Uridine-33 in yeast tRNA not essential for amber suppression

The nucleotide at position 33 on the 5' side of the anticodon of almost all tRNAs is a uridine. Crystallographic studies of different tRNAs reveal that although the precise orientation of uridine-33 is not always the same, it connects the anticodon stacked along the 3' side of the loop with the pyrimidine-32 stacked on the 5' side of the loop. The remarkably conserved nature of uridine-33 and its unique position in the anticodon loop structure has led to suggestions that this nucleotide has an essential role in the translational mechanism. We have developed a biochemical procedure to replace nucleotides 33-35 in yeast tRNATyr with any desired sequence and used it to construct amber suppressor tRNAs having different nucleotides at position 33. As all of these synthetic amber suppressor tRNAs functioned well in eukaryotic in vitro suppression assays, we conclude that uridine-33 does not have an obligatory role in the translation mechanism.     

The yeast tRNATyr gene intron is essential for correct modification of its tRNA product

Precise deletion of the intervening sequence of a yeast tRNATyr ochre suppressor gene (SUP6) significantly reduced its suppressor activity relative to that of the unaltered gene. This is probably the result of the absence of the pseudouridine modification, normally present at the middle anticodon position of mature suppressor tRNA, in tRNA synthesized in vivo from the deleted gene.     

一种新结构二聚异喹啉生物碱的NMR结构研究

应用ＮＭＲ技术，对一种新结构的二聚异喹啉生物碱进行了结构分析测定，其中包括１ＨＮＭＲ，￣（１３）ＣＮＭＲ，和二维谱Ｃ－ＨＣｏｓＹ，Ｈ－ＨＣｏｓＹ．     

二连体人干细胞因子基因的构建及其在昆虫细胞中的表达

应用DNA重组技术构建两端为人干细胞因子 (hSCF) 1～ 16 5肽编码区 ,中间为柔性连接肽 (GGGGSGGGGSGG)编码区的头尾相连的二连体基因 (dSCF) ,并将其插入杆状病毒转移载体 pVL1392中 .重组转移载体 pVL1392 dSCF与野生型苜蓿夜蛾核型多角体病毒AcNPVDNA共转染草地贪夜蛾细胞Sf9,经胞内同源重组和 4轮筛选获得纯净的重组病毒AcNPV dSCF .重组病毒感染Sf9单层培养细胞时 ,主要以分泌形式表达二连体蛋白 ,经MTT比色法测得dSCF的表达量约为 1180units/3× 10 6cells .WesternBlotting鉴定了昆虫细胞表达的重组人二连体干细胞因子 (rhdSCF) ,两种主要产物的分子量分别为 4 0kDa、4 9kDa .     

Protein biosynthesis in organelles requires misaminoacylation of tRNA

In the course of our studies on transfer RNA involvement in chlorophyll biosynthesis, we have determined the structure of chloroplast glutamate tRNA species. Barley chloroplasts contain in addition to a tRNA(Glu) species at least two other glutamate-accepting tRNAs. We now show that the sequences of these tRNAs differ significantly: they are differentially modified forms of tRNA(Gln) (as judged by their UUG anticodon). These mischarged Glu-tRNA(Gln) species can be converted in crude chloroplast extracts to Gln-tRNA(Gln). This reaction requires a specific amidotransferase and glutamine or asparagine as amide donors. Aminoacylation studies show that chloroplasts, plant and animal mitochondria, as well as cyanobacteria, lack any detectable glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase activity. Therefore, the requirement for glutamine in protein synthesis in these cells and organelles is provided by the conversion of glutamate attached to an 'incorrectly' charged tRNA. A similar situation has been described for several species of Gram-positive bacteria. Thus, it appears that the occurrence of this pathway of Gln-tRNA(Gln) formation is widespread among organisms and is a function conserved during evolution. These findings raise questions about the origin of organelles and about the evolution of the mechanisms maintaining accuracy in protein biosynthesis.     

Conceptual precursors to language

Because human languages vary in sound and meaning, children must learn which distinctions their language uses. For speech perception, this learning is selective: initially infants are sensitive to most acoustic distinctions used in any language, and this sensitivity reflects basic properties of the auditory system rather than mechanisms specific to language; however, infants' sensitivity to non-native sound distinctions declines over the course of the first year. Here we ask whether a similar process governs learning of word meanings. We investigated the sensitivity of 5-month-old infants in an English-speaking environment to a conceptual distinction that is marked in Korean but not English; that is, the distinction between 'tight' and 'loose' fit of one object to another. Like adult Korean speakers but unlike adult English speakers, these infants detected this distinction and divided a continuum of motion-into-contact actions into tight- and loose-fit categories. Infants' sensitivity to this distinction is linked to representations of object mechanics that are shared by non-human animals. Language learning therefore seems to develop by linking linguistic forms to universal, pre-existing representations of sound and meaning.     

植物miRNAs前体的生物信息分析

miRNAs前体（pre-miRNAs）是产生成熟miRNAs的基因表达产物，能形成较为稳定的发卡环结构，具有较低的最小折叠自由能（minimal folding free cnergy，MFE）。在对植物pre-miRNAs长度、不同碱基含量、MFE、熵分析基础上，重点比较不同RNAs序列之间MFE与其长度的比值（MFEL）。结果表明MFEL是区分植物pre-miRNAs的一个很有效的参数：pre-miRNAs的MFEL值平均为-45．98kcal／mol，明显低于mRNAs（-23．08kcal／mol），tRNAs（-22．13kcal／mol）和rRNAs（-16．83kcal／mol）。使用MFEL参数可提高预测植物miRNAs基因的效率。     

植物miRNAs前体的生物信息分析

miRNAs前体（premiRNAs）是产生成熟miRNAs的基因表达产物,能形成较为稳定的发卡环结构,具有较低的最小折叠自由能（minimal folding free energy,MFE）。在对植物premiRNAs长度、不同碱基含量、MFE、熵分析基础上,重点比较不同RNAs序列之间MFE与其长度的比值（MFEL）。结果表明MFEL是区分植物premiRNAs的一个很有效的参数：premiRNAs的MFEL值平均为45.98 kcal/mol,明显低于mRNAs（23.08 kcal/