Microtubule basis for left-handed helical growth in Arabidopsis

Left-right asymmetry in plants can be found in helices of stalks, stems and tendrils, and in fan-like petal arrangements. The handedness in these asymmetric structures is often fixed in given species, indicating that genetic factors control asymmetric development. Here we show that dominant negative mutations at the tubulin intradimer interface of alpha-tubulins 4 and 6 cause left-handed helical growth and clockwise twisting in elongating organs of Arabidopsis thaliana. We demonstrate that the mutant tubulins incorporate into microtubule polymers, producing right-handed obliquely oriented cortical arrays, in the root epidermal cells. The cortical microtubules in the mutants had increased sensitivity to microtubule-specific drugs. These results suggest that reduced microtubule stability can produce left-handed helical growth in plants.     

Molecular basis of mechanosensory transduction

Mechanotransduction - a cell's conversion of a mechanical stimulus into an electrical signal - reveals vital features of an organism's environment. From hair cells and skin mechanoreceptors in vertebrates, to bristle receptors in flies and touch receptors in worms, mechanically sensitive cells are essential in the life of an organism. The scarcity of these cells and the uniqueness of their transduction mechanisms have conspired to slow molecular characterization of the ensembles that carry out mechanotransduction. But recent progress in both invertebrates and vertebrates is beginning to reveal the identities of proteins essential for transduction.     

Fibrillins突变体对拟南芥开花时间影响

植物的开花受到多条途径的控制,包括春化途径、赤霉素途径、自主途径和光周期途径。以拟南芥Columbia（Col.）生态型和拟南芥Fibrillins突变体(本研究所使用突变体为fbn8和fbn1a)为研究对象,以杂交的方法获得fbn1a /fbn8双重突变体。文章对Fibrillins突变体在不同的环境下FBN1a、 FBN8对开花时间调节的可能机制进行初步探究。本研究发现,Fibrillins突变体在长日照、短日照条件下均为早花,并且fbn1a /fbn8双重突变体早花现象更为明显。说明FBN1a、FBN8有可能共同在开花途径中起到作用。通过连续对突变体开花基因的检测发现,和单突变体相比,fbn1a /fbn8双重突变体中的FT、SOC1、CO的基因表达量都大幅度增加,其中FT增加的更为明显,FLC减少也更为明显。而与野生型相比较,这种现象单突变体fbn1a又要比fbn8更为明显。最后,通过检测了植株体内H2O2含量的变化发现,与野生型比较fbn8、fbn1a和 fbn1a /fbn8体内H2O2含量升高程度为20%、30%、50%。由实验结果推测Fibrillins可能通过影响体内H2O2含量变化来参与开花时间的改变。     

时间门在天线时域远场测试中的应用

文章利用测量系统的快速扫频功能通过逆傅里叶变换获取天线的时域方向图,并利用时间门对环境散射信号进行了处理,返回频域后获取了更加接近理论的方向图;另外,还通过选择不同时间门实现了2个天线方向图的同时测量,并对时间门误差进行了分析。     

关于相对论中时间测量与观察问题的讨论

~~关于相对论中时间测量与观察问题的讨论@毛克信$渤海大学物理系!辽宁锦州121000~~~~~~     

Molecular basis of base substitution hotspots in Escherichia coli.

In the lacI gene of Escherichia coli spontaneous base substituion hotspots occur at 5-methylcytosine residues. The hotspots disappear when the respective cytosines are not methylated. We suggest that the hotspots may result from the spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosine to thymine, which is not excised by the enzyme DNA-uracil glycosidase.     

Molecular basis of the copulatory plug polymorphism in Caenorhabditis elegans

Heritable variation is the raw material for evolutionary change, and understanding its genetic basis is one of the central problems in modern biology. We investigated the genetic basis of a classic phenotypic dimorphism in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Males from many natural isolates deposit a copulatory plug after mating, whereas males from other natural isolates?including the standard wild-type strain (N2 Bristol) that is used in most research laboratories?do not deposit plugs. The copulatory plug is a gelatinous mass that covers the hermaphrodite vulva, and its deposition decreases the mating success of subsequent males. We show that the plugging polymorphism results from the insertion of a retrotransposon into an exon of a novel mucin-like gene, plg-1, whose product is a major structural component of the copulatory plug. The gene is expressed in a subset of secretory cells of the male somatic gonad, and its loss has no evident effects beyond the loss of male mate-guarding. Although C. elegans descends from an obligate-outcrossing, male?female ancestor, it occurs primarily as self-fertilizing hermaphrodites. The reduced selection on male?male competition associated with the origin of hermaphroditism may have permitted the global spread of a loss-of-function mutation with restricted pleiotropy.     

