Comparative complete chloroplast genome of Geum japonicum: evolution and phylogenetic analysis.

Geum japonicum (Rosaceae) has been widely used in China as a traditional herbal medicine due to its high economic and medicinal value. However, the appearance of Geum species is relatively similar, making identification difficult by conventional phenotypic methods, and the studies of genomics and species evolution are lacking. To better distinguish the medicinal varieties and fill this gap, we carried out relevant research on the chloroplast genome of G. japonicum. Results show a typical quadripartite structure of the chloroplast genome of G. japonicum with a length of 156,042 bp. There are totally 131 unique genes in the genome, including 87 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes, and there were also 87 SSRs identified and mostly mononucleotide Adenine-Thymine. We next compared the plastid genomes among four Geum species and obtained 14 hypervariable regions, including ndhF, psbE, trnG-UCC, ccsA, trnQ-UUG, rps16, psbK, trnL-UAA, ycf1, ndhD, atpA, petN, rps14, and trnK-UUU. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that G. japonicum is most closely related to Geum aleppicum, and possibly has some evolutionary relatedness with an ancient relic plant Taihangia rupestris. This research enriched the genome resources and provided fundamental insights for evolutionary studies and the phylogeny of Geum.

Revealing ecotype influences on Cistanche sinensis: from the perspective of endophytes to metabolites characteristics.

Introduction: Plant microorganism is critical to plant health, adaptability, and productive forces. Intriguingly, the metabolites and microorganisms can act upon each other in a plant. The union of metabolomics and microbiome may uncover the crucial connections of the plant to its microbiome. It has important benefits for the agricultural industry and human being health, particularly for Chinese medical science investigation. Methods: In this last 2 years study, on the strength of the UPLC-MS/MS detection platform, we accurately qualitatively, and quantitatively measured the Cistanche sinensis fleshy stems of two ecotypes. Thereafter, through high-throughput amplicon sequencing 16S/ITS sequences were procured. Results: PhGs metabolites including echinacoside, isoacteoside, and cistanoside A were significantly downregulated at two ecotypes of C. sinensis. Add up to 876 metabolites were monitored and 231 differential metabolites were analyzed. Further analysis of 34 core differential metabolites showed that 15 compounds with up-regulated belonged to phenolic acids, flavonoids, and organic acids, while 19 compounds with down-regulated belonged to phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkaloids, amino acids, lipids, and nucleotides. There was no noteworthy discrepancy in the endophytic bacteria's α and ß diversity between sandy and loam ecotypes. By comparison, the α and ß diversity of endophytic fungi was notably distinct. The fungal community of the loam ecotype is more abundant than the sandy ecotype. However, there were few such differences in bacteria. Most abundant genera included typical endophytes such as Phyllobacterium, Mycobacterium, Cistanche, Geosmithia, and Fusarium. LEfSe results revealed there were 11 and 20 biomarkers of endophytic bacteria and fungi in C. sinensis at two ecotypes, respectively. The combination parsing of microflora and metabolites indicated noteworthy relativity between the endophytic fungal communities and metabolite output. Key correlation results that Anseongella was positive relation with Syringin, Arsenicitalea is negative relation with 7-methylxanthine and Pseudogymnoascus is completely positively correlated with nepetin-7-O-alloside. Discussion: The aim of this research is: (1) to explore firstly the influence of ecotype on C. sinensis from the perspective of endophytes and metabolites; (2) to investigate the relationship between endophytes and metabolites. This discovery advances our understanding of the interaction between endophytes and plants and provides a theoretical basis for cultivation of C. sinensis in future.

Mitochondrial genome of Artemisia argyi L. suggested conserved mitochondrial protein-coding genes among genera Artemisia, Tanacetum and Chrysanthemum.

