家猪基因组含有大量保守非编码区

用190万条家猪随机读序分别比对人和小鼠的基因组，除去已知基因的外显子和新预测的人的编码区，得到大量含有保守非编码区的家猪序列。11．05％的家猪读序含有“猪—人”保守的非编码区序列，3．13％的家猪读序含有“猪—鼠”保守的非编码区片段，1．86％的家猪读序包含“猪—人—鼠”三者保守的非编码区区域。三者保守的非编码区序列跟人的相似性明显高于跟小鼠的相似性。另外，很多人、小鼠的非编码RNA基因跟上述含有保守非编码片段的家猪序列至少比对上一次。     

Environmental chemical stressors as epigenome modifiers: a new horizon in assessment of toxicological effects

In eukaryotic cells, chromatin transformation from euchromatin into heterochromatin as a means of controlling gene expression and replication has been known as the ‘‘accessibility hypothesis' '. The interplay of epigenetic changes including histone modifications, DNA methylation, RNA interference(RNAi) and other func- tional epigenetic components are intricate. It is believed that these changes are well-programmed, inherited and can be modified by environmental contaminant stressors. Environmentally-driven epigenetic alterations during development, e.g. embryonic, foetal or neonatal stage, may influence disease susceptibility in adulthood. Therefore, understanding how epigenome modifications develop in response to environmental chemicals and, how epigenetic-xenobiotic interactions influence human health will shed new insights into gene-environment interactions in the epidemiology of several diseases including cancer. In this review, we consider studies of chemical modifiers including nutritional and xenobiotic effects on epigenetic components in vitro or in vivo. By examining the most-studied epigenome modifications and how their respective roles are interlinked, we highlight the central role of xenbiotic- modified epigenetic mechanisms. A major requirement will be to study and understand effects following environmentally-relevant exposures. We suggest that the study of epigenetic toxicology will open up new opportunities to devise strategies for the prevention or treatment of at-risk populations.     

Male non-coding RNA genes identified by comparative genomic analysis of the Drosophila genomes

This issue published a research article by Yang et al. of Peking University “Significant divergence of sex-re-lated non-coding RNA expression patterns among closely related species in Drosophila”. In a genomic     

单核细胞增生李斯特菌ncRNA rli60基因缺失株的构建研究

为了构建单核细胞增生李斯特菌(Listeria monocytogenes,LM)ncRNA rli60基因缺失株,采用基因重叠延伸PCR(SOE-PCR)的方法成功构建具有氯霉素抗性的pKSV7-Δrli60穿梭质粒,然后电转化至LM-SB5感受态细胞中,在温度和氯霉素的双重选择压力下进行同源重组,通过PCR进行重组菌鉴定。结果表明:成功筛选得到遗传性稳定的LM ncRNA rli60基因缺失株,为揭示LM ncRNA rli60基因功能提供了研究材料;同时,为进一步研究其在LM致病性及环境应激中的分子机制奠定了基础。     

非编码RNA研究进展

多年来,人们已经清楚的认识了一系列结构RNA和调节RNA。最近,由Tuschel,Bartel和Ambro实验室发表的一系列文章里,记述了这些结构RNA和调节RNA外,还包括有许多最近发现的仅由22个核苷酸组成的微小RNA(miRNA)的研究前景。由于这些RNA不编码蛋白质,所以统称为非编码RNA(ncRNA)。最近的研究表明,ncRNA比以前所想像的要丰富和重要的多,它们在转录调节,染色体复制,RNA加工、修饰,mRNA稳定性和翻译,甚至蛋白质降解和转运过程中都起作用。本文就对ncRNA的研究进展和最近发现的miRNA作一简要综述。