Reactive oxygen species （ROS） scavengers, including ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase, are the most commonly used biomarkers in assessing an organisms＇ response to many biotic and ...Reactive oxygen species （ROS） scavengers, including ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase, are the most commonly used biomarkers in assessing an organisms＇ response to many biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we cloned an 866 bp GST（phi） gene in Lemna minor and investigated its characteristics, expression and enzymatic activities under 75 lamol/L cadmium concentrations in comparison with other ROS scavengers. GST（phi） gene expression patterns were similar to those of other scavengers of ROS. This suggests that GST（phi） might be involved in responding to heavy metal （cadmium） stress and that its expression level could be used as a bio-indicator in monitoring cadmium pollution.展开更多
Two new alkaloids namely tuberostemoninal and tuberostemoamide as minor components were isolated from the roots of Stemona tubeross.Their structures were determined by various 2D NMR and other spectra and finally conf...Two new alkaloids namely tuberostemoninal and tuberostemoamide as minor components were isolated from the roots of Stemona tubeross.Their structures were determined by various 2D NMR and other spectra and finally confirmed by X-ray analysis.展开更多
Objective： Leber＇s hereditary optic neuropathy （LHON） is a maternally inherited degeneration of the optic nerve caused by point mutations of mitochondrial DNA （mtDNA）. Many unsolved questions regarding the penet...Objective： Leber＇s hereditary optic neuropathy （LHON） is a maternally inherited degeneration of the optic nerve caused by point mutations of mitochondrial DNA （mtDNA）. Many unsolved questions regarding the penetrance and pathophysiological mechanism of LHON demand efficient and reliable mutation testing. This study aims to develop a minor groove binder （MGB） probe assay for rapid detection of mtDNA11778 mutation and heteroplasmy in Chinese LHON patients by real-time polymerase chain reaction （PCR）. Methods： Forty-eight patients suspected of having LHON and their maternal relatives underwent a molecular genetic evaluation, with 20 normal individuals as a control group at the same time. A real-time PCR involving two MGB probes was used to detect the mtDNA 1 1778 mutation and heteroplasmy. A linear standard curve was obtained by pUCmLHONG and pUCmLHONA clones. Results： All 48 LHON patients and their maternal relatives were positive for rntDNA11778 mutation in our assay, 27 heteroplasmic and 21 homoplasmic. Eighteen cases did not show an occurrence of the disease, while 9 developed the disease among the 27 heteroplasmic mutation cases. Eleven did not show an occurrence of the disease, while 10 cases developed the disease among 21 homoplasmic mutation cases. There was a significant difference in the incidence between the heteroplasmic and the homoplasmic mutation types. The time needed for running a real-time PCR assay was only 80 min. Conclusion： This real-time PCR assay is a rapid, reliable method for mtDNA mutation detection as well as heteroplasmy quantification. Detecting this ratio is very important for predicting phenotypic expression of unaffected carriers.展开更多
1000-grain weight （ TGW） is one ot the three component traits ot the grain yiela in rice （Oryza sativa L）. This study was conducted to validate and fine-map qTGWl. 1, a minor QTL for TGW which was previously locat...1000-grain weight （ TGW） is one ot the three component traits ot the grain yiela in rice （Oryza sativa L）. This study was conducted to validate and fine-map qTGWl. 1, a minor QTL for TGW which was previously located in a 3.7-Mb region on the long arm of rice chromosome 1. Five sets of near isogenic lines （NILs） were developed from two BC2F4 populations of the indica rice cross Zhenshan 973/Milyang 46 The NIL sets consisted of two homozygous genotypic groups differing in the regions RM11448-RM11522, RM11448-RM11549, RM1232-RM11615, RM11543-RM11554 and RM11569-RM11621, respectively. Four traits, including TGW, grain length, grain width and heading date, were measured. Phenotypic difference between the two genotypic groups in each NIL population was analyzed using SAS procedure GLM. Significant QTL effects were detected on TGW with the Zhenshan 97 allele increasing grain weight by 0.12 g to 0.14 g and explaining 8.30% to 15.19% of the phenotypic variance. Significant effects were also observed for grain length and width, whereas no significant effect was found for heading date. Based on comparison among the five NILs on the segregating regions and the results of QTL analysis, qTGWl. 1 was delimited to a 376.9-kb region flanked by DNA markers Wn28382 and RMl1554. Our results indicate that the effects of minor QTLs could be steadily detected in a highly isogenic background and suggest that such QTLs could be utilized in the breeding of high-yielding rice varieties.展开更多
