Expression of the tobacco β-1,3-glucanase gene, PR-2d, following induction of SAR with Peronospora tabacina

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is induced following inoculation of Peronospora tabacina sporangia into the stems of Nicotiana tabacum plants highly susceptible to the pathogen. Previous results have shown that accumulation of acidic β-1,3-glucanases (PR-2's) following induction of SAR by P. tabacina may contribute to resistance to P. tabacina. We showed that up-regulation of the PR-2 gene, PR-2d, following stem inoculation with P. tabacina, is associated with SAR. Studies using plants transformed with GUS constructs containing the full length promoter from PR-2d or promoter deletions, provided evidence that a previously characterized regulatory element that is involved in response to salicylic acid (SA), may be involved in regulation of PR-2d following induction of SAR with P. tabacina. This work provides evidence that regulation of PR-2 genes during P. tabacina-induced SAR may be similar to regulation of these genes during infection of N-gene tobacco by TMV or following exogenous application of SA, and provides further support for the role of SA in regulation of genes during P. tabacina-induced SAR.     

Analysis of a Secreted Aspartic Peptidase Disruption Mutant of Glomerella cingulata

Peptidases have been implicated in the pathogenicity of fungi that cause disease in plants. Expression of the secreted aspartic peptidase gene (gcsap), of a Glomerella cingulata isolate pathogenic on apples, is induced during appressorium formation. To determine whether the secreted aspartic peptidase (GcSAP) is essential to pathogenicity, gcsap was disrupted using a vector containing a 637 bp fragment of genomic DNA that encodes the sequence spanning the two active site aspartic acid (Asp) residues. To ensure that the truncated gcsap gene products could not have residual peptidase activity the codons for the active site residues Asp¹¹² and Asp²⁹⁷ were both mutated to histidine residues. Both PCR and Southern analysis confirmed disruption of gcsap. Neither gcsap mRNA nor GcSAP activity was detected in the disruption mutant. Pathogenicity tests on fruit from three apple cultivars showed that GcSAP was not required for pathogenicity. The disruption mutant grew on medium containing protein as the sole source of nitrogen because G. cingulata secretes a previously undetected peptidase(s). A serine peptidase that had a pH optimum between pH 7.0 and 8.0 and a K _m of 0.25 mM for the synthetic substrate succinyl-Ala–Ala–Pro–Phe-p-nitroanilide was identified.     

Characterization and PCR-based Typing of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria from Peppers and Tomatoes in Serbia

During the last two decades bacterial strains associated with necrotic leaf spots of pepper and tomato fruit spots were collected in Serbia. Twenty-eight strains isolated from pepper and six from tomato were characterized. A study of their physiological and pathological characteristics, and fatty acid composition analysis revealed that all of the strains belong to Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria. Being non-amylolytic and non-pectolytic, pathogenic on pepper but not on tomato, containing lower amounts of fatty acid 15 : 0 ante–iso, the pepper strains were designated as members of the A group of X. campestris pv. vesicatoria. However, the tomato strains hydrolyzed starch and pectate, caused compatible reactions on tomato but not on pepper, had higher percent of 15 : 0 ante–iso fatty acid, and were classified into B phenotypic group and identified as X. vesicatoria. PCR primers were developed which amplified conserved DNA regions related to the hrp genes of different strains of X. campestris pv. vesicatoria associated with pepper and tomato. Restriction analysis of the PCR product resulted in different patterns and enabled grouping of the strains into four groups. When xanthomonads isolated from pepper and tomato in Serbia were analyzed, they clustered into two groups corresponding to the grouping based on their physiological and pathological characteristics. According to the reaction of pepper and tomato differential varieties, the strains from pepper belong to races P7 and P8 and tomato strains belong to the race T2. All strains were sensitive to copper and streptomycin. Advantages and disadvantages of various bacterial spot management practices are discussed.     

Sources of resistance to septoria tritici blotch and implications for wheat breeding

Twenty-four wheat cultivars and breeding lines were screened for isolate-specific resistance to septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by 12 isolates of Mycosphaerella graminicola. New isolate-specific resistances that could be used in wheat breeding were identified. Major sources of resistance to STB used in world breeding programmes for decades, such as Kavkaz-K4500, Veranopolis, Catbird and TE9111, have several isolate-specific resistances. This suggests that 'pyramiding' several resistance genes in one cultivar may be an effective and durable strategy for breeding for resistance to STB in wheat. Several cultivars, including Arina, Milan and Senat, had high levels of partial resistance to most isolates tested as well as isolate-specific resistances. Resistance to isolate IPO323 was common, present in all but one of the major sources of resistance tested. This suggests that resistance to IPO323 may be an indicator of varietal resistance to STB in the field.     

