炎症标志物抵抗素研究进展

抵抗素是一种与肥胖以及肥胖相关疾病密切相关的脂肪细胞因子.近年研究表明,该因子参与炎症的发生过程.文章从抵抗素与炎症因子和C反应蛋白的相关性,与内皮细胞的相互作用以及炎症相关的临床和试验研究几个方面阐述了抵抗素与炎症的关系.     

以谷蛋白GluA-2信号肽增强外源蛋白在转基因水稻胚乳中的表达与积累

提高外源蛋白在特定目标组织器官中的表达量是转基因植物研究与开发的核心技术之一。谷蛋白是水稻种子中最主要的贮藏蛋白,其表达具有严格的时空特异性。为进一步研究谷蛋白信号肽序列在指导基因表达中的作用,本研究克隆了水稻谷蛋白Glu A-2基因的启动子及其信号肽编码序列,并与GUS报告基因编码区融合,构建了分别含有和不含有信号肽的表达载体p13GG和p13GSG;经农杆菌介导法分别转入同一水稻品种中,获得了20多个独立转化子,PCR证明外源基因都已整合进了水稻基因组中。Northern杂交结果表明,融合Glu A-2信号肽编码序列可显著提高GUS基因在水稻胚乳中的转录;利用GUS特异的抗体进行Western杂交分析,显示该信号肽序列可显著提高外源蛋白在转基因水稻胚乳中的积累,但是其所指导表达的GUS蛋白在水稻胚乳中并没有表现出相应的活性,其机制有待进一步深入解析。相关结果对于水稻品质改良基因工程研究以及以水稻种子作为生物反应器高效表达外源蛋白具有重要的指导作用。     

菜心对邻苯二甲酸酯(PAEs)吸收途径的初步研究

采用玻璃室处理和污染土壤覆盖原土壤来控制PAEs来源进行盆栽试验，应用GC/MS联机检测技术初步研究了菜心对PAEs的吸收途径。结果表明：污染土壤处理与污染土壤上覆盖原土壤处理相比，前者菜心茎叶中DBP和DEHP的含量均高于后者，但相差不大，表明菜心茎叶可以吸收污染土壤中挥发出来的DBP和DEHP，而根系吸收运移是菜心茎叶中DBP和DEHP的主要来源途径。玻璃室处理增加了菜心茎叶和根系中DBP的含量，而对DEHP的影响趋势不明显。DBP与DEHP相比，前者更易被菜心根系吸收并向地上部(茎叶)运移，后者主要滞留在根部。     

Relationship between molecular characteristics of soil humic fractions and glycolytic pathway and krebs cycle in maize seedlings

A humic acid (HA) isolated from a volcanic soil was separated in three fractions of decreasing molecular size (I, II and III) by preparative high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). The molecular content of the bulk soil HA and its size fractions was characterized by pyrolysis-GC-MS (thermochemolysis with tetramethylammonium hydroxide) and NMR spectroscopy. All soil humic materials were used to evaluate their effects on the enzymatic activities involved in glycolytic and respiratory processes of Zea mays (L.) seedlings. The elementary analyses and NMR spectra of the humic fractions indicated that the content of polar carbons (mainly carbohydrates) increased with decreasing molecular size of separated fractions. The products evolved by on-line thermochemolysis showed that the smallest size fraction (Fraction III) with the least rigid molecular conformation among the humic samples had the lowest content of lignin moieties and the largest amount of other non-lignin aromatic compounds. The bulk HA and the three humic fractions affected the enzyme activities related to glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) in different ways depending on molecular size, molecular characteristics and concentrations. The overall effectiveness of the four fractions in promoting the metabolic pathways was in the order: III>HA>II>I. The largest effect of Fraction III, either alone or incorporated into the bulk HA, was attributed to a flexible conformational structure that promoted a more efficient diffusion of bioactive humic components to maize cells. A better knowledge of the relationship between molecular structure of soil humic matter and plant activity may be of practical interest in increasing carbon fixation in plants and redirect atmospheric CO₂ into bio-fuel resources.     

花粉管介导的转抗冻蛋白基因(AFP)水稻

低温和冷害在世界范围内广泛发生,对水稻的产量和品质造成严重影响。创造和培育具有强耐低温特性的水稻品种,对提高水稻产量具有重要的意义。本研究将从胡萝卜中克隆的抗冻蛋白基因(AFP)构建到植物表达载体pB I121(pB I121∶AFP)后,利用花粉管通道法将其转入籼稻品种NR158,获得了转基因后代。对T3代和T4代转基因植株的苗期耐冷性鉴定和PCR鉴定结果表明,部分转基因植株后代已经整合并且AFP基因得到了表达,获得了不同程度的耐低温性。     

A 13CO2 Enrichment Experiment to Study the Synthesis Pathways of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids of the Haptophyte Tisochrysis lutea

