Expression ofChlamydomonas actin-gfp fusion gene in tobacco suspension cell and polymerization of the actin-gfp proteinin vitro

The fusion gene of actin (cDNA ofChlamydomonas reinhardtii) and green fluorescence protein (gfp) had been constructed into two expression vectors which could be expressed inE. coli and tobacco suspension cells BY2. The correct expression was observed inE. coli and BY2 with a fluorescence microscopy. The fusion protein, which took part in the membrane skeleton, was mainly located peripherally along the membrane, specially the fusion protein was distributed around nucleus and cell plate, while the fusion protein also forms F-actin in the cell. The fusion protein was purified from Bl21plus by ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The purified production could polymerize into F-actin when the actin polymerizing buffer was added. It was demonstrated that the characteristics and function of actin inChlamydomonas was similar with those of animals and higher plants.     

Atomic force microscopic observation on substructure of pollen exine inCedrus deodara andMetasequoia glyptostroboides

The substructure of pollen exine inCedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud. andMetasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng has been examined with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The results indicate that the exine substructure units containing sporopollenin in two species are similar in shape, which are granular, but slightly different in size. InCedrus the substructure unit of pollen exine appears to be 56–99 nm long and 42–74 nm wide, while inMetasequoia it appears to be 81–118 nm long and 43–98 nm wide. It has been observed that the subunits of pollen exine inCedrus arranged tightly to form short-rod-like or spheroidal pollen exine units, several or more than ten of which formed an island-like structure. There are various spaces among these island-like structures which are interconnected to occupy the entire pollen exine. InMetasequoia, the subunits of pollen exine also arranged tightly with a distribution tendency of cluster of 3–10, however, no obvious boundary exists among these clusters. From our results, it is concluded that there is no tendency of helical arrangement for the subunits of pollen exine inCedrus andMetasequoia, and the results support Southworth’ view that subunits of pollen exine are granular shape in lattice structure.     

Molecular characterization of diapause hormone inHelicoverpa armigera

Diapause hormone (DH) is a neurohormone which is secreted from suboesophageal ganglion and responsible for induction of embryonic diapause in many insects. Using rapid amplification of the cDNA ends (RACE) method, the cDNA encoding diapause hormone inHelicoverpa armigera, a main kind of crops pest was cloned. The nucleotide sequence reveals that the mRNA encodes an open reading frame and the 25-aa DH peptide is localized at N-terminal region just after the signal peptide. A homology search showed thatH. armigera DH has high homology with the diapause hormone ofBombyx mori andHelicoverpa zea; and it also belongs to the FXPRL neuropeptide family. Thus,H. armigera DH seems to be a new type of diapause hormone molecule.     

Experimental proof for the regulation ofSalmonella typhimurium purB bypurR

Salmonella typhimurium purB encodes adenylosuccinate lyase (ASL), the enzyme that catalyzes step 8 in the pathway forde novo synthesis of inosine 5′-monophosphate (IMP) and also the final reaction in the two-step sequence from IMP to adenosine monophosphate (AMP). The nucleotide sequence ofpurB was obtained by the genetic map and sequence homologous analysis. The conservedpur operator inpurB was identified to be located 185 bp downstream of the initiation codon and overlaps codons 62 – 67 in the protein-coding region. The binding of PurR to this operator was demonstrated by gel retardation experiment and site-directed mutagenesis, indicating that thepurB is under the control ofpurR. We also answered why previous study had conflicting report concerning the regulation ofpurB bypurR by identifying the junction site ofpurB tolacZ in apurB- MudJ (lacZ,Kan ^r) fusion strain. This result strongly supports that thepurB is the second gene in theycfC-purB operon.     