家蚕泛素结合酶新基因的克隆与基因组结构及5′调控区分析

在家蚕丝腺cDNA文库测序过程中,发现一个编码家蚕泛素结合酶的EST序列,利用3′RACE方法克隆了一个新的家蚕泛素结合酶基因cDNA全长序列,命名为BmUCE2 I(GenBank登录号为DQ219874)。家蚕BmUCE2 I基因全长cDNA由465 bp的开放阅读框序列(ORF)、97 bp的5′端非翻译区序列(5-′UTR)和237 bp的3′端非编码区序列(3-′UTR)组成,其编码的154个氨基酸与其他真核生物间具有较高的同源性。利用BmUCE2 I的EST片断作探针,通过筛选家蚕噬菌体基因组文库,获得了家蚕BmUCE2 I基因组序列和5′调控序列。BmUCE2 I基因由4个外显子和3个内含子组成,在5′端上游调控区域没有类似TATA盒元件,但在-219~-268 bp的区域存在一个50bp的启动子序列,此外还存在CF2-Ⅱ、FTZ、DFD、BRCZ2、DL、STAT、PRD-HD等多个转录因子结合位点。家蚕泛素结合酶新基因的克隆、基因结构及5′调控区的分析为进一步研究泛素蛋白水解酶复合通路相关基因的调控规律提供了重要依据。     

应用聚合酶链式反应(PCR)技术检测野猪的氟烷基因

猪应激综合征(Procine Stress Syndrome,PSS)是指猪在应激因子的作用下发生恶性高热综合症(Malignant Hyperthermia Syndrome，MHS)。试验随机选取18头纯种野猪提取基因组DNA进行聚合酶链式反应，扩增得到RYR。基因特异片段，经过HhaⅠ酶切阳性鉴定可断定这18头猪的RYR1基因都没有发生突变，因此不存在猪应激综合征问题。     

透明颤菌血红蛋白基因(vgb)在大肠杆菌中的高效表达

利用PCR技术将透明颠菌血红蛋白基因（vgb）克隆到融合表达载体pET28a，在大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）表达。重组蛋白在30℃诱导获得可溶表达。利用Ni^2＋亲和层析对重组蛋白进行了纯化，得到重组的透明颠菌血红蛋白，蛋白呈红色。实验现象显示重组蛋白与血红索相结合。紫外光区和可见光区波长扫描分析显示：蛋白粗提物和纯化后的血红蛋白在230nm和413nm都有强吸收峰，初步表明，尽管重组蛋白比天然蛋白多36个氨基酸，重组蛋白仍然具有生理活性。诱导后4h和6h的培养液氨基乙酰丙酸含量分别达到17mg／L和21mg／L。说明重组蛋白的表达明显促进了体内heme合成途径。     

ob基因及其表达产物的生物学效应

ob基因自从被克隆后,围绕其表达产物的作用机理和生物学效应进行了大量的研究,最近研究证明Leptin对小鼠大脑发育有重要功能,标志着Leptin的研究进入了一个新的阶段,今后将从单一的营养调控研究转向兼顾神经生物学的研究,更深入研究Leptin作用机理。同时国内外学者从分子领域探究ob基因在畜禽育种上的作用,做了很多的工作,也取得了重要的成果。本文总结了ob基因的重要生物学效应,为理解ob基因的作用机制和进一步研究人类肥胖治疗和提高动物生长繁殖性状水平提供必要的支持。     

西安荷斯坦奶牛群5个基因座位遗传多态性的PCR-RFLP分析

应用PCR-RFLP方法对西安荷斯坦牛的κ-en、β-lg、β-lg5′侧翼区、CSN1S2、IGFBP-3共5个基因座位进行了多态性分析。结果表明，在西安荷斯坦牛群中，没有发现携带CSN1S2^P等位基因的个体，其多态信息含量为0。κ-en基因座位呈现低度多态(PIC=0．2366)，β-lg、β-lg5′侧翼区、IGFBP-3基因座位的多态信息含量分别为0．3168、0．3689、0．4439，均呈现中度多态。κ-en、β-lg、β-lg5′侧翼区、IGFBP-3、CSNIS2基因座位的杂合度和DNA多态度分别为0．2742、0．3947、0．4879、0．4891、0和0．0255、0．0116、0．0333、0．0112、0。而且，在西安荷斯坦牛群中，κ-en、β-lg、β-lg5′侧翼区、IGFBP-3共4个基因座位均处于Hardy-Weinberg平衡状态，CSN1S2基因座位处于纯合状态。