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The longevity mechanism of ginseng(Panax ginseng) is related to its strong meristematic ability. In this paper, this study used bioinformatic methods to identify the members of the ginseng TCP gene family in the whole genome and analyzed their sequence characteristics. Then, quantitative real-time fluorescent PCR was performed to analyze the TCP genes containing elements rela-ted to meristem expression in the taproots, fibrous roots, stems, and leaves. According to the data, this study further explored the expression specificity of TCP genes in ginseng tissues, which facilitated the dissection of the longevity mechanism of ginseng. The ginseng TCP members were identified and analyzed using PlantTFDB, ExPASy, MEME, PLANTCARE, TBtools, MEGA and DNAMAN. The results demonstrated that there were 60 TCP gene family members in ginseng, and they could be divided into two classes: Class Ⅰ and Class Ⅱ, in which the Class Ⅱ possessed two subclasses: CYC-TCP and CIN-TCP. The deduced TCP proteins in ginseng had the length of 128-793 aa, the isoelectric point of 4.49-9.84 and the relative molecular mass of 14.2-89.3 kDa. They all contained the basic helix-loop-helix(bHLH) domain. There are a variety of stress response-related cis-acting elements in the promoter regions of ginseng TCP genes, and PgTCP20-PgTCP24 contained the elements associated with meristematic expression. The transcription levels of PgTCP20-PgTCP24 were high in fibrous roots and leaves, but low in stems, indicating the tissue-specific expression of ginseng TCP genes. The Class Ⅰ TCP members which contained PgTCP20-PgTCP23, may be important regulators for the growth and development of ginseng roots.
Subject(s)
Computational Biology , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Multigene Family , Panax/metabolism , Phylogeny , Plant Proteins/metabolism , Transcription Factors/metabolismABSTRACT
The endangered medicinal plant Glehnia littoralis is one of the important natural source of furanocoumarin, which has been used as mucolytic, antitussive, antitumour and antibacterial. However, the genetic information of furanocoumarin biosynthesis in G. littoralis is scarce at present. The objective of this study was to mine the putative candidate genes involved in the biosynthesis pathway of furanocoumarin and provide references for gene identification, and functional genomics of G. littoralis. We carried out the transcriptome analysis of leaves and roots in G. littoralis, which provided a dataset for gene mining. Psoralen, imperatorin and isoimperatorin were detected in G. littoralis by high performance liquid chromatography analysis. Candidate key genes were mined based on the annotations and local BLAST with homologous sequences using BioEdit software. The relative expression of genes was analysed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Further, the CYP450 genes were mined using phylogenetic analyses using MEGA 6.0 software. A total of 156,949 unigenes were generated, of which 9021 were differentially-expressed between leaves and roots. A total of 82 unigenes encoding eight enzymes in furanocoumarin biosynthetic pathway were first obtained. Seven genes that encoded key enzymes in the downstream furanocoumarin biosynthetic pathway and expressed more in roots than leaves were screened. Twenty-six candidate CYP450 unigenes expressed abundantly in roots and were chiefly concentrated in CYP71, CYP85 and CYP72 clans. Finally, we filtered 102 differentially expressed transcription factors (TFs) unigenes. The transcriptome of G. littoralis was characterized which would help to elucidate the furanocoumarin biosynthetic pathway in G. littoralis and provide an invaluable resource for further study of furanocoumarin.
