Genetic Analysis of Two Novel GPI Variants Disrupting H Bonds and Localization Characteristics of 55 Gene Variants Associated with Glucose-6-phosphate Isomerase Deficiency

Objective:Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase(GPI)deficiency is a rare hereditary nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia caused by GPI gene variants.This disorder exhibits wide heterogeneity in its clinical manifestations and molecular characteristics,often posing challenges for precise diagnoses using conventional methods.To this end,this study aimed to identify the novel variants responsible for GPI deficiency in a Chinese family.Methods:The clinical manifestations of the patient were summarized and analyzed for GPI deficiency phenotype diagnosis.Novel compound heterozygous variants of the GPI gene,c.174C>A(p.Asn58Lys)and c.1538G>T(p.Trp513Leu),were identified using whole-exome and Sanger sequencing.The AlphaFold program and Chimera software were used to analyze the effects of compound heterozygous variants on GPI structure.Results:By characterizing 53 GPI missense/nonsense variants from previous literature and two novel missense variants identified in this study,we found that most variants were located in exons 3,4,12,and 18,with a few localized in exons 8,9,and 14.This study identified novel compound heterozygous variants associated with GPI deficiency.These pathogenic variants disrupt hydrogen bonds formed by highly conserved GPI amino acids.Conclusion:Early family-based sequencing analyses,especially for patients with congenital anemia,can help increase diagnostic accuracy for GPI deficiency,improve child healthcare,and enable genetic counseling.

Protein Disulfide Isomerase and Its Potential Function on Endoplasmic Reticulum Quality Control in Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

PDI is a molecular chaperone and plays an important role in Endoplasmic Reticulum quality control (ERQC).PDI participates in the refolding of the misfolded/unfolded proteins to maintain cellular homeostasis under differentstresses. However, bioinformatic characteristics and potential functions of PDIs in diatom Phaeodactylumtricornutum (Pt) are still unknown so far. Hence, the genome-wide characteristics of PtPDI proteins in P. tricornutumwere first studied via bioinformatic and transcriptomic methods. 42 PtPDI genes were identified from thegenome of P. tricornutum. The motif, protein structure, classification, number of introns, phylogenetic relationship,and the expression level of 42 PtPDI genes under the tunicamycin stress were analyzed. A pair of tandemduplicated genes (PtPDI15 and PtPDI18) was observed in P. tricornutum. The 42 PtPDIs with different genecharacteristics were divided into three independent clades, indicating different evolutional relationships and functionsof these PtPDIs. The 14 up-regulated PtPDI genes under the tunicamycin treatment might have a positiveeffect on the ER quality control of the unfolded/misfolded proteins, while the 7 down-regulated PtPDIs mightnegatively affect the ERQC. The characteristics of all 42 PtPDIs and their proposed working model here providea comprehensive understanding of the PtPDIs gene family. The differential expression of 21 PtPDIs will be usefulfor further functional study in the ERQC.

Protein Disulfide Isomerase A2 Is Correlated with Immune Infiltrates and Is a Novel Prognostic Biomarker in Glioma Patients

Objective Protein disulfide isomerase A2(PDIA2),a member of the protein disulfide isomerase family,plays a key role in the folding of nascent proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum by forming disulfide bonds,together with enzymes such as thiol isomerase,oxidase,and reductase.This study investigated the clinical significance and potential functions of PDIA2 in glioma.Methods The expression of PDIA2 in gliomas was explored using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases.We analyzed the clinical characteristics of glioma patients and the prognostic and diagnostic value of PDIA2 expression.Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to examine the effect of PDIA2 expression on overall survival,progression-free interval,and disease-specific survival.Furthermore,we performed Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and immune infiltration analysis to investigate the functions of PDIA2.PDIA2 mRNA and protein expression was evaluated in cell lines and glioma tissues.Results PDIA2 was expressed at low levels in glioma patients.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that glioma patients with low PDIA2 levels had a worse prognosis than those with high PDIA2 levels.Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated the diagnostic and prognostic ability of PDIA2(area under the curve=0.918).Pathways associated with PD1,PI3K/AKT,cancer immunotherapy via PD1 blockade,Fceri-mediated NF-kB activation,FOXM1,and DNA repair were enriched in glioma patients with low levels of PDIA2.PDIA2 expression levels were negatively correlated with immune cell infiltrate levels.Conclusion PDIA2 levels are significantly downregulated in glioma.PDIA2 expression may be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of glioma patients.

