Molecular biological research on Foraminifera

ForaminiferabelongstoSarcodina(Protozoa)andexhibitscytoplasmicorganizationandpseudopdial streamingcharacteristicbroadlyofamoeboidorgan ism[1].Itmainlylivesinthemarineenvironment withamembranous,agglutinatedorcalcareousshell.Asoneofthemostimportantgroupsinmicropaleon tology,Foraminiferahasbeenwidelyusedforthe stratigraphicsubdivision,correlationinpetroleum wellsandforthereconstructionofpaleo environments duringthelastseveraldecades[2,3].Furthermore,sincethe1960swiththestartofDeepSeaDrilling …     

Molecular biological analysis of remains from Jiangjungou Cemetery in Inner Mongolia

The 364-bp nucleotide sequence in hypervariable region I (HVRI) of mitochondrial DNA is successfully amplified from 9 out of 11 individuals of an ancient population buried in the Jiangjungou Cemetery in Inner Mongolia dated back to the Warring States Period in China. Nine fragments with different variations are obtained. A phylogenetic tree and a multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot are constructed using mtDNA sequences from the ancient population and several modern Asian populations. The results show that ancient population shares a closer genetic relationship with East Asian populations than with North and Central Asian populations. The genetic and historical evidence raise the possibility that the population might be the immigrants from Zhongyuan area, sent by the King Wuling of Zhao State to guard the nation against the attack from Huns.     

Molecular recognition study on a supramolecular system (ⅩⅤ)──Molecular recognition of aliphatic alcohols by some phenyl-selenium modified β-cyclodextrins

The spectrophotometric titrations have been performed at 298.15 K in buffered aqueous solution (pH 7.20) to give the stability constants (logK-s) for the supramolecular system formed by mono-[6-(phenylseleno)-6-deoxy]-β-cyclodextrin (2), mono-[6-(p-tolylseleno)-6-deoxy]-β-cyclodextrin (3), mono-[6-(o-tolylseleno)-6-deoxy]-β-cyclodextrin (4), mono-[6-(m-tolylseleno)-6-deoxy]-β-cyclodextrin (5) with a series of aliphatic alcohols. The results were compared with the data reported for the parent β-cyclodextrin. The molecular binding ability and selectivity for aliphatic alcohols of modified β-cyclodextrins (2_5) were discussed from the viewpoints of the induced-fit and geometrical complement. The results obtained indicate that the phenylseleno moiety of β-cyclodextrin derivatives (2_5) as a probe for spectrometry can enhance not only the molecular binding ability but also the molecular recognition ability.     

Effects of space environment on biological characters of tissue cultured rose seedlings

Tissue cultured rose seedlings were carried into space by SHENZHOU-4 spacecraft and then used as the experimental material to investigate effects of the space environmental conditions on morphology, cytology, physiology and molecular biology of the seedlings. After loaded on the space flight, the plant's height, number of leaves, and fresh weight per seedling were all increased significantly compared to the ground controls. The content of chlorophyll was basically unchanged. In some cells, the ultrastructural changes involved twist, contraction and deformation of cell wall, curvature and loose arrangement of lamellae of some chloroplasts, and a significant increase in number of starch grains per chloroplast. In addition, the number of mitochondria increased, but some mitochondrial outer membrane broke, and some mitochondrial cristae disappeared. The activities of the defense enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalyse, in rose leaves increased and the content of malondialdehyde decreased. In the RAPD analysis with 40 10-mer primers, 36 primers generated 148 DNA bands from both of the space flight treated seedlings and the ground controls, and five primers amplified polymorphic products. The rate of DNA variation was 6.34%.     

Molecular ecology studies of marine Synechococcus

Cyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus is a dominant component of microbial community in the world's oceans, and is a major contributor to marine primary productivity and thus plays an important role in carbon cycling in the oceans. Besides the ecological importance, the cultivability also made Synechococcus a very special group of marine microorganisms, which has attracted great attention from oceanographers and biologists. Great progress in the physiology, biochemistry and phylogeny of Synechococcus has been made since its discovery. We here review the current status of molecular ecology of marine Synechococcus and give a perspective into the future based on our understanding of the literature and our own work.     

Molecular dynamics study on the structure I helium hydrate

A 368- water molecule structure I gas hydrate, encased by the number of helium (He) molecules ranging from two to twenty-two, are calculated by molecular dynamical simulations. The potential TIP4P (transferable intermolecular potentical with four sites) is used for water interactions and Lennard-Jones for He-He and He-water interactions. He molecules do not affect the water lattice and can stabilize the hydrate when their concentration is small. A trough signature of He encased is found at 80～90 meV in the phonon density of states. He molecules prefer to be more off-center in 51262 cages. Heavier isotope He are energetically favorable to be filled in cages.     

