Cell-free nitrogenase and hydrogenase from actinorhizal root nodules

Field-grown alder (Alnus glutinosa) root nodules were disrupted in liquid nitrogen to release the actinomycete endophytes. The endophytes were broken by mild sonic oscillation and yielded a cell-free nitrogenase preparation capable of reducing acetylene and protons. In addition, the preparation carried a cell-free uptake hydrogenase.     

Cell-free protein synthesis: effects of age and state of ribosomal aggregation

In cell-free extracts derived from Streptococcus faecalis, protein synthesis directed by endogenous messenger RNA increases as the culture ages. The increased activity is accompanied by an increase in the percentage of membranebound ribosomes and by a decrease in ribosomal monomers and subunits. These changes progress against a background of structural and compositional modifications in the membrane. Membrane modifications possibly related to endogenously directed protein synthesis in cell-free extracts include: (i) decreased specific activity of a membrane-associated polynucleotide phosphorylase capable of polysome degradation, and (ii) increased concentrations of certain phospholipids.     

Crystal structures of the adenylate sensor from fission yeast AMP-activated protein kinase

The 5'-AMP (adenosine monophosphate)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) coordinates metabolic function with energy availability by responding to changes in intracellular ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and AMP concentrations. Here, we report crystal structures at 2.9 and 2.6 A resolution for ATP- and AMP-bound forms of a core alphabetagamma adenylate-binding domain from the fission yeast AMPK homolog. ATP and AMP bind competitively to a single site in the gamma subunit, with their respective phosphate groups positioned near function-impairing mutants. Unexpectedly, ATP binds without counterions, amplifying its electrostatic effects on a critical regulatory region where all three subunits converge.     

传染性胰脏坏死病毒VP2蛋白酵母表面展示系统的建立

为了将传染性胰脏坏死病毒(Infectious pancreatic necrosis virous,IPNV)的主要保护性抗原及IPNV检测和疫苗开发的主要靶基因——VP2蛋白展示于酵母细胞表面,本研究中基于IPNV VP2基因序列设计引物,以IPNV ChRtm213的RNA为模板进行PCR扩增,然后将扩增产物连接到酵母表面展示载体pYD1上构建了重组质粒pYD1-VP2,将重组质粒转化至酵母EBY100感受态细胞中,得到含有重组质粒的酵母菌EBY100/pYD1-VP2,再向EBY100/pYD1-VP2中加入半乳糖进行VP2蛋白的诱导表达,并采用蛋白免疫印迹和细胞免疫荧光技术对VP2蛋白的酵母表面展示情况进行了分析。结果表明:经半乳糖诱导后VP2蛋白在酵母细胞表面获得了成功表达;细胞免疫荧光分析显示,重组酵母诱导表达后出现特异性绿色荧光,并且在一定时间内荧光强度与诱导时间成正相关,诱导24、36、48 h组及对照组(48 h)各组之间荧光酵母比例有显著性差异(P<0.05)。研究表明,IPNV VP2蛋白已经被酵母细胞高效表达并且成功展示于酵母细胞表面,本研究结果可为IPNV口服活载体疫苗的研制奠定基础。     

传染性胰脏坏死病毒VP2蛋白酵母表面展示系统的建立

为了将传染性胰脏坏死病毒(Infectious pancreatic necrosis virous,IPNV)的主要保护性抗原及IPNV检测和疫苗开发的主要靶基因——VP2蛋白展示于酵母细胞表面,本研究中基于IPNV VP2基因序列设计引物,以IPNV ChRtm213的RNA为模板进行PCR扩增,然后将扩增产物连接到酵母表面展示载体pYD1上构建了重组质粒pYD1-VP2,将重组质粒转化至酵母EBY100感受态细胞中,得到含有重组质粒的酵母菌EBY100/pYD1-VP2,再向EBY100/pYD1-VP2中加入半乳糖进行VP2蛋白的诱导表达,并采用蛋白免疫印迹和细胞免疫荧光技术对VP2蛋白的酵母表面展示情况进行了分析。结果表明:经半乳糖诱导后VP2蛋白在酵母细胞表面获得了成功表达;细胞免疫荧光分析显示,重组酵母诱导表达后出现特异性绿色荧光,并且在一定时间内荧光强度与诱导时间成正相关,诱导24、36、48 h组及对照组(48 h)各组之间荧光酵母比例有显著性差异(P<0.05)。研究表明,IPNV VP2蛋白已经被酵母细胞高效表达并且成功展示于酵母细胞表面,本研究结果可为IPNV口服活载体疫苗的研制奠定基础。     