Purification and Characterization of Hyaluronate Lyases Produced by Two Types of Bacteria

Hyaluronate lyases were obtained from two types of naturally isolated bacterial strains Paenibacillus yunnanensis and Paennarthrobacter nicotinovorans.PyHL(form P.yunnanensis)in the culture supernatant of the bacteria was purified by two steps of column chromatography.The enzyme showed the molecular mass of 74 kDa by SDS-PAGE and the maximal activity at pH 5.0,35℃.PyHL maximally degraded hyaluronate by an endo-type manner,and showed low degradation activity toward chondroitin sulfates.Dermatan sulfate was not the substrate.PnHL(from P.nicotinovorans)in the culture supernatant of the bacteria was purified by two steps of column chromatography.The enzyme showed the molecular mass of 70 kDa by SDS-PAGE and the maximal activity at pH 6.0,30℃.Genomic analysis of P.nicotinovorans on the bases of the internal amino acid sequences of PnHL.

S1P lyase在肝癌中的表达及对其预后的影响

目的探讨S1P lyase在肝癌中的表达情况,及其对肝癌预后的影响。方法选取桂林医学院附属医院54例肝细胞癌患者,real-time PCR分析S1P lyase在54对肝细胞癌癌组织及癌旁组织中的表达,运用统计学方法探讨S1P lyase表达与肝癌临床病理特征的关系;利用Kaplan-Meier分析S1P lyase对肝癌预后的影响;应用STRING数据库初步探讨神经鞘脂信号通路中可能与S1P lyase相互作用的信号分子。结果 S1P lyase在肝癌组织中的表达明显低于癌旁组织(P<0.05)。S1P lyase在最大径≥10cm的肝癌病例中的表达量低于5cm<最大径<10cm及最大径<5cm的肝癌病例(P<0.05),AJCC分期(Ⅲ+Ⅳ)期肝癌患者中S1P lyase的表达低于(Ⅰ+Ⅱ)期患者(P<0.05)。Kaplan-Meier分析显示S1P lyase表达量越低,肝癌病人预后越差(HR=0.65,P=0.017)。而STRING数据库数据表明S1P lyase可能与神经鞘脂代谢通路中CERS2、CERS4、CERS5、CERS6、SGPP1、SGPP2、ORMDL1、ORMDL2及ORMDL3存在潜在相互作用的可能。结论 S1P lyase在肝癌中低表达,S1P lyase低表达预示着肝癌患者的不良预后。

Enhancement of Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase,Polyphenoloxidase,and Peroxidase in Cucumber Seedlings by Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera:Aleyrodidae) Infestation

In this study, the activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase （PAL）, polyphenoloxidase （PPO）, and peroxidase （POD） were assayed in cucumber seedlings （Cucumis sativus L.） at 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after they were infested by Bemisia tabaci （Gennadius） using spectrophotometric analysis. The results indicated that herbivore infestation increased the activities of PAL, PPO, and POD. The enzymes showed different activity levels at different times after the infestation. The PAL activity reached the first high peak by 23.1% at 6 h and the highest peak by 29.1% at 48 h compared to the control. The PPO activity reached the first high peak by 22.7% at 6 h and the highest peak by 52.6% at 24 h, and the POD activity reached the highest peak by 213.2% at 6 h and another higher peak value by 135.2% at 96 h. The results suggest that the enhanced activities of the enzymes may contribute to bioprotection of cucumber plants against B. tabaci infestation.

Pectate lyase is a factor in the adaptability for Heterodera glycines infecting tobacco

The soybean cyst nematode, Heterodeara glycines, is a serious pathogen of soybean, and reported to be the host of a wide range of Fabaceae. In the present study, the host specificity and reproductivity of two populations of H. glycines collected from soybean and tobacco were identified and characterized. The comparative identity between β-1,4-endoglucanase, pectate lyase and chorismate mutase of H. glycines parasitizing on soybean and tobacco were 99, 97 and 98%, respectively. The qR T-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of pectate lyase 2 gene was significantly higher in second-stage juveniles of H. glycines Henan population parasitizing on tobacco than that of H. glycines Shanxi population parasitizing on soybean. In addition, the pectic acid content of cell wall was significantly higher(45%) in the roots of tobacco than the roots of soybean. Our results indicate that the changes in transcript parasitism genes may be a result of long-term evolution illustrating how a plant-parasitic nematode adapts to the host environment for optimal infestation and survival.

