Immunity-related genes and gene families in Anopheles gambiae

We have identified 242 Anopheles gambiae genes from 18 gene families implicated in innate immunity and have detected marked diversification relative to Drosophila melanogaster. Immune-related gene families involved in recognition, signal modulation, and effector systems show a marked deficit of orthologs and excessive gene expansions, possibly reflecting selection pressures from different pathogens encountered in these insects' very different life-styles. In contrast, the multifunctional Toll signal transduction pathway is substantially conserved, presumably because of counterselection for developmental stability. Representative expression profiles confirm that sequence diversification is accompanied by specific responses to different immune challenges. Alternative RNA splicing may also contribute to expansion of the immune repertoire.     

Malaria parasite development in a Drosophila model

Malaria is a devastating public health menace, killing over one million people every year and infecting about half a billion. Here it is shown that the protozoan Plasmodium gallinaceum, a close relative of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, can develop in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Plasmodium gallinaceum ookinetes injected into the fly developed into sporozoites infectious to the vertebrate host with similar kinetics as seen in the mosquito host Aedes aegypti. In the fly, a component of the insect's innate immune system, the macrophage, can destroy Plasmodia. These experiments suggest that Drosophila can be used as a surrogate mosquito for defining the genetic pathways involved in both vector competence and part of the parasite sexual cycle.     

Evolutionary dynamics of immune-related genes and pathways in disease-vector mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are vectors of parasitic and viral diseases of immense importance for public health. The acquisition of the genome sequence of the yellow fever and Dengue vector, Aedes aegypti (Aa), has enabled a comparative phylogenomic analysis of the insect immune repertoire: in Aa, the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae (Ag), and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Dm). Analysis of immune signaling pathways and response modules reveals both conservative and rapidly evolving features associated with different functional gene categories and particular aspects of immune reactions. These dynamics reflect in part continuous readjustment between accommodation and rejection of pathogens and suggest how innate immunity may have evolved.     

Cell surface changes associated with cellular immune reactions in Drosophila

In Drosophila melanogaster a temperature-induced change in immune competence accompanies cell surface alterations that cause its blood cells to adhere and to encapsulate a parasite. At 29 degrees C the blood cells of the tumorous-lethal (Tuml) mutant show a high degree of immune competence and encapsulate the eggs of the parasitic wasp Leptopilina heterotoma. At 21 degrees C the blood cells are essentially immune incompetent. High percentages of lectin binding cells were found under conditions which potentiated cellular encapsulation responses. Some immune reactive blood cells did not bind lectin. The low percentages of lectin binding cells in susceptible hosts suggest that developing parasites alter the cell surface of the blood cells of immune reactive hosts.     

Induction of direct antimicrobial activity through mammalian toll-like receptors

The mammalian innate immune system retains from Drosophila a family of homologous Toll-like receptors (TLRs) that mediate responses to microbial ligands. Here, we show that TLR2 activation leads to killing of intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis in both mouse and human macrophages, through distinct mechanisms. In mouse macrophages, bacterial lipoprotein activation of TLR2 leads to a nitric oxide-dependent killing of intracellular tubercle bacilli, but in human monocytes and alveolar macrophages, this pathway was nitric oxide-independent. Thus, mammalian TLRs respond (as Drosophila Toll receptors do) to microbial ligands and also have the ability to activate antimicrobial effector pathways at the site of infection.     

杂交棒眼果蝇亮红眼的遗传特性及其眼睛色素含量分析

黑腹果蝇眼色性状由多个基因所调控,是研究基因间互作的有效模型。为了探究棒眼果蝇与野生型果蝇杂交产生亮红眼突变体的机制,将亮红眼突变体分别与野生型果蝇进行正、反、测交和与眼色突变体果蝇(cn,v和st)进行互补测验,同时对不同果蝇品系进行了眼色素的测定。结果表明,亮红眼果蝇是由于其scarlet(猩红眼)基因突变所致,暂命名为stbr;stbr果蝇眼黄素含量极显著低于野生型果蝇(P<0.001),而其果蝇喋呤含量比较无显著差异(P>0.05)。本研究中stbr果蝇眼睛呈现亮红色,可能是由于其scarlet基因突变,影响了眼黄素前体物的跨膜运输,造成果绳眼睛中眼黄素合成水平降低所致,此结果为stbr果蝇开展分子生物学研究奠定了基础。     

XANTHINE DEHYDROGENASE IN DROSOPHILA; DETECTION OF ISOZYMES

Two or possibly three isozymes of the enzyme, xanthine dehydrogenase, have been detected in wildtype Drosophila melanogaster. by starchgel electrophoresis. Two genes, rosy and maroon-like, may control these isozymes by producing two different polypeptides that assemble in groups of three or four.     

