Bifunctional enzyme FBPase/SBPase is essential for photoautotrophic growth in cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

From a random insertion mutant library of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, a mutant defective in photoautotrophic growth was obtained. The interrupted gene was identified to be slr2094 （fbpl）, which encodes the fructose-1,6-biphosphatase （FBPase）/sedoheptulose-1,7-biphosphatase （SBPase） bifunctional enzyme （F-I）. Two other independently constructed slr2094 mutants showed an identical phenotype. The FBPase activity was found to be virtually lacking in an slr2094 mutant, which was sensitive to light under mixotrophic growth conditions. These results indicate that slr2094 is the only active FBPase-encoding gene in this cyanobacterium. Inactivation of photosystem II by interrupting psbB in slr2094 mutant alleviated the sensitiveness to light. This report provides the direct genetic evidence for the essential role of F-I in the photosynthesis of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.     

Analysis of Type Ⅱ Toxin-Antitoxin Genes all 3211-asl3212 in Anabaena PCC 7120

The type Ⅱ toxin-antitoxin genes are responsible for the phenotypic switch to a quasi-dormant state that enables cell survival under stresses,a similar function to heterocyst of cyanobacteria. In this paper,we particularly study the role of gene pair all3211-asl3212 under Spectinomycin stress to reveal how the type Ⅱ toxin-antitoxin involved in environmental stress responses. Bioinformatics prediction shows that toxin protein gene All3211 is homologous to Maz F,a member of maz EF family that encoding nucleases. We clone gene all3211-asl3212 into expression vectors to identify its molecular characteristics. Deletion mutant strains of all3211-asl3212 are selected in a tri-parental mating screen. Phenotype comparisons of mutant and wild type reveals no difference of single-deletion-mutants in pigment integrity,the sensitivity to antibiotics,and heterocyst formation. The results show that deletion mutation of single TAS gene pair all3211-asl3212 results in limited effects on the cellular growth of PCC 7120. Thus,we suggest that dosage compensating might be provided from redundant genes or bypass pathways to offset obvious phenotypic differences.     

Cloning,Sequencing and Phylogenetic Study of rbcL Gene from Cyanobacteria Arthrospira and Spirulina

Large subunit gene of rubisco (rbcL) of cyanobacteria Arthrospiraplatensis FACHB341, A. platensis FACHB439, A. maxima OUQDSM and Spirulina sp. FACHB440 is cloned, sequenced and characterized. Results show that GC content of the gene in strain Spirulina sp. FACHB440 is higher than that in the others. The alignments based on deduced amino acid sequences indicate that Spirulina sp. FACHB440 is different from that in other three samples of Arthrospira, though they have the same conserved functional sites (95, 98, 121, 124, 221, 257). The nucleotide sequence similarity among the three strains of the genus of Arthrospira (96.5 - 99.6% ) is higher than that between Arthrospira and Spindina (78.1 - 78.5 % ). By comparison of the corresponding sequence of other cyanobacteria, a phylogenetic tree with two clusters is constructed. A. platensis FACHB341, A. maxima OUQDSM and A.platensis FACHB439 form the monophyletic linage, which is fully supported by bootstrap values (1000), while Spirulina sp. FACHB440 and Anabaena sp. PCC7120 cluster in another linage with the bootstrapvalue of 909.     

Establishment ofChlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast expression

An expression vector pACⅢ containing the chimeric gene HAV- VP3P1 and HCV-C gene has been constructed and transferred to C. reinhardtii by the biolistic method. The trans-formants have been identified by PCR, Southern-blotting, Northern-blotting and Western-blotting assays after selecting on resistant medium and incubating in the dark. The results show that the chimeric gene has replaced the chIL gene of C. reinhardtii chloroplast genome and expressed correctly under the control of the C. reinhardtii chloroplast double promoters 5' chlL-5' atpA. The analysis of SDS-PAGE indicates that the expressed protein accounts for 5.31 % of total soluble protein.     

