The Twin-Arginine Translocation （Tat） Pathway Is Essential for Virulence,Flagellation, and Chemotaxis in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola Strain RsGD42

Bacterial leaf streak, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola, is an important disease of rice （Oryza sativa）. Genetic determinants （tatABC genes） of the twin-arginine translocation （Tat） pathway from X. oryzae pv. oryzicola strain RsGD42 were cloned and characterized, meanwhile, a tatC disruption mutant was generated. The tatC mutant lacked detectable flagella and was highly impaired in motility and chemotaxis. Furthermore, it was observed that the tatC mutant exhibited a reduced production of extracellular polysaccharide （EPS） and a significant reduction of virulence on adult rice plants compared to wild type strain. However, the tatC mutation in X. oryzae pv. oryzieola strain RsGD42 did not affect the growth rate and the ability to induce hypersensitive response （HR） in nonhost tobacco （Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Samsun）. In conclusion, the data indicated that the Tat pathway significantly contributed to the virulence of X. oryzae pv. oryzicola.     

Effects of Allicin on Lipid Metabolism and Antioxidant Activity in Chickens

To investigate the effects of allicin on chickens＇ lipid and antioxidant performance, Hy-laying hens＇ diets were replenished with 0 mg · kg-1, 50 mg · kg-1, 100 mg · kg-1, and 150 mg · kg-1 allicin for 42 days, respectively. The alanine aminotransferase（ALT）, aspartate aminotransferase（AST）, triglyceride（TG）, total cholesterol（TCHO）, high density lipoprotein（HDL）, and low density lipoprotein（LDL） levels were measured in chicken serum. Superoxide dismutase（SOD）, glutathione peroxidase（GSH-Px） activity and malondialdehyde（MDA） levels were measured in chicken serum and liver tissue homogenate. The results showed that the supplement dose of allicin tested did not significantly change the activity of ALT or AST（P〉0.05）; TG and CHOL levels decreased with the increase of allicin additive doses, and the difference between treatment groups and CG was significant（P〈0.05）, and there was the best effect with 100 mg · kg-1; allicin significantly reduced the content of MDA, and increased SOD and GSH-Px activities compared with CG（P〈0.05）, and 100 mg · kg-1 of allicin resulted in the strongest SOD and GSH-Px activity. The antioxidant function test results of liver tissue homogenate were consistant with that of serum. Our findings indicated that allicin could enhance antioxidant capacity and reduce blood lipid level in chickens and 100 mg · kg-1 was the optimal amount of allicin additives.     

苹果树腐烂病菌根皮苷水解酶基因Vmlph1的功能

为明确根皮苷降解酶在苹果树腐烂病菌侵染过程中的作用,从苹果树腐烂病菌基因组序列中鉴定出候选根皮苷降解酶基因Vmlph1,利用Double-joint PCR和PEG介导的原生质体转化技术构建Vmlph1敲除突变体,观察突变体营养生长状况、产孢情况以及致病力的变化;利用HPLC方法检测基因敲除对根皮苷降解速率的影响。结果发现,经PCR及Southern blot验证后获得Vmlph1基因的敲除突变体;与野生型菌株相比,突变体菌落颜色变白,生长速率和产孢能力显著降低;接种到叶片和枝条上,突变体致病力显著降低;突变体根皮苷降解能力与野生型没有显著差异;在根皮苷诱导下,野生型菌株黑色素合成调控转录因子Cmr1基因的表达量显著上调,但突变体Cmr1基因的上调倍数显著低于野生型菌株。表明,根皮苷降解酶基因Vmlph1与苹果树腐烂病菌营养生长、致病力、分生孢子的产生及黑色素合成有关。     

Whole genome SNPs among 8 chicken breeds enable identification of genetic signatures that underlie breed features

Many different chicken breeds are found around the world, their features vary among them, and they are valuable resources. Currently, there is a huge lack of knowledge of the genetic determinants responsible for phenotypic and biochemical properties of these breeds of chickens. Understanding the underlying genetic mechanisms that explain across-breed variation can help breeders develop improved chicken breeds. The whole-genomes of 140 chickens from 7 Shandong native breeds and 20 introduced recessive white chickens from China were re-sequenced. Comparative population genomics based on autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed geographically based clusters among the chickens. Through genome-wide scans for selective sweeps, we identified thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR, reproductive traits, circadian rhythm), erythrocyte membrane protein band 4.1 like 1 (EPB41L1, body size), and alkylglycerol monooxygenase (AGMO, aggressive behavior), as major candidate breed-specific determining genes in chickens. In addition, we used a machine learning classification model to predict chicken breeds based on the SNPs significantly associated with recourse characteristics, and the prediction accuracy was 92%, which can effectively achieve the breed identification of Laiwu Black chickens. We provide the first comprehensive genomic data of the Shandong indigenous chickens. Our analyses revealed phylogeographic patterns among the Shandong indigenous chickens and candidate genes that potentially contribute to breed-specific traits of the chickens. In addition, we developed a machine learning-based prediction model using SNP data to identify chicken breeds. The genetic basis of indigenous chicken breeds revealed in this study is useful to better understand the mechanisms underlying the resource characteristics of chicken.     