ATP-citrate lyase regulates stemness and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is one of the most highly malignant tumors. Liver tumor-initiating cells(LTICs) have been considered to contribute to HCC progression and metastasis. ATP-citrate lyase(ACLY), as a key enzyme for de novo lipogenesis, has been reported to be upregulated in various tumors. However, its expression and role in HCC and LTICs remain unknown. Methods: The expressions of ACLY in HCC tissues were detected by quantitative real-time PCR(q RT-PCR), Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier curves and Chi-square test were used to determine the clinical significance of ACLY expression in HCC patients. A series of assays were performed to determine the function of ACLY on stemness, migration and invasion of HCC cells. Luciferase reporter assay, Western blotting and immunoprecipitation were used to study the regulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling by ACLY. Rescue experiments were performed to investigate whether β-catenin was the mediator of ACLY-regulated stemness and migration in HCC cells. Results: ACLY was highly expressed in HCC tissues and LTICs. Overexpression of ACLY was significantly correlated with poor prognosis, progression and metastasis of HCC patients. Knockdown of ACLY remarkably suppressed stemness properties, migration and invasion in HCC cells. Mechanistically, ACLY could regulate the canonical Wnt pathway by affecting the stability of β-catenin, and Lys49 acetylation of β-catenin might mediate ACLY-regulated β-catenin level in HCC cells. Conclusions: ACLY is a potent regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in modulating LTICs stemness and metastasis in HCC. ACLY may serve as a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

Phosphoglucose isomerase gene expression as a prognostic biomarker of gastric cancer

Objective: Tumor heterogeneity renders identification of suitable biomarkers of gastric cancer(GC)challenging. Here, we aimed to identify prognostic genes of GC using computational analysis.Methods: We first used microarray technology to profile gene expression of GC and paired nontumor tissues from 198 patients. Based on these profiles and patients’ clinical information, we next identified prognostic genes using novel computational approaches. Phosphoglucose isomerase, also known as glucose-6-phosphate isomerase(GPI), which ranked first among 27 candidate genes, was further investigated by a new analytical tool namely enviro-geno-pheno-state(E-GPS) analysis. Suitability of GPI as a prognostic marker, and its relationship with physiological processes such as metabolism, epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT), as well as drug sensitivity were evaluated using both our own and independent public datasets.Results: We found that higher expression of GPI in GC correlated with prolonged survival of patients.Particularly, a combination of CDH2 and GPI expression effectively stratified the outcomes of patients with TNM stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ. Down-regulation of GPI in tumor tissues correlated well with depressed glucose metabolism and fatty acid synthesis, as well as enhanced fatty acid oxidation and creatine metabolism, indicating that GPI represents a suitable marker for increased probability of EMT in GC cells.Conclusions: Our findings strongly suggest that GPI acts as a novel biomarker candidate for GC prognosis,allowing greatly enhanced clinical management of GC patients. The potential metabolic rewiring correlated with GPI also provides new insights into studying the relationship between cancer metabolism and patient survival.

Screening Peptide Inhibitors Using Phage Peptide Library with Isocitrate Lyase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis as Target

When devoured by macrophages,Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains persistent in macrophages and gains energy through the glyoxylate bypass to maintain its long-term existence in host cells.Therefore it is possible to stop persistent infections by interdicting the glyoxylate bypass in which the isocitrate lyase（ICL） is the key rate-limiting enzyme and a persistence factor.ICL is the target of anti-TB（TB：tubercular） drugs,which could screen ICL out and effectively inhibit the activity of ICL in Mycobacterium tuberculosis,and because of this,anti-TB drugs can be used to kill persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis.In this study,the ICL gene of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was cloned successfully and recombinant protein with bioactivity was obtained through the enzyme characteristic appraisal.The specific activity of the recombined ICL is 24μmol·mg-1·min-1.The recombined ICL protein was used as the target,and phages which can specifically combine to ICL were screened in the phage 7 peptide library.According to the results of the ELISA and DNA sequence detection,eventually three 7-peptide chains were synthesized.Then the peptide chains were reacted with ICL,respectively,to detect their inhibitory effects on ICL.The results show that all the three 7-peptide chains possessed varying inhibitory effects on the activity of ICL.This study provided lead compounds for the research and development of new peptide anti-TB drugs.

