Structure-function analysis of the inverted terminal repeats of the Sleeping Beauty transposon

Translocation of Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon requires specific binding of SB transposase to inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) of about 230 bp at each end of the transposon, which is followed by a cut-and-paste transfer of the transposon into a target DNA sequence. The ITRs contain two imperfect direct repeats (DRs) of about 32 bp. The outer DRs are at the extreme ends of the transposon whereas the inner DRs are located inside the transposon, 165-166 bp from the outer DRs. Here we investigated the roles of the DR elements in transposition. Although there is a core transposase-binding sequence common to all of the DRs, additional adjacent sequences are required for transposition and these sequences vary in the different DRs. As a result, SB transposase binds less tightly to the outer DRs than to the inner DRs. Two DRs are required in each ITR for transposition but they are not interchangeable for efficient transposition. Each DR appears to have a distinctive role in transposition. The spacing and sequence between the DR elements in an ITR affect transposition rates, suggesting a constrained geometry is involved in the interactions of SB transposase molecules in order to achieve precise mobilization. Transposons are flanked by TA dinucleotide base-pairs that are important for excision; elimination of the TA motif on one side of the transposon significantly reduces transposition while loss of TAs on both flanks of the transposon abolishes transposition. These findings have led to the construction of a more advanced transposon that should be useful in gene transfer and insertional mutagenesis in vertebrates. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inland free-living nematodes in China: A historical review of taxonomic studies with descriptions of Aphanonchus orientalis sp nov (Chromadorida : Leptolaimidae) and Daptonema limnobia sp nov (Monhysterida : Xyalidae)

The study of inland free-living nematodes is relatively imperfect in China, only seventeen papers were previously published. Since the early researches in 20-30s, few works have been accomplished until 80s. Altogether 171 taxa were formerly recorded, among which, over eighty species have been re-combined. A checklist of the former records with notes on their distribution is presented in this paper. Recently, the function of free-living nematodes has received much attention from Chinese zoologists. Hence, the present authors carried out their studies with emphasis on taxonomy of inland nematodes. During the survey of freshwater lakes, two species are found to be nem to science. Aphanonchus orientalis sp. nov. is characterized by having sclerotized vagina, the presence of 10-11 tubular supplements and 42-62 alveoli supplements in males, but no alveoli in females. Daptonema limnobia sp, nov. is distinguished from other species of the genus in the presence of larger and more anteriorly located amphids, shorter bifurcated spicules, smaller apophysis of gubernaculum, shorter terminal setae, and postvulval uterine sac in females.

Potential light source for photonic integrated circuits based on the equilateral triangle resonator

The semiconductor microlasers based on the equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) can be fabricated from the edge-emitting laser wafer by dry-etching technique, and the directional emission can be obtained by connecting an output waveguide to one of the vertices of the ETR. We investigate the mode characteristics, especially the mode quality factor, for the ETR with imperfect vertices, which is inevitable in the real technique process. The numerical simulations show that the confined modes can still have a high quality factor in the ETR with imperfect vertices. We can expect that the microlasers is a suitable light source for photonic integrated circuits.

