Expression of the intact C<Subscript>4</Subscript> type<Emphasis Type="Italic">pepc</Emphasis> gene cloned from maize in transgenic winter wheat

Maize intact C4-pepc gene was amplified through LA-PCR and successfully sub-cloned into modified vector pGreen0029 to form a stable expression construct named as pBAC214 (12 kb), which contains CaMV 35S promoter driven bar gene as selection marker. Comparing the cloned DNA sequences (6.7 kb) with published maize C4-pepc gene (GenBank accession E17154) sequences, the identity of DNA sequence alignment is 98.96%. There are only 49 differences between these two intact DNA sequences, of which 13 occur in the region of promoter, 18 in introns, and 18 in exons. The homology of mRNA sequence alignment is 99.38%, and the putative amino acids sequence identity is 99.38%. There are only 15 differences between these two mRNA, and these differences bring 4 sites mutant on the putative amino acids of PEPC protein. Through biolistic bombardment of PDS1000/He system, expression vector pBAC214 has been transformed into winter wheat. Southern blotting results show that the intact C4-pepc gene has been integrated into genome of winter wheat. SDS-PAGE analysis of leaf soluble protein in transgenic wheat showed that the intact C4opepc gene was well transcribed, spliced and translated as in maize. The enzyme activity of leaf PEPC in transgenic wheat has been detected. The activities of leaf PEPC increased over 3-5 times in some transgenic plants. The data of photosynthesis rate and transpiration rate of transgenic wheat flag leaves showed that the C4-pepc gene can increase the photosynthesis rate and transpiration rate of transgenic wheat.     

Construction of DNA damage response gene pprI functiondeficient and function-complementary mutants in Deinococcus radiodurans

PprI, a DNA damage response factor from the extraordinary radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, plays a central regulatory role in multiple DNA damage repair. In this study, a fusion DNA fragment carrying kanamycin resistance gene with the D. radiodurans groEL promoter was cloned by PCR amplification and reversely inserted into the pprl locus in the genome of the wild-type strain R1. The resultingpprl-deficient strain, designated YR1,was very sensitive to ionizing radiation. Meanwhile, the recombinant DNA fragment was cloned into the shuttle vector pRADZ3, and resulted in plasmid pRADK with kanamycin resistance in D. radiodurans. The fragments containing complete pprl gene and 3‘-terminal deletion pprIΔ were cloned into plasmid pRADK. The resulted plasmids designated pRADKpprI and pRADKpprIΔ were then transformed to YR1. Results show that YR1 carrying pRADKpprI was able to fully restore the extreme radioresistance to the same level as the wild-type D. raiodurans R1, whereas YR1 pRADKpprIΔ failed to do so. Construction of DNA repair switch PprI function-deficient and function-complementary mutants in D. radiodurans is not only useful to elucidating the relationship between domains and functions of PprI protein, but also opens the door to the further studies of the biological functions of PprI protein in vivo.     

Inducible expression pattern of rice Bowman-Birk inhibitor gene<Emphasis Type="Italic">OsWIP1-2</Emphasis> and its protease inhibitory activity

The WIP1-2 gene was cloned from rice. It be-longs to the Bowman-Birk inhibitor gene family. Northernblot showed that expression of this gene was induced bywounding and jasmonic acid (JA). It indicates that the OsWIPI gene plays an important role in the rice defense sys-tem. The OsWIP1-2 was cloned into pET28a and expressed inE. coli. Its expressed product was purified in the form offusion protein and tested for the inhibitory activities againsttrypsin and chymotrypsin. It was found that the fusion pro-tein could inhibit chymotrypsin, but not trypsin. It was alsofound that the His tag at its C-terminal affected its inhibitoryactivity significantly. The fusion protein with a naturalC-terminal had the inhibitory activity, while no inhibitoryactivity was detected in the fusion protein with a (His)6-tag atits C-terminal. This implies that extra amino acid residues atthe C-terminal of OsWIP1-2 may interfere with its correctfolding. The inhibitory assay indicated that the members ofrice Bowman-Birk inhibitor gene family probably differenti-ated both in their structure and function.     

Cloning and analysis of a γ-tocopherol methyltransferase gene from Brassica oleracea and the function of its recombinant protein

The full-length cDNA (BoTMT) of γ-TMT is obtained from Brassica oleracea by 3′- and 5′-RACE methods. The 1265 bp cDNA contains an open reading frame of 1044 bp, which encodes a protein of 347 amino acids with a predicted chloroplast transit peptide and two S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-binding domains. Sequence analysis shows that the deduced protein shares 41.8%～86.5% similarity to known γ-TMTs. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR reveals that BoTMT is expressed preferentially in flowers and leaves of B. oleracea. The recombinant γ-TMT protein is obtained by cloning its encoding region into the prokaryotic expression vector pET30a. The protein expressed in E. coli accounts for 22% of total bacterial protein. The enzyme activity assay indicates that the recombinant protein has relatively high activity to convert γ-tocopherol to α-tocopherol in vitro.     