Substitution of the thioredoxin system for glutathione reductase in Drosophila melanogaster

The disulfide reducing enzymes glutathione reductase and thioredoxin reductase are highly conserved among bacteria, fungi, worms, and mammals. These proteins maintain intracellular redox homeostasis to protect the organism from oxidative damage. Here we demonstrate the absence of glutathione reductase in Drosophila melanogaster, identify a new type of thioredoxin reductase, and provide evidence that a thioredoxin system supports GSSG reduction. Our data suggest that antioxidant defense in Drosophila, and probably in related insects, differs fundamentally from that in other organisms.     

Y chromosome of D. pseudoobscura is not homologous to the ancestral Drosophila Y

We report a genome-wide search of Y-linked genes in Drosophila pseudoobscura. All six identifiable orthologs of the D. melanogaster Y-linked genes have autosomal inheritance in D. pseudoobscura. Four orthologs were investigated in detail and proved to be Y-linked in D. guanche and D. bifasciata, which shows that less than 18 million years ago the ancestral Drosophila Y chromosome was translocated to an autosome in the D. pseudoobscura lineage. We found 15 genes and pseudogenes in the current Y of D. pseudoobscura, and none are shared with the D. melanogaster Y. Hence, the Y chromosome in the D. pseudoobscura lineage appears to have arisen de novo and is not homologous to the D. melanogaster Y.     

The ground state of the ventral appendage in Drosophila

In Drosophila melanogaster, the antennae, legs, genitalia, and analia make up a serially homologous set of ventral appendages that depend on different selector genes for their unique identities. The diversity among these structures implies that there is a common ground state that selector genes modify to generate these different appendage morphologies. Here we show that the ventral appendage that forms in the absence of selector gene activity is leglike but consists of only two segments along its proximo-distal axis: a proximal segment and a distal tarsus. These results raise the possibility that, during evolution, leglike appendages could have developed without selector gene activity.     

Increasing the multiplicity of ribosomal RNA genes in Drosophila melanogaster

In wild-type Drosophila melanogaster females there are about 250 ribosomal RNA genes in each nucleolus organizer region of the two X chromosomes. When this same nucleolus organizer region is present in flies in only a single dose, the number of ribosomal RNA genes increases to approximately 400. This increase is most easily explained by disproportionate replication of these genes.     

2种果蝇取食后樱桃可培养微生物多样性的动态变化

[目的]确定黑腹果蝇和斑翅果蝇取食后樱桃微生物的动态变化。[方法]利用2种果蝇分别取食樱桃、共同取食樱桃和自然腐烂4种处理方式,经过2、4、6、8、10、12 d后,采用16S r DNA和ITS基因分析的方法分离鉴定樱桃中的微生物。[结果]所有处理共分离鉴定出16种细菌和12种真菌。随着时间的延长,不同处理樱桃中微生物的动态发生了变化。自然腐烂8~12 d的樱桃中微生物种类增多,优势细菌种群为荧光假单胞菌(Pseudomonas fluorescens)和葡萄球菌属(Staphylococcus sp.);黑腹果蝇取食第6天,微生物种类最多,优势细菌种群为厚壁菌门;而斑翅果蝇以及2种果蝇同时取食樱桃2 d后微生物种类就开始增加,可见斑翅果蝇的取食改变了微生物的多样性,从而加快了樱桃腐烂的速度,随后黑腹果蝇形成二次为害;另外,在2种果蝇取食后的樱桃中,白地霉(Geotrichum candidum)是樱桃中较稳定的优势真菌种群,但在自然腐烂的樱桃中并未发现。[结论]该研究可为探索微生物、樱桃、果蝇三者之间的协同进化关系提供理论依据。     

Polymorphic Y chromosomes harbor cryptic variation with manifold functional consequences

The paucity of polymorphisms in single-copy genes on the Y chromosome of Drosophila contrasts with data indicating that this chromosome has polymorphic phenotypic effects on sex ratio, temperature sensitivity, behavior, and fitness. We show that the Y chromosome of D. melanogaster harbors substantial genetic diversity in the form of polymorphisms for genetic elements that differentially affect the expression of hundreds of X-linked and autosomal genes. The affected genes are more highly expressed in males, more meagerly expressed in females, and more highly divergent between species. Functionally, they affect microtubule stability, lipid and mitochondrial metabolism, and the thermal sensitivity of spermatogenesis. Our findings provide a mechanism for adaptive phenotypic variation associated with the Y chromosome.     

