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.     

高能湿法球磨制备鱼胶原肽螯合钙及其理化特征

为了拓展胶原肽螯合钙的制备工艺,以鱼胶原肽和CaCl2为原料,以高能湿法球磨的方法制备了鱼胶原肽螯合钙,并采用FT-IR红外图谱、X-衍射、EDS能谱等技术手段对其理化特性和结构进行分析。结果显示,随着球磨时间从15 min延长到240 min,鱼胶原肽的平均粒径逐渐降低,ZETA电位绝对值、分子量和pH值逐渐增加,鱼胶原肽对钙的螯合率逐渐从74.21%增加到85.42%。鱼胶原肽螯合钙与鱼胶原肽的主体化学结构相似,但是球磨后鱼胶原肽的-COO-1 VAS吸收峰(1 643.89 cm~(-1))向短波数方向移动到1 540～1 555 cm~(-1),而-NH2的特征吸收峰(3 313.9 cm~(-1))向长波数方向移动到3 337.12～3 380.59 cm~(-1)。球磨后鱼胶原在2θ=20°处的特征宽吸收峰消失,而在2θ=26、28、48和58°处出现多个尖峰和弥散峰,表明其从无定形结构向兼具结晶和无定形结构转变。鱼胶原肽螯合钙中钙元素比例逐渐增加,证实鱼胶原肽对钙的螯合率增加。研究表明,高能湿法球磨可应用于鱼胶原肽螯合钙的制备,该方法具有加工工艺简单、无污染和螯合率高等优点。     

Identifying and Characterizing a Novel Peritrophic Matrix Protein (MdPM-17) Associated With Antibacterial Response From the Housefly,Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

Peritrophic matrix/membrane (PM) critically prevents the midgut of insects from external invasion by microbes. The proteins in the peritrophic membrane are its major structural components. Additionally, they determine the formation and function of this membrane. However, the role of PM proteins in immune regulation is unclear. Herein, we isolated a novel PM protein (MdPM-17) from Musca domestica larvae. Further, the function of MdPM-17 in regulating host innate immunity was identified. Results showed that the cDNA of MdPM-17 full is 635 bp in length. Moreover, it consists of a 477-bp open reading frame encoding 158 amino acid residues. These amino acid residues are composed of two Chitin-binding type-2 domain (ChtBD2) and 19 amino acids as a signal peptide. Moreover, tissue distribution analysis indicates that MdPM-17 was enriched expressed in midgut, and moderate levels in the fat body, foregut, and malpighian tubule. Notably, MdPM-17 recombinant protein showed high chitin-binding capacity, thus belongs to the Class III PM protein group. MdPM-17 protein silencing via RNA interference resulted in the expression of antimicrobial peptide (defensin, cecropins, and diptericin) genes, and this occurred after oral inoculation with exogenous microbes Escherichia coli (Enterobacteriales:Enterobacteriaceae), Staphylococcus aureus (Bacillales:Staphylococcaceae), and Candida albicans (Endomycetales:Saccharomycetaceae)). Therefore, all the antimicrobial peptide (AMP) gene expression levels are high in MdPM-17-depleted larvae during microbial infection compared to controls. Consequently, these findings indicate that MdPM-17 protein is associated with the antibacterial response from the housefly.     

Mouse melanoma cell exosomes promote expression of Rac1 protein in fibroblasts

AIM To investigate the effect of exosomes secreted by mouse melanoma cells on the expression of Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac1) protein in fibroblasts. METHODS Ultracentrifugation was adopted to separete exosomes secreted by mouse melanoma B16-F10 cells. The morphological structure of exosomes was observed by negative-staining electron microscopy. The size distribution of exosomes was determined by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). The exosomal markers, tumor susceptibility gene 101 (Tsg101) and tyrosinase-related protein 2 (Tyrp2), were identified by Western blot. Laser confocal microscopy was used to observe the process that mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) took in exosomes during co-culture. Immunocytochemical staining and Western blot were used to detect the expression of Rac1 protein in MEF. RESULTS B16-F10 cell exosomes showed a typical tea tray-like structure, with a size range of 141~255 nm, and expressed protein markers Tsg101 and Tyrp2. The results of laser confocal microscopy showed that compared with co-culture at 0 h, a small number of exosomes appeared in the MEF at 12 h, and a large number of exosomes accumulated in the MEF after co-cultured for 24 and 36 h. Western blot analysis showed that compared with co-culture at 0 h, the expression of Rac1 protein in the MEF was significantly increased at 24 h and 36 h of co-culture (P<0.01). The results of immunocytochemical staining showed that compared with co-culture at 0 h, the positive expression level of Rac1 in the MEF cells was significantly increased at 12 h, 24 h and 36 h of co-culture (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION Intake of exosomes secreted by mouse melanoma cells promotes the expression of Rac1 protein in fibroblasts.     

