生长素内流载体基因CkLAX3参与柠条锦鸡儿干旱胁迫响应的分析

植物干旱胁迫进程往往伴随着生长抑制类激素如脱落酸、乙烯的参与,而近年研究表明,生长素也可以响应干旱胁迫。本研究通过染色体步移、生信分析和亚细胞定位等方法,对CkLAX3基因在干旱响应中的作用进行了分析鉴定。研究经PCR扩增获得一个全长为1 398 bp的柠条生长素内流载体基因CkLAX3。生信分析发现,该序列编码465个氨基酸,分子量为52.47 kDa,其编码的蛋白为稳定的疏水性蛋白,二级结构主要由α螺旋组成,具有10重跨膜结构。亚细胞定位结果表明CkLAX3定位于细胞质膜。进化树分析结果表明,CkLAX3与红三叶、鹰嘴豆等植物LAX3基因亲缘关系较近。联合染色体步移和高效热不对称交错PCR (HiTail-PCR)方法克隆得到CkLAX3基因的未知启动子区序列总计1 352 bp。对启动子序列上的顺式作用元件进行分析发现,CkLAX3基因启动子区存在大量干旱响应元件、光响应元件、激素响应元件等。进一步对干旱处理的柠条锦鸡儿进行定量分析发现,CkLAX3的表达量受干旱胁迫诱导,推测该基因在干旱胁迫下发挥重要作用。本研究为进一步探索生长素在调节干旱胁迫应答过程中的作用机制提供了基础。     

Biosurfactant-assisted phytoremediation of potentially toxic elements in soil: Green technology for meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Biosurfactants are biomolecules produced by microorganisms, low in toxicity, biodegradable, and relatively easy to synthesize using renewable waste substrates. Biosurfactants are of great importance with a wide and versatile range of applications, including the bioremediation of contaminated sites. Plants may accumulate soil potentially toxic elements(PTEs), and the accumulation efficacy may be further enhanced by the biosurfactants produced by rhizospheric microorganisms. Occasionally, the growth of bacteria slows down in adverse conditions, such as highly contaminated soils with PTEs. In this context,the plant's phytoextraction capacity could be improved by the addition of metal-tolerant bacteria that produce biosurfactants. Several sources, categories,and bioavailability of PTEs in soil are reported in this article, with the focus on the cost-effective and sustainable soil remediation technologies, where biosurfactants are used as a remediation method. How rhizobacterial biosurfactants can improve PTE recovery capabilities of plants is discussed, and the molecular mechanisms in bacterial genomes that support the production of important biosurfactants are listed. The status and cost of commercial biosurfactant production in the international market are also presented.     

基因组印记的研究进展

综述基因组印记的可能发生机制及人和鼠中常见的印记基因，论述了且印记作用的生物学意义。     

Role of calreticulin-induced mitochondrial damage in high glucose-induced apoptosis of myocardial cells

AIM: To observe the effect of high glucose on the protein expression of calreticulin (CRT) and its association with cell apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction in the cardiomyocytes. METHODS: AC-16 cardiomyocytes were randomly divided into normal glucose group, high glucose group, high glucose+ CRT siRNA group and isotonic control group. The cell apoptotic rate, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential level, respiratory enzyme activity, and protein expression of CRT were observed. RESULTS: Compared with the cardiomyocytes in normal glucose group, the apoptotic rate and ROS production of cardiomyocytes increased in high glucose group, accompanying with the decreases in the mitochondrial membrane potential level and enzyme activitiy of the respiratory chain. The protein expression of CRT was significantly increased in high glucose group. However, compared with high glucose group, high glucose+ CRT siRNA decreased the expression of CRT and attenuated the damage of mitochondria, but CRT siRNA did not reduce the ROS level in cardiomyocytes. CONCLUSION: High glucose brings about CRT over-expression to induce mitochondrial injury, thus increasing myocardial apoptosis.     

