芍药花色形成的化学机制及其化学分类研究

本文以9 个芍药野生种（15 份种质）、104 个品种及2 个牡丹芍药组间杂种的花瓣为材料，利用液质联用技术鉴定了花瓣中的色素成分并探讨了芍药花色形成的化学机制和化学分类法。 结果表明，芍药花中主要含有5 种花青素，即芍药花素-3，5-二葡糖苷（ peonidin-3,5-di-O-glucoside ， Pn3G5G ）; 矢车菊素-3 ， 5- 二葡糖苷（ cyanidin-3,5-di-O-glucoside ， Cy3G5G ）; 天竺葵素-3 ， 5- 二葡糖苷（ pelargonidin-3,5-di-O-glucoside ， Pg3G5G ）; 芍药花素-3- 葡糖苷（peonidin-3-O-glucoside，Pn3G）和矢车菊素-3-葡糖苷（cyanidin-3-O-glucoside，Cy3G）。此外，3 种微量的花青素首次在芍药中发现：它们分别为芍药花素-3-葡萄糖-5-阿拉伯糖苷（peonidin-3-O-glucoside-5-O-arabinoside，Pn3G5Ara）、矢车菊素-3- 葡萄糖-5- 半乳糖苷（ cyanidin-3-O-glucoside-5-O-galactoside ，Cy3G5Gal）和天竺葵素-3-葡萄糖-5-半乳糖苷（pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside-5-Ogalactoside，Pg3G5Gal）。特征花青素Cy3G5Gal 和Pg3G5Gal 仅在新疆芍药（Paeonia anomala L.）及其亚种川赤芍（P. anomala subsp. veitchii(Lynch) D. Y.Hong & K. Y. Pan）中被检测出来，表明它们属于同一个种。Pn3G5Ara 仅存在于欧洲的野生芍药花瓣中，表明中国野生芍药和欧洲芍药的花青素代谢途径不同。 芍药花瓣中主要含有11 种花黄素，均为黄酮醇类物质。包括栎精-3，7 二葡糖苷（ quercetin-3,7-di-O-glucoside ）、山奈酚-3 ， 7 二葡糖苷（kaempferol-3,7-di-O-glucoside）、异鼠李素-3，7 二葡糖苷（isorhamnetin-3,7-di-Oglucoside）、栎精-3-O-(6”-没食子酰基)-葡糖苷 [quercetin-3-O-（6”-O-galloyl）-glucoside] 、栎精-3- 葡糖苷（ quercetin-3-O-glucoside ）、山奈酚-7- 葡糖苷（ kaempferol-7-O-glucoside ）、山奈酚-3-O- （ 6”- 没食子酰基） - 葡糖苷[kaempferol-3-O-（6”-O-galloyl)-glucoside]、异鼠李素-3-O-（6”-没食子酰基）-葡糖苷 [isorhamnetin-3-O- （ 6”-O-galloyl ） -glucoside] 、山奈酚-3- 葡糖苷（kaempferol-3-O-glucoside）、异鼠李素-3-葡糖苷（isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside）和山奈酚-丙二酰葡糖苷（kaempferol-malonyl-glucoside）。此外，查耳酮在黄色的栽培品种‘黄金轮’和牡丹芍药组间杂交种‘伊藤杂种’中首次被检测到。其化学结构为查耳酮-2’-葡糖苷（chalcononaringenin 2’-O-glucoside），它是花瓣表现出黄色的主要色素，它与黄色牡丹野生种‘滇牡丹’（P. delavayi Franchet）花瓣中主要黄色色素成分一致。 通过对所有芍药野生种和栽培品种的色素分析，研究发现花青素是芍药花瓣中主要的色素，其中Pn3G5G 是花瓣中含量最高的花青素苷，其次为Cy3G5G。3G 型糖苷仅在少数品种中检测出来。此外，黄酮醇是芍药花瓣中重要的辅助色素。山奈酚苷是花瓣中含量最高的黄酮醇类，其次是栎精。 多元线性回归分析的结果表明，芍药花色的形成主要与花瓣中Pn3G5G、Cy3G5G 和Pg3G5G 的含量及总花青素量（TA）有关。根据8 种花青素结构与花色组成，将国内的野生种和大部分品种进行了化学分类：所有样本聚成3 大类，聚类后的树状图与其花色、花色素组成数据相一致，直观反映了野生种和栽培品种花色形成的化学背景和表型相似性程度。 芍药成色机理和化学分类的初步研究，对芍药新花色育种具有重要意义：芍药鲜红色花的育种中，育种亲本应具有高的Cy3G 含量、低的辅助色素效应指数。选育深紫色花或紫黑色花的品种，亲本应具有高的Pn3G5G 含量和低的Pg3G5G 含量。

Accelerated evolution of the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide precursor gene during human origin

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide abundantly expressed in the central nervous system and involved in regulating neurogenesis and neuronal signal transduction. The amino acid sequence of PACAP is extremely conserved across vertebrate species, indicating a strong functional constraint during the course of evolution. However, through comparative sequence analysis, we demonstrated that the PACAP precursor gene underwent an accelerated evolution in the human lineage since the divergence from chimpanzees, and the amino acid substitution rate in humans is at least seven times faster than that in other mammal species resulting from strong Darwinian positive selection. Eleven human-specific amino acid changes were identified in the PACAP precursors, which are conserved from murine to African apes. Protein structural analysis suggested that a putative novel Deuropeptide might have originated during human evolution and functioned in the human brain. Our data suggested that the PACAP precursor gene underwent adaptive changes during human origin and may have contributed to the formation of human cognition.

