彗星试验检测酚类化合物对小鼠脾脏细胞DNA损伤的研究

应用彗星试验技术,研究了酚类化合物对小鼠脾脏细胞DNA的损伤作用,试验结果表明,12种酚类化合物对小鼠脾脏细胞均能引起不同程度的DNA损伤,并呈现剂量效应关系.与对照组相比,均有显著性差异(P＜0 05,P＜0 01).试验结果亦表明,其DNA的损伤程度与化学结构有一定的关系.      

分子标记技术在石斛属植物中的应用研究进展

石斛作为一种名贵中药,近年来受到国内外研究人员的重视.本文对RFLP技术、位点特异性PCR、RAPD技术、AP-PCR技术、AFLP技术、ISSR技术、SRAP技术、DNA序列分析、基因芯片技术等DNA分子标记技术的基本原理和特点作了简要介绍,DNA分子标记技术为石斛类药材的鉴别提供了更加有效、可靠的鉴定方法.综述了近年来上述分子标记技术在石斛属植物中的应用研究进展,总结了这些技术在中药材鉴定中的地位,并对其发展前景做出了展望.     

甲醛致DNA断裂作用的机制及修复的研究

应用单细胞凝胶电泳技术研究了甲醛致DNA断裂作用、作用机制以及断裂的修复.结果表明,甲醛在低浓度下可以诱导DNA的断裂(P<0.01);该断裂作用可以显著地被羟基自由基(·OH)清除剂甘露醇和二甲基亚砜抑制(P<0.01),以及受到超氧阴离子自由基(O·-2)清除剂超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)显著抑制(P<0.01),但其抑制效果要弱于甘露醇和二甲基亚砜.甲醛引起DNA断裂作用是通过活性氧自由基介导的,且在90min时基本上可被完全修复.     

Genotoxicity detected in wild mice living in a highly polluted wetland area in south western Spain

A field study was carried out in the south of the Iberian Peninsula in an industrial area in the neighbourhood of Huelva city, SW Spain, and in a natural area (Do?ana National Park) for comparison, to estimate the genetic risk induced by environmental pollution in wild mice. Genotoxic effects in a sentinel organism, the Algerian mice (Mus spretus) free living in the industrial area were compared with animals of the same species living in the natural protected area. The single cell gel electrophoresis, or Comet assay, was performed as a genotoxicity test in peripheral blood of mice. Our results clearly show that mice free living in the contaminated area bear a high burden of genetic damage as compared with control individuals. The results suggest that the assessing of genotoxicity levels by the Comet assay in wild mice can be used as a valuable test in pollution monitoring and environmental conservation.     

Duetting and mate-guarding in Australian magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca)

A recently favored hypothesis is that duetting in birds has a mate-guarding function: a male responds vocally to his partner’s song, thereby forming a duet that repels males who are attracted to her song. Previous studies have not provided unambiguous tests of the mate-guarding hypothesis because: (1) the probability of a male answering his partner’s song has not been shown to increase specifically when the female is fertile, and (2) the probability of a male answering his partner’s song has not been assessed separately from simply a higher song initiation rate. We investigated extra-pair paternity, mate-guarding, and duetting in the socially monogamous Australian magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca). DNA fingerprinting revealed that 3% of young were the result of extra-pair paternity, and we found that males guarded fertile females by staying close to them. However, males did not initiate songs at a higher rate when females were fertile and actually reduced their probability of replying to female song during this period. We conclude that although male magpie-larks did guard fertile females in an attempt to prevent extra-pair copulations, they did not use duetting for this purpose. Received: 10 May 1999 / Received in revised form: 27 September 1999 / Accepted: 2 October 1999     

Social and mating system of cooperatively breeding laughing kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae)

DNA fingerprinting was combined with field observations over four breeding seasons to investigate the social structure and mating system of the laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae). Groups comprised a socially dominant pair and up to six helpers of either sex. Helpers were always recruited from young hatched in the group. Territorial inheritance, which is a feature of other cooperative breeders and an oft-cited benefit of philopatry, did not occur. Helpers only attained dominant status in an established group by dispersing into a vacant dominant position in that group. However, helpers could also form new groups by excising a new territory, often through a ”budding” process. The mating system was overwhelmingly monogamous. There were no cases of extra-group parentage in a sample of 140 nestlings; within groups of three or more birds, dominance predicted parentage almost perfectly (99.2% of 129 nestlings), irrespective of whether helpers in the group were related to one or both dominant birds. This is contrary to predictions from models of reproductive skew, possibly because they currently fail to incorporate the willingness of females to share reproduction among males. Received: 15 May 1999 / Received in revised form: 2 November 1999 / Accepted: 6 November 1999     

