Phylogeny of east Asian bufonids inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences (Anura : Amphibia)

We investigated the relationships of Asian bufonids using partial sequences of mitochondrial DNA genes. Twenty-six samples representing 14 species of Bufo from China and Vietnam and 2 species of Torrentophryne from China were examined. Three samples of Bufo viridis from Armenia and Georgia were also sequenced to make a comparison to its sibling tetraploid species B. danatensis. Bufo americanus, from Canada, was used as the outgroup. Sequences from the 12S ribosomal RNA, 16S ribosomal RNA, cytochrome b, and the control region were analyzed using parsimony. East Asian bufonids were grouped into two major clades. One clade included B. andrewsi, B. bankorensis, B. gargarizans, B. tibetanus, B. tuberculatus, its sister clade B. cryptotympanicus, and the 2 species of Torrentophryne. The second clade consisted of B. galeatus, B. himalayanus, B. melanostictus, and a new species from Vietnam. The placement of three taxa (B. raddei B. viridis, and its sister species, B. danatensis) was problematic. The genus Torrentophryne should be synonymized with Bufo to remove paraphyly. Because B. raddei does not belong to the clade that includes B. viridis and B. danatensis, it was removed from the viridis species group. The species status of B bankorensis from Taiwan is evaluated. (C) 2000 Academic Press.

Additional angles to calculate the deformation of RNA helices induced by bulge loops

Bulges are common features of folded RNA structures. The RNA axial kinking caused by bulges has been confirmed by many experiments. Usually, a kinking angle zeta and a bending angle theta are used to describe the kinking and twisting of RNA molecules containing bulges. Here, we present two additional angles (twist angle zeta(1), twist angle zeta(2)) to describe the deformation of RNA helices induced by bulge loops because only two angles (a kinking angle zeta and a bending angle theta) are not enough to define the deformation of RNA induced by bulges. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamics of RNA with A6 bulge loop

In order to understand the behavior of RNAs with large bulges In solution, molecular dynamics was performed on the RNA molecule in water with A6 bulge. The result of simulation showed that nonstacked conformation Is the main conformation in large bulges, and the backbone of large bulge is of great conformational flexibility, but bulges-induced bends are relatively rigid. The fluctuation in bulge has little influence on the bend angle of RNAs.

Stable RNA hairpins in 88 coding regions of human mRNA

RNA hairpins containing UNCG, GNRA, CUUG (N = A, U, C or G, R = G or A) loops are unusually thermodynamic stable and conserved structures. The structural features of these hairpin loops are very special, and they play very important roles in vivo. They are prevalent in rRNA, catalytic RNA and non-coding mRNA. However, the 5' C(UUCG)G 3' hairpin is not found in the folding structure of 88 human mRNA coding regions. It is also different from rRNA in that there is no preference for certain sequences among tetraloops in these 88 mRNA folding structures.

Statistical correlation between protein secondary structure and messenger RNA stem-loop structure

Anew integrated sequence-structure database, called IADE (Integrated ASTRAL-DSSP-EMBL), incorporating matching mRNA sequence, amino acid sequence, and protein secondary structural data, is constructed. It includes 648 protein domains. Based on the IADE database, we studied the relation between RNA stem-loop frequencies and protein secondary structure. It was found that the alpha-helices and beta-strands on proteins tend to be preferably "coded" by mRNA stem region, while the coils on proteins tend to be preferably "coded" by mRNA loop region. These tendencies are more obvious if we observe the structural words (SWs). An SW is defined by a four-amino-acid-fragment that shows the pronounced secondary structural (alpha-helix or beta-strand) propensity. It is demonstrated that the deduced correlation between protein and mRNA structure can hardly be explained as the stochastic fluctuation effect. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cardioviral RNA structure logo analysis: entropy, correlations, and prediction

In recent years, there has been an increased number of sequenced RNAs leading to the development of new RNA databases. Thus, predicting RNA structure from multiple alignments is an important issue to understand its function. Since RNA secondary structures are often conserved in evolution, developing methods to identify covariate sites in an alignment can be essential for discovering structural elements. Structure Logo is a technique established on the basis of entropy and mutual information measured to analyze RNA sequences from an alignment. We proposed an efficient Structure Logo approach to analyze conservations and correlations in a set of Cardioviral RNA sequences. The entropy and mutual information content were measured to examine the conservations and correlations, respectively. The conserved secondary structure motifs were predicted on the basis of the conservation and correlation analyses. Our predictive motifs were similar to the ones observed in the viral RNA structure database, and the correlations between bases also corresponded to the secondary structure in the database.

