转基因植物中外源基因的沉默

在转基因植物中外源基因不能正常表达,呈失活状态的现象称为基因沉默。造成基因沉默的因素主要有插入位置、重复序列和甲基化。基因沉默一般可以归为转录水平和转录后水平上。外源基因沉默阻碍了植物转基因技术在生产上广泛应用,根据对大量转基因植物的分析和研究,人们提出了造成基因沉默的可能机制,如ＲｄＲＰ－ｃＲＮＡ模型、ＲＮＡ阈值模型以及ＲｄＤＭ模型等。深入了解外源基因沉默的机制以提高基因表达效率,是顺利开展植物     

植物基因工程中的转基因沉默机制

植物转基因沉默可以发生在染色体DNA、转录和转录后三种不同的层次上,转录水平基因沉默机制涉及DNA甲基化、位置效应、重复序列、同源序列等作用。转录后水平基因沉默机制常用RNA域值模型、异常RNA模型、双链RNA模型、未成熟翻译终止模型等解释。目前没有一种通用的模型可以解释所有的转基因沉默现象,但不同模型从不同方面解释了转基因机制的某些方面。     

泛素启动子在转基因植物中的应用

启动子是基因表达调控的重要元件,在转基因植物中,选择高效率的启动子是高效率表达外源基因的关键.泛素启动子以其启动效率高、甲基化程度相对较低、遗传性状稳定等特点而成为目前研究较多的启动子之一.综述了泛素启动子研究现状,包括泛素基因的结构特点、泛素启动子的高效机制及在转基因植物中的应用和存在的问题.     

转基因植物中外源基因的有效表达及其安全性评价

综述了在转基因植物中实现外源基因高效表达的多种途径 ,其中包括启动了优化 ,转译序列的修饰 ,信号肽的使用 ,叶绿体的转化以及转基因沉默的控制 ,同时还介绍了外源基因在转基因后代中的遗传稳定性以及转基因植物的安全性问题     

转基因植物及其应用

转基因植物,是指把目的基因(包括外源和内源基因两种)导人植物基因组,并能在后代中稳定遗传的植物。目的基因除了来自各种植物之外,动物和微生物的基因也可以导人转基因植物。同时,转基因植物中所导入的目的基因,一般与所要获得的优良性状直接相关,在导人之前还可以通过DNA重组技术对目的基因进行体外修饰,因此,所获得的转基因植物经过筛选后能直接表现出所需的优良性状。所以通过转基因植物获得一个优良品种,其目的性更明确,育种所需时间也较短。     

植物转基因沉默的发生机理和应用

随着转基因技术在农业生产等领域的深入发展,转基因沉默现象已引起越来越多人的关注.基因沉默的机制是多方面的,包括转基因的拷贝数和构型、在植物上的整合位点、转基因的转录水平等.研究基因沉默的原因并寻找相应的方法来进行控制,对于植物基因工程的发展以及转基因沉默的应用有着重要的意义.     

植物外源基因拷贝数及插入位点的检测方法与技术

随着转基因技术的快速发展,转基因植物在世界范围内已经大量种植.近年来,转基因植物的安全性越来越受到公众关注.转基因植物安全性与有效性的关键因素是外源基因拷贝数与插入位点.本文综述了近年来植物外源基因拷贝数与插入位点的检测方法.     

抗冻蛋白基因转化植物的研究展望

重新评估了用美洲拟鲽抗冻蛋白基因转化烟草的研究，认为植物耐寒性状的提高与转基因植物中冻抗蛋白含量呈正相关是转基因植物成功的关键性指标。美洲拟鲽抗冻蛋白的空间结构与冷冻诱导蛋白相似而且都保护细胞膜免受冻害，因而提出了用冷诱导蛋白调节元的顺式作用元件和反式作用因子的调控序列来控制抗冻蛋白基因在植物中冷诱导表达的思路。     

冷诱导基因的转录因子CBF1转化油菜和烟草及抗寒性鉴定

为研究冷诱导基因的转录因子CBF1(C-repeat binding factor)基因对植物抗寒的作用,利用PCR技术从拟南芥菜(Arabidopsis thaliana)中扩增并克隆了该转录因子,并将其与CaMV 35S启动子融合构建成植物表达载体pBPCBF1.以农杆菌介导的叶盘法,分别转化了油菜和烟草.经PCR程序的DNA分析和Southern杂交对具有卡那霉素抗性的再生植株进行了鉴定,表明CBF1基因已整合进烟草和油菜基因组中.以电解质渗漏法分别检测了转化的油菜和烟草的抗寒性,结果显示转基因油菜的抗寒性较未转基因油菜有明显提高,转基因烟草抗寒性也有一定的提高.因此利用对转录因子的调控来提高植物的抗寒性可能有很好的应用前景.     

