Phenotype masking and streptomycin dependence

In attempting to define the role of ribosomes in the mechanism of streptomycin dependence, a new phenomenon has been discovered. Analysis of this phenomenon-called phenotypic masking-leads to the conclusion that "streptomycin dependent" mutants are actually "drug dependent" because their dependence is equally satisfied by several drugs. These drugs, some of which are totally unrelated chemically, act on the ribosome and induce misreading in vitro and suppression in vivo.     

Lacticin 481: in vitro reconstitution of lantibiotic synthetase activity

The lantibiotic lacticin 481 is synthesized on ribosomes as a prepeptide (LctA) and posttranslationally modified to its mature form. These modifications include dehydration of serines and threonines, followed by intramolecular addition of cysteines to the unsaturated amino acids, which generates cyclic thioethers. This process breaks eight chemical bonds and forms six newbonds and is catalyzed by one enzyme, LctM. We have characterized the in vitro activity of LctM, which completely processed a series of LctA mutants, displaying a permissive substrate specificity that holds promise for antibiotic engineering.     

Genetic evidence that protein synthesis is required for the circadia clock of neurospora

Small doses of cycloheximide given at intervals (pulses) cause phase shifts of the circadian clock of Neurospora. The effects of this drug on the clock are mediated through its inhibition of protein synthesis, since two cycloheximide-resistant mutants whose 80S ribosomes are resistant to cycloheximide showed no phase shift after exposure to the durg.     

黄原胶降解菌的筛选及诱变选育

黄原胶是由某些黄单胞菌(Xanthmonas spp.)产生的一种微生物胞外多糖,可广泛应用于多个行业.研究从土样中筛选分离到52株放线菌菌株,其中可降解黄原胶的有25株,筛选其中降解作用强的5株进行不同时间的紫外诱变,提高其降解黄原胶的活性,最终选育到5株可高效降解黄原胶的放线菌突变菌株,其摇瓶发酵液完全降解黄原胶的时间由出发菌株的12 d缩短到8 d,并初步确定了菌株的摇瓶发酵条件.     

Reticulocyte protein synthesis: response of ribosome fractions to polyuridylic acid

Reticulocyte ribosomes with sedimentation coefficients greater than 100S ("heavy" ribosomes) appear to be considerably more active in hemoglobin synthesis than are 78S ribosomes. When assayed for the ability to synthesize polyphenylalanine in the presence of polyuridylic acid, the 78S ribosomes and "heavy" ribosomes have similar activities. Polyuridylic acid inhibits incorporation by "heavy" ribosomes of amino acids other than phenylalanine.     

Ribosomes: effect of interferon on their interaction with rapidly labeled cellular and viral RNA's

Rapidly labeled RNA of mouse L cells and labeled RNA of Mengo virus, unlike cellular RNA labeled under steady-state conditions, form detectable complexes with L-cell ribosomes. These ribosome-RNA complexes formed in vitro appear analogous to those assembled during polysome formation in vivo. When ribosomes are prepared from L cells exposed to homologous interferon, their capacity to associate with cell messenger is preserved, while their ability to interact with viral RNA is markedly reduced. The ribosomes from cells exposed to interferon are thus altered selectively to permit only certain messages to be bound and translated.     

Deuterium oxide: direct action on sympathetic ganglia isolated in culture

Immature ganglia from chicks and rodents were maintained as organized, developing cultures for 2 months or more, during which time they were continuously exposed to deuterium oxide in their medium. Observations of the living cell communities with the light microscope indicated that deuteration within viable limits (up to 25 percent) accelerates and increases the growth of sympathetic neurons and favors their repeated subdivision as a very large size is attained, thus inducing them to recapitulate cyclically the early stages of neurogenesis. Living deuterated cells appear more opaque and heteromerous than control neurons; furthermore, electron micrographs reveal an unusual abundance of granular and fibrillar elements in the nuclei of both neurons and supporting cells. Sheaves of complexly organized fibrillar components appear in the neuronal perikaryon; and ribosomes, Golgi elements, and microtubules are conspicuously numerous. Both fine structure and function of these ganglia therefore appear to have been modified directly by action of the deuterium isotope.     

Chloroplast ribosomes: stereospecificity of inhibition by chloramphenicol

Chloroplast ribosomes from tobacco leaves show the same stereospecificity of inhibition by chloramphenicol as bacterial ribosomes do. Cytoplasmic ribosomes from the same leaves are unaffected by chloramphenicol. These results remove doubts raised by nonstereospecific effects of chloramphenicol on higher plant cells and support the concept that chloroplasts have evolved from prokaryotes.     