可可毛色二孢全基因组分泌蛋白的预测及分析

【目的】可可毛色二孢（Lasiodiplodia theobromae）是一种世界性分布的重要植物病原真菌,可引起严重的葡萄溃疡病（Botryosphaeria dieback）,影响果木品质并造成巨大的经济损失。本研究预测并分析可可毛色二孢基因组范围内的分泌蛋白,并明确其基本特征,为该病菌分泌蛋白致病机理的研究打下基础。【方法】依据已公布的可可毛色二孢全基因组序列,利用信号肽预测软件SignalP v5.0、跨膜结构分析软件TMHMM v2.0、细胞器定位分析软件ProtComp v9.0、GPI锚定预测软件big-PI Fungal Predictor和亚细胞器定位分析软件TargetP v2.0生物信息学软件对该菌中的典型分泌蛋白进行筛选。对分泌蛋白N端信号肽的长度、氨基酸使用频率及其切割位点进行统计分析。依据蛋白序列的同源性,应用BLASTP程序对分泌组蛋白进行功能注释分析,预测其生物学功能。采用蔗糖酶缺陷的酵母分泌系统,对所选分泌蛋白的信号肽进行活性检测。利用qRT-PCR方法检测所选分泌蛋白基因在可可毛色二孢侵染葡萄中的表达情况。【结果】在可可毛色二孢全基因组编码蛋白中共筛选获得552个潜在的具有典型信号肽的分泌蛋白,占全基因组预测蛋白总数的4.3%,其编码蛋白长度集中于101—400 aa。信号肽统计分析表明,其信号肽长度以18—20 aa的序列最为集中,信号肽长度为20 aa的蛋白数量最多。信号肽中使用频率最高的氨基酸为丙氨酸;非极性、疏水的氨基酸使用频率最高,占氨基酸总数的60.2%。其信号肽的-3至-1位置上的氨基酸相对保守,切割位点属于A-X-A类型,可被Sp I型信号肽酶识别并切割。336个分泌蛋白具有功能注释,其功能较多集中于细胞壁降解有关的酶类以及致病相关蛋白,并且这些蛋白在分子量、等电点、脂肪族氨基酸指数等方面均存在差异。通过蔗糖酶缺陷的酵母分泌系统证实,挑选的9个分泌蛋白信号肽均具有分泌活性。qRT-PCR检测结果表明,所选分泌蛋白基因在该病菌侵染初期的表达发生变化。【结论】利用生物信息学分析技术从可可毛色二孢全基因组中共预测获得552个经典分泌蛋白。其信号肽氨基酸长度分布广泛,氨基酸组成中非极性、疏水的氨基酸使用频率最高。功能注释主要集中在细胞壁组分降解相关的酶类、致病侵染相关的坏死诱导相关蛋白以及几丁质结合蛋白等。     

Modulation of plant root traits by nitrogen and phosphate: transporters,long-distance signaling proteins and peptides,and potential artificial traps

As sessile organisms, plants rely on their roots for anchorage and uptake of water and nutrients. Plant root is an organ showing extensive morphological and metabolic plasticity in response to diverse environmental stimuli including nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrition/stresses. N and P are two essential macronutrients serving as not only cell structural components but also local and systemic signals triggering root acclimatory responses. Here, we mainly focused on the current advances on root responses to N and P nutrition/stresses regarding transporters as well as long-distance mobile proteins and peptides, which largely represent local and systemic regulators, respectively. Moreover, we exemplified some of the potential pitfalls in experimental design, which has been routinely adopted for decades. These commonly accepted methods may help researchers gain fundamental mechanistic insights into plant intrinsic responses, yet the output might lack strong relevance to the real situation in the context of natural and agricultural ecosystems. On this basis, we further discuss the established—and yet to be validated—improvements in experimental design, aiming at interpreting the data obtained under laboratory conditions in a more practical view.     

