Evolutionary transfer of the chloroplast tufA gene to the nucleus

Evolutionary gene transfer is a basic corollary of the now widely accepted endosymbiotic theory, which proposes that mitochondria and chloroplasts originated from once free-living eubacteria. The small organellar chromosomes are remnants of larger bacterial genomes, with most endosymbiont genes having been either transferred to the nucleus soon after endosymbiosis or lost entirely, with some being functionally replaced by pre-existing nuclear genes. Several lines of evidence indicate that relocation of some organelle genes could have been more recent. These include the abundance of non-functional organelle sequences of recent origin in nuclear DNA, successful artificial transfer of functional organelle genes to the nucleus, and several examples of recently lost organelle genes, although none of these is known to have been replaced by a nuclear homologue that is clearly of organellar ancestry. We present gene sequence and molecular phylogenetic evidence for the transfer of the chloroplast tufA gene to the nucleus in the green algal ancestor of land plants.     

Protein interaction maps for complete genomes based on gene fusion events

A large-scale effort to measure, detect and analyse protein-protein interactions using experimental methods is under way. These include biochemistry such as co-immunoprecipitation or crosslinking, molecular biology such as the two-hybrid system or phage display, and genetics such as unlinked noncomplementing mutant detection. Using the two-hybrid system, an international effort to analyse the complete yeast genome is in progress. Evidently, all these approaches are tedious, labour intensive and inaccurate. From a computational perspective, the question is how can we predict that two proteins interact from structure or sequence alone. Here we present a method that identifies gene-fusion events in complete genomes, solely based on sequence comparison. Because there must be selective pressure for certain genes to be fused over the course of evolution, we are able to predict functional associations of proteins. We show that 215 genes or proteins in the complete genomes of Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae and Methanococcus jannaschii are involved in 64 unique fusion events. The approach is general, and can be applied even to genes of unknown function.     

科学为什么如此浮夸--中国科学界的急功近利现象

选取2000年为一个样本,有科学家做出如下估算——该年中国大陆生物学家的数量、政府资助的生物学实验室数量以及在此领域发表的论文总数与美国同类数据比较结果大致相近。但是,中国学者在这一领域发表的具有国际水准且较高影响力的论文却不到美国学者的4％。 现实情况是,中国学者的绝大多数论文发表在国内杂志上,只有极少数发表在具有高影响力的圈际杂志上。     

植物基因组中的反转录转座子

植物反转录转座子是植物基因组中一类可移动的遗传元件，可分为LTR反转录转座子和非LTR反转录转座子两类。反转录转座子以高拷贝广泛分布于植物基因组中，具有高度的异质性，可被某些生物或非生物逆境激活并通过纵向和横向在物种内和物种间传递，对植物基因组的结构、功能和进化起着重要的作用。文中对反转录转座子的类型、结构与特点进行综述，并探讨其作为分子标记在现代生物学中的应用。     

Cloning and functional analysis of chloroplast division gene NtFtsZ2-l in Nicotiana tabacum

FtsZ protein plays an important role in the division of chloroplasts. With the finding and functional analysis of higher plant FtsZ proteins, people have deepened the understanding in the molecular mechanism of chloroplast division. Multiple ftsZ genes are diversified into two families in higher plants, ftsZ1 and ftsZ2 . On the basis of the research on ftsZl family, we analyzed the function of NtFtsZ2-l gene in Nicotiana tabacum . Microscopic analysis of the sense and antisense NtFtsZ2-l transgenic tobacco plants revealed that the chloroplasts were abnormal in size and also in number when compared with wild-type tobacco chloroplasts. Our investigations confirmed that the NtFtsZ2-l gene is involved in plant chloroplast division.     

分层迭代Hough变换法检测微器件圆形轮廓

微器件装配过程中对微器件进行模式识别和定位是微器件装配系统中机器视觉的一项关键性技术。分层迭代Hough变换法先对原始图像进行分层预处理 ,然后对不同层的图像进行迭代运算 ,通过调节图像与存储数组的大小来有效地减小存储空间和计算量。实验结果验证了算法的有效性和合理性。对于实验所用的图像分层迭代 Hough变换法将存储量和计算量分别减小为标准 Hough的 1/ 316和 1/ 172。因此该算法是一种能够满足微器件装配精度要求的有效方法 ,可用于含噪图像中圆形轮廓的实时检测和定位方面     

Evidence for the evolution of multiple genomes in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Ancient asexuals directly contradict the evolutionary theories that explain why organisms should evolve a sexual life history. The mutualistic, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are thought to have been asexual for approximately 400 million years. In the absence of sex, highly divergent descendants of formerly allelic nucleotide sequences are thought to evolve in a genome. In mycorrhizal fungi, where individual offspring receive hundreds of nuclei from the parent, it has been hypothesized that a population of genetically different nuclei should evolve within one individual. Here we use DNA-DNA fluorescent in situ hybridization to show that genetically different nuclei co-exist in individual arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. We also show that the population genetics techniques used in other organisms are unsuitable for detecting recombination because the assumptions and underlying processes do not fit the fungal genomic structure shown here. Instead we used a phylogenetic approach to show that the within-individual genetic variation that occurs in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi probably evolved through accumulation of mutations in an essentially clonal genome, with some infrequent recombination events. We conclude that mycorrhizal fungi have evolved to be multi-genomic.     

