费氏中华根瘤菌lrp基因的克隆、突变与功能

通过分子克隆技术,从费氏中华根瘤菌(Sinorhizobium fredii)HN01基因组文库中克降到一个lrp基因.该基因与已报道的苜蓿中华根瘤菌(Sinorhizobium meliloti)1021的lrp基因在核苷酸水平上有89%相似性,在氨基酸水平上有99%相似性.利用自杀质粒pK18mob构建含有lrp基因部分片段的重组质粒,通过三亲本结合后导入原始菌株HN01中,经过同源单交换,获得发生正向插入突变的突变株GXHNLTA和反向插入突变的突变株GXHNLTB.将lrp基因ORF连接到载体pLAFR3上,获得用于互补的质粒pGXHNL100,将该质粒通过三亲本接合导入突变株中,获得互补株GXHNWA、GXHNWB.对野生型菌株、突变株、互补株进一步研究发现,在以脯氨酸、亮氨酸、丝氨酸等氨基酸为唯一碳、氮源的MM培养基中培养时,突变体GXHNLTA、GXHNLTB的生长均滞后于出发菌株HN01.植株试验表明,突变菌株GXHNLTA、GXHNLB比野生菌株HN01开始结瘤的时间提前1 d,在结瘤效率、单株瘤数、瘤重、固氮酶活性方面并无显著差别.     

Trisomy 18 in chorionic villus sampling: Problems and consequences

Among 1547 patients undergoing first-trimester prenatal diagnosis, 100 fetal chromosome aberrations were detected. Thirteen of these involved chromosome 18. In two structural abnormalities of chromosome 18, the aberration could be excluded in amniotic fluid cells and two healthy infants were born. Trisomy 18 was not confirmed in amniotic fluid cells in three trisomy 18 mosaics. In eight non-mosaic trisomy 18 first-trimester diagnoses, the diagnosis was excluded by amniotic fluid cells or fetal cultures in four, and confirmed in the remaining four. Diagnosis of chromosome 18 aberrations in the direct preparation should be confirmed in the long-term culture of the chorionic villus sample or by amniotic fluid cultures.     

Mosaicism of isochromosome 18p.

The first case of isochromosome 18p as a mosaic in a male fetus diagnosed by amniocentesis is reported. After termination of the pregnancy at 21 weeks gestation biopsies from different fetal organs as well as from the placenta were taken and set up for long term cell cultures. The distribution of the normal and abnormal cell-line in fetal organs was unequal. Unexpectedly the metaphases in the placenta and the lymphocyte culture all showed a normal karyotype. The tetrasomy 18p is associated with a uniform phenotype, even in fetal life, characterized by a small head with protuberant occiput, low-set ears with posterior rotation, epicanthic fold, sharp pinched nose, convex and poorly formed philtrum, high-arched palate, retrognathia, flexion contractures of fingers, short and broad hallux, hypoplastic penis, angulation of clavicles and mild scoliosis. The propositus showed no growth retardation.     

Abnormal immunological development in fetuses with trisomy 18

Flow cytometry was used to enumerate the lymphocyte subpopulations in fetal blood obtained by cordocentesis from eight trisomy 18 fetuses at 20–36 weeks' gestation. Compared with values in chromosomally normal fetuses, in trisomy 18 the mean T- and natural killer (NK) cell counts were significantly lower (t= − 7·63, P<0·001 and t= − 3·58, P<0·01, respectively); the mean B-cell count was not significantly different (t= − 1·32). These findings demonstrate that in trisomy 18 there is abnormal intrauterine development of the immune system.     

Neural tube defects in trisomy 18

Central nervous system anomalies in trisomy 18 are usually confined to structural abnormalities of brain development. Despite the recognized association of neural tube defects and trisomy 18, primary (true) anencephaly is uncommon in the classical trisomy 18 phenotype. A case of anencephaly with trisomy 18, diagnosed prenatally, is presented with a review of the literature of this association.     

