Influenza Vaccine Induces Intracellular Immune Memory of Human NK Cells

Influenza vaccines elicit antigen-specific antibodies and immune memory to protect humans from infection with drift variants. However, what supports or limits vaccine efficacy and duration is unclear. Here, we vaccinated healthy volunteers with annual vaccine formulations and investigated the dynamics of T cell, natural killer (NK) cell and antibody responses upon restimulation with heterologous or homologous influenza virus strains. Influenza vaccines induced potential memory NK cells with increased antigen-specific recall IFN-γ responses during the first 6 months. In the absence of significant changes in other NK cell markers (CD45RO, NKp44, CXCR6, CD57, NKG2C, CCR7, CD62L and CD27), influenza vaccines induced memory NK cells with the distinct feature of intracellular NKp46 expression. Indeed, surface NKp46 was internalized, and the dynamic increase in NKp46(intracellular)⁺CD56^dim NK cells positively correlated with increased IFN-γ production to influenza virus restimulation after vaccination. In addition, anti-NKp46 antibodies blocked IFN-γ responses. These findings provide insights into a novel mechanism underlying vaccine-induced immunity and NK-related diseases, which may help to design persisting and universal vaccines in the future.     

Phylogenetic clusters of rhizobia revealed by genome structures

Rhizobiaareagriculturallyandenvironmentallyimportantbacteria.Theirsymbiosiswithleguminousplantsisresponsibleformostoftheatmosphericni-trogenfixedonland.Classificationofthesebacteriabasedontheirnaturalrelationshipswillpromotetheirapplication.Thisresearchemploysanewphylogeneticmethod,i.e.,revelationandcomparisonofgenomestructure,tocategorizerhizobia.Phylogenyisthestudyoftheevolutionaryrelationshipsamongorgan-isms[1].Currentlyphylogeneticrelationshipsamongrhizobiaaremostlyinferredfromcomparisons…     

CDC7-dependent transcriptional regulation of RAD54L is essential for tumorigenicity and radio-resistance of glioblastoma

Accumulating evidence indicates that cell division cycle 7-related protein kinase(CDC7) plays an essential role in tumor cells and it could induces cell proliferation and could be related to prognosis in multiple types of cancer. However, the biological role and molecular mechanism of CDC7 in GBM still remains unclear. In this study, we identified that CDC7 expression was enriched in glioblastoma (GBM) tumors and was functionally required for tumor proliferation and its expression was associated to poor prognosis in GBM patients. Mechanically, CDC7 induced radio resistance in GBM cells and CDC7 knock down increased cell apoptosis when combined with radiotherapy. Moreover, CDC7 regulated The DNA repair/recombination protein 54L (RAD54L) expression via regulation of RAD54L promoter activity. Therapeutically, we found that CDC7 inhibitor attenuated tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, CDC7 promotes proliferation, induces radio resistance in GBM, and could become a potential therapeutic target for GBM.     

花生防御素基因的克隆及原核表达

定基础.     

New judgement on the source of soil water in extremely dry zone

There is always a relatively high moisture content in the shallow soil layer in Gobi area on the top of the Mogao Grottoes in the extremely dry zone. This paper gives out a new judgement on soil water source through field experiments using the isolated water method, simulated rainfall method and greenhouse method. Under the condition of typical hyper-arid climate far away from rainfall effect and after cutting off the connection of soil and groundwater the simulated rainfall experiment was conducted, through putting up a plastic greenhouse to obtain a relatively closed space and extracting the condensed water on the film surface, the soil water output from the greenhouse was monitored. The experimental results show that generally the rainfall can be completely evaporated in about 20 days under the isolated condition. In the relatively closed space sheltered by arched greenhouse in the Gobi area water can be continuously transferred outward from subsoil and condensed on the roof film, with a daily output quantity of 3–5 g/m²d. After prolonged output soil water content remains significantly higher than that of the control and before covering by arched shed. Comprehensively judging from this, groundwater is an important source of soil water in addition to precipitation. The new judgement has a very important practical significance to the water research of the groundwater–soil–plant-atmosphere circle (GSPAC) and the recovery of the desertified environment.     

Phylogenetic clusters of rhizobia revealed by genome structures

Rhizobia, bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen, are important agricultural resources. In order to establish the evolutionary relationships among rhizobia isolated from different geographic regions and different plant hosts for systematic studies, we evaluated the use of physical structure of the rhizobial genomes as a phylogenetic marker to categorize these bacteria. In this work, we analyzed the features of genome structures of 64 rhizobial strains. These rhizobial strains were divided into 21 phylogenetic clusters according to the features of genome structures evaluated by the endonuclease I-Ceul. These clusters were supported by 16S rRNA comparisons and genomic sequences of four rhizobial strains, but they are largely different from those based on the current taxonomic scheme (except 16S rRNA).     

