Pattern analysis of stem cell differentiation during <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro Arabidopsis</Emphasis> organogenesis

Plant somatic cells have the capability to switch their cell fates from differentiated to undifferentiated status under proper culture conditions, which is designated as totipotency. As a result, plant cells can easily regenerate new tissues or organs from a wide variety of explants. However, the mechanism by which plant cells have such remarkable regeneration ability is still largely unknown. In this study, we used a set of meristem-specific marker genes to analyze the patterns of stem cell differentiation in the processes of somatic embryogenesis as well as shoot or root organogenesis in vitro. Our studies furnish preliminary and important information on the patterns of the de novo stem cell differentiation during various types of in vitro organogenesis.     

Multiomic Metabolic Enrichment Network Analysis Reveals Metabolite–Protein Physical Interaction Subnetworks Altered in Cancer

Metabolism is recognized as an important driver of cancer progression and other complex diseases, but global metabolite profiling remains a challenge. Protein expression profiling is often a poor proxy since existing pathway enrichment models provide an incomplete mapping between the proteome and metabolism. To overcome these gaps, we introduce multiomic metabolic enrichment network analysis (MOMENTA), an integrative multiomic data analysis framework for more accurately deducing metabolic pathway changes from proteomics data alone in a gene set analysis context by leveraging protein interaction networks to extend annotated metabolic models. We apply MOMENTA to proteomic data from diverse cancer cell lines and human tumors to demonstrate its utility at revealing variation in metabolic pathway activity across cancer types, which we verify using independent metabolomics measurements. The novel metabolic networks we uncover in breast cancer and other tumors are linked to clinical outcomes, underscoring the pathophysiological relevance of the findings.     

Highly specialized Cretaceous beetle parasitoids (Ripiphoridae) identified with optimized visualization of microstructures

Extremely miniaturized longipedes insects (body length c. 0.3 mm) embedded in two pieces of Cretaceous amber from Myanmar are described and interpreted. Using inverted fluorescence and light microscopy for detailed analysis of microstructures, the inclusions were identified as primary larvae of the beetle family Ripiphoridae, subfamily Ripidiinae. While the structure of thoracic and abdominal segments including appendages corresponds well with the groundplan known in recent members of Ripidiinae, a curved prosternal ridge with prominent spines (each c. 5 μm), the reduced condition of stemmata and antennae and the lack of sharp mandibles are unique features within the entire family, apparently apomorphies of the longipedes larvae. A sinuate prosternal edge with a dense row of spines (prosternoctenidium) might be homologous with ‘head ctenidia’ in some previously described miniaturized conicocephalate larvae, but further investigation is needed. The morphological differences between the head of longipedes larvae and extant Ripidiinae are interpreted as adaptations to different groups of hosts and life strategies. Palaeoethology of the longipedes larvae is briefly discussed. In addition, the systematic placement of conicocephalate larvae from Canadian, Myanmar and Russian Cretaceous ambers, already interpreted by various authors as primary instars within Coleopterida (assigned to either Strepsiptera or to the coleopteran Tenebrionoidea: Ripiphoridae), is discussed.     

Structure of phenylalanine-accepting transfer ribonucleic acid and of its environment in aqueous solvents with different salts

Yeast tRNA(Phe) was studied in different salt-containing solvents by UV absorbance and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). This extends results obtained previously in NaCl and KCl solutions [Li, Z.-Q., Giegé, R., Jacrot, B., Oberthür, R., Thierry, J. C., & Zaccai, G. (1983) Biochemistry 22, 4380-4388]. As expected, at low concentrations of all salts studied, the tRNA molecule is unfolded. The importance of specific counterion interactions and the flexibility of the macromolecule are emphasized by the observation that it cannot take up its folded structure in N(CH3)4Cl solvents, even when that salt concentration is increased to 1 M, in the absence of Mg ions. In CsCl solvents, on the other hand, the folded conformation is obtained in salt concentrations above about 0.2 M, similar to NaCl or KCl. By a comparison of SANS results in CsCl H2O and CsCl 2H2O solvents with the data from NaCl and KCl solvents, thermodynamic and structural parameters were derived for the solvated macromolecule. All the data are accounted for, quantitatively, by a model for the particle in NaCl, KCl, or CsCl solution made up of tRNA76-, closely associated with 76 positive hydrated counterions, surrounded by an aqueous solvent layer that excludes salt (and, therefore, of density different from that of bulk solvent). The mass of water in that layer depends on salt concentration, and the values found are consistent with those predicted by the Donnan effect.     

琼脂糖平板制备聚焦电泳法进一步提纯胸腺素组分五

用琼脂糖平板等电聚焦电泳法,由胸腺素组分五中分离出三种在聚焦电泳谱上是单一谱线的多肽成份——CP1、CP2和CP3,等电点分别为4.3、4.9和5.6。测定了这些多肽对脐带血中淋巴细胞形成羊红细胞玫瑰花的影响。与对照相比,CP1(2微克/0.6毫升),和CP3(0.2-2微克/毫升)分别在统计学上呈显著和非常显著差异。在相同测定条件下,这三种多肽成份的活性均高于化学合成的胸腺多肽——胸腺素α_1。     

