拟南芥基因倍增及基因流失分析

基因倍增指基因组中含有基因的DNA片段复制出一个或更多拷贝的过程,是进化出新物种的主要原因。采用新的数据和方法研究拟南芥基因组的基因倍增过程,通过分析串联基因倍增和大规模基因倍增的存在比例和同义置换率分布,并估计大规模倍增后基因流失的比例,揭示了拟南芥基因组一次非常明显的全基因组倍增,采用科学的方法估计这次倍增发生在约8000万年前。比较该结果与之前的研究,提出了一种解释拟南芥基因倍增过程更合理的模型。     

拟南芥基因倍增及基因流失分析

基因倍增指基因组中含有基因的DNA片段复制出一个或更多拷贝的过程，是进化出新物种的主要原因。采用新的数据和方法研究拟南芥基因组的基因倍增过程，通过分析串联基因倍增和大规模基因倍增的存在比例和同义置换率分布，并估计大规模倍增后基因流失的比例，揭示了拟南芥基因组一次非常明显的全基因组倍增，采用科学的方法估计这次倍增发生在约8000万年前。比较该结果与之前的研究，提出了一种解释拟南芥基因倍增过程更合理的模型。     

优质肉鸡ADSL及GART基因PCR-SSCP分析

采用PCR-SSCP技术对大恒鸡S01品系共计300只鸡的ADSL及GART基因进行多态性分析,结果显示：ADSL基因第9个外显子存在一个SNP位点,测序结果显示其纯合子CC与TT相比有一个C10191T的单碱基突变;GART基因在5’侧翼序列存一个SNP位点,其纯合子AA与BB相比有一个C153T单碱基突变,采用独立性x2分析发现,ADSL及GART基因都达到Hardy-Weinberg平衡.     

Molecular identification of a human DNA repair gene following DNA-mediated gene transfer

Although it has long been evident that the response of eukaryotes to DNA damaging agents is determined by the effectiveness of a variety of DNA repair systems, there is little detailed knowledge of the nature of these systems or the genes which control them. In humans, a number of hereditary conditions, including xeroderma pigmentosum, ataxia telangiectasia and Fanconi's anaemia, exhibit increased sensitivity to a variety of DNA damaging agents and a predisposition to cancer, suggesting a defect in some aspect of DNA repair. This report describes the identification of a human DNA repair gene following DNA-mediated gene transfer into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mutant cells, that like xeroderma pigmentosum cells, are sensitive to a variety of DNA damaging agents and are defective in the initial incision step of DNA repair. The resulting transformants exhibit normal resistance to DNA damaging agents and independent transformants demonstrate a common set of human DNA sequences associated with a human DNA repair gene. These observations provide the basis for the isolation and characterization of the human genes responsible for DNA repair.     

Homology of human T-cell leukaemia virus envelope gene with class I HLA gene

Human T-cell leukaemia virus (HTLV), first isolated in the United States from a patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, is a unique horizontally transmitted retrovirus which is highly associated with certain adult T-cell malignancies. Also, HTLV can be transmitted in vitro to cord blood T-lymphocytes. In the accompanying paper it was shown that all T cells producing HTLV, whether cultured from infected persons or infected in vitro, bind a monoclonal antibody (4D12) which recognizes an epitope shared by certain cross-reactive class I major histocompatibility antigens. This antigen may account for the extra HLA-A and -B specificities detected in HTLV-infected cells using alloantisera. Because of the unusual findings of apparently inappropriate HLA antigens in HTLV infected cells, we had previously looked for rearrangement of class I-related genes in HTLV infected cells but failed to find any. Here, using molecular clones of HTLV and human major histocompatibility antigen DNA, we have shown homology between the envelope gene region of HTLV and the region of an HLA-B locus gene which codes for the extracellular portion of a class I histocompatibility antigen.     

Solid-phase gene assembly

New technologies for multiple chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides and stepwise hybridization on a solid-phase support enable the rapid and cost-effective preparation of long duplex DNA regions. Will these new technologies usher in a new era in protein engineering?     