Large population passages of the SARS-CoV-2 in the past two and a half years have allowed the circulating virus to accumulate an increasing number of mutations in its genome. The most recently emerging Omicron subvari...Large population passages of the SARS-CoV-2 in the past two and a half years have allowed the circulating virus to accumulate an increasing number of mutations in its genome. The most recently emerging Omicron subvariants have the highest number of mutations in the Spike (S) protein gene and these mutations mainly occur in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the S gene. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (eCDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend partial Sanger sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 S gene RBD and NTD on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive samples in diagnostic laboratories as a practical means of determining the variants of concern to monitor possible increased transmissibility, increased virulence, or reduced effectiveness of vaccines against them. The author’s diagnostic laboratory has implemented the eCDC/WHO recommendation by sequencing a 398-base segment of the N gene for the definitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples, and sequencing a 445-base segment of the RBD and a 490 - 509-base segment of the NTD for variant determination. This paper presents 5 selective cases to illustrate the challenges of using Sanger sequencing to diagnose Omicron subvariants when the samples harbor a high level of co-existing minor subvariant sequences with multi-allelic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or possible recombinant Omicron subvariants containing a BA.2 RBD and an atypical BA.1 NTD, which can only be detected by using specially designed PCR primers. In addition, Sanger sequencing may reveal unclassified subvariants, such as BA.4/BA.5 with L84I mutation in the S gene NTD. The current large-scale surveillance programs using next-generation sequencing (NGS) do not face similar problems because NGS focuses on deriving consensus sequence.展开更多
Atorvastatin, widely prescribed hypolipidemic drug, undergoes rapid, probably self-sensitised, degradation (less than 20% left after 25-minute irradiation) if irradiated by wavelengths 300 - 350 nm in aqueous solution...Atorvastatin, widely prescribed hypolipidemic drug, undergoes rapid, probably self-sensitised, degradation (less than 20% left after 25-minute irradiation) if irradiated by wavelengths 300 - 350 nm in aqueous solution. When ferric ions are added to the reaction mixture, the degradation follows first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.130 min<sup><span style="white-space:nowrap;"><span style="white-space:nowrap;">−</span></span>1</sup>. Photochemical degradation may thus represent a significant way of environmental transformation of this pharmaceutical. Toxicity testing of atorvastatin and atorvastatin photoproducts performed on the water plant <em>Lemna minor</em> revealed that atorvastatin itself exhibited no observable toxic effect measured as leaf area growth inhibition, while the photoproducts showed a significant toxicity to the plant, which shows the extreme importance of investigating not only toxicity of drugs themselves on aquatic organisms but also effects of their transformation products.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31370296)the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.Y2007D34,ZR2011CM044)the Key Technologies R&D Program of Shandong Province of China(No.2010GNC10937)
文摘Reactive oxygen species （ROS） scavengers, including ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase, are the most commonly used biomarkers in assessing an organisms＇ response to many biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we cloned an 866 bp GST（phi） gene in Lemna minor and investigated its characteristics, expression and enzymatic activities under 75 lamol/L cadmium concentrations in comparison with other ROS scavengers. GST（phi） gene expression patterns were similar to those of other scavengers of ROS. This suggests that GST（phi） might be involved in responding to heavy metal （cadmium） stress and that its expression level could be used as a bio-indicator in monitoring cadmium pollution.
文摘Two new alkaloids namely tuberostemoninal and tuberostemoamide as minor components were isolated from the roots of Stemona tubeross.Their structures were determined by various 2D NMR and other spectra and finally confirmed by X-ray analysis.
基金the "Qianjiang Research Talent" grantfrom the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province, China
文摘Objective： Leber＇s hereditary optic neuropathy （LHON） is a maternally inherited degeneration of the optic nerve caused by point mutations of mitochondrial DNA （mtDNA）. Many unsolved questions regarding the penetrance and pathophysiological mechanism of LHON demand efficient and reliable mutation testing. This study aims to develop a minor groove binder （MGB） probe assay for rapid detection of mtDNA11778 mutation and heteroplasmy in Chinese LHON patients by real-time polymerase chain reaction （PCR）. Methods： Forty-eight patients suspected of having LHON and their maternal relatives underwent a molecular genetic evaluation, with 20 normal individuals as a control group at the same time. A real-time PCR involving two MGB probes was used to detect the mtDNA 1 1778 mutation and heteroplasmy. A linear standard curve was obtained by pUCmLHONG and pUCmLHONA clones. Results： All 48 LHON patients and their maternal relatives were positive for rntDNA11778 mutation in our assay, 27 heteroplasmic and 21 homoplasmic. Eighteen cases did not show an occurrence of the disease, while 9 developed the disease among the 27 heteroplasmic mutation cases. Eleven did not show an occurrence of the disease, while 10 cases developed the disease among 21 homoplasmic mutation cases. There was a significant difference in the incidence between the heteroplasmic and the homoplasmic mutation types. The time needed for running a real-time PCR assay was only 80 min. Conclusion： This real-time PCR assay is a rapid, reliable method for mtDNA mutation detection as well as heteroplasmy quantification. Detecting this ratio is very important for predicting phenotypic expression of unaffected carriers.
