Low or absent unconjugated estriol in pregnancy: an indicator for steroid sulfatase deficiency detectable by fluorescence in situ hybridization and biochemical analysis

It has been previously reported that a low or absent maternal serum unconjugated estriol (uE3) level is associated with placental steroid sulfatase (STS) deficiency. Here we report a correlation between patients who present with a very low or absent maternal serum uE3 and a deletion of the STS gene as assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). We studied nine prenatal cases that presented to the clinical laboratory with an abnormal triple screen, specifically low or absent maternal serum uE3 and a 46,XY karyotype. FISH analysis showed complete deletion of a probe containing the STS gene in six cases and one case had a partial deletion (reduced but not absent signal). The remaining two cases were not deleted for the STS probe. All mothers tested whose fetus showed a deletion were shown to be STS deletion carriers using FISH. Biochemical analysis was performed on 7/9 prenatal specimens. All fetuses deleted for the STS probe were also found to be deficient for STS by biochemical analysis of cultured amniotic fluid (5/5). Of the two fetuses not deleted for the STS probe, one was deficient for STS activity, while the other had a normal result. The abnormal result of enzyme deficiency by biochemical analysis in a non-deletion case likely represents a mutation in the STS gene, not detectable by this FISH assay. Postnatal FISH confirmation of the STS deletion was performed in 1/7 cases. Clinical follow-up was available for 4/9 cases following birth. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

盐度对细菌菌株降解苯酚的影响

从处理苯酚废水活性污泥中筛选分离到四株苯酚降解优势细菌菌株JHCFS1,JHCFS2,JHCFS3与JHCFS4,通过四株细菌在不同盐度条件下的苯酚降解率表明,随着盐浓度的逐渐升高,抑制作用逐渐增大,当NaCl,KCl浓度为4%时,四株细菌降解苯酚均受到显著抑制。苯酚浓度为1000mg/L,NaCl浓度为3%时,JHCFS2的降解率最高为83%,JHCFS4的降解率最低为47.20%;KCl浓度为3%时,JHCFS2的降解率最高为99%,JHCFS4的降解率最低为48%,表明四株菌在盐浓度(NaCl,KCl)低于3%的条件下可正常降解苯酚。通过对四株菌的16S rRNA基因克隆与序列分析,在NCBI进行BLAST获得同源性序列,利用Clustalx1.8软件和MEGA4.0软件进行同源性比较和系统发育学分析,结合生理生化特性将菌株JHCFS1,JHCFS2,JHCFS3与JHCFS4(GenBank收录号:FJ455076,FJ455077,FJ458437与FJ458438)分别归为Bacillus simplex,Bacillus cereus,Bacillus pumilus与Bacillus cibi,为降解苯酚提供了微生物物种资源。     

Estrogenic activities of two synthetic pyrethroids and their metabolites

Synthetic pyrethroids(SPs) are among the most common pesticides in current use,and so far,several SPs have been assessed for their potential estrogenicities by various methods.Previous studies have shown that the estrogenicities partly come from their metabolites.Although considerable information is available with respect to the metabolism and environmental degradation of SPs,little is known about the estrogenicities of the metabolites.In this study,permethrin(PM) and β-cypermethrin(CP),as well as their metabolites(3-phenoxybenzoic alcohol(PBCOH),3-phenoxybenzaldehyde(PBCHO) and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid(PBCOOH) were evaluated for their estrogenic activities in the MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cell line.In the MCF-7 cell proliferation assay,PM and CP exhibited significant estrogenic activities at 10-7 mol/L,comparable to 17β-estradiol(E2 ) of 10-9 mol/L,with the relative proliferative effect ratios of 55.4% and 56.3%,respectively.The real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR) results confirmed the estrogenicities of PM and CP with significant alteration of pS2 and ERα mRNA levels observed at 10-6 mol/L.For the three major metabolites,PBCOH and PBCOOH exhibited estrogenic activities in all assays,while no significant estrogenic responses was observed for PBCHO compared to the vehicle control.In particular,PBCOH had even slightly stronger estrogenic activity than its parent compounds,indicating that metabolism may be one of the reasons for the estrogenicities of the SPs.Given the widespread use of SPs,the toxicological effects of parent compounds and their metabolites should be taken into consideration in the risk assessment of SPs.     

Isolation and characterization of atrazine-degrading Arthrobacter sp. AD26 and use of this strain in bioremediation of contaminated soil

A bacterial strain (AD26) capable of utilizing atrazine as a sole nitrogen source for growth was isolated from an industrial wastewater sample by enrichment culture. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified AD26 as an Arthrobacter sp. PCR assays indicated that AD26 contained atrazine-degrading genes trzN and atzBC. The trzN gene of AD26 only differs from the trzN of Arthrobacter aurescens TC1 by one base (A→T at 907) and one amino acid (Met→Leu at 303). The specific activity of trzN of AD26 in crude cell ext...     

