同源四倍体水稻三系亲本的遗传差异、细胞遗传学比较研究及低直链淀粉含量突变体Wx基因序列分析

同源四倍体水稻（2N=4X=48,AAAA）是由二倍体水稻（2N=2X=24,AA）通过秋水仙素诱导染色体加倍后得到的新品系，具有优良的抗病性以及较高的蛋白质含量。因此，在四倍体水平上挖掘水稻的增产潜力成为水稻育种的新手段。同源四倍体水稻具有很强的遗传可塑性和很弱的遗传保守性，利用其作为水稻远缘杂交的桥梁，从野生物种中不断地引进有益的基因，这将有助于杂交水稻的多代利用和固定水稻的杂种优势。但是迄今为止，还没有关于同源四倍体水稻遗传多样性，遗传背景的报道。目前世界关于同源四倍体水稻的研究主要集中在中国，主要研究方向为培育、筛选结实正常的亲本材料，配置和筛选结实率正常或接近正常的组合。经过几十年研究，虽然在材料构建，细胞学研究等方面取得了较大进展，但同样由于结实率低的瓶颈问题未解决，而使多倍体水稻育种未能取得实质性进展。而近年来一些关于同源四倍体水稻低结实率机理的细胞学研究也由于缺乏统计学数据而缺乏说明性。本文用SSR标记，对选取的36个结实率正常同源四倍体水稻三系亲本和14个来源二倍体亲本，分析他们的遗传差异和群体遗传结构。本文还利用我们培育的高、低结实率的同源四倍体水稻恢复系、优良保持系和杂种F1及二倍体对照为材料，进行系统深入的细胞遗传学研究，进一步探讨同源四倍体水稻有性传递后代的发育过程，探索分裂期染色体行为特征与遗传性状稳定性的关系，为进一步选育多倍体水稻品种并将其应用于生产提供理论依据。同源四倍体水稻突变株D4063-1直链淀粉含量比来源二倍体明恢63下降一半,即其直链淀粉含量为5.23%，为研究其直链淀粉含量下降的原因，本文还根据普通水稻Wx基因设计引物，扩增测序获得了D4063-1Wx基因的全序列，与已报道Wx基因进行比对分析，并根据D4063-1和籼稻、粳稻的序列差异并根据D4063-1在该片段上的特征序列位点设计了用于识别D4063-1的寡核苷酸片段,为快速、准确的鉴别低直链淀粉的D4063-1创造了条件。 SSR标记具有基因组分布广泛、数量丰富、多态性高、容易检测、共显性、结果稳定可靠、实验重现性好、操作简单、经济、易于高通量分析等许多优点，被认为是用于遗传多样性、品种鉴定、物种的系统发育、亲缘关系及起源等研究的非常有效的分子标记。本研究选取了中国科学院成都生物所培育的同源四倍体和二倍体水稻亲本，并用36个微卫星标记进行了遗传差异和种群遗传结构分析。在50个品系中，我们观察到较高水平的多态性，每基因等位基因数（Ae）分布于2至6之间（平均值3.028），多态性信息含量（PIC）分布于0.04至0.76之间（平均值0.366）；期望杂合度（He）分布于0.04至0.76之间（平均值0.370），Shannon指数（I）分布于0.098至1.613之间（平均值0.649）。同源四倍体品系的等位基因数，期望杂合性和Shannon指数都比二倍体品系高。在供试50个品系中，较多材料均发现Rare基因，根据SSR多态性指数我们构建了同源四倍体和二倍体水稻的核心指纹库。F-统计值表明遗传差异主要存在于同源四倍体品系中（Fst=0.066）。聚类分析结果表明50个品系可以分为4个组。I组包括所有的同源四倍体和二倍体籼稻保持系，以及一个同源四倍体籼稻雄性不育系及其来源二倍体。II组仅包括IR来源的品系。III组比II组和IV组更复杂，包括同源四倍体和二倍体籼稻恢复系品系。IV组包括同源四倍体和二倍体粳稻品系。此外,由于等位基因及配子的遗传差异,同源四倍体与二倍体品系中存在单位点和双位点的遗传差异。分析结果表明,二倍体和四倍体水稻基因库的不同,其中遗传变异可以区分四倍体与二倍体水稻。同源四倍体水稻具有长期而独立的遗传性，我们能够选育并得到与二倍体亲本相比有特殊优良农艺性状的品系。 本研究以高结实率的同源四倍体水稻恢复系DTP-4、D明恢63及优良保持系D46B为材料进行农艺性状及细胞遗传学比较研究。DTP-4、D明恢63及保持系D46B的的染色体组成均为2N=4X=48，花粉母细胞具有较为理想的减数分裂行为，配对染色体的比率在99%以上，这与理论染色体组构成相符。DTP-4和D明恢63PMC减数分裂各个时期单价体和三价体的比例都非常低，而在MI， PMC观察到较多的二价体和四价体且四价体多以环状形式出现，其最大频率的染色体构型分别为12II 6IV和10II 7IV。恢复系DTP-4和D明恢63在MI四价体频率分别为2.00/PMC和2.26/PMC，而保持系D46B在MI四价体频率为6.00/PMC，极显著地高于恢复系品系，表明保持系D46B具有更好的染色体配对性质；AI保持系D46B的染色体滞后频率为10.62%，远低于恢复系材料DTP－4和D明恢63的19.44％和23.14％，接近二倍体对照明恢63的7.30%水平；TI保持系D46B具有比恢复系更低频率的微核数。而在TII，D46B的正常四分小孢子比率不但高于恢复系品系甚至高于二倍体对照。对高低结实率的同源四倍体水稻恢复系和杂种F1代的花粉育性，结实率和细胞遗传学行为进行了比较研究。DTP-4, D明恢63, D46A´DTP-4和D46A´D明恢63的花粉育性和结实率比D什香和D46A´D什香显著提高。减数分裂分析的结果表明，DTP-4，D明恢63，D什香，D46A´DTP-4，D46A´D明恢63和D46A´D什香其减数分裂染色体构型分别为：0.05I +19.96 II (9.89棒状+10.07环状) +0.01III + 2.20 IV, 0.11I +19.17 II (8.90 棒状+10.37 环状) +0.09III + 2.26 IV + 0.01 VI, 1.33I +9.46 II (4.50 棒状+4.96 环状) +0.44III + 6.02 IV + 0.09VI + 0.09 VIII, 0.02I +14.36 II (6.44 棒状+7.91 环状) +0.01III + 4.80IV + 0.01VIII, 0.06 I +17.67 II (11.01 棒状+6.67 环状) +0.06 III + 3.10 IV + 0.01 VI and 1.11 I +11.31 II (5.80 棒状+5.51 环状) +0.41 III + 5.63 IV+0.03VI+0.03VIII。在同源四倍体水稻恢复系和杂种F1代材料中，最常见的染色体构型为16II +4IV和12II +6IV。在减数分裂过程中，结实率较高的材料染色体异常现象较少而结实率较低的材料染色体异常现象较严重。在杂种F1代中，二价体的比例要低于其相应的恢复系亲本，同样的，单价体，三价体和多价体的比例相比其恢复系亲本也偏低。然而，在减数分裂MI，杂种F1代中四价体的比例要显著高于其恢复系亲本。在中期I，每细胞单价体的比例和花粉育性呈现出极高的负相关(-0.996)，当单价体数目升高时，花粉育性下降。其次是每细胞三价体的比例(-0.987)，之后则是每细胞多价体的比例与花粉育性的负相关(-0.948)。但是统计分析表明，二价体和四价体的比例对花粉育性和结实率没有显著影响。