猪Klf4、Klf5和Egr2基因内含子的克隆及进化分析

从猪肝脏提取基因组作为模板,分别扩增了Klf4、Klf5和Egr2的第3、第2和第1内含子,长度分别为916、1027和1342bp,并通过其两端连接的部分外显子序列与Genbank序列比对加以确认,并和人相应基因内含子作长度和序列同源性比较。结果表明,由内含子比对得出的这些基因在人和猪间的保守程度与这些基因在氨基酸水平上比对得出的保守程度相一致。     

黑腹果蝇种组组蛋白基因间内含子区的分子进化

通过分析黑腹果蝇种组(Drosophila melanogasterspecies group)9个种亚组代表种和D.pseudoobscura的组蛋白基因H2A和H2B的内含子的碱基组成、替换速率、转换/颠换比、二级结构和系统发育关系等发现:整个序列长度变异范围在201 bp(ficusphila)到232 bp(takahashii)之间,替换速率为0.82,转换明显高于颠换,内含子和外显子结合区不遵循“GT-AG”和“AT-AC”模式,而是“TT-AG”模式,二级结构与系统分化关系具有相关性.我们认为组蛋白基因H2A和H2B的内含子是先起源的,在进化过程中由于承受的选择压力不同而发生了变异.     

Analysis of intron sequence variability of the conservative HMG-box of Sox9 genes in allotetraploids and their original parents

The Sox genes of allotetraploids and their original maternal red crucian carp (Carassius caassius red var.) and original paternal common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) were detected by PCR with the designed primers based on the conserved HMG-box sequence in different species. Sequencing of Sox genes indicated that two Sox9 genes (Atsox9a and Atsox9b) existed in allotetraploids, while only one Sox9 gene existed in red crucian carp (Rcsox9a) and common carp (Ccsox9b) . All of the four Sox9 genes contained an intron in the HMG-box. with the sizes of 413 bp, 703 bp, 401 bp and 714 bp, respectively. Moreover, the introns obeyed the rule of "GT-AG" . A high similarity was observed between introns of Atsox9a and Rcsox9a (94.4%), Atsox9b and Ccsox9b (97.8%). Interestingly, the deduced amino acid sequences of their corresponding exons all shared 100% identity. Thus, introns of the HMG-domain of Sox9s in allotetraploids and their original parents have not only the length polymorphism but also intron variability. Our results provide significant molecular evidence for the origin and evolution of allotetraploids.     

Analysis of intron sequence variability of the conservative HMG-box of Sox9 genes in allotetraploids and their original parents

The Sox genes of allotetraploids and their original maternal red crucian carp （Carassius caassius red var.） and original paternal common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) were detected by PCR with the designed primers based on the conserved HMG-box sequence in different species. Sequencing of Sox genes indicated that two Sox9 genes (Atsox9a and Atsox9b) existed in allotetraploids, while only one Sox9 gene existed in red crucian carp (Rcsox9a) and common carp (Ccsox9b). All of the four Sox9 genes contained an intron in the HMG-box, with the sizes of 413 bp, 703 bp, 401 bp and 714 bp, respectively. Moreover, the introns obeyed the rule of “GT-AG”. A high similarity was observed between introns of Atsox9a and Rcsox9a (94.4%), Atsox9b and Ccsox9b (97.8%). Interestingly, the deduced amino acid sequences of their corresponding exons all shared 100% identity. Thus, introns of the HMG-domain of Sox9s in allotetraploids and their original parents have not only the length polymorphism but also intron variability. Our results provide significant molecular evidence for the origin and evolution of allotetraploids.     

成都麻羊MyoG基因的克隆与测序分析

根据猪MyoG基因的部分序列和绵羊MyoG mRNA设计引物,以成都麻羊、金堂黑山羊、白玉黑山羊和高原型藏山羊基因组为模板,应用PCR技术克隆测定MyoG基因序列．序列分析结果表明,成都麻羊MyoG基因长1957bp,由3个外显子和2个内含子组成,其中外显子Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ的大小分别为398bp、82bp、122bp．内含子Ⅰ和内含子Ⅱ的大小分别为765bp和589bp．成都麻羊MyoG基因序列与金堂黑山羊、白玉黑山羊和高原型藏山羊的MyoG基因序列进行比对,同源性分别为99．9％、99．7％和99．3％,而它们氨基酸序列的同源性都为100％．这为进一步研究成都麻羊MyoG基因的表达、生物学活性和应用奠定了一定基础．     

Exon shuffling by recombination between self-splicing introns of bacteriophage T4

The organization of genes into exons separated by introns may permit rapid evolution of protein-coding sequences by exon shuffling. Introns could provide non-coding targets for recombination, which would then give rise to novel combinations of exons. Evidence to support this theory is indirect and consists of examples of homologous domains of protein structure encoded in different genes, with introns in conserved positions at the boundaries of these domains. Here, we report the first direct evidence for exon shuffling. Two spontaneous deletion mutations of phage T4 have been characterized by sequencing, and they are clearly the result of recombination between homologous regions of two self-splicing group I introns. As a result of the recombination, exons of different genes are transcribed together, with a hybrid intron between them. One of these introns is proficient in self-splicing.     