Structure-based assembly of protein complexes in yeast

Images of entire cells are preceding atomic structures of the separate molecular machines that they contain. The resulting gap in knowledge can be partly bridged by protein-protein interactions, bioinformatics, and electron microscopy. Here we use interactions of known three-dimensional structure to model a large set of yeast complexes, which we also screen by electron microscopy. For 54 of 102 complexes, we obtain at least partial models of interacting subunits. For 29, including the exosome, the chaperonin containing TCP-1, a 3'-messenger RNA degradation complex, and RNA polymerase II, the process suggests atomic details not easily seen by homology, involving the combination of two or more known structures. We also consider interactions between complexes (cross-talk) and use these to construct a structure-based network of molecular machines in the cell.     

A yeast gene that is essential for release from glucose repression encodes a protein kinase

The SNF1 gene plays a central role in carbon catabolite repression in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, namely that SNF1 function is required for expression of glucose-repressible genes. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned SNF1 gene was determined, and the predicted amino acid sequence shows that SNF1 encodes a 72,040-dalton polypeptide that has significant homology to the conserved catalytic domain of mammalian protein kinases. Specific antisera were prepared and used to identify the SNF1 protein. The protein was shown to transfer phosphate from adenosine triphosphate to serine and threonine residues in an in vitro autophosphorylation reaction. These findings indicate that SNF1 encodes a protein kinase and suggest that protein phosphorylation plays a critical role in regulation by carbon catabolite repression in eukaryotic cells.     

Evolution of the molecular machines for protein import into mitochondria

In creating mitochondria some 2 billion years ago, the first eukaryotes needed to establish protein import machinery in the membranes of what was a bacterial endosymbiont. Some of the preexisting protein translocation apparatus of the endosymbiont appears to have been commandeered, including molecular chaperones, the signal peptidase, and some components of the protein-targeting machinery. However, the protein translocases that drive protein import into mitochondria have no obvious counterparts in bacteria, making it likely that these machines were created de novo. The presence of similar translocase subunits in all eukaryotic genomes sequenced to date suggests that all eukaryotes can be considered descendants of a single ancestor species that carried an ancestral "protomitochondria."     

Cell-free circularization of viroid progeny RNA by an RNA ligase from wheat germ

Linear, potato spindle tuber viroid RNA has been used as a substrate for an RNA ligase purified from wheat germ. Linear viroid molecules are efficiently converted to circular molecules (circles) which are indistinguishable by electrophoretic mobility and two-dimensional oligonucleotide pattern from viroid circles extracted from infected plants. In light of recent evidence for multimeric viroid replication intermediates, cleavage followed by RNA ligation by a cellular enzyme may (i) be a normal step in the viroid life cycle and (ii) may also reflect cellular events.     

An in vivo map of the yeast protein interactome

Protein interactions regulate the systems-level behavior of cells; thus, deciphering the structure and dynamics of protein interaction networks in their cellular context is a central goal in biology. We have performed a genome-wide in vivo screen for protein-protein interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by means of a protein-fragment complementation assay (PCA). We identified 2770 interactions among 1124 endogenously expressed proteins. Comparison with previous studies confirmed known interactions, but most were not known, revealing a previously unexplored subspace of the yeast protein interactome. The PCA detected structural and topological relationships between proteins, providing an 8-nanometer-resolution map of dynamically interacting complexes in vivo and extended networks that provide insights into fundamental cellular processes, including cell polarization and autophagy, pathways that are evolutionarily conserved and central to both development and human health.     

酵母双杂交系统在植物病毒学上的应用

酵母双杂交系统是研究蛋白质间相互作用的一种有效方法,具有操作简便、灵敏度高的特点.该技术主要在植物病毒学的如下领域得到应用:(1)病毒粒体的分子结构和装配;(2)病毒的核酸复制以及基因表达调控;(3)病毒介体传播的分子机制;(4)病毒运动模式;(5)病毒致病机制;(6)病毒编码蛋白的联系图谱.     