Growth Characteristics of Tetraselmis sp.-1 in Phototrophic, Mixotrophic and Heterotrophic Conditions

Tetraselmis sp.- 1 is a new microalgae strain constructed by cell fusion technique. In this paper, the growth characteristics of Tetraselmis sp.-1 under different culture conditions are investigated. The growth kinetic models are obtained, the assimilation of C and NH4^ is investigated and the assimilation efficiency of Tetraselmis sp.-1 under different culture conditions is calculated. The results show that different cul-ture conditions do not have obvious influence on carbon ahsorbance, but have significant influence on ni-trogen absorhance, C:N is maximum under heterotrophie condition, while minimum under phototrophic condition. The assimilation efficiency (η) of Tetraselmis sp.-1 has the highest value in heterotrophic condition and largely higher than those in phototrophic and mixotrophic conditions.     

Cloning and expression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">AtPLC6</Emphasis>, a gene encoding a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis>

A full-length cDNA clone corresponding to a putative phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C(PIPLC) was isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana by screening a cDNA library and using RT-PCR strategy.The cDNA,designated AtPLC6,encodes a putative polypeptide of 578 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 66251.84 D and a pI of 7.24. The sequence analysis indicates that the polypeptide contains X, Y, EF-hand and C2 domains.The overall structure of putative AtPLC6 protein, like other plant PI-PLCs,is most similar to that of mammalian PLCδ The recombinant AtPLC6 protein expressed in E. coil was able to hydrolyze phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biophosphate (PIP2) to generate inositol 1,4,5-trisphate (IP3) and 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG).The protein hydrolyzes PIP2 in a Ca^2 -dependent manner and the optimum concentration of Ca^2 is 10μmol/L.These results suggested that AtPLC6 gene encodes a genuine PIPLC.Northern blot analysis showed that the AtPLC6 gene is expressed at low level in all examined tissues, such as roots,stems,leaves,flowers,siliques and seedlings under normal growth conditions.The gene is strongly induced under low temperature and weakly induced under various stresses,such as ABA, high-salt stress and heat. These results suggested that AtPLC6 might be involved in the signal-transduction pathways of cold responses of the plants.     

Magnaporthe oryzae MTP1 gene encodes a type III transmembrane protein involved in conidiation and conidial germination

In this study the MTP1 gene, encoding a type III integral transmembrane protein, was isolated from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. The Mtp 1 protein is 520 amino acids long and is comparable to the Ytp 1 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with 46% sequence similarity. Prediction programs and MTP1-GFP （green fluorescent protein） fusion expression results indicate that Mtp 1 is a protein located at several membranes in the cytoplasm. The functions of the MTP1 gene in the growth and development of the fungus were studied using an MTP1 gene knockout mutant. The MTP1 gene was primarily expressed at the hyphal and conidial stages and is necessary for conidiation and conidial germination, but is not required for pathogenicity. The Amtpl mutant grew more efficiently than the wild type strain on non-fermentable carbon sources, implying that the MTP1 gene has a unique role in respiratory growth and carbon source use.     

DnaJ-like protein gene sll1384 is involved in phototaxis in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

In Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, gene sll1384 encodes a protein with a DnaJ domain at its N-terminal portion and a TPR domain at the C-terminal portion. An sll1384 mutant shows no difference from the wild type in adaptation to different temperatures, but almost completely loses its capability of phototactic movement. After complementation with sll1384, the mutant regains the phototaxis. As shown with electron microscopy, on the cell surface, mutant cells have pill that appear to be the same as that of the wild type. Also, the transformation efficiency remains unchanged in the mutant. It is postulated that Sll1384 regulates phototaxis of Synechocystis through protein-protein interaction. It is the first DnaJ-like protein gene identified in a cyanobacterium for a role in phototaxis.     

