Chlamydia infections and heart disease linked through antigenic mimicry

Chlamydia infections are epidemiologically linked to human heart disease. A peptide from the murine heart muscle-specific alpha myosin heavy chain that has sequence homology to the 60-kilodalton cysteine-rich outer membrane proteins of Chlamydia pneumoniae, C. psittaci, and C. trachomatis was shown to induce autoimmune inflammatory heart disease in mice. Injection of the homologous Chlamydia peptides into mice also induced perivascular inflammation, fibrotic changes, and blood vessel occlusion in the heart, as well as triggering T and B cell reactivity to the homologous endogenous heart muscle-specific peptide. Chlamydia DNA functioned as an adjuvant in the triggering of peptide-induced inflammatory heart disease. Infection with C. trachomatis led to the production of autoantibodies to heart muscle-specific epitopes. Thus, Chlamydia-mediated heart disease is induced by antigenic mimicry of a heart muscle-specific protein.     

东北虎γ-干扰素基因的克隆、生物信息学分析及其在毕赤酵母中的表达

本试验旨在通过克隆东北虎γ-干扰素（IFN-γ）基因,研究其分子特征并预测蛋白生物学功能,为后续研究干扰素抗病毒活性做前期准备。通过RT-PCR从ConA诱导过的东北虎血淋巴细胞中扩增东北虎IFN-γ基因并测序,应用生物信息学方法进行序列分析。结果表明：东北虎IFN-γ编码区由504个核苷酸组成,共编码167个氨基酸,蛋白相对分子质量为19.59 ku,等电点为9.03,所编码的蛋白为碱性亲水性蛋白,其中前23个氨基酸可能为信号肽,IFN-γ编码蛋白保守结构域为IFN-γ超家族,且存在跨膜结构,其中1－6位氨基酸为胞内区域,7－28位氨基酸为跨膜区域,29－167位氨基酸为胞外区域;IFN-γ编码蛋白二级结构主要以α-螺旋（58.08%）和无规则卷曲（33.53%）为主,存在5个潜在的B细胞抗原表位,3个潜在的N-糖基化位点;分子进化分析显示,东北虎IFN-γ与GenBank上发表的东北虎、非洲狮、金钱豹、美洲狮、猎豹、家猫、加拿大猞猁、野猪等的核苷酸相似性为80.4%~99.8%,氨基酸相似性为70.5%~100%,东北虎IFN-γ与非洲狮、金钱豹亲缘关系最近,美洲狮、猎豹、家猫、猞猁次之,野猪最远。通过合成改造后的东北虎IFN-γ基因,构建能表达IFN-γ蛋白的重组质粒pPIC9K-IFN-γ,将其导入高效表达系统-毕赤酵母中进行诱导表达,经SDS-PAGE分析,表达蛋白的分子量约17.8 ku,与预期大小相符,表明东北虎IFN-γ成功表达。     

Analysis of pharmaceutical dosage forms for oxfendazole: I. Reverse phase liquid chromatographic determination of oxfendazole in swine premix

A reverse phase liquid chromatographic (LC) procedure is described for quantitating oxfendazole (2-(methoxycarbonylamino)-5-phenylsulfinylbenzimidazole] in swine premix. Sample preparation consists of extracting oxfendazole with an acetone-methanol mixture. An aliquot of the extract is then centrifuged to separate undissolved premix excipients. Internal standard is added to the supernate and the sample is further diluted with water-acetonitrile-phosphoric acid (80 + 20 + 1). Oxfendazole is quantitatively determined using a Partisil-5-ODS-3 column with acetonitrile-0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.0) as the mobile phase. The method is stability specific and yields a mean recovery of 101.1 +/- 0.4% for the 1.35% premix formulation. The dependence of chromatographic performance characteristics on mobile phase organic content, pH, and buffer concentration is also reported.     

AFLP analysis of genetic diversity in leafy kale (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica oleracea</Emphasis> L. convar. <Emphasis Type="Italic">acephala</Emphasis> (DC.) Alef.) landraces,cultivars and wild populations in Europe

AFLP markers were used to characterize diversity and asses the genetic structure among 17 accessions of kale landraces, cultivars and wild populations from Europe. The range of average gene diversity in accessions was 0.11–0.27. Several landraces showed higher levels of diversity than the wild populations and one cultivar had the lowest diversity measures. The landraces that were most genetically diverse were from areas where kales are known to be extensively grown, suggesting in situ conservation in these areas as a supplement to storage of seeds in gene banks. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 62% of the total variation was found within accessions. For most accessions, genetic distance was not related to geographic distance. Similarities among accessions were probably not caused by recent gene flow since they were widely separated geographically; more likely the relationship among them is due to seed dispersal through human interactions. Our results indicate that a kale population found in a natural habitat in Denmark was probably not truly wild but most likely an escape from a cultivated Danish kale that had subsequently become naturalized.     