水稻幼芽细胞生物膜上的赤霉素结合蛋白的结合特性

在水稻 (Oryza sativa)幼芽中存在膜结合的赤霉素结合蛋白 ,其与 GA3 结合的平衡解离常数(Kd)为 6.5× 1 0 -8mol/ L,总浓度为 0 .3 pmol· mg-1 蛋白质。结合蛋白与 GA3 结合活力在 0℃时比 2 5℃时高 1 4 0 %。它与 GA3 结合的最适 p H为 5。 GA3 与此结合蛋白的结合量随反应时间延长而增加 ,1 h达最大值 ,以后又逐渐下降。 IAA、ABA可与 GA3 竞争赤霉素结合蛋白。     

大肠杆菌亮氨酰－tRNA合成酶LeuRS67R的纯化及其动力学研究

本实验室已得到的亮氨酰－ｔＲＮＡ合成酶（ＬｅｕＲＳ）基因,与文献相比,６７位氨基酸残基由Ｈｉｓ变为Ａｒｇ,此酶被定名为ＬｅｕＲＳ６７Ｒ。我们从该基因与ｐＵＣ１９重组质粒的大肠杆菌ＴＧ１转化子ＴＧ１－９１中得到ＬｅｕＲＳ的高表达,粗抽液中ＬｅｕＲＳ的表达量在转化子中比在宿主菌ＴＧ１中高２０倍以上。用三步拉层析得到电泳一条带的酶,其比活为１７８９单位／毫克。测定其动力学常数,氨酰化活力对Ｌｅｕ、ＡＴＰ的Ｋｍ值分别为０．０２７ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ、０．４７ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ,Ｋｃａｔ值分别为３．５～５．１ｓ－１。ＡＴＰ－ＰＰｉ交换活力对Ｌｅｕ、ＡＴＰ的Ｋｍ值分别为０．０３ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ、１．０ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ,Ｌｃａｔ值分别为１４０～１５５ｓ－１。此结果与从野生型大肠杆菌Ｋ－１２中提纯的ＬｅｕＲＳ的动力学常数差别很小,６７位氨基酸残基在与活性中心无直接关系的域可能是大肠杆菌的种间差异。     

胰岛素诱导低血糖大鼠心房肌细胞特殊颗粒的形态计量和心房利钠肽免疫组织化学研究

通过形态计量学和免疫组织化学方法发现胰岛素诱导低血糖大鼠心房肌细胞核周区特殊颗粒（ＡＳＧ）的体密度、面数密度和数密度及平均直径均高于对照组（Ｐ＜０．０５）,但高尔基复合体各参数与对照组比较没有差别（Ｐ＞０．０５）。实验组的心房利钠肽（ＡＮＰ）的免疫反应强度比对照组强（Ｐ＜０．００１）。提示胰岛素诱导低血糖对心房利钠肽的释放具有抑制作用,表明ＡＮＰ作为生理和病理调节递质与代谢刺激相拮抗。     

毛叶香茶菜素的结构订正

我们从安徽省黄山产的大萼香茶菜（Ｒａｂｄｏｓｉａｍａｃｒｏｃａｌｙｘ（Ｄｕｎｎ）Ｈａｒａ）中分得一结晶,其元素分析和１３Ｃ－ＮＭＲ与毛叶香茶菜素［１］完全一致,故推定为毛叶香茶菜素,根据该结晶的元素分析,ＭＳ、ＮＭＲ、ＣＯＳＹ和ＮＯＥＳＹ等光谱数据,其结构应订正为（２）。表１表明：毛叶香茶菜素（２）的分子式由元素分析和高分辨质谱确定为Ｃ２４Ｈ３６Ｏ９,毛叶香茶菜素（１）的分子式由元素分析也应确定为Ｃ２４Ｈ３６Ｏ９。由于赵治清等误将质谱中Ｍ＋－Ｈ２Ｏ碎片离子峰ｍ／ｚ４５０当作分子离子峰（毛叶香茶菜…     

Elevated ozone decreases the multifunctionality of belowground ecosystems

Elevated tropospheric ozone (O₃) affects the allocation of biomass aboveground and belowground and influences terrestrial ecosystem functions. However, how belowground functions respond to elevated O₃ concentrations ([O₃]) remains unclear at the global scale. Here, we conducted a detailed synthesis of belowground functioning responses to elevated [O₃] by performing a meta-analysis of 2395 paired observations from 222 publications. We found that elevated [O₃] significantly reduced the primary productivity of roots by 19.8%, 16.3%, and 26.9% for crops, trees and grasses, respectively. Elevated [O₃] strongly decreased the root/shoot ratio by 11.3% for crops and by 4.9% for trees, which indicated that roots were highly sensitive to O₃. Elevated [O₃] impacted carbon and nitrogen cycling in croplands, as evidenced by decreased dissolved organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, total soil nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, microbial biomass nitrogen, and nitrification rates in association with increased nitrate nitrogen and denitrification rates. Elevated [O₃] significantly decreased fungal phospholipid fatty acids in croplands, which suggested that O₃ altered the microbial community and composition. The responses of belowground functions to elevated [O₃] were modified by experimental methods, root environments, and additional global change factors. Therefore, these factors should be considered to avoid the underestimation or overestimation of the impacts of elevated [O₃] on belowground functioning. The significant negative relationships between O₃-treated intensity and the multifunctionality index for croplands, forests, and grasslands implied that elevated [O₃] decreases belowground ecosystem multifunctionality.