Expression of Anti-Lipopolysaccharide Factor Isoform 3 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Showing High Antimicrobial Activity

Antimicrobial peptides are a class of proteins with antibacterial functions. In this study, the anti-lipopolysaccharide factor isoform 3 gene (ALFPm3), encoding an antimicrobial peptide from Penaeus monodon with a super activity was expressed in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which would develop a microalga strain that can be used for the antimicrobial peptide production. To construct the expression cluster, namely pH2A-Pm3, the codon optimized ALFPm3 gene was fused with the ble reporter by 2A peptide and inserted into pH124 vector. The glass-bead method was performed to transform pH2A-Pm3 into C. reinhardtii CC-849. In addition to 8 μg/mL zeocin resistance selection, the C. reinhardtii transformants were further confirmed by genomic PCR and RT-PCR. Western blot analysis showed that the C. reinhardtii-derived ALFPm3 (cALFPm3) was successfully expressed in C. reinhardtii transformants and accounted for 0.35% of the total soluble protein (TSP). Furthermore, the results of antibacterial assay revealed that the cALFPm3 could significantly inhibit the growth of a variety of bacteria, including both Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria at a concentration of 0.77 μM. Especially, the inhibition could last longer than 24 h, which performed better than ampicillin. Hence, this study successfully developed a transgenic C. reinhardtii strain, which can produce the active ALFPm3 driven from P. monodon, providing a potential strategy to use C. reinhardtii as the cell factory to produce antimicrobial peptides.     

The role of ear environment in postharvest susceptibility of maize to toxigenic Aspergillus flavus

A kernel screening assay (KSA) was used to assess the genetic and environmental effects on the vulnerability of maize to aflatoxin accumulation. Kernels of 26 inbred lines that had been grown in seven environments, and 190 lines of the Intermated B73xMo17 (IBM) population grown in one location in the United States, were inoculated with a toxigenic strain of A. flavus and incubated in the dark at 30°C for 6 days. Percent kernel colonization (PKC), sporulation and aflatoxin were influenced by the maize genotypes (G), the location (“ear environment” or E) and the GxE interactions. Overall, low broad‐sense heritabilities were observed for PKC, sporulation and aflatoxin. PKC was significantly correlated with sporulation in all environments. Aflatoxin was positively correlated with colonization for two and with sporulation for all ear environments. Higher grain sulphur or magnesium in IBM was associated with less colonization or aflatoxin. Postharvest susceptibility of maize to aflatoxin is thus influenced by factors that are modulated by the ear environment. In a KSA, sporulation could be a proxy test for aflatoxin accumulation.     

应用FA及PPA-ELISA技术对猪瘟的检测

用免疫荧光抗体诊断技术及单克隆抗体纯化酶联免疫吸附试验诊断技术对疑为猪瘟病毒感染猪进行了检测 ,重点阐述了 2种方法的技术原理和操作过程。通过用免疫荧光抗体诊断技术检测了 5份病料 ,其中有 2份为阳性 ,阳性率为 40 % ;用单克隆抗体纯化酶联免疫吸附试验诊断技术检测了猪瘟血清抗体 ,在 40头母猪血清样品中 ,猪瘟弱毒抗体效价 OD值较高 ,有 1 0 0 %的保护率 ,但是发现母猪群中有 1 0 %隐性猪瘟感染 ,其强毒抗体效价 OD值大于 0 .5,体内带有猪瘟病毒。结果及过程表明此两种诊断方法检测快速、鉴别准确、分辨率高     

马传贫驴白细胞弱毒疫苗株跨膜蛋白主要免疫决定区基因的克隆与表达

从感染驴白细胞的马传贫驴白细胞弱毒疫苗株前病毒DNA中克隆了编码跨膜蛋白主要免疫决定区(TMIR)的基因，并在大肠杆菌中进行了表达。所表达的融合蛋白有一部分是可溶的，其氨基端带有6个组氨酸的标签，因此可以用固定化金属离子亲和层析法在非变性条件下进行纯化。在间接酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)和免疫印迹试验中，重组的TMIR蛋白可与马传贫阳性血清样品发生反应，而与健康马血清无任何反应。这表明该重组蛋白具有良好的抗原性和特异性，可用于马传贫弱毒疫苗株在体内外复制、接种马体内免疫应答及马传贫诊断的研究。     