激动素对果蝇生长发育过程中体重的影响

[目的]探讨激动素的抗衰老机理，为其临床应用提供理论依据。[方法]分别用含有0、20、40、60、80、100、120mg／kg激动素的培养基喂饲野生黑腹果蝇，研究不同浓度的激动素对果蝇生长发育过程中体重的影响。[结果]雌性果蝇的体重在0与20、40、60、80、100mg／kg之间有统计学差异，而在其他浓度之间，除0与120、40、100mg／kg之间没有显著差异外，均有明显差异。雄性果蝇的体重在0与100、80mg／kg之间有显著差异，在80mg／kg与20、120mg/kg之间以及100mg/kg与120mg／kg之间也有显著差异，在其他浓度之间则没有明显差异。[结论]以80mg／kg为界，低于这个浓度的激动素会促进果蝇体重的增长，高于这个浓度的激动素会抑制果蝇体重的增长：     

Ectopic expression of germline genes drives malignant brain tumor growth in Drosophila

Model organisms such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster can help to elucidate the molecular basis of complex diseases such as cancer. Mutations in the Drosophila gene lethal (3) malignant brain tumor cause malignant growth in the larval brain. Here we show that l(3)mbt tumors exhibited a soma-to-germline transformation through the ectopic expression of genes normally required for germline stemness, fitness, or longevity. Orthologs of some of these genes were also expressed in human somatic tumors. In addition, inactivation of any of the germline genes nanos, vasa, piwi, or aubergine suppressed l(3)mbt malignant growth. Our results demonstrate that germline traits are necessary for tumor growth in this Drosophila model and suggest that inactivation of germline genes might have tumor-suppressing effects in other species.     

Identification of Toll-like Receptor (TLR) 4 Gene in Wild Boar

Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 plays an important role in the innate immune system and has been involved in resistance/ susceptibility to a number of diseases as revealed by studies in human and other domestic animals.Wild boar survives in natural environment without artificial interference and may be different from domestic pig in innate immune system.Here,the complete coding sequence of TLR4 and TLR4A was cloned in wild boar,and two other alternative splicing variants,TLR4B and TLR4C,were obtained.Compared to the counterpart from domestic pig (GenBank No.AJ628065),there were five SNPs,c.510T＞C,c.960A＞G,c.962A＞G,c.1605T＞G and c.1824A＞G,in the coding sequence of wild boar TLR4A gene.TLR4 gene was expressed in all the tissues from wild boar studied with the most abundance in spleen tissue,and mRNA level was significantly lower in spleen from wild boar than that from Min pig.The allele distribution was significantly different at polymorphic loci c.962G＞A and c.1027C＞A (p＜0.01) between wild boar and Min pig.The results would contribute to understand the innate immune system in wild boar.     

接头分子在TLRs信号传导中的作用研究进展

接头分子在Toll样受体(Toll like receptors,TLRs)识别病原相关分子模式或损伤相关分子模式、发动和调节先天与后天免疫反应的信号传导网络中发挥着重要的生物学作用,与Toll样受体相结合后,其下游激酶和转录因子传导信号,激活细胞内核转录因子调控作用元件。TLRs接头分子的共同特征是含有TIR结构域,不同TLRs家族成员可依赖于一个或多个接头分子传导信号。对目前已确认的MyD88、MAL/TIRAP、TRIF、TRAM和SARM 5种接头分子在TLRs信号传导途径中的调控作用进行综述,以期为研究接头分子在TLRs信号传导中的作用机制提供参考。     

Drosophila males contribute to oogenesis in a multiple mating species

Two species of Drosophila that differ in their ecology and mating systems have been compared with respect to male contribution to the somatic tissues and developing oocytes of females. In the species Drosophila mojavensis females remate daily, exhibit a copulatory plug, and have been shown to obtain a contribution from the male ejaculate. In contrast, Drosophila melanogaster males do not contribute to females. Female Drosophila melanogaster do not remate as frequently as Drosophila mojavensis females nor is a copulatory plug formed.