Self-assembled water-soluble nucleic acid probe tiles for label-free RNA hybridization assays

The DNA origami method, in which long, single-stranded DNA segments are folded into shapes by short staple segments, was used to create nucleic acid probe tiles that are molecular analogs of macroscopic DNA chips. One hundred trillion probe tiles were fabricated in one step and bear pairs of 20-nucleotide-long single-stranded DNA segments that act as probe sequences. These tiles can hybridize to their targets in solution and, after adsorption onto mica surfaces, can be examined by atomic force microscopy in order to quantify binding events, because the probe segments greatly increase in stiffness upon hybridization. The nucleic acid probe tiles have been used to study position-dependent hybridization on the nanoscale and have also been used for label-free detection of RNA.     

Orientation of the dipole moments of hydroxyl groups in oxidized and unoxidized biotite

Observations of the infrared absorption bands attributed to the stretching vibrations of hydroxyl groups in biotite containing predominantly ferrous iron show that the dipole moments of the hydroxyls associated with ferrous iron are oriented perpendicular to the cleavage plane of the lattice. Oxidation in the biotite from ferrous iron to ferric iron results in the disappearance of the infrared absorption bands due to the hydroxyls associated with ferrous iron. The dipole moments of the hydroxyls associated with ferric iron in the oxidized biotite have been shown to be in an inclined position with respect to the cleavage plae. Our experiments confirm the hypothesis of Barshad and Kishk regarding the effect of oxidation on the replaceability of interlayer potassium ions in biotite by ammonium ions.     

福建红壤性水稻土钾素的Q/I特性

测定了福建省黑云母花岗岩,凝灰岩、玄武岩和石英闪长岩母质发育的3种水型红壤性水稻土及起源土壤的钾素 Q/I 曲线,获得钾位缓冲容量 PBC~K,速效钾含量-△K,钾离子平衡活度比 AR_c~k 和钾位 pK-1/2 P(Ca+Mg)等热力学参数.结果表明:(2)不同水型水稻土PBC~K,潴育型>潜育型>渗育型>超源土壤.主要受水稻土形成发育过程中土壤胶体表面性质的综合影响.(2)不同母质红壤性水稻土 PBC~K,渗育型系列玄武岩者>黑云母花岗岩者>凝灰岩者>石英闪长岩者,潴育型系列玄武岩者>凝灰岩者>石英闪长者者>黑云母花岗岩者,主要受到腐殖质、粘粒和游离氧化铁含量的影响.(3)黑云母花岗岩母质水稻土的现实速效钾最大,玄武岩母质者最小;但在 AR_c~k 一致的条件下则机反.(4)钾位和 AR_c~k 的分析与上述结果一致.     

Giant radiation-induced color halos in quartz: solution to a riddle

The radii of radiation-induced color halos(RICHs) surrounding radioactive mineral inclusions in mica generally correspond closely to the calculated range of common uranogenic and thorogenic alpha particles in mica. Many exceptions are known, however, and these variants have led investigators to some rather exotic interpretations. Three RICHs found in quartz are identified as aluminum hole-trapping centers. Whereas the inner radii of these RICHs closely match the predicted range of the most energetic common alphas(39 micrometers), the color centers observed extend to 100 micrometers. Migration of valence-band holes down a radiation-induced charge potential might account for enigmatic RICHs. Such RICHs provide natural experiments in ultraslow charge diffusion.     

Fossil alpha-particle recoil tracks: a new method of age determination

The discovery of a new type of fossil nuclear track in mica is reported. This track is produced by the recoil nucleus accompanying the alpha-particle decay of uranium and thorium impurities. The tracks are very short and can be seen with phase contrast microscopy. Measurement of fossil alpha-recoil track densities, coupled with determinations of the thorium and uranium contents, provides a new dating technique analogous to the previously discovered "fission-track method." The primary advantage of the alpha-recoil method is a several-thousand-fold increase in sensitivity over the fission-track technique. The alpha-recoil method should also prove useful in studying the problem of extinct isotopes in meteorites.     

Polytype distribution in circumstellar silicon carbide

The inferred crystallographic class of circumstellar silicon carbide based on astronomical infrared spectra is controversial. We have directly determined the polytype distribution of circumstellar SiC from transmission electron microscopy of presolar silicon carbide from the Murchison carbonaceous meteorite. Only two polytypes (of a possible several hundred) were observed: cubic 3C and hexagonal 2H silicon carbide and their intergrowths. We conclude that this structural simplicity is a direct consequence of the low pressures in circumstellar outflows and the corresponding low silicon carbide condensation temperatures.     

