Analysis of the human protein interactome and comparison with yeast, worm and fly interaction datasets

We present the first analysis of the human proteome with regard to interactions between proteins. We also compare the human interactome with the available interaction datasets from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) and fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Of >70,000 binary interactions, only 42 were common to human, worm and fly, and only 16 were common to all four datasets. An additional 36 interactions were common to fly and worm but were not observed in humans, although a coimmunoprecipitation assay showed that 9 of the interactions do occur in humans. A re-examination of the connectivity of essential genes in yeast and humans indicated that the available data do not support the presumption that the number of interaction partners can accurately predict whether a gene is essential. Finally, we found that proteins encoded by genes mutated in inherited genetic disorders are likely to interact with proteins known to cause similar disorders, suggesting the existence of disease subnetworks. The human interaction map constructed from our analysis should facilitate an integrative systems biology approach to elucidating the cellular networks that contribute to health and disease states.     

An extrasolar planet that transits the disk of its parent star

Planets orbiting other stars could in principle be found through the periodic dimming of starlight as a planet moves across--or 'transits'--the line of sight between the observer and the star. Depending on the size of the planet relative to the star, the dimming could reach a few per cent of the apparent brightness of the star. Despite many searches, no transiting planet has been discovered in this way; the one known transiting planet--HD209458b--was first discovered using precise measurements of the parent star's radial velocity and only subsequently detected photometrically. Here we report radial velocity measurements of the star OGLE-TR-56, which was previously found to exhibit a 1.2-day transit-like light curve in a survey looking for gravitational microlensing events. The velocity changes that we detect correlate with the light curve, from which we conclude that they are probably induced by an object of around 0.9 Jupiter masses in an orbit only 0.023 au from its star. We estimate the planetary radius to be around 1.3 Jupiter radii and its density to be about 0.5 g x cm(-3). This object is hotter than any known planet (approximately 1,900 K), but is still stable against long-term evaporation or tidal disruption.     

页岩气开发对川渝地区水资源环境的影响

 目前中国页岩气已进行大规模商业开发,但页岩气开发对当地水资源环境造成一定的风险。通过川渝两地页岩气井场实地调查和取样分析,结果表明：一方面,页岩气开发总耗水量巨大,每口井用水量约32000 m³;另一方面,水环境污染风险来自于：1）压裂返排液和钻井返排液,其成分复杂,盐度高,并含有多种重金属;2）钻进过程产生巨量的废油基泥浆和含油钻屑;3）页岩气开发地区,溶洞、裂缝、暗河发育,钻井过程易发生井漏或井喷;4）地面工程建设。因此,在页岩气开发过程中,必须精心施工,合理调配水资源,大力发展返排液处理技术,以便防止页岩气开发过程中过度消耗水资源,并避免水污染。     

Gamete formation without meiosis in Arabidopsis

Apomixis, the formation of asexual seeds in plants, leads to populations that are genetically uniform maternal clones. The transfer of apomixis to crop plants holds great promise in plant breeding for fixation of heterozygosity and hybrid vigour because it would allow the propagation of hybrids over successive generations. Apomixis involves the production of unreduced (diploid) female gametes that retain the genotype of the parent plant (apomeiosis), followed by parthenogenetic development of the egg cell into an embryo and the formation of functional endosperm. The molecular mechanisms underlying apomixis are unknown. Here we show that mutation of the Arabidopsis gene DYAD/SWITCH1 (SWI1), a regulator of meiotic chromosome organization, leads to apomeiosis. We found that most fertile ovules in dyad plants form seeds that are triploid and that arise from the fertilization of an unreduced female gamete by a haploid male gamete. The unreduced female gametes fully retain parental heterozygosity across the genome, which is characteristic of apomeiosis. Our results show that the alteration of a single gene in a sexual plant can bring about functional apomeiosis, a major component of apomixis.     

辽河盆地东部凹陷新生代火山岩K-Ar地质年代学及其地质意义

辽河盆地是中、新生代发育起来的裂谷盆地,东部凹陷是辽河盆地新生代火山活动最为频繁的地区,发育大量火山岩。通过对东部凹陷测得的28个火山岩样品K-Ar年龄数据,结合区域火山岩石学、地球化学研究结果,对比前人曾发表的K-Ar年龄数据,将本区新生代火山活动分为房身泡、沙三、沙一和东营4个时期,始于65Ma,并在42～38Ma和32～25Ma经历2个活动高峰期。这为渤海湾盆地新生代构造演化乃至中国东部新生代裂谷活动研究,增加了同位素年代学方面的有力证据。