Genetic mapping of the α-galactosidase MEL gene family on right and left telomeres of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The α-galactosidase MEL2–MEL10 genes have been genetically mapped to right and left telomere regions of the following chromosomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: MEL2 at VII L, MEL3 at XVI L, MEL4 at XI L, MEL5 at IV L, MEL6 at XIII R, MEL7 at VI R, MEL8 at XV R, MEL9 at X R and MEL10 at XII R. A set of tester strains with URA3 inserted into individual telomeres and no MEL genes was used for mapping.     

Green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression and subcellular localization in budding yeast

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria has attracted much attention as a tool to study a number of biological processes. This study describes the use of GFP as a vital reporter molecule for localization and expression studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Construction of GFP expression vectors which allow N- or C-terminal fusion of the gfp gene to a gene of interest allowed the generation of fusion proteins whose subcellular localization was followed by fluorescence microscopy in living yeast cells. Analysis of three unknown open reading frames obtained from the budding yeast chromosome XIV resulted in distinct staining patterns, allowing prediction of the cellular localization of these unknown proteins. Furthermore, GFP was used to construct a gene replacement cassette which, after homologous integration into the genomic locus, placed the gfp gene behind a promoter of interest. The amount of GFP produced from this promoter was then quantified in living yeast cells by flow cytometry. With this novel replacement cassette a gene of interest can be deleted and at the same time its expression level studied under various growth conditions. The experiments presented here suggest that GFP represents a convenient fluorescent marker for localization studies as well as gene expression studies in budding yeast. Systematic studies of a large number of genes should benefit from such assays.     

Identification of a triacylglycerol lipase gene family in Candida deformans: molecular cloning and functional expression

The yeast Candida deformans CBS 2071 produces an extracellular lipase which was shown to catalyse the production of various esters by the esterification of free fatty acids, even in the presence of a large molar excess of water. To clone the gene encoding this extracellular lipase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was transformed with C. deformans genomic libraries and screened for lipolytic activity on a medium containing rapeseed oil emulsion and rhodamine B. Three members of a lipase gene family (CdLIP1, CdLIP2 and CdLIP3) were cloned and characterized. Each deduced lipase sequence has a Gly-His-Ser-Leu-Gly-(Gly/Ala)-Ala conserved motif, eight cysteine residues and encodes an N-terminal signal sequence. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis of a proteolytic digest of the lipase produced was used to obtain experimental evidence that the CdLIP1 gene encoded the extracellular lipase. Recombinant expression studies confirmed that the cloned genes encoded functional lipases. The three lipases are very similar to lipases from the related species Yarrowia lipolytica. Significant homologies were also found with several yeast and fungal lipases. As C. deformans CBS 2071 was previously considered to be synonymous with Y. lipolytica, the strains were compared for the extent of nucleotide divergence in the variable regions (D1/D2) at the 5'-end of the large-subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene. This rDNA region has diverged sufficiently to suggest that C. deformans is a separate species. The nucleotide sequences of the CdLIP1, CdLIP2 and CdLIP3 genes will appear in the EMBL nucleotide sequence database under Accession Nos AJ428393, AJ428394 and AJ428395, respectively.     

遗传性对称性色素异常症:一例家系报道及DSRAD基因突变的研究

目的报道1例遗传性对称性色素异常症家系,并对家系成员的DSRAD基因突变进行检测。方法PCR扩增该家系患者和健康对照个体DSRAD基因的全部外显子,并进行DNA测序,以100例无亲缘关系的正常人作对照。结果该家系患者DSRAD基因的第14外显子3388碱基发生了一个T→C的杂合突变,导致第1130位半胱氨酸被精氨酸替代,该区域可能存在DSRAD基因的脱氨基酶。家系中健康对照个体及无亲缘关系的正常人均未发现该突变。结论该遗传性对称性色素异常症家系中存在DSRAD基因的特异性突变,该突变引起编码蛋白功能缺陷,导致出现皮肤色素异常的临床表型。     