川西云杉(Picea balfouriana)天然群体的遗传变异

青藏高原东南缘由于特殊的生态地理条件，有着丰富的森林资源，这些资源是长江上游涵养水源、保持水土的生态屏障，是生物多样性的资源宝库。但随着过量的森林采伐，使该区曾经丰富的生物多样性资源遭受了前所未有的破坏，天然林的质量严重下降，生态系统退化，功能减弱。与此同时，许多物种的种群规模正在锐减，物种的遗传多样性也严重丧失。川西云杉是西部地区分布最广的云杉树种之一，在较高海拔的地区有着重要的生态学功能，是一种适应性很强的乡土树种。本项目采用简单序列重复标记(SSR)和特定序列位点(STS)研究不同生境条件下川西云杉群体的遗传变异及其时空分布格局，考察遗传变异与复杂的山地生态环境间的潜在联系，系统地揭示川西云杉天然群体与环境系统相互作用的生态适应与分子进化机制。研究成果能有效地为该树种遗传资源的科学保护与合理利用提供理论依据和科学指导，可为中国西南部亚高山天然林的可持续经营及退化生态系统的恢复与重建提供依据。主要研究结果如下： 1 STS和SSR两种分子标记的研究结果表明：川西云杉群体拥有中等水平的遗传多样性(基于SSR标记，平均He = 0.640；基于STS标记，平均He = 0.553)。造成这种中等水平的遗传多样性，可能是由于历史原因，川西云杉天然林被大量采伐，导致了遗传多样性的丧失。两种方法都检测出群体BT有着最高水平的遗传多样性。 2 两种标记的结果都一致说明：检测的10个川西云杉群体间遗传分化比较高，其存在群体间的遗传变异比例要明显地高于广泛分布的挪威云杉、横贯大陆的黑云杉以及兼有连续分布和不连续分布的西加云杉等，但要低于分布范围狭窄且呈不连续分布的粗枝云杉。青藏高原东南部的片段化生境可能是导致高水平遗传分化的主要原因。 3 基于两种标记的UPGMA 聚类和PCA分析结果，以及基于SSR标记的FCA分析结果都显示：群体BY遗传上明显区别于其它群体，其可能原因是青藏高原东南缘山脉阻隔而导致的生殖隔离的结果。 4 根据软件Bottleneck 1.2.02的检测以及不依赖哈迪一温伯格平衡的M比率检测结果：川西云杉种群很有可能经历了近期的遗传瓶颈效应。在本研究中遗传瓶颈效应并没有显著影响到物种的遗传多样性。然而，在这些片断化群体未来的子代群体中很可能出现遗传瓶颈导致的遗传多样性下降的效应。 Due to the extremely complex topography and climatic conditions, the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is region abundant in forest resource, which is benefit to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River water conservation, and protecting natural environment and biodiversity resources. However, by the reason of a plenty of trees were cut in these yeas, the biodiversity resource was destroy with degraded ecosystem and imperfect funcation. Picea balfouriana is one of the regionally distributed conifer species in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and considered as a constructive species within its distribution area. It is an optimal species for the production of biomass. Moreover, it is well adapted to stressful environments at high altitude, especially to cold and drought conditions which are generally harsh for other trees. In our study, two types of molecular markers (SSR and STS) were used to estimate the genetic diversity and genetic structure of P. balfouriana populations originating from the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with varying climatic and geographical conditions. The results will not only provide a deep insight into its genetic diversity and population genetic structure but also valuable information for further management and breeding programs in P. balfouriana. In summary, the results obtained in this study revealed that: 1 A moderate degree of genetic variation is present in P. balfouriana in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and it may caused by many trees were cut in the past. Population BT owns the highest level of genetic diversity by both two types of markers. 2 Considerable population differentiation exists among the ten P. balfouriana populations based on both SSR and STS markers, possibly caused by habitat fragmentation and heterogeneous environments. 3 The UPGMA clustering and PCA analyses based on SSR and STS marker, and FCA analyses based on SSR marker congruously separated population BY from other populations, which is likely due to the presence of mountain barriers. 4 The results of bottleneck analysis indicated that P. balfouriana populations that have undergone recent declines. In our research, the bottleneck effect don’t have a significant impact on the genetic diversity of species, however, the level of genetic diversity of P. balfouriana offspring populations growing in the fragmented habitats will decline in the future.

