Mapping chromosomal homologies between humans and two langurs (Semnopithecus francoisi and S-Phayrei) by chromosome painting

Chromosomal homologies were established between human and two Chinese langurs (Semnopithecus francoisi, 2n=44, and S. phayrei, 2n=44) by chromosome painting with chromosome-specific DNA probes of all human chromosomes except the Y. Both langur species showed identical hybridization patterns in addition to similar G-banding patterns. In total, 23 human chromosome-specific probes detected 30 homologous chromosome segments in a haploid langur genome. Except for human chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 16 and 19 probes, which each gave signals on two non-homologous langur chromosomes respectively, all other probes each hybridized to a single chromosome. The results indicate a high degree of conservation of chromosomal synteny between human and these two Chinese langurs. The human chromosome 2 probe painted the entire euchromatic regions of langur chromosomes 14 and 19. Human chromosome 1 probe hybridized to three regions on langur autosomes, one region on langur chromosome 4 and two regions on langur chromosome 5. Human 19 probe hybridized on the same pattern to one region on chromosome 4 and to two regions on langur chromosome 5, where it alternated with the human chromosome 1 probe. Human 6 and 16 probes both hybridized to one region on each of the two langur autosomes 15 and 18. Only two langur chromosomes (12 and 21) were each labelled by probes specific for two whole human chromosomes (14 and 15 and 21 and 22 respectively). Comparison of the hybridization patterns of human painting probes on these two langurs with the data on other Old World primates suggests that reciprocal and Robertsonian translocations as will as inversions could have occurred since the divergance of human and the langurs from a common ancestor. This comparison also indicates that Asian colobines are karyotypically more closely related to each other that to African colobines.

African origin of modern humans in East Asia: A tale of 12,000 Y chromosomes

To test the hypotheses of modern human origin in East Asia, we sampled 12,127 male individuals from 163 populations and typed for three Y chromosome biallelic markers (YAP, M89, and M130). All the individuals carried a mutation at one of the three sites.

The testis-specific apoptosis related gene TTL.6 underwent adaptive evolution in the lineage leading to humans

The TTL.6 gene is a member of the tubulin-tyrosine ligase (TTL) family involved in apoptosis and preferentially expressed in the testis. We sequenced the coding region and part of the introns of TTL.6 in world wide human populations and five representativ

Positive selection drives population differentiation in the skeletal genes in modern humans

During the course of evolution, the human skeletal system has evolved rapidly leading to an incredible array of phenotypic diversity, including variations in height and bone mineral density. However, the genetic basis of this phenotypic diversity and the relatively rapid tempo of evolution have remained largely undocumented. Here, we discover that skeletal genes exhibit a significantly greater level of population differentiation among humans compared with other genes in the genome. The pattern is exceptionally evident at amino acid-altering sites within these genes. Divergence is greater between Africans and both Europeans and East Asians. In contrast, relatively weak differentiation is observed between Europeans and East Asians. SNPs with higher levels of differentiation have correspondingly higher derived allele frequencies in Europeans and East Asians. Thus, it appears that positive selection has operated on skeletal genes in the non-African populations and this may have been initiated with the human colonization of Eurasia. In conclusion, we provide genetic evidence supporting the rapid evolution of the human skeletal system and the associated diversity of phenotypes.

Schizophrenia patients and their healthy siblings share disruption of white matter integrity in the left prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus but not the anterior cingulate cortex

Healthy siblings of schizophrenia patients have an almost 9-fold higher risk for developing the illness than the general population. Disruption of white matter (WM) integrity as indicated by reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) derived from diffusion tensor

Heavy metal pollution in China: Origin, pattern and control

Goal, Scope and Background. Heavy metal is among one of the pollutants, which cause severe threats to humans and the environment in China. The aim of the present review is to make information on the source of heavy metal pollution, distribution of heavy metals in the environment, and measures of pollution control accessible internationally, which are mostly published in Chinese. Methods. Information from scientific journals, university journals and governmental releases are compiled focusing mainly on Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. Partly Al, As, Cr, Fe, Hg, Mn and Ni are included also in part as well. Results and Discussion. In soil, the average contents of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn are 0.097, 22.6, 26.0 and 74.2 mg/kg, respectively. In the water of. the Yangtze River Basin, the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn are 0.080, 7.91, 15.7 and 18.7 pg/L, respectively. In reference to human activities, the heavy metal pollution comes from three sources: industrial emission, wastewater and solid waste. The environment such as soil, water and air were polluted by heavy metals in some cases. The contents of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn even reach 3.16, 99.3, 84.1 and 147 mg/kg, respectively, in the soils of a wastewater irrigation zone. These contaminants pollute drinking water and food, and threaten human health. Some diseases resulting from pollution of geological and environmental origin, were observed with long-term and non-reversible effects. Conclusions. In China, the geological background level of heavy metal is low, but with the activity of humans, soil, water, air, and plants are polluted by heavy metals in some cases and even affect human health through the food chain. Recommendations and Outlook. To remediate and improve environmental quality is a long strategy for the polluted area to keep humans and animals healthy. Phytoremediation would be an effective technique to remediate the heavy metal pollutions.