Characterization of nitrogen-fixing moderate halophilic cyanobacteria isolated from saline soils of Songnen Plain in China

Twenty out of 200 isolates of cyanobacteria mainly from saline soils of Songnen Plain of China were successfully grown on BG11 N-free medium. The nitrogen-fixing activity was then demonstrated for the 20 isolates in modified BG 11 medium using the acetylene reduction assay. All of them possessed appreciable nitrogenase activity （acetylene reduction） under non-saline conditions; however, at 5% NaCl only 60% of the isolates exhibited a high rate of this activity and 25% were completely negative under these conditions. The cyanobacteria isolates grew well in BG11 medium; nevertheless, growth of the majority of isolates was reduced by about 25-85% in the same medium containing 5% NaCl. Cellulolytic activity was detected in 50% of the 20 strains, amylolytic in 45%, and pectinolytic in 10%o of the isolates. The cyanobacteria isolates showed also enzymatic activity under saline conditions （6%）. The preliminary identification indicated that seven isolates were Nostoc, two were Microcystis, four were Oscillatoria, six were Anabaena, and one isolate was Synechococcus.     

Proteomic analysis of a toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella under different growth phases and conditions

Alexandrium is a widely spread dinoflagellate genus throughout many regions of the world,which not only causes the harmful algal blooms(HABs) but also results in the paralytic shellfish poisoning(PSP) throughout the world.This study compared protein profiles of A.catenella grown under different growth phases and conditions using a proteomic approach,and identified the differentially expressed proteins.The results showed that the expressions of proteins identified in three different regions of the gels,the groups 1,2 and 3 proteins,varied significantly with the growth phases and conditions.Group 1 proteins and six Group 2 proteins were highly expressed at the initial,exponential and stationary growth phases,eight Group 2 proteins were highly expressed only at the initial phase,and Group 3 proteins were highly expressed at the exponential and/or stationary phases.However,all these proteins were expressed at low levels or were barely visible at the dissipation phase.The expressions of groups 1 and 2 proteins were low or barely visible in various growth conditions except in continuous darkness they were highly expressed.Group 3 proteins,on the other hand,were overexpressed in continuous illumination and expressed at low levels or barely visible in continuous darkness or under nitrate-starvation.The data from MALDI-TOF-TOF mass spectrometry demonstrated that these differentially expressed proteins were associated with macromolecular biosynthesis,photosynthesis,tRNA synthesis and DNA stability,stress response and cell division regulation.Synthetase was the major component of the altered proteins.This is one of the first comprehensive proteomic study of a dinoflagellate,A.catenella,that provides a fundamental understanding of the proteins involved in A.catenella growth and response to environmental stresses,and potential physiological indicator proteins related to growth and environmental stress have been identified.     

Effect of iron deficiency on heterocyst differentiation and physiology of the filamentous cyanobacterium<Emphasis Type="Italic">Anabaena</Emphasis> sp. PCC 7120

The effect of iron deficiency on heterocyst differentiation and some physiological properties of the filamentous cyanobacteriumAnabaena sp. PCC 7120 was investigated. Under moderate iron limitation conditions, achieved by addition of iron chelator 2, 2′-Dipyridyl (<80 μmol/L) led to delayed heterocyst differentiation, no heterocyst differentiation was observed under severe iron limitation conditions, when the concentration of 2,2′-Dipyridyl in the medium was more than 100 μmol/L. it seemed that there are certain iron-regulated genes or operons whose function is to control heterocyst development. In addition, iron deficiency impaired the growth. Low iron cells had a decrease in the quantities of pigment content (chlorophyll and phycocyanin content), the whole cellin vivo absorbance spectra confirmed the decrease, the protein electrophoretic profiles revealed that iron-deficient cells had less protein bands, with the increase of 2,2′-Dipyridyl, the protein bands was more and more less. And differently, iron deficiency also caused an increase of ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) and SOD activity, it suggests that iron deficiency led to oxidative stress, which generally occured under high-iron conditions. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (30070154), the Frontier Science Projects Programme of the Institute of Hydrobiology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (220316), State Key Project on Cyanobacterial Bloom Control in Lake Danchi (K9905-35-01) Biography: Xu Wenllang (1974-), male, Ph. D. research direction: molecular genetics of eyanobacteria.     

