Transport of cadmium from soil to grain in cereal crops: A review

Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization, many soils for crop production are contaminated by cadmium(Cd), a heavy metal highly toxic to many organisms. Cereal crops such as rice, wheat, maize, and barley are the primary dietary source of Cd for humans, and reducing Cd transfer from soil to their grains is therefore an important issue for food safety. During the last decade, great progress has been made in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of Cd transport, particularly in rice. Inter-and intraspecific variations in Cd accumulation have been observed in cereal crops. Transporters for Cd have been identified in rice and other cereal crops using genotypic differences in Cd accumulation and mutant approaches. These transporters belong to different transporter families and are involved in the uptake, vacuolar sequestration, root-to-shoot translocation, and distribution of Cd. Attempts have been made to reduce Cd accumulation in grains by manipulating these transporters through overexpression or knockout of the transporter genes, as well as through marker-assisted selection breeding based on genotypic differences in Cd accumulation in the grains. In this review, we describe recent progress on molecular mechanisms of Cd accumulation in cereal crops and compare different molecular strategies for minimizing Cd accumulation in grains.     

Identification of a cell-wall peptidase (NlpC/P60) from Nocardia seriolae which induces apoptosis in fathead minnow cells

Nocardia seriolae, a Gram-positive bacterium, is the main pathogen of fish nocardiosis. Protein NlpC/P60 is a cell-wall peptidase and a potential virulence factor of N. seriolae. Subcellular localization research revealed that both NlpC/P60-GFP and NlpC/P60Δsig-GFP fusion proteins were evenly distributed in the whole cell of fathead minnow (FHM) cells. Furthermore, typical apoptotic features, such as nuclear pyrosis and apoptotic bodies, were observed in the transfected FHM cells and grouper spleen cells by the overexpression of protein NlpC/P60. Then, quantitative assays of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) value, caspase-3 activity and apoptosis-related gene (Bax, BNIP3, TNF1 and TNF6) mRNA expression were conducted. The results showed that ΔΨm was decreased, caspase-3 was significantly activated, and the mRNA expression of pro-apoptotic genes (Bax and BNIP3) and tumour necrosis factors (TNF1 and TNF6) was up-regulated in NlpC/P60-overexpressed cells. Taken together, the results indicated that the protein NlpC/P60 of N. seriolae might involve in apoptosis regulation. This study may lay the foundation for further study on the function of N. seriolae NlpC/P60 and promote the understanding of the virulence factors and pathogenic mechanism of N. seriolae.     

烟草Hsc70-2的克隆及对马铃薯Y病毒侵染烟草的促进作用

【目的】马铃薯Y病毒（Potato virus Y,PVY）是危害烟草、马铃薯、番茄、辣椒等主要农作物的重要病毒,给农业生产带来巨大损失。论文旨在克隆Hsc70-2蛋白在本氏烟（Nicotiana benthamiana）中的基因序列并分析其生物学信息,研究NbHsc70-2蛋白对PVY侵染烟草的影响,为进一步解析PVY的侵染机制提供理论依据。【方法】以本氏烟为材料,克隆NbHsc70-2蛋白的基因编码序列（coding sequence,CDS）,利用MEGA 6.0 进行多序列比对并构建系统进化树;利用实时荧光定量PCR（qRT-PCR）分析NbHsc70-2在本氏烟各组织中的表达水平;采用在线软件BaCeILo和SignalP 4.0对NbHsc70-2进行生物信息学分析;构建NbHsc70-2-RFP融合蛋白确定该蛋白的亚细胞定位;研究PVY处理对本氏烟叶片中NbHsc70-2的影响;利用激光共聚焦观察PVY-GFP处理对NbHsc70-2-RFP定位的影响;构建NbHsc70-2 VIGS沉默体系及瞬时表达载体,采用qRT-PCR比较NbHsc70-2在沉默/过表达后对PVY表达的影响。【结果】NbHsc70-2编码649个氨基酸,系统进化树分析表明,NbHsc70-2与普通烟NaHsc70-2序列相似性最高,亲缘关系最近,属于热激蛋白家族,C端具有热激蛋白家族的高度保守基序结构;qRT-PCR分析表明,NbHsc70-2在叶中表达量最高,在根和茎中的表达量较低;BaCeILo预测及激光共聚焦显微镜观察均显示NbHsc70-2定位在细胞质中,并且PVY-GFP侵染本氏烟后NbHsc70-2-RFP部分转移至细胞核,与PVY-GFP共定位在细胞质及细胞核中;将NbHsc70-2基因沉默载体pTRV::NbHsc70-2导入本氏烟中7 d后相比于对照组,沉默组出现心叶皱缩及矮化现象;接种PVY-GFP 7 d后通过手持紫外灯观察到沉默组中无明显绿色荧光出现,而对照组中PVY-GFP系统侵染使得非接种叶片呈现荧光现象,沉默组荧光点数约为对照组28%;接种PVY后,利用qRT-PCR检测沉默NbHsc70-2后1、3、5 d的PVY CP基因积累量,结果表明沉默NbHsc70-2后PVY CP基因积累量下降,其中3 d和5 d与对照相比差异显著,基因表达水平分别为对照的14%和0.004%;将NbHsc70-2过表达载体pEarleyGate100::GWC::NbHsc70-2与PVY同时导入本氏烟后,结果表明相比于对照组,过表达组48 h和72 h 其PVY CP基因积累量显著上升,基因表达水平分别为对照组的2.31、2.56倍。【结论】PVY侵染会引起NbHsc70-2表达量上升;NbHsc70-2是PVY侵染本氏烟重要的组成成分,沉默该基因显著抑制PVY的表达,过表达NbHsc70-2则显著提高PVY的表达,即NbHsc70-2的表达水平与PVY复制呈正相关,NbHsc70-2蛋白促进PVY对烟草的侵染。     

