The role of MC1R gene in buffalo coat color

Melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) plays a major role in pigmentation in many species. To investigate if the MC1R gene is associated with coat color in water buffalo, the coding region of MC1R gene of 216 buffalo samples was sequenced, which included 49 black river buffalo (Murrah and Nili-Ravi), 136 swamp buffalo (Dehong, Diandongnan, Dechang, Guizhou, and Xilin) with white and gray body, and 31 hybrid offspring of river buffalo Nili-Ravi (or Murrah) and swamp buffalo. Among the three variation sites found, SNP684 was synonymous, while SNP310 and SNP384 were nonsynonymous, leading to p.S104G and p.I128M changes, respectively. Only Individuals carrying homozygote E-BR/E-BR were black. The genotype and phenotype analysis of the hybrid offspring of black river buffalo and gray swamp buffalo further revealed that the river buffalo type allele E-BR or the allele carrying the amino acid p.104S was important for the full function of MC1R. The in silico functional analysis showed that the amino acid substitutions p.G104S and p.M128I had significant impact on the function of MC1R. Above results indicate that the allele E-BR or the allele carrying the amino acid p.104S was associated with the black coat color in buffalo.

Prevalent positive epistasis in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolic networks

Epistasis refers to the interaction between genes. Although high-throughput epistasis data from model organisms are being generated and used to construct genetic networks(1-3), the extent to which genetic epistasis reflects biologically meaningful interactions remains unclear(4-6). We have addressed this question through in silico mapping of positive and negative epistatic interactions amongst biochemical reactions within the metabolic networks of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae using flux balance analysis. We found that negative epistasis occurs mainly between nonessential reactions with overlapping functions, whereas positive epistasis usually involves essential reactions, is highly abundant and, unexpectedly, often occurs between reactions without overlapping functions. We offer mechanistic explanations of these findings and experimentally validate them for 61 S. cerevisiae gene pairs.

中国银额果蝇自然群体B染色体的分布

中国(台湾省外)银额果蝇自然群体中普遍存在Bs。结合前人报道提出,Bs频率的地理分布出现了由东向西和由南向北的规律性的依次升高趋势。这种跨越不同地理环境的区域性梯度变异与其宿主向大陆内地扩散的推论相符。Bs频率最高(87.7%)的是海南岛的孤立隔离群体。大部分群体含Bs的数目多,最多达14条,为标准染色体数目(2n=6)的2.3倍。同时依据该果蝇Bs频率的地理分布特点,将我国现生的银额果蝇划归为5个生态型群体,即沿海丘陵群体、高原型群体、岛屿型群体、山地型群体和峡谷群体等。

Effects of Prenatal Exposure to a 50-Hz Magnetic Field on One-Trial Passive Avoidance Learning in 1-Day-Old Chicks

We investigated memory impairment in newly hatched chicks following in ovo exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field (MF) of 2 mT (60 min/day) on embryonic days 12-18. Isolated and paired chicks were used to test the effect of stress during training, and memory retention was tested at 10, 30, and 120 min, following exposure to a bitter-tasting bead (100% methylanthranilate). Results showed that memory was intact at 10 min in both isolated and paired chicks with or without MF exposure. However, while isolated chicks had good memory retention levels at 30 and 120 min, those exposed to MF did not. The results suggest a potential disruption of memory formation following in ovo exposure to MF, with this effect only evident in the more stressed, isolated chicks. Bioelectromagnetics 31:150-155, 2010. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss. Inc.

云南鱼类多样性和面临的危机

迄今共记载云南土著鱼类432种,占全国淡水鱼类总种数1023种的42.2%,显示云南是我国淡水鱼类多样性最为丰富的省区之一。全省大约有1/3的种类日趋减少或濒临绝灭,湖泊鱼类尤为突出,濒危种几乎达到2/3。

Efficient registration of nonrigid 3-D bodies

We present a novel method to perform an accurate registration of 3-D nonrigid bodies by using phase-shift properties of the dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT). Since the phases of DT-\BBCWT coefficients change approximately linearly with the amount of feature displacement in the spatial domain, motion can be estimated using the phase information from these coefficients. The motion estimation is performed iteratively: first by using coarser level complex coefficients to determine large motion components and then by employing finer level coefficients to refine the motion field. We use a parametric affine model to describe the motion, where the affine parameters are found locally by substituting into an optical flow model and by solving the resulting overdetermined set of equations. From the estimated affine parameters, the motion field between the sensed and the reference data sets can be generated, and the sensed data set then can be shifted and interpolated spatially to align with the reference data set. © 2011 IEEE.

不具有3-碱基周期性的编码序列初探

对 12 0个较短编码序列 (<12 0 0bp)的Fourier频谱进行分析表明 ,3 碱基周期性在短编码序列中并不是绝对存在的 .统计分析提示 ,编码序列有无 3 碱基周期性与序列的碱基组成和分布、所编码蛋白质氨基酸的选用和顺序以及同义密码子的使用都有一定的关系 .一般地 ,非周期 3序列中A +U含量高于G +C含量 ,周期 3序列的情况则相反 ;非周期 3序列中碱基在密码子三个位点上的分布比周期 3序列中的分布均匀 ;非周期 3序列密码子和氨基酸的使用偏向没有周期 3序列的大 .在利用Fourier分析方法预测DNA序列中的基因和外显子时 ,应充分考虑到这些现象

树鼩细胞周期蛋白T1 cDNA的克隆和序列分析

树鼩细胞不能感染 HIV-1, 但支持 HIV-1进入靶细胞后的转录, 可能是因为树鼩细胞周期蛋白T1(tsCycT1)能结合HIV-1的 Tat 蛋白. 通过设计引物, 用 RT-PCR 技术, 获得全长为2175bpts CycT1 基因的cD NA. 其核苷酸序列与人的 CycT1(hCycT1) 基因的 cDNA 有92.6%的相似性; 由此推导出的氨基酸序列有94.1%相似性. 其中, hCycT1 和 tsCycT1 氨基端的1～272个氨基酸的相似性高达98.8%, 氨基酸第261位点为半胱氨酸. 这些结果提示, tsCycT1 会和 HIV-1 的 Tat 结合, 形成高亲和的、锌依赖的复合物, 支持 HIV-1转录。

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN THE SNUB-NOSED LANGURS (COLOBINAE, RHINOPITHECUS)

Sexual dimorphism in the dentition and skeleton of the four extant species of snub-nosed langurs, Rhinopithecus (R.) bieti, R. (R.) brelichi, R. (R.) roxellana and R. (Presbytiscus) avunculus, was studied. The species shared a similar general pattern of sexual dimorphism, but were found to differ in respects that appear to reflect the influence of disparate socioecological and environmental factors. All the species showed marked canine dimorphism, but the very high degree of canine dimorphism in R. bieti appeared to be due to the intensity of intermale competition for mates during a temporally restricted breeding season, and possibly also to the intensity of competition between males for other resources during other times of the year. Sexual dimorphism in the postcranial skeleton of Rhinopithecus species was also most pronounced in R. bieti and may be related to the relatively higher frequency of terrestrial locomotion in males of the species. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Tentative study of the coding sequences without 3-base periodicity

Fourier spectra of 120 short coding sequences (<1 200 bp) show that not all coding sequences are characterized by 3-base periodicity. Statistical analysis suggests that whether a coding sequence has 3-base periodicity may be related to the composition and distribution of bases, the usage and the order of the amino acids of the encoded protein as well as the synonymous codon usage. Generally, the content of A+U is higher than that of G+C in non-period-3 sequences, inversely in period-3 sequences. In the three codon positions, the base distribution in the non-periodic-3 sequences is more uniform than in the periodic-3 sequences. The usage biases of the amino acids and the codons in non-period-3 sequences are weaker than that in period-3 sequences. All of these phenomena should be considered sufficiently in predicting the genes and exons of DNA sequences by Fourier analysis method.