中国朝鲜族9个STR基因座遗传多态性研究

为丰富中华民族基因数据库,获取中国吉林省特有少数民族--朝鲜族D3S1358、vWA、FGA、TH01、TPOX、CSF1PO、D5S818、D13S317、D7S820等9个STR基因座的群体遗传数据。采用四色荧光标记STR基因扫描技术,检测91个无关个体血液样本。结果共检出81种等位基因,其基因频率分布在0.0055~0.4615之间;共检出196种基因型,其基因型频率分布在0.0110~0.9890之间。9个STR基因座基因型频率观察值与期望值均符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡定律（P＞0.05）。9个基因座的多态信息量PIC（polymorphic information content）分布于0.6863~0.8807之间,杂合度H（heterozygosity）分布于0.6919~0.8809之间,个体识别力DP（discrimination power）分布于0.8301~0.9670之间,非父排除率PPE（probability of paternity exclusion）分布于0.8590~0.9942之间。研究结果可应用于人类群体遗传学及法医学研究等领域。 Genetic Polymorphism of 9 STR loci in Chaoxian National Minority of China GAO Ya1,JIN Tian-bo1,LAI Jiang-hua1,CHEN Teng1,ZHENG Hai-bo1,ZHU Bo-feng1,HU Song-nian2,WANG Jian2,LI Sheng-bin1 1.Forensic Laboratory of Ministry of Health of Xi'an Jiaotong University,710061,Xi'an China; 2.Beijing Huada Genomics Institute( Beijing Airport Industrial Zone B-6),101300,Beijing,China Abstract:In order to enrich the Chinese genetic database,nine polymorphic loci of STR,such as D3S1358,vWA,FGA,TH01,TPOX,CSF1PO,D5S818,D13S317 and D7S820 were studied.Based on STR gene scan marked by fluorescence,91 unrelated Chinese Chaoxian individuals were observed.81 alleles and 196 genotypes were found.The corresponding gene frequency and genotype frequency were 0.0055~0.4615 and 0.0110~0.9890 respectively.The genogypes frequency of nine STR loci was good with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium（P＞0.05）.The statistical analysis of nine STR loci showed the following：PIC（polymorphic information content）≥0.6863,H（heterozygosity）≥0.6919,DP（discrimination power）≥0.8301,EPP（probability of paternity exclusion）≥0.8590.The data studied can be used in Chinese population genetic studies and forensic medicine applications. Key words：Chaoxian groups of China;STRs;gene scan;genetic polymorphism     

中国广西壮族9个STR基因座遗传多态性研究

选择9个STR基因座（D3S1358、vWA、FGA、TH01、TPOX、CSF1PO、D5S818、D13S317、D7S820）,采用四色荧光标记STR基因扫描技术,对中国广西壮族的群体遗传多态性进行研究,检测91名无关个体血液样本,共检出62种等位片段,其频率分布在0．0054－0．5495之间;检出169种基因型,其频率分布在0．0110－0．3297之间。9个STR基因座的基因型频率期望与观察值均符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡定律（P＞0．05）。9个基因座多态信息量（polymorphic information content)PIC≥0．6088,杂合度（heterozygosity)H≥0．8165。计算种族,民族之间的遗传距离并对之进行比较,结果显示,中国广西壮族与美国白人及美国黑人存在显著差异,与黑人之间的差异大于与白人之间的差异;广西壮族与西安汉族的关系近于与其他少数民族的关系,种族民族之间的聚类分析结果显示,现有资料分为黑种人,白种人和黄种人（我国各民族）3类。     

Question 6: Coevolution Theory of the Genetic Code: A Proven Theory

The coevolution theory proposes that primordial proteins consisted only of those amino acids readily obtainable from the prebiotic environment, representing about half the twenty encoded amino acids of today, and the missing amino acids entered the system as the code expanded along with pathways of amino acid biosynthesis. The isolation of genetic code mutants, and the antiquity of pretran synthesis revealed by the comparative genomics of tRNAs and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, have combined to provide a rigorous proof of the four fundamental tenets of the theory, thus solving the riddle of the structure of the universal genetic code. Presented at: International School of Complexity – 4th Course: Basic Questions on the Origins of Life; “Ettore Majorana” Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Italy, 1–6 October 2006.     