BACKGROUND: Artemisia argyi L., also known as mugwort, is a perennial herb whose leaves are commonly used as a source of traditional medicines. However, the evolution and structure of the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) in A. argyi remain unclear. In this study, the mitogenome of A. argyi was assembled and characterized for the first time. RESULTS: The mitogenome of A. argyi was a circular molecule of 229,354 bp. It encodes 56 genes, including 33 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 20 tRNA genes, and three rRNA genes, and three pseudogenes. Five trans-spliced introns were observed in three PCGs namely, nad1, nad2 and nad5. Repeat analysis identified 65 SSRs, 14 tandem repeats, and 167 dispersed repeats. The A. argyi mitogenome contains 12 plastid transfer sequences from 79 bp to 2552 bp. Five conserved MTPTs were identified in all 18 Asteraceae species. Comparison of mitogenome between A. argyi and one Artemisia specie and two Chrysanthemum species showed 14 conserved gene clusters. Phylogenetic analysis with organelle genomes of A. argyi and 18 other Anthemideae plants showed inconsistent phylogenetic trees, which implied that the evolutionary rates of PCGs and rrna genes derived from mitochondrion and plastid were incongruent. The Ka/Ks ratio of the 27 shared protein-coding genes in the 18 Anthemideae species are all less than 1 indicating that these genes were under the effect of purifying selection. Lastly, a total of 568 RNA editing sites in PCGs were further identified. The average editing frequency of non-synonymous changes was significantly higher than that of synonymous changes (one-sample Student's t-test, p-values ≤ 0.05) in three tissues (root, leaf and stem). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the gene content, genome size, genome comparison, mitochondrial plastid sequences, dN/dS analysis of mitochondrial protein-coding genes, and RNA-editing events in A. argyi mitogenome were determined, providing insights into the phylogenetic relationships of Asteraceae plant.

From guest to host: parasite Cistanche deserticola shapes and dominates bacterial and fungal community structure and network complexity.

BACKGROUND: Rhizosphere and plant microbiota are assumed to play an essential role in deciding the well-being of hosts, but effects of parasites on their host microbiota have been rarely studied. Also, the characteristics of the rhizosphere and root microbiota of parasites and hosts under parasitism is relatively unknown. In this study, we used Cistanche deserticola and Haloxylon ammodendron from cultivated populations as our model parasites and host plants, respectively. We collected samples from BULK soil (BULK), rhizosphere soil of H. ammodendron not parasitized (NCD) and parasitized (RHA) to study how the parasite influenced the rhizosphere microbiota of the host. We also collected samples from the rhizosphere soil and roots of C. deserticola (RCD and ECD) and Haloxylon ammodendron (RHA and EHA) to explore the difference between the microbiota of the parasite and its host under parasitism. RESULTS: The parasite reduced the compositional and co-occurrence network complexities of bacterial and fungal microbiota of RHA. Additionally, the parasite increased the proportion of stochastic processes mainly belonging to dispersal limitation in the bacterial microbiota of RHA. Based on the PCoA ordinations and permutational multivariate analysis of variance, the dissimilarity between microbiota of C. deserticola and H. ammodendron were rarely evident (bacteria, R2 = 0.29971; fungi, R2 = 0.15631). Interestingly, four hub nodes of H. ammodendron in endosphere fungal microbiota were identified, while one hub node of C. deserticola in endosphere fungal microbiota was identified. It indicated that H. ammodendron played a predominant role in the co-occurrence network of endosphere fungal microbiota. Source model of plant microbiome suggested the potential source percentage from the parasite to the host (bacteria: 52.1%; fungi: 16.7%) was lower than host-to-parasite (bacteria: 76.5%; fungi: 34.3%), illustrating that microbial communication was bidirectional, mainly from the host to the parasite. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our results suggested that the parasite C. deserticola shaped the diversity, composition, co-occurrence network, and community assembly mechanisms of the rhizosphere microbiota of H. ammodendron. Additionally, the microbiota of C. deserticola and H. ammodendron were highly similar and shared. Our findings on parasite and host microbiota provided a novel line of evidence supporting the influence of parasites on the microbiota of their hosts.

A Bibliometric Study for Plant RNA Editing Research: Trends and Future Challenges.

