S-nitrosylation of NADPH oxidase regulates cell death in plant immunity

Changes in redox status are a conspicuous feature of immune responses in a variety of eukaryotes, but the associated signalling mechanisms are not well understood. In plants, attempted microbial infection triggers the rapid synthesis of nitric oxide and a parallel accumulation of reactive oxygen intermediates, the latter generated by NADPH oxidases related to those responsible for the pathogen-activated respiratory burst in phagocytes. Both nitric oxide and reactive oxygen intermediates have been implicated in controlling the hypersensitive response, a programmed execution of plant cells at sites of attempted infection. However, the molecular mechanisms that underpin their function and coordinate their synthesis are unknown. Here we show genetic evidence that increases in cysteine thiols modified using nitric oxide, termed S-nitrosothiols, facilitate the hypersensitive response in the absence of the cell death agonist salicylic acid and the synthesis of reactive oxygen intermediates. Surprisingly, when concentrations of S-nitrosothiols were high, nitric oxide function also governed a negative feedback loop limiting the hypersensitive response, mediated by S-nitrosylation of the NADPH oxidase, AtRBOHD, at Cys 890, abolishing its ability to synthesize reactive oxygen intermediates. Accordingly, mutation of Cys 890 compromised S-nitrosothiol-mediated control of AtRBOHD activity, perturbing the magnitude of cell death development. This cysteine is evolutionarily conserved and specifically S-nitrosylated in both human and fly NADPH oxidase, suggesting that this mechanism may govern immune responses in both plants and animals.     

扎龙湿地土地覆盖变化分析

利用遥感与地理信息系统技术分析1979-2006年间的一系列卫星影像,研究了扎龙湿地土地覆盖的数量变化,速度变化,趋势变化及引起这些变化的水的空间分布的变化．     

三亚景区游客游憩动机初探

运用因子分析方法研究了三亚景区游客的游憩动机,确立了社会交往与身体享受、逃避日常环境、增长见识、心灵享受四个动机因子,进一步运用聚类分析方法将游客分为求知型、逃避型、社交与享受型三个类别,在此基础上分析了三种不同游憩动机旅游者在人口统计特征及游憩行为上的差异.结果显示:三类旅游者在性别、年龄、受教育程度上等社会人口特征上都无显著差异,仅在人均月收入方面差异显著,收入者较高者出游多出于社交原因或者身体享受的动机,而低收入者的动机多为增长知识.     

一类恒化器模型解的稳定性

讨论一类含1个食饵和1个捕食者种群的恒化器模型的整体解.分析该模型解的一致有界性,运用线性化方法和Lyapunov函数方法研究该模型非负平衡点的局部渐近稳定性和全局渐近稳定性.     

神经电活动稳态调控抑制性突触传递的分子机制

发育中的神经网络需要兼顾生长与稳定这两种相辅相成的需求.稳态可塑性可通过调节兴奋性或抑制性突触传递从而维持神经网络的稳定.已报道的关于稳态可塑性机制方面的研究主要集中在其对兴奋性突触传递的影响,很少关注其对抑制性突触的调控.运用体外培养的原代海马神经元,本项研究发现了持续增强神经元电活动4小时能够诱导抑制性突触传递的稳...     

High-frequency, scaled graphene transistors on diamond-like carbon

Owing to its high carrier mobility and saturation velocity, graphene has attracted enormous attention in recent years. In particular, high-performance graphene transistors for radio-frequency (r.f.) applications are of great interest. Synthesis of large-scale graphene sheets of high quality and at low cost has been demonstrated using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) methods. However, very few studies have been performed on the scaling behaviour of transistors made from CVD graphene for r.f. applications, which hold great potential for commercialization. Here we report the systematic study of top-gated CVD-graphene r.f. transistors with gate lengths scaled down to 40 nm, the shortest gate length demonstrated on graphene r.f. devices. The CVD graphene was grown on copper film and transferred to a wafer of diamond-like carbon. Cut-off frequencies as high as 155 GHz have been obtained for the 40-nm transistors, and the cut-off frequency was found to scale as 1/(gate length). Furthermore, we studied graphene r.f. transistors at cryogenic temperatures. Unlike conventional semiconductor devices where low-temperature performance is hampered by carrier freeze-out effects, the r.f. performance of our graphene devices exhibits little temperature dependence down to 4.3 K, providing a much larger operation window than is available for conventional devices.     