这一结果表明出了花粉育性和细胞减数分裂行为的相关性，同源四倍体的减数分裂行为为筛选高结实率的同源四倍体种系提供了理论依据。 突变体是遗传学研究的基本材料。利用突变体克隆水稻基因,并进而研究基因的生物学功能是水稻功能基因组学的重要研究内容。本课题组在多年的四倍体水稻育种研究中已获得多个低直链淀粉含量突变体，其中一些突变体在直链淀粉含量下降的同时，胚乳外观也发生了显著改变，呈半透明或不透明。同源四倍体水稻突变株D4063-1直链淀粉含量比来源二倍体明恢63下降一半,即其直链淀粉含量为5.23%。为研究其直链淀粉含量下降的原因，我们根据普通水稻Wx基因设计引物，扩增测序获得了D4063-1Wx基因的全序列，与已报道Wx基因进行比对分析；同源四倍体水稻D4063-1Wx基因最显著变化为在外显子序列中发生了碱基缺失，导致移码突变，在第9外显子终止密码子提前出现。D4063-1Wx基因碱基位点的变化还导致了其序列上的酶切位点的变化,对常用限制性内切酶位点分析分析结果表明同源四倍体水稻相对于籼稻和粳稻多了2个sph1酶切位点，相对于粳稻减少了6个Acc1，增加了4个Xba1，1个Xho1，1个Pst1和1个Sal1酶切位点。聚类分析表明D4063-1Wx基因序列与籼稻亲源关系较近，由此推测D4063-1Wx基因来源于籼稻的Wxa基因型。另外，根据D4063-1Wx基因的碱基差异，我们推测D4063-1Wx基因外显子碱基变化导致的RNA加工障碍是其直链淀粉降低的主要原因，并可能与其米饭较软等品质相关。本文还根据D4063-1和籼稻、粳稻的序列差异并根据D4063-1在该片段上的特征序列位点设计了用于识别D4063-1的寡核苷酸片段,并作为PCR反应的引物命名为AUT4063-1,将该引物与我们设计的扩增普通籼稻、粳稻的Wx基因引物F5配合使用建立了识别D4063-1的显性和共显性两种检测方式的分子标记,为快速、准确的鉴别低直链淀粉的D4063-1创造了条件。 研究同源四倍体水稻基因组的遗传差异，探索同源四倍体水稻的遗传规律，研究分裂期染色体行为特征与遗传性状稳定性的关系,旨在揭示四倍体水稻中同源染色体配对能力的遗传差异，为进一步选育多倍体水稻品种并将其应用于生产提供理论依据。 Autotetraploid rice (2N=4X=48, AAAA) is a new germplasm developed from diploid rice (2N=2X=24, AA) through chromosomes doubling with colchicines and is an excellent resource for desirable resistance genes to the pathogens and high protein content. Therefore, heterosis utilization on polyploidy is becoming a new strategy in rice breeding. At present, the main research on autotetraploid rice centralizes in China. Breeding effort has been made to improve autotetraploid rice genetically, however, the progresses are limited due to higher degree of divergence between hybrid sterility and polygenic nature. But to date, almost nothing is reported about the genetic diversity, original and genetic background of autotetraploid rice. Despite several reports on cytological analysis of the mechanisms of low seed set in autotetraploid rice still the results are inconclusive due to lack the statistical evaluation. Therefore, the study on the mechanisms of low seed set in autotetraploid is a priority for rice breeding. Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are the widely used marker for estimating genetic diversity in many species, including wild, weedy, and cultivated rice. In our research, genetic diversity and population genetic structure of autotetraploid and diploid populations collected from Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences were studied based on 36 microsatellite loci. For the total of 50 varieties, a moderate to high level of genetic diversity was observed at population levels with the number of alleles per locus (Ae) ranging from 2 to 6 (mean 3.028) and PIC ranging from 0.04 to 0.76 (mean 0.366). The expected heterozygosity (He) varied from 0.04 to 0.76 with the mean of 0.370 and Shannon’s index (I) ranging from 0.098 to 1.613 (mean 0.649). The autotetraploid populations showed a slightly higher level of effective alleles, the expected heterozygosity and Shannon’s index than that of diploid populations. Rare alleles were observed at most of the SSR loci in one or more of the 50 accessions and core fingerprint database of the autotetraploid and diploid rice