Cloning and analysis of a Y-tocopherol methyltransf erase gene from Brassica oleracea and the function of its recombinant protein

The full-length cDNA (BoTMT) of γ-TMT is obtained from Brassica oleracea by 3'- and 5'-RACE methods. The 1265 bp cDNA contains an open reading frame of 1044 bp, which encodes a protein of 347 amino acids with a predicted chloroplast transit peptide and two S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-binding domains. Sequence analysis shows that the deduced protein shares 41. 8% -86. 5% similarity to known γ-TMTs. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR reveals that BoTMT is expressed preferentially in flowers and leaves of B. oleracea . The recombinant γ-TMT protein is obtained by cloning its encoding region into the prokaryotic expression vector pET30a. The protein expressed in E. coli accounts for 22 % of total bacterial protein. The enzyme activity assay indicates that the recombinant protein has relatively high activity to convert γ-tocopherol to α-tocopherol in vitro.     

Cloning, prokaryotic expression,purification and sequence analysis of 20S proteasome subunit gene from T.harzianum

The gene encoding the 20S proteasome subunit（PR29） was cloned from cDNA library of Trichoderma harzianum and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 （D3） using a pET-28a expression system. The molecular weight of the protein was found to be approximately 29 kDa, as estimated by SDS-PAGE on gels. The target protein was insoluble when induced at 22℃ with 0.4 mmol/L IPTG, while dissoluble if induced at 37℃ with 0.8mmoL/L IPTG. The expressed product was purified through Ni-magnetic beads His Bind. The purity of the fusion protein reached above 80%. The entire eDNA sequence consisted of 1094 bp with 173 and 135 bp in 5＇ and 3＇ untranslated regions respectively. The gene encoding 261 amino acids has no signal peptide sequence. These results could provide a basis for validating the func-tions of PR29. It also provided a preliminary indication for further study of the mechanism and function of proteasome, and more information of proteasome mechanism in T.harzianum could be obtained.     

Desulfurization metabolite of Rhodococcus erythropolis LSSE8-1 and its related desulfurizational gene fragments

Rhodococcus erythropolis LSSE8-1 is a newly isolated biodesulfurizaion strain from the soil of Chishui gas field, Guizhou Province, China. The analysis of its metabolism product shows that the strain is a kind of biocatalyst able to oxidize dibenzothiophene (DBT) to 2-hydroxydi-phenyl (HBP), and therefore the sulfur in DBT is selectively removed. By using DBTO2 (dibenzothiophene 5,5-dioxide) as substrate, both DBT and HBP are found in the culture,which shows that the reaction from DBT to DBTO2 is reversible in the cell. While using 0.5 mmol/L DBT as control,0.01-0.4 mmol/L DBTO2 shows poisonous effect to the cell,which will explain why there is no DBTO2 accumulation in the process of biodesulfnrization. After treatment by lysozme,the plasmid DNA of the strain is isolated by alkaline method to be used as the template of PCR reaction. Three dsz gene fragments of 1.3, 1.0 and 1.2 kb respectively were amplified.Each fragment is ligate with PGEM-T vector, and cloned into E. coil DH5a. The clone DNA is sequenced and the result shows that dsz related genes are highly conservative. The identities of dszA and dszB with respect to IGTS8 are 100%,and the identity of dszC with that of IGTS8 is 99%.     

Isolation and Characterization of Phytoene Desaturase cDNA from Stigma of Crocus sativus

Phytoene desatumse (PDS) has recently been identified as an important enzyme in carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. A cDNA clone encoding phytoene desaturase gene is isolated from stigma of saffron (Crocus sativus L. ) using RT-PCR technique. Sequence analysis shows 85% similarity to Narcissus pseudonarcissus, 79% to Zea mays, 78% to Arabidopsis thaliana, 77% to Lycopersicon esculentum. A new full-length cDNA is obtained by 5 ‘-RACE and 3‘ -RACE techniques. The cDNA is 2149bp long with an open reading frame of 1697bp, which encodes a polypeptide of 565 amino acids. Southern analy-sis shows that the PDS gene is a single copy in saffron. Northern blot analysis shows higher expression level of PDS gene in stigma and anther than in leaves and stem.     