汉江硅藻水华优势种的形态及18S rDNA序列分析

中国科学院知识创新项目(KZCX2-YW-426); 国家自然科学基金重大项目(30490232)

从18S rRNA基因序列探讨盾腹吸虫的系统发育关系

盾腹亚纲吸虫被认为是寄生扁形动物中古老的类群,包括盾腹科、多萼科、裂杯科和皱腹科,科间系统发育关系尚存争议。本研究收集GenBank数据库中所有的盾腹吸虫18S rRNA基因序列,测定了三种盾腹吸虫的相应序列,分别采用最大简约法和最大似然法构建分子系统发育树。结果显示,多萼科的分类地位不成立,多萼属应还原到盾腹科;盾腹科的盾腹亚科和杯盾亚科均非单系,吸槽列数可能是平行进化特征,不能反映盾腹科各亚科间的系统发育关系。建议将具有边缘器的吸槽型腹吸盘,以及不具边缘器的吸杯型和皱褶型腹吸盘分别鉴定为盾腹科、裂杯科

RNA干扰在抗病毒研究中的应用

国家自然科学基金海外杰出青年基金(30428024)资助

双链RNA病毒诱导的牙鲆胚胎细胞差减cDNA文库的构建

以紫外线灭活的dsRNA病毒草鱼出血病病毒(GCHV)诱导和模拟诱导的牙鲆胚胎细胞为材料,利用抑制性差减杂交(SSH)技术,成功构建了双链RNA病毒诱导的牙鲆胚胎细胞(FEC)差减cDNA文库。以管家基因αtub lin作为差减指标,经检测,该文库差减效率达210倍,表明经病毒诱导后某些差异表达基因也得到了相应倍数的富集。将获得的cDNA片段连接到pGEM T载体,PCR检测显示差减片段在250bp~2 000bp之间。该差减cDNA文库的构建为从分子水平研究牙鲆培养细胞对dsRNA病毒的免疫反应、以及进

淡水鱼类粘孢子虫的18S rDNA分子系统学研究

利用两个通用引物myxoF(5′ CGCGGTAATTCCAGCTCCAGTAG 3′)和myxoR(5′ ACCAGGTAAGTTTTCCCGTGTTGA 3′)成功扩增出圆形碘泡虫、全圆碘泡虫、武汉单极虫、微山尾孢虫和库班碘泡虫 5种粘孢子虫的部分 18SrDNA序列 ,其GenBank登录号为 :AY16 5 179—AY16 5 183。并结合GenBank其他 13个相关序列构建了 18个物种的分子系统树。结果表明 ,碘泡虫 ,尾孢虫和单极虫较Tetracapsulabryozoides和“PK

海洋喇叭虫rRNA基因18S -ITS1序列及其系统发育分析(英文)

海洋喇叭虫Maristentordinoferus 1996年在关岛(Guam)的珊瑚暗礁上被发现 ,至今尚未阐明其确切的系统发育地位。克隆到的海洋喇叭虫的 18S ITS1 5 8SrDNA序列包括 2 2 2bp的 18S序列 ,77bp的ITS1序列和 2 2bp的 5 8S序列。比较分析了纤毛虫主要类群的ITS1序列后得出 :短的ITS1序列可能是异毛类纤毛虫的特征。根据 18S序列 ,利用邻接法构建 ,最大简约法和最大似然法构建系统发育树。其拓扑结构显示海洋喇叭虫属于异毛纲纤毛虫 ,但并不隶属喇

草鱼呼肠孤病毒RNA聚合酶基因的表达与产物纯化

草鱼呼肠孤病毒是引起草鱼出血病的主要病原,隶属于呼肠孤病毒科水生呼肠孤病毒属。序列分析表明,GCRV S2 片段长为3 877核苷酸,编码一个分子量为138kDa 的蛋白VP2,具有RNA聚合酶性质。为进一步了解该病毒 RNA聚合酶特性,本研究在对GCRV RNA聚合酶基因(GCRV-RdRp)保守区(约1.5kb)重组质粒pR/RRp高效表达的基础上,分别构建了编码GCRV RNA聚合酶保守区N端与C端部分基因的 pR/RRpN及pR/RRpC重组表达载体,并在原核细胞中获得成功表达。筛选的重组表达菌株

6种累枝虫(Epistylis)rRNA基因18S-ITS1序列及其分子系统发育关系

建立了由采自自然界中的样品、不经实验室培养而直接用于大核DNA提取和PCR反应的原位（in situ）方法;在此基础上,测定并比较了6种累枝虫（Epistylis wenrichi,E.urceolata,E.chrysemydis,E.plicatilis,E.hentscheli,E.galea）的18S-ITS1序列,结果显示:E.wenrichi,E.urceolata,E.chrysemydis,E.plicatilis和E.hentscheli间18S和ITS1区序列的碱基相似性很高,而它们与

草鱼呼肠孤病毒RNA聚合酶基因功能区在原核细胞中的表达

国家自然科学基金资助项目 ( 30 170 730 )