Purification of Antifungal Protein from Biocontrol Strain XG-1 against Fusarium Wilt of Watermelon

[Objective] This study aimed to isolate and purify the antifungal protein against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp niveum （FON） from Bacillus subtilis XG-I. [Method] The crude protein was obtained by using fractional precipitation with am- monium sulfate, then chromatography using both DEAE-Sepharose FF anion ex- change and Sephacryl S-100 gel filtration columns was adopted for further purifica- tion of the protein, followed by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis of the structure of the at- tained protein which was antagonistic to FON. [Result] The result from MALDI-TOF- MS analysis suggested that the antifungal protein extracted from strain XG-1 was highly homologous to the flagellin （gi114278900） deriving from B. subtilis, with a pro- tein score of 248 and a coverage rate of 63%. It was thus speculated that this an- tagonistic protein was a kind of flagellin with a molecular mass of 30.6 kD. [Conclusion] The results from this study provide theoretical basis for clarifying the mechanisms of the action of strain XG-1 as well as important references for the preven- tion and control of watermelon Fusarium wilt.

Lateral olfactory tract usher substance(LOTUS) protein,an endogenous Nogo receptor antagonist,converts a non-permissive to permissive brain environment for axonal regrowth

It is well known that primates,including humans,hardly recover motor function after spinal cord injury（SCI）when compared with non-primate mammals such as rodents.This limited functional recovery is in part due to a non-permissive environment of the central nervous system（CNS）inhibiting axonal regrowth.

Clemastine rescues behavioral changes and enhances remyelination in the cuprizone mouse model of demyelination

Increasing evidence suggests that white matter disorders based on myelin sheath impairment may underlie the neuropathological changes in schizophrenia.But it is unknown whether enhancing remyelination is a beneficial approach to schizophrenia.To investigate this hypothesis,we used clemastine,an FDA-approved drug with high potency in promoting oligodendroglial differentiation and myelination,on a cuprizone-induced mouse model of demyelination.The mice exposed to cuprizone（0.2%in chow） for 6 weeks displayed schizophrenia-like behavioral changes,including decreased exploration of the center in the open field test and increased entries into the arms of the Y-maze,as well as evident demyelination in the cortex and corpus callosum.Clemastine treatment was initiated upon cuprizone withdrawal at 10 mg/kg per day for3 weeks.As expected,myelin repair was greatly enhanced in the demyelinated regions with increased mature oligodendrocytes（APC-positive） and myelin basic protein.More importantly,the clemastine treatment rescued the schizophrenia-like behavioral changes in the open field test and the Y-maze compared to vehicle,suggesting a beneficial effect via promoting myelin repair.Our findings indicate that enhancing remyelination may be a potential therapy for schizophrenia.