鲫鱼(Carassius auratus)半胱亚磺酸脱酸酶CSAD基因克隆及其表达研究

本研究以鲫鱼(Carassius auratus)为研究对象,采用巢式PCR和RACE技术克隆鲫鱼半胱亚磺酸脱酸酶CSAD基因c DNA序列,并且利用实时荧光定量PCR检测了CSAD m RNA在鲫鱼不同组织和昼夜节律中的相对表达水平,同时还研究了牛磺酸对鲫鱼肠道CSAD m RNA表达的影响。结果表明:(1)鲫鱼CSAD基因c DNA序列包含186bp的5?UTR序列,675bp的3?UTR序列,1503bp开放阅读框,编码500个氨基酸。同源性分析表明,鲫鱼和鲤鱼的同源性为97.2%。系统发育分析表明,鲫鱼与鲤鱼之间的亲缘关系最接近,置信度为100。经预测,其编码的蛋白质的分子量和等电点分别为56.82k Da和5.77;(2)Ca CSAD m RNA在肌肉、心脏、肠道及肝脏中的表达水平较高,在脑和鳃组织中的相对表达量较低;(3)鲫鱼肠道CSAD m RNA的相对表达量在6:00am点时最高,9:00pm点时相对表达量最低;(4)鲫鱼CSAD的相对表达丰度随着牛磺酸添加量的增加而逐渐下降。本研究结果不仅有助于理解鲫鱼CSAD基因的分子特征,同时将为进一步研究鱼类CSAD营养调控功能提供理论依据。     

强光照和黑暗条件下刺参体壁的基因表达差异

参对光照变化非常敏感,研究刺参对光照的分子响应非常重要。本研究应用RNA测序获取了刺参暴露于强光（“强光”）、正常光照（“对照”）和完全黑暗（“黑暗”）环境下体壁的基因表达谱情况,通过“对照”与“黑暗”,“对照”与“强光”和“黑暗”与“强光”的比较,在|log₂ ratio|≥1和FDR≤0.001的标准下分别发现了1161、113和1705个差异表达基因（DEGs）。基因本体分析表明,“cellular process”和“binding”在“生物过程”和“分子功能”类别中的DEGs富集最多,而“cell”和“cell part”在“细胞组分”类别中的DEGs富集最多。将DEGs与Kyoto Encyclopedia基因和基因组数据库上的于214、41和229条通路进行比对,发现了51、2和57条通路分别显著富集。本研究发现的光特异性DEGs可作为深入研究刺参对光照变化的生化适应机制的重要目标基因。     

海蜇dmrta2基因的克隆及其在横裂生殖中的表达分析

Dmrt基因家族在后生动物性别决定与分化以及组织和器官的形成等发育过程中发挥着重要作用。为探究dmrt家族基因在海蜇(Rhopilema esculentum)横裂生殖中的功能,本研究以海蜇转录组测序获得的dmrta2基因片段为基础,通过RACE技术获得了海蜇dmrta2基因的cDNA全长,并分析了其在横裂生殖不同时期的表达模式。结果显示海蜇dmrta2基因cDNA全长为1 804 bp,开放阅读框为1 011 bp,所编码蛋白质含336个氨基酸,分子质量为37.25 kDa,理论等电点为9.11。预测海蜇dmrta2编码蛋白为亲水性蛋白质,无跨膜区域,不含信号肽。在33至79位氨基酸之间具有dmrt基因家族保守的DM结构域,与珊瑚、果蝇等物种的同源基因相应区域高度一致。系统进化分析显示,海蜇DMRTA2与鹿角珊瑚DMRTA2和DMRT3以及海葵DMRTA2的亲缘关系最近。原位杂交显示dmrta2基因在海蜇横裂生殖后期主要表达于感觉缘叶原基位置,在初生碟状体中表达于感觉棍位置。研究结果表明,dmrta2基因参与海蜇横裂生殖过程,可能主要与感觉棍神经系统的分化发育相关,研究为进一步解析海蜇等钵水母横裂生殖的分子调控机制提供了基础数据。     