中国四个小型猪品种生长激素基因克隆测序及分子进化研究

研究对中国四个小型猪五指山猪、贵州香猪、滇南小耳猪和藏猪的生长激素基因(pGH,porcine growth hormone)进行了克隆测序及构建分子进化树,考察该激素对小型猪体型的影响。通过筛选合适的引物,采用PCR技术,扩增了四个小型猪品种的pGH基因全序列,并对其进行了克隆测序分析。4个小型猪品种pGH基因全长为2006bp,包括5个外显子和4个内含子,CDS全长为648bp。将4个品种小型猪和长白猪、雅南猪、内江猪进行了核苷酸序列比对,共有63处发生了变异,变异率为2.9%,其中外显子有12处变异,全部为转换;内含子有51处发生了变异,包括转换、颠换和缺失。聚类结果基本符合其地方猪种的地理位置分布原则。     

Independent evolution of structural and coding regions in a Neurospora mitochondrial intron

The discovery of intervening sequences (introns) in eukaryotic genes has raised questions about the origin and evolution of these sequences. Hypotheses concerning these topics usually consider the intron as a unit that could be lost or gained over time, or as a region within which recombination can occur to facilitate the production of new proteins by exon shuffling. Additional complexities are observed in introns of mitochondrial and chloroplast genes which contain secondary structures required for messenger RNA splicing and open-reading frames encoding proteins. Here we describe differences in the organization of protein-coding sequences in the intron of the mitochondrial ND1 gene in two closely related species of Neurospora. These differences show that intron sequences involved in secondary structure formation and in protein coding can evolve as physically distinct elements. Indeed, the secondary structure elements of the ND1 intron can contain two different coding sequences located at two different positions within the intron.     

Spontaneous shuffling of domains between introns of phage T4

The three self-splicing introns in phage T4 (in the td, sunY and nrdB genes) (Fig. 1a) each have the conserved group I catalytic RNA core structure (Fig. 1b), out of which is looped an open reading frame. Although the core sequences are very similar (approximately 60% identity), the open reading frames seem to be unrelated. Single crossover recombination events between homologous core sequences in the closely linked td and nrdB introns have led to 'exon shuffling. Here we describe spontaneous double crossovers between the unlinked td and sun Y introns that result in shuffling of an intron structure element, P7.1 (refs 3 and 4). The intron domain-switch variants were isolated as genetic suppressors of a splicing-defective P7.1 deletion in the td intron. This unprecedented example of suppression through inter-intron sequence substitution indicates that the introns are in a state of genetic flux and implies the functional interchangeability of the two analogous but nonidentical P7.1 elements. The implications of such recombination events are discussed in the light of the evolution of the introns themselves as well as that of their host genomes.     

Isolation of tomato proteinase inhibitor Ⅱ gene and the function of its intron

The genomic DNA sequence of tomato proteinase inhibitor Ⅱ gene (named tin2i, whose accession number in GenBank is AF007240) was isolated by PCR techniques. The intron sequence (TPI), with a length of 109 bp, owns typical structures of GT/AG dinucleotides at both ends and high content of AT base pairs which accounts for 80.7% of the total nucleotides. As shown by recombination experiment, the TPI sequence could efficiently promote the expression of the reporter gene gusA and this effect was independent of the position and orientation of the intron, thus showing its role as an enhancer. Such experiments as gel retardation assays, GUS histochemical staining and GUS fluorometric assays further demonstrated that TPI sequence maybe has promoter-like activity.     

Isolation of tomato proteinase inhibitor II gene and the function of its intron

The genomic DNA sequence of tomato proteinase inhibitor II gene (named tin2i, whose accession number in GenBank is AF007240) was isolated by PCR techniques. The intron sequence (TPI), with a length of 109 bp, owns typical structures of GT/AG dinucleotides at both ends and high content of AT base pairs which accounts for 80.7% of the total nucleotides. As shown by recombination experiment, the TPI sequence could efficiently promote the expression of the reporter gene gusA and this effect was independent of the position and orientation of the intron, thus showing its role as an enhancer. Such experiments as gel retardation assays, GUS histochemical staining and GUS fluorometric assays further demonstrated that TPI sequence maybe has promoter-like activity.     

