原油中水滴电分散的研究

原油中的水滴在高压直流电场中被电场力分散成小液滴。通过测定小液滴的平均粒径和原油中被分散的水量,发现水滴的电分散程度与温度和电场强度的变化有密切关系。温度改变原油性质来影响水滴的变形断裂,其中粘性阻力起主导作用。电场强度会明显影响水滴所受的电场力。在80℃下,场强1500V/cm时有10%以上的水滴被分散,到场强5 000V/cm时则达到40%以上。场强超过7 000V/cm以后分散作用的增强逐步减弱。     

热休克对粗糙脉孢菌核酸内外切酶的影响

将快速生长的粗糙脉孢菌Ｎｅｕｒｏｓｐｏｒａｃｒａｓｓａ培养液从３０℃升温至４５℃，热休克处理２小时，７５％有活性的核酸内外切酶ｅｎｄｏ－ｅｘｏｎｕｌｅａｓｅ（此酶为ＤＮＡ修复酶）从核及液泡中释放到胞质并以无活性的形式储存起来：用放线菌酮处理，不能阻止此酶的释放，但能使灭活降低；致使胞质的酶活性提高５－１５倍。热休克菌体核酸内外切酶的灭活是由于某种抑制物质的作用，后者来自酶前体的自身降解。作者推测由热休克诱导了一种蛋白酶，此酶使核酸内外切酶前体水解为抑制物质。     

Sequence and analysis of chromosome 2 of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) is unique among plant model organisms in having a small genome (130-140 Mb), excellent physical and genetic maps, and little repetitive DNA. Here we report the sequence of chromosome 2 from the Columbia ecotype in two gap-free assemblies (contigs) of 3.6 and 16 megabases (Mb). The latter represents the longest published stretch of uninterrupted DNA sequence assembled from any organism to date. Chromosome 2 represents 15% of the genome and encodes 4,037 genes, 49% of which have no predicted function. Roughly 250 tandem gene duplications were found in addition to large-scale duplications of about 0.5 and 4.5 Mb between chromosomes 2 and 1 and between chromosomes 2 and 4, respectively. Sequencing of nearly 2 Mb within the genetically defined centromere revealed a low density of recognizable genes, and a high density and diverse range of vestigial and presumably inactive mobile elements. More unexpected is what appears to be a recent insertion of a continuous stretch of 75% of the mitochondrial genome into chromosome 2.     

A structural change in the kinesin motor protein that drives motility

Kinesin motors power many motile processes by converting ATP energy into unidirectional motion along microtubules. The force-generating and enzymatic properties of conventional kinesin have been extensively studied; however, the structural basis of movement is unknown. Here we have detected and visualized a large conformational change of an approximately 15-amino-acid region (the neck linker) in kinesin using electron paramagnetic resonance, fluorescence resonance energy transfer, pre-steady state kinetics and cryo-electron microscopy. This region becomes immobilized and extended towards the microtubule 'plus' end when kinesin binds microtubules and ATP, and reverts to a more mobile conformation when gamma-phosphate is released after nucleotide hydrolysis. This conformational change explains both the direction of kinesin motion and processive movement by the kinesin dimer.