Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Nicotiana attenuata, a model ecological expression system

Summary. Research into the genetic basis of the ecological sophistication of plants is hampered by the availability of transformable systems with a wealth of well-described ecological interactions. We present an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for the model ecological expression system, Nicotiana attenuata, a native tobacco that occupies the post-fire niche in the Great Basin Desert of North America. We describe a transformation vector and a transformation procedure that differs from the standard cultivated tobacco transformation protocols in its use of selectable markers, explants, media and cultivation conditions. We illustrate its utility in the transformations with genes coding for key enzymes in the oxylipin cascade (lipoxygenase, allene oxide synthase, hydroperoxide lyase) in antisense orientations and present high-throughput screens useful for the detection of altered phenotypes for the oxylipin cascade (green leaf volatiles and jasmonic acid after wounding). Received 14 March 2002; accepted 10 May 2002     

中药青蒿鲨烯合酶的大肠杆菌表达、纯化与功能鉴定

利用PCR方法,将经RACE方法克隆到的中药青蒿鲨烯合酶cDNA(AF302464)开放阅读框的3′末端截短99bp,插入到原核表达载体pET30a( )的NcoⅠ和BamHⅠ酶切位点之间,构建N端和C端均携带有HIS6表达标签的鲨烯合酶重组表达载体pETSSA.将pETSSA转入大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),0.5mmol/LIPTG(isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside)28℃诱导重组鲨烯合酶的表达.表达产物经镍琼脂糖柱纯化.纯化蛋白加入酶促反应体系(含FPP和NADPH),GC-MS分析酶促反应体系的正己烷萃取物,结果显示重组鲨烯合酶可以催化FPP向鲨烯的转化.青蒿鲨烯合酶的功能鉴定为进一步利用反义或RNAi技术限制甾类生物合成,从而提高青蒿中的青蒿素含量提供了基础.图5参15     

The joint effects of sulfonamides and their potentiator on Photobacterium phosphoreum: differences between the acute and chronic mixture toxicity mechanisms

Organisms are typically exposed to mixtures of chemicals over long periods of time; thus, chronic mixture toxicity analysis is the best way to perform risk assessment in regards to organisms. However, most studies focus on the acute mixture toxicity. To investigate the difference between chronic mixture toxicity and acute mixture toxicity, Photobacterium phosphoreum were exposed to chronic (24 h exposure) and acute (15 min exposure) toxicity of single sulfonamide (SA) and their potentiator (trimethoprim, TMP), both individually and mixtures (SA with TMP). A comparison of chronic vs. acute mixture toxicity revealed the presence of an interesting phenomenon, that is, that the joint effects vary with the duration of exposure; the acute mixture toxicity was antagonistic, whereas the chronic mixture toxicity was synergistic. Based on the approach of Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSARs) and molecular docking, this phenomenon was proved to be caused by the presence of two points of dissimilarity between the acute and chronic mixture toxicity mechanism: (1) the receptor protein of SAs in acute toxicity was Luc, while in chronic toxicity it was Dhps, and (2) there is a difference between actual concentration of binding-Luc in acute toxicity and individual binding-Dhps in chronic toxicity. This deep insight into the difference between chronic and acute mixture toxicity will benefit environmental science, medical science, and other disciplines. The existence of these differences poses a challenge for the assessment of routine combinations in medicine, risk assessment, and mixture pollutant control, in which, previously, only a synergistic effect has been observed between SA and their potentiator.     

玉米乙酰乳酸合成酶活性的测定及其性质初探

为了解抑制剂对乙酰乳酸合成酶 (ALS)的作用机制 ,建立生理生化水平上 ALS酶抑制剂的筛选方法。详细研究了玉米离体和活体乙酰乳酸合成酶 (AL S)活性的测定方法。对酶反应条件的研究表明 ,底物丙酮酸钠的浓度和辅助因子氯化硫胺素焦磷酸盐 (TPP)、黄素腺嘌呤二核苷酸 (FAD)以及氯化镁 (Mg Cl2 )的浓度在一定范围内对酶的反应有影响 ,温度和酸度也是影响该酶反应的重要因素 ;对酶反应产物显色反应的研究发现 ,α-萘酚和肌酸单钠盐共同协调影响显色反应的进行。玉米 AL S酶的比活力与反应时间呈线性关系 ,符合 Michaelis- Meten方程。烟嘧磺隆是玉米 ALS酶的非竞争性抑制剂 ,农大 1 0 8玉米 ALS的 Km为 (7.51± 1 .0 0 ) mmol· L- 1 。     