RNA editing is a post-transcriptional process that introduces changes in RNA sequences encoded by nuclear, mitochondrial, or plastid genomes. To understand the research progress of plant RNA editing, we comprehensively analyze the articles on plant RNA editing from 2001 to 2022 through bibliometric methods. Nucleic Acids Research, Plant Journal and Plant cell are the journals that deserve attention with their high production, total local citation scores (TLCS), and h-indexes. The USA, China, and Germany are the top three countries with highly productive publications. Ulm University, Cornell University, and Chinese Acad Sci are excellent cooperative institutions with a high level of influence in the field, and KNOOP V and TAKENAKA M are good partnership. Plant RNA editing researches concentrate on the subject categories of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant Sciences, Genetics & Heredity, etc. Plant mitochondria, genome editing and messenger-RNA may be the research hotspots in the future. The main plant RNA editing research tools are JACUSA, SPRINT, and REDO, and the main databases are REDIdb, PED, and dbRES. At present, the research streams are (1) RNA editing sites; (2) Pentapeptide repeat protein (PPR) involved in RNA editing; (3) RNA editing factors. Overall, this article summarizes the research overview of plant RNA editing until 2022 and provides theoretical implications for its possible future directions.

The Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of Laportea bulbifera (Sieb. et Zucc.) Wedd. and Comparative Analysis with Its Congeneric Species.

Laportea bulbifera (L. bulbifera) is an important medicinal plant of Chinese ethnic minorities, with high economic and medicinal value. However, the medicinal materials of the genus Laportea are prone to be misidentified due to the similar morphological characteristics of the original plants. Thus, it is crucial to discover their molecular marker points and to precisely identify these species for their exploitation and conservation. Here, this study reports detailed information on the complete chloroplast (cp) of L. bulbifera. The result indicates that the cp genome of L. bulbifera of 150,005 bp contains 126 genes, among them, 37 tRNA genes and 81 protein-coding genes. The analysis of repetition demonstrated that palindromic repeats are more frequent. In the meantime, 39 SSRs were also identified, the majority of which were mononucleotides Adenine-Thymine (A-T). Furthermore, we compared L. bulbifera with eight published Laportea plastomes, to explore highly polymorphic molecular markers. The analysis identified four hypervariable regions, including rps16, ycf1, trnC-GCA and trnG-GCC. According to the phylogenetic analysis, L. bulbifera was most closely related to Laportea canadensis (L. canadensis), and the molecular clock analysis speculated that the species originated from 1.8216 Mya. Overall, this study provides a more comprehensive analysis of the evolution of L. bulbifera from the perspective of phylogenetic and intrageneric molecular variation in the genus Laportea, which is useful for providing a scientific basis for further identification, taxonomic, and evolutionary studies of the genus.

Cordyceps cicadae and Cordyceps gunnii have closer species correlation with Cordyceps sinensis: from the perspective of metabonomic and MaxEnt models.

Cordyceps sinensis is a second-class nationally-protected medicinal fungus and functional food. Cordyceps sinensis resources are endangered, and finding new medicinal materials is a fast and economical way to meet the current demonstrated demand, which can effectively solve the shortage of C. sinensis resources. In this study, the metabolite characteristics of Cordyceps were comprehensively revealed by LC-QTOF-MS technology. The maxent model can be used to predict the habitat suitability distribution of Cordyceps and screen out the main climatic factors affecting its distribution. The correlation model between climate factors and chemical components was established by Pearson correlation analysis. Finally, based on the analysis of climate factors and metabolites, we will analyze the high correlation species with C. sinensis, and develop them as possible alternative species of C. sinensis in the future. The results showed that the suitable area of Cordyceps cicadae demonstrated a downward trend, while that of C. sinensis, Cordyceps militaris and Cordyceps gunnii demonstrated an upwards trend. The suitable areas all shifted to the northwest. The temperature seasonality and max temperature of the warmest month are the maximum climatic factors affecting nucleosides. Compared with C. sinensis, the metabolic spectrum similarities of C. cicadae, C. militaris, and C. gunnii were 94.42%, 80.82%, and 91.00%, respectively. Cordyceps sinensis, C. cicadae, and C. gunnii were correlated well for compounds and climate factors. This study will explore whether C. cicadae, C. militaris and C. gunnii can be used as substitutes for C. sinensis. Our results may provide a reference for resource conservation and sustainable utilization of endangered C. sinensis.

Environmental Response to Root Secondary Metabolite Accumulation in Paeonia lactiflora: Insights from Rhizosphere Metabolism and Root-Associated Microbial Communities.

Paeonia lactiflora is a commercial crop with horticultural and medicinal value. Although interactions between plants and microbes are increasingly evident and considered to be drivers of ecosystem service, the regulatory relationship between microbial communities and the growth and root metabolites of P. lactiflora is less well known. Here, soil metabolomics indicated that carbohydrates and organic acids were enriched in the rhizosphere (RS) with higher diversity. Moreover, the variation of root-associated microbiotas between the bulk soil (BS) and the RS of P. lactiflora was investigated via 16S rRNA and internally transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon sequencing. The RS displayed a low-diversity community dominated by copiotrophs, whereas the BS showed an oligotroph-dominated, high-diversity community. Hierarchical partitioning showed that cation exchange capacity (CEC) was the main factor affecting microbial community diversity. The null model and the dispersion niche continuum index (DNCI) suggested that stochastic processes (dispersal limitation) dominated the community assembly of both the RS and BS. The bacterial-fungal interkingdom networks illustrated that the RS possessed more complex and stable co-occurrence patterns. Meanwhile, positive link numbers and positive cohesion results revealed more cooperative relationships among microbes in the RS. Additionally, random forest model prediction and two partial least-squares path model (PLS-PM) analyses showed that the P. lactiflora root secondary metabolites were comprehensively impacted by soil water content (SWC), mean annual precipitation (MAP), pH (abiotic), and Alternaria (biotic). Collectively, this study provides a theoretical basis for screening the microbiome associated with the active components of P. lactiflora. IMPORTANCE Determining the taxonomic and functional components of the rhizosphere microbiome, as well as how they differ from those of the bulk soil microbiome, is critical for manipulating them to improve plant growth performance and increase agricultural yields. Soil metabolic profiles can help enhance the understanding of rhizosphere exudates. Here, we explored the regulatory relationship across environmental variables (root-associated microbial communities and soil metabolism) in the accumulation of secondary metabolites of P. lactiflora. Overall, this work improves our knowledge of how the rhizosphere affects soil and microbial communities. These observations improve the understanding of plant-microbiome interactions and introduce new horizons for synthetic community investigations as well as the creation of microbiome technologies for agricultural sustainability.

Cistanche Species Mitogenomes Suggest Diversity and Complexity in Lamiales-Order Mitogenomes.

The extreme diversity and complexity of angiosperms is well known. Despite the fact that parasitic plants are angiosperms, little is known about parasitic plant mitogenomic diversity, complexity, and evolution. In this study, we obtained and characterized the mitogenomes of three Cistanche species (holoparasitic plants) from China to compare the repeats, segment duplication and multi-copy protein-coding genes (PCGs), to clarify the phylogenetic and evolution relationship within the Lamiales order, and to identify the mitochondrial plastid insertions (MTPT) in Cistanche mitogenomes. The results showed that the mitogenome sizes of the three Cistanche species ranged from 1,708,661 to 3,978,341 bp. The Cistanche species genome encodes 75-126 genes, including 37-65 PCGs, 31-58 tRNA genes and 3-5 rRNA genes. Compared with other Lamiales and parasitic species, the Cistanche species showed extremely high rates of multi-copy PCGs, ranging from 0.13 to 0.58 percent of the total number of PCGs. In addition, 37-133 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSRs) were found in these three mitogenomes, the majority of which were the mononucleotides Adenine/Thymine. The interspersed repeats contained forward and palindromic repeats. Furthermore, the segment-duplication sequence size ranged from 199,584 to 2,142,551 bp, accounting for 24.9%, 11.7% and 53.9% of the Cistanche deserticola, Cistanche salsa and Cistanche tubulosa mitogenome, respectively. Furthermore, the Ka/Ks analysis suggested that the atp4, ccmB, ccmFc and matR were probably positively selected during Lamiales evolution. The Cistanche plastome suggested the presence of MTPT. Moreover, 6-12 tRNA, 9-15 PCGs fragments and 3 rRNA gene fragments in the Cistanche mitogenomes were found in the MTPT regions. This work reports the Cistanche species mitogenome for the first time, which will be invaluable for study the mitogenome evolution of Orobanchaceae family.

