A cyclin protein governs the infectious and sexual life cycles of Cryptococcus neoformans

Science China Life Sciences - Cell cycle is a fundamental process underlying growth and development in evolutionarily diverse organisms, including fungi. In human fungal pathogens, cell cycle...     

茶树种子发育过程的转录组分析

该研究以‘铁观音’茶树品种的种子为试验材料,采用转录组测序技术分析种子发育的3个时期(幼果期、膨大期、成熟期)的表达差异,探究茶树种子油脂代谢的分子机制。结果表明:(1)经转录组测序、组装后共获得30 940 581个clean reads,经数据合并拼接最终得到36 951条非冗余Unigene序列,其中28 476个Unigene可得到功能注释;在转录本中能够被注释到GO分类的Unigene有11 201条(30.3%),KEGG分析发现共有17 172个基因参与了127个代谢通路。(2)经KEGG通路筛选出14条与脂肪酸代谢相关的通路,且随着茶籽的发育,大部分脂肪酸调控途径相关基因呈下调趋势,其中上调基因数最多的有α-亚麻酸代谢途径和脂肪酸降解途径(有17个基因表达量上调),下调基因数最多的是甘油磷脂代谢途径(有58个基因表达量下调);在茶籽发育幼果期α-亚麻酸代谢途径中表达量上调的基因数超过表达量下调的基因数。(3)研究发现茶籽脂肪酸合成相关的基因涉及14个脂类调控途径,共409条差异基因;随着茶树种子发育到成熟期,上调的差异表达基因数量在减少,下调的差异表达基因数量增加,其中α-亚麻酸途径中的基因PLA2G16、DAD1、pldA、FabF、FabI表达量上调显著,随后表达量下调。(4)qRT-PCR检测结果表明,7个茶树FAD和1个ACP差异表达基因的水平与转录组测序结果基本一致;随着茶籽的发育,基因CsFAD7和Δ6-CsFAD从幼果期、果实膨大期至果实成熟期都为差异下调表达,CsFAD2、CsFAD6和Δ7-CsFAD为差异上调表达,CsFAD8、Δ8-CsFAD和CsACP在幼果期至果实膨大期差异上调表达,在果实膨大期至果实成熟期差异下调表达。     

高茶氨酸茶树新品系‘福黄2号’黄化变异机理

为了探讨茶树黄化变异和高茶氨酸形成机理,文中选用‘福云6号’和高茶氨酸茶树新品系‘福黄2号’为试验材料,利用超微电镜、广泛靶向代谢组学、靶向代谢组学和转录组学联合分析了茶树黄化变异的相关色素、代谢组及转录组数据。结果表明,通过靶向测定主要生化成分,共鉴定到5种儿茶素、可可碱和咖啡碱,以及20种游离氨基酸,包括茶氨酸、谷氨酰胺、精氨酸和谷氨酸等,其中,‘福黄2号’的氨基酸含量显著高于‘福云6号’,茶氨酸含量高达57.37 mg/g。叶片的超微结构显示,‘福黄2号’叶绿体细胞结构模糊,基粒片层大部分排列散乱、间隙大,类囊体呈丝状。色素测定显示,叶绿素a和叶绿素b、类胡萝卜素、类黄酮等色素含量显著下降,叶绿素酶（chlorophyllase,CLH）、9-顺式-环氧类胡萝卜素双加氧酶（9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase,NCED）、类黄酮3β-羟化酶（flavonoid 3β-hydroxylase,F3H）和类黄酮3'',5''-羟化酶（flavonoid 3'',5''-hydroxylase,F3''5''H）等相关关键调控基因发生显著变化。与‘福云6号’相比,‘福黄2号’中共鉴定出138个差异代谢物（significantly changed metabolites,SCMs）和658个差异表达基因（differentially expressed genes,DEGs）,KEGG富集分析表明,SCMs和DEGs显著富集到与氨基酸生物合成、谷胱甘肽代谢以及三羧酸循环等途径。‘福黄2号’黄化表型可能是光合作用蛋白、叶绿素代谢基因和叶绿素含量的缺乏所致。高茶氨酸的积累可能由于黄化叶中低氮消耗,以及碳骨架的缺乏,氨基和氮资源被更有效地储存,使得氨基酸合成通路中的代谢物及相关基因表达上调,茶氨酸成为黄化叶中显著积累的含氮化合物。     

Semiparametric model-based inference in the presence of missing responses

We consider a semiparametric model that parameterizes the conditionaldensity of the response, given covariates, but allows the marginaldistribution of the covariates to be completely arbitrary. Responsesmay be missing. A likelihood-based imputation estimator anda semi-empirical-likelihood-based estimator for the parametervector describing the conditional density are defined and provedto be asymptotically normal. Semi-empirical loglikelihood functionsfor the parameter vector and the response mean are derived.It is shown that the two semi-empirical loglikelihood functionsare distributed asymptotically as weighted ² and scaled ², respectively.     

