Widespread genetic switches and toxicity resistance proteins for fluoride

Most riboswitches are metabolite-binding RNA structures located in bacterial messenger RNAs where they control gene expression. We have discovered a riboswitch class in many bacterial and archaeal species whose members are selectively triggered by fluoride but reject other small anions, including chloride. These fluoride riboswitches activate expression of genes that encode putative fluoride transporters, enzymes that are known to be inhibited by fluoride, and additional proteins of unknown function. Our findings indicate that most organisms are naturally exposed to toxic levels of fluoride and that many species use fluoride-sensing RNAs to control the expression of proteins that alleviate the deleterious effects of this anion.     

Structural basis of glmS ribozyme activation by glucosamine-6-phosphate

The glmS ribozyme is the only natural catalytic RNA known to require a small-molecule activator for catalysis. This catalytic RNA functions as a riboswitch, with activator-dependent RNA cleavage regulating glmS messenger RNA expression. We report crystal structures of the glmS ribozyme in precleavage states that are unliganded or bound to the competitive inhibitor glucose-6-phosphate and in the postcleavage state. All structures superimpose closely, revealing a remarkably rigid RNA that contains a preformed active and coenzyme-binding site. Unlike other riboswitches, the glmS ribozyme binds its activator in an open, solvent-accessible pocket. Our structures suggest that the amine group of the glmS ribozyme-bound coenzyme performs general acid-base and electrostatic catalysis.     

Specific expression of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in transgenic mice

Two transgenic mice were obtained that contain in their chromosomes the complete hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome except for the core gene. These mice secrete particles of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) in the serum. In one mouse, HBV DNA sequences that had integrated at two different sites were shown to segregate independently in the first filial generation (F1) and only one of the sequences allowed expression of the surface antigen. Among these animals the males produced five to ten times more HBsAg than the females. A 2.1-kilobase messenger RNA species comigrating with the major surface gene messenger RNA is expressed specifically in the liver in the two original mice. The results suggest that the HBV sequences introduced into the mice are able to confer a tissue-specific expression to the S gene. In addition, the HBV transgenic mice represent a new model for the chronic carrier state of hepatitis B virus infection.     

水稻白叶枯病菌毒性表达的负调控因子PXO_02944的分子鉴定

【目的】水稻黄单胞水稻致病变种（Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, 简称Xoo）侵染引起水稻白叶枯病,在侵染过程中Xoo可产生胞外多糖(EPS)、胞外酶、黏附因子、T3SS以及其产生的效应因子等毒性因子。细菌第二信使环鸟苷二磷酸（c-di-GMP）的水平在Xoo毒性调控中发挥了重要的作用,而PXO_02944是包含REC、GGDEF和EAL结构域的蛋白,是c-di-GMP信号蛋白家族的成员,研究旨在阐明水稻白叶枯病菌的环鸟苷二磷酸信号蛋白家族成员PXO_02944的基因结构和功能。【方法】根据PXO_02944基因序列信息,以PXO99A基因组DNA为模板,设计引物扩增PXO_02944基因全长,将其GGDEF结构域和EAL结构域分别与已经报道的保守的GGDEF结构域或EAL结构域蛋白进行氨基酸序列比对分析;分别扩增PXO_02944左右臂片段,将其与目的载体pK18mobsacB载体连接,得到质粒pK2944,将pK2944与pMD-GmR载体回收获得的GmR基因片段进行连接,获得重组质粒pK2944-GmR,用于构建基因突变体。将PXO_02944全长基因克隆到载体pHM1上,获得重组质粒pHM1-2944并转化到ΔPXO_02944中,即获得互补菌株ΔPXO_02944::C。对野生型菌株、突变体和互补菌株进行表型测定,分析PXO_02944 基因缺失突变对Xoo致病性和EPS产生、生物膜形成、胞外酶活性和鞭毛运动性的影响,并通过qRT-PCR方法测定EPS合成基因和毒性相关基因的表达。【结果】用特异性引物进行PCR扩增,成功地从野生型菌株PXO99A中克隆了PXO_02944;生物信息学分析发现,PXO_02944蛋白具有磷酸化信号接收的REC输入结构域和GGDEF、EAL输出结构域,但GGDEF和EAL结构域保守序列发生了突变。与野生型菌株PXO99A相比,虽然PXO_02944突变体胞外纤维素酶和木聚糖酶活性、鞭毛运动性都无明显变化, 但其对水稻的致病性、EPS产生和生物膜形成能力显著增强,T3SS调控基因hrpG和EPS合成基因gumG的转录水平也明显升高。【结论】应答调控因子PXO_02944负调控了水稻白叶枯病菌致病性、EPS产生和生物膜形成这些毒性因子的表达。     

