Trimeresurus stejnegeri snake venom plasminogen activator - Site-directed mutagenesis and molecular modeling

The specific plasminogen activator from Trimeresurus stejnegeri venom (TSV-PA) is a serine proteinase presenting 23% sequence identity with the proteinase domain of tissue type plasminogen activator, and 63% with batroxobin, a fibrinogen clotting enzyme from Bothrops atrox venom that does not activate plasminogen. TSV-PA contains six disulfide bonds and has been successfully overexpressed in Escherichia coli (Zhang, Y., Wisner, A., Xiong, Y. L,, and Bon, C, (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 10246-10255), To identify the functional domains of TSV-PA, we focused on three short peptide fragments of TSV-PA showing important sequence differences with batroxobin and other venom serine proteinases. Molecular modeling shows that these sequences are located in surface loop regions, one of which is next to the catalytic site, When these sequences were replaced in TSV-PA by the equivalent batroxobin residues none generated either fibrinogen-clotting or direct fibrinogenolytic activity, Two of the replacements had little effect in general and are not critical to the specificity of TSV-PA for plasminogen. Nevertheless, the third replacement, produced by the conversion of the sequence DDE 96a-98 to NVI, significantly increased the K-m for some tripeptide chromogenic substrates and resulted in undetectable plasminogen activation, indicating the key role that the sequence plays in substrate recognition by the enzyme.

RecA-mediated, targeted mutagenesis in zebrafish

We have evaluated the efficacy of RecA, a prokaryotic protein involved with homologous recombination, to direct site-specific mutagenesis in zebrafish embryos. For this we coinjected a vector containing a mutated enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene plus 236-nucleotide corrective single-stranded DNAs coated with RecA into I-cell zebrafish embryos. Twenty-hours after fertilization, about 5% to 20% of injected embryos showed EGFP expression in I or more cells when RecA-coated corrective DNAs were used, but not when RecA was omitted. Mutated EGFP genes with 1-bp insertions or deletions were inefficiently activated, whereas those with 7-bp insertions were activated about 4-fold more efficiently. RecA-coated template strand had a higher efficiency than its complementary strand in activation of EGFP expression. Prior irradiation of the embryos with UV light enhanced RecA-mediated restoration of gene activity, suggesting that the effects we observed were augmented by one or more factors of zebrafish DNA repair systems.

Selection and ultrastructural observation of a high-CO2-requiring mutant of cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp PCC7942

A high-CO2-requiring mutant of Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 las been isolated after chemical mutagenesis of ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS). It was able to grow at 4% CO2, but not under ambient CO2. The initial screening of the mutant showed that the genetic reversion rate was about 10(-7) and death occurred 2 -3 days after being transferred from 4% CO2 to the ambient air. Its photosynthetic dependence on external dissolved inorganic carbon was higher than that of the wild type cells, but its carbonic anhydrase activity was comparatively low. In the ultrastructural level, various types of aberrant carboxysomes appeared in the mutant cells: rod-shaped carboxysomes, irregular carboxysomes and the "empty-inclusion carboxysomes" with increasing number of glycogen granules surrounding the thylakoids. All these alterations indicated that the mutant was defective in utilizing the external CO2. The induction of carboxysomes by lower levels of CO2 and the biogenesis of carboxysomes are herein discussed.

80 MeV/u C-12离子诱变选育PHB高产菌株；A strain of high PHB output by mutagenesis of 80 MeV/u C-12 ions

用80MeV/u12C6+离子对一株积累聚β-羟基丁酸酯(PHB)的芽孢杆菌(BacillusP-9)进行诱变选育,最终获得PHB高产株菌G15,其PHB产量达2.93g/L,与出发菌株相比较,PHB积累量提高了1.5倍。研究结果表明,本试验辐照最佳剂量为15Gy。重离子辐照诱变育种效果显著,具有广阔的发展应用前景。

Comparative analysis of astaxanthin and its esters in the mutant E1 of Haematococcus pluvialis and other green algae by HPLC with a C30 column