怀孕后期感染PRRS病毒母猪所产新生仔猪的免疫反应

将PRRS病毒BJ－4株感染怀孕后期（约90天）的抗体阴性和阳性母猪，待自然分娩后，观察新生仔猪的免疫应答。结果显示，接种PRRS病毒BJ－4的母猪没有表现出明显的临床症状，没有出现流产死产。新生仔猪浦被子前血清中PRRS病毒核酸TR－PCR检测和ELISA抗体阴性，哺乳后特异性抗体出现，5－6周母源抗体逐渐下降；20日龄猪瘟疫苗免疫后疫苗抗体维持时间短，仔猪在40日龄后进入野毒感染的危险期。RT－nested PCR检测血清中PRRS病毒核酸和易感仔猪病毒特异性抗体监测的结果提示仔猪群内可能存在水平传播。流式细胞术检测外周血淋巴细胞亚群发现CD3^ 细胞减少，CD4^ 细胞显著下降，CD8^ ，CD4^ CD8^ 和SLA－DR^ 表达细胞升高。以上结果表明在感染后病毒能够长期持续性存在，猪场内新生仔猪母源抗体逐渐下降后，通过水平传播受到感染，感染后免疫应答受到不利影响。     

Neutrophil adherence,phagocytic-nitroblue tetrazolium reduction and chemiluminescence in canine whole blood

Methods for measuring neutrophil adherence, phagocytic-nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reducing activity and chemiluminescence were applied to canine whole blood as means for routine assessment of neutrophil functions. The phagocytic-NBT reduction test appeared to be useful for monitoring the NBT reducing activity of phagocytic cells associated with phagocytic functions. Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid suppressed both the adherence and the phagocytic-NBT reducing activity of neutrophils. Increased phagocytic-NBT reduction and an enhanced chemiluminescence response were observed in dogs with neutrophilia. These methods provide a rapid and practical screening procedure for measuring selected phagocytic functions in canine whole blood.     

日粮锌、硒水平对肉鸡肠道黏膜屏障结构的影响

为了探讨微量元素锌和硒相互作用对肉鸡肠道黏膜屏障结构的影响，将24只1日龄AA肉鸡随机分3组，分别饲喂添加有高锌高硒(锌1000mg／kg、硒5mg／kg)、低锌低硒(锌34mg／kg、硒0．08mg／kg)或常锌常硒(锌50mg／kg、硒0．15mg／kg)的日粮45d后，观察肠黏膜上皮细胞、上皮内淋巴细胞和盲肠扁桃体的形态结构变化。结果表明：高锌高硒或低锌低硒组肉鸡的肠黏膜结构有明显的损伤，表现为肠黏膜上皮细胞萎缩，绒毛长度下降，上皮内淋巴细胞数量减少；盲肠扁桃体的弥散淋巴组织和淋巴小结中，淋巴细胞数量减少，细胞出现肿胀，有的核消失，结缔组织增生，淋巴小结萎缩。尤其是高锌高硒组的损伤最为严重。而常锌常硒组肉鸡肠黏膜和盲肠扁桃体的形态结构正常。结论：日粮中按锌50mg／kg、硒0．15mg／kg的比例添加，对于维持肠道黏膜的正常屏障结构是合适的。过高或过低的锌和硒对小肠黏膜有毒性作用，破坏其屏障功能；而且高锌和高硒可相互促进以增强其毒性作用。     

