Isolation and characterization of 4 gametophytic male sterile mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana

In flowering plants, male fertility depends on the formation and development of normal male gametophytes or pollen grains. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate the processes. Here, we report the identification of four novel independent Arabidopsis gametophytic male sterile mutants, apam1, apam2, apam3 and apam4 (Arabidopsis pollen abortion mutant). The four mutants that were generated by the insertions of geneand enhancer-trap Ds transposon elements were defective in pollen development. Genetic analysis results showed that all four mutations resulted in the loss of male gametophytic function, but did not affect female gametophytic function, and the Ds elements were linked to the mutations tightly in all four mutants. Localization of the Ds insertion sites by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR (TAIL-PCR) showed that the Ds elements were inserted in four different loci distributed on three chromosomes, chromosomes II, III and V. In summary, the apam4 is allelic to AHA3, while the other three were located in places where there are no genes that have been known to be involved in pollen development, suggesting that they are novel mutations involved in pollen development.     

Enhancement and selective production of avermectin B by recombinants of Streptomyces avermitilis via intraspecific protoplast fusion

Among eight components of avermectin, B1 fractions have the most effective antiparasitic activities and the lowest level of toxic side-effects and are used widely in veterinary and agricultural fields. In-traspecific protoplast fusion between two strains of Streptomyces avermitilis, one an avermectin high producer (strain 76-05) and the other a genetically engineered strain containing the mutations aveDˉ and olmAˉ (strain 73-12) was performed for enhancement and selective production of avermectin B in the absence of oligomycin. Two recombinant strains (F23 and F29) were isolated and characterized with regards to the parental merits. F23 and F29 produced only the four avermectin B components with high yield and produced no oligomycin. The avermectin production of F23 and F29 was about 84.20% and 103.45% of the parental strain 76-05, respectively, and increased about 2.66-fold and 3.50-fold, re-spectively, compared to that of parental strain 73-12. F23 and F29 were genetically stable prototrophic recombinants and F29 was quite tolerant of fermentation conditions compared to avermectin high producer parental strain 76-05. The ability to produce avermectin B with high yield without the produc-tion of other avermectin components and oligomycin will make F23 and F29 useful strains for aver-mectin production. Strain F29's tolerance of fermentation conditions will also make it suitable for in-dustrial applications.     

Isolation and characterization of rice lesion mimic mutants from a T-DNA tagged population

A rice ( Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica cv. Nipponbare) T-DNA tagged population consisting of about 7000 individual lines was generated and screened for rice lesion mimic mutants in the T1 generation. Ten lines were found to develop spontaneous lesions in the absence of pathogen infection and displayed distinct lesion phenotypes. These mutants were tentatively designated as lm1 -lm10 (for lesion mimic), respectively. Lesion formation of lm mutants was developmentally regulated, and all the mutants showed stunted growth and reduced fertility. Genetic analysis demonstrated that all the mutations were recessive, and five partially fertile mutants (lm4-lm8) were derived from different loci. Mimic lesions occurring on the leaves of lm mutants resulted from cell death as revealed by trypan blue staining. Six of them ( lm3 -lm8 ) exhibited enhanced resistance to five bacterial blight isolates, indicating their wide-spectrum resistance to this pathogen. These results imply that some lesion mimic mutations of rice might be involved in disease resistance signaling pathways,and that isolation of these mutated genes may be useful for elucidating molecular mechanisms of plant disease resistance. Among the mutants, only one mutant, lm6, was preliminarily shown to cosegregate with the inserted T-DNA in its T1 generation, making it feasible to isolate the gene responsible for the phenotype of this mutant.     

