Temperature‐compensated cell production rate and elongation zone length in the root of Arabidopsis thaliana

To understand how root growth responds to temperature, we used kinematic analysis to quantify division and expansion parameters in the root of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plants were grown at temperatures from 15 to 30 °C, given continuously from germination. Over these temperatures, root length varies more than threefold in the wild type but by only twofold in a double mutant for phytochrome‐interacting factor 4 and 5. For kinematics, the spatial profile of velocity was obtained with new software, Stripflow. We find that 30 °C truncates the elongation zone and curtails cell production, responses that probably reflect the elicitation of a common pathway for handling severe stresses. Curiously, rates of cell division at all temperatures are closely correlated with rates of radial expansion. Between 15 to 25 °C, root growth rate, maximal elemental elongation rate, and final cell length scale positively with temperature whereas the length of the meristem scales negatively. Non‐linear temperature scaling characterizes meristem cell number, time to transit through either meristem or elongation zone, and average cell division rate. Surprisingly, the length of the elongation zone and the total rate of cell production are temperature invariant, constancies that have implications for our understanding of how the underlying cellular processes are integrated.     

升温突变对川西不同坡向和海拔岷江冷杉径向生长的影响

坡向和海拔作为重要的地形因子决定着林木立地条件的水热分配,为揭示川西地区升温突变前后制约岷江冷杉(Abies fargesii var.faxoniana)径向生长的气候因子变化及其在坡向和海拔上的响应格局,通过树木年轮学方法构建了4个坡向(NE、N、NW和W)的3个海拔梯度(≥3650 m)共12个岷江冷杉的标准年表,采用皮尔逊相关分析和回归分析的方法分析了升温突变前后(1980年)限制岷江冷杉径向生长主要气候因子的变化及径向生长的变化趋势。结果表明：升温前,生长季(7月)低温和降水、前一年冬季(10—11月)最高温和平均温制约岷江冷杉的生长,而当年春季(3月)温度的升高和生长季前(5月)较多的降水不利于其生长。升温后,4个坡向的林线、东北坡中海拔,西坡中、低海拔岷江冷杉的径向生长与大部分月温度表现为正相关关系,且上述样点树木径向生长明显加速。1980年升温前,制约不同样点岷江冷杉径向生长的气候因子具有一致性——坡向和海拔对其径向生长与温度相关关系的干扰和影响较小。增温促进了各坡向林线岷江冷杉的径向生长,且偏阳坡在更大的海拔范围内对增温表现出正反馈。研究对未来气候变化背景下川西不同坡...     

气囊在细菌中的生理功能、生物合成及应用研究进展

气囊是在水生细菌中广泛存在的一种具有刚性中空蛋白结构的特殊细胞器,不仅为水生细菌提供浮力,还对其在不利环境或应激条件下的生存至关重要.近期研究发现在其他非水生细菌如沙雷氏菌和链霉菌中也存在气囊结构,而且表现出不同的生理功能.来源于不同种属细菌的气囊生物合成基因簇具有各自鲜明的特征,其生物合成和调控机制也有所不同.本综述...     

不同类型杂交水稻组合及其亲本苗期同工酶位点分析

对6个杂交水稻组合及其亲本苗期14种酶的同工酶进行检测,并对其中较为清晰稳定的酶带进行了位点分析,以探讨杂种优势遗传基础。共获得了28个位点的相关资料,包括每个位点的性质、表型多态性和每个位点所编码的酶活性及酶带平均迁移率。所有供试材料在其中25个位点上均未表现出多态性,只有部分组合与其亲本在Est-4、Amy-1、Aat-2等3个位点上存在多态性,其中有81．8％的差异组合其酶带表现出共显性特征。对共显性与杂种优势的关系进行了探讨。     

Onset of rosette formation during spontaneous neural differentiation of hESC and hiPSC colonies

In vitro neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is an advantageous system for studying early neural development. The process of early neural differentiation in hESCs begins by initiation of primitive neuroectoderm, which is manifested by rosette formation, with consecutive differentiation into neural progenitors and early glial-like cells. In this study, we examined the involvement of early neural markers – OTX2, PAX6, Sox1, Nestin, NR2F1, NR2F2, and IRX2 – in the onset of rosette formation, during spontaneous neural differentiation of hESC and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) colonies. This is in contrast to the conventional way of studying rosette formation, which involves induction of neuronal differentiation and the utilization of embryoid bodies. Here we show that OTX2 is highly expressed at the onset of rosette formation, when rosettes comprise no more than 3–5 cells, and that its expression precedes that of established markers of early neuronal differentiation. Importantly, the rise of OTX2 expression in these cells coincides with the down-regulation of the pluripotency marker OCT4. Lastly, we show that cells derived from rosettes that emerge during spontaneous differentiation of hESCs or hiPSCs are capable of differentiating into dopaminergic neurons in vitro, and into mature-appearing pyramidal and serotonergic neurons weeks after being injected into the motor cortex of NOD-SCID mice.     

Minimizing false positives in kinase virtual screens

In spite of recent improvements in docking and scoring methods, high false-positive rates remain a common issue in structure-based virtual screening. In this study, the distinctive features of false positives in kinase virtual screens were investigated. A series of retrospective virtual screens on kinase targets was performed on specifically designed test sets, each combining true ligands and experimentally confirmed inactive compounds. A systematic analysis of the docking poses generated for the top-ranking compounds highlighted key aspects differentiating true hits from false positives. The most recurring feature in the poses of false positives was the absence of certain key interactions known to be required for kinase binding. A systematic analysis of 444 crystal structures of ligand-bound kinases showed that at least two hydrogen bonds between the ligand and the backbone protein atoms in the kinase hinge region are present in 90% of the complexes, with very little variability across targets. Closer inspection showed that when the two hydrogen bonds are present, one of three preferred hinge-binding motifs is involved in 96.5% of the cases. Less than 10% of the false positives satisfied these two criteria in the minimized docking poses generated by our standard protocol. Ligand conformational artifacts were also shown to contribute to the occurrence of false positives in a number of cases. Application of this knowledge in the form of docking constraints and post-processing filters provided consistent improvements in virtual screening performance on all systems. The false-positive rates were significantly reduced and the enrichment factors increased by an average of twofold. On the basis of these results, a generalized two-step protocol for virtual screening on kinase targets is suggested.     

