粤北南岭大宝山矿流域山水林田湖草修复阻力与优先级分析

遵循“防源、控流、治汇”理念,以粤北南岭大宝山矿区作为风险源,以所在流域为研究区,分析研究区主要阻力因素,采用最小累积阻力模型建立区域生态阻力面;利用Jenks自然断点法,分析生态修复优先级,提出分区治理重点和对策。研究结果表明：研究区综合阻力系数处于9-32之间,各评价指标的阻力面空间分布格局相似,其阻力值呈现出东南部大,西北部小的空间格局;长期的矿业开采污染了流域生态环境,且距离矿区越近的区域生态修复的优先性越高。将研究区分为4个优先级区,各区修复优先性依次为Ⅰ区 > Ⅱ区 > Ⅲ区 > Ⅳ区。Ⅰ区重点在于治水,提高pH、降低重金属有效态含量和增加地表植被覆盖度。Ⅱ区重点在于河流治理与治土,确保污染减排,增强拦泥库的废水调节。Ⅲ区、Ⅳ区核心在治土,逐步改善土壤条件。研究结果为修复项目在时空尺度上落地和科学治理提供科学依据。     

kpsE和kpsD双基因缺失显著降低肠道外致病性大肠杆菌的毒力

【目的】探究荚膜对肠道外致病性大肠杆菌致病作用的影响。【方法】选取负责荚膜多糖转运的基因kpsE和kpsD,利用λRed重组系统构建APEC E058和UPEC U17荚膜缺失株E058ΔkpsED和U17ΔkpsED,并通过一系列的体内及体外试验对其生物学特性及致病性进行研究。【结果】双基因缺失株的生长速度较野生株没有明显差异,但缺失株抗血清补体杀菌能力和抗鸡巨噬细胞HD-11细胞吞噬能力显著下降。1日龄雏鸡LD50致病性试验结果显示,缺失株E058ΔkpsED和U17ΔkpsED对鸡失去致病力,而回复株毒力恢复至野生株水平;35日龄SPF鸡体内动态分布和竞争试验显示ΔkpsED缺失株在鸡体内定殖能力和竞争性生长能力显著下降,表明kpsED双基因的缺失能显著降低APEC E058和UPEC U17的致病力。【结论】荚膜与肠道外致病性大肠杆菌的致病性相关,是其重要的毒力因子。     

Crystal structure determination of the β-cyclodextrin-p-aminobenzoic acid inclusion complex from powder X-ray diffraction data

The 1:1 inclusion complex of β-cyclodextrin and p-aminobenzoic acid was prepared and characterized by TG-DTA. The crystal structure of the complex was solved directly from powder X-ray diffraction data using the direct space approach and refined using Rietveld refinement techniques. The complex crystallizes in monoclinic P2₁ space group, with unit cell parameters a = 20.7890 ?, b = 10.2084 ?, c = 15.1091 ?, β = 110.825°, V = 2997 ?³. The amino group is located at the wide side of the β-cyclodextrin cavity, forming hydrogen bonds with β-cyclodextrin, and the carboxyl group is located at the narrow side. The crystallographic data obtained from powder diffraction data were compared with the single crystallographic data, and the result shows that solving crystal structure of cyclodextrins inclusion complexes of such complexity is accessible to powder diffractionists to some extent.     

Isolation of chicken embryonic stem cell and preparation of chicken chimeric model

Chicken embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were separated from blastoderms at stage-X and cultured in vitro. Alkaline phosphatase activity and stage-specific embryonic antigen-1 staining was conducted to detect ESCs. Then, chicken ESCs were transfected with linearized plasmid pEGFP-N1 in order to produce chimeric chicken. Firstly, the optimal electrotransfection condition was compared; the results showed the highest transfection efficiency was obtained when the field strength and pulse duration was 280 V and 75 μs, respectively. Secondly, the hatchability of shedding methods, drilling a window at the blunt end of egg and drilling a window at the lateral shell of egg was compared, the results showed that the hatchability was the highest for drilling a window at the lateral shell of egg. Thirdly, the hatchability of microinjection (ESCs was microinjected into chick embryo cavity) was compared too, the results showed there were significant difference between the injection group transfected with ESCs and that of other two groups. In addition, five chimeric chickens were obtained in this study and EGFP gene was expressed in some organs, but only two chimeric chicken expressed EGFP gene in the gonad, indicating that the chimeric chicken could be obtained through chick embryo cavity injection by drilling a window at the lateral shell of egg.     

