Evaluation of two commercial PRRSV antibody ELISA kits with samples of known status and singleton reactors

Two commercial PRRSV ELISA kits (IDEXX and Bionote) were evaluated for their sensitivity and specificity using 476 PRRS-positive serum samples collected from 7 animal challenge experiments and 1,000 PRRS-negative sera. Both ELISA kits exhibited 100% sensitivity with sera collected 14 to 42 days post-infection, and the results from the kits were highly correlated (R²=0.9207). The specificity of IDEXX or Bionote kit was 99.9% or 99.7%, respectively. In addition, the Bionote ELISA kit was used to examine 100 sera that were determined to be falsely positive either by IDEXX 2XR or 3XR ELISA, and only 7 of these samples were found to be positive. These results indicate that both ELISA kits exhibited similar levels of sensitivity and specificity and would complement one another for the verification of false-positive samples.     

加州鲈弹状病毒三水株全基因组序列测定及分析

【目的】对加州鲈弹状病毒弱毒三水株(MSRV-SS-7)及其母源株(MSRV-SS)进行全基因组克隆和测序分析。【方法】采用分段扩增方法对MSRV-SS-7及MSRV-SS基因组核心序列进行PCR扩增,第1轮根据鳜鱼弹状病毒(SCRV)基因序列(NC_008514.1)设计10对引物进行扩增并测序;在第1轮扩增产物测序、拼接基础上,设计8对引物进行第2轮扩增,拼接后获得基因组核心序列。同时用cDNA末端快速扩增法(RACE)获得3′和5′末端序列。采用Vector NTI 8.0对基因组核心序列和末端序列进行拼接,获得基因组全序列,使用Clone Manager 8.0对MSRV-SS-7和MSRV-SS进行序列比对分析;同时使用DNAMAN将基因组G基因序列转换为氨基酸序列,并通过MEGA 5.0与其他鱼类弹状病毒的G蛋白氨基酸序列进行进化树分析。【结果】MSRV-SS-7及其母源株MSRV-SS基因组全长均为11 548 bp,包含N、P、M、G、L等5个结构基因,基因组结构为3′Leader-N-P-M-G-L-Trailer 5′;MSRV-SS-7与MSRV-SS全基因组中共有10处核苷酸不同。G蛋白进化分析表明,MSRV-SS-7及母源株MSRV-SS与SCRV亲缘关系最近,且与鲈鱼弹状病毒属(Perhabdovirus)聚为一支。【结论】克隆分析了MSRV-SS-7的全基因组序列,可以用于后续活疫苗的开发。     

Influence of paricalcitol on renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy

AIM: To investigate the effect of paricalcitol (P) on renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis and the underlying mechanisms in diabetic nephropathy (DN).METHODS: DN rat model was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin after fasting. The animals were randomly divided into 2 groups:the DN rats in paricalcitol-intervened group (group P) were injected intraperitoneally with paricalcitol dissolved in propylene glycol after the day when the model was induced successfully at a dose of 0.4 μg/kg (3 times a week); the DN rats in DN group (group D) were given isopyknic propylene glycol. Normal control group (group C) was also set up. The samples of blood, urine and renal tissue were collected after intervention of paricalcitol for 12 weeks. The biochemical indexes were measured. The renal tissues were used for pathologic observation and determining the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), Wnt-4, β-catenin and Klotho by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. In addition, the correlation among the above indexes was analyzed.RESULTS: (1) Scr, BUN and 24 h urine protein increased significantly in group D compared with group C, while decreased in group P compared with group D (P<0.05). (2) The area of renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis increased in group D compared with group C, while decreased in group P compared with group D (P<0.05). (3) The expression of Klotho decreased, while the expression of TGF-β1, Wnt-4 and β-catenin increased in group D compared with group C (P<0.05). Compared with group D, the expression of Klotho increased, while the expression of TGF-β1, Wnt-4 and β-catenin decreased in group P (P<0.05). (4) The expression of Klotho was negatively correlated with the fibrosis area, TGF-β1, Wnt-4 and β-catenin (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Paricalcitol inhibits renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis in DN by promoting the expression of renal Klotho, and inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway activation and TGF-β1 synthesis.     

