Microsatellite instability generates diversity in brain and sociobehavioral traits

Repetitive microsatellites mutate at relatively high rates and may contribute to the rapid evolution of species-typical traits. We show that individual alleles of a repetitive polymorphic microsatellite in the 5' region of the prairie vole vasopressin 1a receptor (avpr1a) gene modify gene expression in vitro. In vivo, we observe that this regulatory polymorphism predicts both individual differences in receptor distribution patterns and socio-behavioral traits. These data suggest that individual differences in gene expression patterns may be conferred via polymorphic microsatellites in the cis-regulatory regions of genes and may contribute to normal variation in behavioral traits.     

海马齿SpSCL1基因启动子克隆及序列分析

GRAS蛋白是植物特有的一类蛋白家族,在植物的生长发育方面具有重要作用.根据前期分离的海马齿SpSCL1基因的5'端序列,设计特异引物进行Genome Walking,从海马齿基因组DNA中克隆了SpSCL1基因上游的1 254 bp片段.序列分析表明,该序列包含681 bp的启动子调控序列及573 bp的基因编码序列,启动子调控序中除含有典型的真核生物核心启动子区域(-60～-10bp)外,还含有多个TATA-box、CAAT-box等启动子元件以及多种与脱水、耐盐和光响应相关的顺式作用元件.结果预示海马齿SpSCL1可能在抗旱、耐盐以及光敏色素信号转导途径中发挥重要作用.     

Evolutionarily assembled cis-regulatory module at a human ciliopathy locus

Neighboring genes are often coordinately expressed within cis-regulatory modules, but evidence that nonparalogous genes share functions in mammals is lacking. Here, we report that mutation of either TMEM138 or TMEM216 causes a phenotypically indistinguishable human ciliopathy, Joubert syndrome. Despite a lack of sequence homology, the genes are aligned in a head-to-tail configuration and joined by chromosomal rearrangement at the amphibian-to-reptile evolutionary transition. Expression of the two genes is mediated by a conserved regulatory element in the noncoding intergenic region. Coordinated expression is important for their interdependent cellular role in vesicular transport to primary cilia. Hence, during vertebrate evolution of genes involved in ciliogenesis, nonparalogous genes were arranged to a functional gene cluster with shared regulatory elements.     

水稻植酸酶基因OsPHY2启动子的克隆及生物信息学分析

水稻种子萌发后,新生器官分化和生长所需磷素主要来自于植酸酶对种子中贮存植酸及其盐类的降解.针对水稻植酸酶基因OsPHY2在萌发种子中优势表达、但其转录调控机制尚不明确的现状,本研究克隆了该基因的启动子.利用生物信息学工具对该启动子中含有的顺式调控元件分析表明,该启动子中除含有RNA聚合酶结合的重要保守元件TATA盒和调...     

Bicoid-independent formation of thoracic segments in Drosophila

The maternal determinant Bicoid (Bcd) represents the paradigm of a morphogen that provides positional information for pattern formation. However, as bicoid seems to be a recently acquired gene in flies, the question was raised as to how embryonic patterning is achieved in organisms with more ancestral modes of development. Because the phylogenetically conserved Hunchback (Hb) protein had previously been shown to act as a morphogen in abdominal patterning, we asked which functions of Bcd could be performed by Hb. By reestablishing a proposed ancient regulatory circuitry in which maternal Hb controls zygotic hunchback expression, we show that Hb is able to form thoracic segments in the absence of Bcd.     

Cross-regulatory interactions between the proneural achaete and scute genes of Drosophila

The achaete (ac) and scute (sc) genes of Drosophila allow cells to become sensory organ mother cells. Although ac and sc have similar patterns of expression, deletion of either gene removes specific subsets of sensory organs. This specificity was shown to reside in the peculiar regulation of ac and sc expression. These genes are first activated in complementary spatial domains in response to different cis-regulatory sequences. Each gene product then stimulates expression of the other gene, thus generating similar patterns of expression. Therefore, removal of one gene leads to the absence of both proneural gene products and sensory organs in the sites specified by its cis-regulatory sequences.     

