Mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis induced by Rana grylio virus infection in fish cells

A fish cell line, fathead minnow (FHM) cell, was used to investigate the alteration of mitochondrial dynamics and the mechanism of apoptosis under Rana grylio virus (RGV) infection. Microscopy observations, flow-cytometry analysis and molecular marker detection revealed the apoptotic fate of the RGV-infected cells. Some typical apoptotic characteristics, such as chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation and mitochondrial fragmentation, were observed, and significantly morphological changes of mitochondria, including size, shape, internal structure and distribution, were revealed. The mitochondria in RGV-infected cells were aggregated around the viromatrix, and the aggregation could be blocked by colchicine. Moreover, the Delta psi m collapse was induced, and caspase-9 and caspase-3 were activated in the RGV-infected cells. In addition, NF-kappa B activation and intracellular Ca2+ increase were also detected at different times after infection. The data revealed the detailed dynamics of mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis induced by an iridovirus, and provided the first report on mitochondrial fragmentation during virus-induced apoptosis in fish cells.

云杉属的分子系统学与生物地理学研究

云杉属植物是非常重要的森林树种，广泛分布于北半球的寒温带、温带高山和亚高山地带。该属为松科中仅次于松属和冷杉属的第三大属，约有 28-56 种。自云杉属建立以来，其属于松科没有任何疑议。然而，由于云杉属物种间频繁杂交、形态趋同和取样困难，尽管已经有基于形态学、细胞学、化学成份、叶绿体 DNA RFLP 等方面的研究，该属的属下分类仍然存在诸多争议。本文利用父系遗传的叶绿体基因和母系遗传的线粒体基因序列重建了云杉属的系统发育关系，探讨了云杉属生物地理格局的形成过程。在此基础上，我们研究了低拷贝核 CAD 基因在云杉属的进化式样。另外，我们还对裸子植物线粒体基因 rps3 的内含子分布和进化进行了初步研究。 1． 云杉属的系统发育和生物地理学研究 我们选择了 Farjon (1990) 确定的 34 个种中的 33 种 (另一个种在 Flora of China 未得到承认)，共 103 个个体，对这些个体的叶绿体 DNA 片段 trnC-trnD 和 trnT-trnF 以及线粒体基因 nad5 的第一个内含子进行了序列测定。在两个叶绿体基因片段联合分析构建的系统发育树上，北美西部的 P. breweriana 和 P. sitchensis 位于最基部。其余的物种分为三支：第一支由北美的两个物种组成;第二支包括分布于喜马拉雅-横断山区及其周围地区的八个种、台湾的 P. morrisonicola、西亚的 P. orientalis、日本的两个种及北美的 P. chihuahuana;第三支中，北美的 P. pungens 位于基部，亚洲东北部的种 (除 P. maximowiczii 和 P. torano 外)、P. retroflexa 和欧洲的 P. abies 构成一个单系群，并与北美的 P. mariana 和 P. rubens 及来自巴尔干半岛的 P. omorika 形成姐妹支。所有样品的 nad5 第一个内含子序列可分为 A、B、C、D 和 E 5 种单倍型，北美的物种拥有前 4 种，而且 A、B 和 C 单倍型为北美所特有;欧亚的物种仅含 D 和 E 两种单倍型。 上述结果结合 MacClade 和 DIVA 分析及化石证据，我们推断云杉属起源于北美，至少两次经白令陆桥扩散至亚洲，然后从亚洲扩散至欧洲。亚洲东北部的绝大多数物种和欧洲云杉 P. abies 的种间遗传变异非常低，而且线粒体单倍型均为 D，可能来源于一次近期的辐射分化。云杉属的现代分布中心之一喜马拉雅-横断山区的物种可能不是一次起源，日本的物种同样如此，这可能与第三纪气候变冷和第四纪冰川导致的物种迁移有关。此外，我们发现目前用于云杉属分类的一些形态性状（如叶扁平、菱形等）在系统发育树上位于不同的位置，说明这些性状可能不是一次起源或是祖征在不同支系中的保留，用于云杉属的系统划分须慎重。 2． 云杉属 CAD 基因的进化研究 裸子植物的多倍体特别少，且以基因组庞大而著称。被子植物中的很多单拷贝基因在裸子植物中以低拷贝或多拷贝基因家族的方式存在。CAD 基因在木质素单体合成的最后一步起作用，在松属中只发现了一种 CAD 基因拷贝，在欧洲云杉中却发现了三种拷贝，而且 Southern 杂交和子代分离鉴定结果表明这三种拷贝至少位于两个位点上。然而，对云杉属三个物种 (包括欧洲云杉) 构建的遗传图谱却都只发现了一个 CAD 基因位点。由于云杉属 CAD 基因的数目和分布存在很大争议，我们根据构建的叶绿体基因树，选择了不同支上的 20 个物种、29 个样品研究该基因的进化式样。结果表明：云杉属不同物种中 CAD 基因的拷贝数为 1-4 种，多数为 2-3 种。系统发育分析发现有些物种的所有 CAD 基因拷贝聚成一支，另有一些物种的 CAD 基因拷贝位于不同位置。此外，我们对 GenBank 中云杉属三个物种 CAD 基因的 EST 序列分析后发现：EST 序列的差异主要发生在 3’-UTR 区，表现为序列长短的不同，这有可能是进行体外反转录时引物结合于不同的位置所致。因此，结合前人研究（包括遗传图谱分析），我们推测 CAD 基因在云杉属内发生了多次重复，重复拷贝很可能呈串联排列。 3. 裸子植物线粒体基因 rps3 的进化研究 线粒体基因内含子的获得/丢失已经被广泛应用于系统发育研究。rps3 为分布最广的线粒体核糖体蛋白基因，一般含一个内含子，前人研究显示其在裸子植物中多了一个第二类内含子 rps3i2，并将这个内含子作为区分裸子植物和其它植物类群的标志之一。然而，该研究只选择了苏铁和银杏作为裸子植物的代表，取样代表性不足。在本研究中，我们对裸子植物每个科至少选择一个物种作为代表，通过 DNA 序列和部分物种的 RT-PCR 分析，探讨 rps3 基因在裸子植物中的进化。结果表明 rps3 基因内含子的分布与裸子植物系统发育关系相吻合：Conifer II、松科的落叶松属和黄杉属及百岁兰科不仅不含 rps3i2，而且丢失了第一个内含子;金钱松属缺失第二个内含子。我们推断在 Conifer II 的祖先和百岁兰科中分别一次性丢失了两个内含子;在松科中则发生了两次单独的丢失事件，一次是在落叶松属和黄杉属的祖先中丢失了两个内含子，一次是在金钱松属中丢失了第二个内含子。另外，在 Ephedra 中没有扩增出 rps3 基因，Gnetum 中具有第二个内含子，倪藤科的 rps3i2 似乎支持松科与倪藤纲的关系更近。对 rps3i2 的进一步分析发现，其序列结构与松科的系统发育关系非常吻合。根据上述结果和 mRNA 编辑位点分析，我们认为 Conifer II等类群中的两个rps3内含子丢失可能是反转录酶介导的 cDNA 反转录造成的。Psuedolarix 的内含子丢失也可能为相同机制，但因缺乏材料而未能进一步研究。