酵母双杂交系统在植物病毒学中的应用

酵母双杂交系统应用有效的酵母遗传学方法分析蛋白质问相互作用,已成为鉴定蛋白质相互作用强有力的方法之一。文章从植物病毒编码的蛋白质间、植物病毒蛋白与植物蛋白间、植物病毒蛋白与介体蛋白间等3个方面阐述了酵母双杂交系统在植物病毒学中的应用现状,并对其应用前景进行了展望。     

植物线粒体中活性氧的产生及其抗氧化系统

线粒体是活性氧（reactive oxygen species,ROS）产生的主要器官之一,而ROS在植物的生长发育和胁迫响应中具有重要作用。一方面ROS作为信号分子介导植物对各种外界刺激产生胁迫响应,另一方面作为强氧化剂攻击植物体内的细胞膜或大分子物质。为了维持线粒体内ROS的动态平衡,严格控制其产生是必要的。该文综述了植物线粒体中活性氧的产生机制和途径,以及线粒体对活性氧的防御系统,包括氧化前防御和氧化后防御机制,为今后该领域的研究奠定基础。      

HRR25, a putative protein kinase from budding yeast: association with repair of damaged DNA

In simple eukaryotes, protein kinases regulate mitotic and meiotic cell cycles, the response to polypeptide pheromones, and the initiation of nuclear DNA synthesis. The protein HRR25 from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was defined by the mutation hrr25-1. This mutation resulted in sensitivity to continuous expression of the HO double-strand endonuclease, to methyl methanesulfonate, and to x-irradiation. Homozygotes of hrr25-1 were unable to sporulate and disruption and deletion of HRR25 interfered with mitotic and meiotic cell division. Sequence analysis revealed two distinctive regions in the protein. The NH2-terminus of HRR25 contains the hallmark features of protein kinases, whereas the COOH-terminus is rich in proline and glutamine. Mutations in HRR25 at conserved residues found in all protein kinases inactivated the gene, and these mutants exhibited the hrr25 null phenotypes. Taken together, the hrr25 mutant phenotypes and the features of the gene product indicate that HRR25 is a distinctive member of the protein kinase superfamily.     

High-quality binary protein interaction map of the yeast interactome network

Current yeast interactome network maps contain several hundred molecular complexes with limited and somewhat controversial representation of direct binary interactions. We carried out a comparative quality assessment of current yeast interactome data sets, demonstrating that high-throughput yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screening provides high-quality binary interaction information. Because a large fraction of the yeast binary interactome remains to be mapped, we developed an empirically controlled mapping framework to produce a "second-generation" high-quality, high-throughput Y2H data set covering approximately 20% of all yeast binary interactions. Both Y2H and affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry (AP/MS) data are of equally high quality but of a fundamentally different and complementary nature, resulting in networks with different topological and biological properties. Compared to co-complex interactome models, this binary map is enriched for transient signaling interactions and intercomplex connections with a highly significant clustering between essential proteins. Rather than correlating with essentiality, protein connectivity correlates with genetic pleiotropy.     

极端嗜热菌Thermotoga hypogea细胞抽提液中醇脱氢酶和氢化酶的活性检测

极端嗜热菌Thermotogahypogea(T.h.)是一株来自中非油田井下的,能够生长在90℃高温下的短杆状厌氧嗜热菌,经研究发现,在T.h.菌体细胞抽提液中存在一种特殊的NADP依赖性醇脱氢酶(ADH)。该酶在T.h.菌的醇醛代谢途径中起着关键性的催化作用,可催化多种醇醛底物的脱氢反应。同时,当以二氯联卞吡啶为作用底物时,T.h.菌的细胞抽提物显示很高的氢化活性(Km=0.29mmol·L-1,Vmax=41.69)。     

酵母重复基因在蛋白质互作网络中的分歧进化

【目的】分析全基因组重复后,蛋白质互作网络对重复基因分歧模式的作用机制。【方法】结合高精度的蛋白质互作数据集和具有相同进化年代的重复基因数据集,在全基因组范围关联分析拷贝间进化距离与网络结构的相关性,并通过对拷贝间连接水平的差异程度分类,分析不同阶段网络结构对基因功能的影响。【结果】重复基因两拷贝间的进化距离与其祖先基因在网络中的连接水平呈显著负相关,与重复基因间的连接度差异率呈显著正相关;网络结构完全歧化的重复基因间的非同义替换均值,较未完全歧化的重复基因显著高出30.2%。【结论】网络结构对重复基因的进化起调节作用,网络系统在保持核心稳定的同时,使外围组分发生了更大变化;重复基因在网络结构改变的前期为基因组提供功能冗余,但在网络结构差别较大后,显著增加的突变更有利于基因新功能的产生。     

葡萄酒泥酵母诱导自溶工艺的条件优化

以葡萄酒泥酵母为试验材料,采用单因素和正交试验设计,优化酵母细胞自溶的工艺条件.结果表明:在温度47.5℃,NaCl质量分数2%,pH 4.5,处理时间33h的最优条件下,酵母自溶前后电导率增加2.49ms/cm,氨基氮含量增加2.154 90mg/mL,自溶效果最好.此方法成本低,易操作,适合工业化生产.