A gradient reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using a C30 column was developed for the simultaneous determination of astaxanthin, astaxanthin monoesters and astaxanthin diesters in the green algae Chlorococcum sp., Chlorella zofingiensis, Haematococcus pluvialis and the mutant E1, which was obtained from the mutagenesis of H. pluvialis by exposure to UV-irradiation and ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) with subsequent screening using nicotine. The results showed that the contents of total astaxanthins including free astaxanthin and astaxanthin esters ranged from 1.4 to 30.9 mg/g dry biomass in these green algae. The lower total astaxanthin levels (< 2 mg/g dry biomass) were detected in the green algae Chlorococcum sp. and C. zofingiensis. The higher total astaxanthin levels (> 16 mg/g dry biomass) were found in the green alga H. pluvialis and its mutant E1. It is notable that the mutant E1 is found to have considerably higher amounts of total astaxanthin (30.9 mg/g) as compared to the wild strain of H. pluvialis (16.1 mg/g). This indicates that UV-irradiation and EMS compound mutagenesis with subsequent screening using nicotine is an effective method for breeding of a high-producing astaxanthin strain of H. pluvialis. In addition, the green alga C. zofingiensis had a remarkably higher percentage of astaxanthin diesters (76.3% of total astaxanthins) and a remarkably lower percentage of astaxanthin monoesters (18.0% of total astaxanthins) in comparison with H. pluvialis (35.5% for diesters and 60.9% for monoesters), the mutant E1 (49.1% and 48.1%) and Chlorococcum sp. (18.0% and 58.6%).

苍山冷杉复合体的居群遗传变异与谱系地理学

青藏高原为冷杉属(Abies)的多度中心，共分布有10种，9变种和4亚种。其中苍山冷杉复合体(Abies delavayi complex)包括3种，5变种和2亚种。它们的形态性状变异较小，且分布区重叠。迄今对该复合体的遗传多样性水平、分化程度以及进化历史仍缺乏了解。 本研究对苍山冷杉复合体的14个居群、302个个体进行取样，并对193个个体的母系遗传线粒体DNA nad1 intron2区和276个个体的父系遗传的叶绿体DNA trnS-trnG区进行了序列分析。该复合体的线粒体DNA nad1 intron2区的序列为675bp，其中有4个单碱基变异和1个插入/缺失，可分为6种线粒体单倍型。这14个居群的线粒体总核苷酸多态性(π)为0.00114，单倍型多态性(Hd)为0.627，居群间的遗传变异(FST)高达84.034%。叶绿体DNA trnS-trnG区的序列排列后为718bp，共有8个单碱基变异和4个插入/缺失，可分为12种叶绿体单倍型。这14个居群的总核苷酸多态性(π)为0.00116，单倍型多态性(Hd)为0.590，居群间的遗传变异(FST)为65.830%。以上结果显示苍山冷杉复合体居群间已经产生了强烈的遗传分化。叶绿体的3种主导单倍型(H1、H2和 H3)在YLXS、SKXS、GS和WX 4个居群中都有分布;而其它居群则只有主导单倍型(除SJLS外)中的1种或2种。造成边缘居群(如JZS)多样性较低的主要原因是冰期后群体在迁移过程中的遗传漂变和奠基者效应。根据谱系关系线粒体H1型和叶绿体H3型均为较古老的单倍型，线粒体和叶绿体的谱系关系均支持上述分析。 本研究初步推测青藏高原的东南部—横断山区(包括YLXS、SKXS、GS、WX、BMXS、ELS和EMS)可能为苍山冷杉复合体的冰期避难所，群体存在冰期后向西和向南扩张的过程。间冰期群体隔离和扩张过程中的奠基者效应是形成目前居群分化和遗传多样性分布格局的重要因素。

芦笋抗氨基酸及氨基酸类似物突变体的筛选

由芦笋无菌苗诱导得到的愈伤组织，经甲基磺酸乙酯（EMS）诱变处理后，进行抗氧乙基半胱氨酸(AEC)和赖氨酸加苏氨酸(Lys十Thr)的突变体筛选工作，得到如下结果: ①AE C可抑制芦笋愈伤组织的生长，但此抑制作用可被赖氨酸或甲硫氨酸都分解除。利用AEC的抑制作用筛选得到抗0.5mMAEC的愈伤组织AR10并再生植株。AR10愈伤组织离开选择剂两代后仍保持对AE C的抗性。还发现抗性愈伤组织对2mM的半胱氨酸的抑制作用具有交叉抗性，对1mM的Lys+Thr的抑制作用有较弱的交叉抗性。AR10的再生植株一部分表出对A EC的抗性，另一部分则无抗性氨基酸分析表明，抗性愈伤组织内游离赖氨酸、苏氨酸、甲硫氨酸和异亮氨酸有所增加，而在开生植株中发现了半胱氨酸和赖氨酸的特异性增加（分别是对照的4•56和5 •39倍)。AR10的抗性机理目前尚不清楚。 ②2mM的Lys十Thr Lys+Thr对芦笋愈伤组织生长具有抑制作用。甲硫氨酸可部分解除.Ly s十Thr的抑制作用。用2mM的Lys+Thr筛选得到的抗性细胞系LTR2. LTR3，在离开选择压力一代，细胞增殖五倍的情况下仍保持对选择剂的稳定抗性。LTR2、L T R3愈价组织对A E C如仰制作用表现出部分的交叉抗性。另外还发现抗性系对苏氨酸(2mM )的生长抑制作用具有抗性，对赖氨酸(2mM)的生长抑制作用却无抗性，氨基酸分析表明。LTR2LTR3愈份组织内游离赖氨酸含量明显提高(分别是对照的2•18和2.67倍)，另发现一种峰值介于赖氨酸与游离氨之间的未知氨基酸增加更为显著(分别是对照的4•03和11•42倍)。这些结果表明抗性愈伤组织内氨基酸合成的某些关键酶可能发生了改变，对末端物的反馈抑制敏感性有所降低。