Evolutionary status of Entamoeba

In addition to its medical importance as parasitic pathogen, Entamoeba has aroused people's interest in its evolutionary status for a long time. Lacking mitochondrion and other intracellular organelles common to typical eukaryotes, Entamoeba and several other amitochondrial protozoans have been recognized as ancient pre-mitochondriate eukaryotes and named "archezoa", the most primitive extant eukaryotes. It was suggested that they might be living fossils that remained in a primitive stage of evolution before acquisition of organelles, lying close to the transition between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, recent studies revealed that Entamoeba contained an organelle, "crypton" or "mitosome", which was regarded as specialized or reductive mitochondrion. Relative molecular phylogenetic analyses also indicated the existence or the probable existence of mitochondrion in Entamoeba. Our phylogenetic analysis based on DNA topoisomerase II strongly suggested its divergence after some mitchondriate eukaryotes. Here, all these recent researches are reviewed and the evolutionary status of Entamoeba is discussed.

Phylogenetic positions of several amitochondriate protozoa - Evidence from phylogenetic analysis of DNA topoisomerase II

Several groups of parasitic protozoa, as represented by Giardia, Trichomonas, Entamoeba and Microsporida, were once widely considered to be the most primitive extant eukaryotic group - Archezoa. The main evidence for this is their 'lacking mitochondria' and possessing some other primitive features between prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and being basal to all eukaryotes with mitochondria in phylogenies inferred from many molecules. Some authors even proposed that these organisms diverged before the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria within eukaryotes. This view was once considered to be very significant to the study of origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells (eukaryotes). However, in recent years this has been challenged by accumulating evidence from new studies. Here the sequences of DNA topoisomerase 11 in G lamblia, T vaginalis and E histolytica were identified first by PCR and sequencing, then combining with the sequence data of the microsporidia Encephalitozoon cunicul and other eukaryotic groups of different evolutionary positions from GenBank, phylogenetic trees were constructed by various methods to investigate the evolutionary positions of these amitochondriate protozoa. Our results showed that since the characteristics of DNA topoisomerase 11 make it avoid the defect of 'long-branch attraction' appearing in the previous phylogenetic analyses, our trees can not only reflect effectively the relationship of different major eukaryotic groups, which is widely accepted, but also reveal phylogenetic positions for these amitochondriate protozoa, which is different from the previous phylogenetic trees. They are not the earliest-branching eukaryotes, but diverged after some mitochondriate organisms such as kinetoplastids and mycetozoan; they are not a united group but occupy different phylogenetic positions. Combining with the recent cytological findings of mitochondria-like organelles in them, we think that though some of them (e.g. diplomonads, as represented by Giardia) may occupy a very low evolutionary position, generally these organisms are not as extremely primitive as was thought before; they should be polyphyletic groups diverging after the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondrion to adapt themselves to anaerobic parasitic life.

