Statures in Han populations of China

<正>Dear Editor,Shortly after initiating thePhysical Anthropological Research on Han Chineseresearch project,we applied uniform sampling methods as well as methods and instruments of measurement to obtain a complete set of measurements of physical anthropological indicators among Han populations across China.Among these measurements,body stature was a key indicator.Currently,there should be reliable     

Advances in the reintroduction of rare and endangered wild plant species

Human disturbance and climate change have increased the risk of extinction for rare and endangered wild plant species.One effective way to conserve these rare and endangered species is through reintroduction.In this review,we summarize the advances in wild plant reintroduction from five perspectives:the establishment of reintroduction biology as an important tool for biodiversity conservation;the importance of genetic diversity in reintroduction;reintroduction under global climate change;recruitment limitation in reintroduction;and reintroduction and ecological restoration.In addition,we consider the future of plant reintroduction strategies.     

Phenotypic and genotypic traits of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains isolated from beef cattle from Paraná State, southern Brazil

AIMS: To investigate the prevalence and characteristics of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in cattle from Paraná State, southern Brazil. METHODS AND RESULTS: One hundred and seven faeces cattle samples were cultured on Sorbitol-MacConkey agar. Escherichia coli colonies were tested for production of Shiga toxin using Vero-cell assay. A high prevalence (57%) of STEC was found. Sixty-four STEC were serotyped and examined for the presence of stx(1), stx(2), eae, ehxA and saa genes and stx(2) variants. The isolates belonged to 31 different serotypes, of which three (O152:H8, O175:H21 and O176:H18) had not previously been associated with STEC. A high prevalence of stx(2)-type genes was found (62 strains, 97%). Variant forms found were stx(2), stx(2c), stx(2vhb), stx(2vO111v/OX393) and a form nonclassifiable by PCR-RFLP. The commonest genotypes were stx(2)ehxA saa and stx(1)stx(2)ehxA saa. CONCLUSIONS: A high frequency of STEC was observed. Several strains belong to serotypes previously associated with human disease and carry stx(2) and other virulence factors, thus potentially representing a risk to human health. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is the first study of STEC in Paraná State, and its findings emphasize the need for proper cattle handling to prevent human contamination.     

Nitrogenase activity of Herbaspirillum seropedicae grown under low iron levels requires the products of nifXorf1 genes

Herbaspirillum seropedicae strains mutated in the nifX or orf1 genes showed 90% or 50% reduction in nitrogenase activity under low levels of iron or molybdenum respectively. Mutations in nifX or orf1 genes did not affect nif gene expression since a nifH::lacZ fusion was fully active in both mutants. nifX and the contiguous gene orf1 are essential for maximum nitrogen fixation under iron limitation and are probably involved in synthesis of nitrogenase iron or iron-molybdenum clusters.     

Hydrogen-deuterium exchange as a probe of folding and assembly in viral capsids

The dynamics of proteins within large cellular assemblies are important in the molecular transformations that are required for macromolecular synthesis, transport, and metabolism. The capsid expansion (maturation) accompanying DNA packaging in the dsDNA bacteriophage P22 represents an experimentally accessible case of such a transformation. A novel method, based on hydrogen-deuterium exchange was devised to investigate the dynamics of capsid expansion. Mass spectrometric detection of deuterium incorporation allows for a sensitive and quantitative determination of hydrogen-deuterium exchange dynamics irrespective of the size of the assembly. Partial digestion of the exchanged protein with pepsin allows for region-specific assignment of the exchange. Procapsids and mature capsids were probed under native and slightly denaturing conditions. These experiments revealed regions that exhibit different degrees of flexibility in the procapsid and in the mature capsid. In addition, exchange and deuterium trapping during the process of expansion itself was observed and allowed for the identification of segments of the protein subunit that become buried or stabilized as a result of expansion. This approach may help to identify residues participating in macromolecular transformations and uncover novel patterns and hierarchies of interactions that determine functional movements within molecular machines.     