Down-regulated BARF1 expression induces EBV-positive gastric carcinoma cell apoptosis via activating caspase-dependent mitochondrial pathway

AIM: To investigate the effects of BARF1 down-regulation on EBV-positive gastric carcinoma cell apoptosis, and the molecular mechanisms by BARF1 silencing-mediated apoptosis. METHODS: After NUGC3 and SNU719 cells were transfected with NCsiRNA and siRNA, respectively, the protein levels of BARF1, Bcl-2, Bax, cytochrome C, caspase 3 and capase 9 were detected by Western blot, and the mRNA expression of BARF1, Bcl-2 and Bax was determined by RT-PCR. The cell viability was measured by the method of Trypan blue exclusion and the cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry analysis with Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. The expression of the apoptosis-related proteins in the cells transfected with siRNA and NCsiRNA was examined by human apoptosis antibody arrays. Mitochondrial membrane potential was determined by flow cytometry. The interaction between Apaf-1 and caspase 9 was confirmed by immunoprecipitation. RESULTS: Compared with untreated and NCsiRNA groups, BARF1 gene silencing significantly inhibited the cell viability, induced apoptosis, and reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential in the NUGC3 and SNU719 cells transfected with siRNA. BARF1 gene silencing up-regulated the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins and down-regulated the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins, and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was significantly decreased. In BARF1 gene silencing cells, the caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk inhibited BARF1 silencing-mediated apoptosis, and significantly increased the levels of cleaved caspase 3 and caspase 9. The concentration of cytochrome C significantly increased as compared with NCsiRNA group, and Apaf-1 interacted with caspase 9 in the cytoplasm. CONCLUSION: BARF1 silencing induces apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway through regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in a caspase-dependent manner in the NUGC3 and SNU719 cells.     

No DNA loss in autotetraploids of Arabidopsis thaliana

To address the issue of genome evolution in autopolyploids and particularly to investigate whether rapid sequence elimination also occurs in autopolyploids as in allopolyploids, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting was employed to examine a large number of genomic loci in F₁ hybrids between two different autotetraploids of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions, namely Ler and Col. Using this approach, perfect additivity in the F₁ hybrids was found between the newly‐formed autopolyploids when compared with their parental lines. Using flow cytometry, the study was extended in a quantitative manner, in which the nuclear DNA contents in one autotetraploid A. thaliana accession Ler, was determined. The increase in genome size of the autotetraploid line was additive. Taken together, no evidence was found for genome size reduction due to autopolyploidization of A. thaliana. The results indicating that there was no DNA loss in autotetraploid A. thaliana suggest that a different type of genome evolution may occur in autopolyploids during the initial stages of their formation when compared with allopolyploids.     

Genome Size Variation in Maize Populations Selected for Cold Tolerance

Previous studies have indicated a relationship between genome size and cold tolerance in plants. Many species adapted to growth in cool environments have large genome sizes. These studies are based on interspecific DNA content variation. In this study, the nuclear DNA content of eight maize populations was determined. These populations were obtained from the University of Nebraska and represent populations selected for cold tolerance and their respective unselected original populations. Intraspecific DNA content variation was observed between the selected and unselected populations. Upon assessing the data based solely on cold tolerance, no clear relationship between genome size and cold tolerance was apparent. When both freeze tolerance and cold tolerance were considered, populations which were cold tolerant and exhibited a certain degree of freeze tolerance were observed to have significantly larger genomes relative to the unselected populations. Thus, it appears that the relationship between intraspecific genome size variation and cold tolerance is similar to the relationship between interspecific genome size variation and growth at cooler temperatures in plants.     

Production of Haploid Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) by Culturing Unpollinated Ovules

The culture of unpollinated ovules is shown to be a suitable system for the production of haploid sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). The yield of haploids depended upon the genotype and varied between 0 and 13 % with a mean of 1.0 %. Haploid plants could be produced from approximately 50 % of all genotypes examined. The majority of the haploids isolated (about 90%) maintained the haploid genome level during the in vitro culture and propagation; 10% of the haploid clones showed a spontaneous doubling to the diploid genome level.