猪生殖细胞特异性基因Sohlh1及启动子的研究

【目的】探究猪生殖细胞特异性基因Sohlh1在幼年和成年各组织中的表达情况,分子遗传进化特点,及其启动子的核心区域和特异性调控区间。【方法】通过RT-PCR验证猪不同时期不同组织Sohlh1基因的表达情况,通过生物软件分析其分子遗传进化特点,构建启动子验证载体,通过双荧光素酶分析基因启动子的核心区域和特异性调控区间。【结果】Sohlh1基因在仔猪与成年猪睾丸和仔猪卵巢中都有表达,在成年猪卵巢不表达;通过多个物种进化分析,Sohlh1基因随着脊椎动物从低等到高等的演变也在进化;通过双荧光素酶分析构建的启动子验证载体,猪Sohlh1基因的启动子的核心区域在78 bp附近,特异性调控区间在771~2 981 bp之间。【结论】基于Sohlh1基因的进化分析,作为试验动物模型,猪可能更优于啮齿类动物,其组织特异性表达可能主要通过其启动子特异性调控区间调控。     

Autogenous regulation of gene expression

A new term, autogenous regulation, is used to describe a phenomenon that is not a new discovery but rather is newly appreciated as a mechanism common to a number of systems in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. In this mechanism the product of a structural gene regulates expression of the operon in which that structural gene resides. In many (perhaps all) cases, the regulatory gene product has several functions, since it may act not only as a regulatory protein but also as an enzyme, structural protein, or antibody, for example. In a few cases, this protein is the multimeric allosteric enzyme that catalyzes the first step of a metabolic pathway, gearing together the two most important mechanisms for controlling the biosynthesis of metabolites in bacterial cells-feedback inhibition and repression. Autogenous regulation may provide a mechanism for amplification of gene expression (84); for severe and prolonged inactivation of gene expression (85); for buffering the response of structural genes to changes in the environment (45, 52); and for maintaining a constant intracellular concentration of a protein, independent of cell size or growth rate (86). Thus, autogenous regulation provides the cell with means for accomplishing a number of different regulatory tasks, each suited to better satisfying the needs of the organism for its survival.     

Regulation of the apolipoprotein AI gene by ARP-1, a novel member of the steroid receptor superfamily

Apolipoprotein AI (apoAI) is a lipid-binding protein that participates in the transport of cholesterol and other lipids in the plasma. A complementary DNA clone for a protein that bound to regulatory elements of the apoAI gene was isolated. This protein, designated apoAI regulatory protein-1 (ARP-1), is a novel member of the steroid hormone receptor superfamily. ARP-1 bound to DNA as a dimer, and its dimerization domain was localized to the COOH-terminal region. ARP-1 also bound to a thyroid hormone-responsive element and to regulatory regions of the apoB, apoCIII, insulin, and ovalbumin genes. In cotransfection experiments, ARP-1 downregulated the apoAI gene. The involvement of ARP-1 in the regulation of apoAI gene expression suggests that it may participate in lipid metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis.     

Gene regulatory networks and the evolution of animal body plans

Development of the animal body plan is controlled by large gene regulatory networks (GRNs), and hence evolution of body plans must depend upon change in the architecture of developmental GRNs. However, these networks are composed of diverse components that evolve at different rates and in different ways. Because of the hierarchical organization of developmental GRNs, some kinds of change affect terminal properties of the body plan such as occur in speciation, whereas others affect major aspects of body plan morphology. A notable feature of the paleontological record of animal evolution is the establishment by the Early "Cambrian of virtually all phylum-level body plans. We identify a class of GRN component, the kernels" of the network, which, because of their developmental role and their particular internal structure, are most impervious to change. Conservation of phyletic body plans may have been due to the retention since pre-Cambrian time of GRN kernels, which underlie development of major body parts.     