Ubi1 intron-mediated enhancement of the expression of Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize （Zea mays L.）

The cry1Ah gene was one of novel insecticidal genes cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis isolate BT8. Two plant expression vectors containing cry1Ah gene were constructed. The first intron of maize ubiqutinl gene was inserted between the maize Ubiquitin promoter and cry1Ah gene in one of the plant expressing vectors （pUUOAH）. The two vectors were introduced into maize immature embryonic calli by microprojectile bombardment, and the reproductively plants were acquired. PCR and Southern blot analysis showed that foreign genes had been integrated into maize genome and inherited to the next generation stably. The ELISA assay to T1 and T2 generation plants showed that the expression of CrylAh protein in the construct containing the ubil intron （pUUOAH） was 20% higher than that of the intronless construct （pUOAH）. Bioassay results showed that the transgenic maize harboring cry1Ah gene had high resistance to the Asian corn borers and the insecticidal activity of the transgenic maize containing the ubil intron was higher than that of the intronless construct. These results indicated that the maize ubil intron can enhance the expression of the Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize efficiently     

Photodegradation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-nitrosodiethylamine in water with UV irradiation

The direct photolysis of N-nitrosodiethylamine （NDEA） in water with ultraviolet （UV） irradiation was investigated. Results showed that NDEA could be completely degraded under the direct UV irradiation. The effects of the experimental conditions, including the initial concentration of NDEA, humic acid and solution pH, were studied. The degradation products of NDEA were identified and quantified with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS） and high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）. It was confirmed that methylamine （MA）, dimethylamine （DMA）, ethylamine （EA）, diethylamine （DEA）, NO2^- and NO3^- were the main degradation products. The photolysis degradation mechanism of NDEA was also discussed. As a result of N-N bond fission, NDEA was degraded by direct UV irradiation.     

Purification and inhibition fungal growth of chitinases from<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vibrio pacini</Emphasis>

Vibrio pacini synthesizes multiple chitinases, of which three have been purified in this study by ammonium sulphate fractionation, chitin affinity chromatography and gel chromatography. Molecular weights of the three chitinases, Chi1, Chi2 and Chi3 are 27×10³, 39×10³ and 46×10³ respectively, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The purified enzymes have optimal activity at pH 7–8, and retain 50% enzymatic activity pH 4–9. The activities of chitinases are inhibited by Pb²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Cu²⁺, and increased by Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺. Chi3 is found to inhibit the growth of six species of fungi. Such characters of chitinase are different from those of any other chitinase that were reported before. Foundation item: Supported by the Key Technologies Research and Development Programme of the Tenth Five-Year Plan of the Nation Scientific and Technological Development (2001 BA708B04-07) Biography: HAN Bao-qin (1963-), female, Professor.     

Rate constants for the reaction of ozone with <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-butyl, <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>-butyl and <Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis>-butyl methyl sulfides

The rate constants for the ozone reactions with n-butyl methyl sulfide （n-BMS, CHaCH2CH2CH2SCH3）, sec-butyl methyl sulfide （s-BMS, CH3CH2（CH3）CHSCHa） and tert-butyl methyl sulfide （t-BMS, （CH3）3CSCH3） were measured using our smog chamber under supposedly pseudo-first-order conditions at 30002 K and 760 Torr. The experimental determined rate constants for n-butyl, s-butyl and t-butyl methyl sulfide are （1.23 ± 0.06）×10-19, （5.08 ± 0.19）×10-20 and （2.26 ± 0.14）×10-20 cm3 molecule-1· s-1, respectively. The reactivity-structure relationship of the reactions was discussed and used to illustrate the mechanism of the ozone reaction with thioethers. The results enrich the kinetics data of atmospheric chemistry.     