低能N+诱导拟南芥突变体DNA变异的研究

低能离子束的诱变效应首先由我国科学家发现并将其广泛应用于育种实践，但是离子注入诱导DNA变异的研究结果主要是以微生物离体质粒DNA为材料获得的，以活体高等生物为材料的研究尚未见报道。 我们以30 keV N+（注入剂量80×1015 ions/cm2）注入拟南芥后获得的稳定突变体T80II为实验材料，对突变体植株进行了RAPD标记，并将T80II和对照部分RAPD特异条带进行克隆测序和DNA序列分析。结果显示，在可分辨的总计397个RAPD条带中，T80II株系中有52个条带表现出差异，包括条带的缺失和增加，条带变异率为13.1%;克隆的T80II序列中，平均每16.8个碱基出现一个碱基变异位点，表现出较高频率的碱基突变。碱基突变的类型包括碱基的颠换、转换、缺失、插入等。在检测到的275个碱基突变中，主要是单碱基置换（97.09%），碱基缺失或者插入的比例较小（2.91%）。在碱基置换中，转换的频率（66.55%）高于颠换的频率（(30.55%)。此外，构成DNA的四种碱基均可以被离子束辐照诱发变异，而且每一种碱基都可以被其它三种碱基所替换，但是胸腺嘧啶（T）的辐射敏感性要高于其它三种碱基。通过分析突变碱基周边序列，对低能N+离子注入拟南芥突变体引发的碱基突变热点进行了讨论。 另外，低能离子注入诱变获得的突变体特异表达基因的克隆方面也没有报道。我们以突变体T80II作为实验材料，用PCR增效的减法杂交技术构建了T80II特异表达的cDNA减法文库，克隆特异表达的cDNA片段，并对其中1个与14-3-3 protein GF14 nu (GRF7) gene有部分同源性、长712 bp的cDNA片段进行了讨论。我们的研究证明通过减法杂交技术克隆低能离子诱发的突变体特异表达的cDNA是可能的，这为低能离子注入技术在分子生物学上的应用开辟了一个新思路。

Cyt b-559 链Arg18和Ser24的定点突变及其对PSII功能的影响

Cyt b-559是光系统II反应中心的成分之一，它由亚基和亚基组成的。在Cyt b-559中，血红素辅基与两个亚基中的组氨酸连接成有功能的蛋白，并维持PSII的功能稳定性。前人曾将与血红素相连的His突变，导致Cyt b-559功能和PSII稳定性的丧失。基于此研究，本文采用定点突变技术，将亚基中与His23位置最近的上游氨基酸Arg18分别用Gly和Glu取代，下游氨基酸Ser24用Phe取代，获得了衣藻Cyt b-559的突变体。对突变体的分析，有以下新结果：突变体都能进行光合自养，但无论在异养培养基上还是自养培养基上，和对照相比，其生长速度非常缓慢; PSII的活性分析，表明PSII的放氧活性为野生衣藻细胞的50%～80%， Fv/Fm 的荧光参数为40%～70%;对突变体进行强光（1000μE•m-2•s-1）照射，10min后，其放氧活性都降低为0，而野生型衣藻还保持35%的活性;提取类囊体膜蛋白，进行SDS-PAGE电泳和Western-blotting分析，显示突变体的膜蛋白与对照无显著差异。这些结果说明对围绕血红素环境的固有氨基酸的改变，虽然并没有明显影响类囊体膜蛋白的表达和组成，但是却影响了衣藻细胞的生长和PSII的活性，增加了衣藻细胞对强光的敏感性，降低了衣藻细胞自身的光保护能力。这说明靠近血红素配位环境的氨基酸Arg和Ser，尤其是Arg，对Cyt b-559的功能维持不可缺少，对于维持PSII的活性也很重要。

