptake across Renal Absorptive Surfaces in Experimental Alcoholism

In this study, we examined the mechanistic insights of folate reabsorption during alcoholism, considering enhanced renal excretion as one of the major contributing factors to alcohol-induced folate deficiency. Male Wistar rats were fed 1g/kg body weight/day ethanol (20% solution) orally for 3 months. The results on characterization of the folate transport system in renal basolateral membrane (BLM) suggested it to be a carrier-mediated, acidic pH-dependent and saturable one. Chronic ethanol feeding decreased the uptake mainly by increasing the K _m and decreasing the V _max of the transport process at the BLM surface. At the molecular level, reduced folate transport activity in renal tissue during chronic ethanol ingestion was attributable to decreased expression of reduced folate carrier (RFC) and folate binding protein (FBP). Antibodies against RFC protein revealed a parallel change in RFC expression in both brush border and BLM surfaces during chronic alcoholism. Such findings highlight the role of downregulation of RFC and FBP expression and provide mechanistic insight into the observed reduced folate transport efficiency at renal absorptive surfaces in alcoholism, which may result in low blood folate levels commonly observed in alcoholics.     

固氮蓝藻高光放氢突变种的筛选和放氢特点

作者以前报道过几种快速生长的固氮蓝藻在某种条件下能好气光放氢,其速度可以达到光合放氧速度的10—15%,但这种活性只有在不积累氢气的流动气相下或在短时间内发生。本文报道用亚硝基胍诱变所得到的Anabaena spp。Strain CA的高光放氢突变种——N9A和18A——的筛选和氢代谢特点。在达生长饱和光照以后,野生型的光放氢活性与光照强度的增加成正相关,而其吸氢活性则与之成负相关,显示高光照强度可能抑制吸氢酶的活性。无论在什么光强下,均测不到两个突变种的吸氢活性,暗示在突变种中,吸氢酶或有关系统受损伤。把细胞固相化在琼脂上,在密闭系统中,高光强下培养50个小时,两个突变种光释放和积累的氢分别为野生型的2倍(N9A)和6倍(18A),后者等于氢占气相(1%CO_2的空气)的1.8%。两个突变种在生长速度、叶绿素含量、乙炔还原活性以及光合放氧方面与野生型无明显不同。当以含50—100nM的镍离子的培养基培养时,野生型的好气净产氢活性完全丢失,其吸氢活性却增加约10倍。培养基中镍离子的存在,对两个突变种的高光放氢活性则毫无影响,而且在此情况下,仍测不出其吸氢活性。实验结果表明,这两个突变种系吸氢酶缺陷型突变种。     

四种常见杂草根系及根边缘细胞对铝胁迫的响应

以2种禾本科杂草(升马唐、稗草)和2种菊科杂草(旱莲草、野茼蒿)为实验材料,通过砂培法研究不同科属杂草根部对铝胁迫的响应.结果表明:4种杂草根边缘细胞活性均随着铝胁迫浓度和时间呈显著下降的趋势,但禾本科杂草根系边缘细胞的活性高于菊科杂草,且活性的降低幅度较小;4种杂草根相对伸长率均随铝浓度和处理时间的增加呈递减趋势,但铝对旱莲草和野茼蒿根生长的抑制程度要明显高于升马唐和稗草;根系的铝含量、游离脯氨酸含量、MDA 含量和质膜透性均随铝处理浓度和处理时间的增加而增大,且在高铝浓度(1000 mg · L~(-1))时达到最大值,但升马唐和稗草根系的铝含量、游离脯氨酸含量、MDA含量和质膜透性均显著低于旱莲草和野茼蒿,且随着铝浓度的增加,禾本科杂草根系的游离脯氨酸含量及MDA含量的变化没有达到显著水平(P＞0.05).由此说明,铝毒对杂草造成的伤害随着浓度增加和时间延长而加重;升马唐和稗草的根系通过较高的根边缘细胞活性和根相对伸长率及较低的铝含量、游离脯氨酸含量、MDA含量和质膜透性来增加其对铝的耐性;2种禾本科杂草(升马唐、稗草)的耐铝性高于2种菊科杂草(旱莲草、野茼蒿).     

