Phylogenetics of Tribe Collabieae (Orchidaceae,Epidendroideae) Based on Four Chloroplast Genes with Morphological Appraisal

Collabieae (Orchidaceae) is a long neglected tribe with confusing tribal and generic delimitation and little-understood phylogenetic relationships. Using plastid matK, psaB, rbcL, and trnH-psbA DNA sequences and morphological evidence, the phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Collabieae were assessed as a basis for revising their tribal and generic delimitation. Collabieae (including the previously misplaced mycoheterotrophic Risleya) is supported as monophyletic and nested within a superclade that also includes Epidendreae, Podochileae, Cymbidieae and Vandeae. Risleya is nested in Collabiinae and sister to Chrysoglossum, a relationship which, despite their great vegetative differences, is supported by floral characters. Ania is a distinct genus supported by both morphological and molecular evidence, while redefined Tainia includes Nephelaphyllum and Mischobulbum. Calanthe is paraphyletic and consists four clades; the genera Gastrorchis, Phaius and Cephalantheropsis should be subsumed within Calanthe. Calanthe sect. Ghiesbreghtia is nested within sect. Calanthe, to which the disputed Calanthe delavayi belongs as well. Our results indicate that, in Collabieae, habit evolved from being epiphytic to terrestrial.     

Tandem duplication and divergence of a sea urchin protein belonging to the troponin C superfamily

The Spec1 and Spec2 proteins of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus are related to calmodulin, troponin C, and myosin light chains by sequence similarity in their four calcium binding domains. These domains, the EF-hands, are distinct helix-loop-helix structures of about 40 amino acids. The Spec1 and Spec2 genes are expressed specifically in aboral ectoderm cells of the developing embryo; however, the function of the Spec proteins in these cells is unknown. To find conserved regions of the proteins that might be important for structure and function, Spec homologues from Lytechinus pictus, a distantly related sea urchin, were sought. L. pictus embryos do not synthesize detectable amounts of the 14,000-17,000-Da Spec proteins as determined by two-dimensional gel electro-phoresis, but do synthesize three 34,000-Da proteins that cross-react with Spec1 antibodies and display a similar ontogenetic pattern of expression. cDNA clones were isolated by hybridization to a synthetic oligonucleotide corresponding to the EF-hand. One clone, LpS1, encodes an mRNA with developmental properties like those of the S. purpuratus Spec mRNAs. However, LpS1 contains an open reading frame for a protein of 34,000 Da rather than 17,000 Da, and antibodies raised against part of the LpS1 reading frame demonstrate that LpS1 encodes a 34,000-Da protein in L. pictus embryos. The sequence of LpS1 reveals the presence of eight EF-hand domains, which share structural homology with the Spec1 or Spec2 EF-hands; however, little else in the protein sequence is conserved. The results support the hypothesis that the LpS1 gene arose from a duplication of an ancestral Spec gene and that the overall structural features of the Spec family of proteins are more conserved than the amino acid sequences.     

山羊关节炎─脑炎前病毒的PCR检测

山羊关节炎─脑炎前病毒的ＰＣＲ检测相文华,丁恩雨,秦运安,吕晓玲,沈荣显（中国农业科学院哈尔滨兽医研究所哈尔滨１５０００１）关键词聚合酶链反应,山羊关节炎—脑炎病毒,整合山羊关节炎—脑炎（ＣａｐｒｉｎｅＡｒｔｈｒｉｔｉｓ－Ｅｎｃｅｐｈａｌｉｔｉｓ,Ｃ...     

Studies on atrophic change of soleus muscle and its countermeasures in suspended rat

In the environment of microgravity, the disused atrophy of skeletal muscle, especially leg's muscle, would occur. The three purposes of this study were: 1. To observe the dynamic changes of disused atrophy of skeletal muscle under simulated weightlessness; 2. To approach the mechanism of disused atrophy of muscle; 3. To approach the countermeasures for reducing the degree of atrophy of muscle.     

激光辐照真菌的酯酶,淀粉酶同工酶研究

本文报导了用He—Ne激光辐照真菌米曲酶的酯酶同工酶和淀粉同工酶的分析研究结果,实验表明激光对米曲霉同工酶有一定的影响。     

High-Resolution Performance of Polycaprolactone Functionalized with Guanidinium Ionic Liquid for Gas Chromatography

This work firstly reported a new polycaprolactone based material functionalized with guanidinium ionic liquid (PCL-GIL) as the stationary phase with high resolution performance for capillary gas chromatography (GC). It is composed of polycaprolactone (PCL) and guanidinium ionic liquid (GIL) with amphiphilic conformation. The PCL-GIL capillary column coated by static method exhibited high column efficiency of 3942 plates/m and moderate polarity. As a result, the PCL-GIL column exhibited high-resolution capability. For a mixture of 27 analytes with a wide ranging polarity and outperformed the PCL-2OH and HP-35 columns, showing its advantageous separation capability for analytes of diverse types. Moreover, the PCL-GIL column showed high resolving capability for various positional isomers and cis-/trans-isomers, including alkylbenzenes, chlorobenzenes, naphthalenes, bromonitrobenzenes, chloronitrobenzenes, benzaldehydes, phenols, alcohols, respectively. In a word, PCL derivatized by GIL units as a new type of stationary phase has a promising future in GC separations.     

