The relationship between nacreous layer color and CaCO3 crystal orientation

The pearl or nacreous layer of mollusk shell is composed of CaCO₃ aragonite crystals. The factors affecting their color are very complex, such as metal elements, chromoprotein, and nucleation materials, we analyzed the crystal orientation of nacreous layers with different color prepared from fresh water clamsHyriopsis cumingii Lea by X-ray diffraction. The results show that the crystal CaCO₃ orientation on specific plane is responsible for the color of pearl and nacreous pearl color. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China and Morning Sunlight Program of Wuhan City Government. Jiang Xinnong: born in 1970, Lecturer     

Improving DNA damage repair ability ofE. coli to UV-radiosensitivity by DNA-mediated gene transfer of low energy ion beam

Using calcium chloride method of transfer gene as control, a new technique of transferring gene by low energy ion beam has been applied to the study of improving DNA damage repair ability ofE. coli to UV-radiosensitivity. The genome DNA pieces ofDeinococcus radiodurans, as “foreign” genetic materials, were introduced into the UV-radiosensitive strains ofE. coli by implantation of 20 keV Ar⁺ at doses ranging from 1 × 10¹⁵ to 2 × 10¹⁵ ions/cm². Results show that the transfected strains present higher UV-radioresistance than that of un-transfected ones and start ones. The survival rate of transfected strains and their unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) ability is increased, indicating that the transfer gene is a success.     

珍珠贝肉提取液抗衰作用的动物实验

在实验室检测马氏珍珠贝肉提取液对老龄小白鼠分辩学习及记忆保持能力的影响 ,并于行为实验结束后测定海马突触体内游离钙水平变化。小白鼠 1 6～ 1 7月龄 ,体重 (65±4) g,雌雄兼用 ,共 30只 ,分为天然提取液组 1 0只 ,强化提取液组 (天然提取液 +牛磺酸 ) 1 0只 ,对照组 (饮用普通清水 ) 1 0只。平均每只小鼠每天服用量为 5 ml,共服用 40 d。珍珠贝肉天然提取液和牛磺酸强化提取液与对照组相比 ,都明显增强老龄鼠在 Y-迷宫中的分辩学习能力和学习速度 ,减少训练次数 (P <0 .0 5) ;对记忆保持率的提高具有促进作用 ,尤其是牛磺酸强化提取液使记忆保持率大幅度提高 (P <0 .0 1 )。天然提取液与强化提取液都一致降低鼠脑的海马突触体游离钙离子水平 ,提示这种提取液对衰老脑细胞的“钙超载”有拮抗效应     

北海营盘近海区马氏珠母贝自然资源调查

2006年12月6日至27日对北海营盘近海马氏珠母贝(Pinctada martensii Dunker)自然资源进行调查。调查分为群访调查和海上调查,群访调查是到主要珍珠养殖自然村及北海、营盘渔港码头收集人工捕捞或养殖的马氏珠母贝,海上调查是对北海营盘近海区的9450hm2水域设29个站位捕捞马氏珠母贝。结果群访调查收集到185个天然马氏珠母贝,海上调查仅有5个站出现马氏珠母贝,共获珠贝12个。个体最大的是自然海区生长的马氏珠母贝,壳长最大者达100.4mm,平均76.1mm;壳高最高为114mm,平均70.9mm。海上调查捕获的马氏珠母贝体重18.4~182.5g,平均值为85.6g;年龄2.5~6龄,平均5龄,占大型底栖贝类数量的0.34%。马氏珠母贝的数量已是少之又少,保护马氏珠母贝资源迫在眉睫。     

Regulatory role of the sequences downstream fromnodD3 P1 promoter ofRhizobium meliloti

The 660 bp region betweennodD3 P1 promoter and the following coding region ofRhizobium meliloti has been studied. This region is designated “downstream sequences”. It consists of two potential open reading frames, ORF1 and ORF2. Studies on the role of the downstream sequences on the activity ofnocD3 P1 with nod D3(P1)-IacZ fusion show that deletion of the sequences containing ORF2 causes the increase of the activity of the fusion; on the contrary, addition of extra copies of ORF2 markedly decreases the activity of the fusion. These results indicate that the product of ORF2 plays a negative role in the expression ofnod D3.     