烟草BELL基因家族鉴定及其温室条件下的表达模式分析

BELL基因是植物中普遍存在的一类基因,其编码的同源异型结构域转录因子参与调控了植物叶片、花序等多个组织的发育过程。为明确烟草BELL基因的结构和功能,通过同源序列比对和功能域分析鉴定了普通烟草BELL基因,结合系统进化和基因表达模式分析对烟草BELL基因的功能进行了初步预测。结果表明,从普通烟草基因组中共鉴定出28个NtBELLs基因,分布于15条不同的染色体上。系统进化分析表明,烟草NtBELLs基因可分为4组,每组参与调控烟草不同的发育过程。NtBELLs基因在6个烟草组织中呈现不同的表达模式,且具有明显的组织特异性。干旱和盐胁迫能显著诱导部分NtBELLs基因的表达,表明该基因家族可能参与了植物抵御非生物胁迫的过程。     

Refined positioning of a quantitative trait locus affecting somatic cell score on chromosome 18 in the German Holstein using linkage disequilibrium

Combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium analysis (LALD) was conducted to more accurately map a previously reported quantitative trait locus (QTL) affecting somatic cell score on bovine chromosome 18. A granddaughter design consisting of 6 German Holstein grandsire families with 1,054 progeny-tested genotyped sons was used in this study. Twenty microsatellite markers, 5 single nucleotide polymorphisms, and an erythrocyte antigen marker with an average marker spacing of 1.95 cM were analyzed along a chromosomal segment of 50.80 cM. Variance components were estimated and restricted maximum likelihood test statistics were calculated at the midpoint of each marker interval. The test statistics calculated in single-QTL linkage analysis exceeded the genome-wide significance threshold at several putative QTL positions. Using LALD, we were successful in assigning a genome-wide significant QTL to a confidence interval of 10.8 cM between the markers ILSTS002 and BMS833. The QTL in this marker interval was estimated to be responsible for between 5.89 and 13.86% of the genetic variation in somatic cell score. In contrast to the single-QTL linkage analysis model, LALD analyses with a 2-QTL model confirmed the position of one QTL, but gave no conclusive evidence for the existence or position of a second QTL. Ultimately, the QTL position was narrowed down considerably compared with previous results with a refined confidence interval of less than 11 cM.     

葡萄白藜芦醇合酶基因的克隆与生物信息学分析

以葡萄总RNA为模板,利用RT-PCR的方法从葡萄中扩增获得一条白藜芦醇合酶基因完整的c DNA序列,命名为RS。利用生物信息学软件对其核酸和蛋白质序列进行分析,结果表明,该序列长1179 bp,与已报道的葡萄白藜芦醇合酶基因的序列相似性达到94%⁹9%,氨基酸序列相似性为96%⁹9%;RS基因编码392个氨基酸,氨基酸序列含有完整的芪合酶家族的特征序列GVLFGPGLT和活性中心序列GCYAGGTVLR;预测的分子量为42.78 k Da,理论等电点为6.57,不稳定参数为35.92,在分类上属于稳定性蛋白;二级结构主要以α-螺旋、无规则卷曲以及β-折叠为主,其中α-螺旋含量为44.13%、无规则卷曲含量为26.53%,β-折叠含量为17.66%。      

脲基酰胺酶基因在黄酒酵母中的整合型表达

氨基甲酸乙酯是一种人类的潜在致癌物,在许多发酵酒中均有存在,主要来源于发酵过程中酵母代谢产生的尿素。以pYX212为载体,将脲基酰胺酶基因DUR1,2克隆到TPI强启动子和终止子之间的位点,再通过同源重组的方式将受强启动子调控的目的基因整合到黄酒酵母的基因组中,最终获得一株低产尿素的胞内脲基酰胺酶基因组成型高表达的黄酒酵母85#DUR1,2。在实验室规模的黄酒酿造实验中,85#DUR1,2产尿素量为8.34mg/L,比出发菌株降低了69.9%,贮存一段时间后的酒液中氨基甲酸乙酯含量比出发菌株降低了40.5%,而发酵性能、酒精度、总酸及氨基态氮与出发菌株无显著差异。