Engineered gene circuits

A central focus of postgenomic research will be to understand how cellular phenomena arise from the connectivity of genes and proteins. This connectivity generates molecular network diagrams that resemble complex electrical circuits, and a systematic understanding will require the development of a mathematical framework for describing the circuitry. From an engineering perspective, the natural path towards such a framework is the construction and analysis of the underlying submodules that constitute the network. Recent experimental advances in both sequencing and genetic engineering have made this approach feasible through the design and implementation of synthetic gene networks amenable to mathematical modelling and quantitative analysis. These developments have signalled the emergence of a gene circuit discipline, which provides a framework for predicting and evaluating the dynamics of cellular processes. Synthetic gene networks will also lead to new logical forms of cellular control, which could have important applications in functional genomics, nanotechnology, and gene and cell therapy.     

Targeted insertion of the neomycin phosphotransferase gene into the tubulin gene cluster of Trypanosoma brucei

Kinetoplastids are unicellular eukaryotes that include important parasites of man, such as trypanosomes and leishmanias. The study of these organisms received a recent boost from the development of transient transformation allowing the short-term expression of genes reintroduced into parasites like Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African trypanosomiasis. We have obtained long-term stable transformants of T. brucei that have acquired the ability to grow in medium containing the drug G418, following the targeted insertion of the bacterial gene for neomycin phosphotransferase (neo(r) gene) into the trypanosome tubulin cluster. Plasmids in which part of the T. brucei tubulin gene cluster has been replaced by the neo(r) gene were used. Targeting efficiency was higher with a linearized than with a circular construct, and with 5 kilobases of tubulin gene cluster than with 0.9 kilobases. With these neo(r) constructs homologous recombination seems to be the preferred route for insertion of exogenous DNA into the trypanosome genome, allowing gene targeting without counter-selection.     

Investigation of gene expression profiles in coronary heart disease and functional analysis of target gene

The research outlined here includes constitution of the differential gene expression profile by means of oligonucleotide gene microarray and functional analysis of the target gene for coronary heart disease (CHD). In a microarray screening experiment, the predominance of inflammation- and immune-related genes is presented in the expression profile of 107 differential genes based on the analysis of gene ontology and gene pathway. IL-8, an inflammatory factor, is identified as one of the genes that were markedly up-regulated in CHD. The plasma level of IL-8 is significantly raised in patients with CHD (n = 30) compared with healthy controls (n = 40), which underscores the clinical relevance of the in vitro finding. The further functional analysis shows that IL-8 affects platelet aggregation percentage, expression of CD62p and platelet aggregation morphology in 12 healthy volunteers to some extent. These findings suggest the relevance of inflammation and immune responses to CHD at the DNA level. Moreover, IL-8 may be involved in the pathogenesis of CHD through the pathway of platelet activation. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90409021)     

共有基因模块构建大规模基因调控网络

目的 提出一种利用共有基因模块构建大规模基因调控网络算法(Common Gene Mod-ules Network,CGMN),有效降低传统基因调控网络构建基因节点规模较大的基因调控网络(包含几百个,甚至几千个基因节点)时时间复杂度过大的缺陷.方法 CGMN算法从基因表达数据出发,采用6种常用聚类算法把基因表达模式相似的基因聚类成功能模块,找出6种聚类方法的共有模块,并将其作为功能模块基因节点,采用局部贝叶斯网络(Local Bayesian Network,LBN)算法构建功能模块基因-基因调控网络.结果 与结论 大规模细胞周期基因表达数据集上仿真实验结果表明,搜索共有模块压缩基因节点数目策略,能够有效降低大规模基因调控网络重构时间复杂度,且验证了CGMN算法构建大规模基因调控网络的有效性.     

Salt tolerance of transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.) withmtlD gene andgutD gene

Southern blot analysis indicated thatmtlD gene (encoding mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase) andgutD gene (encoding glucitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) had been integrated into the rice genome mediated byAgrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404(pBIGM). The expression of the above two genes in transgenic rice plants was demonstrated by Northern blot analysis and enzymatic activity assay. Analysis of sugar alcohol showed that transgenic rice plants could produce and accumulate mannitol and sorbitol. The salt tolerance of transgenic plants was much higher than that of their controls.