UBE2I stimulates female gonadal differentiation in chicken (Gallus gallus) embryos

Without known analogous sex-determining factors like SRY (sex determining region Y) in mammals, the chicken (Gallus gallus) sex determination mechanism still remains unclear, which highly restricts the biological research on chicken development and poultry single-sex reproduction. Here we not only characterized a new female-biased gene UBE2I and identified the expression pattern by qRT-PCR, but also described the functional role of UBE2I in the gonadal development of chicken embryos. Results showed that UBE2I exhibited a female-biased expression pattern in the early stage of PGCs (primordial germ cells) in embryonic gonads and robust expression in ovaries of newborn chickens. Most importantly, we successfully developed an effective method to interfere or overexpress UBE2I in chicken embryos through the intravascular injection. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that the sex-related genes (FOXL2, CYP19A1 and HINTW) in females were upregulated (P<0.05) under the overexpression of UBE2I and the sex-related genes (SOX9, DMRT1 and WT1) in females were downregulated (P<0.05) after interfering UBE2I. Furthermore, the change of UBE2I expression was associated with the level of estradiol and its receptors (AR and ESR), which suggests that UBE2I is necessary to initiate the female-specific development in chickens. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that UBE2I is a crucial sex differentiation-related gene in the embryonic development of chickens, which provides insights for further understanding the mechanism of sex determination in chickens.     

鸡IBD蜂胶囊毒组织灭活苗的研制与应用

为了预防鸡IBD的区域性流行,以当地典型发病鸡群的法氏囊为组织源,以蜂胶为佐剂,研制鸡IBD蜂胶囊毒组织灭活苗。室内试验表明,对10日龄AA肉鸡接种后,20、50d血清AGP抗体阳性率和对强毒攻击的保护率均达100%;田间试验表明,对6批7~15日龄,3万多只不同品种的雏鸡免疫,未发生一起IBD;常规检验表明,该苗安全、无毒副作用,保存期内性质稳定。     

减毒鸡白痢沙门菌△aroA株的构建与致病性分析

以鸡白痢沙门氏菌c79-3强毒株为亲本,通过λ-red同源重组系统构建鸡白痢沙门菌aroA基因缺失株△aroA,并进行了测序验证和毒力试验。结果表明,aroA基因缺失株的生长速度较亲本株缓慢,且该缺失株具有良好的遗传稳定性;相比野生菌株,aroA基因缺失株的毒力发生了下降,雏鸡攻毒死亡率较亲本株低。本研究获得的减毒鸡白痢沙门氏菌aroA基因缺失株△aroA,为进一步研究鸡白痢沙门氏菌aroA基因的功能和后续减毒活疫苗开发奠定了基础。     

西藏那曲牦牛源多杀巴氏杆菌荚膜分型及其毒力基因检测

为确定2018年7—11月西藏那曲牦牛发病的死亡原因,以安多县、班戈县、聂荣县和色尼区的26头病死牦牛内脏组织为研究对象,利用常规细菌培养法和特异性基因PCR方法,对分离菌进行鉴定,并对其荚膜血清类型、毒力基因以及致病性进行研究。结果表明:纯化得到13株分离菌,分离菌的菌落特征、菌体形态、生化鉴定结果均与多杀巴氏杆菌相符,并扩增出多杀巴氏杆菌特异性基因Kmt-1和16S rDNA,菌株Pm-1和Pm-2的Kmt-1基因序列与印度、伊朗、巴基斯坦、俄罗斯的牛源多杀巴氏杆菌的同源性均达98%以上;13株菌的荚膜分型鉴定结果均为B型;对分离菌进行已知的23种毒力基因检测结果显示,此次分离到的13株菌毒力基因的数量在16～19种,ptfA、fimA等16种毒力基因检出率为100%,tadD、toxA等4种毒力基因检出率为0,且每个地区分离株毒力基因的分布相同;致病性试验中对照组小鼠全部存活,处理组小鼠死亡时间为24～72 h,死亡率为100%,病变主要表现为脾脏、肺脏、肝脏、心脏出血坏死。导致此次那曲地区牦牛发病死亡的原因为荚膜B型多杀巴氏杆菌病,本研究可为该病的防治提供依据,也为下一步预防疫苗的研究提供了优势菌株。     