光系统II大量捕光色素蛋白复合体（LHCIIb）结构和功能关系 的定点突变研究

定点突变技术可以对某个已知基因的特定碱基进行定点改变、缺失或者插入，从而改变对应的氨基酸序列和蛋白质结构，因而成为研究蛋白质结构和功能之间的复杂关系的有力工具。对突变基因的表达产物进行研究有助于我们了解蛋白质结构和功能的关系，探讨蛋白质的结构/结构域。 植物体光系统II的大量捕光色素蛋白复合体（LHCIIb）具有多种功能，在自然界不同日光光强下分别执行捕获、传递光能或将过度激发能非光化学耗散的功能。最新的近原子分辨率LHCIIb晶体结构揭示出在LHCIIb穿膜螺旋B/C之间的环区具有复杂的超二级结构，其中一个新发现就是在此环区靠近穿膜螺旋C的区域中存在一个反平行股的结构，其功能不明。为了研究此反平行链对于LHCIIb复合体在结构和功能上的意义，我们将了这一区域的3个氨基酸（Val119、His120、Ser123）分别定点突变成Phe、Leu和Gly，并研究了这三个定点突变对LHCIIb结构和功能上的影响。结果如下：1，CD光谱揭示出该反平行链对于调节新黄质及其附近色素群的构象十分重要。虽然这三个突变只造成很少的新黄质丢失（V119F, 0.09; S123G, 0.17; and H120L, 0.26），但是却使色素构象发生了巨大变化。2，将S123突变成G导致复合物对光破坏更加敏感并且更易于聚集，在介质酸化后复合物的荧光淬灭更加显著。这些结果说明这段反平行链对于调节LHCIIb色素构象以及控制LHCIIb聚集体形成和叶绿素荧光产量具有重要作用。 以结构为基础的计算设计方法与定向进化相结合是蛋白质工程的一个发展方向。最近，通过计算设计已成功地向蛋白质引入了新的催化活性、提高了蛋白质的稳定性、设计了酶的催化活性位点、改变了酶的底物特异性等. 目前还没有见到有研究定向地，以理性方式对LHCIIb进行蛋白质设计。我们使用蛋白质的计算机辅助设计工具——RosettaDesign鉴定出一个可以显著提高LHCIIb光、热稳定性的定点突变I124L，并且突变体的的结构和功能与野生型无异。这是首次将计算机辅助设计应用于提高LHCIIb稳定性的研究。

Strikingly different penetrance of LHON in two Chinese families with primary mutation G11778A is independent of mtDNA haplogroup background and secondary mutation G13708A

The penetrance of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) in families with primary mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations is very complex. Matrilineal and nuclear genetic background, as well as environmental factors, have been reported to be involved in d

Anti-HIV-1 property of trichosanthin correlates with its ribosome inactivating activity

Trichosanthin (TCS) is a type I ribosome inactivating (RI) protein possessing anti-tumor and antiviral activity, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The mechanism of these actions is not entirely clear, but is generally attributed to its RI property. In order to study the relationship between the anti-HIV-1 activity of TCS and its RI activity, three TCS mutants with different RI activities were constructed by using site-directed mutagenesis. The anti-HIV-1 activities of the three mutants were tested in vitro. Results showed that two TCS mutants, namely TCSM((120-123)), TCSE160A/E189A, with the greatest decrease in RI activity, lost almost all of the anti-HIV activity and cytopathic effect. Another mutant TCSR122G, which exhibited a 160-fold decrease in RI activity, retained some anti-HIV activity. The results from this study suggested that RI activity of TCS may have significant contribution to its anti-HIV-1 property. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Independency of anti-HIV-1 activity from ribosome-inactivating activity of trichosanthin

Trichosanthin (TCS) is a type I ribosome-inactivating (RI) protein possessing multiple biological and pharmacological activities. Its major action is inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication but the mechanism is still elusive. All evidences showed that this action is related to its RI activity. Previous studies found that TCS mutants with reduced RI activity simultaneously lost some anti-HIV activity. In this study, an exception was demonstrated by two TCS mutants retaining almost all RI activity but were devoid of anti-HIV-1 activity. Five mutants were constructed by using site-directed mutagenesis with either deletion or addition of amino acids to the C-terminal sequence. Results showed that the RI activity of mutants with C-terminal deletion mutants (TCSC2, TCSC4, and TCSC14) decreased by 1.2-3.3-fold with parallel downshifting of its anti-HIV-1 activity (1.4-4.8-fold). Another two mutants, TCSC19aa and TCSKDEL having 19 amino acid extension and a KDEL signal sequence added to the C-terminal sequence, retained all RI activity but subsequently lost most of the anti-HIV-1 activity. These findings suggested that ribosome inactivation alone might not be adequate to explain the anti-HIV action of TCS. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.