Question 9: Prospects for the Construction of Artificial Cells or Protocells

The construction of artificial cells or protocells that are a simplified version of contemporary cells will have implications for both the understanding of the origins of cellular Life and the design of “cell-like” chemical factories. In this short communication, we discuss the progress and remaining issues related to the construction of protocells from metabolic products. We further outline the de novo design of a simple chemical system that mimics the functional properties of a living cell without being composed of molecules of biological origin, thereby addressing issues related to Life’s origins. Presented at: International School of Complexity—4th Course: Basic Questions on the Origins of Life; “Ettore Majorana” Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Italy, 1–6 October 2006.     

水蚤滞育的数量遗传学研究:遗传与环境控制及遗传作用

在单性生殖循环水蚤群体中,滞育卵由有性生殖产生．在一系列实验中用到了不同种群和种类的水蚤,通过这些实验来观察：1)有性生殖和滞育卵复苏的遗传和环境控制;2)生活在相同区域中,但有不同生存微环境的近缘种类的有性生殖的光周期反应;3)在群体遗传结构上有性生殖的遗传效应(基因型均值和生活史性状遗传方差)．结果发现：1)遗传作用和环境作用,以及两者的相互作用都对有性生殖和滞育卵的孵化有显著的影响．GE显著的相互作用对环境中观察到的有性生殖来说,有助于维持其较高的遗传方差;2)在相同区域中,不同生存微环境的近缘种类的有性生殖的光周期反应有所不同．这有助于进一步区别近缘的水蚤种类,这也可能是一个水环境中同素异形的物种形成的例子;3)在有性生殖上,生活史性状平均值和遗传方差变化与前代选择造成的均值和遗传方差相反(遗传滑阻),这会造成暂时的适应不良(遗传滑阻和隐藏的遗传变异的表达),应对它补偿滞育的进化优势．     

Question 9: Quantum Self-Assembly and Photoinduced Electron Tunneling in Photosynthetic Systems of Artificial Minimal Living Cells

Natural and artificial living cells and their substructures are self-assembling, due to electron correlation interactions among biological and water molecules, which lead to attractive dispersion forces and hydrogen bonds. Dispersion forces are weak intermolecular forces that arise from the attractive force between quantum multipoles. A hydrogen bond is a special type of quantum attractive interaction that exists between an electronegative atom and a hydrogen atom bonded to another electronegative atom; and this hydrogen atom exist in two quantum states. The best method to simulate these dispersion forces and hydrogen bonds is to perform quantum mechanical non-local density functional potential calculations of artificial minimal living cells consisting of around 1,000 atoms. The cell systems studied are based on peptide nucleic acid and are 3.0–4.2 nm in diameter. The electron tunneling and associated light absorption of the most intense transitions, as calculated by the time dependent density functional theory method, differs from spectroscopic experiments by only 0.2–0.3 nm, which is within the value of experiment errors. This agreement implies that the quantum mechanically self-assembled structures of artificial minimal living cells very closely approximate realistic ones.     

Question Processing and Clustering in INDOC: A Biomedical Question Answering System

The exponential growth in the volume of publications in the biomedical domain has made it impossible for an individual to keep pace with the advances. Even though evidence-based medicine has gained wide acceptance, the physicians are unable to access the relevant information in the required time, leaving most of the questions unanswered. This accentuates the need for fast and accurate biomedical question answering systems. In this paper we introduce INDOC—a biomedical question answering system based on novel ideas of indexing and extracting the answer to the questions posed. INDOC displays the results in clusters to help the user arrive the most relevant set of documents quickly. Evaluation was done against the standard OHSUMED test collection. Our system achieves high accuracy and minimizes user effort.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]     

Brood Parasitism and Nest Takeover in Common Eiders

Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) is an alternative breeding tactic that occurs in many brood‐tending animals and can have important fitness effects for both host and parasite. We use protein fingerprinting of egg albumen to distinguish the eggs from different females and to estimate the frequency, pattern and tactics of CBP and other forms of mixed maternity in a Hudson Bay population of common eiders (Somateria mollissima sedentaria). Mixed clutches, containing eggs from more than one female, occurred in 31% of the 86 nests studied that progressed to clutch completion. Other females than the host laid 8% of the eggs. In 11 (41%) of the mixed clutches another female laid before the host started laying, corroborating the hypothesis that takeover of nests started by other females accounts for many of the mixed clutches in this population. Our results also indicate that traditional non‐molecular methods of identifying foreign eggs may considerably underestimate the frequency of mixed clutches.     