来自易变山羊草抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因的克隆与序列分析

禾谷孢囊线虫（Heterodera avenae）是严重危害禾谷类作物的病原线虫之一,它广泛分布于澳大利亚、欧洲、北美、印度和中国等世界主要小麦产区,使作物严重减产,造成巨大的经济损失。目前最有效的防治措施之一是将外源抗性基因导入栽培小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)，培育抗禾谷孢囊线虫的新品种。但迄今为止抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因克隆研究的相关报道却很少。 本实验根据此前从抗禾谷孢囊线虫材料E-10扩增得到的与来自节节麦（Aegilops tauschii）的抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因Cre3高度同源的序列Rccn4,设计出三条嵌套引物,采用SON-PCR(single oligonucleotide nested PCR)方法,从E-10基因组DNA中得到一个长为1264 bp的扩增产物(命名为Rccn-L),测序比对结果显示,这一序列将Rccn4的3’端延伸了1209 bp,与抗禾谷孢囊线虫Cre3基因核苷酸同源性为86﹪，核苷酸编码区长1026 bp，含一个不完整的开放阅读框,一个终止密码子，没有起始密码子和内含子结构,编码一个342个氨基酸残基的蛋白质。该蛋白质等电点为5.19，分子量为38112.6Da。从序列的第113位开始到第332位是NBS-LRR类抗病性基因LRR区,呈现XXLXXLXXL重复。LRR编码区内亮氨酸残基的含量达17﹪，与抗禾谷孢囊线虫Cre3基因LRR编码区的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为89﹪和78﹪。本实验首次将SON-PCR成功地运用于植物基因克隆，为植物基因克隆提供了又一有效方法。 此外,还根据Cre3基因及其他的NBS-LRR类植物抗性基因的NBS和LRR区保守序列设计了两对特异性引物，从禾谷孢囊线虫抗性材料易变山羊草基因组DNA中扩增到两个相应的目标条带。测序分析结果表明，它们的长度分别为532bp和1175bp，构成了一个有32bp的共同序列的NBS-LRR编码区。其序列总长为1675bp（命名为RCCN），含有一个不完整的开放阅读框，没有起始密码子、终止密码子和内含子结构。其中编码序列为1673bp，可编码一个557个氨基酸的蛋白质，等电点（pI）为5.39，分子量为63537.5Da。与Cre3的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为87.8﹪和77﹪。RCCN氨基酸序列中含有已知抗病基因NBS区域的几个保守模体：kinase2区的ILDD、kinase3的（ⅰ）ESKILVTTRSK，（ⅱ）KGSPLAARTVGG，（ⅲ）RRCFAYCS及EGF。RCCN NBS区与Cre3 NBS区的核苷酸和氨基酸的同源性分别为96.4﹪和94﹪。从氨基酸序列的274位到548位为LRR保守区，呈现不规则的aXXLXXLXXL（其中a代表I，V，L，F或M）重复，其中亮氨酸的含量为15.6﹪。该区域与Cre3的LRR区的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为80.8﹪和74﹪。推测该序列可能为一个抗禾谷孢囊线虫的新基因。 本文对抗禾谷孢囊线虫基因的克隆研究，为进一步克隆基因全序列，探索其结构与功能，和研究该基因表达与调控提供了关键信息。同时也为通过基因工程途径将抗性基因向优良小麦品种高效、定向转移，最终培育出小麦抗禾谷孢囊线虫新品种奠定了基础。 Cereal cyst nematode (CCN) is a damaging pathogen of broad acre cereal crops in Australia, Europe, North America, India and China. It affects wheat, barley, oat and triticale and causes yield loss of up to 80%. At present, Transferring resistance genes against CCN into wheat cultivars and breeding varieties are considered one of the most effective methods for controlling the CCN. However, there are very limited reports concerning the cloning studies of resistance genes against the cereal cyst nematode. According to the sequence of Rccn4 which had high similarity to the nucleotide binding site (NBS) coding region of cereal cyst nematode resistance gene, Cre3， We designed three 3’ nested primers. Using single oligonucleotide nested PCR (SON-PCR) we successfully amplified one band, Rccn-L, of 1264bp from E-10 which is the wheat-Ae.variabilis translocation line containing the cereal cyst nematode resistance gene of Ae.variabilis. We found that this band of interesting is the 3’ flanking sequence of 1209bp in size of Rccn4. The coding region was 1026bp, which contained an incomplete open reading frame and a terminator codon, without initiation codon and intron, encoding a peptide of 342 amino acid residues, and shared 86﹪nucleotide sequence identity with Cre3. This peptide had a conserved LRR domain, containing the imperfect repeats,XXLXXLXXL, which contains 17﹪ leucine residues and shares, respectively, 89﹪ nucleotide sequence and 78﹪ amino acid sequence identity with the LRR sequence of Cre3 locus. This research firstly used SON-PCR in the research of plant genome successfully, which indicated that SON-PCR is another method of cloning plant gene. At the same time, According to the conversed motif of NBS and LRR region of cereal cyst nematode resistance gene Cre3 from wild wheat (Triticum tauschlii L.) and the known NBS-LRR group resistance genes, we designed two pairs of specific primers for NBS and LRR region respectively. One band of approximately 530bp was amplified using the specific primers for conversed NBS region and one band of approximately 1200bp was amplified with the specific primers for conversed LRR region. After sequencing, we found that these two sequences included 32bp common nucleotide sequence and have 1675 bp in total, which was registered as RCCN in the Genbank. RCCN contained a NBS-LRR domain and an incomplete open reading frame without initiation codon, terminator codon and inxon. Its exon encodes a peptide of 557 amino acid residues. The molecular weight of the protein from the amino acid was 63.537 KDa. The amino acid sequence of RCCN contained conserved motif: ILDD, ESKILVTTRSK, KGSPLAARTVGG, RRCFAYCS, EGF，LRR. RCCN shares 87.8﹪ nucleotide sequence and 77﹪ amino acid sequence identity with cereal cyst nematode gene Cre3. It might be a novel cereal cyst nematode resistance gene. These research results of cloning the resistance genes against cereal cyst nematode bring a great promise for transferring resistance genes into wheat cultivars and breeding new wheat varieties against cereal cyst nematode by gene engineering. And these results also lay the hard foundation for the expressing researches of these genes.