大豆基因组保守序列及综合保守序列扩增多态性分子标记(ICSAP)的设计

采用VBA程序查找了大豆基因组保守序列——在基因组中出现次数较多的碱基序列片段,分析了这类保守序列的基本特性,在此基础上,设计了一种新型分子标记——综合保守序列扩增多态性分子标记.碱基数目越多,保守序列种类数和出现次数越少,从10个碱基到27个碱基,保守序列的GC含量先是逐渐增加,达到一个平台后又逐渐降低.碱基离保守序列3＇端越近,出现A或T的可能性越大,碱基在保守序列中的分布具有非随机性.不同长度的保守序列具有明显的进化关系.筛选出10个碱基的保守序列和长度为8个碱基的填充序列用来设计引物,共得到566对引物组合.该新型分子标记有望在条带多态性、引物一致性等方面超越现有分子标记,同时具有成本低廉等优点.该研究旨在为基因组保守序列查找和分子标记设计方面提供新的思路,分析这些保守序列特性有助于进一步探索分子进化机理.该新型分子标记有可能在大豆种质资源鉴定和基因图位克隆等方面得到应用,同时该分析方法也适用对其他物种.     

小麦ADP-核糖基化因子克隆及序列分析

二磷酸腺苷-核糖基化作用因子(ADP-ribosylation factors,ARFs)是真核细胞囊泡运输通道的关键组成成分,参与细胞运输和信号传导。根据GenBank中已知ARF基因序列设计引物,对小麦及其二倍体供体种基因组DNA进行PCR扩增、克隆、测序。结果表明:从小麦中克隆的ARF基因属于ARF1基因;与其他物种的ARF基因对比发现,该基因的内含子存在特殊的剪切方式。氨基酸序列分析表明,小麦的ARF同其他物种一样,具有保守的GTP结合区域。     

Biomimetic Pathways for Assembling Inorganic Thin Films

Living organisms construct various forms of laminated nanocomposites through directed nucleation and growth of inorganics at self-assembled organic templates at temperatures below 100°C and in aqueous solutions. Recent research has focused on the use of functionalized organic surfaces to form continuous thin films of single-phase ceramics. Continuous thin films of mesostructured silicates have also been formed on hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces through a two-step mechanism. First, under acidic conditions, surfactant micellar structures are self-assembled at the solid/liquid interface, and second, inorganic precursors condense to form an inorganic-organic nanocomposite. Epitaxial coordination of adsorbed surfactant tubules is observed on mica and graphite substrates, whereas a random arrangement is observed on amorphous silica. The ability to process ceramic-organic nanocomposite films by these methods provides new technological opportunities.     

Alpha-recoil tracks in mica: registration efficiency

Recoils from alpha-particle decay of naturally occurring radioactive nuclides have energies between 70 and 169 kiloelectron volts. It is shown that these alpha recoils register tracks in mica, observable as etch pits, with an efficiency of about 80 percent. When the recoil energy is degraded to 40 kiloelectron volts the efficiency drops to 50 percent. But, since the decay of each thorium or uranium impurity atom in natural mica is followed by a cascade of six or eight alpha particles, the overall registration efficiency must be very nearly 100 percent.     

烟草SSR分布特征与开发利用

EST-SSR标记与gSSR标记是2种重要的分子标记,烟草EST序列数量与基因组序列数量的迅速增加为开发新的烟草分子标记提供了宝贵的数据资源。对GenBank上公布的158 098条EST序列及10 647条GSS序列进行大规模微卫星位点搜索,在EST中发现了8 088个微卫星位点(检出率为5.1%),在GSS中发现了2 020个微卫星位点(检出率为18.9%)。在EST中搜索到的重复单元共有176种,其中二核苷酸占主导地位,占到总SSR的近66%,出现次数在1～100之间的基序超过所有基序的90%;在GSS中搜索到重复单元81种,出现次数大部分在1～50之间,占88%。研究还挑选了烟草的150条EST序列,并对其进行了引物的设计。     

Imaging the condensation and evaporation of molecularly thin films of water with nanometer resolution

The polarization force between an electrically charged atomic force microscope tip and a substrate has been used to follow the processes of condensation and evaporation of a monolayer of water on mica at room temperature. Condensation proceeds in two distinct structural phases. Up to about 25 percent humidity, the water film grows by forming two-dimensional clusters of less than a few 1000 angstroms in diameter. Above about 25 percent humidity, a second phase grows, forming large two-dimensional islands with geometrical shapes in epitaxial relation with the underlaying mica lattice. The growth of this second water phase is completed when the humidity reaches about 45 percent. The reverse process of evaporation has also been imaged.     

