Fluorescence color diversity of great barrier reef corals

A group of variously colored proteins belonging to the green fAuorescent protein(GFP)family are responsible for coloring coral tissues.Corals of the Great Barrier Reef were studied with the custom-built fiber laser fluorescence spectrometers.Spectral analysis showed that most of the excarmined corals contained multiple fuorescent peaks ranging from 470 to 620nm.This obser-vation was attributed to the presence of multiple genes of GFP-like proteins in a single coral,as well as by the photo-induced post-translational modifcations of certain GFP-like proteins.We isolated a novel photo-convertible fuorescent protein(FP)from one of the tested corals.We:propose that two processes may explain the observed diversity of the fuorescent spectra in corals:(1)dark post-translational modifcation(maturation),and(2)color photo-conversion of certain maturated proteins in response to sunlight.

激光共聚焦同步双扫描技术在斑马鱼前脑神经发育研究中的应用

随着标记蛋白光转换等实验技术在生物科研领域的开展,对激光共聚焦取图技术也提出了越来越高的要求。本文旨在以斑马鱼前脑神经发育为研究对象,建立应用激光共聚焦同步双扫描系统的实验模式。本实验将36～48h的转基因Tg(lhx5:kaede)斑马鱼胚胎麻醉固定后,以光诱导变色荧光蛋白kaede标记的前脑神经元作为实验观察目标,使用激光共聚焦同步双扫描系统的405nm紫外激光刺激扫描感兴趣区域的同时,进行488nm和559nm激光刺激取图,实时观察kaede蛋白光学信号的转换状态,并在光转换后记录紫外激光刺激区域神经元的投射形态图像。结果显示,激光刺激引起kaede蛋白从绿色转变为红色,其在感兴趣区域的分布变化指示出目标神经元的胞体位置及其轴突投射路径。由上述结果可见,激光共聚焦同步双扫描技术的应用满足了kaede蛋白光转换实验的刺激和扫描同步的要求,该技术在斑马鱼胚胎特定神经元形态发育研究中的应用,可作为神经发育研究的一种实验模式在很多实验设计中进行延伸,也为激光共聚焦双扫描技术的推广提供了一个很好的平台。