陆地棉红株基因(R1)的精细定位

利用陆地棉遗传背景的海岛棉染色体16置换系材料Sub16和陆地棉多基因标记系T586创建了含1259个单株的F₂作图群体, 结合本实验室最新的栽培四倍体棉种种间分子遗传图谱上染色体16的标记信息, 利用分子标记技术, 对红株基因R₁进行精细定位. 在F₂分离群体中, 红株性状分离比符合孟德尔1:2:1的分离, 进一步证明该性状是由一不完全显性单基因控制. 利用JoinMap 3.0连锁分析软件, 使用含237个单株的F₂小群体完成红株基因R₁的初级定位, 进一步利用含1259个单株的F₂大群体将该基因精细定位在NAU4956和NAU6752之间, 与最近标记的遗传距离为0.49 cM. 研究结果为进一步克隆该基因及培育红色彩棉转基因品种提供了研究基础.     

青藏高原现代食草动物牙齿珐琅质稳定同位素特征及古高度重建意义

食草动物牙齿珐琅质具有非常强的抗成岩改造特征, 被认为是研究生态环境变化和重建古高度的理想载体之一. 对青藏高原腹地现代食草动物(牦牛、藏野驴、藏羚羊)牙齿珐琅质的稳定同位素进行了分析, 拉萨地块和羌塘南部地区食草动物牙齿珐琅质δ¹³C(PDB)平均值为－11.3‰ ± 1.1‰, 羌塘北部和可可西里地区为－10.2‰ ± 1.4‰, 与高原以C3植物为主的植被景观是一致的; δ¹⁸O(PDB)值也同样表现出从南向北逐渐升高的趋势, 喜马拉雅山地区吉隆盆地平均值最低, 为－11.8‰ ± 3.4‰, 拉萨地块和羌塘南部地区平均值为－11.1‰ ± 1.1‰, 羌塘北部和可可西里地区最高, 为－9.0‰ ± 1.1‰. 食草动物牙齿珐琅质氧同位素是河水(或降水)与食物(植物)氧同位素的混合, 不适合直接用来进行高度预测. 建立了高原现代食草动物牙齿珐琅质氧同位素对降水、植被及高度的响应关系, 为利用食草动物牙齿化石氧同位素重建青藏高原古高度提供了依据.     

Generation of MHC class I ligands in the secretory and vesicular pathways

CD8⁺ T lymphocytes screen the surface of all cells in the body to detect pathogen infection or oncogenic transformation. They recognize peptides derived from cellular proteins displayed at the plasma membrane by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. Peptides are mostly by-products of cytosolic proteolytic enzymes. Peptidic ligands of MHC class I molecules are also generated in the secretory and vesicular pathways. Features of protein substrates, of proteases and of available MHC class I molecules for loading peptides in these compartments shape a singular collection of ligands that also contain different, longer, and lower affinity peptides than ligands produced in the cytosol. Especially in individuals who lack the transporters associated with antigen processing, TAP, and in infected and tumor cells where TAP is blocked, which thus have no supply of peptides derived from the cytosol, MHC class I ligands generated in the secretory and vesicular pathways contribute to shaping the CD8⁺ T lymphocyte response.     

广西崇左江州木榄山智人洞古人类遗址及其地质时代

关于现代智人起源的争论一直是国际古人类学研究的前沿与热点. 最近, 在广西崇左木榄山智人洞发现了具有现代人解剖特征初始状态的人类下颌骨化石及大量与之共生的哺乳动物化石. 木榄山智人洞哺乳动物群以江南象与初现的亚洲象及巨獏等组合为其特征, 截然不同于华南早更新世的巨猿动物群和中更新世的大熊猫-剑齿象动物群, 是典型亚洲象动物群的早期代表. 依动物群性质、地层对比及铀系年代测定木榄山化石智人和伴生的哺乳动物群的时代为距今约11万年的晚更新世早期. 该动物群主要由热带-亚热带型动物组成, 但木榄山动物群中森林型动物种类单调, 草地类型的动物相当多, 这表明当时的气候可能比以前干燥. 木榄山智人的发现对研究现代人起源及其环境背景具有非常重要的意义.     

Broad neutralization coverage of HIV by multiple highly potent antibodies

Broadly neutralizing antibodies against highly variable viral pathogens are much sought after to treat or protect against global circulating viruses. Here we probed the neutralizing antibody repertoires of four human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected donors with remarkably broad and potent neutralizing responses and rescued 17 new monoclonal antibodies that neutralize broadly across clades. Many of the new monoclonal antibodies are almost tenfold more potent than the recently described PG9, PG16 and VRC01 broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and 100-fold more potent than the original prototype HIV broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. The monoclonal antibodies largely recapitulate the neutralization breadth found in the corresponding donor serum and many recognize novel epitopes on envelope (Env) glycoprotein gp120, illuminating new targets for vaccine design. Analysis of neutralization by the full complement of anti-HIV broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies now available reveals that certain combinations of antibodies should offer markedly more favourable coverage of the enormous diversity of global circulating viruses than others and these combinations might be sought in active or passive immunization regimes. Overall, the isolation of multiple HIV broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies from several donors that, in aggregate, provide broad coverage at low concentrations is a highly positive indicator for the eventual design of an effective antibody-based HIV vaccine.     

Utilizing Statistical Semantic Similarity Techniques for Ontology Mapping——with Applications to AEC Standard Models

The objective of this paper is to introduce three semi-automated approaches for ontology mapping using relatedness analysis techniques. In the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, there exist a number of ontological standards to describe the semantics of building models. Although the standards share similar scopes of interest, the task of comparing and mapping concepts among standards is challenging due to their differences in terminologies and perspectives. Ontology mapping is therefore necessary to achieve information interoperability, which allows two or more information sources to exchange data and to re-use the data for further purposes. The attribute-based approach, corpus-based approach, and name-based approach presented in this paper adopt the statistical relatedness analysis techniques to discover related concepts from heterogeneous ontologies. A pilot study is conducted on IFC and CIS/2 ontologies to evaluate the approaches. Preliminary results show that the attribute-based approach outperforms the other two approaches in terms of precision and F-measure.     

A preliminary note on the relationship between the number of adultPrays oleae Bern. caught in pheromone traps and the resulting level of infestation

Summary Preliminary studies in Granada, Spain, have shown a highly significant correlation between the number of adult malePrays oleae caught in pheromone traps and the resulting level of infestation in all the 3 annual generations of this species.The authors want to acknowledge Dr Owen T. Jones, Southampton University, for his assistance in drafting this paper.     

A frameshift mutation in NOD2 associated with susceptibility to Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, which is thought to result from the effect of environmental factors in a genetically predisposed host. A gene location in the pericentromeric region of chromosome 16, IBD1, that contributes to susceptibility to Crohn's disease has been established through multiple linkage studies, but the specific gene(s) has not been identified. NOD2, a gene that encodes a protein with homology to plant disease resistance gene products is located in the peak region of linkage on chromosome 16 (ref. 7). Here we show, by using the transmission disequilibium test and case-control analysis, that a frameshift mutation caused by a cytosine insertion, 3020insC, which is expected to encode a truncated NOD2 protein, is associated with Crohn's disease. Wild-type NOD2 activates nuclear factor NF-kappaB, making it responsive to bacterial lipopolysaccharides; however, this induction was deficient in mutant NOD2. These results implicate NOD2 in susceptibility to Crohn's disease, and suggest a link between an innate immune response to bacterial components and development of disease.