Genetic diversity and conservation of endangered animal species

The loss of biodiversity resulting from extinctions is receiving increasing attention. Over several thousands of animal species have been evaluated and recognized as endangered species. Inbreeding depression has been demonstrated in many wild animal speci

Polymerase chain reaction based C4AQ0 and C4BQ0 genotyping: association with systemic lupus erythematosus in southwest Han Chinese

Objective: To investigate the association of complement C4 null genes (C4QO, including C4AQO and C4BQO) and C2 gene with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in southwest Han Chinese; 136 patients with SLE and 174 matched controls were genotyped. Methods: C4 null genes were determined by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure with sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP). The 2 bp insertion in exon 29, which was previously identified in non-Chinese populations and caused defective C4A genes, was directly typed by sequencing the whole exon 29 using exon specific primers. The exon 6 of complement C2 was also sequenced in both the patients and controls. Results: The frequency of homozygous C4AQO allele was 12.5% (17/136) in patients with SLE compared with 1.1% (2/174) in controls (p<0.001, odds ratio (OR)=12.286, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.786 to 54.170). There was no significant difference for homozygous C4BQO allele between patients with SLE and controls (p=0.699). Patients with the C4AQO gene had an increased risk of acquiring renal disorder, serositis, and anti-dsDNA antibodies compared with those without C4AQO (for renal disorder, p=0.018, OR=8.951, 95% Cl 1.132 to 70.804; for serositis, p=0.011, OR 4.891, 95% CI 1.574 to 15.198; for anti-dsDNA, p=0.004, OR 7.630, 95%Cl 1.636 to 35.584). None of the patients or controls had the 2 bp insertion in exon 29 of the C4 gene. The type I C2 deficiency was not detected in the 3 10 samples. Conclusion: It is suggested that deficiency of C4A (not due to a 2 bp insertion in exon 29), but not C4B or C2, may be a risk factor for acquiring SLE in south west Han Chinese; this results in increased risk of renal disorder, serositis, and anti-dsDNA antibodies in patients with SLE. Racial differences seem to be relevant in susceptibility to SLE.

家马核基因组中线粒体核内插入序列分析

在各种真核生物核基因组中,存在一些由线粒体基因组转移进入核基因组中的DNA片段,这些被认为是分子化石的片段叫做线粒体核内插入序列(Numt).由于Numt与真实的线粒体序列高度相似,因此它的存在必然会成为PCR扩增线粒体DNA的不利因素.利用已经公布的家马(Equus caballus)基因组序列(2007年9月公布,GenBank登录号为NC 009144--NC 009175)对家马Numt进行了深入分析,其发现200个可能的Numt,长度范围为29到3727bp,其中有10个的长度大于800bp.分析结果显示由于不存在线粒体控制区域的疑似Numt,因此对基于此区域的群体遗传学研究不会产生影响.本研究还发现在家马进化过程中,第1号和27号染色体更倾向于接受线粒体序列的转移.以上结果将为今后马科动物的研究提供重要的参考信息,有助于避免在线粒体DNA研究中由于Numt污染的存在而得出错误的实验结果.

鲤鱼多态性EST标记的筛选与特性分析

表达序列标签(Expressed sequence tag,EST)标记在基因组作图和分子标记辅助育种研究中具有重要价值。筛选和开发可用于遗传作图的鲤鱼多态性EST标记,对研究鲤鱼的基因组结构、遗传多样性研究和遗传育种有重要意义。本研究根据GenBank数据库中鲤鱼EST序列设计了67对EST引物,有47对在鲤鱼基因组DNA中成功扩增得到稳定的特异性条带,经单链构象多态性(SSCP)分析,12对(25.5%)引物扩增的EST在1个鲤鱼回交家系中具有多态性,其中6个为鲤鱼功能基因,5个与斑马鱼(Danio

稀有鮈鲫β-肌动蛋白基因片段的克隆及其同源性分析

采用RT-PCR方法,从稀有鮈鲫肌肉组织中分离和克隆出β-肌动蛋白基因cDNA部分序列,长度为1 029 bp,编码343个氨基酸残基.序列分析表明,该cDNA序列与其他物种β-肌动蛋白基因同源性非常高.RT-PCR能够检出该基因在稀有鮈鲫肌肉、眼、脑、心脏、肝、肠、鳃、睥、卵巢等组织中广普表达,在胚胎不同发育时期持续恒量表达.并基于已知的鱼类β-肌动蛋白基因序列构建了进化树.

铲鲟微卫星引物对中华鲟的适用性研究

将 2 1对铲鲟 (ScaphirhynchusplatorynchusRafinesque)的微卫星引物在中华鲟 (AcipensersinensisGray)基因组DNA上进行PCR扩增 ,1 4对 (约占 67% )引物得到了扩增产物 ,其中有 1 0对 (约占 48% )表现为多态性 ,但只有 2对 ( 9 5 % )引物Spl 1 0 0和Spl 1 68的多态性较高 ,且带型清晰 ,可直接作为分子标记应用于相关的研究。此外 ,对具有特异性扩增 ,但有Stutterband现象的 4对引物的部分