The secretion of lecithinase of Pseudomonas alcaligenes S2 was via type Ⅱ secretion pathway

Strain S2 is a lecithin （or phosphatidylcholine）- solubilizing bacterium, which was isolated from the rice rhizosphere in rural areas of Beijing, China. On the basis of a polyphasic study involving phenotypic tests, physiological and biochemical tests, 16S rDNA sequence analysis, G＋C content determination and DNA-DNA hybridizations analysis, strain S2 was identified as Pseudomonas alcaligenes. R alcaligenes S2 was mutagenized with Tn5 and four mutants showing decreased or increased solubilizing ability of lecithin were isolated based on the halo size around colonies on the solid plate supplemented with egg yolk. To characterize the genes of R alcaligenes S2 involved in solubilization of lecithin, the EcoR I fragments of the chromosomes from the four mutant strains carrying a single transposon were cloned, and the DNA sequences flanking the Tn5 were determined. The Tn5 insertion sites in the mutants M808, M1329 and M1400, showing decreased solubilizing ability of lecithin, were found to be located in the xcpS, xcpX and xcpW , respectively, whose products XcpS, XcpX and XcpW were the components of type Ⅱ secretion pathway. Complementation of xcpS, xcpX and xcpW could restore the corresponding mutants M808, M1329 and M1400 to solubilize lecithin. The data suggested that mutation in one of these xcp genes would lead to the absence of mature lecithinase secretion into the extracellular medium. The data also indicated that the secretion of lecithin-hydrolyzing enzyme of R alcaligenes was via type Ⅱ secretion pathway. In the mutant M20 showing increasing lecithin-hydrolyzing activity, the interrupted gene showed 86% identity with chpA of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, whose product plays an important role in controlling twitching motility of the bacterial ceils.     

A statistical method for genetic mapping of sterility genes that exhibit epistasis in remote hybridization of plants using molecular markers in an F2 population

Estimation of the position and effect of sterility genes is an important problem to be solved to understand the sterility mechanism in remote hybridization in plants.In this study,a maximum likelihood (ML) method was used for estimation of the position and effect of sterility genes that exhibit epistasis in an F 2 population using the distorted segregation of markers.The ML solutions for recombination fraction and viability were obtained via an expectation-maximization algorithm.The results of Monte Carlo simulations showed that the estimates of recombination fraction and viability were consistent with their true values.The bias and standard deviation of parameters indicated that a larger sample size,closer linkage and lower viability of sterile genes led to better estimates of the parameters involved.A subset of marker data of the F 2 population derived from a single cross between the rice japonica cultivar Nipponbare and the indica cultivar Kasalath was analyzed using this method.Eight sterility genes were identified on chromosomes 1,3,6,8 and 10,and significant epistasis was detected among four pairs of sterility genes.     

Regulation of eight avr genes by hrpG and hrpX in Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris and their role in pathogenicity

Eight putative avirulence genes in Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) strain 8004 were characterized by Tn5gusA5 mutagenesis and gene expression analysis. The virulence test of mutants on Chinese radish showed that all mutants in individual avr genes except avrBs2 mutant were not significantly different from the wild type in virulence. The avrBs2 mutant showed reduced virulence and bacterial growth in planta. Gene expression analysis using β-glucuronidase as reporter indicated that avrBs1.1，avrBs1，avrXccB，avrXccC，avrXccE1 were regulated by hrpG, whereas avrXccA1, avrXccA2 and avrBs2 were not. RT-PCR analysis showed that all hrpG-regulated genes except avrBs1 were also regulated by hrpX. In addition, it was demonstrated that avrBs1　 was responsible for elicitation of a type III dependent hypersensitive reaction (HR) on nonhost plant pepper ECW-10R, and wild type Xcc 8004 was unable to cause HR on pepper ECW-20R.     

Ubi1 intron-mediated enhancement of the expression of Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize （Zea mays L.）

The cry1Ah gene was one of novel insecticidal genes cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis isolate BT8. Two plant expression vectors containing cry1Ah gene were constructed. The first intron of maize ubiqutinl gene was inserted between the maize Ubiquitin promoter and cry1Ah gene in one of the plant expressing vectors （pUUOAH）. The two vectors were introduced into maize immature embryonic calli by microprojectile bombardment, and the reproductively plants were acquired. PCR and Southern blot analysis showed that foreign genes had been integrated into maize genome and inherited to the next generation stably. The ELISA assay to T1 and T2 generation plants showed that the expression of CrylAh protein in the construct containing the ubil intron （pUUOAH） was 20% higher than that of the intronless construct （pUOAH）. Bioassay results showed that the transgenic maize harboring cry1Ah gene had high resistance to the Asian corn borers and the insecticidal activity of the transgenic maize containing the ubil intron was higher than that of the intronless construct. These results indicated that the maize ubil intron can enhance the expression of the Bt cry1Ah gene in transgenic maize efficiently     