The Study of Food-Grade Induced Expression and Enzymatic Properties of L-Arabinose Isomerase from Lactobacillus plantarum WU14 with High D-Tagatose Yield

L-arabinose isomerase (L-AI) is the key enzyme for D-galactose isomerization of D-tagatose by biological method. In this research, Lactobacillus plantarum WU14 with high D-tagatose yield was identified as Lactobacillus plantarum was isolated from the number of lactic acid bacteria from pickled vegetables. The crude L-arabinose isomerase activity of Lactobacillus plantarum WU14 with high D-tagatose yield was 13.95 U/mL under the optimal temperature 60&degC, pH 7.17 and substrate concentration 0.8 mol/L, and the conversion rate of 56.12% could be gained after 28 hours. Protein structure and specific of L-Arabinose Isomerase of Lactobacillus plantarum WU14 were researched. The results showed that L-arabinose isomerase is mainly composed of alpha helix and random coil. Then the recombinant L-AI gene was inserted into the food-grade expression vector pRNA48 and expressed in L. lactis NZ9000 successfully. The target protein expression reached the maximum amount when the induced concentration of nisin reaches 30 ng/mL after 12 h. And the crude enzyme activity of recombinant bacteria reached 6.21 U/mL under 60&degC. Otherwise the optimal conversion rate recombinant of L. lactis NZ9000/pRNA48-L-AI can reach 39.21% under the temperature of 50&degC, pH 7.17 and D-galactose concentration was 0.6 mol/L.

Phosphoglucose Isomerase Deficiency in <i>Escherichia coli</i>K-12 Is Associated with Increased Spontaneous Mutation Rate

Phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) is a key enzyme in early glycolysis, which catalyzes the reversible isomerization of glucose 6-phosphate (G6Ph) to fructose 6-phosphate. We have constructed an Escherichia coli K12 strain with a deleted pgi gene (Δpgi) and shown that this strain in comparison with the parental strain 1) accumulates higher amount of G6Ph, 2) grows slowly, and 3) exhibits higher spontaneous mutation frequency to rifampicin resistance (Rifr), when grown on high glucose minimal medium. Intriguingly, the spontaneous mutation rate to Rifr was inversely related to the degree of E. coli chromosomal DNA modification with sugar derivatives. We measured higher concentrations of Amadori products, fluorophores (360 nm excitation/440 nm emission) and carboxymethyl residues in the chromosomal DNA of the E. coli parental strain than in DNA of the isogenic Δpgi strain. To explain this apparent paradox we hypothesized that PGI might be implicated in repair of G6Ph-derived lesions in DNA. In favor of our hypothesis, we further demonstrate that protein extract from the E. coli PGI proficient strain but not from the PGI deficient strain catalyzes the release of G6Ph from G6Ph-modified single stranded DNA oligonucleotide and from its hybrid duplex with a complementary peptide nucleic acid.

Optimization of Culturing Condition and Medium Composition for the Production of Alginate Lyase by a Marine Vibrio sp. YKW-34

Carbohydrases secreted by marine Vibrio sp. YKW-34 with strong Laminaria cell wall degrading ability were screened, and among them alginate lyase was found to be dominant. The effects of medium composition and culturing condition on the produc- tion of alginate lyase by marine Vibrio sp. YKW-34 in flask were investigated in this study. In the culture medium of marine broth, no alginate lyase was produced. The activity of the alginate lyase, after being induced, reached 5 UmL–1. The best inoculum volume and inoculum age were 10% and 12 h, respectively. The optimal temperature for alginate lyase production was 25℃. The fermentation medium was composed of 0.5% of Laminaria powder and 0.2% of KNO3 with an initial acidity of pH 8.0. Alginate could induce alginate lyase production but not as efficiently as Laminaria powder did. The addition of fucoidan, cellulose and glucose had nega- tive effect on the alginate lyase production. Other kinds of nitrogen sources, such as yeast extract, beef extract and peptone, had posi- tive effect on the growth of the microorganism and negative effect on alginate lyase production. In addition, the time course of algi- nate lyase production under the optimized condition was described. The optimal harvest time was 48 h.