Gene expression profiles in the brain predict behavior in individual honey bees

We show that the age-related transition by adult honey bees from hive work to foraging is associated with changes in messenger RNA abundance in the brain for 39% of approximately 5500 genes tested. This result, discovered using a highly replicated experimental design involving 72 microarrays, demonstrates more extensive genomic plasticity in the adult brain than has yet been shown. Experimental manipulations that uncouple behavior and age revealed that messenger RNA changes were primarily associated with behavior. Individual brain messenger RNA profiles correctly predicted the behavior of 57 out of 60 bees, indicating a robust association between brain gene expression in the individual and naturally occurring behavioral plasticity.     

Overexpression of transforming growth factor alpha in psoriatic epidermis

Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) is produced by and required for the growth of epithelial cells and is angiogenic in vivo. Since epidermal hyperplasia and angiogenesis are hallmarks of psoriasis, TGF-alpha gene expression was analyzed in epidermal biopsies of normal and psoriatic skin. TGF-alpha messenger RNA and protein are much more abundant in lesional psoriatic epidermis than in normal-appearing skin of psoriatic patients or in normal epidermis. In contrast, messenger RNA levels of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), which inhibits epithelial cell growth, are not significantly different in normal, uninvolved, and lesional psoriatic epidermis. Thus, psoriatic epidermal hyperplasia may involve increased expression of a keratinocyte mitogen (TGF-alpha) rather than deficient expression of a growth inhibitor (TGF-beta 1).     

Endogenous substrate for cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase in adrenocortical polyadenylated messenger ribonucleoproteins

An endogenous polysomal cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase specifically phosphorylates a 150,000-dalton peptide bound to an adrenocortical polyadenylated messenger ribonucleoprotein complex. There is a possibility that this protein is a physiological substrate of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and that the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of this substrate may be important in the translation control of adrenal polyadenylated messenger RNA.     

Ancient pathways programmed by small RNAs

Double-stranded RNA can now be used in a wide variety of eukaryotes to suppress the expression of virtually any gene, allowing the rapid analysis of that gene's function, a technique known as RNA interference. But how cells use the information in double-stranded RNA to suppress gene expression and why they contain the machinery to do so remain the subjects of intense scrutiny. Current evidence suggests that RNA interference and other "RNA silencing" phenomena reflect an elaborate cellular apparatus that eliminates abundant but defective messenger RNAs and defends against molecular parasites such as transposons and viruses.     

植物病原黄单胞菌DSF信号依赖的群体感应机制及调控网络

群体感应是微生物之间相互交流的一种重要联络方式,它协助细菌能感应群体密度从而调节基因表达。20世纪80年代以来,多种群体感应信号及其传导机制得以阐明。DSF（diffusible signal factor）是近年来在野油菜黄单胞菌中首先鉴定的1个新型群体感应信号,化学结构为顺式11?甲基?2?十二碳烯酸,其信号传导途径包括RpfC/RpfG双组分感应系统、二级信使环二鸟苷酸（c-di-GMP）、全局性转录因子Clp等。在野油菜黄单胞菌中,DSF群体感应信号调控3类生物学功能：一是促进致病相关基因的表达;二是抑制生物膜形成;三是促进黄单胞菌作出代谢调整,适应高群体密度环境。RpfF是DSF信号生物合成过程中的关键酶,黄单胞菌在高群体密度条件下通过一种新型自我诱导机制大量合成DSF。DSF信号不仅存在于所有黄单胞菌属细菌中,也广泛存在于苛养木杆菌、嗜麦芽寡养单胞菌、伯克氏菌、铜绿假单胞菌和许多海洋细菌中,其传导途径和生物学功能还有待进一步阐明。