Molecular cloning, identification and characteristics of NYD-SP9: Gene coding protein kinase presumably involved in spermatogenesis

Using cDNA microarray hybridization from a human testicular cDNA library, one gene exhibiting ten-fold difference at expression level between adult and embryo human testes was cloned and named NYD-SP9, which was believed to be involved in spermatogenesis. Southern blot hybridization results showed that NYD-SP9 expressed highly in testis but low in ovary. Protein motif analysis of this cDNA sequence revealed a cluster of phosphorylation sites, indicating its potential involvement in signal pathways during spermatogenesis. Furthermore, one transmembrane helix was predicted in N-terminal region, indicating that putative NYD-SP6 may be served as a transmembrane protein. The proximity of these potential phosphorylation sites to each other indicates that there may be interaction among these sites to regulate spermatogenesis. These findings suggested that protein kinase NYD-SP9 might play a role in male germ cell differentiation.     

Molecular source of biomarkers by genetic engineering techniques

The mutant lacking ORF469 fragment inSynechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (cyanobacterium) was created by means of DNA recombination. In its genome,ORF ₄₆₉, the key DNA fragment controlling the light-independent pathway of chlorophyll biosynthesis was deleted and replaced by erythromycin resistance cassette. The operation resulted in the fact that the content of chlorophyll in mutant cells was fully controlled by illumination and two kinds of cells were harvested, one is high chlorophyll with concentration of 9.427 μg· mg⁻¹ and the other is low chlorophyll with concentration of 0.695 μg · mg¹. They were subjected to thermal simulation respectively at 300°C for 100 h. The alkanes biomarkers from pyrolysates were analyzed by GC-MS and main difference between high and low chlorophyll cells was found at their contents of isoprenoid hydrocarbons. Pr/nC₁₇ and Ph/nC₁₈ from pyrolysate of low chlorophyll cells were 0.192 and 0.216 respectively, which were about 1/3 and 1/7 of that from high chlorophyll cells. The results provide direct evidence that isoprenoid hydrocarbons such as phytane(Ph) and pristane (Pr) could be derived from chlorophyll. The lipids in algal cells would be the most important contributors to hydrocarbon production in their thermal degradation. The results also indicated that the combination of molecular biology and organic geochemistry would provide a new path to investigate the molecular sources of biomarkers.     

DNA-protein interaction at erythroid important regulatory elements of MEL cells byin vivo footprinting

Using ligation-mediated PCR method to study the status of DNA-protein interaction at hypersensitive site 2 of locus control Region and β^maj promoter of MEL cell line before and after induction, MEL cell has been cultured and induced to differentiation by Hemin and DMSO, then the live cells have been treated with dimethyl sulfate. Ligation mediated PCR has been carried out following the chemical cleavage. The results demonstrate that before and after induction, the status of DNA-protein interaction at both hypersensitive site 2 and β^maj promoter change significantly, indicating that distal regulatory elements (locus control region, hypersensitive sites) as well as proximal regulatory elements (promoter, enhancer) of β-globin gene cluster participate in the regulation of developmental specificity.     

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.     

Cloning of fiber-specific cDNAs and their structural variations in 4 fiber mutants

A mRNA preferentially expressed in cotton fiber was cloned from fiber total RNA of normal upland cotton TM-1 (wild-type) by using RT-PCR and corresponding cDNA (signed as TM-E6) was sequenced. TM-E6 gene had no intron and contained an open reading frame of 771 bp long, and might encode a peptide of 246 amino acids. Other 4 genes, Fl-E6, Li-E6, N-E6 and Bl-E6, which were homologous to TM-E6 gene, were also isolated from 4 fiber mutants of Fiberless Xu-zhou 142, Ligon lintless, Naked seed and Brown lint, respectively. Sequence analysis of each of these mutant genes revealed many variations in structure and nucleotide composition of gene when compared with the sequence of TM-E6 gene. (ⅰ) There was a changeable repetitive segment in which GGCTCA (Gly-Ser) was repeated 3—5 times between the 82nd and the 93rd codons in different mutant genes. Since the change of Gly-Ser repetitive segment occurred not only in the mutants but also in the wild-type cotton, the repeat frequency might not be associated with the mutation of fiber characteristics. (ⅱ) Among the 4 mutant genes, the percentage of changed codons was 7.05% in Fl-E6, 4.98% in Li-E6, and 4.15% in N-E6 and Bl-E6. It seems that the percentage of changed codons in E6 sequence was positively correlated to the degree of fiber morphological variation. (ⅲ) E6 polypeptides of two long-fiberless mutants (Fiberless Xuzhou 142 and Ligon lintless) contained high similar (99.4%) variation in the region of 1—174 amino acids from N-terminus, and those of short-fiberless mutants (Fiberless Xuzhou and naked seed) revealed identical variation in the region of 116th—220th amino acids. It also seems that there was a parallel relation between E6 protein variation and fiber phenotype mutation. (ⅳ) Li-E6 and Bl-E6 genes also expressed at low level in seed coat besides at high level in fiber.     

