Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) integrins αvβ3 and αvβ6 as FMDV receptors: Molecular cloning, sequence analysis and comparison with other species

Integrins are heterodimeric adhesion receptors that participate in a variety of cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix protein interactions. Many integrins recognize RGD sequences displayed on extracellular matrix proteins and the exposed loops of viral capsid proteins. Four members of the αv integrin family of cellular receptors, αvβ3, αvβ6, αvβ1 and αvβ8, have been identified as receptors for foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in vitro, and integrins are believed to be the receptors used to target epithelial cells in the infected animals. To analyse the roles of the αv integrins from a susceptible species as viral receptors, we have cloned Bactrian camel αv, β3 and β6 integrin cDNAs and compared them to those of other species. The coding sequences for Bactrian camel integrin αv, β3 and β6 were found to be 3165, 2289 and 2367 nucleotides in length, encoding 1054, 762 and 788 amino acids, respectively. The Bactrian camel αv, β3 and β6 subunits share many structural features with homologues of other species, including the ligand binding domain and cysteine-rich region. Phylogenetic trees and similarity analyses showed the close relationships of integrin genes from Bactrian camels, pigs and cattle, which are each susceptible to FMDV infection, that were distinct from the orders Rodentia, Primates, Perissodactyla, Carnivora, Galliformes and Xenopus. We postulate that host tropism of FMDV may in part be related to the divergence in integrin subunits among different species.     

辽西北暖性灌草丛类草原牧鸡治蝗效果试验

在辽西北暖性灌草丛类天然草原开展了牧鸡治蝗试验,通过对草原蝗虫防治效果、日捕食量、牧鸡日增重、牧草生产力水平及经济效益等指标进行测定分析,初步探索辽西北草原区牧鸡治蝗综合防治效果.     

苹果采摘机器人果实识别与定位方法

提出了利用归一化的红绿色差(R-G)/(R+G)分割苹果的方法.对不同光照情况下拍摄的苹果图像进行了识别,并对识别后的图像进行预处理后,获得苹果的轮廓图像.对轮廓图像采用随机圆环法进行果实圆心、半径提取.通过建立基于面积特征与极线几何相结合的匹配策略实现双目视觉下的果实定位,对于搜索区域内面积相似的果实,通过计算垂直投影的互相关函数最大值的方法,得到排序基准线,然后根据顺序一致性原则进行匹配.实验结果表明:识别算法可以较好地消除阴影、裸露土壤等影响,识别率达到92%.采用随机圆环法,可以准确地提取果实的圆心、半径.在60～150 cm的距离范围内,测量误差小于2 cm.     

Using leaf tip necrosis as a phenotypic marker to predict the presence of durable rust resistance gene pair <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lr34</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">Yr18</Emphasis> in wheat

Fifty wheat varieties along with Jupateco-73 and Morocco were studied for the expression of leaf tip necrosis (LTN), a trait linked with the durable rust resistance gene pair Lr34/Yr18. LTN was frequent (i.e., ≥6) in nine replications of a field experiment over 3 years in 17 genotypes, and the varieties were considered positive for LTN. In molecular analyses of these varieties, having relative severity values up to 78 for yellow rust and 45 for leaf rust, the 150-bp Lr34/Yr18-linked allele was consistently amplified. Expression of LTN in six of nine replications is an appropriate threshold for predicting the presence of Lr34/Yr18 gene pair, and genotypes can be selected using this trait.     

Rice <Emphasis Type="Italic">terpene synthase 18</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">OsTPS18</Emphasis>) encodes a sesquiterpene synthase that produces an antibacterial (<Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>)-nerolidol against a bacterial pathogen of rice

Plant volatile compounds, including terpenes, are known to be involved in the rice defense system. In the present analysis of a terpene synthase, OsTPS18, in rice, we found that OsTPS18 was localized in the cytoplasm and synthesized the sesquiterpenes (E)-nerolidol and (E)-β-farnesene. The amounts of (E)-nerolidol and (E)-β-farnesene increased after jasmonic acid (JA) treatment. (E)-Nerolidol had significant antibacterial activity against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). These results suggest that (E)-nerolidol plays an important role in JA-induced resistance against Xoo and that it functions as an antibacterial compound in rice.     

Identification of favorable alleles in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">non</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">yellow coloring 1</Emphasis> gene by association mapping in maize

Association mapping was conducted to explore favorable alleles of the chlorophyll-related non-yellow coloring 1 (NYC1) gene under light and dark using an association panel of 146 maize inbred lines. A total of 14 polymorphic sites were identified to be significantly associated with at least one of the chlorophyll-related traits at the seedling stage. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (S320, S2951, S3901, and S3355) from the NYC1 gene were respectively strongly associated with chlorophyll b (chlb), the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b (chl_ratio), chlorophyll a degradation (chla_deg), and total chlorophyll degradation (total_chl_deg). SNPs S320 (C/A) in exon 1, and S2951 (A/G) in intron 8 was related to chlb, with 6.01 and 8.89% of phenotypic variation under light treatment, respectively. Under dark treatment, SNP S3901 (C/T), located in 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR), was associated with chl_ratio, explaining 7.01% of the observed phenotypic variation, whereas SNP S3355 (C/G) in intron 9 explained 6.48 and 5.18% of phenotypic variations in chla_deg and total_chl_deg, respectively. Taken together, these results indicated that the NYC1 gene plays an important role in chlorophyll content and other related traits, and different sites act on chlorophyll metabolism under different light intensities in maize seedlings. Furthermore, these findings improve our understanding of the genetic basis of chlorophyll metabolism under different light conditions.     

Inactivation of TNF signaling by rationally designed dominant-negative TNF variants

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a key regulator of inflammatory responses and has been implicated in many pathological conditions. We used structure-based design to engineer variant TNF proteins that rapidly form heterotrimers with native TNF to give complexes that neither bind to nor stimulate signaling through TNF receptors. Thus, TNF is inactivated by sequestration. Dominant-negative TNFs represent a possible approach to anti-inflammatory biotherapeutics, and experiments in animal models show that the strategy can attenuate TNF-mediated pathology. Similar rational design could be used to engineer inhibitors of additional TNF superfamily cytokines as well as other multimeric ligands.     

水稻白叶枯病抗性研究进展

白叶枯病是世界水稻重要病害之一,且已成为研究植物和病原菌互作的模式,对该病的研究对其它病害有借鉴意义。目前已鉴定出29个抗白叶枯病基因,其中17个基因被定位到染色体上,4个基因已被克隆,在这些工作的基础上,已通过分子标记辅助选择和转基因方法育成了一些抗病新品系,展示了水稻抗白叶枯病分子育种的广阔前景。     

花粉管通道法转化大豆的分子表征

采用花粉管通道技术将含有gus基因的pBI121质粒DNA导入辽豆14，从处理的100朵花中获得53粒种子。经PCR检测53粒种子的幼苗，共检测出6株阳性植株。采用RT—PCR和GUS组织化学染色法对所获得阳性植株进行检测，其中2株幼苗(T0代17号和33号)均出现阳性结果，进一步对这2株阳性植株进行Southern blot检测，同样获得了阳性结果。上述检测结果表明，gus基因已整合到染色体上并得到了表达。对转基因植株后代进行了PCR跟踪检测，结果从17号株系的28株中检测出19株阳性植株，33号株系的35株幼苗中检测出17株阳性植株，表明gus基因可以在转基因植株后代遗传。本研究结果为大豆花粉管通道转化技术提供了比较充分的分子生物学证据。