A and D genomes spatial separation at somatic metaphase in tetraploid cotton: evidence for genomic disposition in a polyploid plant

Chromosomal dispositions were analyzed on the metaphase plate of tetraploid cotton (AADD). At metaphase, the two subgenomes, A and D, were separated in a radial pattern in which the small D subgenome chromosomes tended to concentrate at the center and the large A subgenome chromosomes were scattered about the periphery on the metaphase plate. Although the ordered chromosome arrangement was disturbed in an artificial hexaploid (AADDGG), the separation pattern could be recovered after the majority of the additional genome (GG) chromosomes were removed by backcrossing the artificial hexaploid with the tetraploid cotton (AADD). A similar genome separation phenomenon was also found in synthesized tetraploid cotton (AAGG). These results indicate that the genome separation pattern could be established immediately after tetraploid cotton formation and could be stably inherited in tetraploid cotton. Given the evidence of parental genome separation in other plants and animals, we speculated that genome separation might be a normal phenomenon in diploid and polyploid species. These finding will shed light on the chromosome conformation in plant cells.     

Proteomics and pulse azidohomoalanine labeling of newly synthesized proteins: what are the potential applications?

Introduction: Measuring the immediate changes in cells that arise from changing environmental conditions is crucial to understanding the underlying mechanisms involved. These changes can be measured with metabolic stable isotope fully labeled proteomes, but requires looking for changes in the midst of a large background. In addition, labeling efficiency can be an issue in primary and fully differentiated cells.

Area covered: Azidohomoalanine (AHA), an analog of methionine, can be accepted by cellular translational machinery and incorporated into newly synthesized proteins (NSPs). AHA-NSPs can be coupled to biotin via CuAAC-mediated click-chemistry and enriched using avidin-based affinity purification. Thus, AHA-containing proteins or peptides can be enriched and efficiently separated from the whole proteome. In this review, we describe the development of mass spectrometry (MS) based AHA strategies and discuss their potential to measure proteins involved in immune response, secretome, gut microbiome, and proteostasis as well as their potential for clinical uses.

Expert commentary: AHA strategies have been used to identify synthesis activity and to compare two biological conditions in various biological model organisms. In combination with instrument development, improved sample preparation and fractionation strategies, MS-based AHA strategies have the potential for broad application, and the methods should translate into clinical use.     

Bare laser‐synthesized Au‐based nanoparticles as nondisturbing surface‐enhanced Raman scattering probes for bacteria identification

The ability of noble metal‐based nanoparticles (NPs) (Au, Ag) to drastically enhance Raman scattering from molecules placed near metal surface, termed as surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), is widely used for identification of trace amounts of biological materials in biomedical, food safety and security applications. However, conventional NPs synthesized by colloidal chemistry are typically contaminated by nonbiocompatible by‐products (surfactants, anions), which can have negative impacts on many live objects under examination (cells, bacteria) and thus decrease the precision of bioidentification. In this article, we explore novel ultrapure laser‐synthesized Au‐based nanomaterials, including Au NPs and AuSi hybrid nanostructures, as mobile SERS probes in tasks of bacteria detection. We show that these Au‐based nanomaterials can efficiently enhance Raman signals from model R6G molecules, while the enhancement factor depends on the content of Au in NP composition. Profiting from the observed enhancement and purity of laser‐synthesized nanomaterials, we demonstrate successful identification of 2 types of bacteria (Listeria innocua and Escherichia coli). The obtained results promise less disturbing studies of biological systems based on good biocompatibility of contamination‐free laser‐synthesized nanomaterials.

     

从CIMMYT引进的人工合成六倍体小麦D染色体组微卫星分子标记的遗传差异

采用微卫星（SSR）分子标记技术,选用23个D染色体组特异性引的对来自CIMMYT的26份人工合成六倍体小麦D染色体组的遗传多样性进行了分析。研究发现,26份材料在D染色体组上存在丰富的等位基因变异（92个）,平均每个基因座为4个。遗传距离计算结果也显示,26份材料D染色体组之间具有较大的遗传差异,平均遗传距离高达0．4955。因此,人工合成六倍体小麦D染色体组中存在丰富的遗传多样性,可以作为拓宽普通小麦遗传基础的新的遗传变异来源。研究还发现,由同一个粗山羊草基因型与不同硬粒小麦杂交合成的人工合成六倍体小麦（如合成种17和18）在所用检测的23个基因座中有3个存在差异,说明小麦在多倍化后,供体基因组在重复序列区域会发生遗传分化。     