Expression and characterization of a bifunctional alginate lyase named Al163 from the Antarctic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. NJ-21

In this study, an endolytic alginate lyase, named Al163, was identified, cloned, and characterized from the Antarctic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. NJ-21. Comparative sequence analysis showed that the predicted amino acid sequence encoded by al163 belongs to the polysaccharide lyase 6(PL-6) family and has a molecular mass of about 80 kDa. Recombinant enzyme was purified by Ni-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Recombinant Al163 exhibited maximum activity(258 U/mg) at pH 7.0 and 40℃, and thermal stability assays showed retention of almost 90% activity after incubation at 30℃ for 30 min. Al163 activity was stimulated by Cd^(2+), Ca^(2+), Fe^(3+), and Mn^(2+), but inhibited by Cu^(2+), Si^(2+), Fe^(2+), and Ni^(2+). Thin-layer chromatographic analysis indicated that Al163 degraded sodium alginate, poly M, and poly G, generating disaccharides and trisaccharides as the final products. Only a few bacterial strains that produce a bifunctional alginate lyase have been reported. Our results indicate that recombinant Al163 exhibits broad substrate specificity and its products exhibit low degrees of polymerization. Both properties imply high potential for use of the enzyme in several industrial fields, including cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, based on the high demand for biologically active oligosaccharides.

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene families in cucurbit species: Structure, evolution, and expression

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase （PAL）, the first enzyme of phenylpropanoid pathway, is always encoded by multigene families in plants. In this study, using genome-wide searches, 13 PAL genes in cucumber （CsPAL1-13） and 13 PALs in melon （Cm- PALl-13） were identified. In the corresponding genomes, ten of these PAL genes were located in tandem in two clusters, while the others were widely dispersed in different chromosomes as a single copy. The protein sequences of CsPALs and CmPALs shared an overall high identity to each other. In our previous report, 12 PAL genes were identified in watermelon （CIPAL1-12）. Thereby, a total of 38 cucurbit PAL members were included. Here, a comprehensive comparison of PAL gene families was performed among three cucurbit plants. The phylogenetic and syntenic analyses placed the cucurbit PALs as 11 CsPAL-CmPAL-CIPAL triples, of which ten triples were clustered into the dicot group, and the remaining one, CsPAL1-CmPAL8-CIPAL2, was grouped with gymnosperm PALs and might serve as an ancestor of cucurbit PALs. By comparing the syntenic relationships and gene structure of these PAL genes, the expansion of cucurbit PAL families might arise from a series of segmental and tandem duplications and intron insertion events. Furthermore, the expression profiling in different tissues suggested that different cucurbit PALs displayed divergent but overlapping expression profiles, and the CsPAL-CmPAL-CIPAL orthologs showed correlative expression patterns among three cucurbit plants. Taken together, this study provided an extensive description on the evolution and expression of cucurbit PAL gene families and might facilitate the further studies for elucidating the functions of PALs in cucurbit plants.

Polyphenol Oxidase, Peroxidase and PhenylalanineAmmonium Lyase Induced in Postharvest Peach Fruitsby Inoculation with Pichia membranefaciensor Rhizopus stolonifer

Rhizopus rot of peach fruits could be significantly suppressed by Pichia membranefaciens. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD) and phenylalanine ammonium-lyase (PAL) activities induced by inoculation with P. membrane faciens or R. stolonifer were studied in postharvest peach fruits. The activities of PPO and PAL in peaches increased significantly after being inoculated with P. membrane faciens + R. stolonifer by 24 h, the activities maintained at a high level throughout the experiment. Under the condition of infected with R. stolonifer alone, activity of PPO and PAL could also increased, but the levels were lower than those treated with P. membrane faciens+ R. stolonifer. However, fruits inoculaed with P. membrane-faciens + R. stolonifer or R. stolonifer alone did not stimulated POD activity. The results suggest that the activation of these defense enzymes is involved in the action of P. membrane faciens against R. stolonifer.