Purification and partial characterization of two chitinases from the mycoparasitic fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Talaromyces flavus</Emphasis>

Chitinases were produced by Talaromyces flavus CGMCC 3.4301 when it was grown in the presence of chitin. Two chitinases from the culture filtrate of T. flavus were purified to homogeneity by fractional ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE–Sepharose and Phenyl–Sepharose hydrophobic interaction chromatography. By SDS–PAGE, the molecular weight of the two enzymes was estimated to be 41 and 32 kDa, respectively. The 41 kDa chitinase (CHIT41) had a 4.0 pH optimum; the 32 kDa chitinase (CHIT32) optimum activity was at pH 5.0. The optimum temperature for the two chitinase activities was 40 °C. The two chitinases had activity against cell wall of Verticillium dahliae, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Rhizoctonia solani, and inhibited spore germination and germ tube elongation of Alternaria alternata, Fusarium moniliforme, and Magnaporthe grisea.     

In vitro Anti-viral Activity of the Total Alkaloids from Tripterygium hypoglaucum against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a commonly occurring human pathogen worldwide. There is an urgent need to discover and develop new alternative agents for the management of HSV-1 infection. Tripterygium hypoglaucum (level) Hutch (Celastraceae) is a traditional Chinese medicine plant with many pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammation, anti-tumor and antifertility. The usual medicinal part is the roots which contain about a 1% yield of alkaloids. A crude total alkaloids extract was prepared ...     

The Importance of GLUT3 for De Novo Lipogenesis in Hypoxia-Induced Lipid Loading of Human Macrophages

Atherosclerotic lesions are characterized by lipid-loaded macrophages (foam cells) and hypoxic regions. Although it is well established that foam cells are produced by uptake of cholesterol from oxidized LDL, we previously showed that hypoxia also promotes foam cell formation even in the absence of exogenous lipids. The hypoxia-induced lipid accumulation results from increased triglyceride biosynthesis but the exact mechanism is unknown. Our aim was to investigate the importance of glucose in promoting hypoxia-induced de novo lipid synthesis in human macrophages. In the absence of exogenous lipids, extracellular glucose promoted the accumulation of Oil Red O-stained lipid droplets in human monocyte-derived macrophages in a concentration-dependent manner. Lipid droplet accumulation was higher in macrophages exposed to hypoxia at all assessed concentrations of glucose. Importantly, triglyceride synthesis from glucose was increased in hypoxic macrophages. GLUT3 was highly expressed in macrophage-rich and hypoxic regions of human carotid atherosclerotic plaques and in macrophages isolated from these plaques. In human monocyte-derived macrophages, hypoxia increased expression of both GLUT3 mRNA and protein, and knockdown of GLUT3 with siRNA significantly reduced both glucose uptake and lipid droplet accumulation. In conclusion, we have shown that hypoxia-induced increases in glucose uptake through GLUT3 are important for lipid synthesis in macrophages, and may contribute to foam cell formation in hypoxic regions of atherosclerotic lesions.     

High-throughput molecular identification of fish eggs using multiplex suspension bead arrays

The location and abundance of fish eggs provide information concerning the timing and location of spawning activities and can provide fishery-independent estimates of spawning biomass. However, the full value of egg and larval surveys is severely restricted because many species' eggs and larvae are morphologically similar, making species-level identification difficult. Recent efforts have shown that nearly all species of fish may be identified by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences (e.g. via 'DNA barcoding'). By taking advantage of a DNA barcode database, we have developed oligonucleotide probes for 23 marine fish species that produce pelagic eggs commonly found in California waters. Probes were coupled to fluorescent microspheres to create a suspension bead array. Biotin-labelled primers were used to amplify the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S ribosomal rRNA genes from individual fish eggs. The amplicons were then hybridized to the bead array, and after the addition of a reporter fluorophore, samples were analysed by flow cytometry with Luminex 100 instrumentation. Probes specifically targeted eggs that are abundant and/or from morphologically indistinguishable species pairs. Results showed that the 33 different probes designed for this study accurately identified all samples when PCR was successful. Suspension bead arrays have a number of benefits over other methods of molecular identification; these arrays permit high multiplexing, simple addition of new probes, high throughput and lower cost than DNA sequencing. The increasing availability of DNA barcode data for numerous fish faunas worldwide suggests that bead arrays could be developed and widely used for fish egg, larval and tissue identifications.