Crystal structure of the eukaryotic ribosome

Crystal structures of prokaryotic ribosomes have described in detail the universally conserved core of the translation mechanism. However, many facets of the translation process in eukaryotes are not shared with prokaryotes. The crystal structure of the yeast 80S ribosome determined at 4.15 angstrom resolution reveals the higher complexity of eukaryotic ribosomes, which are 40% larger than their bacterial counterparts. Our model shows how eukaryote-specific elements considerably expand the network of interactions within the ribosome and provides insights into eukaryote-specific features of protein synthesis. Our crystals capture the ribosome in the ratcheted state, which is essential for translocation of mRNA and transfer RNA (tRNA), and in which the small ribosomal subunit has rotated with respect to the large subunit. We describe the conformational changes in both ribosomal subunits that are involved in ratcheting and their implications in coordination between the two associated subunits and in mRNA and tRNA translocation.     

植物叶色黄化突变分子机理的研究进展

植物叶色黄化突变具有突变频率高、易鉴别等特点,不仅是基础研究的理想材料,在品种选育和改良中也有重要的利用价值.文章从叶绿素生物合成、血红素代谢、叶绿体发育及叶绿体蛋白代谢等方面,对植物叶色突变相关基因的功能和作用机理进行综述,发现目前对叶色突变分子机理的研究主要集中在叶色突变相关基因功能方面,针对质核信号转导、转录因子及调控元件的研究较少,因此,今后在相关研究中可利用叶色突变体这一理想材料分析鉴定相关基因功能及其互作关系,从对单一基因的研究转向对多个基因甚至功能基因组的系统研究,尤其加强对质核信号转导、转录因子及调控元件的研究;叶色突变体作为作物品种改良的一类特殊种质资源,可通过人工诱导方式增加植物突变频率,在较短时间内获得大量叶色突变体,应用于基因功能及基因间的互作关系等研究,为黄叶植株的选育和遗传改良提供参考.     

Fish as model systems

Fish represent the largest and most diverse group of vertebrates. Their evolutionary position relative to other vertebrates and their ability to adapt to a wide variety of environments make them ideal for studying both organismic and molecular evolution. A number of other characteristics make them excellent experimental models for studies in embryology, neurobiology, endocrinology, environmental biology, and other areas. In fact, they have played a critical role in the development of several of these disciplines. Research techniques that enable scientists to make isogenic lines in a single generation, create and maintain mutants, culture cells, and transfer cloned genes into embryos signal an increasing role for fish as experimental models.     

落叶型大丽轮枝菌T-DNA插入突变体库的构建

采用ATMT技术建立大丽轮枝菌落叶型菌株XJ2008菌株的T-DNA插入突变体文库,共获得6 043个突变体。从中随机挑选104个突变体,以野生型XJ2008菌株为参照,评价其致病性、菌落生长速率、分生孢子及微菌核的产生能力等。结果表明,有12.5%的突变体丧失产孢能力,4.8%的突变体的生长速率显著减慢,8.7%的突变体的生长速率显著加快,12.5%的突变体丧失产生微菌核的能力,47.1%的突变体的致病性显著低于野生型菌株XJ2008,且突变体2-736、2-740、2-745的病情指数分别约为野生型菌株XJ2008的0.184、0.168和0.197倍。该突变体库突变体遗传稳定性好,性状多样性丰富。     

Induced morphological mutants in soybean [<Emphasis Type="Italic">Glycine max</Emphasis> (L.) Merrill]

The seeds of two soybean cultivars viz., Pusa-16 and PK-1042 were treated with 15, 30, and 45 kR of gamma rays, three concentrations of ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) (0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%), and their combinations. Various morphological mutants were recorded in M₂ and M₃ generations. These morphological mutants were named on the basis of the part of the plant body affected. Eight different morphological mutants, i.e., tall, dwarf, gigas, black pod, smooth pod, black spotted seed, bold seeded, and early maturing were isolated. Among them, early maturing and bold seeded mutants had the potential to be incorporated into breeding programs.     