贵州不同岩石背景土壤矿物与矿质养分的关系

为了更好地了解优质农作物生长与不同岩石背景土壤养分的关系,科学指导农业种植,对两种不同岩石背景土壤中矿物与土壤主要矿质养分的关系进行研究。结果表明:碎屑岩背景区土壤粉粒矿物中长石、云母含量较碳酸盐岩背景区土壤中的高,土壤粘粒矿物中绿泥石含量较碳酸盐岩背景区土壤中的高,高岭石含量较低,土壤风化程度较低,持续释放矿质养分的能力较强,土壤养分相对充裕;而碳酸盐岩背景区土壤粉粒矿物中长石、云母含量较碎屑岩背景区土壤中的低,土壤粘粒矿物中绿泥石含量较碎屑岩背景区土壤中的低,高岭石含量较高,土壤风化程度较高,持续释放矿质养分的能力弱,土壤养分相对缺乏。     

Fossil alpha-recoil analysis of certain variant radioactive halos

The distribution of alpha-radioactivity in the vicinity of uranium and of certain variant radioactive halos in biotite was investigated by the fossil alpharecoil method. Within the limits of the method I could not confirm a previously proposed hydrothermal mechanism for the origin of certain variant halo types due to polonium isotopes.     

Evaporation of seawater: calculated mineral sequences

Van't Hoff's predictions of the mineral sequences to be expected on the evaporation of seawater are based on an oversimplified system. New computer calculation that include calcium-bearing phases are in better agreement with natural occurrences, removing discrepancies that have plagued evaporite geologists for nearly a century. A new hydrologic model that combines equilibrium batch evaporation with fractionation between successive batches is proposed to account for the mineral sequences observed in such classic deposits as the German Zechstein.     

对几种典型土壤中粘粒级有机-矿质复合体的初步表征

采用超声分散法提取了江西红壤、黑龙江黑土和北京潮土等3种典型土壤的粘粒级有机-矿质复合体,分别用傅立叶转换红外光谱(FTIR)、X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电镜-X射线能谱(SEM-EDS)以及固态核磁共振(NMR)等方法对提取的有机-矿质复合体进行了表征。结果表明,黑土复合体具有最高的有机质含量和最大的阳离子交换容量。3种复合体的主要矿物成分均为石英,但红壤复合体还含有云母与闪石等成分,而黑土和潮土复合体主要还包括长石和方解石成分。对NMR不同化学位移域的谱峰积分得到3种粘粒级复合体有机碳的组成比例,红壤复合体中脂类C的含量最高,黑土复合体中烷氧基C的含量最高,而潮土中烷氧基C、脂类C以及芳香族C的含量相差不多。     

Nucleotide sequence of the transforming gene of avian myeloblastosis virus

Avian myeloblastosis virus is defective in reproductive capacity, requiring a helper virus to provide the viral proteins essential for synthesis of new infectious virus. This virus arose by recombination of the nondefective helper virus and host cellular sequences present within the normal avian genome. These latter sequences are essential for leukemogenic activity. The complete nucleotide sequence of this region is reported. Within the acquired cellular sequences there is an open reading frame of 795 nucleotides starting with the initiation codon ATG (adenine, thymine, guanine) and terminating with the triplet TAG. This open reading frame could code for the putative transforming protein of 265 amino acids with a molecular weight of approximately 30,000.     

Rubidium-strontium date of possibly 3 billion years for a granitic rock from antarctica

A single total rock sample of biotite granite from Jule Peaks, Antarctica, has been dated by the rubidium-strontium method at about 3 billion years. The juxtaposition of this sector of Antarctica with Africa in the Dietz and Sproll continental drift reconstruction results in a possible geochronologic fit of the Princess Martha Coast of Antarctica with a covered possible notheastern extension of the African Swaziland Shield, which contains granitic rocks that are also 3 billion years old.     

Experimental Constraints on Recycling of Potassium from Subducted Oceanic Crust

Petrological experiments on oceanic crust samples characterize the recycling of potassium from mid-ocean ridge basalts and sediments. Metasomatism could develop directly and continuously from subducted potassium-bearing crust from shallow levels to a maximum depth of 300 kilometers. Phengite (a potassium-rich mica) is the principal potassium host at subsolidus conditions. It transports potassium and water to depths of up to 300 kilometers and could yield over the entire depth range potassium-rich fluids or melts (depending on the specific geotherm), which are likely to constitute one of the primary metasomatic agents for generation of calc-alkaline magmas.