牛种布鲁氏菌RpoE2蛋白部分生物学特性研究

为探讨牛种布鲁氏菌sigma因子RpoE2的功能,采用酵母双杂交技术对RpoE2蛋白与anti-sigma因子之间的互作进行研究;通过环境应激试验评价了rpoE2缺失株对强氧化环境、酸性pH、杀菌性阳离子多肽、铁缺乏环境的耐受能力;通过比较亲本菌株和缺失株在巨噬细胞感染模型和小鼠感染模型中的生存能力,研究了rpoE2基因是否与牛种布鲁氏菌毒力相关。结果显示:牛种布鲁氏菌的RpoE2蛋白可以与anti-sigma因子相互作用,牛种布鲁氏菌rpoE2基因缺失后,对各种应激环境的耐受能力均无影响,并且巨噬细胞和小鼠感染模型中毒力均不降低。牛种布鲁氏菌的RpoE2蛋白是一个ECF16家族的sigma因子,并且其与布鲁氏菌的毒力无关。     

新鱼腥草素钠纳米乳佐剂对肉仔鸡免疫功能的影响

以新鱼腥草素钠纳米乳为免疫佐剂,将其混入传染性支气管炎灭活疫苗,探讨其对肉仔鸡免疫功能的影响。选150只1日龄黄羽肉鸡,随机分成3组,第1组用新鱼腥草素钠纳米乳佐剂疫苗,铝胶佐剂疫苗为阳性对照组作为第2组,第3组为空白对照组(PBS)。免疫后21d(35日龄)采用IBV M41株病毒液进行点眼、滴鼻攻毒。通过测定每组鸡淋巴细胞(PBMC)增殖情况、鸡血清抗体效价、IBV强毒株攻毒保护及组织病理学变化。结果表明:新鱼腥草素钠纳米乳佐剂组PBMC增殖指数、鸡血清抗体效价水平显著提高(P0.05),在IBV M41株攻毒试验中,新鱼腥草素钠纳米乳佐剂组可显著减轻病毒感染肉仔鸡临床症状,肺和肾无明显组织病理学变化,免疫保护率达到96.7%。这表明以新鱼腥草素钠纳米乳佐剂能提高肉仔鸡对传染性支气管炎的免疫力。     

15株NDV地方株的分离鉴定与生物学特性

从1998~2002年河南省洛阳地区代表性新城疫发病禽群中分离鉴定了15株新城疫病毒(NDV),并对其生物学特性进行了研究。结果表明,15株NDV均呈现良好的血凝活性和特异的血凝抑制特性;对鸡胚的致病作用可被新城疫阳性血清所抑制;对鸡胚最小致死量的平均死亡时间(MDT),1日龄雏鸡脑内接种的致病指数(ICPI)和6周龄鸡静脉内接种的致病指数(IVPI)的测定证实,LD-6-01和LR-2-00株是弱毒株,其余均为强毒株;弱毒株的血凝素热稳定性较好,属慢速血凝解脱型;强毒株的血凝素热稳定性差,属快速或中速血凝解脱型;所有毒株均可较好地凝集鸡和人(O型血)的红细胞,但对其他动物的红细胞凝集性差异较大。对HI抗体为6log2的12日龄雏鸡攻毒试验结果表明,15个分离株中2个弱毒株可得到100%保护;13个强毒株中,LG-1-99,LR-1-98,LD-4-01和LD-3-00得到了70%~90%的保护,而其他9个分离株(LD-1-98,LD-2-99,LD-5-01,LD-7-02,LR-3-02,LW-1-02,LG-2-00,LA-1-99和LE-1-01)基本上得不到保护(0~20%),但所有得不到保护的试验组鸡的发病死亡时间均明显向后推迟。     