大豆滞绿(stay-green)突变体诱变后代表型性状变异分析

本文利用大豆滞绿突变体Z-94320经60Co-γ射线诱变的突变体后代M5、M6代为材料,进行两年的田间性状观察记录统计,用相关性分析、主成分分析、聚类分析对其17个主要表型性状统计分析。结果表明:诱变后代产生了丰富的变异,出现了多种种皮色和子叶色,产生了非滞绿性状,形成了各种生育周期,且分离出晚熟性状。通过相关性分析发现,单株粒重与株重、茎粗、主茎荚数、分枝荚数、一粒荚数、二粒荚数、三粒荚数、瘪粒荚数、虫食数呈极显著正相关,这些性状可以对产量进行预测;主成分分析在M5代提取出“产量因子”、“株型因子”、“粒荚因子”、“茎荚因子”四个主成分,对农艺性状累计贡献率达到70.50%,M6代提取出“产量因子”、“虫害因子”、“株型因子”、“茎杆因子”四个主成分,对农艺性状累计贡献率达到71.54%;聚类分析将M5、M6代材料分别划分为6类,发现同代中各类群农艺性状情况大致相似,但是各农艺性状在两代之间的变化明显,在株重、结荚高度、单株粒重等方面M6代显著高于M5代,并筛选出两株高产品系和一株特色滞绿品系。本研究逐步完善了对滞绿大豆突变体库的构建,为滞绿大豆诱变后代的遗传多样性研究提供了基础的数据分析。     

Cloning of the lkyB (tolB) gene of Escherichia coli K12 and characterization of its product

Summary The lkyB gene of Escherichia coli K12 has been cloned from the Clarke and Carbon colony bank by selecting a ColE1 plasmid conferring cholic acid resistance to lkyB mutants. The lkyB gene was localized on hybrid plasmid pJC778 by analysis of mutated plasmids generated by Tn5 insertions. Restriction analysis and complementation studies indicated that plasmid pJC778 carried genes nadA, lkyB and sucA which mapped at min 16.5; the lkyB ⁺ allele was dominant over the lkyB207 mutant allele. Analysis of cell envelope proteins from strains carrying plasmids pJC778 (lkyB ⁺), pJC2578 or pJC2579 (lkyB::Tn5), as well as plasmid-coded proteins in a maxicell system, made it likely that the lkyB gene product was a membrane protein of molecular weight 42,000.     

fist: an Arabidopsis mutant with altered cell division planes and radial pattern disruption during embryogenesis

A T-DNA-tagged, embryo-defective Arabidopsis thaliana mutant, fist, was identified and shown to exhibit defects in nuclear positioning and cell division orientation beginning at the four-cell stage of the embryo proper. Cell division orientation was randomised, with each embryo exhibiting a different pattern. Periclinal divisions did not occur after the eight-cell embryo proper stage and fist embryos lacked a histologically distinct protoderm layer. Terminal embryos resembled globular-stage embryos, but were a disorganised mass containing 30–100 cells. Some terminal embryos (5%) developed xylem-like elements in outer surface cells, indicating that the fist mutation affects radial pattern. A soybean β-conglycinin seed storage protein gene promoter, active in wild-type embryos from heart stage to maturity, was also active in terminal fist embryos despite their disorganised globular state. This indicated that some pathways of cellular differentiation in fist embryos proceed independently of both organised division plane orientation and normal morphogenesis. Endosperm morphogenesis in seeds containing terminal fist embryos was arrested at one of three distinct developmental stages and appeared unlinked to fist embryo morphogenesis. The β-conglycinin seed storage protein gene promoter, normally active in cellularised wild-type endosperm, was inactive in fist endosperm, indicating abnormal development of fist endosperm at the biochemical level. These data indicate that the fist mutation, either directly or indirectly, results in defects in cell division orientation during the early stages of Arabidopsis embryo development. Other aspects of the fist phenotype, such as defects in endosperm development and radial pattern formation, may be related to abnormal cell division orientation or may occur as pleiotropic effects of the fist mutation. Received: 15 July 1997 / Accepted: 9 September 1997     