Molecular architecture and engineering of spider dragline silk protein

Spider dragline silk, which is produced in spider major ampullate gland, is a composite proteinacious fiber with highly repetitive Ala-Gly-rich domain. The unique combination of both high tensile strength and high elasticity makes spider dragline silk superior to almost any other natural or synthetic fibers. Cloning of the genes reveals that the silk is composed of at least two major proteins. Each protein component contains multiple repeats of modular structures that alternate between Ala-rich domains and Gly-rich domains. Molecular engineering not only opens a door to the production of spidroins but also provides a valuable experimental system to test and further establish the relationship between modular structures and mechanical properties. Here, based on our own studies, we review the latest progress of the modular structure and genetic engineering and outline the future prospects.     

Molecular mechanism of the inhibitory effect of methylation outside the recognition sequence of restriction endonuclease Pvu Π on its cleavage activity

In 1991, we found that methylation outside the PvuⅡ recognition sequence could partially inhibit its cleavage activity. To clarify the molecular mechanism, three plasmids with different methylation states were constructed. Then, together with the original one, four plasmids were digested with different amounts of PvuⅡ. Results show that methylation on both sites results in 90% inhibition; moving the methylated site one base further away decreases the inhibitory effect to about 30%; with the adjacent dam methylation site eliminated, the inhibitory effect disappears. The data suggest that the inhibition of cleavage activity caused by outside methylation is not "all or none", and the degree of inhibition is dependent on the position and the number of methylated bases.     

Phylogenetic studies of Chinese labeonine fishes (Teleostei:Cyprinidae) based on the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene

The mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene is sequenced from 24 ingroups taxa, including 18 species from Labeoninae grouped in 13 genera. Phylogenetic analyses are subjected to neighbor joining, maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Labeoninae is basically a monophyletic assemblage and can be divided into 2 major clades: one comprising the genera Cirrhinus, Crossocheilus and Garra; and the other consisting of the genera Labeo, Sinilabeo, Osteochilus, Pseudoorossocheilus, Parasinilabeo, Ptychidio, Semilabeo, Pseudogyricheilus, Rectori and Discogobio. According to our present analysis,the features such as the presence of the adhesive disc on the chin and the pharyngeal teeth in 2 rows used in the traditional taxonomy of Labeoninae provide scarce information for phylogeny of labeonine fishes.     

Bio-rational design of photosystem Ⅱ inhibitors (Ⅰ)──Molecular modeling of cyanoacrylates and ureas in photosystem Ⅱ D1 protein of Pisum sativum

Molecular modeling of cyanoacrylates and ureas with D1 protein of Pisum sativum have been presented. Studies show that these two kinds of inhibitors occupy the similar region in the D1 protein. Cyanoacrylates have more binding sites than ureas, thus they have higher activities.     

Deactivation study of CoAPO-11 molecular sieve on skeletal isomerization of 1-hexene

CoAPO-11 molecular sieve was prepared by hydrothermal method. The skeletal isomerization of 1-hexene was performed on this catalyst, and the deactivation of CoAPO-11 molecular sieve was discussed by comparing the physicochemical properties of fresh catalyst with those of regenerated catalyst. The deactivation of catalyst may be the result of the change of its framework, acidity and porous size distribution after reaction and regeneration, which can be attributed to the drop of Co from the catalyst’s framework.     

Study on the bulk wave radiation of finite-length SAW devices using FEMBEM

Based on the distributions of stress and free charge on the interface of the surface acoustic wave (SAW) device calculated with the combination of boundary element method and finite element method(FEMBEM), the power of each of the three possible bulk waves radiated by the SAW device is calculated, and their contributions to the overall input conductance are separated respectively. Moreover, the formula of angular distributions of their power radiation into the substrate is derived. Consider the effect of mass loading, the resistance density，defined as a scalar, is extended to generalized resistance densities which can be written as three 4×4 tensors and for which the formulas are derived. The bulk wave radiations for a synchronous one-port resonator on 42°Y-rotated LiTaO3 are simulated. It is found that the radiated energy by slow shear wave contributes a very high proportion to input electrical energy in some frequency range.     

Effects of biological pre-treatment of pine chips on the beating performance of Kraft pulp

The Calabrien pine (Pinus brutia) wood chips prior to kraft pulping were biologically pre-treated with selected white-rot fungi (Ceriporiopsis subvermispora), which was recorded to be preferentially attacking the lignin component of the wood. The effects of this treatment on beating performance and physical strength of resultant papers were studied in detail. Bio-treated samples showed comparable and, in most cases, higher physico-mechanical properties than those obtained from untreated controls. Under the same beating conditions the bio-treated kraft pulp was noted to have the lower SR° indicating a lower degree of external fibrillation. The paper made from bio-treated kraft pulp has a higher density, tensile property, air permeability and swellability. Furthermore, remarkable energy savings up to 33 % were observed when beating bio-treated kraft pulp. This study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms taking place during bio-treatment and the modification processes of cell wall components.     