家蚕glial cell missing(BmGcm)基因鉴定、表达、亚细胞定位和功能

【目的】鉴定、克隆家蚕(Bombyx mori)glial cell missing(Bm Gcm)基因,分析其m RNA表达及亚细胞定位特征。制备多克隆抗体,同时在细胞水平进行过表达,检测Gcm对细胞增殖和周期的影响,为探究Bm Gcm功能打下基础。【方法】利用RACE方法克隆获得Bm Gcm全长c DNA序列,利用ORF Finder和SMART等在线工具对Bm Gcm基本序列特征和结构信息进行分析,运用Clustalx和MEGA 6.0等软件对多物种Gcm蛋白进行同源序列比对和进化分析。采用RT-PCR和q RT-PCR方法检测Bm Gcm的表达情况。利用原核表达系统获得重组蛋白,通过蛋白纯化和免疫小鼠制备多克隆抗体,运用Western blot对抗体进行检测。构建Bm Gcm表达载体,转染家蚕胚胎细胞系,分析其亚细胞定位情况,同时利用EDU细胞增殖标记和流式细胞仪对其功能进行探索。【结果】Bm Gcm(BGIBMGA006182)定位于4号染色体的nscaf2847上,其基因全长4 046 bp,包含4个外显子和3个内含子。其c DNA全长1 734 bp,包含166 bp的5′UTR、227 bp的3′UTR和1 341 bp的完整开放阅读框(ORF)。该基因编码446个氨基酸残基,预测蛋白分子量为50.61 k D,等电点5.557,含有典型的GCM结构域。多重比对结果显示GCM结构域在不同物种间具有高度的保守性,进化分析显示昆虫Gcm蛋白单独聚为一支,其中Bm Gcm蛋白与帝王蝶同源蛋白亲缘关系最为接近。表达分析结果显示Bm Gcm在胚胎发育第4天表达达到峰值,随后表达水平逐渐下调,而在幼虫阶段,Bm Gcm主要表达于中肠、精巢和卵巢。将Bm Gcm完整的开放阅读框序列构建至原核表达系统,经IPTG诱导和亲和层析纯化获得高纯度重组蛋白,通过免疫小鼠获得了多克隆抗体,Western blot检测该抗体可以特异性识别重组蛋白。在家蚕细胞系中过表达Bm Gcm蛋白,结果显示其定位于细胞核。在细胞水平,过表达Bm Gcm会明显抑制细胞增殖,将细胞周期阻滞于G1/S期。【结论】克隆鉴定得到Bmgcm全长序列,获得其表达和亚细胞定位信息。通过原核表达、蛋白纯化和免疫小鼠制备了可用的多克隆抗体。细胞实验发现Bm Gcm可以显著抑制增殖和影响正常的细胞周期进程。     

超量表达胡杨peu-MIR156j基因增强拟南芥耐盐性

Micro RNAs（miRNAs）是一类内源性的非编码小分子RNA。本文克隆了miR156j的前体（peu-MIR156j）,并将其转入拟南芥获得35S：MIR156j转基因植株。对转基因植株的鉴定表明,过量表达miR156j增加了拟南芥莲座叶的发生,导致叶片浓密及开花延迟。这一结果表明：同拟南芥、水稻等物种类似,胡...     

芥蓝二氢黄酮醇4–还原酶基因BoaDFR的克隆与功能鉴定

以白花芥蓝‘四季粗条’为材料克隆了Boa DFR基因,Gen Bank登录号为MT472647,CDS序列长为1158 bp,编码385个氨基酸,与甘蓝型油菜、甘蓝和白菜等具有高度同源性。Boa DFR表达水平在芥蓝不同发育时期、不同器官中存在显著差异,随植株发育总体呈现先下降后上升的趋势,在幼嫩种子中表达量最高。芥蓝原生质体的亚细胞定位结果显示Boa DFR定位在细胞核上。构建了农杆菌介导的芥蓝瞬时过表达体系,将Boa DFR转入白花芥蓝‘四季粗条’和黄花芥蓝‘福州黄花’中,发现Boa DFR在两种芥蓝中均高水平表达,转基因植株叶片颜色明显变紫,花青素苷显著积累,总含量最高达461.43μg·g-1 FW,而野生型和转空载体芥蓝叶片中几乎检测不到花青素苷。通过HPLC在转基因植株叶片中共检测到8种花青素苷,均为矢车菊花青素苷,其中矢车菊–3–阿魏酰–丙二酰–槐糖苷–5–葡萄糖苷占比最高。     