广东汉族人群TLR9基因单核苷酸多态性及其单倍型(英文)

采用PCR扩增和直接测序法对191例健康且无血缘关系的广东汉族人群筛查了TLR9全基因序列,包括调控区、5′非翻译区、第1,2外显子、内含子及3′非翻译区上所有的单核苷酸多态性(SNP)位点.共检出五个SNP位点,分别为调控区的-1 486 T/C和-1 421 C/T、内含子区的+1174 A/G、第2外显子的+1 387 T/C和+2848 G/A,其中-1421 C/T和+1 387 T/C为首次发现的新位点.连锁不平衡分析表明-486 T/C,1174 A/G以及2848 G/A之间存在紧密连锁,并且涵盖了整个基因区域,形成了一个单倍域.在此基础上运用Hhase软件构建了TLR9基因的单倍型,共得到七种单倍型并模拟了它们可能的分布频率.进一步的中性检验表明TLR9基因在广东汉族人群中符合中性进化模式.     

New 'phantom' dinoflagellate is the causative agent of major estuarine fish kills.

A worldwide increase in toxic phytoplankton blooms over the past 20 years has coincided with increasing reports of fish diseases and deaths of unknown cause. Among estuaries that have been repeatedly associated with unexplained fish kills on the western Atlantic Coast are the Pamlico and Neuse Estuaries of the southeastern United States. Here we describe a new toxic dinoflagellate with 'phantom-like' behaviour that has been identified as the causative agent of a significant portion of the fish kills in these estuaries, and which may also be active in other geographic regions. The alga requires live finfish or their fresh excreta for excystment and release of a potent toxin. Low cell densities cause neurotoxic signs and fish death, followed by rapid algal encystment and dormancy unless live fish are added. This dinoflagellate was abundant in the water during major fish kills in local estuaries, but only while fish were dying; within several hours of death where carcasses were still present, the flagellated vegetative algal population had encysted and settled back to the sediments. Isolates from each event were highly lethal to finfish and shellfish in laboratory bioassays. Given its broad temperature and salinity tolerance, and its stimulation by phosphate enrichment, this toxic phytoplankter may be a widespread but undetected source of fish mortality in nutrient-enriched estuaries.     

暴马丁香的叶绿体基因组特征分析

为了解暴马丁香的叶绿体基因组的特征,本研究分析该叶绿体基因组结构和基因构成特征,并进行系统演化基因组分析.结果表明:(1)暴马丁香叶绿体基因组的功能基因有132个,其中包括8个rRNA基因,36个tRNA基因和88个蛋白编码基因.(2)在暴马丁香叶绿体基因组的密码子组成中,RSCU值>1的密码子有30个,其中以A/U碱...     

含圆内接N边形的和的两个猜想不等式

定义了m个N边形的和,提出含圆内接N边形的和的两个猜想不等式,证明了当N=3,4时这些猜想不等式成立.     

Single neurons in prefrontal cortex encode abstract rules.

The ability to abstract principles or rules from direct experience allows behaviour to extend beyond specific circumstances to general situations. For example, we learn the 'rules' for restaurant dining from specific experiences and can then apply them in new restaurants. The use of such rules is thought to depend on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) because its damage often results in difficulty in following rules. Here we explore its neural basis by recording from single neurons in the PFC of monkeys trained to use two abstract rules. They were required to indicate whether two successively presented pictures were the same or different depending on which rule was currently in effect. The monkeys performed this task with new pictures, thus showing that they had learned two general principles that could be applied to stimuli that they had not yet experienced. The most prevalent neuronal activity observed in the PFC reflected the coding of these abstract rules.     

An endogenous annual clock in the toxic marine dinoflagellate Gonyaulax tamarensis

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Gonyaulax tamarensis (synonyms Protogonyaulax tamarensis and Alexandrium tamarense) cause outbreaks of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in coastal waters throughout the world. In the Gulf of Maine, episodes occur between April and November, a seasonality due in part to life-cycle alternations between motile, vegetative cells and resting cysts which overwinter in bottom sediments. Newly formed cysts have a mandatory 2-6 month dormancy period during which germination is not possible, but once mature, the resting state will continue if temperatures are unfavourable or oxygen is unavailable. We now report another factor controlling germination of cysts of G. tamarensis from deep coastal waters--an endogenous annual clock that can override an otherwise favourable environment for germination. Similar annual variability in germination has not been observed for cysts of this species from shallow estuaries. These results represent the first conclusive demonstration of an endogenous circannual rhythm in a marine plant. They are evolutionarily and ecologically significant because an endogenous annual clock can lead to the release of motile cells into deep and relatively invariant bottom waters at those times when temperature and light at the surface are suitable for growth. In shallow waters where seasonal variability is large and extends to bottom sediments, a strategy similar to that of the seeds of terrestrial plants would be more appropriate, namely a direct coupling between germination and the external environment.