基金supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31221004)a research grant of the China National Rice Research Institute (Grant No. 2012RG002-3)
文摘1000-grain weight （ TGW） is one ot the three component traits ot the grain yiela in rice （Oryza sativa L）. This study was conducted to validate and fine-map qTGWl. 1, a minor QTL for TGW which was previously located in a 3.7-Mb region on the long arm of rice chromosome 1. Five sets of near isogenic lines （NILs） were developed from two BC2F4 populations of the indica rice cross Zhenshan 973/Milyang 46 The NIL sets consisted of two homozygous genotypic groups differing in the regions RM11448-RM11522, RM11448-RM11549, RM1232-RM11615, RM11543-RM11554 and RM11569-RM11621, respectively. Four traits, including TGW, grain length, grain width and heading date, were measured. Phenotypic difference between the two genotypic groups in each NIL population was analyzed using SAS procedure GLM. Significant QTL effects were detected on TGW with the Zhenshan 97 allele increasing grain weight by 0.12 g to 0.14 g and explaining 8.30% to 15.19% of the phenotypic variance. Significant effects were also observed for grain length and width, whereas no significant effect was found for heading date. Based on comparison among the five NILs on the segregating regions and the results of QTL analysis, qTGWl. 1 was delimited to a 376.9-kb region flanked by DNA markers Wn28382 and RMl1554. Our results indicate that the effects of minor QTLs could be steadily detected in a highly isogenic background and suggest that such QTLs could be utilized in the breeding of high-yielding rice varieties.
文摘Large population passages of the SARS-CoV-2 in the past two and a half years have allowed the circulating virus to accumulate an increasing number of mutations in its genome. The most recently emerging Omicron subvariants have the highest number of mutations in the Spike (S) protein gene and these mutations mainly occur in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the S gene. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (eCDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend partial Sanger sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 S gene RBD and NTD on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive samples in diagnostic laboratories as a practical means of determining the variants of concern to monitor possible increased transmissibility, increased virulence, or reduced effectiveness of vaccines against them. The author’s diagnostic laboratory has implemented the eCDC/WHO recommendation by sequencing a 398-base segment of the N gene for the definitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples, and sequencing a 445-base segment of the RBD and a 490 - 509-base segment of the NTD for variant determination. This paper presents 5 selective cases to illustrate the challenges of using Sanger sequencing to diagnose Omicron subvariants when the samples harbor a high level of co-existing minor subvariant sequences with multi-allelic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or possible recombinant Omicron subvariants containing a BA.2 RBD and an atypical BA.1 NTD, which can only be detected by using specially designed PCR primers. In addition, Sanger sequencing may reveal unclassified subvariants, such as BA.4/BA.5 with L84I mutation in the S gene NTD. The current large-scale surveillance programs using next-generation sequencing (NGS) do not face similar problems because NGS focuses on deriving consensus sequence.
文摘Atorvastatin, widely prescribed hypolipidemic drug, undergoes rapid, probably self-sensitised, degradation (less than 20% left after 25-minute irradiation) if irradiated by wavelengths 300 - 350 nm in aqueous solution. When ferric ions are added to the reaction mixture, the degradation follows first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.130 min<sup><span style="white-space:nowrap;"><span style="white-space:nowrap;">−</span></span>1</sup>. Photochemical degradation may thus represent a significant way of environmental transformation of this pharmaceutical. Toxicity testing of atorvastatin and atorvastatin photoproducts performed on the water plant <em>Lemna minor</em> revealed that atorvastatin itself exhibited no observable toxic effect measured as leaf area growth inhibition, while the photoproducts showed a significant toxicity to the plant, which shows the extreme importance of investigating not only toxicity of drugs themselves on aquatic organisms but also effects of their transformation products.
