Analysis of the Phenotype and the Restriction Enzyme Mapping Level of Mutations Induced by the New Mutagen Glycidyl Methacrylate

Glycidyl methaerylate (GMA) is a recently recognized chemical mutagen. In order to explore the mutagenicity and mutagenic process of GMA, plasmid pBR322 was used for in vitro binding, mutant screening, and restriction enzyme mapping. The binding between GMA and DNA in vitro has been verified by means of a spectrophotometric method. When pBR322 and GMAbound pBR322 were used to transform Eschenchia coli HB101, the following results were obtained: (1) The transformation efficiency of GMA-bound pBR322 was much lower than that of pBR322 alone. (2) GMA-bound pBR322 induced phenotype changes in competent cells (i.e., tetracycline-resistance inactivation or ampicillin-resistance inactivation). There were two mutants of pBR322, Ap~RTc~S and Ap~STc~R, in the transformants and a deductive mutant Ap~STc~S in the nontranstormants. (3) All of the selected mutants were stable and heritable. (4) When restriction enzyme maps were used to analyze the mutant Ap~RTc~S, four of seven maps were changed. some sites were shifted to other resistant gene regions, for example, sites of Bgll, EcoRl, Ilindlll. Hinclll, etc., and there was a new recognition site for Hindi (252). We did not observe any DNA fragment insertion or deletion on any maps. Our results suggest that when GMA is covalently linked to the plasmid DNA, it gives rise to a premutagenic lesion of DNA that is converted in vivo into a point mutation. (C)1990 Academic Press, Inc.

Phenotype-Directed DNA Nanomachine for in Situ Analysis of Stem Cell-like Subpopulation in Breast Cancer

The cancer stem cell hypothesis provides a basis for prediction of the recurrence and risk of metastasis in breast cancer.However,the unique expression pattern of stemness markers and the presence of nonstem-like cancer cells with varied phenotypes have brought great challenges to the characterization of breast cancer stem cells.To address these challenges,a phenotype-directed DNA nanomachine has been designed for high-accuracy labeling and in situ analysis of the stem cell-like subpopulation in breast cancer.The key for the design is to use cell surfaceanchored inputs to activate the nanomachine,which undergoes different branch migration pathways such that the signal strand can only be brought onto the cancer cells having the stem cell-like phenotype.Highly sensitive determination and single-step isolation of the stem cell-like subpopulation were achieved by incorporating functional groups into the signal strand such that the nanomachine was successfully applied in a tumor-bearing mouse model.Overall,the approach provides for a substantial improvement in capability for the analysis of the breast cancer stem cell-like subpopulation,and it is expected that the new approach will advance the use of DNA nanomachines in cancer-related studies.

Research advance in phenotype detection robots for agriculture and forestry

The continuous development of robot technology has made phenotype detection robots a key for extracting and analyzing phenotyping data in agriculture and forestry.The different applications of agricultural robots and phenotype detection robots were discussed in this article.Further,the structural characteristics and information interaction modes of the current phenotype detection robots were summarized from the viewpoint of agriculture and forestry.The publications with keywords related to clustering distribution were analyzed and the currently available phenotype robots were classified.Additionally,a conclusion on the design criteria and evaluation system of plant phenotype detection robots was summarized and obtained,and the challenges and future development direction were proposed,which can provide a reference for the design and applications of agriculture and forestry robots.

Intertumoral heterogeneity of molecular phenotype and analysis of prognosis in multifocal and multicentric breast cancer

Objective This study was designed to investigate the prognostic implications of the intertumoral heterogeneity of molecular phenotype in multifocal and multicentric breast cancer(MMBC).Methods The clinical and follow-up data of 146 patients with MMBC from Jan.2009to Dec.2009 treated in Tumor Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University were retrospectively analyzed.