Hormonal Responses to Susceptible,Intermediate, and Resistant Interactions in the Brassica napus–Leptosphaeria maculans Pathosystem

Hormone signaling plays a pivotal role in plant–microbe interactions. There are three major phytohormones in plant defense: salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and ethylene (ET). The activation and trade-off of signaling between these three hormones likely determines the strength of plant defense in response to pathogens. Here, we describe the allocation of hormonal signaling in Brassica napus against the fungal pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans. Three B. napus genotypes (Westar, Surpass400, and 01-23-2-1) were inoculated with two L. maculans isolates (H75 8-1 and H77 7-2), subsequently exhibiting three levels of resistance: susceptible, intermediate, and resistant. Quantitative analyses suggest that the early activation of some SA-responsive genes, including WRKY70 and NPR1, contribute to an effective defense against L. maculans. The co-expression among factors responding to SA/ET/JA was also observed in the late stage of infection. The results of conjugated SA measurement also support that early SA activation plays a crucial role in durable resistance. Our results demonstrate the relationship between the onset patterns of certain hormone regulators and the effectiveness of the defense of B. napus against L. maculans.     

Different Expression of Mitochondrial and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Genes in Epicardial Adipose Tissue Depends on Coronary Atherosclerosis

The aim of our study was to analyze mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) gene expression profiles in subcutaneous (SAT) and epicardial (EAT) adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, and myocardium in patients with and without CAD undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Thirty-eight patients, 27 with (CAD group) and 11 without CAD (noCAD group), undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valvular surgery were included in the study. EAT, SAT, intercostal skeletal muscle, and right atrium tissue and blood samples were collected at the start and end of surgery; mRNA expression of selected mitochondrial and ER stress genes was assessed using qRT-PCR. The presence of CAD was associated with decreased mRNA expression of most of the investigated mitochondrial respiratory chain genes in EAT, while no such changes were seen in SAT or other tissues. In contrast, the expression of ER stress genes did not differ between the CAD and noCAD groups in almost any tissue. Cardiac surgery further augmented mitochondrial dysfunction in EAT. In our study, CAD was associated with decreased expression of mitochondrial, but not endoplasmic reticulum stress genes in EAT. These changes may contribute to the acceleration of coronary atherosclerosis.     

Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Oat Beta-Glucans in a Crohn’s Disease Model: Time- and Molar Mass-Dependent Effects

Background: The incidence of Crohn’s disease (CD) is increasing worldwide, and it has currently become a serious public health issue in society. The treatment of CD continues throughout a patient’s lifetime, and therefore, it is necessary to develop new, effective treatment methods, including dietotherapy. The present study aimed to determine the effects of consumption of oat beta-glucans with different molar mass on colon inflammation (colitis) in the early stages of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced CD in an animal model. Methods: Sprague–Dawley rats (control and TNBS-induced CD) were divided into three dietary groups and fed for 3 days (reflecting acute inflammation) or 7 days (reflecting remission) with a feed containing 1% low (βGl) or high (βGh) molar mass oat beta-glucan or a feed without this polysaccharide. The level of colon inflammatory markers and the expression of cytokines and their receptor genes were measured by ELISA and RT-PCR methods, respectively. Results: Acute inflammation or remission (3 or 7 days after TNBS administration, respectively) stages of experimentally induced CD were characterized by an increase in the level of inflammatory markers (IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, CRP, MPO, COX, and PGE2) and the disruption of some cytokine signaling pathways as well as macro- and microscopic changes of colon tissue. The consumption of oat beta-glucans reduced the level of inflammatory markers and recovered the signaling pathways and histological changes, with stronger effects of βGl after 7 days of colitis. Conclusions: Dietary oat beta-glucans can reduce colitis at the molecular and organ level and accelerate CD remission.     

D-氨基酸氧化酶的研究进展

D-氨基酸氧化酶(DAAO)是一种以黄素腺嘌呤(FAD)为辅基的典型的黄素蛋白酶类.DAAO可氧化D-氨基酸生成相应的酮酸和氨.介绍了D-氨基酸氧化酶的研究现状,包括在自然界的分布、生理功能、生物学特性、催化机理、基因克隆和序列分析以及基因表达.     