Phospholipid surface density determines the partitioning and permeability of acetic acid in DMPC:cholesterol bilayers

Relationships between the permeability coefficient (P_HA) and partition coefficient (K _m/w) of acetic acid and the surface density of DMPC:cholesterol bilayers have been investigated. Permeability coefficients were measured in large unilamellar vesicles by NMR line broadening. Bilayer surface density, , was varied over a range of 0.5–0.9 by changing cholesterol concentration and temperature. The temperature dependence of P_HA for acetic acid exhibits Arrhenius behavior with an average apparent activation energy (E _a ) of 22±3 kcal/mole over a cholesterol mole fraction range of 0.00–0.40. This value is much greater than the enthalpy change for acetic acid partitioning between bulk decane and water (H° = 4.8±0.8 kcal/mole) and the calculated E _a (= 8.0 kcal/mole) assuming a bulk phase permeability model which includes the enthalpy of transfer from water to decane and the temperature dependence of acetic acid's diffusion coefficient in decane. These results suggest that dehydration, previously considered to be a dominant component, is a minor factor in determining E _a . Values of 1n P_HA decrease linearly with the normalized phospholipid surface density with a slope of = -12.4±1.1 (r = 0.90). Correction of P_HA for those temperature effects considered to be independent of lipid chain order (i.e., enthalpy of transfer from water to decane and activation energy for diffusion in bulk hydrocarbon) yielded an improved correlation ( = -11.7±0.5 (r = 0.96)). The temperature dependence of K_m/w is substantially smaller than that for P_HA and dependent on cholesterol composition. Values of 1n K_m/w decrease linearly with the surface density with a slope of = -4.6±0.3 (r = 0.95), which is 2.7-fold smaller than the slope of the plot of 1n P_HA vs. . Thus, chain ordering is a major determinant for molecular partitioning into and transport across lipid bilayers, regardless of whether it is varied by lipid composition or temperature.This work was supported by grants from Glaxo, INTERx/Merck, and University of Utah Research Committee.     

Three-dimensional structure prediction of the NAD binding site of proton-pumping transhydrogenase from Escherichia coli

A three-dimensional structure of the NAD site of Escerichia coli transhydrogenase has been predicted. The model is based on analysis of conserved residues among the transhydrogenases from five different sources, homologies with enzymes using NAD as cofactors or substrates, hydrophilicity profiles, and secondary structure predictions. The present model supports the hypothesis that there is one binding site, located relatively close to the N-terminus of the α-subunit. The proposed structure spans residues α145 to α287, and it includes five β-strands and five α-helices oriented in a typical open twisted α/β conformation. The amino acid sequence following the GXGXXG dinucleotide binding consensus sequence (residues α172 to α177) correlates exactly to a typical fingerprint region for ADP binding βαβ folds in dinucleotide binding enzymes. In the model, aspartic acid α195 forms hydrogen bonds to one or both hydroxyl groups on the adenosine ribose sugar moiety. Threonine α196 and alanine α256, located at the end of βB and βD, respectively, create a hydrophobic sandwich with the adenine part of NAD buried inside. The nicotinamide part is located in a hydrophobic cleft between αA and βE. Mutagenesis work has been carried out in order to test the predicted model and to determine whether residues within this domain are important for proton pumping directly. All data support the predicted structure, and no residue crucial for proton pumping Was detected. Since no three-dimensional structure of transhydrogenase has been solved, a well based tertiary structure prediction is of great value for further experimental design in trying to elucidate the mechanism of the energy-linked proton pump. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Nuclear migration advances in fungi

Nuclear migration encompasses three areas: separation of daughter nuclei during mitosis, congress of parental nuclei before they fuse during fertilization, and positioning of nuclei in interphase cells. This review deals primarily with interphase nuclear migration, which is crucial for events as disparate as vertebrate embryonic development and growth of fungal mycelia. Mutants of Aspergillus nidulans, Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been particularly informative, and a detailed molecular analysis of this process is now well under way.     

长臂生物素对硝基苯酯的合成

以羰基二咪唑为催化剂,生物素与6－氨基己酸甲酯反应生成生物素－6－氨基己酸甲酯,该化合物通过酸碱萃取与原料分离,皂化后生成生物素氨基己酸．生物素氨基己酸在吡啶存在下与三氟乙酸对硝基苯酯进行转酯反应即得生物素对硝基苯酯．最后经光谱、色谱及核酸杂交证实了长臂生物素对硝基苯酯的化学结构和生物学活性．