Genetic and Chromosomal Control of Development

The last decade has been characterized by extraordinary progress in studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying the gene control of development: complexes of genes with a hierarchic principle of functioning have been identified, evolutionary-conservative systems of genes have been studied that ensure the transmembrane regulatory signaling between cells and play a key role in morphogenesis, and a concept of gene networks that coordinate gene interaction was introduced. Note that temporal and tissue-specific parameters of gene expression are correctly realized only in terms of chromosomes and are largely determined by the gene position on a chromosome and in the interphase nucleus. The epigenetic inheritance of gene status in cell generations is realized at the chromosomal level alone due to the cellular or chromosomal memory. This ontogenetic memory is an immanent property of a chromosome and cis-regulation plays a key role in its maintenance.     

The Genetic Control of Apomixis: Asexual Seed Formation

Apomixis (asexual seed formation) is the result of a plant gaining the ability to bypass the most fundamental aspects of sexual reproduction: meiosis and fertilization. Without the need for male fertilization, the resulting seed germinates a plant that develops as a maternal clone. This dramatic shift in reproductive process has been documented in many flowering plant species, although no major seed crops have been shown to be capable of apomixis. The ability to generate maternal clones and therefore rapidly fix desirable genotypes in crop species could accelerate agricultural breeding strategies. The potential of apomixis as a next-generation breeding technology has contributed to increasing interest in the mechanisms controlling apomixis. In this review, we discuss the progress made toward understanding the genetic and molecular control of apomixis. Research is currently focused on two fronts. One aims to identify and characterize genes causing apomixis in apomictic species that have been developed as model species. The other aims to engineer or switch the sexual seed formation pathway in non-apomictic species, to one that mimics apomixis. Here we describe the major apomictic mechanisms and update knowledge concerning the loci that control them, in addition to presenting candidate genes that may be used as tools for switching the sexual pathway to an apomictic mode of reproduction in crops.     

Genetic Control of Leaf Morphology: A Partial View

The partial-shoot theory of the leaf was a controversial hypothesisrevived by Arber and supported by her morphological and anatomicalstudies. This theory highlighted the parallels between leavesand shoots and contrasted with an alternative view that leaves,with their limited growth potential, are completely distinctfrom shoots. Pea morphological mutants with altered growth potentialin their compound leaves are described. The unifoliata mutanthas a limited growth potential relative to wild-type;cochleata,afila and insecatus have extended potentials. Characterizationof theunifoliata mutation and gene expression patterns indicatethat unifoliata is a common factor in pea compound leaf andfloral shoot development, and so provides rudimentary supportfor the idea that some leaves have shoot-like characteristics.Tomato leaves are also considered to lend tentative support.The afila and insecatus leaf forms are described as bipinnateand weakly bipinnate, respectively. These and the tendril-lessmutant are potential phenocopies of legume relatives, an ideabased on Vavilov's law of homologous series of variation. Arberillustrated, but did not articulate in genetical terms, thatmorphological variation in structures within an individual plantcan be interpreted as reiteration of design. Analogous withVavilov's view, this can be considered a consequence of thesame genetic programme in a different location.Copyright 2001Annals of Botany Company Agnes Arber, compound leaf, genetics, knotted1, legume, morphology, mutant, partial-shoot, pea, Pisum sativum, unifoliata, Vavilov     

Genetic polymorphism in matrix metalloproteinase-9 and pulmonary emphysema.

Protease-antiprotease imbalance due to genetic variation may be responsible for the development of pulmonary emphysema induced by smoking. Since matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have recently been suggested to play important roles in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema, the association between the functional polymorphism of MMP-9 (-1562C/T) and the development of pulmonary emphysema was examined in 110 smokers and 94 nonsmokers in Japan. The T allele frequency was higher in subjects with distinct emphysema on chest CT-scans (n = 45) than in those without it (n = 65) (0.244 vs 0.123, P = 0.02). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the T allele is a risk factor for smoking-induced emphysema (odds ratio = 2.69, P = 0.02). DL(CO)/VA was lower (P = 0.02) and emphysematous changes were more conspicuous (P = 0.03) in subjects with C/T or T/T (n = 35) than in those with C/C (n = 75). These results suggest that the polymorphism of MMP-9 acts as a genetic factor for the development of smoking-induced pulmonary emphysema.