Paternal genetic affinity between western Austronesians and Daic populations

Background: Austronesian is a linguistic family spread in most areas of the Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. Based on their linguistic similarity, this linguistic family included Malayo-Polynesians and Taiwan aborigines. The lingui

Embryonic stages and eye-specific gene expression of the local cyprinoid fish Anabarilius grahami in Fuxian Lake, China

Anabarilius grahami is a cyprinoid fish endemic to Fuxian Lake, Yunnan, China. In this study, a comprehensive staging series of A. grahami was produced. The embryonic development of A. grahami was divided into six main periods: zygote period, cleavage per

Microsatellite polymorphisms of Sichuan golden monkeys

Previous study using protein electrophoresis shows no polymorphism in 44 nuclear loci of Sichuan golden monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), which limits our understandings of its population genetic patterns in the nuclear genome. In order to obtain sufficient information, we scanned 14 microsatellite loci in a sample of 32 individuals from its three major habitats (Minshan, Qinling and Shennongiia). A considerable amount of polymorphisms were detected. The average heterozygosities in the local populations were all above 0.5. The differentiations among local populations were significant. There was evidence of geneflow among subpopullations, but geneflow between Qinling and Shennongjia local populations was the weakest. Minshan and Qinling populations might have gone through recent bottlenecks. The estimation of the ratio of the effective population sizes among local populations was close to that from census sizes. Comparisons to available mitochondria data suggested that R. roxellana's social structures played an important role in shaping its population genetic patterns. Our study showed that the polymorphism level of R. roxellana was no higher than other endangered species; therefore, measures should be taken to preserve genetic diversity of this species.

Evolutionary implications of multiple SINE insertions in an intronic region from diverse mammals

An analysis of the nuclear beta-fibrinogen intron 7 locus from 30 taxa representing 12 placental orders of mammals reveals the enriched occurrences of short interspersed clement (SINE) insertion events. Mammalian-wide interspersed repeats (MIRs) are present at orthologous sites of all examined species except those in the order Rodentia. The higher substitution rate in mouse and a rare MIR deletion from rat account for the absence of MIR in the rodents. A minimum of five lineage-specific SINE sequences are also found to have independently inserted into this intron in Carnivora, Artiodactyla and Lagomorpha. In the case of Carnivora, the unique amplification pattern of order-specific CAN SINE provides important evidence for the "pan-carnivore" hypothesis of this repeat element and reveals that the CAN SINE family may still be active today. Particularly interesting is the finding that all identified lineage-specific SINE elements show a strong tendency to insert within or in very close proximity to the preexisting MIRs for their efficient integrations, suggesting that the MIR clement is a hot spot for successive insertions of other SINEs. The unexpected MIR excision as a result of a random deletion in the rat intron locus and the non-random site targeting detected by this study indicate that SINEs actually have a greater insertional flexibility and regional specificity than had previously been recognized. Implications for SINE sequence evolution upon and following integration, as well as the fascinating interactions between retroposons and the host genomes are discussed.

Molecular phylogeny of Nycticebus inferred from mitochondrial genes

Researchers are still discussing the classification of Nycticebus. We established a molecular phylogeny covering all recognized taxa in Nycticebus to provide information for further evaluation. We sequenced partial D-loop (ca. 390 bp) and cytochrome b gen

Mitochondrial control region and population genetic patterns of Nycticebus bengalensis and N-Pygmaeus

Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) and pygmy slow lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus) are nocturnal which creates difficulties to study them in the field. There is a scarcity of data on them and their population genetics are poorly understood. We sequ

A High Polymorphism Level in Rhinopithecus roxellana

The Sichuan golden monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is a famous and beautiful endangered primate. Owing to the dearth of samples and technical limitations, previous studies could not adequately assess the levels of genetic polymorphisms in the species. To

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 genotypic drug resistance among volunteer blood donors in Yunnan, China

BACKGROUND: Drug resistance profiles of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) in treatment-naive infections have been reported in developed countries. However, little is known in developing countries, including China, especially in treatment-naive volunt

Natural selection on EPAS1 (HIF2 alpha) associated with low hemoglobin concentration in Tibetan highlanders

By impairing both function and survival, the severe reduction in oxygen availability associated with high-altitude environments is likely to act as an agent of natural selection. We used genomic and candidate gene approaches to search for evidence of such genetic selection. First, a genome-wide allelic differentiation scan (GWADS) comparing indigenous highlanders of the Tibetan Plateau (3,200 3,500 m) with closely related lowland Han revealed a genome-wide significant divergence across eight SNPs located near EPAS1. This gene encodes the transcription factor HIF2 alpha, which stimulates production of red blood cells and thus increases the concentration of hemoglobin in blood. Second, in a separate cohort of Tibetans residing at 4,200 m, we identified 31 EPAS1 SNPs in high linkage disequilibrium that correlated significantly with hemoglobin concentration. The sex-adjusted hemoglobin concentration was, on average, 0.8 g/dL lower in the major allele homozygotes compared with the heterozygotes. These findings were replicated in a third cohort of Tibetans residing at 4,300 m. The alleles associating with lower hemoglobin concentrations were correlated with the signal from the GWADS study and were observed at greatly elevated frequencies in the Tibetan cohorts compared with the Han. High hemoglobin concentrations are a cardinal feature of chronic mountain sickness offering one plausible mechanism for selection. Alternatively, as EPAS1 is pleiotropic in its effects, selection may have operated on some other aspect of the phenotype. Whichever of these explanations is correct, the evidence for genetic selection at the EPAS1 locus from the GWADS study is supported by the replicated studies associating function with the allelic variants.