茶树CsIDI1和CsIDI2基因的克隆及其表达分析

该研究在茶树转录组测序基础上,以铁观音品种茶树为材料,采用RT-PCR技术,克隆了茶树异戊烯基焦磷酸异构酶(IDI)的2个编码基因(CsIDI1和CsIDI2)的cDNA全长序列。CsIDI1的全长为1 378bp,其开放阅读框(ORF)长度894bp,编码297个氨基酸,亚细胞定位预测位于叶绿体上,其氨基酸序列与葡萄IDI的相似性达95%;CsIDI2的全长为1 216bp,其ORF长度为717bp,编码238个氨基酸,亚细胞定位预测位于细胞质上,其氨基酸序列与芝麻IDI相似性达96%。CsIDI1和CsIDI2均含有典型的NUDIX水解酶域。荧光定量PCR结果表明,CsIDI1和CsIDI2基因在茶树地上部不同组织都有表达,但CsIDI2的表达量相对较高;品种间表达量分析显示,它们在父本黄旦品种及杂交后代高香型乌龙茶品种中的表达量显著高于母本铁观音品种,表现出香气上的杂种优势;在乌龙茶做青过程中,随着摇青的进行,CsIDI2的表达被显著诱导,表明CsIDIs在茶叶萜类香气物质形成中发挥重要功能。     

Purification of Chinese Sacbrood Virus (CSBV), Gene Cloning and Prokaryotic Expression of its Structural Protein VP1

The aim of this study was to purify the Chinese Sacbrood Virus Beijing Miyun (BJMY-CSBV) from infected Apis cerana larvae, clone structural protein gene VP1 (named BJMY-CSBV-VP1), and investigate its biological information. The result indicated that the capsid of CSBV is of spherical shape. Gene clone experiment showed that the BJMY-CSBV-VP1 gene sequence comprised 945 bp, encoding 315 amino acids with relative molecular weight of 35.59 kDa and isoelectric point 9.38 pI. Phylogenetic analysis of amino acid sequences showed that the BJMY-CSBV-VP1 and LNDD_2015 were grouped together. Protein secondary structure prediction showed that the gene contained two α-helices, thirteen β-folds, six polypeptide binding sites, and no disulfide bridge. Simultaneously, the BJMY-CSBV-VP1 was ligated to the expression vector pET32a(+) and then transformed into the Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) for prokaryotic expression. The optimal expression experiment revealed that the protein was found in the inclusion body. The recombinant protein was successfully purified by washing buffer combined with supersonic fragmentation. In this study, we obtained the purified BJMY-CSBV particles, cloned BJMY-CSBV-VP1 gene, investigated the detailed information of the gene by analyzing the sequence, and obtained the purified recombinant protein, which could help for further understanding of the function of the structural protein gene VP1.     

A unique cell wall synthetic response evoked by glucosamine determines pathogenicity-associated fungal cellular differentiation

The yeast-to-hypha transition is tightly associated with pathogenicity in many human pathogenic fungi, such as the model fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, which is responsible for approximately 180,000 deaths annually. In this pathogen, the yeast-to-hypha transition can be initiated by distinct stimuli: mating stimulation or glucosamine (GlcN), the monomer of cell wall chitosan. However, it remains poorly understood how the signal specificity for Cryptococcus morphological transition by disparate stimuli is ensured. Here, by integrating temporal expression signature analysis and phenome-based clustering evaluation, we demonstrate that GlcN specifically triggers a unique cellular response, which acts as a critical determinant underlying the activation of GlcN-induced filamentation (GIF). This cellular response is defined by an unusually hyperactive cell wall synthesis that is highly ATP-consuming. A novel cell surface protein Gis1 was identified as the indicator molecule for the GlcN-induced cell wall response. The Mpk1-directed cell wall pathway critically bridges global cell wall gene induction and intracellular ATP supply, ensuring the Gis1-dependent cell wall response and the stimulus specificity of GIF. We further reveal that the ability of Mpk1 to coordinate the cell wall response and GIF activation is conserved in different Cryptococcus pathogens. Phosphoproteomics-based profiling together with genetic and phenotypic analysis revealed that the Mpk1 kinase mediates the regulatory specificity of GIF through a coordinated downstream regulatory network centered on Skn7 and Crz1. Overall, our findings discover an unprecedented and conserved cell wall biosynthesis-dependent fungal differentiation commitment mechanism, which enables the signal specificity of pathogenicity-related dimorphism induced by GlcN in Cryptococcus pathogens.     

湿地公园鸟类栖息地营建研究——以北京琉璃河湿地公园为例

北京地区处于全球候鸟东亚-澳大利西亚的迁徙路线上,是候鸟重要的迁徙路线,近些年,随着人为活动的影响,该区生境破碎化问题愈发突出,直接威胁着本地鸟种和过境迁徙鸟类的生存。为达到保护鸟类多样性的目的,需开展相应的栖息地恢复工作。不同生态类群的鸟类对栖息地有着不同的要求,相同鸟种在不同空间、季节和生活期对栖息地的选择也有着不同的特点。因而,鸟类栖息地恢复应针对目标鸟种根据其繁殖特点、巢位空间分布、食性特点、活动空间特点等进行规划营造。以北京房山琉璃河湿地公园为例,针对项目所在区域的鸟类分布特征,确定目标恢复鸟种,结合项目区现场条件,围绕目标鸟种对于栖息地水系、植被等方面的需求,从岸线重塑、水深设计、植物配置、生态鸟岛等方面规划设计鸟类栖息地修复措施。     

基于多组学数据的肿瘤药物敏感性预测北大核心CSCD

肿瘤药物敏感性预测在指导患者临床用药方面具有重要意义。本文基于癌症药物敏感性基因组学数据库(genomics of drug sensitivity in cancer, GDSC) 198种药物的细胞系敏感性IC50数据,通过Stacking集成学习构建了包含基因表达、基因突变、拷贝数变异数据的多组学癌症药物敏感性预测模型。采用多种特征选择方法对基因特征进行降维,使用Stacking方法集成6种初级学习器和1种次级学习器进行建模,采用5折交叉进行模型验证。预测结果中AUC大于0.9的占比为36.4%,在0.8–0.9之间的占比为49.0%,最低AUC为0.682。基于Stacking构建的多组学预测模型较已有单组学和多组学模型的准确性和稳定性具有优势。多组学整合预测药物敏感性优于单一组学。特征基因功能注释和富集分析解析了肿瘤对sorafenib潜在的耐药机制,从生物学角度提供了模型可解释性及其应用于临床用药指导的价值。