Isolation of Protoplasts from Undaria pinnatifida by Alginate Lyase Digestion

The aim of this study is to isolate protoplasts from Undaria pinnatifida. Protoplasts of the alga were isolated enzymatically by using alginate lyase, which was prepared by fermenting culture of a strain Vibrio sp. 510. Monofacterial method was applied for optimizing digestion condition. The optimum condition for protoplast preparation is enzymatic digestion at 28 ℃ for 2 h using alginate lyase at the concentration of 213.36 U (8 mL) every 0.5 g fresh thalline with NaCl 50 and at the shaking speed of 150 r min -1 during digestion. The protoplast yield can reach 2.62±0.09 million per 0.5 g fresh leave under the optimum condition. The enzyme activity is inhibited by Ca 2+ and slightly enhanced by Fe 2+ and Mn 2+ at concentrations of 0.05, 0.08 and 0.10 mol L -1.

Lyase Activities of Heterologous CpcS and CpcT for Phycocyanin Holo-β-subunit from Arthrospira platensis in Escherichia coli

Arthrospira platensis is an economically important cyanobacterium; and it has been used widely in food and pharmaceutical industries. The phycocyanin(PC) from A. platensis is extremely valuable in medicine and molecular biology due to its antioxidation and anti-tumoring activity and applicability as fluorescence protein tag. In present study, two recombinant plasmids, one contained the phycocyanobilin(PCB)-producing genes(hox1 and pcyA) while the other contained the phycobiliprotein gene(cpcB) and the lyase gene(either cpcS/U or cpcT), were constructed and synchronically transferred into E. coli in order to test the the activities of relevant lyases for catalysing PCB addition to CpcB during synthesizing fluorescent PC holo-β-subunit(β-PC) of A. platensis. As was evidenced by the fluorescence emitted at a peak specific for PC, CpcB was successfully synthesized in E. coli, to which co-expressed PCBs attached though at a relatively low efficiency. The results showed that the attachment of PCBs to CpcB were carried out mainly by co-expressed CpcS/U but CpcB also showed some autocatalytic activity. Currently, no CpcT activity was detected in this E. coli expression system. Further studies will be conducted to improve the efficiency of fluorescent PC synthesis in E. coli.

Cloning and characterization of a new endo-type polyG-specific alginate lyase from bacteria Vibrio sp. QD-5

Seven bacterial clones with alginate-utilizing activity were isolated from rotten kelp. By activity test, the Vibrio sp. QD-5 with the potential alginate-degrading capability was chosen to carry out the draft genome sequencing, and the result showed that the Vibrio sp. QD-5 containing an alginate lyase gene cluster. One of these genes, aly-IV, was cloned and characterized for the first time. After overexpression, Aly-IV, with a molecular mass of about 62 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point (pI) of 5.12, was purified to a specific activity of 1 256.78 U/mg and showed highest activity at 35°C in the Tris-HCl buffer at pH of 8.9. Moreover, the enzyme activity was enhanced by the metal ions of Na+, K+ and Mg2+ under certain concentration. Aly-IV degraded favorably polyG blocks in an endo-type, yielding monomer and dimer as the main products. Due to its high substrate specificity, Aly-IV could be used as a potential tool for production of polyG oligosaccharides with low degree of polymerization (DP) and for determining the fine structure of alginate.

Using the Phosphomannose Isomerase (PMI) Gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae for Selection in Rice Transformation

The phosphomannose isomerase （PMI） gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae acted as selectable marker and mannose acted as selective agent for the production of transgenic plants of rice （Oryza sativa L.） via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The concentration of mannose during the selection was stepwise increased, 5 g L-1 mannose combined with 15 g L-1 sucrose and 500 mg L-1 cefotaxime was used in the initial selection stage, then the concentration of mannose was increased to 11 g L-1, the highest transformation rate was 20.0%. The integration of PMI gene was confirmed by PCR, and the result of RT-PCR assay proved that the intron of PMI gene can be excised correctly during RNA splicing. 13- Glucuronidase （GUS） activity analysis confirmed the expression of GUS gene. All those means the PMI gene from yeast can be used as a selectable marker in rice transformation.