was constructed. The F-statistics showed that genetic variability mainly existed among autotetraploid populations rather than among diploid populations (Fst=0.066). Cluster analysis of the 50 accessions showed four major groups. Group I contained all of the autotetraploid and diploid indica maintainer lines and a autotetraploid and its original diploid indica male sterile lines. Groups II contained only original of IR accessions. Group III was more diverse than either group II or IV and comprised of both autotetraploid and diploid indica restoring lines. Group IV included japonica cluster of the autotetraploid and diploid rices. Furthermore, genetic differences at the single-locus and two-locus levels, as well as components due to allelic and gametic differentiation, were revealed between autotetraploid and diploid varieties. This analysis indicated that the gene pools of diploid and autotetraploid rice are somewhat dissimilar, which made a variation that distinguishes autotetraploid from diploid rices. Using this variation, we can breed new autotetraploid varieties with some new important agricultural characters but the diploid rice has not. Cytogenetic characteristics in restorer lines DTP-4, DMinghui63 and maintainer line D46B of autotetraploid rices were studied. DTP-4, DMinghui63 and D46B showed the advantage of high seed set and biological yield. The meiotic chromosome behavior was slightly irregular in DTP-4, DMinghui63 and D46B. We observed less univalent, trivalent and multivalent at MI, but more bivalent and quadrivalent were observed. The most frequent chromosome configurations were 12II 6IVand 10II 7IV in restorer and maintainer lines, respectively. The quadrivalent frequency of DTP-4 and Dminghui63 at metaphase(MI) was respectively 2.00/PMC and 2.26/PMC. However that frequency of D46B was 6.00/PMC, which was greatly significantly higher than DTP-4 and Dminghui63. That indicates the maintainer D46B has better chromosome pairing capability in metaphase (MI). The frequency of lagging chromosomes of the maintainer D46B at anaphaseI (AI) was 10.62%, which was significantly lower than that of DTP-4(19.44%) and Dminghui63(23.14%) and nearly reaching the level of diploid CK(7.30%). In telophaseI (TI) maintainer D46B showed lower frequency of microkernel at TI and lower frequency of abnormal spores at telophaseII(TII). We also studied pollen fertility, seed set and cytogenetic characteristics of restorer lines and F1 hybrids of autotetraploid rice. DTP-4, DMinghui63, D46A´DTP-4 and D46A´DMinghui63 showed significantly higher pollen fertility and seed set than DShixiang and D46A´DShixiang. Pairing configurations in PMC of DTP-4, DMinghui63, DShixiang, D46A´DTP-4, D46A´DMinghui63 and D46A´DShixiang were 0.05 I+19.96 II (9.89 rod+10.07 ring)+0.01 III+2.20 IV, 0.11 I+19.17 II (8.90 rod+10.37 ring)+0.09 III+2.26 IV+0.01 VI, 1.33 I+9.46 II (4.50 rod+4.96 ring)+0.44 III+6.02 IV+0.09 VI+0.09 VIII, 0.02 I+14.36 II (6.44 rod+7.91 ring)+0.01 III+4.80 IV+0.01V III, 0.06 I+17.67 II (11.01 rod+6.67 ring)+0.06 III+3.10 IV+0.01 VI and 1.11 I+11.31 II (5.80 rod+5.51 ring)+0.41 III+5.63 IV+0.03 VI+0.03 VIII, respectively. Configuration 16 II+4 IV and 12 II+6 IV occurred in the highest frequency among the autotetraploid restorers and hybrids. Meiotic chromosome behaviors were less abnormal in the tetraploids with high seed set than those with low seed set. The hybrids had fewer frequencies of bivalents, univalents, trivalents and multivalents than the restorers, but higher frequency of quatrivalents than the restorers at MI. The frequency of univalents at M1 had the most impact on pollen fertility and seed set, i.e., pollen fertility decreased with the increase of univalents. The secondary impact factors were trivalents and multivalents, and bivalents and quatrivalents had no effect on pollen fertility and seed set. The correlative relationship between pollen fertility and cytogenetic behaviors could be utilized to improve seed set in autotetraploidy breeding. The amylose content of autotetraploid indica mutant Rice D4063-1 dropped by half than diploid Minghui 63, that is, its amylose content of 5.23%.The whole sequence of Waxy gene of D4063-1 is amplified and sequenced. And the discrepancy of bases is found comparing to the reported Waxy gene. The Waxy gene of autotetraploid Rice D4063-1 had a base deletion in exon sequence, which resulted frameshift mutation in exon 9 and termination codon occur early. The mutation of Wx also led to the change of some common restriction endonuclease sites. Results showed compared to indica and japonica, D4063-1 had two adding sph1 sites. Compared to japonica, D4063-1 had six decreasing Acc1, a adding Xho1, Pst1 and Sal1 restriction sites. Phylogeny analysis shows that the DNA sequence of Waxy gene of D4063-1 is closer to Indica, and we suppose that the Waxy gene of D4063-1 is origin from genotype Wxa. In addition, according to the base differences of Wx in D4063-1, we deduce that RNA processing obstacle led by base change of intron is the main cause to low the amylose content, and related to phenotype of its soft rice. Based on analysis of fragments of D4063-1, indica and japonica and according to the special point of the three species, primers as markers-AUT4063-I were designed for distinguishing the D4063-1 from other rice. Combining with primer pair F5, dominant and codominant ways were established for discriminating them., rapid and correct identification of D4063-1 from other rice could be done. The genetic analysis is important to ensure the original of autotetraploid rice, for maintaining the “distinctiveness” of autotetraploid varieties, and to differentiate between the various genetic background of autotetraploid rice. The autotetraploid breeding will benefit from detailed analysis of genetic diversity in the germplasm collections. Further investigation on mechanisms of meiotic stability should benefit polyploid breeding. These findings demonstrated opportunity to improve meiotic abnormalities as well as grain fertilities in autotetraploid rice.