植物病原镰刀菌产生的毒素种类及其危害

镰刀菌(Fusarium spp.)是多种重要农作物的病原体，不仅可造成农作物产量和品质的严重损失还可在离体培养条件下或植物寄主体内产生一系列被称为镰刀菌毒素的次生代谢产物。这些毒素一方面作为致病因子与镰刀菌对宿主植物的致病力密切相关，另一方面可导致家畜生产性能下降和相关病症的出现，进而影响农业生态系统并对人类健康造成威胁。鉴于镰刀菌毒素对农作物生产的影响及其对家畜和人类的毒性作用，目前已有较多关于镰刀菌侵染粮食作物后产生毒素种类的研究，但关于镰刀菌侵染豆科牧草后产生的毒素种类以及毒素在镰刀菌对豆科牧草致病力方面作用的研究则较少。本文对引起主要粮食和饲料作物病害的常见镰刀菌物种产生的主要毒素，以及这些毒素对植物、家畜和人类的危害进行了综述，并对豆科牧草中镰刀菌毒素的研究前景及意义进行了展望。     

基于nanoUPLC-MS/MS的螺旋藻游离肽组成分析

为了研究螺旋藻中的多肽成分,以钝顶螺旋藻为原料,采用超滤法提取螺旋藻中的游离肽,利用nanoUPLC-MS/MS和PEAKS Studio分析谱图信息,结合NCBI数据库进行比对和从头测序分析,获得游离肽的结构组成和百分含量信息。结果表明,利用数据库比对法和从头测序法,分别得到可信的游离肽4 485个和20 597个,匹配到的蛋白质有1 036种。数据库比对结果中的游离肽主要为七肽到二十一肽,少量为二十一肽以上;从头测序结果中游离肽主要为二肽到十六肽,少量为十六肽以上。数据库比对结果中百分含量最高的游离肽是十肽,为15.95%;从头测序结果中百分含量最高的是五肽,达到24.09%。本研究结果为螺旋藻蛋白资源的进一步开发和利用提供了依据。     

Death of a neonatal lamb due to Clostridium perfringens type B in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Case history and clinical findings: A flock of 20 sheep was kept within three paddocks on a single property. None of the animals in the flock had been vaccinated against any disease for at least three years. Abdominal bloating and haemorrhagic diarrhoea were observed in Lamb 1 at 24 hours-of-age. The lamb subsequently died within an hour of the onset of clinical signs. Lamb 2 was 3-days-old when observed to be recumbent with opisthotonus. The lamb was treated with dextrose, vitamins B1 and B12, and penicillin G, but died 4 hours later.

Pathological findings: Examination of Lamb 1 revealed markedly increased gas within the peritoneum and within dilated loops of intestine. The intestines were dark red and contained large quantities of haemorrhagic fluid. Histology of the intestines revealed peracute mucosal necrosis with minimal accompanying inflammation. The intestinal lumen contained cell debris, haemorrhage, and myriad large Gram-positive bacilli. The intestines of Lamb 2 did not appear bloated or reddened. However, multiple fibrin clots were visible within the pericardial sac. Histopathological examination revealed small foci of necrosis within the mucosa of the distal intestine. The necrotic foci were often associated with large numbers of large Gram-positive bacilli.

Immunohistochemsitry and molecular biology: Intestinal samples from Lamb 1 were processed for Clostridium perfringens immunohistochemistry, which revealed large numbers of intralesional, positively immunostained rods. Fragments corresponding to the expected sizes for genes encoding alpha, beta, and epsilon C. perfringens typing toxins were amplified by PCR from DNA extracted from formalin-fixed sections of intestine.

Diagnosis: Lamb dysentery due to C. perfringens type B.

Clinical relevance: C. perfringens bacteria have a worldwide distribution, but disease due to C. perfringens type B has only been diagnosed in a small number of countries and has never been reported in New Zealand or Australia. C. perfringens type B produce both beta toxin and epsilon toxins, therefore both haemorrhagic enteritis and systemic vascular damage can develop. As many animals are exposed to C. perfringens without developing disease, there must be additional unknown factors that resulted in disease in these particular sheep. Vaccines that specifically protect against C. perfringens type B are available and may be recommended for use in smaller non-commercial flocks, as in the present case.     

脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇导致厌食和呕吐的机制研究进展

由镰刀菌产生的脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇(DON)广泛存在于谷物及其加工产品中,对动物和人类健康有着潜在的危害。DON具有多方面的毒性作用,而厌食和呕吐是机体摄入DON后出现的最典型症状,厌食和呕吐的产生主要归因于DON对中枢神经系统和胃肠道食欲因子的影响。DON可直接作用于中枢神经系统的呕吐中枢产生呕吐反射,同时激活下丘脑神经元分泌食欲调节因子影响采食;DON可诱导肠内分泌细胞分泌肽YY、胆囊收缩素等食欲调节因子从而引发厌食;DON对中枢神经系统和胃肠道分泌的影响又可通过肠-脑轴产生关联;此外,细胞因子及肠道微生物也部分参与了反应的介导。本文综述了DON诱发机体出现厌食和呕吐的可能机制,以期为找到相应解决措施提供理论指导。