Identification of a Giardia krr1 homolog gene and the secondarily anucleolate condition of Giaridia lamblia

Giaridia lamblia was long considered to be one of the most primitive eukaryotes and to lie close to the transition between prokaryotes and eukaryotes, but several supporting features, such as lack of mitochondrion and Golgi, have been challenged recently. It was also reported previously that G. lamblia lacked nucleolus, which is the site of pre-rRNA processing and ribosomal assembling in the other eukaryotic cells. Here, we report the identification of the yeast homolog gene, krr1, in the anucleolate eukaryote, G. lamblia. The krr1 gene, encoding one of the pre-rRNA processing proteins in yeast, is actively transcribed in G. lamblia. The deduced protein sequence of G. lamblia krr1 is highly similar to yeast KRR1p that contains a single-KH domain. Our database searches indicated that krr1 genes actually present in diverse eukaryotes and also seem to present in Archaea. However, only the eukaryotic homologs, including that of G. lamblia, have the single-KH domain, which contains the conserved motif KR(K)R. Fibrillarin, another important pre-rRNA processing protein has also been identified previously in G. lamblia. Moreover, our database search shows that nearly half of the other nucleolus-localized protein genes of eukaryotic cells also have their homologs in Giardia. Therefore, we suggest that a common mechanism of pre-RNA processing may operate in the anucleolate eukaryote G. lamblia and in the other eukaryotes and that like the case of "lack of mitochondrion," "lack of nucleolus" may not be a primitive feature, but a secondarily evolutionary condition of the parasite.

Ultrastructural alteration of lymphocytes in spleen and pronephros of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) experimentally exposed to microcystin-LR

Relatively little is known in relation to pathological changes of immune organs in fish when exposed to MC-LR. The ultrastructural alteration of lymphocytes was examined in the spleen and pronephros of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella injected experimentally with microcystin-LR. The fish were intraperitoneally injected with MC-LR at a dose of 50 mu g/kg body weight, and the spleen and pronephros were dissected out at 1, 2, 7, 14 and 21 days post intraperitoneal injection (dpi). Pathological changes were then examined by transmission electron microscopy. Apoptosis was detected only in lymphocytes in the spleen, with obvious apoptotic features observed at 2 dpi; pathological changes of lymphocytes in the pronephros were also serious with mitochondria being highly edematous. However, damaged lymphocytes were almost un-observed in the spleen and pronephros at 21 dpi. These findings suggest that MC-LR can induce toxic effect on immune organs in grass carp, and the spleen may be much more sensitive to MC-LR stimulation. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cloning and characterization of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COXI) in Gobiocypris rarus

In study of gene expression profile in cloned embryos which derived from D. rerio embryonic nuclei and G. rarus enucleated eggs, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COXI) of G. rarus, exhibiting difference at expression level between cloned embryos and zebrafish embryo, was cloned. Its full cDNA length is 1654 bp and contains a 1551 bp open reading frame, encoding a 5.64 kDa protein of 516 amino acids. The alignment result shows that mitochondrion tRNA(ser) is co-transcripted with COXI, which just was the 3'-UTR of COXI. Molecular phylogenic analysis based on COXI indicates G. rarus should belong to Gobioninae, which was not in agreement with previous study according to morphological taxonomy. Comparison of DNA with cDNA shows that RNA editing phenomenon does not occur in the COXI of G. rarus.

Osmoregulatory actions of growth hormone in juvenile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Growth hormone (GH) effectively promotes seawater (SW) adaptation in salmonids, but little is known of its effect in tilapias. Experiments were performed to investigate the effects of recombinant eel GH (reGH) on osmoregulatory actions and ultrastructural features of gill chloride cells in juvenile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Tilapia showed a markedly improved SW survival, when directly transferred from freshwater (FW) to 62.5% SW 24h after a single reGH injection (0.25 or 2.5 mu g g(-1)) or 3 reGH injections (0.25 mu g g(-1) every other day). Plasma Na+ and Mg2+ levels were significantly reduced by reGH (0.25 and 2.5 mu g g(-1)) compared with saline injections; Ca2+ concentrations were reduced significantly by high dose of reGH (2.5 mu g g(-1)) after SW transfer. However, fish failed to survive more than 24h when directly transferred to 70 % SW, although the fish treated with reGH could survive longer than the controls. When examined by electron microscopy, the chloride cells were identified as mitochondrion-rich and an extensive tubular system was induced by GH treatment. The results of the present study suggest that, similar to its effect on salmonids, GH also exerts acute osmoregulatory actions and enhances SW adaptation in juvenile tilapia. GH also stimulates the differentiation of chloride cells toward SW adaptation.