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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Jiaji" (EX-B2) at different time points on the expression of OX-42 (a monoclonal antibody with specific expression of complement receptor-3 in spinal microglial cells) and purinergic receptor P2X4 (P2X4) in rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve, as well as the possible after-effect mechanism of EA analgesia in neuropathic pain. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into blank group, model group, immediately after EA group, 0.5-hour after EA group, 1-hour after EA group, 2-hour after EA group, 4-hour after EA group, 12-hour after EA group, and 24-hour after EA group, with 6 rats in each group. The rats in the model group and the EA groups were used to establish a model of CCI-induced neuropathic pain, and those in the immediately after EA group and the 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 12 and 24 hours after EA groups were treated with EA at bilateral L3 and L5 "Jiaji" points for 20 min after 7 d of modeling. Samples were collected immediately and at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 12, and 24 hours after EA, and for the rats in the blank group and the model group, samples were collected after fixation the rats for 20 min. Heat pain threshold was observed before and after intervention, and immunohistochemistry was used to measure the protein expression of OX-42 and P2X4 in the spinal cord lumbar enlargement. RESULTS: After 7 days of modeling (before intervention), compared with the blank group, the heat pain threshold had a significant reduction in the model group and the EA groups (P<0.01). Compared with the model group after intervention, the immediately after EA group and the 0.5, 1 and 2 hours after EA groups had a significant increase in heat pain threshold (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, immediately after EA, the 0.5, 1 and 2 hours after EA groups had a significant reduction in the protein expression of OX-42 (P<0.01), and immediately after EA, the 0.5 and 1 hour after EA groups had a significant reduction in the protein expression of P2X4 (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: EA at "Jiaji" points can significantly increase heat pain threshold and down-regulate the protein expression of OX-42 and P2X4 in the spinal cord of CCI rats. The analgesic effect can last for 2 h.
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Objective: To clone the full-length cDNA sequences of psoralen synthase (PS) genes from Glehnia littoralis so as to perform the bioinformatic and expression pattern analysis. Methods: Based on our previous transcriptome sequencing data of G. littoralis, the gene sequences GlPS1 and GlPS2 with high expression level were screened. The 3’cDNA ends of GlPS1 and GlPS2 genes were cloned by the RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) method and the full-length cDNA of genes were assembled by using DNAMAN software. And then encoded GlPS proteins were analyzed by the bioinformatics tools. The issue specific expression of GlPS1 and GlPS2 genes were detected using qPCR. Results: The full-length cDNA of GlPS1 gene was 1 885 bp, which encoding a protein of 495 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 55 740.7 and isoelectric point of 8.28; The full-length cDNA of GlPS2 gene was 1 971 bp, which encoding a protein of 502 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 56 363.9 and isoelectric point of 6.62. GlPS1 and GlPS2 proteins belong to the cytochrome P450 superfamily, which share one transmembrane zone acting as hydrophilic protein. Phylogenetic analysis showed GlPS1 and GlPS2 were genetically closely related to the PS of Pastinaca sativa, Apium graveolens, Ammi majus. Higher expression of GlPS1 gene was observed in roots than leaves. However, GlPS2 gene was expressed at a relatively higher level in flowers than in roots. Conclusion: The full-length cDNA of GlPS1 and GlPS2 genes were obtained and the expression patterns were explored in G. littoralis for the first time, which provided a foundation for further studies on gene function and genetic regulatory mechanism of GlPS.
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Enhancing soybean (Glycine max) oil production is crucial to meet the market demand of vegetable oil. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final acylation reaction of triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis, acting as one of the rate-limiting enzymes for oil biosynthesis in plant seeds. Here, a cDNA clone VgDGAT1A encoding the DGAT1 protein was isolated from the high oil plant Vernonia galamensis. VgDGAT1A was specifically overexpressed in soybean seeds, and several high-generation transgenic lines (T7) were obtained by continuous selection. qPCR analysis showed that VgDGAT1A was highly expressed in the mid-development stage (30-45 DAF) of the transgenic seeds. Accordingly, the DGAT enzyme activity in the transgenic seeds was increased by 7.8 folds in comparison with the wild-type controls. Seed oil and starch contents were, respectively, increased by 5.1% (Dry weight) and reduced by 2%-3% in the transgenic soybeans. Importantly, protein content was not significantly different between transgenic and control seeds. Seed weight and germination rate of the transgenic lines exhibited no negative effect. Fatty acid profiling demonstrated that antioxidant oleic acid (C18:1Δ9) content in the transgenic seed oil was elevated by 8.2% compared to the control, and correspondingly, easily-oxidized linoleic acid (C18:2Δ9,12) and linolenic acid (C18:3Δ9,12,15) were decreased by 6% and 2% respectively. Taken together, seed-specific overexpression of an exogenous VgDGAT1A gene can break the negative linkage of oil and protein contents in soybean seeds, indicating that engineering of this highly-active DGAT enzyme is an effective strategy to improve oil yield and nutritional value in oilseeds.