爆炸物污染土壤中DNT的生物降解基础研究

2,4-和2,6-DNT是爆炸物污染土壤生物修复的主要目标。文章以该技术的基础研究为背景,对DNT降解菌及其降解性能,生物反应器的研究开发与处理效果、DNT生物降解途径以及降解菌的基因分析与基因工程改良等诸方面,进行了综述。提出了将DNT降解菌与原位土壤生物修复技术以及反硝化脱氮技术有机结合,研究开发适合爆炸物污染土壤生物修复的工程化的工艺系统的建议。     

Diversity of methanotrophs in Zoige wetland soils under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions

Zoige wetland is one of the most important methane emission centers in China. The oxidation of methane in the wetland a ects global warming, soil ecology and atmospheric chemistry. Despite their global significance, microorganisms that consume methane in Zoige wetland remain poorly characterized. In this study, we investigated methanotrophs diversity in soil samples from both anaerobic site and aerobic site in Zoige wetland using pmoA gene as a molecular marker. The cloning library was constructed according to the pmoA sequences detected. Four clusters of methanotrophs were detected. The phylogenetic tree showed that all four clusters detected were a liated to type I methanotrophs. Two novel clusters (cluster 1, cluster 2) were found to relate to none of the recognized genera of methanotrophs. These clusters have no cultured representatives and reveal an ecological adaptation of particular uncultured methanotrophs in Zoige wetland. Two clusters were belonging to Methylobacter and Methylococcus separately. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis gel bands pattern retrieved from these two samples revealed that the community compositions of anaerobic soil and aerobic soil were di erent from each other while anaerobic soil showed a higher metanotrophs diversity. Real-time PCR assays of the two samples demonstrated that aerobic soil sample in Zoige wetland was 1.5 times as much copy numbers as anaerobic soil. These data illustrated that methanotrophs are a group of microorganisms influence the methane consumption in Zoige wetland.     

镍钴转运酶NiCoT基因的克隆表达及基因工程菌对镍离子的富集

利用PCR技术从Staphylococcus aureus/ ATCC6538基因组中扩增出大小为1?053 bp的镍钴转运酶基因NiCoT gene,将其连接到pET-3c载体上构建重组质粒,并转化至E.coli BL21.筛选阳性菌并经酶切分析和PCR扩增双重鉴定.核苷酸序列测定及分析结果与GenBank中报道的同类基因相似性高达97%以上,表明其具有正确的NiCoT基因核苷酸序列.重组菌的SDS-PAGE结果图谱中,在相对分子量为39?000附近有特异性蛋白条带,大小符合预测值,表明NiCoT基因在E.coli BL21中成功表达.基因工程菌在IPTG用量为1.00 mmol·L^-1,诱导时间为4 h的条件下培养对镍离子的富集能力最高.在不同镍离子浓度时,基因工程菌对溶液中Ni²⁺的平衡富集量为11.33 mg·g^-1,与原始宿主菌相比提高了3倍.对基因工程菌吸附镍和钴的实验表明,Staphylococcus aureus ATCC6538的NiCoT对镍具有较高的特异性和富集容量,属于第Ⅲ类镍钴转运酶.     

First report of microcystin production in Microcystis smithii Komrek and Anagnostidis(Cyanobacteria) from a water bloom in Eastern China

A water bloom sample collected from Lake Dishui in Shanghai was characterized.The morphological identification showed that Micorcystis wesenbergii and Micorcystis smithii were the main component of the bloom.Five strains of M.smithii were successfully isolated.Their 16S rRNA gene sequences based phylogenetic tree showed that the five strains of M.smithii intermixed with strains of other morphospecies in Microcystis.A fragment of mcy gene encoding for microcystin synthetase was detected in one of the five M....     

红树林湿地中好氧-厌氧反硝化菌脱氮特性及其种群结构分析

随着沿岸水体氮素富营养化的加剧,生物脱氮作用越来越受重视,位于海陆交界的湿地红树林生态系统作为一个自然脱氮体系备受关注.本研究以典型亚热带湿地红树林(香港Mai Po)作为对象,结合传统的富集筛选和分子生物学方法--建立nosZ基因克隆文库和RFLP分析技术对红树林沉积物中反硝化细菌脱氮能力、种群结构和丰度进行研究.从Mai Po红树林沉积物中共筛选到12株好氧反硝化菌和8株厌氧反硝化菌,其中好氧反硝化菌包括Pseudomonas(4株)、Comamonas(2株)和Acinetobacter(2株)等7个菌属,厌氧反硝化菌属于Pseudomonas、Agrobacterium和Uncultured Betaproteobacteria bacterium(2株)等7个菌属.筛选到的好氧和厌氧反硝化菌均具有较高的脱氮能力,大部分在2d内NO3--N去除率达到98%以上.建立Mai Po红树林湿地反硝化细菌的nosZ基因克隆文库的结果表明,反硝化细菌的50个克隆子中有26个克隆子分属于11个未知类群,其余克隆子属于Pennisetum类群(26%),β-proteobacterium类群(10%),Entandrophragma类群(4%),Pseudomonas类群(4%)和denitrifying bacterium类群(4%).可见Mai Po红树林中反硝化细菌具有很高的生物多样性.     

有机氯农药微生物降解技术研究进展

文章综述了有机氯农药的污染化学特征、环境介质中的分布水平、降解功能微生物的种类以及典型有机氯农药的降解途径等,并对有机氯农药微生物降解相关的酶和基因以及降解机理进行了重点讨论。参与有机氯农药微生物降解过程的酶主要有脱氯化氢酶、水解酶和脱氢酶三种,它们通过共代谢,中间协同代谢或矿化等作用完成降解过程。相关降解基因主要是Lin家族基因,包括LinA～LinJ的10个典型功能基因编码。微生物降解有机氯农药的机理主要包括矿化作用、共代谢作用、种间协同代谢作用、活化作用和间接作用等,其中矿化过程包括氧化、还原、水解、脱水、脱卤和裂解等生化反应。由于有机氯农药的持久性和广泛污染性,其降解机理及中间产物的类型、毒性以及新型降解菌的效能开发仍是该领域今后的研究重点。