Proteomic analysis of microvesicles from plasma of healthy donors reveals high individual variability

Healthy blood plasma is required for several therapeutic procedures. To maximize successful therapeutic outcomes it is critical to control the quality of blood plasma. Clearly initiatives to improve the safety of blood transfusions will have a high economical and social impact. A detailed knowledge of the composition of healthy blood plasma is essential to facilitate such improvements. Apart from free proteins, lipids and metabolites, blood plasma also contains cell-derived microvesicles, including exosomes and microparticles from several different cellular origins. In this study, we have purified microvesicles smaller than 220nm from plasma of healthy donors and performed proteomic, ultra-structural, biochemical and functional analyses. We have detected 161 microvesicle-associated proteins, including many associated with the complement and coagulation signal-transduction cascades. Several proteases and protease inhibitors associated with acute phase responses were present, indicating that these microvesicles may be involved in these processes. There was a remarkably high variability in the protein content of plasma from different donors. In addition, we report that this variability could be relevant for their interaction with cellular systems. This work provides valuable information on plasma microvesicles and a foundation to understand microvesicle biology and clinical implications.     

非嗜食植物乙醇提取物对小菜蛾种群控制作用评价

通过建立实验种群生命表和自然种群生命表,应用种群趋势指数(indexofpopulationtrend,I)和干扰作用控制指数(interferenceindexofpopulationcontrol,IIPC),评价花椒(Zanthoxylumbungeanum)、细叶桉(Eucalyptustereticornis)、烟草(Nicotianatabacum)、构树(Broussonetiapapyrifera)、羊蹄甲(Bauhiniavariegata)、假莲翘(Durantarepens)、飞扬草(Euphorbiahirta)、茶枯(Camelliaoleifera)8种非嗜食植物乙醇提取物对小菜蛾实验种群的控制作用,以及细叶桉、烟草、茶枯3种非嗜食植物乙醇提取物及其混合液对小菜蛾自然种群的控制作用.室内试验结果表明,在各种植物乙醇提取物作用下,I值从小到大的顺序为4.4842(细叶桉)、5.3702(花椒)、5.5199(飞扬草)、6.1609(假莲翘)、6.8937(羊蹄甲)8.0945(烟草)、9.8052(茶枯)、11.1382(构树),对照的I值为69.8964;IIPC值从小到大的顺序为0.0642(细叶桉)、0.0768(花椒)、0.0790(飞扬草)、0.0881(假莲翘)、0.0986(羊蹄甲)、0.1158(烟草)、0.1403(茶枯)、0.1594(构树),说明供试植物提取物对小菜蛾实验种群增长都有一定的抑制和干扰作用.小菜蛾自然种群生命表研究结果表明,在各种植物乙醇提取物作用下,I值从小到大的顺序为5.1997(细叶桉)、7.4160(烟草)、7.3644(茶枯)和3.1399(混合液),对照的I值为21.6232;IIPC值从小到大的顺序为混合液(0.1608)、细叶桉(0.2405)、茶枯(0.3549)、烟草(0.3695),说明供试植物提取物都能明显降低种群趋势指数,在一定程度上抑制和干扰小菜蛾自然种群增长,在生产中有一定的应用前景.     

The effect of the armored scale,Rhizaspidiotus donacis (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), on shoot growth of the invasive plant Arundo donax (Poaceae: Arundinoideae)

The effect of feeding by the armored scale, Rhizaspidiotus donacis (Leonardi, 1920) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) on the growth of the plant Arundo donax L. (Poaceae) was evaluated under field conditions in its native range. The study was designed to evaluate the impact of R. donacis, a candidate agent for biological control of A. donax which is invasive in arid riparian ecosystems of the Southwestern USA and Mexico. The study was carried out at five A. donax sites in the Province of Alicante, Spain, differing in altitude and climate. At each site, 30 infested lateral shoots were selected and 15 were randomly treated monthly with imidacloprid insecticide. Shoot lengths were measured monthly over a 1-year period in a comparative growth analysis. Shoots infested with R. donacis had an over 2-fold reduced growth rate as compared to treated shoots. Growth of shoots varied by site, and the effect of R. donacis on growth was most pronounced in the late spring, when mature females produced first instar scale crawlers. The impact of R. donacis on A. donax growth under field conditions in the native range, combined with its narrow host specificity, indicate that R. donacis is a promising candidate for biological control of A. donax in North America and other areas invaded by this weed.     

Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory

Reinvasion of pest animals after incomplete control is a major challenge for invasive species management, yet little is known about the behavioural and demographic categories of reinvaders or the mechanisms that drive population‐level responses to control. To understand the fine‐scale mechanisms of reinvasion, we examined changes in demography, movements and activity patterns of reinvading alien black rats Rattus rattus in the short (4 weeks) and longer term (3 months) following localised experimental pest removal. Using recovery and invasion theory, we tested three hypothesised mechanisms of reinvasion: the ‘in situ effect’, the ‘trickle effect’ and the ‘vacuum effect’. We created space for reinvasion by removing black rats from the core of replicate 1‐ha plots (short‐term experiment) and later by removing animals from the entire plot (longer‐term experiment). Reinvaders were characterised as dispersing juveniles, floaters or neighbours. Radio‐tracking quantified home range changes for adjacent resident animals (short‐term experiment only). In the short term, there was no net influx of rats after targeted removal. Radio‐tracked residents’ movements were highly variable and displayed no directional changes after nearby conspecifics were removed. However, in the longer term, removal led to slow population recovery through a mix of reinvading floaters, dispersing juveniles and shifting residents. These responses best support a hypothesis of reinvasion through a trickle effect, with rats being extremely mobile and having a high degree of population turnover, even in untreated sites. Our findings provide the first test of reinvasion theory at a small scale, demonstrating the importance of understanding the differing categories of reinvaders and mechanisms of reinvasion after population control. These mechanisms drive the rate of population recovery and, in turn, should help determine which strategy of pest control should be used, and the frequency with which they are implemented, in order to slow the recovery of pest populations.     

Conformational Changes and Ligand Recognition of Escherichia colid-Xylose Binding Protein Revealed

ATP binding cassette transport systems account for most import of necessary nutrients in bacteria. The periplasmic binding component (or an equivalent membrane-anchored protein) is critical to recognizing cognate ligand and directing it to the appropriate membrane permease. Here we report the X-ray structures of d-xylose binding protein from Escherichia coli in ligand-free open form, ligand-bound open form, and ligand-bound closed form at 2.15 Å, 2.2 Å, and 2.2 Å resolutions, respectively. The ligand-bound open form is the first such structure to be reported at high resolution; the combination of the three different forms from the same protein furthermore gives unprecedented details concerning the conformational changes involved in binding protein function. As is typical of the structural family, the protein has two similar globular domains, which are connected by a three-stranded hinge region. The open liganded structure shows that xylose binds first to the C-terminal domain, with only very small conformational changes resulting. After a 34° closing motion, additional interactions are formed with the N-terminal domain; changes in this domain are larger and serve to make the structure more ordered near the ligand. An analysis of the interactions suggests why xylose is the preferred ligand. Furthermore, a comparison with the most closely related proteins in the structural family shows that the conformational changes are distinct in each type of binding protein, which may have implications for how the individual proteins act in concert with their respective membrane permeases.