Rational design of glycerol dehydratase： Swapping the genes encoding the subunits of glycerol dehydratase to improve enzymatic properties

1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) is an important material for chemical industry,and there has been always much interest in the production of 1,3-PD using all possible routes. The genes encoding glyc-erol dehydratase (GDHt) from Citrobacter freundii,Klebsiella pneumoniae and metagenome were cloned and expressed in E. coli. All glycerol dehy-dratases but the one from metagenome could be detected to show enzyme activities. In order to im-prove the enzymatic properties of GDHts,the genes encoding α and β-γ subunits were cloned,and the enzyme characteristics were evolved by rational de-sign based on their 3D structures which were con-structed by homology modeling. Six heteroenzymes were obtained by swapping the α subunit genes of these three different-source-derived GDHts. The pH,thermal stability and Vmax of some heteroenzymes were dramatically improved by 2―5 times compared with the wild one (GDHtKP). The GDHt cloned from metagenome,originally proved to be with no enzyme activity,was converted into active enzyme by swap-ping its subunits with other different GDHts. In addi-tion,the effect of subtle 3D structural changes on the properties of the enzyme was also observed.     

Interaction of hepatitis B virus with tumor suppressor gene p53: its significance and biological function

The mechanism of the interaction of hepatitis B virus (HBV) with tumor suppressor p53 and its role in the hepatocar-cinogenesis have been studied by PCR-directed sequencing, gel shift assays and in situ ultraviolet cross-linking assay. The biological function of the interaction of HBV with p53 gene was investigated by co-transfection of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase ( CAT) reporter gene. p53 and HBV DNA. and quantitative PCR. Among the 16 primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) samples. 13 were HBV-DNA positive. 10 HBxAg positive and 9 p53 protein positive. The p53 gene point mutation was found in 5 samples, one of which had a G to T substitution located at codon 249. After analyzing the HBV genome by a computer program, a p53 response element binding sequence was found in HBV genome at upstream of enhancer I. from 1047 to 1059 nucleotides. This sequence could specifically bind to p53 protein, increase p53 protein accumulation in the PHC cells and stimulate the transactivating activity of p53 and HBV replication . The results also revealed that HBxAg could combine with p53 protein to form a complex in the cells and enhance CAT expression. Immunocytochemical staining showed that p53 protein complex was located in the cytoplasm and the process of p53 entry to nuclei was. in part, blocked. From our results, we conclude that the mutation of p53 gene at codon 249 is infrequent in HBV-associated PHC. the DNA-protein binding between HBV and p53. and the protein-protein binding between HBxAg and p53 might lead to the reduction or inactivation of p53 protein, which in turn resulting in HBV-associated hepatocarcinogenesis.     

Identification of a bi-directional promoter from Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus

A bi-directional promoter of Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCNV) was obtained with the total DNA from TYLCCNV isolate Y10 infected tobacco leaves as a template. Plant expression vectors were constructed by fusing the amplified DNA fragment with the gus gene and nopaline terminator in different orientations. The vectors containing promoter fragments were transferred into leaf cells and plant stems of Nicotiana benthamiana by Agrobacterium-mediated method. Transient expression results showed that both the complementary and virion-sense promoters could drive the gus gene to express, and the GUS activity of the complementary-sense promoter was stronger than that of the virion-sense. Co-expression of the vector containing βC1 gene of TYLCCNV DNAβ with the vector containing a bi-directional promoter revealed that the βC1 protein has no impact on expression of either the virion- or the complementary-sense promoter.     

Cloning, sequencing and expression of a swine IgG H chain gene inE. coli

A DNA fragment about 1.5 kb has been isolated from spleen of adult Chinese swine by RT-PCR. The DNA fragment encodes immunoglobulin IgG H chain gene. Sequencing analysis showed that the DNA fragment is 1 425 bp long, complete CDS. The C region of the gene has been classified as Subclass Ig γ3, and is the same as reported by Sun et al., but V region of the present gene is 42 bp less by comparison. The gene has been ligated into expression vector pET-3b (NSEB)( - ). A protein about 52 ku has been expressed in E. coli with an expression level of about 21 % .     