Improvement of organic phosphate acquisition in transgenic tobacco plants by overexpression of a soybean phytase gene Sphy1

Due to the huge amount in the soil, phytate is an important potential source for providing the plants with available phosphorus (Pi) by the involved catalytic reaction of phytase. In this study, a construct fusing the open reading frame (ORF) of Sphy1 into corresponding positions in the fragment of binary expression vector pBI121 was created and used to transform tobacco. Molecular identification by PCR and RT-PCR indicated the target gene Sphy1 in the transgenic tobacco plants was transcribed under the regulation of an upstream promoter. Compared with the control plants, the phytase activities in all the transgenic plants were increased, with the increased range consistent with the expression levels in the transgenic plants. Under the growth conditions with phytate as the sole phosphorus source, the transgenic line 1 plants displayed a high expression level of Sphy1 and shows notable improved growth performance, such as higher fresh weight and dry weight, as well as higher total P content and more accumulative P amount per plant than CK. This clearly indicated that overexpression of Sphy1 could improve the phosphorus acquisition by the extruded Sphy1 phytase in the rhizosphere, where this enzyme could catalyze the degradation of the phytate and release the available Pi for plants. The Sphy1 gene seemed to have a potential value in the creation of new crop cultivars with high phosphorus use efficiency.     

过表达NR4A1促进山羊皮下脂肪细胞分化

旨在克隆山羊NR4A1基因的CDS区序列,明确其组织和细胞表达模式,以及探究过表达NR4A1基因对山羊皮下脂肪细胞分化的影响。本试验利用双酶切法构建山羊过表达载体pcDNA3.1-NR4A1。以1周岁简州大耳羊（n=5）为试验动物。利用RT-PCR方法和实时荧光定量PCR（real-time quantitative PCR, qPCR）技术克隆NR4A1基因编码区序列并明确其时空表达特性,再将山羊pcDNA3.1-NR4A1载体转染皮下脂肪细胞使NR4A1过表达,利用形态学方法检测过表达后脂滴聚集的变化,同时采用qPCR方法检测脂肪分化标志基因相对表达水平的变化。结果获得山羊NR4A1基因的编码区序列是1 797 bp,编码598个氨基酸;NR4A1在山羊各组织中广泛表达,且在山羊背最长肌中的相对表达水平最高（P<0.01）,在山羊皮下脂肪细胞分化60 h表达量最高（P<0.01）;过表达NR4A1基因显著促进山羊皮下脂肪细胞的脂滴积累,并且显著提高C/EBPα、C/EBPβ、PPARγ、LPL、SREBP1和AP2的相对表达水平（P<0.05）。NR4A1基因可能是山羊皮下脂肪细胞分化的正调控因子,且可能是协同脂肪分化标志基因的表达量来实现的。     

过表达MyBPC1对牛骨骼肌卫星细胞增殖分化的影响

旨在探究肌球蛋白结合蛋白C1（myosin binding protein C1,MyBPC1）对牛骨骼肌卫星细胞增殖与成肌分化的影响,为进一步研究MyBPC1在细胞分化和肌肉发育过程中的调控作用提供依据。本研究利用西门塔尔胎牛原代牛骨骼肌卫星细胞体外诱导成肌分化模型模拟牛骨骼肌的生长发育过程。采用qRT-PCR和Western blot检测MyBPC1的细胞时序表达谱。试验分为两组。在RNA水平每组4个重复,每个重复20 μL;在蛋白水平每组3个重复,每个重复15 μg。采用qRT-PCR和Western blot检测牛骨骼肌卫星细胞转染MyBPC1的过表达效果,并进一步检测细胞增殖期标志因子Pax7、Ki67以及细胞分化期标志因子MyHC、MyOG的表达变化情况,观察牛骨骼肌卫星细胞肌管形成状态。结果,MyBPC1在牛骨骼肌卫星细胞分化前后表达水平存在极显著差异,牛骨骼肌卫星细胞诱导分化后MyBPC1的mRNA和蛋白表达量均极显著高于增殖期（P<0.01）。过表达MyBPC1后,细胞分化形成的肌管数量明显多于对照组,增殖标志因子Pax7的mRNA水平和蛋白表达水平无显著差异,分化标志因子MyHC的mRNA水平和蛋白表达水平极显著高于对照组（P<0.01）。过表达MyBPC1可以促进牛骨骼肌卫星细胞体外成肌分化,为进一步开展MyBPC1对牛骨骼肌卫星细胞的调控机制奠定基础。