SARS-CoV-2 attaches to its host receptor,angiotensin-converting enzyme 2( ACE2), via the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein. The RBD glycoprotein is acritical target for the development of neutralizing antibodies and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. However,t he high heterogeneity of RBD glycoforms may lead to an incomplete neutralization effect and impact the immunogenic integrity of RBD-based vaccines.Investigating the role of different carbohydrate domains is of paramount importance.U nfortunately, there is no viable method for preparing RBD glycoproteins with structurally defined glycans.H erein we describe ah ighly efficient and scalable strategy for the preparation of six glycosylated RBDs bearing defined structure glycoforms at T323, N331, and N343. Ac ombination of modern oligosaccharide,peptide synthesis and recombinant protein engineering provides ar obust route to decipher carbohydrate structurefunction relationships.
Yellow-green leaf mutants are common in higher plants, and these non-lethal chlorophyll-deficient mutants are ideal materials for research on photosynthesis and plant development. A novel xantha mutant of Ginkgo biloba displaying yellow-colour leaves (YL) and green-colour leaves (GL) was identified in this study. The chlorophyll content of YL was remarkably lower than that in GL. The chloroplast ultrastructure revealed that YL had less dense thylakoid lamellae, a looser structure and fewer starch grains than GL. Analysis of the photosynthetic characteristics revealed that YL had decreased photosynthetic activity with significantly high nonphotochemical quenching. To explain these phenomena, we analysed the proteomic differences in leaves and chloroplasts between YL and GL of ginkgo using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. In total, 89 differential proteins were successfully identified, 82 of which were assigned functions in nine metabolic pathways and cellular processes. Among them, proteins involved in photosynthesis, carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, carbohydrate/energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and protein metabolism were greatly enriched, indicating a good correlation between differentially accumulated proteins and physiological changes in leaves. The identifications of these differentially accumulated proteins indicates the presence of a specific different metabolic network in YL and suggests that YL possess slower chloroplast development, weaker photosynthesis, and a less abundant energy supply than GL. These studies provide insights into the mechanism of molecular regulation of leaf colour variation in YL mutants.
The R2R3-MYB gene family is the largest MYB subfamily in plants and is involved in the regulation of plant secondary metabolism and specific morphogenesis, as well as the response to biotic and abiotic stress. However, a systematic identification and characterization of this gene family has not been carried out in Ginkgo biloba. In this study, we performed a transcriptome-wide survey from four tissues of G. biloba to determine the genetic variation and expression pattern of the R2R3-MYB genes. We analyzed 45 GbMYBs and identified 42 with a complete coding sequence via conserved motif searches. The MYB domain and other motifs in GbMYBs are highly conserved with Arabidopsis thaliana AtMYBs. Phylogenetic analysis of the GbMYBs and AtMYBs categorized the R2R3-MYBs into 26 subgroups, of which 11 subgroups included proteins from both G. biloba and Arabidopsis, and 1 subgroup was specific to G. biloba. Moreover, the GbMYBs expression patterns were analyzed in different tissues and abiotic stress conditions. The results revealed that GbMYBs were differentially expressed in various tissues and following abiotic stresses and phytohormone treatments, indicating their possible roles in biological processes and abiotic stress tolerance and adaptation. Our study demonstrated the functional diversity of the GbMYBs and will provide a foundation for future research into their biological and molecular functions.
Examination of the mechanisms of the plant community assembly at a geographical scale is an interesting topic in ecology and biogeography, which are of great significance for the understanding of species coexistence and biodiversity conservation. But so far, only a few studies have simultaneously assessed the relative roles of multiple-scale factors in shaping the phylogenetic and functional structure of plant communities at a macroecological scale. In this study, we linked modern climate, glacial-interglacial climate change, and soil properties with the phylogenetic and functional structure of shrub and herbaceous plant communities in Inner Mongolia, China, an arid and semiarid region. Our results showed that the functional structure of plant communities was more associated with modern climate and soil properties than the phylogenetic structure, especially for the soil properties. Modern precipitation was found in all the combinations of variables that were most closely related to the community structure in this arid and semi-arid region. These findings suggest that the phylogenetic and functional structure of biotic communities may be affected by processes at divergent spatial-temporal scales. That is, the functional structure is better linked with the modern and local factors while the phylogenetic structure is more associated with the historical and regional processes. This study highlights the importance of the associations between the different biodiversity dimensions and divergent drivers.
Machilus robusta W. W. Smith is an evergreen plant distributed in the Yangtze River Basin and the south regions of China. Here we analyzed the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of M. robusta to determine its structure and evolutionary relationship to other Lauraceae. The cp genome is 152,737 bp in length and has an overall GC content of 39.2% The genome includes a large single-copy (LSC) region of 93,706 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,885 bp, and these are separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 20,073 bp. The cp genome contains 128 genes, including 83 protein-coding, 37 tRNAs, and 8 rRNAs. Phylogenetic analysis based on complete cp genome sequences fully resolved M. robusta in a clade with M. balansae. This work provides new molecular data for evolutionary studies of the Lauraceae.
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