海洋浮游藻类无机碳利用机理的研究

为了认识海洋浮游藻类在碳充足和碳受限条件下对水体中溶解无机碳(DIC)的利用方式与可能机理,对13种海洋浮游藻类在不同pH和CO2浓度及不同DIC条件下细胞外碳酸酐酶(CA)的活性进行了分析测定.结果显示:13种藻中,只有Amphidinium carterae和Prorocentrum minimum在碳充足条件下具细胞外CA活性.Melosira sp.、Phaeodactylum tricornutum、Skeletonema costatum、Thalassiosira rotula、Emiliania huxleyi和Pleurochrysis carterae则在碳受限条件下才具细胞外CA活性.Chaetoceros compressus、Glenodinium foliaceum、Coccolithus pelagicus、 Gephrocapsa oceanica和Heterosigma akashiwo即使在碳受限条件下也未检测到细胞外CA活性.应用封闭系统中pH漂移技术和阴离子交换抑制剂4′4′-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2-disulfonic acid (DIDS)等的研究表明,Coc. pelagicus和G. oceanica可通过阴离子交换机制进行HCO-3的直接利用.H. akashiwo没有潜在的HCO-3直接利用或细胞外CA催化的HCO-3利用.     

重金属（铜、镉、锌和铅）对海水无机碳体系影响的模拟研究

通过室内模拟实验,研究了孔石莼和重金属(铜、镉、锌和铅)共同作用下,海水无机碳体系及碳源汇格局的变化.结果表明,t=7d时,无机碳体系各参数的变化幅度(Δ)与重金属种类和浓度有关.与对照相比,低浓度(<1μmol · L-1)的重金属添加组中,DIC、HCO-3 和PCO2的下降幅度都很明显(P<0.01* *).当铜、镉浓度大于"转折浓度"后, DIC、HCO-3和Pco2 均要大于初始值,其增幅随着重金属浓度的增加而增大.对于锌和铅,二者浓度高达50μmol · L-1时,水体中无机碳各参数与初始值相比仍呈现下降趋势.此外,当重金属浓度和种类不同时,水体中的碳源汇格局亦做不同的变化.当铜和镉浓度小于转折浓度时,水体表现为大气CO2的汇;而当铜和镉超出转折浓度时,水体会由大气CO2的汇过渡到源,并且当水体成为CO2的源后,其CO2的释放量是随着铜、镉浓度的增加而增大.在本实验设计的各浓度锌、铅添加组水体始终表现为碳汇,但当锌、铅浓度分别高于15μmol · L-1和20μmol · L-1时,其碳汇强度开始小于对照组(P<0.05*).     

Steady-state kinetics of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase from Trypanosoma cruzi

The kinetic mechanism for the reaction catalyzed by the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) from Trypanosoma cruzi was analyzed to determine the feasibility of designing a parasite-specific mechanism-based inhibitor of this enzyme. The results show that the HPRT from T. cruzi follows an essentially ordered bi–bi reaction, and like its human counterpart also likely forms a dead end complex with purine substrates and the product pyrophosphate. Computational fitting of the kinetics data to multiple initial velocity equations gave results that are consistent with the dead end complex arising when the hypoxanthine- or guanine-bound form of the enzyme binds pyrophosphate rather than the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate substrate of the productive forward reaction. Limited proteolytic digestion was employed to provide additional support for formation of the dead end complex and to estimate the K_d values for substrates of both the forward and reverse reactions. Due to similarities with the kinetic mechanism of the human HPRT, the results reported here for the HPRT from T. cruzi indicate that the design of a mechanism-based inhibitor of the trypanosomal HPRT, that would not also inhibit the human enzyme, may be difficult. However, the results also show that a potent selective inhibitor of the trypanosomal HPRT might be achieved via the design of a bi-substrate type inhibitor that incorporates analogs of moieties for a purine base and pyrophosphate.     

不同施肥模式下稻田土壤微生物生物量磷对土壤有机碳和磷素变化的响应

通过15年的红壤稻田长期定位试验,研究了不同施肥模式下土壤微生物生物量磷(MB-P)对土壤有机碳和磷素变化的响应.结果表明红壤稻田有机碳源的长期投入和土壤有机碳的逐年升高使土壤微生物生物量碳(MB-C)维持在较高水平(＞800 mg·kg-1),是稻田土壤MB-P(＞16.0 mg·kg-1)提高的主要原因.长期不施磷肥条件下,土壤全磷含量与试验前相比显著降低(P＜0.05),而土壤有机磷含量平均提高了29.3%;土壤亏损的磷形态主要是无机磷(Al-P、Fe-P、Ca-P和O-P),其中Al-P含量处于最低水平(平均0.5 mg·kg-1).另外,长期不施磷肥土壤的MB-P远高于Olsen法提取态磷(Olsen-P)(＜7.0 mg·kg-1),而稻田土壤MB-P与Al-P呈显著相关(P＜0.05),表明土壤微生物对稻田土壤Al-P、Fe-P、Ca-P和O-P的利用是促进其向有效磷方向转化的关键途径.磷肥配合有机养分循环利用不仅提高了土壤磷库的积累,而且通过土壤微生物的活化有效地提高了土壤磷的有效性.     