Robust and regulatory expression of defensin A gene driven by vitellogenin promoter in transgenic Anopheles stephensi

The use of genetically modified mosquitoes to reduce or replace field populations is a new strategy to control mosquito-borne diseases. The precondition of the implementation of this strategy is the ability to manipulate the genome of mosquitoes and to induce specific expression of the effector molecules driven by a suitable promoter. The objective of this study is to evaluate the expression of defensin A gene of Anopheles sinensis under the control of a vitellogenin promoter in transgenic Anopheles ste- phensi. The regulatory region of Anopheles gambiae vitellogenin was cloned and subcloned into transfer vector pSLFa consisting of an expression cassette with defensin A coding sequence. Then, the expression cassette was transferred into transformation vector pBac[3xP3-DsRedafm] using Asc I di- gestion. The recombinant plasmid DNA of pBac[3xP3DsRed-AgVgT2-DefA] and helper plasmid DNA of phsp-pBac were micro-injected into embryos of An. stephensi. The positive transgenic mosquitoes were screened by observing specific red fluorescence in the eyes of G1 larvae. Southern blot analysis showed that a single-copy transgene integrated into the genome of An. stephensi. RT-PCR analysis showed that the defensin A gene expressed specifically in fat bodies of female mosquitoes after a blood meal. Interestingly, the mRNA of defensin A is more stable compared with that of the endogenous vitellogenin gene. After multiple blood meals, the expression of defensin A appeared as a reducible and non-cycling type, a crucial feature for its anti-pathogen effect. From data above, we concluded that the regulatory function of the Vg promoter and the expression of defensin A gene were relatively con- served in different species of anopheles mosquitoes. These molecules could be used as candidates in the development of genetically modified mosquitoes.     

Expression of biologically active human clotting factor Ⅸ(hFⅨ) in the mammary gland of transgenic mice

The DNA of human factor Ⅸ (hFⅨ) gene vector pMCⅨm, which had been proven to be able to express in in vitro and living cells, was introduced into 586 zygotes of Kunming White Mice by positive pressure microinjection technique with manual operation. The 499 survival embryos after microinjection were then transferred into pseudopregnant recipient mice and 216 F 0 pups were born. The analysis of PCR and Southern blot hybridization showed that, of the 216, 6 (2 females and 4 males) were integrated with foreign DNA in their genomes, giving an integration frequency of 3% (6/216). Two F\-0 female transgenic mice could express hFⅨ protein in their milk and the content was over 100 ng/mL as measured with ELISA. The biological activities of hFⅨ in the milk of two F\-0 mice were 44 67% and 79 43%, respectively.     

Molecular cloning and expression of Pfu DNA polymerase gene and its application in long-distance PCR

A 2.3 kb DNA fragment containing Pfu DNA polA gene was amplified by PCR from total DNA of Pyrococcus furiosus and cloned into a pGEM-T vector. The recombinant clone pT-pfu was digested with Nco I and Xho I and the fragment was inserted into an expression vector pET3d-X. The Pfu polA gene was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The gene product (Pfu) was purified with heat denaturation, polyethylenemine (PEI) precipitation and Bio-rex 70 ion-exchange chromatography. The recombinant Pfu was verified by protein N-terminal sequencing. With the recombinant Pfu, large λ DNA fragments were successfully amplified in long-distance PCR.     

Structures of the cloned chitinase and its truncant from A.caviae

Aeromonas caviae can secrete several chintinases with different molecular weights. One chitinase gene chi 1 has been cloned and sequenced. It encodes a protein of 865 amino acids with a signal peptide at the N-terminus, a polycystic kidney disease(PKD)-like domain, a triosephosphate isomerase(TIM) catalytic region, a receptor for egg jelly(REJ)-like domain and two tandem chitin binding domains (ChBDs). The entire chitinase degrades colloid chitin both endolytically and exolytically into N-acetylglucosamine, chitobiose and chitotriose. When removing the 302 amino acids at C-teminus its activity remains but the degraded products are chitobiose, chitotriose and chitotetraose. The study shows that for the full-length chitinase, its substrate with the shortest length is chitotriose while in its truncated form, it is chitotetraose.     

Conformational change of glutathione-S-transferase by its co-expression with prion domain of yeast Ure2p

Ure2 protein from Saccharomyces cerevisisae has a changeable structure similar to that ofrnammalian prion protein. Its N-terminal is the prion domain (PrD) consisting of 65 amino acids which plays a critical role in yeast prion development. In this study, PrD gene was recombinated with glutathione-S-transferase(GST) gene, and a soluble GST-PrD(sGST-PrD) fusion protein was expressed in E. coli. sGST-PrD could spontaneously polymerize into amyloid fibrils in vitro, displaying typical β-sheet-type structure; it had increased resistance to proteinase K and exhibited amvloid-like optical properties. Moreover, the aggregated GST-PrD(aGST-PrD) could induce sGST-PrD to aggregate into fibrils. These results indicate that PrD could change the conformation of GST moiety in a recombinant protein with PrD to form a prion-like chimeric protein, which proves that PrD has the ability to mediate a prion-like conversion of other proteins fused with it.