沼泽红假单胞菌phbC-hupL双突变株构建及产氢测定

利用湖底淤泥分离的沼泽红假单胞菌(Rhodopseudomonas palustris)CQU01和该菌株的吸氢酶基因hupL缺失菌株CQU012作为出发菌株,分别构建聚羟基丁酸酯合成酶基因phbC单突变株及聚羟基丁酸酯合成酶基因phbC与吸氢酶基因hupL双突变株,以提高其在光照培养条件下的产氢量.以同源重组双交换方法构建含有Em抗性基因的自杀载体,通过接合转移转化R. palustris CQU01菌株,经PCR扩增以及测序验证,成功获得了沼泽红假单胞菌phbC单突变株R. palustris CQU013及phbC-hupL双突变株R. palustris CQU014.相同条件下测定突变菌株与野生菌株的生长和产氢特性,结果显示,突变菌株生长曲线与野生菌株有明显差异,两株突变菌株的产氢量分别是原始菌株的1.31和1.76倍,达到454mL/L和604mL/L.双突变菌株产氢能力较phbC基因和hupL基因单突变菌株的产氢能力有明显提高,说明phbC和hupL基因对菌株R. palustris 的产氢代谢有着显著的影响.     

甘蔗蔗糖磷酸合成酶SPSⅡ cDNA片段克隆与表达分析

蔗糖磷酸合成酶(Sucrose phosphate synthase,SPS)是蔗糖合成途径的关键限速酶,在蔗糖积累和碳分配中具有重要作用.在茎组织中SPSⅡ表达量占SPS转录总量的40%,表明SPSⅡ cDNA的克隆与表达对蔗茎中蔗糖的积累有着重要的影响.通过RT-PCR技术克隆分离SPSⅡ基因cDNA片段.序列分析表明该cDNA片段包含1个3 183 bp的开放读码框,可编码1 060个氨基酸.GenBank登录号为EU269038.通过实时荧光定量PCR检测SPSⅡ基因在甘蔗糖分积累的不同时期、不同组织部位的相对表达量.结果表明,在糖分积累初期蔗茎中的SPSⅡ相对表达量最大,在糖分积累中期蔗叶中的SPSⅡ相对表达量达到最高峰;同组织部位中,糖分积累初期SPSⅡ相对表达量高于糖分积累中期、后期.图6参11     

内源性气态SO2对大鼠血管的舒张作用及其机制IV： SO2对血压的调节与信号通路

为探讨内源性二氧化硫(SO2)对动脉血压的影响及其信号转导通路,采用大鼠颈动、静脉插管技术研究SO2对动脉压调节作用,通过离体血管环灌流试验观察SO2对NE引起的主动脉血管环收缩作用的影响,用生物化学方法与实时定量RT-PCR技术研究SO2对离体血管一氧化氮(NO)生成、一氧化氮合酶(NOS)活性和基因表达的调节作用。结果表明：(1)静脉注入SO2(20和60 μmol·kg-1体重)可立即引起大鼠动脉血压剂量依赖性显著下降,而相同剂量的亚硫酸钠和亚硫酸氢钠混合液(摩尔比为3:1)未见影响;(2)SO2对NE的缩血管功能有显著抑制作用,使NE的量效曲线右移;(3)SO2能迅速促进内皮NOS(eNOS)的基因表达,增强eNOS的活性,但对诱导型NOS (iNOS)的活性未见影响;(4)SO2可迅速且显著增加主动脉组织的NO产量。此外,我们以前的研究也指出,低浓度SO2可引起内皮细胞膜BKCa离子通道开放。由此结论：内源性SO2是一种血管活性因子,对整体血压和血管张力具有调节作用;SO2对血管BKCa→eNOS→NO→cGMP信号通路的上调可能是其主要的作用机制。     

植物络合素及其合酶在重金属抗性中的功能研究进展

Under heavy metal stress, higher plants initiate a set of defense responses, among which biosynthesis of phytochelatins (PCs) is important. PCs are rich in cystein and biosynthesized by phytochelatin synthase. The chemical structure of PCs and their ability to form complexes with a large range of metal ions is clear. Up to now, these peptides are known to play an important role in both endogenous metal ion homeostasis and heavy metal ion detoxification. The mechanism of cadmium tolerance is illustrated in detail. A model of this mechanism suggested that the detoxification process of cadmium include such steps as PCs induction, transport of cadmium into the tonoplast, formation of the HMW-Cd-PCs complexes and sequestration in vacuole. At the same time, PCs also have other functions, such as detoxification of arsenic, protecting enzyme from metal ion inhibition and supplying metal ion as a cofactor to the enzyme potentially. However, a lot of questions about its biological function remain to be answered. In 1999, three independent labs isolated the genes encoding the PCs synthase. This breakthrough of plant heavy metal tolerance research gave us a chance to further study the heavy metal tolerance mechanism. All the results from the reserch of PCs have a ffreat application potential in phytoremidation. Fig 1, Ref 25