DNA同源性分析最终确定新疆中华根瘤菌（Sinorhizobium xinjiangensis）为一独立种

针对S.xinjiangensis分类地位的争议,从新疆再次分离获得34株快生大豆根瘤菌,在16SrDNAPCR-RFLP分析和SDS全细胞蛋白电泳分群的基础上,进行了16SrDNA全序列相似性和DNA同源性分析.所测4个菌株和S.fredii模式菌株USDA205的16SrDNA全序列有很高的相似性.而DNA同源性分析说明新分离的菌株代表与原定的S.xinjiangensis为一个DNA同源群.其模式菌株CCBAU110与S.fredii的2株参比菌株USDA194、2048之间的DNA同源性分别为31.5%和28.7%.S.fredii的模式菌株USDA205与新分离的菌株代表及原定的S.xinjiangensis的模式菌株和2个参比菌株之间的DNA同源性为20.8%～39%,远低于70%.属于种水平上的差异.按照国际细菌分类委员会以DNA同源性≥70%且△Tm≤5℃作为定种的标准,S.xinjiangensis是Sinorhizobium属中不同于S.fredii的一个独立的种.表3参20     

从顽拗植物荔枝中提取基因组DNA技术的研究

针对荔枝体内含有大量影响ＤＮＡ提取质量的多酚等次生代谢物质的特点,在常规ＳＤＳ和ＣＴＡＢ提取方法的基础上做了技术改进,即在核裂解之间先破碎细胞,将存在于细胞质中次生物质除去后再裂解细胞核,同时加入活性炭以吸咐杂质反复清洗几次后加入核型解液释放基因组ＤＮＡ,纯化之后经外观和电泳检测,以及Ｄ２６０ｎｍ和Ｄ２８０ｎｍ比值的测定,限制性内切酶反应,ＰＣＲ扩增的结果表明,用改进方法提取的ＤＮＡ无论在纯度上还     

Oligogyny by unrelated queens in the carpenter ant, Camponotus ligniperdus

Multilocus DNA fingerprinting and microsatellite analysis were used to determine the number of queens and their mating frequencies in colonies of the carpenter ant, Camponotus ligniperdus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Only 1 of 61 analyzed queens was found to be double-mated and the population-wide effective mating frequency was therefore 1.02. In the studied population, 8 of 21 mature field colonies (38%) contained worker, male, or virgin queen genotypes which were not compatible with presumed monogyny and therefore suggested oligogyny, i.e., the cooccurrence of several mutually intolerant queens within one colony. Estimated queen numbers in oligogynous colonies ranged between two and five. According to the results of the genetic analysis, most of the queens coexisting in oligogynous colonies were not closely related. Pleometrosis is very rare and queenless colonies adopt mated queens both in the laboratory and field. Therefore, the most plausible explanation for the origin of oligogynous colonies in C. ligniperdus is the adoption of unrelated queens by orphaned mature colonies. The coexistence of unrelated, but mutually intolerant queens in C. ligniperdus colonies demonstrates that oligogyny should be considered as a phenomenon distinct from polygyny. Received: 18 December 1997 / Accepted after revision: 20 June 1998     

Paternity and paternal care in the polygynandrous Smith's longspur

In species where females copulate with more than one male during a single breeding attempt, males risk investing in offspring that are not their own. In the polygynandrous Smith's longspur (Calcarius pictus), females copulate sequentially with one to three males for each clutch of eggs and most of these males later assist in feeding the young. Using multilocus DNA profiling, we determined that there was mixed paternity in >75% of broods (n=31) but that few offspring (<1% of 114 nestlings) were sired by males outside the polygynandrous group. Male feeding rate increased significantly with the number of young sired, with males siring four nestlings feeding the brood at double the frequency of males siring only a single nestling. However, male Smith's longspurs appear to show a graded adjustment of paternal care in response to paternity only when other males are available to compensate for reduced care: feeding rate did not vary in relation to paternity when only one male provisioned young at the nest. There was no evidence that males could recognise their own offspring within a brood and feed them preferentially. The number of offspring sired by each male was significantly correlated with the number of days spent copulating with the attending female: on average, a male sired one offspring for every 2 days of copulatory access. If males use their access to females to estimate paternity (and thereby decide on their subsequent level of parental investment), a positive relationship is expected between the amount of female access and the subsequent feeding rate to the nestlings. Nonetheless, male feeding effort was only weakly correlated with female access and more study is needed to determine how males estimate their paternity in a brood. Received: 1 June 1997 / Accepted after revision: 1 April 1998