高致病性FAdV-4传代中的毒力和Fiber2基因的比对分析

为筛选禽腺病毒疫苗株和制备亚单位疫苗提供科学依据,探明高致病性禽腺病毒C亚型4血清型（FAdV-4）毒株在传代中的毒力变化以及不同感染方式对雏鸡死亡率的影响,首先制备2 ~ 15代的高致病性FAdV-4尿囊液,用LMH细胞检测第2、4、8和15代尿囊液的半数细胞感染量（TCID₅₀）;其次选取的4个代次尿囊液分别通过黏膜（点眼）和颈背部皮下途径接种SPF雏鸡,观察动物的死亡率;最后应用PCR方法扩增主要结构蛋白Fiber2基因序列并进行比对分析。结果表明：所有制备的2 ~ 15代FAdV-4毒株均在5 ~ 7 d内致鸡胚死亡（100%）,4个代次毒株的TCID₅₀为10^6.5±0.2/0.1 mL,不同代次毒株间的毒力差异不显著（P＞0.05）;选取的4个代次毒株经颈背部皮下接种雏鸡的死亡率为100%,死亡雏鸡出现典型的心包积液综合征。而经黏膜接种的雏鸡死亡率呈下降趋势,分别为80%、50%、30%和30%;不同代次毒株Fiber2基因序列没有发生变化。总之,不同代次毒株通过皮下接种后对雏鸡的致病力没有差异,但黏膜接种的死亡率则逐代下降,而主要结构蛋白Fiber2基因则没有出现碱基变异。     

Chinese herbal formulae defend against Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection

Mycoplasma gallisepticum HS strain(MG-HS) is a pathogen that causes chronic respiratory disease(CRD) in chicken, which is characterized by host respiratory inflammatory damage, brings huge economic losses to the poultry industry. Recently, emerging Chinese herbal medicines(CHM) have been used to treat CRD. This study was aimed to investigate the preventive and therapeutic effects and their potential mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicinal formulae(CHMF), which consisted of 10 kinds of Chinese her...     

Horizontal gene transfer of a syp homolog contributes to the virulence of Burkholderia glumae

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has been proved a major driving force in prokaryotic evolution. However, the molecular functions of these transferred genes in pathogenic bacteria especially plant pathogenic bacteria are still not fully investigated. In this study, the whole-genome in silico analysis was performed and found a syringopeptin synthetase (syp) homolog in Burkholderia glumae, which can cause bacterial panicle blight in rice, was predicted to be horizontally transferred from Pseudomonas ancestor with solid confidence by phylogenetic analysis. The comprehensive molecular experiments were performed to study the potential role of this gene in B. glumae. Inoculation of rice panicles with the syp mutant resulted in 60% lower disease index compared with the wild type (WT) parent strain, suggesting the requirement of syp for the full virulence of B. glumae. Chromatography analysis of exudates from B. glumae showed suppression of synthesis of metabolites analogous to syringopeptin in the mutants. All these data raise the possibility of HGT phenomenon in shaping the virulence and adaptation of B. glumae over evolutionary time.     

落叶型大丽轮枝菌脱落酸合成相关基因功能研究

为了探讨大丽轮枝菌中脱落酸（Absicisic acid,ABA）合成相关基因在致病过程中的功能,克隆大丽轮枝菌落叶型菌株XJ592的ABA合成相关基因Vdaba1、Vdaba2(1)、Vdaba2(2)和Vdaba4,采用同源重组的方法分别获得4个基因的敲除突变体菌株。生物学功能测定结果表明,Vdaba1主要参与促进大丽轮枝菌的产孢,Vdaba2(1)和Vdaba2(2)基因影响大丽轮枝菌的生长速率,Vdaba4基因参与调节大丽轮枝菌对氧化压力胁迫的响应。致病力测定结果表明,接种21 d时Vdaba1和Vdaba4基因突变体菌株的致病性显著低于野生型菌株XJ592,但在接种30 d时突变体与野生型XJ592接菌棉花植株的落叶率均为100%。     

鼠伤寒沙门氏菌感染诱导鸡盲肠及脾脏TLR基因差异表达

为研究鼠伤寒沙门氏菌感染后不同时间鸡盲肠和脾脏组织TLR4、TLR5、TLR15和TLR21 mRNA的表达规律,选用沙门氏菌阴性济宁百日鸡36只,随机分为2组,饲喂于隔离器中,2日龄分别接种1.23×108cfu鼠伤寒沙门氏菌和PBS溶液,接种后第1、3和7天采集盲肠和脾脏组织样品,应用荧光定量PCR检测感染后各时间、各组织中TLR4、TLR5、TLR15和TLR21的表达量。结果显示,1)济宁百日鸡感染鼠伤寒沙门氏菌后盲肠中TLR4、TLR5、TLR15和TLR21表达量均发生显著变化(P0.05);2)脾脏中TLR21和TLR4的表达量分别在接种后第1天和第3天显著上调(P0.05),而TLR5和TLR15的表达量差异不显著;3)感染后各时间点脾脏中TLR5的表达量显著低于盲肠(P0.01),而TLR4、TLR15和TLR21表达量均显著高于盲肠(P0.05)。鼠伤寒沙门氏菌感染后,鸡TLRs在盲肠和脾脏中发挥着不同的调控作用,而且这种表达调控表现出一定的时序性。