The beta-Glucoside (bgl) Operon of Escherichia coli Is Involved in the Regulation of oppA, Encoding an Oligopeptide Transporter

We report that the bgl operon of Escherichia coli, encoding the functions necessary for the uptake and metabolism of aryl-beta-glucosides, is involved in the regulation of oligopeptide transport during stationary phase. Global analysis of intracellular proteins from Bgl-positive (Bgl(+)) and Bgl-negative (Bgl(-)) strains revealed that the operon exerts regulation on at least 12 downstream target genes. Of these, oppA, which encodes an oligopeptide transporter, was confirmed to be upregulated in the Bgl(+) strain. Loss of oppA function results in a partial loss of the growth advantage in stationary-phase (GASP) phenotype of Bgl(+) cells. The regulatory effect of the bgl operon on oppA expression is indirect and is mediated via gcvA, the activator of the glycine cleavage system, and gcvB, which regulates oppA at the posttranscriptional level. We show that BglG destabilizes the gcvA mRNA in vivo, leading to reduced expression of gcvA in the stationary phase. Deletion of gcvA results in the downregulation of gcvB and upregulation of oppA and can partially rescue the loss of the GASP phenotype seen in Delta bglG strains. A possible mechanism by which oppA confers a competitive advantage to Bgl(+) cells relative to Bgl(-) cells is discussed.

A phospholipase A1 platelet activator from the wasp venom of Vespa magnifica (Smith)

Wasp is an impor tant venomous animal that can induce human fatalities. Aortic thrombosis and cerebral infarction are major clinical symptoms after massive wasp stings but the reason leading to the envenomation manifestation is still not known. In this paper, a toxin protein is purified and characterized by Sephadex G-75 gel filtration, CM-Sephadex C-25 cationic exchange and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) from the venom of the wasp, Vespa magnifica (Smith). This protein, named magnifin, contains phospholipase-like activity and induces platelet aggregation. The cDNA encoding magnifin is cloned from the venom sac cDNA library of the wasp. The predicted protein was deduced from the cDNA with a sequence composed of 337 amino acid residues. Magnifin is very similar to other phospholipase A(1) (PLA(1)), especially to other wasp allergen PLA(1). Magnifin can activate platelet aggregation and induce thrombosis in vivo. The current results proved that PLA(1) in wasp venom could be contributable to aortic thrombosis after massive wasp stings. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GABA Transporter-1 Activity Modulates Hippocampal Theta Oscillation and Theta Burst Stimulation-Induced Long-Term Potentiation

The network oscillation and synaptic plasticity are known to be regulated by GABAergic inhibition, but how they are affected by changes in the GABA transporter activity remains unclear. Here we show that in the CA1 region of mouse hippocampus, pharmacolog

噬菌体展示随机十肽库的构建及抗WSSV单链抗体A1的模拟抗原表位的淘选和鉴定

本实验以pCANTAB5E噬菌粒为载体,成功构建了较高容量的噬菌体展示随机十肽库,并将其应用于抗原模拟表位的淘选和鉴定。将一种特异识别对虾白斑综合症病毒(Whitespotsyndromevirus,WSSV)的单链抗体A1对十肽库和十五肽库分别进行淘选,结果得到一系列能与单链抗体A1特异性结合的阳性克隆。将这些阳性克隆所编码的多肽氨基酸序列与已知的单链抗体A1的抗原WSSV388片段氨基酸序列做比对,发现多数阳性多肽序列都与WSSV388片段序列的C端一处K????R??R?QS的氨基酸片段相似,由此推

抗对虾白斑综合症病毒的单链抗体A1的表达和生物化学特性

用噬菌体展示技术制备了抗对虾白斑综合症病毒(WSSV)的单链抗体A1。该抗体在30℃培养条件下诱导表达20h后,其蛋白表达量可达总菌体蛋白的3.67%。用亲和层析柱和SephadexG-100层析柱可将单链抗体A1纯化为一条单电泳条带,其分子量约为31.5kD。用等电聚焦电泳测定,其等电点为pH5.8。ELISA测定表明冻干的单链抗体A1在室温储藏4年后与WSSV结合仍具有较高的活力。

抗对虾白斑综合症病毒单链抗体A1基因在酵母中表达及其与抗原结合活性

通过PCR从噬菌粒载体上扩增一种抗对虾白斑综合症病毒 (WSSV)的单链抗体A1(ScFvA1)基因 ,并构建于大肠杆菌 酵母穿梭质粒载体pPIC9K上。经PCR ,酶切 ,测序鉴定重组克隆 ,发现重组成功。将重组质粒pPIC9K ScF vA1转化毕赤酵母 (Pichiapastoris)GS115中 ,利用甲醇诱导 ,将单链抗体A1在酵母中进行了初步表达。经SDS PAGE电泳 ,发现其大小约为 32KD ,通过ELISA实验 ,证明表达上清液中的单链抗体具有很高的WSSV结合活性。

Spray flame structure of rapeseed biodiesel and Jet-A1 fuel

The spray combustion characteristics of rapeseed methyl esters (RME) were compared to Jet-A1 fuel using a gas turbine type combustor. The swirling spray flames for both fuels were established at a constant power output of 6 kW. The main swirling air flow was preheated to 350 C prior to coaxially enveloping the airblast-atomized liquid fuel spray at atmospheric pressure. Investigation of the fundamental spray combustion was performed via measurements of the fuel droplet sizes and velocities, gas phase flow fields and flame reaction zones. The spray flame droplets and flow fields in the combustors were characterised using phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) and particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) respectively. Flame chemiluminescence imaging was employed to identify the flame reaction zones. The highest droplet concentration zone extends along a 30 angle from the symmetry axis, inside the flame zone. Only small droplets(<17 μ) (<17 μm)are found around the centreline region, while larger droplets are found at the edge of the spray outside the flame reaction zone. RME exhibits spray characteristics similar to Jet-A1 but with droplet concentration and volume fluxes four times higher, consistent with the expected longer droplet evaporation timescale. The flow field characteristics for both RME and Jet-A1 spray flames are very similar despite the significantly different visible characteristics of the flame reaction zones. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of growth temperature of AlGaN buffer layer on the properties of A1(0.58)Ga(0.42)N epilayer by NH3-MBE

Al0.58Ga0.42N epilayers are grown by ammonia gas source molecular beam epitaxy (NH3-MBE) on (0001) sapphire substrate using AlGaN buffer layer. The effects of the buffer layer growth temperature on the properties of Al0.58Ga0.42N epilayer are especially investigated. In-situ high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), double-crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoconductivity measurement and cathodoluminescence (CL) are used to characterize the samples. It is found that high growth temperature of AlGaN buffer layer would improve the crystalline quality, surface smoothness, optical quality and uniformity of the Al0.58Ga0.42N epilayer. The likely reason for such improvements is also suggested. (C) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim