The complete mitochondrial genome of insect-eating brandt's bat, Myotis brandtii (Myotis, Vespertilionidae).

In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of brandt's bat, Myotis brandtii. The genome is found to be 17,470 bp in length and has a base composition of A (33.1%), G (13.6%), C (24.6%), and T (28.6%). Similar to other bats, it contains a typically conserved structure including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 1 control region (D-loop). Most of the genes are encoded on H-strand, except for the eight tRNA and ND6 genes. All protein-coding genes start with an ATG codon except for ND2, ND3 and ND5, which initiate with ATC or ATA instead, and terminate with the typical stop codon (TAA/TAG) or a single T (T- -) or an unexpected codon of AGA. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence provided here would be useful for further phylogenetic analysis and population genetic studies in M. brandtii.

The complete mitochondrial genome of David's myotis, Myotis davidii (Myotis, Vespertilionidae).

In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of David's myotis, Myotis davidii. The genome is found to be 17,531 bp in length and has a base composition of A (33.8%), G (13.2%), C (23.2%), and T (29.8%). Similar to other bats, it contains a typically conserved structure including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 1 control region (D-loop). Most of the genes are encoded on H-strand, except for the ND6 subunit gene and 8 tRNA genes. All protein-coding genes start with an ATG codon except for ND2, ND3 and ND5, which initiate with ATT or ATA instead, and terminate with the typical stop codon (TAA/TAG) or a single T (T-) or an unexpected codon of AGA. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence provided here would be useful for further phylogenetic analysis and population genetic studies in M. davidii.

[Isolation and identification of Tupaia orthoreovirus].

Pathogenic viruses can harm acutely the life and health of laboratory tree shrews acutely; however, few papers exist regarding natural pathogenic virus infection in this species. Six fecal samples obtained from dead tree shrews were collected. The fecal supernatant infected Vero cell line resulted in cytopathic effects (CPE) after 72 h. The CPE included granulating, shrinking, rounding, seining and falling off. Electron microscopy showed the isolation was spherical, double-layered capsid, and about 75 nm in diameter. The purified isolation genome was 10 segments in a typical 3:3:4 arrangements, as shown by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The isolation was confirmed by RT-PCR assays targeting the conserved region of the L1 gene, sequence analysis and reconstruction of a phylogenetic tree. The isolation was a Tupaia Orthoreovirus (TRV), belonging to Mammalian Orthoreovirus (MRV). The obtained strain had the closest phylogenetic relationship to the MRV strain T3/Bat/Germany/342/08. As a zoonotic virus, the novel TRV strain was first isolated from wild tree shrews, which is significant for promoting tree shrew standardization and providing scientific data for preventing zoonotic tree shrew-to-human transmission.

[Analysis of the molecular characteristics and cloning of full-length coding sequence of interleukin-2 in tree shrews].

While the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri chinensis) is an excellent animal model for studying the mechanisms of human diseases, but few studies examine interleukin-2 (IL-2), an important immune factor in disease model evaluation. In this study, a 465 bp of the full-length IL-2 cDNA encoding sequence was cloned from the RNA of tree shrew spleen lymphocytes, which were then cultivated and stimulated with ConA (concanavalin). Clustal W 2.0 was used to compare and analyze the sequence and molecular characteristics, and establish the similarity of the overall structure of IL-2 between tree shrews and other mammals. The homology of the IL-2 nucleotide sequence between tree shrews and humans was 93%, and the amino acid homology was 80%. The phylogenetic tree results, derived through the Neighbour-Joining method using MEGA5.0, indicated a close genetic relationship between tree shrews, Homo sapiens, and Macaca mulatta. The three-dimensional structure analysis showed that the surface charges in most regions of tree shrew IL-2 were similar to between tree shrews and humans; however, the N-glycosylation sites and local structures were different, which may affect antibody binding. These results provide a fundamental basis for the future study of IL-2 monoclonal antibody in tree shrews, thereby improving their utility as a model.