浅述植物基因工程产品的安全性问题

历史的车轮悄无声息地将我们载入了一个新的世纪。在高新技术瞬息万变的２１世纪,生物工程技术以它特有的魅力迅猛地冲击着生物学的各个领域,人们现在对于２１世纪是生物世纪的预言已经毫无疑问。植物转基因技术是利用分子生物学和基因工程的手段将外源墓因插入到受体植物基因组中,改变其遗传组成而创造新品种的过程,它在２１世纪的生物技术应用中扮演了重要的角色。迄今为止,利用转基因技术获得的转基因产品中有９６％属于转基因植物产品,而且其发展速度之快令世人难以相信。１９８３年世界上第一例转基因植物获得成功,１９８６年转…     

Transgenes as probes for active chromosomal domains in mouse development

Embryonic development entails a well defined temporal and spatial programme of gene expression, which may be influenced by active chromosomal domains. These chromosomal domains can be detected using transgenes which integrate randomly throughout the genome, as their expression can be affected by chromosomal position. Position effects are probably exerted most strongly on transgenes that do not contain strong promoters, enhancers or other modulating sequences. Here we have systematically explored position effects using a transgene with the weak herpes-simplex-virus thymidine-kinase promoter, linked to the readily visualized lacZ indicator gene (HSV-TK-lacZ). Each transgenic fetus with detectable expression displayed a unique lacZ staining pattern. Thus expression of this construct is apparently dictated entirely by its chromosomal position, without any construct specificity. Furthermore the transgene is faithfully transmitted to subsequent generations, allowing for systematic mapping of changes in expression during development and in adult life. These results demonstrate that transgenes can indeed be powerful tools to probe the genome for active chromosomal regions, with the potential for identifying endogenous genes involved in organogenesis and pattern formation.     

Genome editing and animal models

Transgenic technology allows a gene of interest to be introduced into the genome of a laboratory animal, and provides an extremely powerful tool to dissect the molecular mechanisms of disease. Transgenic mouse models made by microinjection of DNA into zygotic pro- nuclei in particular have been widely used by the genetics community for 30 years. However, it remains a rather crude approach： injected sequences randomly insert in multiple copies as concatamers, they can be mutagenic, and they have variable or silenced expression depending on the site of integration, a phenomenon called position effects. As a result, multiple lines are required in order to confirm appropriate transgene expression. This can be partially overcome by flanking transgenes with insulator sequences to protect the transgene from the influence of the sur- rounding regulatory elements. Large （〈300 kb） BAC- based transgenic vectors have also been shown to be more resistant to position effects. However, animals carrying extra copies of fairly large regions of the genome could have unpredictable phenotypes. The most effective method used to control for position effects is to target transgene insertion to specific genomic loci, the so-called targeted transgenesis; for instance, the fast, site-specific transgenic technology TargattTM. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview on the current existing methods for making targeted transgenic mouse models.     

A transgene containing lacZ inserted into the dystonia locus is expressed in neural tube

The site of integration of transgenes in the host genome can affect levels of expression and occasionally confer ectopic patterns of expression on otherwise tissue-specific genes. We describe here a line of mice in which an hsp68-lacZ transgene is expressed in unstressed developing neural tissue and where the transgene insertion has caused a mutation of a neural tissue-specific gene, dystonia musculorum (dt). This coincidence suggests that expression of the hsp68-lacZ construct may be controlled directly by cis-acting regulatory sequences that normally control the developmental expression of the dt gene. Such constructs may serve as useful tools for identifying new tissue-specific enhancers and their associated genes.     

通过遗传转化获得含多基因的水稻转基因纯合植株

利用基因枪法将含有4个不同基因的3个质粒共转化由粳稻品种鄂宜105号和鄂晚5号种子胚诱导的愈伤组织（5－10d龄）。从轰击的986块愈合组织中共再生出169株独立的转基因水稻植株（转化率为17％）。PCR／Southern blot分析显示70％以上的转基因植株含有所有4个基因。GUS组织化学分析、Western blot和或RT－PCR分析表明所有4个基因的共表达率为70％。未观察到任何质粒在整合中存在优势,转基因拷贝数也与基因表达量无关。遗传分析证实外源基因在后代植株中大多以孟德尔方式遗传。从其R1代为3：1孟德尔方式遗传的后代R2代植株中,鉴定含有3个或4个不同基因的转基因纯合植株系。PCR／Southern blot分析证实了这些转基因纯合植株系。这些系的植株具有相似的外源基因表达量。我们证实通过基因枪介导的共转化,结合常规育种方法筛选可以获得含多基因的转基因水稻纯合植株。这项技术为利用基因同时改良作用多个性状提供了一种途径。     