Effect of poly(propylene carbonate) on the crystallization and melting behavior of poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate-co-beta-hydroxyvalerate)

The crystallization and melting behavior of poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate-co-beta-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and a 30/70 (w/w) PHBV/poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) blend was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The transesterification reaction between PHBV and PPC was detected in the melt-blending process. The interaction between the two macromolecules was confirmed by means of FTIR analysis. During the crystallization process from the melt, the crystallization temperature of the PHBV/PPC blend decreased about 8 degreesC, the melting temperature was depressed by 4 degreesC, and the degree of crystallinity of PHBV in the blend decreased about 9.4%; this was calculated through a comparison of the DSC heating traces for the blend and pure PHBV. These results indicated that imperfect crystals of formed, crystallization was inhibited, and the crystallization ability of PHBV was weakened in the blend. The equilibrium melting temperatures of PHBV and the 30/70 PHBV/PPC blend isothermally crystallized were 187.1 and 179 degreesC, respectively.

Study of the synthesis, crystallization, and morphology of poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(is an element of-caprolactone) diblock copolymers

Poly(ethylene glycol) -poly(epsilon-caprolactone) diblock copolymers PEG-PCL were synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of c-caprolactone using monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) as the macroinitiator and calcium ammoniate as the catalyst. Obvious mutual influence between PEG and PCL crystallization was studied by altering the relative block length. Fixing the length of the PEG block (M-n = 5000) and increasing the length of the PCL block, the crystallization temperature of the PCL block rose gradually from I to about 35 degreesC while that of the PEG block dropped from 36 to -6.6 degreesC. Meanwhile, the melting temperature of the PCL block went up from 30 to 60 degreesC, while that of the PEG block declined from 60 to 41 degreesC. If the PCL block was longer than the PEG block, the former would crystallize first when cooling from a molten state and led to obviously imperfect crystallization of PEG and vice versa. And they both crystallized at the same temperature, if their weight fractions were equal. We found that the PEG block could still crystallize at -6.6 degreesC even when its weight fraction is only 14%. A unique morphology of concentric spherulites was observed for PEG5000-PCL5000.

Further study on double-melting endotherms of isotactic polypropylene

The origins of the single- and double-melting endotherms of isotactic polypropylene crystallized at different temperatures were studied carefully by differential scanning calorimetry, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and small-angle X-ray scattering. The experimental data show that spontaneous crystallization occurs when the crystallization temperature is lower than 117 degrees C; thus the lamellae formed are imperfect. At a lower heating rate, the recrystallization or reorganization of these imperfect lamellae leads to double endotherms. On the other hand, when the crystallization temperature is higher than 136 degrees C, two major kinds of lamellae with different thickness are developed during the isothermal process, which also results in the double-melting endotherms. In the intermediate temperature range the lamellae formed are perfect, and there is only a single peak in the distribution of lamellar thickness. This explains the origin of the single-melting endotherm. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Morphology and structure of micro-fibrillar crystal of nylon 10 10

The nanoscale and microscale fibrillar crystals of nylon 10 10 were obtained by atomizing the very dilute formic acid solution. The length-diameter ratio of these fibrillar crystals increases as the concentration of the atomizing solution increases. Electron diffraction (ED) analysis showed that the hydrogen-bonded sheet in these solution-grown fibrillar crystals was imperfect and had a lower order. Both electron diffraction and characteristic morphology show that melt-crystallized fibrillar crystals always possess perfect packing order and stable structure. A rather perfect ED pattern of the triclinic form of nylon 10 10 along the [001] zone was obtained by tilting the specimen 41 degrees along the elongated direction of the crystal. Fibrillar crystals from bulk have a great tendency to aggregate with parallel packing to form crystal clusters, which look like shish kebabs in morphology. Spherulite is observed occasionally in the domains with very rich sample. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Miscibility and crystallization behavior of solution-blended PEEK/PI blends

Miscibility and crystallization behavior of solution-blended poly(ether ether ketone)/polyimide (PEEK/PI) blends were investigated by using DSC, optical microscopy and SAXS methods. Two kinds of PIs, YS-30 and PEI-E, which consist of the same diamine but different dianhydrides, were used in this work. The experimental results show that blends of PEEK/YS-30 are miscible over the entire composition range, as all the blends of different compositions exhibit a single glass transition temperature. The crystallization of PEEK was hindered by YS-30 in PEEK/YS-30 blends, of which the dominant morphology is interlamellar. On the other hand, blends of PEEK/PEI-E are immiscible, and the effect of PEI-E on the crystallization behavior of PEEK is weak. The crystallinity of PEEK in the isothermally crystallized PEEK/YS-30 blend specimens decreases with the increase in PI content. But the crystallinity of PEEK in the annealed samples almost keeps unchanged and reaches its maximum value, which is more than 50%. The spherulitic texture of the blends depends on both the blend composition and the molecular structure of the PIs used. The more PI added, the more imperfect the crystalline structure of PEEK. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The double-melting behavior of poly(ether diphenyl ether ketone)