Prenatal diagnosis of a fetus with partial monosomy 7(q34→qter) and partial trisomy 18(q21→qter)

Ultrasound examination of a 31-year-old woman at 27 weeks' gestation revealed fetal growth retardation, a bilateral cleft lip and palate, and the absence of median cerebral structures. Chromosome analysis after cordocentesis showed an abnormal karyotype with a structural abnormality of the long arm of chromosome 7: 46,XX,—7,+der(7), t(7;18) (q34;q21.3)mat. The pregnancy was terminated at week 29. The ultrasound findings were confirmed by post-mortem examination, which also revealed a semilobar holoprosencephaly.     

贵州茂兰喀斯特森林不同演替下土壤真核微生物多样性

真核微生物是茂兰喀斯特森林土壤微生物中的重要组成部分,在生态系统物质循环和能量流动中扮演着重要角色.为了解茂兰喀斯特森林不同演替阶段下土壤真核微生物群落组成及其多样性,利用18S rDNA高通量测序技术研究了原生林(YSL)、灌木林(GML)、灌木丛(GMC)和草地(CD)这4种演替阶段下土壤真核微生物群落多样性.结果表明,在不同分类水平下,不同演替阶段土壤真核微生物群落组成相似.α多样性指数存在显著差异, Shannon指数与Simpson指数在不同演替阶段表现为:YSLGMCGMLCD. NMDS分析表明不同演替阶段土壤真核微生物群落结构存在差异; LEfSe分析表明,YSL中差异指示种数量高于GML、GML和CD.本研究结果为研究不同演替阶段下土壤真核微生物提供了理论基础.     

A spatial approach to combatting wildlife crime

Poaching can have devastating impacts on animal and plant numbers, and in many countries has reached crisis levels, with illegal hunters employing increasingly sophisticated techniques. We used data from an 8‐year study in Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe, to show how geographic profiling—a mathematical technique originally developed in criminology and recently applied to animal foraging and epidemiology—can be adapted for use in investigations of wildlife crime. The data set contained information on over 10,000 incidents of illegal hunting and the deaths of 6,454 wild animals. We used a subset of data for which the illegal hunters’ identities were known. Our model identified the illegal hunters’ home villages based on the spatial locations of the hunting incidences (e.g., snares). Identification of the villages was improved by manipulating the probability surface inside the conservancy to reflect the fact that although the illegal hunters mostly live outside the conservancy, the majority of hunting occurs inside the conservancy (in criminology terms, commuter crime). These results combined with rigorous simulations showed for the first time how geographic profiling can be combined with GIS data and applied to situations with more complex spatial patterns, for example, where landscape heterogeneity means some parts of the study area are less likely to be used (e.g., aquatic areas for terrestrial animals) or where landscape permeability differs (e.g., forest bats tend not to fly over open areas). More broadly, these results show how geographic profiling can be used to target antipoaching interventions more effectively and more efficiently and to develop management strategies and conservation plans in a range of conservation scenarios.     

Innovative combined technique for high concentration of azo dye AR18 wastewater treatment using modified SBR and enhanced Fenton process as post treatment

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the performance of combined biological/advanced oxidation process (AOP) system for treatment of wastewater containing high concentration (500 mg/L) of azo dye Acid Red 18 (AR18). Two alternating anaerobic–aerobic sequencing batch reactors (SBR1 and SBR2 without and with external feeding at the beginning of aeration cycle, respectively) were operated. The effluent of the SBRs was then post treated through enhanced Fenton process (using zero-valent iron combined with ultrasonic irradiation). More than 90% and 97% of COD was removed in the combined SBR/AOP system without external carbon source (CTS1) and with external feeding (CTS2), respectively. The analysis of dye and its metabolites using UV–vis and HPLC analysis also proved that 99% of the original dye was decolorized and more than 89% of its metabolites were degraded through CST2 which is significantly higher than the reported values in the literature. Besides, more than 87% of phosphorus removal efficiency was obtained in CST2 compared to only 54.5% removal efficiency in CST1. Regarding the findings of this study, the proposed combined treatment system (CTS2) can be suggested as an effective technique for treatment of high azo dye AR18 concentration wastewater.