Transgenes in F4 pMThGH-transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) are highly polymorphic

To gain information on the integration pattern of pMThGH-transgene, 50 transgenes were recovered from F₄ generation of pMThGH transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and 33 recovered genes were analyzed. The restriction maps of these recovered genes were constructed by digestion with five kinds of enzymes. These transgenes can be classified into 4 types according to their restriction maps. Only one type of transgenes maintains its original molecular form, whereas the other three types are very different from the original one and vary each other on both molecular weight and restriction maps. This implies that the sequences of most transgenes have been deleted and/or rearranged during integration and inheritance. The results of PCR amplification and Southern blot hybridization indicate thatMThGH in Type I transgene keeps intact but most of its sequence has been deleted in other three types. All these results suggest that transgenes in F₄ generation of transgenic carp are highly polymorphic. Two DNA fragments concerning integration site of transgenes were cloned from recovered transgenes, and found to be homologous to the 5′UTR ofβ-actin gene of common carp and mouse mRNA for receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), respectively.     

Intravenous delivery of a multi-mechanistic cancer-targeted oncolytic poxvirus in humans

The efficacy and safety of biological molecules in cancer therapy, such as peptides and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), could be markedly increased if high concentrations could be achieved and amplified selectively in tumour tissues versus normal tissues after intravenous administration. This has not been achievable so far in humans. We hypothesized that a poxvirus, which evolved for blood-borne systemic spread in mammals, could be engineered for cancer-selective replication and used as a vehicle for the intravenous delivery and expression of transgenes in tumours. JX-594 is an oncolytic poxvirus engineered for replication, transgene expression and amplification in cancer cells harbouring activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/Ras pathway, followed by cell lysis and anticancer immunity. Here we show in a clinical trial that JX-594 selectively infects, replicates and expresses transgene products in cancer tissue after intravenous infusion, in a dose-related fashion. Normal tissues were not affected clinically. This platform technology opens up the possibility of multifunctional products that selectively express high concentrations of several complementary therapeutic and imaging molecules in metastatic solid tumours in humans.     

MeCP2转基因食蟹猴所表征的类自闭症行为及种系传递

 自闭症是近年来公众关注度很高的一种神经系统疾病，甲基化CpG结合蛋白2（MeCP2）因其能够在转录水平调节基因表达和操控微小RNA（miRNA）的效应而在自闭症中扮演着重要的角色。当MeCP2因突变而功能缺失时会导致瑞特综合症（Rett syndrome），而当MeCP2拷贝数过多则会导致一种名为MeCP2重复综合症的自闭症。虽然目前科学家已经构建成功了MeCP2的转基因小鼠，但在这种小鼠模型中无法很好地观察到类似人类自闭症的表型。本研究组通过慢病毒侵染的方法构建了能在神经系统中特异表达人源MeCP2的转基因食蟹猴模型，并通过深度测序检测出了转基因插入位点以及通过免疫印迹（westernblot）确证了外源基因的表达。该转基因食蟹猴模型在行动、社交及情绪方面表现出明显的类似自闭症行为，并呈现转基因的种系传递现象。这些结果表明通过基因编辑技术构建非人灵长类模型在脑疾病研究中的重要性。     

Generation of germline-competent induced pluripotent stem cells

We have previously shown that pluripotent stem cells can be induced from mouse fibroblasts by retroviral introduction of Oct3/4 (also called Pou5f1), Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4, and subsequent selection for Fbx15 (also called Fbxo15) expression. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (hereafter called Fbx15 iPS cells) are similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells in morphology, proliferation and teratoma formation; however, they are different with regards to gene expression and DNA methylation patterns, and fail to produce adult chimaeras. Here we show that selection for Nanog expression results in germline-competent iPS cells with increased ES-cell-like gene expression and DNA methylation patterns compared with Fbx15 iPS cells. The four transgenes (Oct3/4, Sox2, c-myc and Klf4) were strongly silenced in Nanog iPS cells. We obtained adult chimaeras from seven Nanog iPS cell clones, with one clone being transmitted through the germ line to the next generation. Approximately 20% of the offspring developed tumours attributable to reactivation of the c-myc transgene. Thus, iPS cells competent for germline chimaeras can be obtained from fibroblasts, but retroviral introduction of c-Myc should be avoided for clinical application.