Spermidine promotes nucleus pulposus autophagy as a protective mechanism against apoptosis and ameliorates disc degeneration

Spermidine has therapeutic effects in many diseases including as heart diastolic function, myopathic defects and neurodegenerative disorders via autophagy activation. Autophagy has been found to mitigate cell apoptosis in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Accordingly, we theorize that spermidine may have beneficial effects on IDD via autophagy stimulation. In this study, spermidine's effect on IDD was evaluated in tert‐butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP)‐treated nucleus pulposus cells of SD rats in vitro as well as in a puncture‐induced rat IDD model. We found that autophagy was actuated by spermidine in nucleus pulposus cells. In addition, spermidine treatment weakened the apoptotic effects of TBHP in nucleus pulposus cells. Spermidine increased the expression of anabolic proteins including Collagen‐II and aggrecan and decreased the expression of catabolic proteins including MMP13 and Adamts‐5. Additionally, autophagy blockade using 3‐MA reversed the beneficial impact of spermidine against nucleus pulposus cell apoptosis. Autophagy was thus important for spermidine's therapeutic effect on IDD. Spermidine‐treated rats had an accentuated T2‐weighted signal and a diminished histological degenerative grade than vehicle‐treated rats, showing that spermidine inhibited intervertebral disc degeneration in vivo. Thus, spermidine protects nucleus pulposus cells against apoptosis through autophagy activation and improves disc, which may be beneficial for the treatment of IDD.     

Association between the G-protein β3 subunit C825T polymorphism with essential hypertension: a meta-analysis in Han Chinese population

We aimed to evaluate the contribution of the G-protein β3 subunit C825T (GNB3-C825T) polymorphism to essential hypertension (EH) in Han Chinese population by performing meta-analysis. A meta-analysis was performed in 12 case-control genetic association studies including 3,020 hypertension patients and 2,790 controls from MEDLINE (PubMed) and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure platforms. The STATA 10.0 software was used in analysis. Overall, there was no significant association between the GNB3-C825T polymorphism and EH in neither additive [TT vs. CC: OR (95 % CI) = 1.11 (0.74-1.69), P = 0.61; TC vs. CC: OR (95 % CI) = 1.08 (0.89-1.31), P = 0.42], nor dominant [TT + TC vs. CC: OR (95 % CI) = 1.11 (0.86-1.42), P = 0.43] and nor recessive [TT vs. TC + CC: OR (95 % CI) = 1.04 (0.75-1.44), P = 0.81] genetic models. Although further subgroup analysis found statistically significant results [T vs. C: OR (95 % CI) = 1.50 (1.05-2.15), P = 0.03] in the southern population, but after exclusion one particular study, the significant association was disappeared. No significant result was found in the northern Han Chinese population. There was no significant association identified between GNB3-C825T polymorphism and EH in Han Chinese population. Further larger sample and well-designed studies are needed to assess the genetic association particularly in the southern Han Chinese population.     

Computer‐aided assessment of the chemokine receptors CXCR3, CXCR4 and CXCR7 expression in gallbladder carcinoma

Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a vicious and invasive disease. The major challenge in the clinical treatment of GBC is the lack of a suitable prognosis method. Chemokine receptors such as CXCR3, CXCR4 and CXCR7 play vital roles in the process of tumour progression and metastasis. Their expression levels and distribution are proven to be indicative of the progression of GBC, but are hard to be decoded by conventional pathological methods, and therefore, not commonly used in the prognosis of GBC. In this study, we developed a computer‐aided image analysis method, which we used to quantitatively measure the expression levels of CXCR3, CXCR4 and CXCR7 in the nuclei and cytoplasm of glandular and interstitial cells from a cohort of 55 GBC patients. We found that CXCR3, CXCR4 and CXCR7 expressions are associated with the clinicopathological variables of GBC. Cytoplasmic CXCR3, nuclear CXCR7 and cytoplasmic CXCR7 were significant predictive factors of histology invasion, whereas cytoplasmic CXCR4 and nuclear CXCR4 were significantly correlated with T and N stage and were associated with the overall survival and disease‐free survival. These results suggest that the quantification and localisation of CXCR3, CXCR4 and CXCR7 expressions in different cell types should be considered using computer‐aided assessment to improve the accuracy of prognosis in GBC.     

Transcriptomic analyses reveal potential mechanisms of premature senescence in hexaploid Populus

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - The important role of polyploidy in plant evolution is widely recognized. However, many questions concerning how polyploidy affects the plant...