Overcoming lability of extremely long alkane carbon-carbon bonds through dispersion forces

Steric effects in chemistry are a consequence of the space required to accommodate the atoms and groups within a molecule, and are often thought to be dominated by repulsive forces arising from overlapping electron densities (Pauli repulsion). An appreciation of attractive interactions such as van der Waals forces (which include London dispersion forces) is necessary to understand chemical bonding and reactivity fully. This is evident from, for example, the strongly debated origin of the higher stability of branched alkanes relative to linear alkanes and the possibility of constructing hydrocarbons with extraordinarily long C-C single bonds through steric crowding. Although empirical bond distance/bond strength relationships have been established for C-C bonds (longer C-C bonds have smaller bond dissociation energies), these have no present theoretical basis. Nevertheless, these empirical considerations are fundamental to structural and energetic evaluations in chemistry, as summarized by Pauling as early as 1960 and confirmed more recently. Here we report the preparation of hydrocarbons with extremely long C-C bonds (up to 1.704??), the longest such bonds observed so far in alkanes. The prepared compounds are unexpectedly stable--noticeable decomposition occurs only above 200?°C. We prepared the alkanes by coupling nanometre-sized, diamond-like, highly rigid structures known as diamondoids. The extraordinary stability of the coupling products is due to overall attractive dispersion interactions between the intramolecular H???H contact surfaces, as is evident from density functional theory computations with and without inclusion of dispersion corrections.     

Converting nonsense codons into sense codons by targeted pseudouridylation

All three translation termination codons, or nonsense codons, contain a uridine residue at the first position of the codon. Here, we demonstrate that pseudouridylation (conversion of uridine into pseudouridine (Ψ), ref. 4) of nonsense codons suppresses translation termination both in vitro and in vivo. In vivo targeting of nonsense codons is accomplished by the expression of an H/ACA RNA capable of directing the isomerization of uridine to Ψ within the nonsense codon. Thus, targeted pseudouridylation represents a novel approach for promoting nonsense suppression in vivo. Remarkably, we also show that pseudouridylated nonsense codons code for amino acids with similar properties. Specifically, ΨAA and ΨAG code for serine and threonine, whereas ΨGA codes for tyrosine and phenylalanine, thus suggesting a new mode of decoding. Our results also suggest that RNA modification, as a naturally occurring mechanism, may offer a new way to expand the genetic code.     

印度块菌粗多糖的提取及抗氧化活性研究

采用正交试验研究了热水浸提法提取印度块菌(Tuberindicum Cooke&Massee)子实体粗多糖(TICP)的最优工艺,根据方差分析结果确定了热水浸提法的最优工艺为:料液比1∶15,提取时间120 min,提取温度100℃,提取2次,多糖提取率为6.790 2%.用95%乙醇对粗多糖进行醇沉,然后利用总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)测定法、羟基自由基(OH.)清除法、铁离子螯合能力及测定还原能力等方法对上述印度块菌粗多糖的抗氧化活性进行评价,结果显示块菌粗多糖对羟基自由基的清除活性最高,其EC50值为0.26 mg/mL,其次为还原能力和铁离子螯合能力,其EC50值分别为1.15 mg/mL、2.80 mg/mL,同时块菌粗多糖具有较好的总抗氧化能力(T-AOC),当浓度为20 mg/mL时,其总抗氧化能力为72.06 U/mL.     

基于遥感和GIS方法的千岛湖库区集合植物群落宏观格局初步分析

以杭州市淳安县千岛湖库区的典型集合植物群落为研究对象,运用遥感和GIS方法对其宏观格局特征进行初步分析,探讨了不同面积岛屿的归一化植被指数及其不同等级岛屿斑块的景观格局.结果表明:岛屿大小与岛屿的归一化植被指数呈现明显的正相关关系.各类岛屿内部不同NDVI等级斑块的景观格局对其NDVI整体大小有一定影响.整个景观的破碎...