DNA序列在苔藓分子系统学研究中的应用

DNA是遗传信息的载体,直接对DNA核苷酸排列顺序的分析和比较是研究苔藓分子系统学的最彻底和最理想的方法。本文综述了DNA序列(叶绿体基因组、核基因组和线粒体基因组)在苔藓分子系统学中的应用,探讨了基因片段的选择策略。并提出只有将分子数据和传统分类学取得的研究成果结合起来,构建最合理的系统树,才能更好地推动苔藓分子系统学的发展。     

Proteolytic processing of the vitellogenin precursor in the boll weevil,Anthonomus grandis

The soluble proteins of the eggs of the coleopteran insect Anthonomus grandis Boheman, the cotton boll weevil, consist almost entirely of two vitellin types with M_rs of 160,000 and 47,000. We sequenced their N-terminal ends and one internal cyanogen bromide fragment of the large vitellin and compared these sequences with the deduced amino acid sequence from the vitellogenin gene. The results suggest that both the boll weevil vitellin proteins are products of the proteolytic cleavage of a single precursor protein. The smaller 47,000 M vitellin protein is derived from the N-terminal portion of the precursor adjacent to an 18 amino acid signal peptide. The cleavage site between the large and small vitellins at amino acid 362 is adjacent to a pentapeptide sequence containing two pairs of arginine residues. Comparison of the boll weevil sequences with limited known sequences from the single 180,000 M_r honey bee protein show that the honey bee vitellin N-terminal exhibits sequence homology to the N-terminal of the 47,000 M_r boll weevil vitellin. Treatment of the vitellins with an N-glycosidase results in a decrease in molecular weight of both proteins, from 47,000 to 39,000 and from 160,000 to 145,000, indicating that about 10–15% of the molecular weight of each vitellin consists of N-linked carbohydrate. The molecular weight of the deglycosylated large vitellin is smaller than that predicted from the gene sequence, indicating possible further proteolytic processing at the C-terminal of that protein. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

1 This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

     

The Amino Acid Sequence of Wood Duck Lysozyme

The amino acid sequence of wood duck (Aix sponsa) lysozyme was analyzed. Carboxymethylated lysozyme was digested with trypsin and the resulting peptides were sequenced. The established amino acid sequence had the highest similarity to duck III lysozyme with four amino acid substitutions, and had eighteen amino acid substitutions from chicken lysozyme. The valine at position 75 was newly detected in chicken-type lysozymes. In the active site, Tyr34 and Glu57 were found at subsites F and D, respectively, when compared with chicken lysozyme.     

Strict Binding Specificity of Small-Sized Lectins from the Red Alga Hypnea japonica for Core (α1-6) Fucosylated N-Glycans

Small-sized isolectins (9 KDa) from Hypnea japonica belong to a new lectin family. Here, we describe the carbohydrate-binding properties of the three isolectins (hypninA1, A2, and A3) and the amino acid sequence of hypninA3 (P85888). In frontal affinity chromatography with about 100 pyridylaminated oligosaccharides, the isolectins, which had no affinity for monosaccharides, commonly bound only core (α1-6) fucosylated N-glycans, and did not the other oligosaccharides examined, including (α1-2), (α1-3), and (α1-4) fucosylated glycans. The specific binding of hypninA3 with the fucosylated N-glycans (K _a; 0.52–7.58×10⁶ M^?1) was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance analyses on an immobilized glycoprotein with and without core (α1-6) fucose. Such specificity of hypninA is clearly distinct from those of other known fucose-binding lectins, making it a valuable tool for cancer diagnosis and quality control of medicinal antibodies. HypninA3 is a polypeptide composed of 90 amino acids containing four half-cystines.     

A multilocus sequence typing (MLST) approach to diminish the problems that are associated with DNA barcoding: A reply to Stahlhut et al. (2012)

In a recent Perspective, Stahlhut et al. (2012) argued that potential Wolbachia-induced effects on inheritance patterns of mitochondrial DNA do not significantly affect DNA barcoding efforts. Since this hypothesis can be readily tested, we suggest to do so by including multiple, nuclear markers in DNA barcoding studies.     

Mixed linear model association mapping for low chloride accumulation rate in oriental-type tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum L.) germplasm

Chloride is an essential micronutrient in tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum L.) cultivation. However, large amounts of it have many adverse effects on burning quality of tobacco leaves. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic variability among 70 oriental-type tobacco genotypes and determine the genomic regions associated with chloride accumulation rate using mixed linear model (MLM) procedure. A total number of 66 alleles were detected by 26 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci with an average of 2.53 alleles per locus. A model-based Bayesian approach subdivided 70 tobacco genotypes into the three subgroups. Almost 5.85% of the 325 marker pairs showed a significant level of linkage disequilibrium (P ≤ 0.01). Using MLM procedure, 1 SSR locus (pt30027) from linkage group 13 was identified to be associated with the gene(s) controlling low chloride accumulation in oriental tobacco genotypes. Identified markers could be of great interest in marker-assisted selection in tobacco breeding programs.     

A Cysteine Endopeptidase (“Dionain”) Is Involved in the Digestive Fluid of Dionaea muscipula (Venus’s Fly-trap)

The carnivorous plant Dionaea muscipula (Venus’s flytrap) secretes proteinases into the digestive fluid to digest prey proteins. In this study, we obtained evidence that the digestive fluid contains a cysteine endopeptidase, presumably belonging to the papain family, through inhibitor studies and partial amino acid sequencing of the major SDS–PAGE band protein. The name “dionain” is proposed for the enzyme.     

Mechanisms of cohesin-mediated gene regulation and lessons learned from cohesinopathies

Cohesins are conserved and essential Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) protein-containing complexes that physically interact with chromatin and modulate higher-order chromatin organization. Cohesins mediate sister chromatid cohesion and cellular long-distance chromatin interactions affecting genome maintenance and gene expression. Discoveries of mutations in cohesin's subunits and its regulator proteins in human developmental disorders, so-called “cohesinopathies,” reveal crucial roles for cohesins in development and cellular growth and differentiation. In this review, we discuss the latest findings concerning cohesin's functions in higher-order chromatin architecture organization and gene regulation and new insight gained from studies of cohesinopathies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Chromatin and epigenetic regulation of animal development.     

A second‐generation genetic linkage map for bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) based on microsatellite markers

Bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) is an important aquaculture fish worldwide. Genetic linkage maps for the species were previously reported, but map resolution remained to be improved. In this study, a second‐generation genetic linkage map was constructed for bighead carp through a pseudo‐testcross strategy using interspecific hybrids between bighead carp and silver carp. Of the 754 microsatellites genotyped in two interspecific mapping families (with 77 progenies for each family), 659 markers were assigned to 24 linkage groups, which were equal to the chromosome numbers of the haploid genome. The consensus map spanned 1917.3 cM covering 92.8% of the estimated bighead carp genome with an average marker interval of 2.9 cM. The length of linkage groups ranged from 52.2 to 133.5 cM with an average of 79.9 cM. The number of markers per linkage group varied from 11 to 55 with an average of 27.5 per linkage group. Normality tests on interval distances of the map showed a non‐normal marker distribution; however, significant correlation was found between the length of linkage group and the number of markers below the 0.01 significance level (two‐tailed). The length of the female map was 1.12 times that of the male map, and the average recombination ratio of female to male was 1.10:1. Visual inspection showed that distorted markers gathered in some linkage groups and in certain regions of the male and female maps. This well‐defined genetic linkage map will provide a basic framework for further genome mapping of quantitative traits, comparative mapping and marker‐assisted breeding in bighead carp.