猴脑线粒体DNA提取及限制性内切酶分析

本文用冷碱法从2只恒河猴和1只食蟹猴的脑组织中提取mtDNA,最后的得率大约为0.7μgmtDNA/g脑组织,是肝脏组织得率的1/3左右。与肝脏组织相比较,从脑组织中提取mtDNA有以下优点:1.匀浆方便。2.样品中蛋白杂质少,容易彻底抽提去除蛋白质。3.大分子RNA杂质极少,不经Sepharose-4B柱或RNawe处理,就可得到较纯的样品。加之哺乳动物脑的体积较大,哺乳动物脑组织不失为提取mtDNA的一个有用的组织来源。经16种限制性内切酶分析,并与来自同一个体肝脏组织的mtDNA比较,结果进一步证实,mtDNA无组织特异性。对12岁以上老年猴脑mtDNA的分析表明,在衰老中,动物mtDNA的序列可能没有变化,甲基化程度也无显著增高。     

黑叶猴和灰叶猴的线粒体DNA限制性片段长度多态研究

本文以15种限制性内切酶分析黑叶猴和灰叶猴种内及种间mtDNA多态。从各个样品中分别检出了41—50个酶切位点。综合15种限制内酶的酶切类型,在2只黑叶猴和2只灰叶猴中分别检出了两种限制性类型,并与其4个地理来源相对应。结合恒河猴和红面猴的资料,构建了4种猴科动物的分子系统树。结果表明,黑叶猴和灰叶猴种内的分歧分别始于30和35万年以前,两种叶猴的分离始于190万年以前,猴亚科和疣猴亚科的分离应早于1100万年。叶猴属在中国的扩散不是很晚才发生的。     

金丝猴属的DNA序列变异及进化与保护遗传学研究

金丝猴的分类及系统发育存在许多争议。本文测定了２只川金丝猴、８只滇金丝猴、１只越南金丝猴和１只灰叶猴的２５３ｂｐ的线粒体细胞色素ｂ基因的序列。其中４７个位点（１９％）检出变异。我们采用简约法、最大似然法和距离法构建了一系列的分子系统树,得到相同的拓扑结构,从而可能在分子水平澄清了金丝猴属的系统发育。结果表明,云南金丝猴与越南金丝猴间的关系较与川金丝猴的为近。金丝猴属的分化大约发生在２～６百万年以前。这３种金丝猴均是独立的种,且都应归入金丝猴属。对８只来自野外的滇金丝猴（其中包括了昆明动物研究所圈养群体的所有６只创立者）的非损伤性遗传分析提示,编号为ＹＫ２的母猴是维持该圈养群体遗传多样性的关键猴。我们建立的这种非损伤性遗传分析方法广泛适用于珍稀濒危动物的遗传多样性及遗传管理研究。     

Newly discovered insect RNA viruses in China

Insects are a group of arthropods and the largest group of animals on Earth,with over one million species described to date.Like other life forms,insects suffer from viruses that cause disease and death.Viruses that are pathogenic to beneficial insects cause dramatic economic losses on agriculture.In contrast,viruses that are pathogenic to insect pests can be exploited as attractive biological control agents.All of these factors have led to an explosion in the amount of research into insect viruses in recent years,generating impressive quantities of information on the molecular and cellular biology of these viruses.Due to the wide variety of insect viruses,a better understanding of these viruses will expand our overall knowledge of their virology.Here,we review studies of several newly discovered RNA insect viruses in China.     

Genome-scale analysis of Mannheimia succiniciproducens metabolism

Mannheimia succiniciproducens MBEL55E isolated from bovine rumen is a capnophilic gram-negative bacterium that efficiently produces succinic acid, an industrially important four carbon dicarboxylic acid. In order to design a metabolically engineered strain which is capable of producing succinic acid with high yield and productivity, it is essential to optimize the whole metabolism at the systems level. Consequently, in silico modeling and simulation of the genome-scale metabolic network was employed for genome-scale analysis and efficient design of metabolic engineering experiments. The genome-scale metabolic network of M. succiniciproducens consisting of 686 reactions and 519 metabolites was constructed based on reannotation and validation experiments. With the reconstructed model, the network structure and key metabolic characteristics allowing highly efficient production of succinic acid were deciphered; these include strong PEP carboxylation, branched TCA cycle, relative weak pyruvate formation, the lack of glyoxylate shunt, and non-PTS for glucose uptake. Constraints-based flux analyses were then carried out under various environmental and genetic conditions to validate the genome-scale metabolic model and to decipher the altered metabolic characteristics. Predictions based on constraints-based flux analysis were mostly in excellent agreement with the experimental data. In silico knockout studies allowed prediction of new metabolic engineering strategies for the enhanced production of succinic acid. This genome-scale in silico model can serve as a platform for the systematic prediction of physiological responses of M. succiniciproducens to various environmental and genetic perturbations and consequently for designing rational strategies for strain improvement.     

Autophagic-like cell death in neutrophils induced by autoantibodies

Human neutrophils undergo autophagic-like cell death following Sialic acid binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-9 (Siglec-9) ligation and concurrent stimulation with certain, but not all, neutrophil survival cytokines. Caspase inhibition by these cytokines is required, but is not sufficient, to trigger this particular form of cell death. Additional mechanisms may involve reactive oxygen species (ROS), and blocking of ROS or prevention of ROS production prevents autophagic-like neutrophil death. Interestingly, human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) preparations contain natural anti-Siglec-9 autoantibodies, which are able to ligate Siglec-9 on neutrophils and induce autophagic-like cell death in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and some other survival cytokines. Here, we discuss the pathophysiological and therapeutic implications of these recent findings.