麦积山石窟赋存环境中空气细菌的时空分布特征

【目的】空气微生物沉降及污染与文化遗产的微生物退化密切相关,本文对世界文化遗产地麦积山石窟赋存环境空气中细菌浓度和群落结构的季节性变化特征进行了系统研究,为石窟环境监测预警和文物预防性保护提供依据。【方法】利用生物气溶胶采样器,在2016年春、夏、秋和冬季分别采集空气样品;基于传统培养方法获得空气中细菌浓度及纯培养菌株;通过提取基因组DNA、扩增细菌16S rRNA、测序和系统发生树等分子技术研究细菌群落时空动态变化规律;结合环境监测数据,分析影响遗产地空气细菌变化的主要因素。【结果】监测期内,空气细菌浓度在(281.20–1409.20)CFU/m3之间,最高浓度出现在MJ4处的夏季,最低浓度出现在MJO处的春季;具有明显季节性变化特征,在空间层位分布上有所差异,但不显著(P0.05)。培养的细菌菌株经鉴定属于4个门11个属;芽孢杆菌属(Bacillus)、Paenarthrobacter、节杆菌属(Arthrobacter)、薄层菌属(Hymenobacter)和考克氏菌属(Kocuria)等为优势属。【结论】麦积山石窟空气细菌群落结构具有明显的季节性和空间分布动态变化特征;在石窟不同层位,空气中细菌群落分布与相对湿度、温度与降雨量相关;部分细菌种属如芽孢杆菌属、微球菌属(Micrococcus),为壁画及彩塑生物腐蚀的潜在病害菌;麦积山石窟及周边环境空气细菌的监测可为石窟保护和旅游开放管理提供重要参考。     

Diversity and seasonal dynamics of airborne bacteria in the Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China

The aim of this study was to analyze the phylogenetic composition of the bacterial community in the air at the Mogao Grottoes (Dunhuang, China) using a culture-dependent molecular approach. The 16S rRNA genes were amplified directly from the isolates with universally conserved and bacteria-specific rRNA gene primers. The PCR products were screened by restriction fragment length polymorphism, and representative rRNA gene sequences were determined and sequenced. A total of 19 bacteria genera were identified among 49 bacterial sequence types. Phylogenetic sequence analyses revealed high diversity within the bacterial community. The most predominant bacteria were Janthinobacterium (14.91%), Pseudomonas (13.40%), Bacillus (11.25%), Sphingomonas (11.21%), Micrococcus (10.31%), Microbacterium (6.92%), Caulobacter (6.31%), and Roseomonas (5.85%). The composition of bacterial communities differed greatly between different sites and at different times. The distribution of various bacteria was mainly affected by climatic parameters and human activities. These findings suggested that the opening of this cultural heritage site to visitors should be controlled and that maintaining the cave’s natural climatic conditions would aid the conservation and management of the grottoes’ paintings.     

应用氢氧稳定同位素对极端干旱区蒸发水分来源的确定

长期监测发现敦煌莫高窟窟顶戈壁存在稳定的蒸发水分。为了进一步厘清蒸发水分的来源,利用拱棚-凝结法定期收集蒸发水分,应用水同位素示踪原理监测凝结水分、莫高窟降水和潜水的δD和δ~(18)O值,以揭示戈壁蒸发水分的来源。结果表明,蒸发水分的δD、δ~(18)O平均值分别为-33.06‰和-5.33‰,莫高窟降水为-66.44‰和-8.57‰,潜水为-72.19‰和-9.75‰,说明当地潜水并非来自于莫高窟降水;通过经纬度和海拔,应用在线降水同位素计算的当地降水δD和δ~(18)O值(-60.00‰,-8.50‰)和降水加权平均值(-5.30‰,-0.75‰)同样表明,当地降水不是地下潜水的合理来源,而党河源区(野马山)的降水(-86.00‰,-12.00‰)才是地下潜水的真正来源。土壤水分蒸发实验与土壤垂直剖面水分检测表明,戈壁深厚包气带土壤在潜水水汽向上运移过程中选择了δ值相对较高的潜水水分,因此,戈壁蒸发水分来自地下潜水,存在清晰的来源通道。极干旱区蒸发水分来源的再确定为蒸发潜水的利用奠定了基础,对极干旱区生态恢复有重要意义,并为干旱、半干旱区地下水的利用提供了新视角,为莫高窟洞窟水分来源研究亦提供了重要参考。