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OBJECTIVE: To clone the cytochrome P450 genes from a medicinal fungus Polyporus umbellatus and carry out bioinformatic analysis. METHODS: The full length cDNAs of the genes were obtained by RT-PCR. Some bioinformatic tools were used to characterize the physiochemical properties of the 11 deduced protein. The analyses of multiple alignment and phylogenetic trees were performed with MEGA 6.0 software. RESULTS: Eleven P450 genes were cloned using RT-PCR method from the Polyporus umbellatus sclerotium. The full open reading frame cDNA sequence of these eleven genes was between 1 326 and 1 635 bp, the putative encoding proteins were between 442 and 545 amino acids, the molecular weight was between 48.9×103 and 61.5×103, and the theoretical pI was between 6.3 and 8.9. Protein sequence analysis found that there was conserved P450 domain in the 11 genes. Phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that all these 11 P450 genes belonged to basidiomycetes. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that these 11 genes were expressed in both the infected partand non-infectedpart. Meanwhile, the expressions of seven genes were significantly up-regulated in the infected part except comp18720, comp26906, comp32003 or comp33717. CONCLUSION: Molecular characterization of the 11Cytochrome P450 genes will be useful for further functional determination of the genes involved in the defense progress of Polyporus umbellatus.
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Objective To clone the R2R3 MYB transcription factor gene SmMYB87 in subgroup 14 from Salvia miltiorrhiza, and analyze the bioinformatics and expression of this gene. Methods Total RNA extracted from S. miltiorrhiza was used as cDNA synthesis template and the full length cDNA sequence was obtained through homology-based cloning and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technology. The structure and physicochemical properties of SmMYB87 gene and its coded protein were analyzed with bioinformatics softwares. The expression of SmMYB87 in different organs was determined with qRT-PCR, and a GFP fusion expression vector was constructed to investigate the subcellular laicization of SmMYB87 protein. Results SmMYB87 gene contained two introns and an open reading frame (ORF) of 732 bp, encoding 243 amino acid polypeptides. It expressed in roots, stems, leaves and flowers with similar expression levels and the SmMYB87 protein located in nucleus and cytomembrane. Conclusion The analysis of sequence structure and expression pattern of SmMYB87 will be helpful to study the regulating roles of this gene in S. miltiorrhiza.
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Recombinant gene expression using adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) has become a valuable tool in animal studies, as they mediate safe expression of transduced genes for several months. The liver is a major organ of metabolism, and liver-specific expression of a gene can be an invaluable tool for metabolic studies. AAV-DJ is a recombinant AAV generated by the gene shuffling of various AAV serotypes and shares characteristics of AAV2 and AAV8. AAV-DJ contains a heparin-binding domain in its capsid, which suggests that a heparin column could be used for the purification of the AAV. Given that AAV-DJ has been only recently available, relatively little is known about the optimal preparation/purification and application of AAV-DJ. Here, we present a simple large-scale preparation method that can generate 3×10(13) viral particles for in vivo experiments and demonstrate liver-specific gene expression via systemic injection in mice.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Mice , Capsid , Capsid Proteins/genetics , Dependovirus/genetics , Gene Expression , Genetic Vectors , Genome, Viral/genetics , Hep G2 Cells , Liver/metabolism , Mice, Inbred C57BLABSTRACT