Soybean plant height QTL mapping and meta‐analysis for mining candidate genes

Plant height is closely related to seed yield of soybean. The goal of this study was to identify important loci affecting soybean plant height using meta‐analysis based on a reference physical map. Plant height related to QTLs was mapped across eight years with a RIL population by WinQTLCart v2.5. 182 QTLs related to plant height of soybean from database and our research were collected, and each QTL was projected onto the soybean physical map by software BioMercator v2.1. The confidence interval of meta‐QTL ranged from 0.09 to 5.07 Mb, and the mean phenotypic variance ranged from 4.9% to 73.0%. Furthermore, 4,259 candidate genes were located in these consensus QTLs, and 40 of them were involved in the plant growth and stem elongation and annotated as plant hormone signal transduction (pathway ID ko04075) in KEGG pathway. These results would lay a foundation for fine mapping of QTLs/genes related to plant height and marker‐assisted selection for breeding in soybean.     

Glycine max and Glycine soja are capable of cold acclimation

Soybean has been considered a cold intolerant species; based largely upon seed germination and soil emergent evaluations. This study reports a distinct acquisition of cold tolerance, in seedlings, following short acclimation periods. Diversity in cold responses was assessed in eight cultivars of Glycine max and six accessions of G. soja. All varieties of soybean significantly increased in freezing tolerance following acclimation. This study indicates soybean seedlings are indeed capable of sensing cold and acquiring cold tolerance. Germination rates after cold imbibition were negatively correlated with maturity group, but positively correlated with cold acclimation potential in G. soja. Seed fatty acid composition was varied between the species, with Glycine soja accessions containing about 2‐times more linolenic acid (18:3) than G. max. Furthermore, high levels of linoleic acid (18:2) in seeds were positively correlated with germination rates following cold imbibition in G. soja only. We suggest that domestication has not impacted the overall ability of soybean to cold acclimate at the seedling stage and that there is little variation within the domesticated species for ability to cold acclimate. Thus, this brief comparative study reduces the enthusiasm for the “wild” species as an additional source of genetic diversity for cold tolerance.     

菜薹蛋白精氨酸甲基转移酶基因BrcuPRMT5的克隆及表达分析

以‘油青49’和‘油青甜菜薹80’菜薹茎尖为材料,采用RT-PCR和RACE技术克隆获得组蛋白甲基转移酶基因Brcu PRMT5的全长cDNA和gDNA序列。BrcuPRMT5 cDNA序列全长为2 117 bp,其中完整开放阅读框为1 929 bp,编码642个氨基酸,相对分子量为71.55 kD,理论等电点(p I)为5.87;多序列比对结果表明,Brcu PRMT5编码的氨基酸序列含有高等植物PRMT5基因1个高度保守的结构域;系统发育分析结果显示与大白菜、油菜及甘蓝的亲缘关系最近;亚细胞定位软件分析得知,Brcu PRMT5蛋白无跨膜区域,可能定位于线粒体中;对应的gDNA全长为4 151 bp,含有23个外显子和22个内含子,最长的外显子长度为140 bp,内含子的长度范围为50~150 bp。利用半定量RT-PCR和实时荧光定量PCR技术分析基因的表达,BrcuPRMT5在菜薹不同组织中均有表达,其中在花中表达量最高,叶次之,根中最低;BrcuPRMT5从苗期至完全抽薹开花期的表达量呈现上升趋势。BrcuPRMT5在菜薹花发育过程中可能起一定的调控作用。     

Bioinformatics Analysis of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (BMP4) of Sheep

The assay was aimed to explore the biological characteristics of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) of sheep,NCBI,DNAMAN DNAStar,TMHMM Server v.2.0,PsortⅡ,SignalP various bioinformatical softwares were used to speculate the physical and chemical properties,hydrophobic property,phosphorylation site,conservative structure domain,protein secondary structure of BMP4 protein.Also,the three-dimensional structure was forecasted with the SWISS-MODEL Workspace software.The results indicated that the BMP4 of sheep had high homologies with the BMP4 of various species.The encoded protein was a hydrophilic protein which was unstable.There was no transmembrane regions and it was likely to be located in the nucleus.What was more,there was signal peptide and eighteen phosphorylation sites.Through the forecast of functional domains,the protein had two functional domains,including the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily and TGF-beta propeptide superfamily.The result was consistent with the function of BMP4 gene family,it also demonstrated that BMP4 was a growth factor and it had the function of signal transduction.The amino acid homology between the predicted 3D structure of protein and template 3bmp.1.A was 88.29%.The bioinformatics analysis of BMP4 gene could provide reference for the further study in practice.