小麦TaARF20基因克隆及表达分析

【目的】克隆TaARF20基因,并分析其表达特性,为解析小麦生长素响应因子（ARF）基因家族成员的调控机制提供理论依据。【方法】以普通小麦为材料,利用同源克隆技术获得TaARF20基因的cDNA全长序列,利用生物信息学软件分析其序列特征,并通过亚细胞定位试验明确TaARF20蛋白的作用部位。将TaARF20基因与表达载体PcoldTF连接,转化大肠杆菌中进行原核表达。采用实时荧光定量PCR检测TaARF20基因在普通小麦不同组织及普通小麦和多子房小麦不同发育时期幼穗中的表达模式。【结果】TaARF20基因包含1个内含子和2个外显子,编码区（CDS）长度为1116 bp,编码371个氨基酸残基,蛋白分子量约40.38 kD,理论等电点（pI）为4.96,脂溶性系数为19.80,疏水性系数为0.985,不稳定系数为50.51,属于不稳定蛋白,定位在细胞核中,含有ARF家族蛋白的保守结构域和B3 DNA结合域,主要由α-螺旋（18.06%）、无规则卷曲（59.57%）和延伸连（22.10%）组成。启动子区含有激素响应、光响应和低温响应等多个顺式作用元件。TaARF20蛋白与二粒小麦ARF20的氨基酸序列相似性最高,亲缘关系也最近。TaARF20融合蛋白在原核系统中成功表达。TaARF20基因在小麦的根、叶、幼穗和籽粒中均有表达,但在幼穗中的相对表达量最高。对于长度为3和4 cm的幼穗来说,普通小麦TaARF20基因的相对表达量低于多子房小麦,但对于长度为5、6、8和9 cm的幼穗,普通小麦TaARF20基因的相对表达量高于多子房小麦。【结论】TaARF20基因在小麦穗生长发育中发挥重要调控作用,推测其是调控穗型、穗大小或穗粒数的关键基因。     

转CBF3基因烟草的抗寒性研究

为了解拟南芥转录因子CBF3基因转化烟草的抗寒性,利用农杆菌介导法将由诱导型启动子RD29A调控的CBF3基因导入烟草,获得Southern阳性转基因烟草;将转基因烟草幼苗及对照(未转基因烟草)在4℃低温胁迫8h,转基因烟草幼苗杭寒性强于对照;不同温度处理下转基因烟草及对照中渗透调节物质测定结果表明,低温处理下对照及转...     

巴西橡胶树小橡胶粒子蛋白基因5'调控序列的克隆及功能初步鉴定

法尼基焦磷酸合酶是异戊二烯生物合成途径中的一个关键酶,根据NCBI数据库中巴西橡胶树法尼基焦磷酸合酶基因HbFPS序列设计引物,克隆了HbFPS起始密码子上游1066bp的5'调控序列。序列分析表明,该序列A/T含量为77.39%,含有典型的真核生物核心启动子区域,在该序列中发现了一些与真核生物典型的顺式调控元件相似的TATA-box、增强子元件、CAAT-box和GATA-box以及一些与激素、胁迫诱导、转录因子相关的顺式作用元件。构建了含有该序列的植物表达载体并转化烟草,对获得的转基因烟草T0代植株GUS染色发现转基因植株呈现蓝色,表明HbFPS的5'调控序列可以驱动GUS基因的表达,具有启动子的活性。     

Isolation and expression analysis of NtCHS6, a new chalcone synthase gene from Nicotiana tabacum

Chalcone synthases(CHS, EC 2.3.1.74) are key enzymes that catalyze the first committed step in flavonoid biosynthesis. In this study, we isolated a chalcone synthase, named NtCHS6, from Nicotiana tabacum. This synthase shared high homology with the NSCHSL(Y14507) gene and contained most of the conserved active sites that are in CHS proteins. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that NtCHS6 protein shared a large genetic distance with other Solanaceae CHS proteins and was the most closely-related to an uncharacterized CHS from Solanum lycopersicum. The expression analysis indicated that NtCHS6 was abundantly expressed in leaves, especially in mature leaves. By scrutinizing its upstream promoter sequences, multiple cis-regulatory elements involved in light and drought responsive were detected. Furthermore, NtCHS6 expression decreased significantly under dark treatment and increased significantly under drought stress. Our results suggested that NtCHS6 expression exhibited both light responsiveness and drought responsiveness, and might play important roles in ultraviolet protection and drought tolerance.