Neuropeptide Y receptors in a protozoaStylonychia mytilus

Radio ligand binding assays(RLBA) were used to study neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptors in a protozoa Stylonychia mytilus. The experimental results showed that 2-3×10+3/mL Stylonychia cells incubated in Pringsheim solution which contained 3H-NPY could specifically bind 3H-NPY and concomitantly present saturable characteristic. This suggested that Stylonychia possessed some specific binding sites for NPY. Scatchard transformations of binding assay for the NPY receptors at 25℃ are compatible with the specific activity of 42.47 fmol/10+3 cells and the binding equilibrium constant of 0.113 nmol/L. The data of 125I-NPY binding assay to the membrane protein extract of Stylonychia indicated that there was a significant difference between the amount of total bound and nonspecific bound of 125I-NPY. This result indicated that NPY receptors were probably localized mainly on the cell membrane.     

Extraction and Purification of Matrix Protein from the Nacre of Pearl Oyster Pinctada fucata

A soluble matrix protein P14 with an apparent molecular mass of 14.5 kDa was isolated from fragmented nacre of pearl oysters （Pinctada fucata） treated with 10% NaOH solution to investigate the nacre matrix proteins and their effect on the CaCO3 crystal. The protein was characterized by gel exclusion chromatography and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography after demineralization by 10% acetic acid. The X-ray diffraction pattern of P14 crystals indicates that P14 plays an important role in nacre biomineralization. P14 can induce aragonite formation, stimulate CaCO3 crystal formation, and accelerate aragonite precipitation. Heating of the acid insoluble nacre residue, which was named conchiolin, in 10% sodium dodecyl sulfate solution supplemented with 10% β-mercaptoethanol solution for 10-20 min at about 100℃ gave two other soluble proteins having molecular masses of 19.4 kDa and 25.0 kDa. The present study suggests that these two proteins are linked to the insoluble organic matrix by disulfide bridges because the extraction yield increases when β-mercaptoethanol is added to the medium.     

On the Liouville equation

This paper studies the initial value problem for the Liouville equation by using the operator semigroup theory and shows existence and uniqueness of the solution to this problem if initial data belong to some subset ofL ². Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Jiang Zhenglu: born in Dec. 1966, Post Ph. D     

Phylogenetic positions of some genera and species of the family Buccinidae (Gastropoda: Mollusca) from China based on ribosomal RNA and COI sequences

A phylogenetic analysis of members of the family Buccinidae was conducted using 18S rRNA gene, 28S rRNA gene and the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase Ⅰ gene. We studied 18 species of Buccinidae that belong to eight different genera and inhabit the China coastal seas. We analyzed the patterns of divergence between an outgroup and basal ingroup taxa, the monophyly of the genus Neptunea, and the position of one unnamed species within the Buccinidae. A phylogenetic tree (neighbor-joining (NJ) method) was reconstructed based on the sequences of 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and COI, with Rapana venosa as outgroup. The NJ tree indicated that the 18 species could be divided into five groups. The genus Buccinum was monophyletic, whereas Neptunea was shown to be paraphyletic since it included Siphonalia subdilatata and Neptunea sp., a new species. This novel species otherwise clustered consistently with Neptunea cumingi in three other phylogenetic trees, showing a low genetic distance and divergence percentage of sequences belonging to the genus Neptunea. A smaller genetic distance and a smaller difference of 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and COI sequences between Neptunea cumingii and Neptunea arthritica cumingii confirmed them to be the same species.     