土壤水分和氮添加对华北平原高产农田有机碳矿化的影响

通过105 d的恒温(25℃)控湿室内培养方法,探讨了华北平原高产粮田土壤有机碳矿化特征以及水分和有机、无机氮输入对其影响。试验设4个肥料添加水平和4个水分梯度,分别为对照(S0)、仅添加无机氮(尿素)(S1)、无机氮和有机氮(鸡粪)配施(S2)以及仅添加有机氮(S3)和25%(田间持水量;M0)、50%(M1)、75%(M2)和100%(M3)共16个处理,每处理3次重复。结果表明,各处理有机碳矿化速率均在培养后1 d达第1高峰,之后直线下降,培养7 d时下降幅度达57.2%—75.0%,培养20—30 d时出现第2高峰。有机碳累积矿化量有208.8—1161 mg/kg,主要集中在前30 d,可占整个培养期的59.1%—69.9%,105 d的净矿化率为0.07%—2.01%。根据双指数方程模拟结果,研究了土壤潜在矿化碳库(C1+C2),其中活性碳库(C1)和惰性碳库(C2)分别为53.0—135.1 mg/kg和156.9—1069 mg/kg,潜在矿化率为1.75%—9.66%。土壤含水量显著影响有机碳矿化,且与潜在矿化碳库呈二次函数关系(P0.05)。田间持水量25%—100%范围内,随着土壤含水量的升高,有机碳矿化速率呈增加趋势,但增幅降低,其中M2(田间持水量75%)的有机碳净矿化率最高。有机碳矿化量与土壤微生物碳和矿质氮含量呈线性正相关(P0.05),保持氮水平(200 kg N/hm2)相同,有机氮(鸡粪)和无机氮(尿素)均显著促进土壤有机碳矿化,但两者间差异不显著(P0.05),且有机氮和无机氮对有机碳矿化的影响均与土壤含水量有显著交互作用(P0.05)。     

Effects of ocean acidification on growth and physiology of Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) in a rockpool‐scenario

Rising atmospheric CO₂‐concentrations will have severe consequences for a variety of biological processes. We investigated the responses of the green alga Ulva lactuca (Linnaeus) to rising CO₂‐concentrations in a rockpool scenario. U. lactuca was cultured under aeration with air containing either preindustrial pCO₂ (280 μatm) or the pCO₂ predicted by the end of the 21st century (700 μatm) for 31 days. We addressed the following question: Will elevated CO₂‐concentrations affect photosynthesis (net photosynthesis, maximum relative electron transport rate (rETR(max)), maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm), pigment composition) and growth of U. lactuca in rockpools with limited water exchange? Two phases of the experiment were distinguished: In the initial phase (day 1–4) the Seawater Carbonate System (SWCS) of the culture medium could be adjusted to the selected atmospheric pCO₂ condition by continuous aeration with target pCO₂ values. In the second phase (day 4–31) the SWCS was largely determined by the metabolism of the growing U. lactuca biomass. In the initial phase, Fv/Fm and rETR(max) were only slightly elevated at high CO₂‐concentrations, whereas growth was significantly enhanced. After 31 days the Chl a content of the thalli was significantly lower under future conditions and the photosynthesis of thalli grown under preindustrial conditions was not dependent on external carbonic anhydrase. Biomass increased significantly at high CO₂‐concentrations. At low CO₂‐concentrations most adult thalli disintegrated between day 14 and 21, whereas at high CO₂‐concentrations most thalli remained integer until day 31. Thallus disintegration at low CO₂‐concentrations was mirrored by a drastic decline in seawater dissolved inorganic carbon and HCO₃^?. Accordingly, the SWCS differed significantly between the treatments. Our results indicated a slight enhancement of photosynthetic performance and significantly elevated growth of U. lactuca at future CO₂‐concentrations. The accelerated thallus disintegration at high CO₂‐concentrations under conditions of limited water exchange indicates additional CO₂ effects on the life cycle of U. lactuca when living in rockpools.     