Polysome formation and incorporation of new ribosomes into polysomes during germination of the embryonic axis of maize

Isolated axes of Zea mays L. cvs CiV₂ and CUZCO were imbibed for different periods of time, and free polysomes were extracted and analysed by centrifugation in a sucrose gradient. The amount of rRNA per axis was determined at different moments of germination. Polysome reassembly was practically completed by 8 h and 54% of the preformed ribosomes were found in the polysome fraction. An increase in the proportion of large polysomes was also observed during this period of germination. During the following period, the polysome content and the distribution of the various classes of polysomes remained unchanged.
The time of appearance of newly synthesized ribosomes into the polysomes was investigated using axes germinated in the presence of [³H]-uridine. Centrifugal analysis of EDTA-dissociated polysomes and gel electrophoretic analysis of polysomal RNA showed that new ribosomes appeared into polysomes a few hours after completion of the initial polysome assembly. When released into the cytoplasm, the new ribosomes were preferentially incorporated into polysomes rather than stored as free ribosomes.     

Conformation of 60-residue peptide fragment from N-terminal of porcine kidney fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase

Limited digestion of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase with subtilisin produces an S-peptide with an about 60-residue peptide fragment that is non-covalently associated with the enzyme. The 60-residue peptide fragment con-sists of the most part of allosteric site for AMP binding. It could be separated from S-protein by gel filtration with a Sephadex G-75 column equilibrated with 9% formic acid. According to X-ray diffraction results the S-peptide consists of two α-helices without β-strand and the α-helix content is about 60% in the 60-residue-peptide fragment. When the enzyme is subjected to limited proteolysis with subtilisin, the secondary structure of the enzyme does not show a de-tectable change in CD spectrum. The CD spectra of the isolated S-peptide were measured under different concentra-tions. In the absence of GuHCl, S-peptide had 30% a-helix and 38.5% turn-like structure but had no β-strand, sug-gesting that the N-terminal 60-residue fragment, which is synthesized initially by ribosome, would fo     

新合成黄腐酚类似物联合顺铂对宫颈癌细胞化疗增敏作用的研究

摘要 目的：探讨新合成黄腐酚类似物联合顺铂对宫颈癌Hela细胞化疗敏感性的影响及其机制。方法：以不同浓度（5、7.5、15、20 μmol/L）黄腐酚类似物处理宫颈癌Hela细胞和正常MRC-5细胞48 h后,MTT实验检测细胞增殖活力并计算出黄腐酚类似物对2种细胞的半数抑制浓度(IC₅₀);采用MTT实验进一步观察IC₅₀最低的黄腐酚类似物联合顺铂对Hela和MRC-5细胞增殖活力的影响,采用流式细胞仪检测Hela细胞周期和凋亡情况,Western blot法检测Hela细胞中凋亡相关蛋白表达变化。结果：黄腐酚类似物a8、a13、b11和b12对宫颈癌Hela细胞增殖均有一定的抑制作用,且a13的IC₅₀值最小;另外,这4种浓度的黄腐酚类似物对正常MRC-5细胞有轻微的抑制作用,且a13的IC50值最大。与对照组比较,顺铂组、a13组、顺铂+a13组中正常MRC-5细胞存活率差异均无统计学意义（P<0.05）,但顺铂组、a13组和顺铂+a13组中宫颈癌Hela细胞存活率、G2/M期细胞百分比和B淋巴细胞瘤-2基因（Bcl-2）蛋白表达水平均明显降低,而G0/G1期细胞百分比、细胞凋亡率和细胞中细胞色素C（Cyt-c）、Bcl-2关联X蛋白（Bax）、活化的半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3（Cleaved Caspase-3）、活化的半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶9（Cleaved Caspase-9）蛋白表达水平均明显升高,且顺铂+a13组中上述指标变化幅度明显大于顺铂组、a13组（P<0.05）。结论：黄腐酚类似物与顺铂联合可协同抑制宫颈癌Hela细胞增殖,表现良好的化疗增敏效果,其作用机制可能与阻滞细胞周期进程和调控凋亡相关蛋白表达促进细胞凋亡有关。