新型冠状病毒肺炎与mNGS技术

新型冠状病毒肺炎(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID 19)是指2019新型冠状病毒(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2,SARS CoV 2)感染导致的肺炎。截至2020年5月21日已造成全球超过496万人感染、30万人以上死亡。宏基因组下一代测序(metagenomic next generation sequencing,mNGS)技术是在发现和检测新冠肺炎中发挥重要作用的技术。本文介绍了mNGS在新冠肺炎疫情中的作用及核心技术特点,并为mNGS在抗击全球疫情中的应用做出技术性归纳总结。     

Immobilization of Kluyveromyces marxianus cells containing inulinase activity in open pore gelatin matrix: 1. Preparation and enzymatic properties

Kluyveromyces marxianus cells with inulinase (2,1-β-d-fructan fructanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.7) activity have been immobilized in open pore gelatin pellets with retention of > 90% of the original activity. The open pore gelatin pellets with entrapped yeast cells were obtained by selective leaching out of calcium alginate from the composite matrix, followed by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. Enzymatic properties of the gelatin-entrapped cells were studied and compared with those of the free cells. The immobilization procedure did not alter the optimum pH of the enzymatic preparation; the optimum for both free and immobilized cells was pH 6.0. The optimum temperature of inulin hydrolysis was 10°C higher for immobilized cells. Activation energies for the reaction with the free and immobilized cells were calculated to be 6.35 and 2.26 kcal mol^?1, respectively. K_m values were 8 mM inulin for the free cells and 9.52 mM for the immobilized cells. The thermal stability of the enzyme was improved by immobilization. Free and immobilized cells showed fairly stable activities between pH 4 and 7, but free cell inulinase was more labile at pH values below 4 and above 7 compared to the immobilized form. There was no loss of enzyme activity of the immobilized cells on storage at 4°C for 30 days. Over the same period at room temperature only 6% of the original activity was lost.     

人工神经网络在米曲霉菌体固定化研究中的应用

在液体培养基中,将米曲霉3042菌体培养成直径为1～2mm、菌壁上含较高氨基酰化酶浓度的菌丝球,以甲醛为交联剂,明胶为酶活性保护剂对米曲霉菌丝球进行固定化研究。在正交实验L₁₆(4⁵)的基础上,选用结构为410-15-1的BP(Back propagation)人工神经网络,对固定化工艺条件进行优化和预测,得到了优化的固定化条件。实验测定在此条件下制备的固定化米曲霉菌体比酶活为1500u,比酶活保留率达到83%,说明人工神经网络可以用于米曲霉菌体固定化工艺条件的优化。     

Immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde followed by entrapment in alginate beads

Candida rugosa lipase was immobilized by first cross-linking with glutaraldehyde and then entrapping in calcium alginate beads. The presence of 2-propanol during cross-linking markedly improved the enzyme activity and activity recovery. Maximal enzyme activity (2.1?mmol?h^?1?g^?1 immobilized conjugate, wet weight) and activity recovery (117%) were observed at 30% (v/v) 2-propanol for hydrolysis of olive oil, which were 1.7 and 2.0 times higher than those of the immobilized enzyme prepared in the absence of 2-propanol. The half-life of the immobilized lipase prepared by entrapment after cross-linking in 30% 2-propanol was 1.6 times higher than that prepared by entrapment of the native lipase without cross-linking and 2-propanol pretreatment. The enantioselectivity of the former was 11 times higher than that of the latter for hydrolysis of racemic ketoprofen ethyl ester.     

Enhanced stabilization of mungbean thiol protease immobilized on glutaraldehyde-activated chitosan beads

A thiol protease purified from mungbean seedlings was immobilized on chitosan beads cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. The yield of the immobilized enzyme was maximum (～99%) at 1% concentration each of chitosan and glutaraldehyde. The immobilized enzyme showed reusability for 15 batch reactions. Immobilization shifted the optimum pH of the enzyme to a more acidic range and enhanced its stability both at acidic as well as alkaline pH values compared to the free enzyme. The stability of the enzyme to temperature and in aqueous non-conventional medium (ethanol and DMSO) was significantly improved by the immobilization process. The immobilized enzyme exhibited mass transfer limitation reflected by a higher apparent K_m value. This study produced an immobilized biocatalyst having improved characteristics and better operational stability than the soluble enzyme. The increase in stability in the presence of high concentrations of ethanol and DMSO may make it useful for catalyzing organic reactions such as trans-esterification and trans-amidation similar to other cysteine proteinases.     

Investigating Receptor-ligand Systems of the Cellulosome with AFM-based Single-molecule Force Spectroscopy

Cellulosomes are discrete multienzyme complexes used by a subset of anaerobic bacteria and fungi to digest lignocellulosic substrates. Assembly of the enzymes onto the noncatalytic scaffold protein is directed by interactions among a family of related receptor-ligand pairs comprising interacting cohesin and dockerin modules. The extremely strong binding between cohesin and dockerin modules results in dissociation constants in the low picomolar to nanomolar range, which may hamper accurate off-rate measurements with conventional bulk methods. Single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) with the atomic force microscope measures the response of individual biomolecules to force, and in contrast to other single-molecule manipulation methods (i.e. optical tweezers), is optimal for studying high-affinity receptor-ligand interactions because of its ability to probe the high-force regime (>120 pN). Here we present our complete protocol for studying cellulosomal protein assemblies at the single-molecule level. Using a protein topology derived from the native cellulosome, we worked with enzyme-dockerin and carbohydrate binding module-cohesin (CBM-cohesin) fusion proteins, each with an accessible free thiol group at an engineered cysteine residue. We present our site-specific surface immobilization protocol, along with our measurement and data analysis procedure for obtaining detailed binding parameters for the high-affinity complex. We demonstrate how to quantify single subdomain unfolding forces, complex rupture forces, kinetic off-rates, and potential widths of the binding well. The successful application of these methods in characterizing the cohesin-dockerin interaction responsible for assembly of multidomain cellulolytic complexes is further described.     

单细胞技术进展及其在植物研究中的应用

多细胞生物体的生存依赖于不同类型细胞特异性的功能分工,不同类型的细胞尽管基因组相同,但有其独特的发育过程和应对环境变化的能力。生物学的一大挑战就是揭示基因如何在正确的位置、正确的时间表达到正确的水平,最近出现了很多通过细胞类型特异性方法研究单细胞组学的工具,这些新技术使我们能通过空前分辨率,理解多细胞生物体内不同类型的单个细胞基因表达特点及其适应环境变化的机制。单细胞样品的获取一直是单细胞研究的一大技术瓶颈,因此本文将以如何获得起始材料为重点,探讨单细胞研究的样品标记、单细胞分离及获取、组学数据分析和结果验证等技术方法及其在植物研究中的应用。     

Silanized palygorskite for lipase immobilization

Lipase from Candida lipolytica has been immobilized on 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane-modified palygorskite support. Scanning electron micrographs proved the covalently immobilization of C. lipolytica lipase on the palygorskite support through glutaraldehyde. Using an optimized immobilization protocol, a high activity of 3300 U/g immobilized lipase was obtained. Immobilized lipase retained activity over wider ranges of temperature and pH than those of the free enzyme. The optimum pH of the immobilized lipase was at pH 7.0–8.0, while the optimum pH of free lipase was at 7.0. The retained activity of the immobilized enzyme was improved both at lower and higher pH in comparison to the free enzyme. The immobilized enzyme retained more than 70% activity at 40 °C, while the free enzyme retained only 30% activity. The immobilization stabilized the enzyme with 81% retention of activity after 10 weeks at 30 °C whereas most of the free enzyme was inactive after a week. The immobilized enzyme retains high activity after eight cycles. The kinetic constants of the immobilized and free lipase were also determined. The K_m and V_max values of immobilized lipase were 0.0117 mg/ml and 4.51 μmol/(mg min), respectively.     

Production of Biodiesel Using Immobilized Lipase—A Critical Review

Increase in volume of biodiesel production in the world scenario proves that biodiesel is accepted as an alternative to conventional fuel. Production of biodiesel using alkaline catalyst has been commercially implemented due to its high conversion and low production time. For the product and process development of biodiesel, enzymatic transesterification has been suggested to produce a high purity product with an economic, environment friendly process at mild reaction conditions. The enzyme cost being the main hurdle can be overcome by immobilization. Immobilized enzyme, which has been successfully used in various fields over the soluble counterpart, could be employed in biodiesel production with the aim of reducing the production cost by reusing the enzyme. This review attempts to provide an updated compilation of the studies reported on biodiesel production by using lipase immobilized through various techniques and the parameters, which affect their functionality.     

磷酸盐修复重金属污染土壤的研究进展

从研究方法、反应机理以及风险评价等方面综述了磷酸盐修复重金属污染土壤的研究进展,分析和讨论了其中存在的问题和不足,提出了今后加强研究的重点。目前磷酸盐修复重金属污染土壤时,使用的主要研究方法有化学形态提取法、化学平衡形态模型法和光谱及显微镜技术,各个方法都有其优缺点,应该结合使用并探索新方法。磷酸盐稳定重金属的作用机理主要有3个:磷酸盐诱导重金属吸附、磷酸盐和重金属生成沉淀或矿物和磷酸盐表面吸附重金属,但磷酸盐与重金属反应的机理十分复杂,人们尚不完全清楚,因此难以有效区分和评价诱导吸附机理和沉淀机理或其它固定机理,相应地对磷酸盐修复重金属的长期稳定性难以预测。磷酸盐修复重金属污染土壤时由于其较高的施用量可能会造成磷的积聚从而引发一些环境风险,如磷淋失造成水体富营养化,营养失衡造成作物必需的中量和微量元素缺乏以及土壤酸化等。所以应该谨慎选择磷肥种类和用量,最好是水溶性磷肥和难溶性磷肥配合、磷肥与石灰物质等配合施用。今后应着重研究磷酸盐与重金属相互作用的机理区分和评价;关注磷酸盐修复重金属污染土壤时存在的潜在风险,特别是加强植物长期不断吸收磷或其它环境条件变化致使土壤磷素持续减少过程中稳定的重金属溶解性和移动性的研究,磷酸盐修复重金属污染土壤的长期田间实践等。