The production of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in Tisochrysis lutea was studied using the gradual incorporation of a ¹³C-enriched isotopic marker, ¹³CO₂, for 24 h during the exponential growth of the algae. The ¹³C enrichment of eleven fatty acids was followed to understand the synthetic pathways the most likely to form the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids 20:5n-3 (EPA) and 22:6n-3 (DHA) in T. lutea. The fatty acids 16:0, 18:1n-9 + 18:3n-3, 18:2n-6, and 22:5n-6 were the most enriched in ¹³C. On the contrary, 18:4n-3 and 18:5n-3 were the least enriched in ¹³C after long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as 20:5n-3 or 22:5n-3. The algae appeared to use different routes in parallel to form its polyunsaturated fatty acids. The use of the PKS pathway was hypothesized for polyunsaturated fatty acids with n-6 configuration (such as 22:5n-6) but might also exist for n-3 PUFA (especially 20:5n-3). With regard to the conventional n-3 PUFA pathway, Δ6 desaturation of 18:3n-3 appeared to be the most limiting step for T. lutea, “stopping” at the synthesis of 18:4n-3 and 18:5n-3. These two fatty acids were hypothesized to not undergo any further reaction of elongation and desaturation after being formed and were therefore considered “end-products”. To circumvent this limiting synthetic route, Tisochrysis lutea seemed to have developed an alternative route via Δ8 desaturation to produce longer chain fatty acids such as 20:5n-3 and 22:5n-3. 22:6n-3 presented a lower enrichment and appeared to be produced by a combination of different pathways: the conventional n-3 PUFA pathway by desaturation of 22:5n-3, the alternative route of ω-3 desaturase using 22:5n-6 as precursor, and possibly the PKS pathway. In this study, PKS synthesis looked particularly effective for producing long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. The rate of enrichment of these compounds hypothetically synthesized by PKS is remarkably fast, making undetectable the ¹³C incorporation into their precursors. Finally, we identified a protein cluster gathering PKS sequences of proteins that are hypothesized allowing n-3 PUFA synthesis.     

Characterization of Bioactivities and Biosynthesis of Angucycline/Angucyclinone Derivatives Derived from Gephyromycinifex aptenodytis gen. nov., sp. nov.

Strain NJES-13^T is the type strain and currently the only species of the newly established actinobacteria genera Aptenodytes in the family Dermatophilaceae isolated from the gut microbiota of the Antarctic emperor penguin. This strain demonstrated excellent bioflocculation activity with bacteria-derived exopolysaccharides (EPSs). Moreover, it produced bioactive angucycline/angucyclinone derivatives (ADs) and contained one type III polyketide synthase (T3PKS), thus demonstrating great potential to produce novel bioactive compounds. However, the low productivity of the potential new AD metabolite was the main obstacle for its chemical structure elucidation. In this study, to increase the concentration of targeted metabolites, the influence of cellular morphology on AD metabolism in strain NJES-13^T was determined using glass bead-enhanced fermentation. Based on the cellular ultra-structural observation driven by bacterial EPSs, and quantitative analysis of the targeted metabolites, the successful increasing of the productivity of three AD metabolites was achieved. Afterward, a new frigocyclinone analogue was isolated and then identified as 2-hydroxy-frigocyclinone, as well as two other known ADs named 2-hydroxy-tetrangomycin (2-HT) and gephyromycin (GPM). Three AD metabolites were found to demonstrate different bioactivities. Both C-2 hydroxyl substitutes, 2-hydroxy-tetrangomycin and 2-hydroxy-frigocyclinone, exhibited variable inhibitory activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans. Moreover, the newly identified 2-hydroxy-frigocyclinone also showed significant cytotoxicity against three tested human-derived cancerous cell lines (HL-60, Bel-7402 and A549), with all obtained IC₅₀ values less than 10 µM. Based on the genetic analysis after genomic mining, the plausible biogenetic pathway of the three bioactive ADs in strain NJES-13^T was also proposed.     

鹅羽绒发生发育的分子调控机理研究进展

简要概述了鹅羽绒毛囊形态发生和生长周期的循环过程,对Wnt/β-catenin信号传导途径、Shh传导途径、部分相关基因功能及其调控羽绒发生发育的分子机理进行了综述,并提出了目前研究中仍存在的问题。     

植物谷胱甘肽应答非生物胁迫的分子机制

谷胱甘肽(GSH)是一种普遍存在于植物中的抗氧化剂,在维持组织抗氧化防御和调节氧化还原敏感信号转导中起着关键作用。深入研究GSH在非生物胁迫中的作用,对从分子水平揭示植物GSH积累的调控机制具有重要意义。本研究从植物GSH代谢途径及其相关酶、GSH在植物应激反应中的调节、GSH参与植物激素代谢等方面进行综述,并对谷胱甘肽在植物生长发育、与其它信号通路间交互作用的研究前景进行展望,以期为植物谷胱甘肽代谢以及其在非生物胁迫方面的研究提供一定的理论参考。