A chromosome‐level genome assembly reveals the genetic basis of cold tolerance in a notorious rice insect pest,Chilo suppressalis

The rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis, is one of the most damaging insect pests to rice production worldwide. Although C. suppressalis has been the focus of numerous studies examining cold tolerance and diapause, plant–insect interactions, pesticide targets and resistance, and the development of RNAi‐mediated pest management, the absence of a high‐quality genome has limited deeper insights. To address this limitation, we generated a draft C. suppressalis genome constructed from both Illumina and PacBio sequences. The assembled genome size was 824.35 Mb with a contig N₅₀ of 307 kb and a scaffold N₅₀ of 1.75 Mb. Hi‐C scaffolding assigned 99.2% of the bases to one of 29 chromosomes. Based on universal single‐copy orthologues (BUSCO), the draft genome assembly was estimated to be 97% complete and is predicted to encompass 15,653 protein‐coding genes. Cold tolerance is an extreme survival strategy found in animals. However, little is known regarding the genetic basis of the winter ecology of C. suppressalis. Here, we focused our orthologous analysis on those gene families associated with animal cold tolerance. Our finding provided the first genomic evidence revealing specific cold‐tolerant strategies in C. suppressalis, including those involved in glucose‐originated glycerol biosynthesis, triacylglycerol‐originated glycerol biosynthesis, fatty acid synthesis and trehalose transport‐intermediate cold tolerance. The high‐quality C. suppressalis genome provides a valuable resource for research into a broad range of areas in molecular ecology, and subsequently benefits developing modern pest control strategies.     

Position dependent expression of GL2-type homeobox gene, Roc1: significance for protoderm differentiation and radial pattern formation in early rice embryogenesis

In early plant embryogenesis, the determination of cell fate in the protodermal cell layer is considered to be the earliest event in radial pattern formation. To elucidate the mechanisms of epidermal cell fate determination and radial pattern formation in early rice embryogenesis, we have isolated a GL2-type homeobox gene Roc1 (Rice outermost cell-specific gene1), which is specifically expressed in the protoderm (epidermis). In early rice embryogenesis, cell division occurs randomly and the morphologically distinct layer structure of the protoderm cannot be observed until the embryo reaches more than 100 microm in length. Nonetheless, in situ hybridization analyses revealed that specific expression of Roc1 in the outermost cells is established shortly after fertilization, much earlier than protoderm differentiation. In the regeneration process from callus, the Roc1 gene is also expressed in the outermost cells of callus in advance of tissue and organ differentiation, and occurs independently of whether the cells will differentiate into epidermis in the future or not. Furthermore, this cell-specific Roc1 expression could be induced flexibly in the newly produced outermost cells when we cut the callus. These findings suggest that the expression of Roc1 in the outermost cells may be dependent on the positional information of cells in the embryo or callus prior to the cell fate determination of the protoderm (epidermis). Furthermore, the Roc1 expression is downregulated in the inner cells of ligule, which have previously been determined as protodermal cells, also suggesting that the Roc1 expression is position dependent and that this position dependent Roc1 expression is important also in post-embryonic protoderm (epidermis) differentiation.     

无融合生殖悬铃叶苎麻（Boehmeria tricuspis）多倍性发生的染色体行为研究

摘要：对无融合生殖悬铃叶苎麻（2n=42）和有性生殖悬铃叶苎麻(2n=28)花粉母细胞（PMC）减数分裂行为进行比较研究,从而推断两者之间的进化关系;探索无融合生殖悬铃叶苎麻（B.tricuspis）发生的细胞遗传学基础,为无融合生殖发生的遗传学研究提供理论依据。在无融合生殖类型经诱导所产生的PMC的减数分裂过程中,发现有丰富的三价体形成,属典型的同源三倍体减数分裂行为特征;而有性生殖类型 PMC的减数分裂行为绝大多数正常,但也存在少量异常现象。其中有些异常行为,可能与未减数配子（2n）的形成紧密相关。因而推断,在有性生殖类型的生殖过程中,可能发生了未减数配子（2n）与减数配子（n）的融合,产生了同源三倍体合子。这应该是无融合生殖悬铃叶苎麻发生的重要的细胞遗传学基础。     

Gas phase infrared spectra via the phase integration quasi-classical method

We apply the recently developed phase integration method (PIM) (Monteferrante et al. Mol Phys. 2011;109:3015–3027) to the calculation of infrared spectra of gas phase molecules. The PIM combines a generalised Monte Carlo sampling of the exact thermal density of the system with classical molecular dynamics to obtain approximate time quantum correlation functions. To describe the molecules, we adopt very simple analytical potentials that have, however, proved interesting, and surprisingly challenging, benchmarks for approximate quantum dynamical schemes. We show that, in contrast with two other commonly applied methods, our spectra do not exhibit spurious features or unphysical shifts depending on the temperature. Identifying the positions of the peaks requires only a few tens of trajectories, while an accurate evaluation of the relative intensities of the peaks is computationally more demanding.