Analysis of type II toxin-antitoxin genes <Emphasis Type="Italic">all</Emphasis> 3211-<Emphasis Type="Italic">asl</Emphasis> 3212 in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anabaena</Emphasis> PCC 7120

The type II toxin-antitoxin genes are responsible for the phenotypic switch to a quasi-dormant state that enables cell survival under stresses, a similar function to heterocyst of cyanobacteria. In this paper, we particularly study the role of gene pair all3211-asl3212 under Spectinomycin stress to reveal how the type II toxin-antitoxin involved in environmental stress responses. Bioinformatics prediction shows that toxin protein gene All3211 is homologous to MazF, a member of mazEF family that encoding nucleases. We clone gene all3211-asl3212 into expression vectors to identify its molecular characteristics. Deletion mutant strains of all3211-asl3212 are selected in a tri-parental mating screen. Phenotype comparisons of mutant and wild type reveals no difference of single-deletion-mutants in pigment integrity, the sensitivity to antibiotics, and heterocyst formation. The results show that deletion mutation of single TAS gene pair all3211-asl3212 results in limited effects on the cellular growth of PCC 7120. Thus, we suggest that dosage compensating might be provided from redundant genes or bypass pathways to offset obvious phenotypic differences.     

Characterization of type<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> Banach spaces by the weak law of large numbers

For weighted sums of the form where {a _nj , 1 ⩽j⩽k _n ↑∞,n⩾1} is a real constant array and {X _aj , 1≤j≤k _{n, n}≥1} is a rowwise independent, zero mean, random element array in a real separable Banach space of typep, we establishL ^r convergence theorem and a general weak law of large numbers respectively, conversely, we characterize Banach spaces of typep in terms of convergence inr-th mean and probability for such weighted sums. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10071058) Biography: Gan Shi-xin (1939-), male, Professor, research direction: martingale theory, probability limiting theory and Banach space geometry theory.     

Comparison of the carbon isotope composition of total organic carbon and long-chain <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-alkanes from surface soils in eastern China and their significance

Surface soil samples collected over a high spatial resolution in eastern China were analyzed for carbon isotope composition （δ^13C） of total organic carbon （TOC） and higher plant-derived long-chain n-alkanes, with the latter reported as weighted mean values. The two sets of δ^13C values are significantly correlated and show similar trends in spatial variation. The spatial distribution of δ^13C shows less negative values in the mid-latitudes between 31°N and 40°N and more negative ones at higher and lower latitudes. This is consistent with previously reported carbon isotope data from surface soil phytoliths in the same region and suggests that the mid-latitude area provides relatively favorable growing condi- tions for C4 plants. Furthermore, δ^13C values of both TOC and long-chain n-alkanes from 12 surface soil samples collected from a small grassland in north China displayed similar carbon isotope values and the difference between paired δ^13C of a soil samples remains relatively constant. Our data demonstrate that in eastern China, soil δ^13C composition of both TOC and long-chain n-alkanes is effective indicators of C3/C4 ratios of the prevailing vegetation. This work suggests that -22‰ and -32‰ are good es- timated end members for the weighted mean δ^13C values of long-chain n-alkanes （C27, C29 and C31 n-alkanes） from soils under dominant C4 or C3 vegetation, allowing us to reconstruct paleovegetation trends.     

Double-Talk Detection Algorithm Based on the Ι2 Norm

Echo canceller generally needs a double-talk detector which is used to keep the adaptive filter from diverging in the appearance of near-end speech. In this paper we adopt a new double-talk detection algorithm based on ι2 norm to detect the existence of near-end speech in an acoustic echo canceller. We analyze this algorithm from the point of view of functional analysis and point out that the proposed double-talk detection algorithm has the same performance as the classic one in a finite Banach space. The remarkable feature of this algorithm is its higher accuracy and better computation complexity. The fine properties of this algorithm are confirmed by computer simulation and the application in a multimedia communication system.