双壳贝类CK1基因家族的鉴定及表达分析

酪蛋白激酶1 (CK1)是一种重要的蛋白激酶家族,其在DNA损伤应答和修复、细胞增殖和凋亡、胚胎发育和稳态等重要的生物学过程中都具有复杂多样的调控作用。为了理解CK1基因家族在双壳贝类中的特征、进化及生物学功能,实验采用比较基因组学及生物信息学的方法对双壳贝类CK1基因家族进行了鉴定分析,通过虾夷扇贝高温应激实验,研究了CK1基因家族在高温应激时的表达规律。结果显示,在虾夷扇贝、栉孔扇贝、长牡蛎与侏儒蛤中均存在CK1α,CK1αlike,CK1δ,CK1γ3,并发现CK1ε,CK1γ1,CK1γ2在双壳贝类中发生了丢失。时空表达分析发现,双壳贝类CK1基因均在胚胎发育早期集中表达,并以多细胞/囊胚期为界呈现出母源/合子特异性表达模式。CK1为关键基因的基因共表达模块显著富集在错配修复、核苷酸剪切修复等相关通路上,暗示了CK1基因在双壳贝类胚胎发育过程中参与调控DNA损伤修复过程,从而维持早期胚胎发育时的基因组稳定性。双壳贝类CK1基因在成体中呈现组织特异的表达模式,主要在鳃和雄性性腺中具有相对较高的表达量。虾夷扇贝受到高温应激后,其鳃中PyCK1α, PyCK1αlike和PyCK1δ...     

Automated classification of stellar spectra — II. Two-dimensional classification with neural networks and principal components analysis

We investigate the application of neural networks to the automation of MK spectral classification. The data set for this project consists of a set of over 5000 optical (3800–5200 Å) spectra obtained from objective prism plates from the Michigan Spectral Survey. These spectra, along with their two-dimensional MK classifications listed in the Michigan Henry Draper Catalogue, were used to develop supervised neural network classifiers. We show that neural networks can give accurate spectral type classifications (σ₆₈= 0.82 subtypes, σ_rms= 1.09 subtypes) across the full range of spectral types present in the data set (B2–M7). We show also that the networks yield correct luminosity classes for over 95 per cent of both dwarfs and giants with a high degree of confidence.   Stellar spectra generally contain a large amount of redundant information. We investigate the application of principal components analysis (PCA) to the optimal compression of spectra. We show that PCA can compress the spectra by a factor of over 30 while retaining essentially all of the useful information in the data set. Furthermore, it is shown that this compression optimally removes noise and can be used to identify unusual spectra.   This paper is a continuation of the work carried out by von Hippel et al. (Paper I).     

Simulation Study on High Energy Cosmic Electron Detection by Shower Image

Many projects have recently been carried out and proposed for observing high energy electrons since it is realized that cosmic ray electrons are very important when studying the dark matter particles and the acceleration mechanism of cosmic rays. An imaging calorimeter, BETS （Balloon-borne Electron Telescope with Scintillator fiber）, has been developed for this purpose. Using pattern analysis of the shower development, the electrons can be selected from those primary cosmic ray proton events with flux heights one-tenth that of the electrons. The Monte-Carlo simulation is indispensable for the instrument design, the signal trigger and the data analysis. We present different shower simulation codes and compare the simulation results with the beam test and the flight data of BETS. We conclude that the code FLUKA2002 gives the most consistent results with the experimental data.     

Dynamical friction force exerted on spherical bodies

We present a rigorous calculation of the dynamical friction force exerted on a spherical massive perturber moving through an infinite homogenous system of field stars. By calculating the shape and mass of the polarization cloud induced by the perturber in the background system, which decelerates the motion of the perturber, we recover Chandrasekhar's drag force law with a modified Coulomb logarithm. As concrete examples, we calculate the drag force exerted on a Plummer sphere or a sphere with the density distribution of a Hernquist profile. It is shown that the shape of the perturber only affects the exact form of the Coulomb logarithm. The latter converges on small scales because encounters of the test and field stars with impact parameters less than the size of the massive perturber become inefficient. We confirm in this way the earlier results based on the impulse approximation of small angle scatterings.     

Very Large Array observations of broad 6-cm excited-state OH lines in W49A

Using the Very Large Array (VLA), we observed all three of the 6-cm lines of the  ²Π_1/2, J = 1/2  state of OH with sub-arcsecond resolution (∼0.4 arcsec) in W49A. While the spatial distribution and the range in velocities of the 6-cm lines are similar to those of the ground-state (18-cm) OH lines, a large fraction of the total emission in all three 6-cm lines has large linewidths (∼5–10 km s⁻¹) and is spatially extended, very unlike typical ground-state OH masers, which typically are point-like at VLA resolutions and have linewidths ≤1 km s⁻¹. We find brightness temperatures of 5900, 4700 and ≥730 K for the 4660, 4750 and 4765-MHz lines, respectively. We conclude that these are indeed maser lines. However, the gains are ∼0.3, again very unlike the 18-cm lines, which have gains  ≥10⁴  . We compare the excited-state OH emission with that from other molecules observed with comparable angular resolution to estimate physical conditions in the regions emitting the peculiar, low-gain maser lines. We also comment on the relationship with the 18-cm masers.