用酶联免疫吸附试验检测鸡白血病以及控制、根除鸡白血病措施的探讨

用酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA),对2群鸡的鸡蛋清和1株鸡的马立克氏病疫苗进行检测,发现2群鸡的鸡蛋清中,鸡白血病病毒的阳性率分别是11％和29％,鸡马立克氏病冻干苗隐藏鸡白血病病毒群体特异性(gs)抗原的阳性率为100％。本文指出我国禽苗可能带有鸡的白血病病毒,分析讨论了鸡白血病病毒的垂直传递和水平传播的规律,提出在曾祖代和祖代鸡群中,采用ELISA试验,检测鸡蛋清,能减少以至根除鸡的白血病。     

Development of a semi-selective medium and an immunofluorescence colony-staining procedure for the detection of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus in cattle manure slurry

Various compounds and basal media were tested for their suitability to create a semi-selective medium for isolation ofClavibacter michiganensis subsp.sepedonicus (Cms) from cattle manure slurry containing c. 10⁸ colony forming units (cfu) per ml.Plating efficiency of Cms in yeast glucose mineral medium (YGM) was 104% compared with yeast peptone glucose medium. Nalidixic acid, polymyxin B sulphate and the experimental disinfectant S-0208 inhibited colony growth of cattle slurry bacteria as compared with Cms in YGM. The optimal concentration of these inhibitors in combination was determined by modified agar diffusion tests and by pour plating in 24-well tissue culture plates. The semi-selective medium YGMI consisted of YGM supplemented with nalidixic acid (2 mg/l), polymyxin B sulphate (30 mg/l) and S-0208 (125 mg/l). Plating efficiency varied for Cms between 50.9 and 69.6%, for cattle slurry bacteria between 1.8 and 2.5% and for saprophytes from potato heel end extracts between 11.5 and 27.4%.Differentiation of Cms colonies from other colonies was based on their small and bluish colony morphology in pour plates and on immunofluorescence colony-staining (IFC). IFC of a pure culture of micro colonies of Cms in YGM was possible after one day incubation (colonies c. 5 cells). Green background fluorescence in the agar gels was prevented by addition of Tween 20 (0.1%) to the washing buffer and the use of 1% agar gels. IFC of macro colonies of Cms in YGMI, visible with 4x objective magnification, was possible after 4 days. The detection level of the target organism in artificially inoculated cattle slurry in YGMI based on colony morphology varied between 1.4×10³ and 2.3×10⁴ cfu per ml of cattle slurry. Miniaturized plating combined with IFC, using wells in tissue culture plates (=16 mm), proved suitable for detection, but was c. 30 times les sensitive. The recovery of Cms was negatively correlated with the number of saprophytic colonies in the agar plates (R ²=0.74).     

Biochemical properties of the pathogenesis-related proteins from tobacco

This review describes the discovery and identification of the pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs) from tobacco. In crude leaf extracts the PRs are distinguished from the proteins in uninfected plants by their solubility at pH 3, resistance to a range of proteases, and mobility in polyacrylamide gels upon electrophoresis (PAGE) in non-denaturing conditions. PAGE has been used as a qualitative and semi-quantitative assay for PRs, and their migration in gels made from different acrylamide concentrations has been used to identify charge and size isomers and electrophoretically identical PRs in different tobacco cultivars. The subunit composition and molecular weight (mol. wt) of the four PRs identified first in Xanthi-nc were determined by SDS-PAGE; staining the gels has shown that these same four proteins in Samsun NN did not contain carbohydrate, lipid or nucleic acid, nor were they isozymic forms of twenty five enzymes known to increase in activity following infection with TMV. Evidence suggests that most of the PRs in Xanthi-nc and Samsun NN are extracellular.The purification of several PRs from Xanthi-nc, Samsun NN and other tobaccos is described, as well as their mol. wt, subunit and amino acid composition. PRs 1a, b and c consist of a single polypeptide and have similar mol. wt and amino acid compositions. Antisera prepared against purified Xanthi-nc b₁ protein have been used to determine serological relationships between PRs and form the basis of a very sensitive quantitative assay using ELISA. The regulation of synthesis of some PRs has been shown to involve translational control.