Evaluation of efficacy of stabilizers on the thermostability of live attenuated thermo-adapted <Emphasis Type="Italic">Peste des petits ruminants</Emphasis> vaccines

In this study, thermo-adapted (Ta) PPR vaccines were assessed for their stability at 25, 37, 40, 42 and 45°C in lyophilized form using two extrinsic stabilizers {lactalbumin hydrolysate-sucrose (LS) and stabilizer E} and in reconstituted form with the diluents (1 mol/L MgSO₄ or 0.85% NaCl). The lyophilized vaccines showed an expiry period of 24–26 days at 25°C, 7–8 days at 37°C and 3–4 days at 40°C. LS stabilizer was superior at 42°C with a shelf-life of 44 h, whereas in stabilizer E, a 40 h shelf-life with a comparable half-life was observed. At 45°C, the half-life in stabilizer E was better than LS and lasted for 1 day. Furthermore, the reconstituted vaccine maintained the titre for 48 h both at 4°C and 25°C and for 24–30 h at 37°C. As both the stabilizers performed equally well with regard to shelf-life and half-life, the present study suggests LS as stabilizer as a choice for lyophilization with 0.85% NaCl diluent, because it has better performance at higher temperature. These Ta vaccines can be used as alternatives to existing vaccines for the control of the disease in tropical countries as they are effective in avoiding vaccination failure due to the breakdown in cold-chain maintenance, as this vaccine is considerably more stable at ambient temperatures.     

DYW-type PPR proteins in a heterolobosean protist: plant RNA editing factors involved in an ancient horizontal gene transfer?

A particular type of pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins with variable length of the 35 aa PPR motifs and conserved carboxyterminal extensions, named the PLS proteins, was so far exclusively identified in land plants. Several PLS proteins with such domain extensions (E, E+, DYW) were shown to be involved in plant organellar RNA editing but their evolutionary origin had remained enigmatic. We here report the first case of DYW-type PLS proteins outside of the plant kingdom in the protist Naegleria gruberi and hypothesize on horizontal gene transfer in very early land plant evolution.     

PPR蛋白调控植物细胞器RNA加工的分子功能

35肽重复（pentatricopeptide repeat, PPR）蛋白是2000年发现的一类由多个重复单位串联而成的核编码蛋白质。PPR蛋白广泛存在于真核生物中,在陆生植物中尤为普遍。PPR蛋白大多定位于线粒体或叶绿体。多项研究表明,PPR蛋 白为序列特异性RNA结合蛋白质,在细胞器RNA编辑、剪接、稳定、切割及翻译等转录后加工过程发挥重要作用。PPR蛋白功能缺陷导致植物生长发育异常,甚至胚胎致死。本文主要就PPR蛋白功能及作用机制进行综述,并对尚待解决的问题及研究前景加以探讨,以期为PPR蛋白的深入研究提供思路。     

Reverse Genetics for Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus: Current Status and Lessons to Learn from Other Non-segmented Negative-Sense RNA Viruses

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious transboundary animal disease with a severe socio-economic impact on the livestock industry, particularly in poor countries where it is endemic. Full understanding of PPR virus (PPRV) pathobiology and molecular biology is critical for effective control and eradication of the disease. To achieve these goals, establishment of stable reverse genetics systems for PPRV would play a key role. Unfortunately, this powerful technology remains less accessible and poorly documented for PPRV. In this review, we discussed the current status of PPRV reverse genetics as well as the recent innovations and advances in the reverse genetics of other non-segmented negative-sense RNA viruses that could be applicable to PPRV. These strategies may contribute to the improvement of existing techniques and/or the development of new reverse genetics systems for PPRV.     

小反刍兽疫病毒研究进展

小反刍兽疫（PPR）是由小反刍兽疫病毒（PPRV）引起的一种主要感染小反刍动物的急性、烈性、接触性A类传染病,患病率、死亡率高。本文就世界PPR流行状况、PPRV基因组及病毒结构蛋白、PPRV检测方法、最新的药物及疫苗、存在的问题等方面做了简要综述。     

A Case of Gene Fragmentation in Plant Mitochondria Fixed by the Selection of a Compensatory Restorer of Fertility-Like PPR Gene

The high mutational load of mitochondrial genomes combined with their uniparental inheritance and high polyploidy favors the maintenance of deleterious mutations within populations. How cells compose and adapt to the accumulation of disadvantageous mitochondrial alleles remains unclear. Most harmful changes are likely corrected by purifying selection, however, the intimate collaboration between mitochondria- and nuclear-encoded gene products offers theoretical potential for compensatory adaptive changes. In plants, cytoplasmic male sterilities are known examples of nucleo-mitochondrial coadaptation situations in which nuclear-encoded restorer of fertility (Rf) genes evolve to counteract the effect of mitochondria-encoded cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes and restore fertility. Most cloned Rfs belong to a small monophyletic group, comprising 26 pentatricopeptide repeat genes in Arabidopsis, called Rf-like (RFL). In this analysis, we explored the functional diversity of RFL genes in Arabidopsis and found that the RFL8 gene is not related to CMS suppression but essential for plant embryo development. In vitro-rescued rfl8 plantlets are deficient in the production of the mitochondrial heme–lyase complex. A complete ensemble of molecular and genetic analyses allowed us to demonstrate that the RFL8 gene has been selected to permit the translation of the mitochondrial ccmF_N2 gene encoding a heme–lyase complex subunit which derives from the split of the ccmF_N gene, specifically in Brassicaceae plants. This study represents thus a clear case of nuclear compensation to a lineage-specific mitochondrial genomic rearrangement in plants and demonstrates that RFL genes can be selected in response to other mitochondrial deviancies than CMS suppression.