北京黑猪对注射猪生长激素(PST)的效应

已知用生长激素(PST)处理美国的肥育猪可提高饲料报酬、生长速度和胴体的瘦肉率。由于中国猪比美国猪更肥一些,饲料报酬较低和生长较慢,因而设想用生长激素处理中国猪可能更有效。本试验在肥育期28天内用 PST 处理北京黑猪(由中国地方猪,约克夏和巴克夏杂交育成),在每天饲喂4次的个体饲养组(n=12,6头公猪和6头母猪)中,每天注射2毫克和4毫克 PST 的猪,其饲养报酬分别提高22.3%和30.6%(P<0.01),主要是提高了生长速度(分别比对照组快24.4%和30.2%)(P<0.01),而对饲料摄入量没有影响。每天注射 PST 2毫克(28天),群饲猪(6头/圈,4圈/处理组)得到了类似的结果:饲料报酬提高22.7%(P<0.01);生长速度提高25%(P<0.01)。屠宰分析的结果表明,每天注射2和4毫克 PST 的猪,最后肋膘厚率平均降低19.2%(P<0.01)。剥离分析半片胴体的结果表明,PST 处理猪的疫肉总量和瘦肉率分别提高21.4%和13%(P<0.01),而总脂肪量和脂肪率则分别降低16.7%(P<0.05)和22%(P<0.01)。胴体的化学分析获得类似结果。PST 处理猪的背最长肌的 ...     

Ethylene modulates stem cell division in the Arabidopsis thaliana root

The construction of multicellular organisms depends on stem cells-cells that can both regenerate and produce daughter cells that undergo differentiation. Here, we show that the gaseous messenger ethylene modulates cell division in the cells of the quiescent center, which act as a source of stem cells in the seedling root. The cells formed through these ethylene-induced divisions express quiescent center-specific genes and can repress differentiation of surrounding initial cells, showing that quiescence is not required for these cells to signal to adjacent stem cells. We propose that ethylene is part of a signaling pathway that modulates cell division in the quiescent center in the stem cell niche during the postembryonic development of the root system.     

Ferroelectricity in ultrathin perovskite films

Understanding the suppression of ferroelectricity in perovskite thin films is a fundamental issue that has remained unresolved for decades. We report a synchrotron x-ray study of lead titanate as a function of temperature and film thickness for films as thin as a single unit cell. At room temperature, the ferroelectric phase is stable for thicknesses down to 3 unit cells (1.2 nanometers). Our results imply that no thickness limit is imposed on practical devices by an intrinsic ferroelectric size effect.     

Mass spectrometry of intact V-type ATPases reveals bound lipids and the effects of nucleotide binding

The ability of electrospray to propel large viruses into a mass spectrometer is established and is rationalized by analogy to the atmospheric transmission of the common cold. Much less clear is the fate of membrane-embedded molecular machines in the gas phase. Here we show that rotary adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases)/synthases from Thermus thermophilus and Enterococcus hirae can be maintained intact with membrane and soluble subunit interactions preserved in vacuum. Mass spectra reveal subunit stoichiometries and the identity of tightly bound lipids within the membrane rotors. Moreover, subcomplexes formed in solution and gas phases reveal the regulatory effects of nucleotide binding on both ATP hydrolysis and proton translocation. Consequently, we can link specific lipid and nucleotide binding with distinct regulatory roles.