X(3915) and X(4350) as New Members in the P-Wave Charmonium Family

The analysis of the mass spectrum and the calculation of the strong decay of P-wave charmonium states strongly purport to explain the newly observed X(3915) and X(4350) as new members in the P-wave charmonium family, i.e., chi'(c0) for X(3915) and chi ''(c2) for X(4350). Under the P-wave charmonium assignment to X(3915) and X(4350), the J(PC) quantum numbers of X(3915) and X(4350) must be 0(++) and 2(++) respectively, which provide important criteria to test the P-wave charmonium explanation for X(3915) and X(4350) proposed by this Letter. The decay behavior of the remaining two P-wave charmonium states with the second radial excitation is predicted, and an experimental search for them is suggested.

A new family of Ce6MoO15 as fast oxide ion conductor

A novel solid solution Ce6MoO15 was achieved. Their structure and oxide ionic conductivity were studied. Based on Ce6MoO15, rare earth element substitution on cerium site shows that all resulting oxides enhance the conductivity further, and have high oxide-ion conductivity, which may be a kind of promising material for SOFCs.

Isolation and characterization of microsatellites in yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

A total of 45 microsatellite loci from yellow perch, Perca flavescens, were isolated and characterized. Among the 45 microsatellite loci, 32 had more than two alleles. A wild population of P. flavescens (n = 48) was used to examine the allele range of the microsatellite loci. Mendelian inheritance of alleles was confirmed by examining the amplified products in pair-mated families. The number of alleles for the 32 polymorphic loci varied from two to 16, and observed heterozygosity ranged between 0.024 (YP79) and 0.979 (YP60). Cross-species polymorphic amplification in four other Percidae species was successful for 22 loci.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea): The first representative from the subclass Aspidochirotacea with the echinoderm ground pattern

Complete mitochondrial genome plays an important role in the accurate revelation of phylogenetic relationships among metazoans. Here we present the complete mitochondrial genome sequence from a sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea), which is the first representative from the subclass Aspidochirotacea. The mitochondrial genome of A. japonicus is 16,096 bp in length. The heavy strand consists of 31.8% A, 20.2% C, 17.9% G, and 30.1% T bases (AT skew = 0.027: GC skew = 0.062). It contains thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs), twenty-two transfer RNA genes, and two ribosomal RNA genes. There are a total of 3793 codons in all thirteen mitochondrial PCGs, excluding incomplete termination codons. The most frequently used amino acid is Leu (15.77%), followed by Set (9.73%), Met (8.62%), Phe (7.94%), and Ala (7.28%). Intergenetic regions in the mitochondrial genome of A. japonicus are 839 bp in total, with three relatively large regions of Unassigned Sequences (UAS) greater than 100 bp. The gene order of A. japonicus is identical to that observed in the five studied sea urchins, which confirms that the gene order shared by the two classes (Holothuroidea and Echinoidea) is a ground pattern of echinoderm mitochondrial genomes. Bayesian tree based on the cob gene supports the following relationship: (outgroup, (Crinoids, (Asteroids, Ophiuroids, (Echinoids, Holothuroids)))). (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of tandem repeats in the genome of Chinese shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis

Through random sequencing, we found a total of 884000 base-pairs (bp) of random genomic sequences in the genome of Chinese shrimp (Fenneropenaeus chinensis). Using bio-soft Tandem Repeat Finder (TRF) software, 2159 tandem repeats were found, in which there were 1714 microsatellites and 445 minisatellites, accounting for 79.4% and 20.6% of repeat sequences, respectively. The cumulative length of repeat sequences was found to be 116685 bp, accounting for 13.2% of the total DNA sequence; the cumulative length of microsatellites occupied 9.78% of the total DNA sequence, and that of minisatellites occupied 3.42%. In decreasing order, the 20 most abundant repeat sequence classes were as follows: AT (557), AC (471), AG (274), AAT (92), A (56), AAG (28), ATC (27), ATAG (27), AGG (18), ACT (15), C (11), AAC (11), ACAT (11), CAGA (10), AGAA (9), AGGG (7), CAAA (7), CGCA (6), ATAA (6), AGAGAA (6). Dinucleotide repeats, not only in the aspect of the number, but also in cumulative length, were the preponderant repeat type. There were few classes and low copy numbers of repeat units of the pentanucleotide repeat type, which included only three classes: AGAGA, GAGGC and AAAGA. The classes and copy numbers of heptanucleotide, eleven-nucleotide and thirteen-nucleotide primer-number-composed repeats were distinctly less than that of repeat types beside them.

The complete amino acid sequence of growth hormone and partial amino acid sequence of prolactin and somatolactin from sea perch (Lateolabrax japonicus)

Growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and somatolactin (SL) were purified simultaneously under alkaline condition (pH 9.0) from pituitary glands of sea perch (Lateolabrax japonicas) by a two-step procedure involving gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (rpHPLC). At each step of purification, fractions were monitored by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and by immunoblotting with chum salmon GH. PRL and SL antisera. The yields of sea perch GH, PRL and SL were 4.2, 1.0 and 0.28 mg/g wet tissue, respectively. The molecular weights of 19,200 and 20,370 Da were estimated by SDS-PAGE for sea perch GH and PRL, respectively. Two forms of sea perch SL were found: one (28,400 Da) is probably glycosylated, while the other one (23,200 Da) is believed to be deglycosylated. GH bioactivity was examined by an in vivo assay. Intraperitoneal injection of sea perch GH at a dose of 0.01 and 0.1 mug/g body weight at 7-day intervals resulted in a significant increase in body weight and length of juvenile rainbow trout. The complete sea-perch GH amino acid sequence of 187 residues was determined by sequencing fragments cleaved by chemicals and enzymes. Alignment of sea-perch GH with those of other fish GHs revealed that sea-perch GH is most similar to advanced marine fish, such as tuna, gilthead sea bream, yellowfin porgy, red sea bream, bonito and yellow tail with 98.4, 96.2%, 95.7%, 95.2%, 94.1% and 91% sequence identity, respectively. Sea-perch GH has low identity to Atlantic cod (76.5%), hardtail (73.3%), flounder (68.4%), chum salmon (66.3%), carp (54%) and blue shark (38%). Partial amino-acid sequences of 127 of sea-perch PRL and the N-terminal of 16 amino-acid sequence of sea-perch SL have been determined. The data show that sea-perch PRL has a slightly higher sequence identity with tilapia PRL( 73.2%) than with chum salmon PRL(70%) in this 127 amino-acid sequence. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural analysis of SNARE motifs from sea perch, Lateolabrax japonicus by computerized approaches

Three cDNA sequences encoding four SNARE (N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptors) motifs were cloned from sea perch, and the deduced peptide sequences were analyzed for structural prediction by using 14 different web servers and softwares. The "ionic layer" structure, the three dimensional extension and conformational characters of the SNARE 7S core complex by using bioinformatics approaches were compared respectively with those from mammalian X-ray crystallographic investigations. The result suggested that the formation and stabilization of fish SNARE core complex might be driven by hydrophobic association, hydrogen bond among R group of core amino acids and electrostatic attraction at molecular level. This revealed that the SNARE proteins interaction of the fish may share the same molecular mechanism with that of mammal, indicating the universality and solidity of SNARE core complex theory. This work is also an attempt to get the protein 3D structural information which appears to be similar to that obtained through X-ray crystallography, only by using computerized approaches. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phycobilisomes linker family in cyanobacterial genomes: divergence and evolution