Regulation of bacterial growth

Is the control of bacterial metabolism so complex? The answer can be found in a simple experiment. Two cultures of bacteria are grown in different mediums. One contains as the carbon and nitrogen sources a mixture of amino acids, while the other contains only glucose and ammonia, so that the cells must synthesize all of the amino acids. The results show that insofar as the cells in both cultures grow at comparable rates, they will have the same composition in terms of DNA, RNA, and protein (30). To explain this phenomena I have argued that through the control mechanisms responsible for the distribution of substrates in intermediary metabolism, the substrates of protein synthesis are produced at concentrations and rates commensurate with the ability of the environment to support growth. The provision of these substrates relative to the ability of the protein forming system to utilize them regulates the synthesis of ribosomal and transfer RNA, which, after adjustment for various modulating influences, such as nonfunctioning ribosomes or ribosomal RNA turnover, brings the number of functioning ribosomes to a point in keeping with the provision of external nutrients. The synthesis of messenger (or total) RNA, ribosomal proteins, and DNA, and the process of cell division, for example, are subject to their own controls, but through the burden they each place on intermediary metabolism, they provide a means for partitioning the cell's metabolic resources. It might be noted that this view may not be very far from the idea once held that the rate at which each of the transfer RNA's was changed by amino acids regulate the synthesis of bacterial RNA, but growth regulation is clearly more complicated than implied by that model (76).     

Altered ribosomal protein in streptomycin-dependent Escherichia coli

We have compared the 30S ribosomal proteins of strains of Escherichia coli sensitive to and dependent on streptomycin and identified a single protein that is functionally altered in the ribosomes dependent on streptomycin. This protein (30S-15) is the same protein that is functionally altered in ribosomes resistant to streptomycin.     

禽霍乱基因缺陷型疫苗株的筛选及其免疫原性的研究

利用诱变剂亚硝基胍(NTG)处理多杀性巴氏杆菌P—1059株(禽源),筛选出16株温度敏感基因缺陷型菌株(简称Ts株)和6株链霉素依赖基因缺陷型菌株(简称Std株)。从Ts株和Std株中各选出5株用小鼠进行毒力测定,发现其中3个Ts株和2个Std株减毒情况良好.用这5株减毒菌株分别一次免疫小鼠,能使小鼠耐受强毒菌的攻击,与对照组相比,差异极显著(F>F0.01:P<0.01),尤其是Ts6—14株和Std—6株.可保护小鼠抵抗840个强毒菌的攻击,保护率达100％.用这两株细菌在鸡体所作的初步保护试验,也获得了比较满意的结果,因而有在鸡体做进一步试验的价值.     

稻恶苗病菌抗感多菌灵菌株的nit突变株形成

从江苏、河北、上海等地采集的水稻恶苗病株上分离到抗、感多菌灵的稻恶苗病菌菌株中，选用７个抗性菌株和６个敏感菌均获得氯酸盐的硝酸盐利用缺陷突变体。     

高效降解秸秆的深绿木霉菌ATMT突变株的筛选

以羧甲基纤维素粉或滤纸为唯一碳源,对深绿木霉菌T23的农杆菌介导的突变株进行了生长速度、产孢率、色素形成等形态学观测,同时,测定了滤纸酶酶活及羧甲基纤维素酶酶活,从中筛选出降解纤维素能力较出发菌T23显著变化的突变株7株。其中,多拷贝T-DNA插入突变株较单拷贝的突变株生长速度快,产孢率高。并且,这些突变株的发酵液呈明显的色素差异。突变株插入的拷贝数越多,酶活越强,在降解过程中这2种酶都观察到了产物的反馈抑制现象。     

灰毡毛忍冬及其变异株与忍冬叶显微特征比较研究

目的 为灰毡毛忍冬及其变异株、忍冬的鉴别和种质选育资源的开发利用提供依据。方法 采用性状鉴别和显微鉴别的方法从叶片外部形态和内部构造进行对比研究,探究灰毡毛忍冬及其变异株与忍冬叶的异同点。结果 灰毡毛忍冬及其变异株与忍冬叶在外部形态（叶形、叶大小）和内部构造（毛茸、气孔指数等）均存在差异,其中灰毡毛忍冬与其变异株间差异相对较小,灰毡毛忍冬及其变异株与忍冬差异较大。结论 灰毡毛忍冬、灰毡毛忍冬变异株、忍冬叶外部形态和内部显微特征存在差异,可为三者鉴别提供参考。     

绿色粘帚霉的紫外线诱变和对柑橘绿霉菌的拮抗作用

用紫外光处理绿色粘帚霉菌株G-26的分生孢子,在照射的前两分钟,孢子死亡率显著上升,3min达98.5%,5min则完全致死。在获得的108个诱变株中,有59个对柑橘绿霉菌丝生长的抑制活性得到提高,以UV-44提高最多,与G-26相比,其相对抑制率为42%。本试验对G-26和UV-44的生物学特性进行了研究。结果表明,UV-44较G-26菌丝生长速率下降,产孢能力降低。两菌株生长和产孢的条件基本相同:25～30℃、pH5、全黑暗是它们菌丝生长最适条件;25℃、pH5、全黑暗为最佳产孢条件。然而,它们的孢子萌发条件有所差异。