Structural mutations of small single copy (SSC) region in the plastid genomes of five Cistanche species and inter-species identification.

BACKGROUND: Cistanche is an important genus of Orobanchaceae, with critical medicinal, economic, and desertification control values. However, the phylogenetic relationships of Cistanche genus remained obscure. To date, no effective molecular markers have been reported to discriminate effectively the Cistanche closely related species reported here. In this study, we obtained and characterized the plastomes of four Cistanche species from China, to clarify the phylogenetic relationship within the genus, and to develop molecular markers for species discrimination.  RESULTS: Four Cistanche species (Cistanche deserticola, Cistanche salsa, Cistanche tubulosa and Cistanche sinensis), were deep-sequenced with Illumina. Their plastomes were assembled using SPAdes and annotated using CPGAVAS2. The plastic genomes were analyzed in detail, finding that all showed the conserved quadripartite structure (LSC-IR-SSC-IR) and with full sizes ranging from 75 to 111 Kbp. We observed a significant contraction of small single copy region (SSC, ranging from 0.4-29 Kbp) and expansion of inverted repeat region (IR, ranging from 6-30 Kbp), with C. deserticola and C. salsa showing the smallest SSCs with only one gene (rpl32). Compared with other Orobanchaceae species, Cistanche species showed extremely high rates of gene loss and pseudogenization, as reported for other parasitic Orobanchaceae species. Furthermore, analysis of sequence divergence on protein-coding genes showed the three genes (rpl22, clpP and ycf2) had undergone positive selection in the Cistanche species under study. In addition, by comparison of all available Cistanche plastomes we found 25 highly divergent intergenic spacer (IGS) regions that were used to predict two DNA barcode markers (Cis-mk01 and Cis-mk02 based on IGS region trnR-ACG-trnN-GUU) and eleven specific DNA barcode markers using Ecoprimer software. Experimental validation showed 100% species discrimination success rate with both type of markers. CONCLUSION: Our findings have shown that Cistanche species are an ideal model to investigate the structure variation, gene loss and pseudogenization during the process of plastome evolution in parasitic species, providing new insights into the evolutionary relationships among the Cistanche species. In addition, the developed DNA barcodes markers allow the proper species identification, ensuring the effective and safe use of Cistanche species as medicinal products.

Ecotype Division and Chemical Diversity of Cynomorium songaricum from Different Geographical Regions.

Cynomorium songaricum is an important endangered plant with significant medicinal and edible values. However, the lack of resources and quality variation have limited the comprehensive developments and sustainable utilization of C. songaricum. Here, we evaluated the chemical and genetic traits of C. songaricum from the highly suitable habitat regions simulated with species distribution models. The PCA and NJ tree analyses displayed intraspecific variation in C. songaricum, which could be divided into two ecotypes: ecotype I and ecotype II. Furthermore, the LC-MS/MS-based metabolomic was used to identify and analyze the metabolites of two ecotypes. The results indicated that a total of 589 compounds were detected, 236 of which were significantly different between the two ecotypes. Specifically, the relative content and the kind of flavonoids were more abundant in ecotype I, which were closely associated with the medicinal activities. In contrast, amino acids and organic acids were more enriched in ecotype II, which may provide better nutritional quality and unique flavor. In summary, our findings demonstrate the ecotype division and chemical diversity of C. songaricum in China from different geographical regions and provide a reference for the development of germplasm and directed plant breeding of endangered medicinal plants.

Using a Bipolar Electrode to Create a Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Mouse Model by Electrical Kindling of the Amygdala.