Cryopreservation of pollen by vitrification inBrassica

The key factors affecting pollen cryopreservation by vitrification inBrassica campestris var.purpurea were investigated. The factors involved the pollen maturity, the pollen resistance to dehydration, the components of vitrification solution (PVS), and the concentration of diluent. Thus, a suitable procedure was established for pollen vitrification, the maximum relative survival rates of mature (at the day of anthesis) and nearly mature (3 days before anthesis) pollen were about 80%, 63% respectively. This procedure has been also successfully applied to two other species (Brassica napus, Brassica chinensis). The advantage of cryopreservation of pollen by vitrification was discussed. Xu Bingfang: born in Sep. 6. 1970, Ph. D graduate student     

GCC box in<Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis PDF1.2</Emphasis> promoter is an essential and sufficient cis-acting element in response to MeJA treatment

The expression of Arabidopsis PDF1.2 gene isregulated by jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET). It also has been well documented that GCC box is an element responsive to ET, however, the responsive mechanism of JA in such plant defense gene expression is unclear. In this paper, the authors define the essential cis-acting element in PDF1.2 promoter responsive to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) through fragment deletions and site-directed mutageneses combiningAgrobacterium-mediated transient reporter gene expression in tobacco leaves. Firstly, the MeJA inducible expression o fPDF1.2 was confirmed by using the upstream -1.86 kb fragment of PDFI.2 gene. Secondly, the upstream -300— -243 bp fragment of the promoter was evidenced to respond to MeJA. To further characterize this promoter region, three point mutations were introduced into the -300— -243 bp fragment of the promoter. This result showed that the mutation of GCC box abolished MeJA induction, whereas the mutations of the G box-like and the imperfect palindrome sequence did not significantly decrease MeJA inducible effect, indicating that GCC box in PDFI.2 is essential for MeJA induction. The sufficient responsiveness to MeJA of this GCC box was further investigated by 4xGCC fused upstream to the CaMV 35S minimal promoter. This result suggested that the fused promoter was able to activate reporter gene expression in response to MeJA. Thus these results indicate that the GCC box in PDFI.2 is an essential and sufficient element to confer MeJA induction.     

桑寄生繁殖技术研究

本文从接种方法、时间、部位及接种后的栽培管理等方面对桑寄生Taxillus chinensis(DC.)Danser的繁殖技术进行比较系统的研究,旨在为将来的桑寄生栽培提供理论依据和技术指导。试验结果表明,不同接种部位、接种时间、接种方法及管理措施对桑寄生的萌芽率、寄生率有重要的影响;模拟桑寄生野生繁殖状态,3月份将种子与鸟粪以1∶5的比例拌匀后接种到桑树上部枝条并进行人工管理的萌发率和寄生率最高。本文建立了一种高效的桑寄生繁殖方法。     

桂西北光皮桦和马尾松人工幼林生长量的比较研究

为了进一步弄清桂西北种植光皮桦(Betula luminfera)的生长量,于1997年4月在广西林朵林场营造光皮桦人工纯林,与马尾松纯林进行对比研究,结果表明:3.5年生光皮桦林分的平均树高、平均胸径和平均蓄积量分别为7.42 m、7.50 cm和30.06 m³·hm^-2,分别比同龄马尾松林分的平均高(4.58m)、平均胸径(4.96cm)、平均蓄积(18.193m³/hm²)提高62.0%、51.2%和65.3%。说明该区营造光皮桦人工幼林的生长量较大,建议在相似立地条件下局部推广营造光皮桦人工林。