Molecular basis of photoprotection and control of photosynthetic light-harvesting

In order to maximize their use of light energy in photosynthesis, plants have molecules that act as light-harvesting antennae, which collect light quanta and deliver them to the reaction centres, where energy conversion into a chemical form takes place. The functioning of the antenna responds to the extreme changes in the intensity of sunlight encountered in nature. In shade, light is efficiently harvested in photosynthesis. However, in full sunlight, much of the energy absorbed is not needed and there are vitally important switches to specific antenna states, which safely dissipate the excess energy as heat. This is essential for plant survival, because it provides protection against the potential photo-damage of the photosynthetic membrane. But whereas the features that establish high photosynthetic efficiency have been highlighted, almost nothing is known about the molecular nature of the dissipative states. Recently, the atomic structure of the major plant light-harvesting antenna protein, LHCII, has been determined by X-ray crystallography. Here we demonstrate that this is the structure of a dissipative state of LHCII. We present a spectroscopic analysis of this crystal form, and identify the specific changes in configuration of its pigment population that give LHCII the intrinsic capability to regulate energy flow. This provides a molecular basis for understanding the control of photosynthetic light-harvesting.     

流感病毒致病的分子基础

自然感染，流感病毒感染的宿主范围有较强的特异性，各毒株所表现的毒力也所不同，决定流感病毒宿主特异性和毒力的因素很多，本文主要从流感病毒的分子水平上来揭示流感病毒的宿主特异性及其毒力差异。     

Molecular genetic basis of the histo-blood group ABO system

The histo-blood group ABO, the major human alloantigen system, involves three carbohydrate antigens (ABH). A, B and AB individuals express glycosyltransferase activities converting the H antigen into A or B antigens, whereas O(H) individuals lack such activity. Here we present a molecular basis for the ABO genotypes. The A and B genes differ in a few single-base substitutions, changing four amino-acid residues that may cause differences in A and B transferase specificity. A critical single-base deletion was found in the O gene, which results in an entirely different, inactive protein incapable of modifying the H antigen.     

抗纤维结合素单克隆抗体与自身抗原组蛋白免疫交叉反应的分子基础研究

应用免疫扩散和ＷｅｓｔｅｒｎＢｌｏｔ分析证实了抗纤维结合素（Ｆｉｂｒｏｎｅｃｔｉｎ，ＦＮ）单克隆抗体与自身抗原组蛋白（Ｈｉｓｔｏｎｅｓ）发生免疫学交叉反应。通过计算机技术进一步分析了交叉反应的分子基础。在组蛋白和ＦＮ之间有５个氨基酸序列同源性区域被发现。同源性区域与Ｐｏｌｌａｒｄ所预测的组蛋白抗原决定簇相一致（Ｐｏｌｌａｒｄ，１９９０，Ａｕｔｏｉｍｍｕｎｉｔｙ）。根据抗原抗体反应的物理学，化学和免疫学特性，讨论了单克隆抗体与不相关抗原发生交叉反应的可能原因。包括：１．分子模拟－－－氨基酸序列同源性；２．不相关抗原共享的构型表位；３．抗原抗体反应时空间电荷分布；４．反应介质的诱导。组蛋白与某些单克隆抗体发生的交叉反应性揭示了在自身免疫性疾病中抗组蛋白自身抗体产生的可能致病原因。     

基于时间序列季节调整的家用空调出口分析

家用空调出口量的数据序列中存在明显的季节效应，这会影响对家用空调出口整体趋势的分析及判断．针对这个问题，文章基于X—11模型对家用空调出口量的数据序列进行季节调整，消除其中的偶然因素，并利用SAS软件编程进行了实证分析．结果表明：2002年开始，我国空调出口量有非常显著的线性递增趋势，2008年下半年出现了明显的下滑，2009年初开始略有回升．