不同小麦品质类型与生态环境关系的研究

小麦（Triticum aestivum L.）是世界上种植面积最大，总产量最高，食物加工种类最丰富的粮食作物，占世界人口35 ％－40 ％的人们以此为主要食物。因此小麦产量的高低和品质的优劣直接影响人们对食物需求的安全和满意程度，也影响着人类的营养平衡以及面粉和食品加工业的发展。随着生活水平的提高，人们对于小麦的品质越来越重视。培育优质专用小麦新品种，制定优质专用小麦品种品质生态区划，从而在不同程度上实现小麦的区域化种植和产业化经营具有重要的意义。 影响小麦品质的因素主要是遗传因素和环境因素，其中环境因素又包括各种自然生态因素和人为因素。研究表明，小麦品质的环境间的差异大于品种间的差异，气候条件是影响小麦品质的最重要的因子，小麦品质的地域间的差异反映出了小麦的品质区域分布规律。为了满足市场对不同品质小麦的需求，对小麦进行区域化研究具有重要的理论和现实意义。本研究结合四川的地理、气候特点，研究不同品质类型与生态环境的关系，为在复杂的生态环境内进行品质区划提供依据。 本研究首先根据四川省小麦种植区域的生态特点，在四川省多个典型生态区：川南丘陵的荣县、川西南高原的西昌、川西平原的双流布点种植，采用的小麦试验材料为不同品质类型：中筋小麦川育12、川育14、川育16由本所提供；弱筋小麦川麦32和强筋小麦川麦36由四川省农科院作物所提供。通过研究品质性状与品种及各个生态因子包括地点、土壤土质差异等的关系，明确不同生态环境中适宜种植的小麦品种类型，强筋小麦、中筋小麦更适合于在荣县、双流地区种植，弱筋小麦更适合于在西昌地区种植，为品种品质区划奠定基础。 其次，选择了本课题组育成的稳定中间品系，对其品质性状SDS沉降值进行了多年测定。分析了品质性状SDS沉降值与多种气候因子的相关性，结果表明SDS沉降值与日均温、日照时数成正相关，与降水量成负相关，为品质育种提供了理论依据。 此外，以中筋小麦新品种小麦川育14为材料，应用三元二次正交旋转回归模型设计试验，研究主要栽培因子播期、密度和施肥量对产量的影响，并建立函数模型。经计算机模拟寻优，筛选出了高产高效栽培组合措施，并确定了置信域。结合四川省不同的地理情况，在平原和丘陵地区分别进行实验，并各自建立了高产高效栽培组合措施，为川育14品种的推广提供了理论指导。 Wheat is one of the most important crops in the world. About 35%-40% people all over the world, take the wheat as their most important food. So the quality, as well as the quantity of the wheat makes a direct effect on people’s demands of food and their satisfaction. It also effects on human’s healthy, and the development of the Food processing industry. With the development of the living standard, people pay more attention to the quality of wheat. So, we set a special ecology zoning for wheat. It is significant to carry out planting the wheat in special zoning in varying degrees. The main factors affecting wheat quality are heredity and environment including many ecological factors and the factors in cultivation. As to the quality，the difference between ecology and cultivation is more important than the difference between special wheat. In so many factors, climate is the most important one. From the difference in quality between different zones，we can conclude the rule of distribution abort quality of wheat. Finding out the intersection of numerous wheat not only can meet the demand of food production，but also has important signification in theory and realism。In our research, according to the complex geography in Sichuan province, we study the relationship between numerous kinds of quality characters in wheat and the ecology. So, we can set a foundation for more research. In this research, firstly, we plant wheat in some typical ecological regions of SICHUAN province: RONGXIAN（south of SC）、XICHANG（south of SC）, SHUANGLIU(west of SC). The materials of the experiments: ChuanYu12, ChuanYu14, ChuanYu16(from our institute), Chuanmai32, Chuanmai36 (from the Chinese academy of agriculture sciences of Sichuan. Through the research on the relationship between the quality of wheat and those ecology factors, we can make a definition that which area is perfect matched with which kind of wheat. And it can satisfy the demand of people. Secondly, select many sorts of wheat from our research group. All of them are selected and bred more than 3 years(2003-2005). And we make every-year determination as well. We’ve gotten SDS value from those 9, and various data on factors of climate. We also got to know the relation ship between those numbers. Thirdly, use Chuanyu14 as material, the mathematical model of the relation between the production of wheat and main agricultural measures such as date, density and fertilizer. The model was established by association of three elements two return, rotate and regression. We set a suitable model and get a suitable method which can make high harvest. Based on various kinds of geographical regions in Sichuan province, we set different models which can be used in plain and hill. So, we can plant Chuan Yu 14 in Sichuan province under the result in research.

Discrimination of Type 2 diabetic patients from healthy controls by using metabonomics method based on their serum fatty acid profiles

Metabonomics, the study of metabolites and their roles in various disease states, is a novel methodology arising from the post-genomics era. This methodology has been applied in many fields, including work in cardiovascular research and drug toxicology. In this study, metabonomics method was employed to the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) based on serum lipid metabolites. The results suggested that serum fatty acid profiles determined by capillary gas chromatography combined with pattern recognition analysis of the data might provide an effective approach to the discrimination of Type 2 diabetic patients from healthy controls. And the applications of pattern recognition methods have improved the sensitivity and specificity greatly. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic investigation of urinary normal and modified nucleosides of cancer patients

Post-transcriptional modifications in RNA give rise to free modified ribonucleosides circulating in the blood stream and excreted in urine. Due to their abnormal levels in conjunction with several tumor diseases, they have been suggested as possible tumor markers. The developed RP-HPLC method has been applied to analyze the urinary nucleosides in 34 urinary samples from 15 kinds of cancer patients. The statistical analyses showed the urinary nucleoside excretion, especially modified nucleoside levels, in cancer patients were significantly higher than those in normal healthy volunteers. Factor analysis was used to classify the patients with cancer and normal healthy humans. It was found that using 15 urinary nucleoside levels or only five modified nucleoside levels as data vectors the factor analysis plot displayed two almost separate clusters representing each group. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.