Proteome survey reveals modularity of the yeast cell machinery

Protein complexes are key molecular entities that integrate multiple gene products to perform cellular functions. Here we report the first genome-wide screen for complexes in an organism, budding yeast, using affinity purification and mass spectrometry. Through systematic tagging of open reading frames (ORFs), the majority of complexes were purified several times, suggesting screen saturation. The richness of the data set enabled a de novo characterization of the composition and organization of the cellular machinery. The ensemble of cellular proteins partitions into 491 complexes, of which 257 are novel, that differentially combine with additional attachment proteins or protein modules to enable a diversification of potential functions. Support for this modular organization of the proteome comes from integration with available data on expression, localization, function, evolutionary conservation, protein structure and binary interactions. This study provides the largest collection of physically determined eukaryotic cellular machines so far and a platform for biological data integration and modelling.     

Independent evolution of bitter-taste sensitivity in humans and chimpanzees

It was reported over 65 years ago that chimpanzees, like humans, vary in taste sensitivity to the bitter compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). This was suggested to be the result of a shared balanced polymorphism, defining the first, and now classic, example of the effects of balancing selection in great apes. In humans, variable PTC sensitivity is largely controlled by the segregation of two common alleles at the TAS2R38 locus, which encode receptor variants with different ligand affinities. Here we show that PTC taste sensitivity in chimpanzees is also controlled by two common alleles of TAS2R38; however, neither of these alleles is shared with humans. Instead, a mutation of the initiation codon results in the use of an alternative downstream start codon and production of a truncated receptor variant that fails to respond to PTC in vitro. Association testing of PTC sensitivity in a cohort of captive chimpanzees confirmed that chimpanzee TAS2R38 genotype accurately predicts taster status in vivo. Therefore, although Fisher et al.'s observations were accurate, their explanation was wrong. Humans and chimpanzees share variable taste sensitivity to bitter compounds mediated by PTC receptor variants, but the molecular basis of this variation has arisen twice, independently, in the two species.     

Hidden complexity in the mechanical properties of titin

Individual molecules of the giant protein titin span the A-bands and I-bands that make up striated muscle. The I-band region of titin is responsible for passive elasticity in such muscle, and contains tandem arrays of immunoglobulin domains. One such domain (I27) has been investigated extensively, using dynamic force spectroscopy and simulation. However, the relevance of these studies to the behaviour of the protein under physiological conditions was not established. Force studies reveal a lengthening of I27 without complete unfolding, forming a stable intermediate that has been suggested to be an important component of titin elasticity. To develop a more complete picture of the forced unfolding pathway, we use mutant titins--certain mutations allow the role of the partly unfolded intermediate to be investigated in more depth. Here we show that, under physiological forces, the partly unfolded intermediate does not contribute to mechanical strength. We also propose a unified forced unfolding model of all I27 analogues studied, and conclude that I27 can withstand higher forces in muscle than was predicted previously.     

高效毛细管电泳分离和氟化辅助电热蒸发-等离子质谱检测联用研究人血清中不同铝的形态

高效毛细管电泳(CE)具有进样量少、分离效率高、速度快等优点,已成为适于元素形态分析的一种新型分离技术,特别对于环境和生物样品分析具有相当大的潜力.在铝的形态分析研究中,尤其是在人血清中铝的形态的研究中,多采用以高效液相色谱分离和原子光谱检测联用的技术,以毛细管电泳为分离手段的研究较少本文的目的是以合成的人血清溶液为研究对象,用高效毛细管电泳分离和氟化辅助电热蒸发-等离子质谱检测联用研究各不同铝的形态.优化了分离和检测条件,取得了较为满意的结果.     

六自由度电磁跟踪定位系统的大角度区域误差校正

针对六自由度电磁跟踪定位系统在目标位于大角度区域(俯仰角接近±90°)时误差较大的问题,通过对该误差产生原因的分析,提出了一种跟踪迭代的校正方法。该方法的优点是对大角度区域误差校正效果明显,并且计算时间延迟小,计算机模拟和试验结果均证明了该方法的正确性和有效性。     

利用限制性内切酶技术获得木霉菌插入变异

利用限制性内切酶介导整合（REMI）技术,通过插入线性化质粒DNA获得了生物防治番茄灰霉病（Botrytis cinerea）效果优于初发菌Trichoderma viride T21菌株（初发菌）的3个变异株Ttrm31、Ttrm34和Ttrm55．变异株本身产生的和诱导番茄植株产生的几丁质酶和β-1,3-葡聚糖酶的活性均比初发菌高,因此,通过REMI技术可以获得新的有益变异株,在一定程度上提高了生物菌株防治番茄灰霉病的水平,尤其是提高诱导番茄抗病水平．对侵染花器和叶片的灰霉病防效分别比原生物防治木霉菌株提高了16．9％和89／6,说明REMI技术可以用于改良生防木霉菌株的功能,提高生物防治效果．     

Identification of ten loci associated with height highlights new biological pathways in human growth

Height is a classic polygenic trait, reflecting the combined influence of multiple as-yet-undiscovered genetic factors. We carried out a meta-analysis of genome-wide association study data of height from 15,821 individuals at 2.2 million SNPs, and followed up the strongest findings in >10,000 subjects. Ten newly identified and two previously reported loci were strongly associated with variation in height (P values from 4 x 10(-7) to 8 x 10(-22)). Together, these 12 loci account for approximately 2% of the population variation in height. Individuals with < or =8 height-increasing alleles and > or =16 height-increasing alleles differ in height by approximately 3.5 cm. The newly identified loci, along with several additional loci with strongly suggestive associations, encompass both strong biological candidates and unexpected genes, and highlight several pathways (let-7 targets, chromatin remodeling proteins and Hedgehog signaling) as important regulators of human stature. These results expand the picture of the biological regulation of human height and of the genetic architecture of this classical complex trait.