草鱼的体液免疫应答及抗体产生细胞

以草鱼出血病病毒和牛血清白蛋白 (BSA)为抗原接种草鱼 ,比较了草鱼对两种抗原的体液免疫应答情况。结果显示 ,在接种了BSA的草鱼中 ,14d后检测到抗体 ,其效价在 2 8d达到峰值 ;而接种了出血病病毒的草鱼 ,在 2 1d后检测到抗体 ,抗体效价在 35d达到峰值。用FITC BSA检测免疫BSA草鱼的抗体产生细胞 ,探讨了抗体产生效价与抗体细胞数量的关系。

武汉东湖生态系中浮游物的营养结构

本工作主要探讨东湖水柱浮游物的颗粒有机物在营养结构上量的关系。定量测定武汉东湖浮游物的干重、无灰重及浮游动、植物生物量并进行相应的碳、氮、磷分析。1983和1984两年东湖浮游物总颗粒有机碳现存量(mg/m~3)分别为3993与2819(Ⅰ站),2958与1856(Ⅱ站);总颗粒有机氮为762与584(I站),565与369(Ⅱ站);总颗粒有机磷为105与56(Ⅰ站),59与37(Ⅱ站)。颗粒有机碎屑碳一般占浮游物总颗粒有机碳的50％,占浮游生物活体碳的61％—104％。与浮游植物生物量碳相比,有机碎屑碳

Seasonal dynamics of the hepatotoxic microcystins in various organs of four freshwater bivalves from the large eutrophic Lake Taihu of subtropical China and the risk to human consumption

So far, little is known on the distribution of hepatotoxic microcystin (MC) in various organs of bivalves, and there is no study on MC accumulation in bivalves from Chinese waters. Distribution pattern and seasonal dynamics of MC-LR, -YR and -RR in various organs (hepatopancreas, intestine, visceral mass, gill, foot, and rest) of four edible freshwater mussels (Anodonta woodiana, Hyriopsis cumingii, Cristaria plicata, and Lamprotula leai) were studied monthly during Oct. 2003-Sep. 2004 in Lake Taihu with toxic cyanobacterial blooms in the summer. Qualitative and quantitative determinations of MCs in the organs were done by LC-MS and HPLC. The major toxins were present in the hepatopancreas (45.5-55.4%), followed by visceral mass with substantial amount of gonad (27.6-35.5%), whereas gill and foot were the least (1.8-5.1%). The maximum MC contents in the hepatopancreas, intestine, visceral mass, gill, foot, and rest were 38.48, 20.65, 1.70, 0.64, 0.58, and 0.61 mu g/g DW, respectively. There were rather good positive correlation in MC contents between intestines and hepatopancreas of the four bivalves (r = 0.75-0.97, p < 0.05). There appeared to be positive correlations between the maximum MC content in the hepatopancreas and the delta(13)C (r = 0.919) or delta(15)N (r = 0.878) of the foot, indicating that the different MC content in the hepatopancreas might be due to different food ingestion. A glutathione (GSH) conjugate of MC-LR was also detected in the foot sample of C. plicata. Among the foot samples analyzed, 54% were above the provisional WHO tolerable daily intake (TDI) level, and the mean daily intakes from the four bivalves were 8-23.5 times the TDI value when the bivalves are eaten as a whole, suggesting the high risk of consuming bivalves in Lake Taihu. (C) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Concentration effect of Mn2+ on the photoluminescence of ZnS : Mn nanocrystals

Mn-doped ZnS nanocrystals of about 3 nm diameter were synthesized by a wet chemical method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements showed that the nanocrystals have the structure of cubic zinc blende. The broadening of the XRD lines is indicative of nanomaterials. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the undoped sample only exhibited a defected-related blue emission band. But for the doped samples, an orange emission from the Mn2+ T-4(1)-(6)A(1) transition was also observed, apart from the blue emission. The peak position (600 nm) of the Mn2+ emission was shifted to longer wavelength compared to that (584 nm) of bulk ZnS:Mn. With the increase of the Mn2+ concentration, the PL of ZnS:Mn was significantly enhanced. The concentration quenching effect was not observed in our experiments. Such PL phenomena were attributed to the absence of Mn2+ pairs in a single ZnS:Mn nanocrystal, considering the nonradiative energy transfer between Mn2+ ions based on the Poisson approximation. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design consideration and performance of high-power and high-brightness InGaAs-InGaAsP-AlGaAs quantum-well diode lasers (lambda=0.98 mu m)

In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of the design, fabrication, and performance measurement of high-power and high-brightness strained quantum-well lasers emitting at 0.98 mum, The material system of interest consists of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. Some key parameters of the laser structure are theoretically analyzed, and their effects on the laser performance are discussed. The laser material is grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and demonstrates high quality with low-threshold current density, high internal quantum efficiency, and extremely low internal loss. High-performance broad-area multimode and ridge-waveguide single-mode laser devices are fabricated. For 100-mum-wide stripe lasers having a cavity length of 800 mum, a high slope efficiency of 1.08 W-A, a low vertical beam divergence of 34 degrees, a high output power of over 4.45 W, and a very high characteristic temperature coefficient of 250 K were achieved. Lifetime tests performed at 1.2-1.3 W (12-13 mW/mum) demonstrates reliable performance. For 4-mum-wide ridge waveguide single-mode laser devices, a maximum output power of 394 mW and fundamental mode power up to 200 mW with slope efficiency of 0.91 mW/mum are obtained.