Metal-free PP<Subscript>i</Subscript> activates hydrolysis of MgPP<Subscript>i</Subscript> by an <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> inorganic pyrophosphatase

Soluble inorganic pyrophosphatase from Escherichia coli (E-PPase) is a hexamer forming under acidic conditions the active trimers. We have earlier found that the hydrolysis of a substrate (MgPP(i)) by the trimers as well as a mutant E-PPase Asp26Ala did not obey the Michaelis-Menten equation. To explain this fact, a model has been proposed implying the existence of, aside from an active site, an effector site that can bind PP(i) and thus accelerate MgPP(i) hydrolysis. In this paper, we demonstrate that the noncompetitive activation of MgPP(i) hydrolysis by metal-free PP(i) can also explain kinetic features of hexameric forms of both the native enzyme and the specially obtained mutant E-PPase with a substituted residue Glu145 in a flexible loop 144-149. Aside from PP(i), its non-hydrolyzable analog methylene diphosphonate can also occupy the effector site resulting in the acceleration of the substrate hydrolysis. Our finding that two moles of [32P]PP(i) can bind with each enzyme subunit is direct evidence for the existence of the effector site in the native E-PPase.     

Endopolyphosphatase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoes post-translational activations to produce short-chain polyphosphates

Endopolyphosphatase (Ppn), responsible for cleavage of long chain inorganic polyphosphate (poly P) of several hundred residues to generate progressively shorter chains, has been identified in mammalian cells and purified from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Disruption of the encoding gene, PHM5, in S. cerevisiae resulted in a mutant that showed limited growth and failure to survive in a minimal medium. The limited digestion products of the yeast enzyme Ppn1 judged to be P(3) and P(60) have now, with the homogeneous enzyme and improved separation methods, been demonstrated to be P(i) and P(3). Ppn1, a homotetramer of a 35-kDa subunit, is of vacuolar origin and requires protease activation of a 78 kDa (674-aa) precursor polypeptide (prePpn1). The protease-processed Ppn1 has been purified 3800-fold to homogeneity and the protease cleavage sites determined. Both termini of prePpn1 and the post-translational modification of N-glycosylations are essential for the protease-mediated maturation of Ppn1.     

Calcium and mitochondria

The literature suggests that the physiological functions for which mitochondria sequester Ca(2+) are (1). to stimulate and control the rate of oxidative phosphorylation, (2). to induce the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) and perhaps apoptotic cell death, and (3). to modify the shape of cytosolic Ca(2+) pulses or transients. There is strong evidence that intramitochondrial Ca(2+) controls both the rate of ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation and induction of the MPT. Since the results of these processes are so divergent, the signals inducing them must not be ambiguous. Furthermore, as pointed out by Balaban [J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 34 (2002 ) 11259-11271], for any repetitive physiological process dependent on intramitochondrial free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](m)), a kind of intramitochondrial homeostasis must exist so that Ca(2+) influx during the pulse is matched by Ca(2+) efflux during the period between pulses to avoid either Ca(2+) buildup or depletion. In addition, mitochondrial Ca(2+) transport modifies both spatial and temporal aspects of cytosolic Ca(2+) signaling. Here, we look at the amounts of Ca(2+) necessary to mediate the functions of mitochondrial Ca(2+) transport and at the mechanisms of transport themselves in order to set up a hypothesis about how the mechanisms carry out their roles. The emphasis here is on isolated mitochondria and on general mitochondrial properties in order to focus on how mitochondria alone may function to fulfill their physiological roles even though the interactions of mitochondria with other organelles, particularly with endoplasmic and sarcoplasmic reticulum [Sci. STKE re1 (2004) 1-9], may also influence this story.     

Physiologic and pathologic functions of the NPP nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase family focusing on NPP1 in calcification

The catabolism of ATP and other nucleotides participates partly in the important function of nucleotide salvage by activated cells and also in removal or de novo generation of compounds including ATP, ADP, and adenosine that stimulate purinergic signaling. Seven nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase NPP family members have been identified to date. These isoenzymes, related by up conservation of catalytic domains and certain other modular domains, exert generally non-redundant functions via distinctions in substrates and/or cellular localization. But they share the capacity to hydrolyze phosphodiester or pyrophosphate bonds, though generally acting on distinct substrates that include nucleoside triphosphates, lysophospholipids and choline phosphate esters. PP_i generation from nucleoside triphosphates, catalyzed by NPP1 in tissues including cartilage, bone, and artery media smooth muscle cells, supports normal tissue extracellular PP_i levels. Balance in PP_i generation relative to PP_i degradation by pyrophosphatases holds extracellular PP_i levels in check. Moreover, physiologic levels of extracellular PP_i suppress hydroxyapatite crystal growth, but concurrently providing a reservoir for generation of pro-mineralizing P_i. Extracellular PP_i levels must be supported by cells in mineralization-competent tissues to prevent pathologic calcification. This support mechanism becomes dysregulated in aging cartilage, where extracellular PP_i excess, mediated in part by upregulated NPP1 expression stimulates calcification. PP_i generated by NPP1modulates not only hydroxyapatite crystal growth but also chondrogenesis and expression of the mineralization regulator osteopontin. This review pays particular attention to the role of NPP1-catalyzed PP_i generation in the pathogenesis of certain disorders associated with pathologic calcification.