B itte r an d Sw e e t /Um am i Ta s te Re c ep to rs w ith D iffe ren tly Evo lu tio n a ry Pa thw ays

通过生物信息学和系统发育学分析,研究了苦味受体和甜味/鲜味受体的进化途径。结果显示,苦味受体 和甜味/鲜味受体在进化上具有远相关,并且具有不同的进化途径,提示这可能是导致这些受体具有不同功能,传 导不同味觉的原因。

中国主要家鹅品种的遗传分化研究

利用PCR和DNA测序技术扩增了15个中国家鹅品种线粒体DNA控制区部分序列(1 042 bp ) 。研究 结果表明:伊犁鹅与14个品种间的核苷酸分歧度最高,为31805%～41067%;不同品种内核苷酸多样度表现出较 大的差异,为0～01116%。除伊犁鹅外的14 个家鹅品种中,豁眼鹅与其他品种间的核苷酸分歧度为01211% ～ 01272% ,明显高于其他品种间的0～01094%。中国家鹅品种的遗传分化格局与地理分布有关,豁眼鹅的分歧时 间较早,遗传漂变是导致豁眼鹅遗传分化的主要因素(Nm = 0102～0154 ) ,基因流则是另外13 个家鹅品种间遗传 分化不明显的主要因素(Nm = 1210～65133 ) 。

A Simple, Universal Colorimetric Assay for Endonuclease/Methyltransferase Activity and Inhibition Based on an Enzyme-Responsive Nanoparticle System

An enzyme responsive nanoparticle system that uses a DNA-gold nanoparticle (AuNP) assembly as the substrate has been developed for the simple, sensitive, and universal monitoring of restriction endonucleases in real time. This new assay takes advantage of the palindromic recognition sequence of the restriction nucleases and the unique optical properties of AuNPs and is simpler than the procedure previously described by by Xu et al. (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2007, 46, 3468-3470). Because it involves only one type of ssDNA modified AuNPs, this assay can be directed toward most of the endonucleases by simply changing the recognition sequence found within the linker DNA. In addition, the endonuclease activity could be quantitatively analyzed by the value of the reciprocal of hydrolysis half time (t(1/2)(-1). Furthermore, our new design could also be applied to the assay of methyltransferase activity since the methylation of DNA inhibits its cleavage by the corresponding restriction endonuclease, and thus, this new methodology can be easily adapted to high-throughput screening of methyltransferase inhibitors.