丙型肝炎病毒多表位基因核酸疫苗的构建及其免疫原性

目的构建丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)多表位基因的真核表达载体pcDNA3.1(-)-CtEm,用该重组质粒免疫BALB/c小鼠,并检测其免疫原性。方法用BamHⅠ和HindⅢ双酶切含有HCVC区、E2区模拟表位和NS3~NS5区细胞表位串联基因的原核表达载体pQE30-CtEm,克隆入真核表达载体pcDNA3.1(-),脂质体瞬时转染CHO细胞,并检测其表达。以100μg重组质粒免疫BALB/c小鼠,检测其体液免疫和细胞免疫效果。结果所构建的真核表达载体pcDNA3.1(-)-CtEm在CHO细胞中能获得有效表达。该质粒免疫小鼠后可诱导高水平的抗体,特异性淋巴细胞增殖反应、IFN-γ水平及CTL活性均明显高于空载体和生理盐水对照组。结论已成功构建HCV多表位基因的真核表达载体pcDNA3.1(-)-CtEm,免疫小鼠后可诱导特异性体液免疫和细胞免疫应答。     

离散型细菌觅食算法求解TSP

旅行商问题(TSP)是组合优化问题的典型代表,针对TSP的求解提出一种离散型细菌觅食(DBFO)算法.该算法通过结合2-opt算法设计了一种适合处理离散型变量的趋化算子,将细菌觅食算法推广到了离散情形.同时,结合TSP的特点,在迁徙算子中引入基因库的思想来指导新个体的生成,提高了算法的搜索效率.通过对TSPLIB标准库中22个实例进行仿真实验.实验结果表明,该算法能够有效求解城市规模500以下的TSP,与混合蚁群算法和离散型萤火虫群算法相比,具有更好的全局收敛性和稳定性.     

基于SDNA-GA 优化的模糊神经网络控制

针对最新的生物DNA研究,病毒中同一DNA碱基顺序可以编码出2条或者3条不同的多肽链.在此基础上分析与模仿了重叠基因和重叠密码的机理,得到一种新的基于重叠基因编码框架,从而提高了问题求解的效率;同时,得到一种移码解读框架的DNA遗传算法(SDNA-GA)计算模型,并将其应用于一类广义隶属度型T-S模糊神经网络控制器(GTS-FNNC)的优化设计,实现了GTS-FNNC的在线学习.     

中国人丙型肝炎病毒全长NS3基因的克隆、序列分析及表达

目的　为改进HCV试剂的质量克隆 1b型丙型肝炎病毒 (HCV)全长NS3基因并在原核细胞中表达。方法　用RT PCR方法从中国人血清中扩增全长NS3片段 ,进行序列分析 ,并克隆到pET3 0a(+)原核表达载体中 ,构建的原核表达载体pET NS3 180 0在大肠杆菌BL2 1(DE3 )中表达 ,用Westernblot方法进行验证。结果　扩增到 1b型HCV全长NS3片段 ,经Westernblot实验表明该片段具有抗原活性。结论　构建的质粒可在大肠杆菌中表达完整的NS3蛋白     

Tissue-type plasminogen activator variants with domain duplications and rearrangements

The interactions between tPA domains that are important forcatalysis are poorly understood. We have probed the functionof interdomain interactions by generating tPA variants in whichdomains are duplicated or rearranged. The proteins were expressedin a transient mammalian expression system and tested in vitrofor their ability to activate plasminogen, induce fibrinolysisand bind to a forming fibrin clot. Duplication of the heavychain domains of tPA produced enzymatically active tPA variants,many of which demonstrated similar in vitro amidolytic and fibrinolyticactivity and similar fibrin affinity to the parent molecule.Zymographic analysis of the domain duplication tPA variantsshowed one major active species for each variant. Selectionof the residues duplicated and the interdomain spacing werefound to be critical considerations in the design of tPA variantswith duplicated domains. We also rearranged the domains of tPAsuch that kringle 1 replaced the second kringle domain and viceversa. An analysis of these variants indicates that the firstkringle domain can confer fibrin affinity to a tPA variant andfunction in place of kringle 2. Therefore, in wild-type tPA,the functions of kringle 1 and kringle 2 must be dependent partiallyon their orientation within the heavy chain of the protein.The functional autonomy of the heavy and light chains of tPAis demonstrated by the activity of a tPA variant in which theorder of the heavy and light chains was reversed.