Construction and characterization of partiallyntrC-deleted mutants inAlcaligenes faecalis

To study the effect of ntrC gene product on the expression and regulation of other important nitrogen-fixing genes in Alcaligenes faecalis, partially ntrC-deleted mutants of A. faecalis have been generated. To start with, the ntrC gene of A. faecalis was cloned into a suicide plasmid pSUP202 to create a recombinant plasmid pSUM1. The ntrC gene in pSUM1 was then replaced by a lacZ-Km^r fragment resulted in the generation of a plasmid pSUM2. The lacZ fragment in pSUM2 was further removed and a plasmid pSUM3 produced. As a second step, the plasmid pSUM2 or pSUM3 was introduced into the wild type of A. faecalis A1501 by conjugation and two partially ntrC-deleted mutants A15CM1 (ntrC∷lacZ) and A15CM2 (ntrC ^- ) were obtained. To understand the regulatory effect of the NtrC on the expression of nifH and nifA, a nifH-lacZ gene or a nifH-lacZ gene was introduced into the ntrC^- mutant by conjugation. The results indicated that: (ⅰ) although the ntrC^-mutant was nif ⁺ , its nitrogen fixation activity was only 20% that of the wild type; (ⅱ) the ntrC^- mutant failed to grow on the medium containing nitrate as a sole nitrogen source; (ⅲ) the regulation of ntrC gene expression did not require its own product; (ⅳ) the expression of nifH in A . faecalis was positively regulated by the ntrC. Deletion of the ntrC resulted in the reduction of nifH expression or even totally inactivated nitrogen fixation; (ⅴ) there was no obvious influence on the expression of nifA in A. faecalis if the ntrC gene was deleted.     

Effect ofP15 INK4b/MTS2 on the proliferation of human hepatoma cells SMMC-7721

The full length cDNA coding forP15 ^INK4b, which is a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, was cloned to plasmid PXJ41-neo (Eco R I /Xho I site) and the new constructed plasmid pXJp15 was obtained. pXJp15 was transferred into the human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cetls by lipofectine reagent. After G418 setection, a series of cetl lines stably expressing high levets ofP15 (named SHT) and the clone containing vector PXJ41-neo only (named SVXJ) were obtained by Northern and Western analysis. The results showed that the proliferation of SHT cells is inhibited compared with that of SVXJ cetls. Cell cycle analysis indicated that overexpressing ofP15 inhibited the growth of SHT cetls by decreasing progrssion of cetls from G1 to S and G2 to M phases. The levets ofc-Myc andc-Fos were obviously decreased in SHT cells compared with control cetls by Western blotting. The decreased expression of oncogene may be one of the molecular mechanisms of the effect ofP15 on the proliferation of in SHT cetls.     

Effect of kinase-negativeEGFR gene on differentiation of embryonic germ cell line EG4

EG4 cells derived from primordial germ cells (PGCs) of 10.5 d post coitum 129/svJ mouse embryos can be used as a model system for in vitro differentiation study due to their pluripotential development ability. EG4 cell lines with stable expression of kinase-negative EGFR cDNA, designated EG4-EGFR^d, were generated by gene transfection. We found that: (ⅰ) EG4-EGFR^d cells share the similar morphology and growing character with wildtype cells that can maintain undifferentiated state in long term culture. (ⅱ) Treatment of EG4 cells with RA resulted in differentiation of adipocyte, while in mutant clones of EG4-EGFR^d, adipocytes were sparse or absent under the same condition, indicating the role of EGFR expressed during adipocyte development. (ⅲ) Histological analysis showed that predominant tissues in teratocarcinomas derived from EG4-EGFR^d cells and wildtype cells are different. A large amount of undifferentiated cells was present in those coming from mutant cell clones. In addition some cardiac and skeletal muscles are prominently differentiated cell types. EG4 wildtype cells produced multiple differentiated cell types of three primary germ layers such as cartilage, epithelia and neural tube. These studies suggested that EGFR-dependent differentiation was inhibited in kinase-negative EG4 cells.     