Effect of abscisic acid application on root isoflavonoid concentration and nodulation of wild-type and nodulation-mutant soybean plants

Isoflavonoids (daidzein, genistein, and coumestrol) are involved in induction of nod genes in Bradyrhizobium japonicum and may be involved in nodule development as well. Abscisic acid (ABA) may also impact nodulation since ABA is reportedly involved in isoflavonoid synthesis. The current study was conducted to evaluate whether ABA plays a role in differential nodulation of a hypernodulated soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) mutant and the Williams parent. Exogenous ABA application resulted in a decrease in nodule number and weight in both lines. Isoflavonoid concentrations were also markedly decreased in response to ABA application in both inoculated and noninoculated soybean roots. The inoculation treatment itself resulted in a marked increase in isoflavonoid concentrations of NOD1-3, regardless of ABA levels, while only slight increases occurred in Williams. The nodule numbers of both soybean lines across several ABA concentration treatments were highly correlated with the concentration of all three isoflavonoids. However, differences in internal levels of ABA between lines were not detected when grown in the absence of external ABA additions. It is concluded that differential nodule expression between the wild type and the hypernodulated mutant is not likely due to differential ABA synthesis.     

Two temperature-sensitive photosystem II mutants of pea

Two nuclear gene mutants of pea, chlorotica-887 and chlorina-5756, are temperature-sensitive in the development of photosystem II activity. Low temperature flourescence emission spectra of leaves show that the peak at 697 nm from the reaction center of photosystem II is present when the mutants have been grown at 18°C, but absent when they have been grown at 30°C. For leaves of chlorina-5756 grown at 18°C the relative size of the peak at 697 nm is reduced compared to that of leaves of the wild type or chlorotica-887 grown at this temperature. Flourescence induction curves of leaves from wild type plants and chlorotica-887 grown at 18°C possess two steps, while those of leaves from chlorina-5756 grown at 18°C or 30°C and chlorotica-887 grown at 30°C show at fast rise to the maximal level of fluorescence. Measurements on chloroplasts isolated from the mutants indicated that the photosystem I activity per g leaf material is comparable for plants grown at 18°C and plants grown at 30°C. In contrast, no photosystem II activity was detected when the mutants had been grown at 30°C. It is suggested that these mutants are affected in a component required for the assembly of functional photosystem II complexes.     

ADAMTSL6β promotes fibrillin‐1 microfibril assembly,which is possibly mediated via binding through the third thrombospondin type I domain to fibrillin‐1

Fibrillin‐1 is the major component of extracellular matrix microfibrils. Microfibrils dysfunction is responsible for the onset of various connective tissue diseases, including Marfan syndrome. Although ADAMTSL (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs‐like) 6β is one of the fibrillin‐1 binding proteins, the detailed mechanism underlying the involvement of ADAMTSL6β in microfibril formation remains unclear. In this study, we created deletion mutants of ADAMTSL6β and examined their interactions with fibrillin‐1 assembly. Pull‐down assay of the ADAMTSL6β deletion mutants and fibrillin‐1 protein revealed that ADAMTSL6β binds to fibrillin‐1 through the third thrombospondin type I domain. Furthermore, we observed that formation of fibrillin‐1 matrix assembly was enhanced in MG63 cells, expressing full‐length ADAMTSL6β, when compared with that of wild type MG63 cells. While MG63 cells expressing Δ TSP3‐ADAMTSL6β form showed enhanced assembly formation, Δ TSP2‐ADAMTSL6β form did not enhance that, indicating the difference between Δ TSP2‐Δ TSP3 has a critical role for fibrillin‐1 assembly. As the difference of Δ TSP2‐Δ TSP3 is the third thrombospondin type I domain, we concluded that the third thrombospondin type I domain of ADAMTSL6β influence the microfibril formation. Our data are the functional presentation of the biological role of ADAMTSL6β in the process of microfibril formation.