Constructing a quasi-Legendre basis based on the C-Bézier basis

In the space Γn=span｛sint,cost,1,t,t2,…,tn-2｝, a C-Bézier basis is constructed by an integral approach. However, the C-Bézier basis is not orthogonal. For some applications, we construct an orthogonal basis based on the C-Bézier basis, which has remarkable properties similar to that of the Legendre basis. Then we derive the transformation matrices that convert the C-Bézier basis and the orthogonal basis into each other. As an example of application, we apply this orthogonal basis to the degree reduction approximation of the C-Bézier curves.     

Exact n-width on the class of analytic functions in the space of continuous functions

Let ω(·) be a given concave modulus of continuity and ω(g,·) be the modulus of continuity of a function g∈C, where C is the space of 2π-periodic, continuous functions on R with norm ‖f‖C∶=maxt∈R|f(t)|, r,ω∞,β(r=0,1,2,…) denotes those 2π-periodic, real-valued functions f on R that are analytic in the strip Sβ∶=｛z∈C：|Imz|＜β｝, β＞0, and satisfy the restriction condition: ω(f(r),·)≤ω(·). In this paper, the exact n-width of the class of functions r,ω∞,β in the space C is determined.     

A template of rat brain based on fMRI T*2 imaging

The development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology has made it possible to carry out functional brain imaging experiments in small animals. Usually, group data is required to form the assessment of population, which can not only increase the sensitivity of the overall experiment, but also allow the generalization of the conclusion to the whole population. In order to average the signals of functional brain images from different subjects, it is necessary to put all the mapping images into the same standard space (template image). However, up to now, most animal brain templates remain unavailable and it must be done by ourselves. In this study, a template image based on the brains of eight male Wistar rats is obtained, and it is successfully used in our present Alzheimer disease (AD)-like rat model studies as template for spatially normalizing images to the same stereotaxical space. The fMRI results processed with statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) software are in agreement with the results from immunohistochemical experiment, which proves that this method is universally applicable to the pathologic models of other small animals and to human brain lesion studies.     

Effects of binders on the performance of electric double-layer capacitors of carbon nanotube electrodes

Polarizable electrodes of electric double layer capacitor (EDLCs) were made from carbon nanotubes. Effects of different binders, which are phenolic resin (PF) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), on the properties of polarizable electrodes are studied. Results indicate that the microstructure, pore size distribution and specific capacitance of the electrodes with PTFE binder are superior to those electrodes with PF binder after carbonization. The suitable binder (PTFE) for carbon nanotubes electrodes is proposed.     

Oxidative damages to DNA by indoor PM10s: Their relationships with trace element compositions

Plasmid DNA assay and ICP-MS analysis were conducted in order to investigate the bioreactivity of inhalable particles (PM10) and the relationship between bioreactivity and trace element compositions of PM10 in Beijing air. A total of four PM10 samples were carefully selected to represent the indoor and corresponding outdoor environments: one from urban smoker's home, two from non-smoker's homes, and the other from the outdoor. In general, the oxidative damage by indoor PM10 was slightly higher than that of outdoor. Among the four sets of samples, the PM10 from the smoker's home had a lowest TD50 (toxic dose of PM10 causing 50% DNA to be damaged), being 100 μg·mL-1, suggesting the highest bioreactivity. The heavy metals are believed to be the main reason for oxidative damage to plasmid DNA. The ICP-MS analysis combined with the DNA assay showed that the water-soluble zinc levels had better relationship with TD50 values than other elements, implying that water-soluble zinc might play an important role in the damage of DNA. It is concluded that the PM10 in smoker's home had the highest level of water-soluble zinc as well as the lowest TD50 (highest bioreactivity). Iron is considered to be one of the most bioreactive elements, but it will cause little damage to plasmid DNA, probably because iron is mainly in water-insoluble state in Beijing PM10.     

Progress and prospects of studies on Polymyxa graminis and its transmitted cereal viruses in China

Polymyxa graminis is a eukaryotic obligate biotrophic parasite of plant roots that belongs to a poorly studied discrete taxonomic unit informally called “plasmodiophorids”. P. graminis is nonpathogenic, but has the ability to acquire and transmit nine plant viruses which belong to genera Bymovirus and Furovirus and cause serious diseases in cereal crop species and also result in significant yield reductions in China and elsewhere. Genus Bymovirus contains barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV), barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV), wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV), wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV), and oat mosaic virus (OMV), and genus Furovirus contains soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV), oat golden stripe virus (OGSV), and newly identified Chinese wheat mosaic virus (CWMV) and soil-borne cereal mosaic virus (SBCMV). All these viruses have been sequenced and their worldwide distributions have been studied. The viruses are protected by the environment within P. graminis resting spores that may remain dormant but viable for decades (probably until a suitable host plant is encountered). Spontaneous deletion mutants of SBWMV, OGSV and OMV are detected, and these deletion mutants are not transmissible by the fungus. The persistent, soil-borne nature of these diseases makes the use of virus-resistant crop varieties currently the only practical and environmentally friendly means to control them, and a large number of disease resistant germplasms have been screened.