Quantitative reconstruction of the paleosalinity at Qinghai Lake in the past 900 years

Based on the function relationship between the shell length of Limnocythere inopinata and the salinity of its living water in Tibetan Plateau lakes, the paleosalinty of Qinghai Lake in the past 900 years was reconstructed through the measurement of the adult body length of Limnocythere inopinata. Meanwhile, the paleosalinity sequence of Qinghai Lake during the same period was rebuilt by the St/Ca ratio of the shell of Eucypris inflata combined with the St/Ca ratio of living ostracod valves from the species of genus Eucypris inflata and the host water. The paleosalinity results obtained by two different methods were compared and assessed in this paper. To check the result, it was also contrasted with other historical climatic sequences of this area including tree ring and ice core. It was shown that the paleosalinity sequence rebuilt by adult ostracod body length had high reliability, and the paleosalinity reconstruction method by trace elements of ostracod shells was not suitable for Qinghai Lake. From the reconstructed paleosalinty sequence of Qinghai Lake, it can be found that low salinity during 1160-1290 AD showed the humid climate condition on the Mediaeval Warm Period in this area, while the high salinity during 1410-1540 AD, 1610-1670 AD and 1770-1850 AD which was corresponding to the three cold pulses of the Little Ice Age with a dry climate condition. And the high salinity in the latest several decades was consistent with recent warm and dry trends of the climate in this area. The good consistency of the reconstructed palaeosalinity sequence and the precipitation sequence in this area rebuilt by tree ring proves the reconstruction of past lake salinity is reliable.     

Bis(7)-tacrine ameliorates cognitive impairment caused by cerebral hypoperfusion in rats

The effects ofbis(7)-tacrine, a novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, on cognitive impairment and neuronal degeneration induced by permanent ligation of bilateral common carotid arteries (2VO) were investigated using the Morris water maze in rats. Once daily oral administration ofbis(7)-tacrine (0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 mg·kg⁻¹) was started 14 days after 2VO operation. Over a three-week treatmentbis(7)-tacrine effectively reversed 2VO-induced spatial memory deficits in a dose-dependent fashion. Furthermore, histological observation showedbis(7)-tacrine decreased the neuropathological changes in the 2VO rats brain. These results suggest thatbis(7)-tacrine has therapeutic potential for the treatment of dementia caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 30170335) Biography: Peng Feng-fang(1966-), female Master, research direction: Alzheimer's disease and ischemia     

The expression of vasa gene during zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) oogenesis

vasa gene expression pattern during oogenesis of zebrafish was examined usingin situ hybridization and fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR. During zebrafish oogensis,vasa mRNA is expressed strongly and uniformly distributed in the cytoplasm in stage II oocytes, followed by a distribution among vacuome in stage III. Later in stage IV and V,vasa mRNA is enriched at the cortex and finally localized at the cortex. The fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR shows that the quantity ofvasa mRNA decreases from stage II to stage III, but remains relatively invariable from stage III to stage V. The observed differences invasa mRNA expression in the different stages of zebrafish oogenesis suggest thatvasa gene plays an important role during oogenesis. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30370744, 30150005) Biography: XIANG Fang (1979-), male, Master candidate, research direction: molecular development of animals.     

Identification of integrin-like in guard cells ofVicia faba

We addressed the existence and localization of integrin-like in guard cells ofVicia faba by using a probe of polyclonal antibody against the human integrin (α_vβ₃/β₅). Western blot results showed that three integrins-like of about 47.3, 43.7 and 41.1 ku were detected from the preparation of membrane fragments of purified guard cell protoplasts. Further research with immunofluorescent scanning microscopy indicated that those integrins-like were localized on plasma membrane of guard cells, most nearing the dorsal wall, which is consistent with the reception of signals from epidermal cells to guard cells. Thus our results indicate, for the first time, that integrins-like are present at guard cell plasma membrane ofVicia faba.     

合浦珠母贝幼苗的正常生长

调查珍珠养殖合浦珠母贝人工培育幼苗的管养和生长情况,认为合浦珠母贝的幼苗生长正常,不存在“贝种退化”的影响,成活率和生长率的提高,明显是由于幼苗营养方法的改良。