香蕉采后生理研究

香蕉(Musa acuminata Vwarf Cavendish AAA组)采收后在20～30℃室温下后熟,一般经两周后出现呼吸跃交,呼吸速率从刚采收的20～30mgCO_2·kg~(-1)·h~(-1)(27℃测定)急剧上升至120～150mgCO_2·kg~(-1)·h~(-1),以后下降。末成熟(熟度70～30％)的香蕉含淀粉较高,约10～14％,可溶性糖在1％以下;随着成熟度的增加,淀粉逐渐水解,至完熟时,下降至1％以下,可溶性糖则增至15～18％。淀粉转化与呼吸跃变的高峰期基本同时出现。呼吸高峰过后,含糖量下降。果皮叶绿素含量随果实成熟而下降,从10mg·100g~(-1)下降至3～7mg·100g~(-1)。完熟后期果皮渐变为黄褐色。果肉含水量随果实成熟从76.27％增至81.14％;果肉与果皮的比率则从1.14增至1.81。经保鲜剂处理的香蕉果实,其呼吸跃变的出现以及淀粉的分解和可溶性糖的积累均延迟约7天,呼吸高峰值亦略降低,但对淀粉和糖的最终含量无显著影响。生产上可根据香蕉采后生理特性,使用综合保鲜技术,延缓生理进程,防止病害侵染,以延长果实的寿命。     

远程培训助推新农村建设的成效及问题分析---- 基于闽南农村实用技术远程培训状况的调研

农民是将农业科学技术转化为生产力的最终应用者,农村实用技术远程培训可以提高农民应用农业科学技术的效率。对闽南农村实用技术远程培训的现状及成效进行调研后,笔者叙述了农村实用技术远程培训对促进特色农业产业、无公害蔬菜产业、沼气技术产业发展,对促进新农村建设、农村劳动力转移、农民增收致富产生的显著作用,并分析了远程培训存在的亟待解决的问题,提出了采用多渠道弥补远程培训的不足之处,开展区域特色农业远程培训,分层次进行远程培训以满足不同文化水平农民的技术需求、开阔农民的视野、转变农民的观念的对策与建议。     

Soil N transformations after application of 15N‐labeled biomass in incubation experiments with repeated soil drying and rewetting

The effects of repeated soil drying and rewetting on microbial biomass N (N_bio) and mineral N (N_min) were measured in incubation experiments simulating typical moisture and temperature conditions for soils from temperate climates in the post‐harvest period. After application of in vitro ¹⁵N‐labeled fungal biomass to a silty loam, one set of soils was exposed to two drying‐rewetting cycles (treatment DR; 14 days to decrease soil moisture to 20 % water‐holding capacity (WHC) and subsequently 7 days at 60 % WHC). A control set (treatment CM) was kept at constant moisture conditions (60 % WHC) throughout the incubation. N_bio and N_min as well as the ¹⁵N enrichment of these N pools were measured immediately after addition of ¹⁵N‐labeled biomass (day 0) and after each change in soil moisture (day 14, 21, 35, 42). Drying and rewetting (DR) resulted in higher N_min levels compared to CM towards the end of the incubation. Considerable amounts of N_bio were susceptible to mineralization as a result of soil drying (i.e., drying enhanced the turnover of N_bio), and significantly lower N_bio values were found for DR at the end of each drying period. Immediately after biomass incorporation into the soil (day 0), 22 % of the applied ¹⁵N was found in the N_min pool. Some of this ¹⁵N_min must have been derived from dead cells of the applied microbial biomass as only about 80 % of the microbes in the biomass suspension were viable, and only 52 % of the ¹⁵N_bio was extractable (using the fumigation‐extraction method). The increase in ¹⁵N_min was higher than for unlabeled N_min, indicating that added labeled biomass was mineralized with a higher rate than native biomass during the first drying period. Overall, the effect of drying and rewetting on soil N turnover was more pronounced for treatment DR compared to CM during the second drying‐rewetting cycle, resulting in a higher flush of mineralization and lower microbial biomass N levels.     

Glycerol inclusion in the diet of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) juveniles

The present study evaluated the effects of inclusion of glycerol in the diet of Nile tilapia juveniles on growth performance, biochemical changes in blood, and carcass composition. We used 300 Nile tilapia juveniles with an average initial weight of 29.15 ± 8.40 g and 11.55 ± 0.87 cm in length, distributed in 20 fiberglass tanks with a capacity of 250 L. The experiments followed a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications during 79 days. The animals were fed diets containing four concentrations of glycerol (25 g kg^?1, 50 g kg^?1, 75 g kg^?1 and 100 g kg^?1) and a control diet without glycerol. HDL was the only biochemical parameter, that showed statistically different (P < 0.05) results; it was higher in the groups fed with 0 and 75 g kg^?1 glycerol compared to the other groups. No significant difference was observed in the results from the carcass composition of tilapia juvenile fed with the different glycerol levels, except for lipids (P < 0.05), which showed the highest values in fish fed with 50 g kg^?1 glycerol and the lowest in fish fed with 100 g kg^?1. Glycerol can be used in fish diets as an energy supplement without causing damage to growth performance or to the biochemical and carcass composition of Nile Tilapia juveniles.