Cyanobacteria are the oldest life form making important contributions to global CO2 fixation on the Earth. Phycobilisomes (PBSs) are the major light harvesting systems of most cyanobacteria species. Recent availability of the whole genome database of cyanobacteria provides us a global and further view on the complex structural PBSs. A PBSs linker family is crucial in structure and function of major light-harvesting PBSs complexes. Linker polypeptides are considered to have the same ancestor with other phycobiliproteins (PBPs), and might have been diverged and evolved under particularly selective forces together. In this paper, a total of 192 putative linkers including 167 putative PBSs-associated linker genes and 25 Ferredoxin-NADP oxidoreductase (FNR) genes were detected through whole genome analysis of all 25 cyanobacterial genomes (20 finished and 5 in draft state). We compared the PBSs linker family of cyanobacteria in terms of gene structure, chromosome location, conservation domain, and polymorphic variants, and discussed the features and functions of the PBSs linker family. Most of PBSs-associated linkers in PBSs linker family are assembled into gene clusters with PBPs. A phylogenetic analysis based on protein data demonstrates a possibility of six classes of the linker family in cyanobacteria. Emergence, divergence, and disappearance of PBSs linkers among cyanobacterial species were due to speciation, gene duplication, gene transfer, or gene loss, and acclimation to various environmental selective pressures especially light.

Isolation and mapping of telomeric pentanucleotide (TAACC)(n) repeats of the pacific whiteleg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, using fluorescence in situ hybridization

To develop genetic and physical maps for shrimp, accurate information on the actual number of chromosomes and a large number of genetic markers is needed. Previous reports have shown two different chromosome numbers for the Pacific whiteleg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, the most important penaeid shrimp species cultured in the Western hemisphere. Preliminary results obtained by direct sequencing of clones from a Sau3A-digested genomic library of P. vannamei ovary identified a large number of (TAACC/GGTTA)-containing SSRs. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine the frequency of (TAACC)(n) repeats in 662 P. vannamei genomic clones that were directly sequenced, and perform homology searches of these clones, (2) confirm the number of chromosomes in testis of P. vannamei, and (3) localize the TAACC repeats in P. vannamei chromosome spreads using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Results for objective I showed that 395 out of the 662 clones sequenced contained single or multiple SSRs with three or more repeat motifs, 199 of which contained variable tandem repeats of the pentanucleotide (TAACC/GGTTA),, with 3 to 14 copies per sequence. The frequency of (TAACC)n repeats in P. vannamei is 4.68 kb for SSRs with five or more repeat motifs. Sequence comparisons using the BLASTN nonredundant and expressed sequence tag (EST) databases indicated that most of the TAACC-containing clones were similar to either the core pentanucleotide repeat in PVPENTREP locus (GenBank accession no. X82619) or portions of 28S rRNA. Transposable elements (transposase for Tn1000 and reverse transcriptase family members), hypothetical or unnamed protein products, and genes of known function such as 18S and 28S rRNAs, heat shock protein 70, and thrombospondin were identified in non-TAACC-containing clones. For objective 2, the meiotic chromosome number of P. vannamei was confirmed as N = 44. For objective 3, four FISH probes (P1 to P4) containing different numbers of TAACC repeats produced positive signals on telomeres of P. vannamei chromosomes. A few chromosomes had positive signals interstitially. Probe signal strength and chromosome coverage differed in the general order of P1 > P2 > P3 > P4, which correlated with the length of TAACC repeats within the probes: 83, 66, 35, and 30 bp, respectively, suggesting that the TAACC repeats, and not the flanking sequences, produced the TAACC signals at chromosome ends and TAACC is likely the telomere sequence for P. vannamei.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the Asian paddle crab Charybdis japonica (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae): gene rearrangement of the marine brachyurans and phylogenetic considerations of the decapods

Given the commercial and ecological importance of the Asian paddle crab, Charybdis japonica, there is a clearly need for genetic and molecular research on this species. Here, we present the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of C. japonica, determined by the long-polymerase chain reaction and primer walking sequencing method. The entire genome is 15,738 bp in length, encoding a standard set of 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes, plus the putative control region, which is typical for metazoans. The total A+T content of the genome is 69.2%, lower than the other brachyuran crabs except for Callinectes sapidus. The gene order is identical to the published marine brachyurans and differs from the ancestral pancrustacean order by only the position of the tRNA (His) gene. Phylogenetic analyses using the concatenated nucleotide and amino acid sequences of 13 protein-coding genes strongly support the monophyly of Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata, which is consistent with the previous taxonomic classification. However, the systematic status of Charybdis within subfamily Thalamitinae of family Portunidae is not supported. C. japonica, as the first species of Charybdis with complete mitochondrial genome available, will provide important information on both genomics and molecular ecology of the group.