Objective Getting the robust exogenous gene expression vector under the control of porcine insulin promoter, and to lay the foundation for pancreaticβ-cells specific transgene expressing pigs.Method Using porcine insu-lin promoter ( PIP, 1500 bp of the 5′UTR from the porcine INS gene including the first exon and the first intron) to con-struct expression vector, the HindIII restriction site which connected the sequences of PIP and EGFP was designed before ATG, named PIP-HindIII-EGFP.Considering that the different location of restriction site may affect the expression efficien-cy of the transgene, we optimized the expression vector.Firstly the HindIII restriction site was deleted to realize the seam-less connection of PIP and EGFP,the vector was named PIP-EGFP.Also we mutated the 3′intron splicing acceptor site( SA) of the first intron into HindIII restriction site, named as PIP-SA( M)-EGFP.Three different EGFP expression vectors were respectively transfected MIN-6 mouse pancreatic β-cells, pig ear fibroblasts and kidney cells.The transfected cells were cultured for 48 h and harvested for RT-PCR, flow cytometry and Western blot analysis, to analyze and compare the expres-sion efficiency of vectors.Results After transfection,green fluorescence was observed only in MIN-6 mouse pancreaticβ-cells.RT-PCR analysis and product sequencing showed that the three expression vectors did have different stability with in-tron splicing.The PIP-HindIII-EGFP construct and PIP-EGFP vector produced two kinds of mRNA with the first intron spliced and no spliced, indicating the instability of intron splicing.Mutation of the PIP splice site would cause the first in-tron not spliced, while flow cytometry and Western blot displayed that the mutation induced a most efficient expression of the downstream gene.Conclusions A robust and specific β-cells expression vector has been successfully generated by mutating the intron splicing acceptor site of the porcine insulin promoter.It provides the foundation for preparation of pigs with pancreaticβ-cells specifically expressing the transgene.
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Egg-laying hens are important candidate bioreactors for pharmaceutical protein production because of the amenability of their eggs for protein expression. In this study, we constructed an oviduct-specific vector containing tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) protein and green fluorescent protein (pL-2.8OVtPAGFP) and assessed its expression in vitro and in vivo. Oviduct epithelial and 3T3 cells were cultured and transfected with pL-2.8OVtPAGFP and pEGP-N1 (control vector), respectively. The pL-2.8OVtPAGFP vector was administered to laying hens via a wing vein and their eggs and tissues were examined for tPA expression. The oviduct-specific vector pL-2.8OVtPAGFP was expressed only in oviduct epithelial cells whereas pEGP-N1 was detected in oviduct epithelial and 3T3 cells. Western blotting detected a 89 kDa band corresponding to tPA in egg white and oviduct epithelial cells, thus confirming expression of the protein. The amount of tPAGFP in eggs ranged 9 to 41 ng/mL on the third day after vector injection. The tPA expressed in egg white and oviduct epithelial cells showed fibrinolytic activity, indicating that the protein was expressed in active form. GFP was observed only in oviducts, with no detection in heart, muscle, liver and intestine. This is the first study to report the expression of tPA in egg white and oviduct epithelial cells using an oviduct-specific vector.
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Objective To screen stage\|specific expression genes of plerocercoid of Spirometra erinacei\|europaei. Methods RNA was extracted by the acid guanidinium thiocyanate\|phenol\|chloroform from plerocercoid and adult worm of Spirometra erinacei\|europaei. Contaminated DNA in the RNA was digested by RNase\|free DNase. cDNA was synthesized by using T\-\{12\}MA, T\-\{12\}MC, T\-\{12\}MG and T\-\{12\}MT primers, and PCR was then done using the same T\-\{12\}MN and one random primers. The PCR products were fractionated on 8% denatured polyacrylamide gel, differential bands of plerocercoid found in the gel were cut out, amplified by PCR and sequenced after the gel was dried out and autoradiographed. Northern hybridization was conducted to identify the stage\|specific expression genes. Results Eleven differential bands were selected from the gel and classified into 3 kinds of gene fragments by hybridization after they were amplified by PCR. The fragments 1 and 2 were confirmed to express specifically in plerocercoid by Northern hybridization, but the fragment 3 was expressed in both plerocercoid and adult worm. When the 3 gene fragments were homologically analyzed in GenBank, the sequence which was homologous with the fragments 1 and 2 was not found, but the fragment 3 had high homology with many kinds of 28S rRNA. Conclusion The gene expression of plerocercoid was different from that of adult worm probably because they live in different hosts. Two kinds of different gene fragments in plerocercoid were identified by mRNA differential display technique.