Poly(ether diphenyl ether ketone) (PEDEK) synthesized by the nucleophilic route has the following chemical structure: [GRAPHICS] At some given temperatures for a given time isothermally crystallized PEDEK sample exhibits two endothermic peaks which are similar to PEEK and PEEKK The melting behavior of PEDEK crystallized from the glassy state is investigated through differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). We consider that the high-melting peak is related to the perfect crystals and the low-melting peak is associated with a few imperfect crystals. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Exploration of post radiation effects on polyamide-1010

Irradiated polyamide-1010 (PA1010) with and without heat treatment after gamma-ray irradiation was compared by wide angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and the determination of gel fractions. The results indicate that post radiation effects due to post radiation crosslinking and scissions affect physical properties. Post radiation effects restrain the formation and perfection of the planes (010), and make the crystals imperfect. Post radiation effects change the crystalline structures of polyamide-1010.

电视广告作品评价的消费行为学研究

The quality of advertising copy is an important component of advertising service. An advertising system with only copy design and production but without evaluation is imperfect. Establishing an evaluation system of television advertising copy is the principal purpose of the present work. In terms of consumer behavior, the work focused on consumers' evaluation-in-general of T commercials. The research consisted of three subprograms. The first subprogrom was associated with the basic factors in the evaluation of television advertising copy. The second one was related to the relative importance of those basic factors. The last one was related to the way in which the consumers' synthetic evaluation of copy under multidimensions. These subprogram composed the evaluation system of television advertising copy. In the study of the first subprogram, by the use of a variaty of "multistage evaluation scale", a survey into consumers' evaluation-in-general of television ads was made, which obtained five factors, namely, credibility, attractiveness, suitability, cognition and affect impact, through factor analysis (Cum.Pct. = 56.2%, α = 0.84). The study of second subprogram acquired their relative weights by a popular method of weight in the area of decision analysis, the result was as followings: credibility-0.27, attractiveness-0.24, suitability-0.18, affect impact-0.16, cognition-0.15; and fanally, under the condition of quasi-experiment, the third studyestablished a mathematical model of the synthetic evaluation of television ad copy, which was expressed as O = ΣF * W, through a "synthetical" method of multidimensional decision making.

Multiple-User Quantum Optical Communication

A fundamental understanding of the information carrying capacity of optical channels requires the signal and physical channel to be modeled quantum mechanically. This thesis considers the problems of distributing multi-party quantum entanglement to distant users in a quantum communication system and determining the ability of quantum optical channels to reliably transmit information. A recent proposal for a quantum communication architecture that realizes long-distance, high-fidelity qubit teleportation is reviewed. Previous work on this communication architecture is extended in two primary ways. First, models are developed for assessing the effects of amplitude, phase, and frequency errors in the entanglement source of polarization-entangled photons, as well as fiber loss and imperfect polarization restoration, on the throughput and fidelity of the system. Second, an error model is derived for an extension of this communication architecture that allows for the production and storage of three-party entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. A performance analysis of the quantum communication architecture in qubit teleportation and quantum secret sharing communication protocols is presented. Recent work on determining the channel capacity of optical channels is extended in several ways. Classical capacity is derived for a class of Gaussian Bosonic channels representing the quantum version of classical colored Gaussian-noise channels. The proof is strongly mo- tivated by the standard technique of whitening Gaussian noise used in classical information theory. Minimum output entropy problems related to these channel capacity derivations are also studied. These single-user Bosonic capacity results are extended to a multi-user scenario by deriving capacity regions for single-mode and wideband coherent-state multiple access channels. An even larger capacity region is obtained when the transmitters use non- classical Gaussian states, and an outer bound on the ultimate capacity region is presented

Limitations of Non Model-Based Recognition Schemes

Different approaches to visual object recognition can be divided into two general classes: model-based vs. non model-based schemes. In this paper we establish some limitation on the class of non model-based recognition schemes. We show that every function that is invariant to viewing position of all objects is the trivial (constant) function. It follows that every consistent recognition scheme for recognizing all 3-D objects must in general be model based. The result is extended to recognition schemes that are imperfect (allowed to make mistakes) or restricted to certain classes of objects.