Unusual sequences in the murine immunoglobulin mu-delta heavy-chain region

The delta heavy (H) chain of mouse immunoglobulin D (IgD) is unusual both in its structure and in its differential expression relative to immunoglobulin M (IgM; reviewed in ref. 1). The region of DNA between IgM and IgD H-chain constant-region genes is probably implicated in this control. So far only fragments of the area have been sequenced. Now, however, we present the complete sequence as well as the sequence of the introns of the C delta gene. We have found several interesting features (Fig. 1), including an open reading frame (ORF) between Cmu and C delta which encodes 146 amino acids that might represent a previously unsuspected domain-like protein; three blocks of simple repetitive sequences; a 162-base pair (bp) unique-sequence inverted repeat; and a domain-like pseudogene in the large intron of C delta. We have not found, however, any sequence 5' of C delta resembling the switch (S) recombination sequences associated with class switching in other heavy chains. Moreover, we have determined the 3' deletion end point of an IgD-producing myeloma and find no sequences reminiscent of switch sites nearby.     

关键交叉口与双周期交叉口间路段上的车辆排队模式及测算方法

为了描述周期时长不相等的协调信号交叉口间路段上车辆排队的集结与消散现象,以关键交叉口周期时长为双周期交叉口周期时长的2倍为例,基于冲击波理论,针对两个相邻交叉口之间路段上的上、下行车流分别描述了车辆排队的各种模式并建立了车辆排队长度模型。为了验证模型的有效性,利用VISSIM交通仿真软件设计了模拟实验方案。考虑不同条件下信号红时差与交通流率的多种组合,通过仿真实验共得到35组数据,每组数据均获得84个有效数据点。结果显示,上、下行方向的车辆排队消散长度的计算值与模拟值的相对误差小于10%的周期分别占75.56%和95.00%;交叉口信号周期越长,其排队消散长度的平均值和最大值也相应地越长。研究结果表明,该模型可以用来估算周期时长不相等的协调信号交叉口间路段上车辆的排队长度,从而为交通控制方案的优化与调整提供理论依据。     

Levels of naturally occurring DNA polymorphism correlate with recombination rates in D. melanogaster.

Two genomic regions with unusually low recombination rates in Drosophila melanogaster have normal levels of divergence but greatly reduced nucleotide diversity, apparently resulting from the fixation of advantageous mutations and the associated hitch-hiking effect. Here we show that for 20 gene regions from across the genome, the amount of nucleotide diversity in natural populations of D. melanogaster is positively correlated with the regional rate of recombination. This cannot be explained by variation in mutation rates and/or functional constraint, because we observe no correlation between recombination rates and DNA sequence divergence between D. melanogaster and its sibling species, D. simulans. We suggest that the correlation may result from genetic hitch-hiking associated with the fixation of advantageous mutants. Hitch-hiking thus seems to occur over a large fraction of the Drosophila genome and may constitute a major constraint on levels of genetic variation in nature.     

A role for branchpoints in splicing in vivo

The nucleotides immediately surrounding intron/exon junctions of genes transcribed by RNA polymerase B can be derived from 'consensus' sequences for donor and acceptor splice sites by only a few base changes. Studies in vivo have underlined the importance of these junction nucleotides for splicing. In higher eukaryotes, no evidence has been found for specific internal intron sequences involved in splicing. However, the recent discovery that, in vitro, introns are excised in a lariat form where the 5' end of the intron is joined via a 2'-5'-phosphodiester linkage to an A residue (branchpoint acceptor) close to the 3' end of the intron, suggests that internal intron sequences may nonetheless be important for splicing. Indeed, in yeast nuclear genes, the internal sequence 5'-TACTAAC-3' (or close homologue) is essential for splicing in vivo. A proposed consensus sequence for branchpoints in mammalian introns is 5'-CT(A/G)A(C/T)-3'. This sequence resembles the essential yeast internal sequence. Are branchpoints involved in the splicing of introns of higher eukaryotes in vivo? We show here that a branchpoint sequence from a human globin gene (5'-CTGACTCTCTCTG-3') greatly enhances the efficiency of splicing of a 'synthetic' intron in HeLa cells. A mutated branchpoint sequence, 5'-CTCCTCTCTCTG-3', in which the branchpoint acceptor nucleotide A has been deleted and the neighbouring purine G mutated to a C, does not exhibit this enhancing capability. We conclude that branchpoints have an important function in the splicing process in vivo.     

三种红豆杉BAPT基因的克隆及序列分析

利用热启动PCR法分别从矮紫杉、欧洲红豆杉以及中国红豆杉基因组DNA中首次克隆到长度为1456bp的BAPT基因全长序列。序列分析结果表明:三种红豆杉BAPT基因序列的同源性达到了97.4%;将三种红豆杉的BAPT序列与NCBI上登录的BAPTcDNA序列相比对,发现其均含有1个核苷酸序列高度保守的110bp左右的内含子。