The composition and distribution of metal clusters in the MoFe protein from a nifZ deletion strain （DJ 194） of Azotobacter vinelandii

Through the anaerobic chromatography on the columns of DEAE 52, Q-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-200, a nitrogenase MoFe protein (△nifZ Av1) was obtained from a nifZ deleted mutant of Azotobacter vinelandii (stain DJ194).The results of Western blotting after anoxic native electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE showed that △nifZ Av1 was similar to wild type MoFe protein (OP Av1) at the electrophoretic mobility, molecular weight and subunit composition. Furthermore, △nifZ Avl was also similar to OP Av1 at the molybdenum content, EPR signal (g≈4.3, 3.65 and 2.01), and the molar extinction coefficient (△ε) of circular dichroism (CD)at 660 nm region. All of these indicated that, besides having the same α2β2 composition as OP Av1, the △nifZ Av1 also contained equal amount of reductive FeMoco in the spin state of S=3/2 to OP Av1. However, the iron content and substrate (C2H2, H^ and N2)-reduction activity of △nifZ Av1 were 74% and 46%-50% of those of OP Av1, respectively. Furthermore, the △ε at around 450 nm, which reflects P-cluster in Av1, was obviously lower than that of OP Av1. It suggested that the difference between △nifZ Avl and OP Av1 resulted from P-cluster rather than FeMoco, and from the half number of P-cluster in △nifZ Av1, but the composition or redoxstate of P-cluster in △nifZ Av1 were not changed. Thus it could propose that △nifZ Av1 is composed of two different αβsubunit pairs. One is a FeMoco-and P-cluster-containing pair, and the other is a P-cluster-deficient but FeMoco-containing pair. Since the deletion of nifZ gene leads to the deficiency of only one of two P-clusters in a α2β2 tetramer, the assembly of P-cluster may not simply depend on one gene product, and so a possible mechanism of NifZ is supposed here.     

Asian origin for Polystichum （Dryopteridaceae） based on rbcL sequences

Chloroplast rbcL sequences of 60 species of Polystichum sensu lato (s.l.), including 23 new sequences from southwest China, were used to assess the phylogenetic relationships within the genus. On the basis of estimated evolution rate of rbcL gene and the genetic distance data that passed relative-rate tests, we further estimated the divergence times between some clades of the genus. The phylogenetic relationships were inferred using the neighbor-joining and maximum-parsimony methods, both methods producing trees with completely congruent topology. These trees reveal that all species of Polystichum s.l. in this study (including Cyrtomium and Cyrtomidictyum) form a monophyletic group. The basal split in Polystichum s.l. separates a clade with all Asian members from a clade containing other species from all over the world. The phylogenetic and divergence time estimation results lead us to suggest that Polystichum s.l. originated in Asia in the late Late Cretacous (≈76 Ma) and migrated into other places in the world in early Eocene(≈46 Ma).     

Reporter-based screen for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis</Emphasis> mutants compromised in nonhost resistance

Plants are exposed to many potentially pathogenic microbes in the environment, but each species is only susceptible to a limited number of pathogens. The broad resistance is referred to as nonhost resistance. To date, little is known about the underlying mechanism of nonhost resistance and the signaling transduction process. Here we describe a simple method for isolating Arabidopsis nonhost resistance mutants against a nonadapted bacterial pathogen. A RAP2.6 promoter-driven LUC reporter system was developed to replace the tedious bacterial growth assay during the primary screening. The RAP2.6-LUC reporter gene is normally induced by the virulent bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato but not the nonadapted bacterium P. syringae pv phaseolicola. By using this method we iso- lated 4 mutants displaying strong reporter activity in response to P. syringae pv phaseolicola, which were characterized in some details, ebsl, ebs2, ebs3, and ebs4 （enhanced bacterial susceptibility） were compromised in resistance against P. syringae pv phaseolicola and/or P. syringae pv tomato. In addition, ebs4 showed enhanced hypersensitive response to the incompatible bacterium P. syringae pv tomato （avrB）. These results demonstrated that the method is suited for large scale screening for nonhost resistance mutants.     

Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus: A new proposed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fijivirus</Emphasis> species in the family <Emphasis Type="Italic">Reoviridae</Emphasis>

For the past several years, a novel dwarf disease has been observed on rice （Oryza sativa） in some regions of Guangdong Province and Hainan Province, southern China. Infected plants showed stunting, dark leaf and small enations on stem and leaf back. Typical Fijivirus viroplasma containing crystalline arrayed spherical virons approximately 70--75 nm in diameter and tubular structures were detected in ultrathin sections by an electron microscope in parenchyma phloem cells of the infected plants. The virus was transmitted to rice seedlings by white-backed planthoppers, Sogatella furcifera （Hemiptera： Delphacidae）, collected in the diseased fields. Analysis of dsRNA extracts from infected plants revealed ten linear segments, which were similar to the electrophoretic profile of Rice black-streaked dwarf virus （RBSDV）. RT-PCR with a single primer which matched to a linker sequence ligated to both 3＇ ends of the viral genomic dsRNAs resulted in amplification of genome segments 9 （S9） and 10 （S10） cDNA products. The complete nucleotide sequences of S9 and S10 were obtained from clones of the RT-PCR amplicon exhibited characteristic properties of Fijivirus including low GC content （34.5% and 35.6%）, genus conserved 5＇ and 3＇ termini sequences and similar genome organization. Blast searches indicated that the sequences of S9 and S10 shared 68.8%--74.9% and 67.1% --77.4% nucleotide identities with those of viruses in the Fijivirus group 2, respectively. These values were similar to those among other viruses in the Fijivirus group 2 and considerably lower than those among RBSDV isolates. Phylogenetic trees based on S9 and S10 nucleotide sequences and their putative amino acid sequences showed that this virus represented a separate branch among other Fijiviruses. The virus was also detected by a nested RT-PCR assay in corn （Zea mays）, barnyard grass （Echinochloa crusgalll）, Juncellus serotinus and flaccidgrass （Pennisetum flaccidum） in and/or adjacent to the infected rice fields. I     

Purification and inhibition fungal growth of chitinases from<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vibrio pacini</Emphasis>

Vibrio pacini synthesizes multiple chitinases, of which three have been purified in this study by ammonium sulphate fractionation, chitin affinity chromatography and gel chromatography. Molecular weights of the three chitinases, Chi1, Chi2 and Chi3 are 27×10³, 39×10³ and 46×10³ respectively, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The purified enzymes have optimal activity at pH 7–8, and retain 50% enzymatic activity pH 4–9. The activities of chitinases are inhibited by Pb²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Cu²⁺, and increased by Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺. Chi3 is found to inhibit the growth of six species of fungi. Such characters of chitinase are different from those of any other chitinase that were reported before. Foundation item: Supported by the Key Technologies Research and Development Programme of the Tenth Five-Year Plan of the Nation Scientific and Technological Development (2001 BA708B04-07) Biography: HAN Bao-qin (1963-), female, Professor.     

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated Transformation of CryⅠA(b) gene to Trichoderma harzianum

In this study, Cry ⅠA(b) gene was successfully transferred into the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum with an efficiency of 60-180 transformants per 10^6 spores by using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Putative transformants were analyzed to test the presence of Cry ⅠA(b) gene by Southern blot. Most transformants contained a single T-DNA copy. RT-PCR analysis showed that the Cry ⅠA(b) gene was transcribed. Antifungal activities and insecticidal activities of the transformants were examined. There was no obvious difference in antifungal activities between the transformants and their wild strains. The modified mortalities of the transformants T1 and T2 were 69.57% and 91.30%, respectively. The tranformation system mediated by A. tumefaciens proved to be a powerful tool for the filamentous fungi transformation and functional genomic study with its high transformation frequency, simplicity of T-DNA integration, and genetic stability of transformants.