The amygdala is one of the most common origins of seizures, and the amygdala mouse model is essential for the illustration of epilepsy. However, few studies have described the experimental protocol in detail. This paper illustrates the whole process of amygdala electrical kindling epilepsy model making, with the introduction of a method of bipolar electrode fabrication. This electrode can both stimulate and record, reducing brain injury caused by implanting separate electrodes for stimulation and recording. For long-term electroencephalogram (EEG) recording purposes, slip rings were used to eliminate the record interruption caused by cable tangles and falling off. After periodic stimulation (60 Hz, 1 s every 15 min) of the basolateral amygdala (AP: 1.67 mm, L: 2.7 mm, V: 4.9 mm) for 19.83 ± 5.742 times, full kindling was observed in six mice (defined as induction of three continuous grade V episodes classified by Racine's scale). An intracranial EEG was recorded throughout the entire kindling process, and an epileptic discharge in the amygdala lasting 20-70 s was observed after kindling. Therefore, this is a robust protocol for modeling epilepsy originating from the amygdala, and the method is suitable for revealing the role of the amygdala in temporal lobe epilepsy. This research contributes to future studies on the mechanisms of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and novel antiepileptogenic drugs.

Comparative analysis of complete chloroplast genome sequences of five endangered species and new insights into phylogenetic relationships of Paris.

Paris L. genus has been a precious traditional herb for more than 2000 years in China. However, due to overexploitation and habitat destruction, Paris is threatened by extinction. Similar morphological features cause the classification of Paris species in dispute. The chloroplast (cp) genome approach has been used to investigate the evolution of Paris. However, some studies confirm that the cp genome may result in misleading relationships because of the length variation, gaps/indels deletion, and incorrect models of sequence evolution in concatenated datasets. Therefore, there is a high demand for a reconstructed phylogenetic relationship and developed genetic markers to conserve these species. Recent studies have demonstrated that the protein-coding genes could provide a better phylogenetic relationship in the phylogenetic investigation. In this study, the complete cp genomes of five species were characterized, and the length of five cp genomes ranges from 162,927 bp to 165,267 bp, covering 89 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA, and eight rRNA. The analysis of the repeat sequences, codon usage, RNA-editing sites, and comparison of cp genomes shared a high degree of conservation. Based on the protein-coding genes, the phylogenetic tree confirmed Paris's position in the order Melanthiaceae, providing maximum support for a sister relationship of the subgenera Paris sensu strict (Paris s.s.) with the Daiswa and Trillium. In addition, the molecular clock showed that subgenus Paris was inferred to have occurred at about 52.81 Mya, whereas subgenus Daiswa has originated at 24.56 Mya, which was consistent with the phylogenetic investigation. This study provided a valuable insight into the evolutionary dynamics of cp genome structure in the family Melanthiaceae, and it also contributes to the bioprospecting and conservation of Paris species.

Complete chloroplast genome of Gentianopsis barbata and comparative analysis with related species from Gentianaceae.

Gentianopsis barbata is an essential medicinal plant in China with high ornamental and medicinal values. Unfortunately, the study of the chloroplast genome of this plant still has a gap. This study sequenced and characterized the complete chloroplast genome of G. barbata. The complete chloroplast genome of G. barbata is a typical circular structure of 151 123 bp. It consists of a large single-copy region (82 690 bp) and a small single-copy region (17 887 bp) separated by a pair of inverted repeats (25 273 bp), which covers 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNAs, and 4 rRNAs. The long repeat sequence analysis showed that the P-type (palindromic) sequences were the major long repeat sequences. Thirty-seven simple sequence repeats were identified, most of which were single nucleotides. The Bayesian inference tree, maximum likelihood tree, and neighbor-joining tree suggested that G. barbata is grouped with Gentianopsis grandis and Gentianopsis paludosa. The divergence time analysis showed that G. barbata diverged at 1.243 Mya. Comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes can reveal interspecific diversity, and regions with high variation can be used to develop molecular markers applicable to various research areas. Our results provide a new insight into plastome evolution and a valuable resource for further studies on G. barbata.

Gallic Acid: A Potential Anti-Cancer Agent.

Cancer is one of the most devastating diseases worldwide and definitive therapeutics for treating cancer are not yet available despite extensive research efforts. The key challenges include limiting factors connected with traditional chemotherapeutics, primarily drug resistance, low response rates, and adverse side-effects. Therefore, there is a high demand for novel anti-cancer drugs that are both potent and safe for cancer prevention and treatment. Gallic acid (GA), a natural botanic phenolic compound, can mediate various therapeutic properties that are involved in anti-inflammation, anti-obesity, and anti-cancer activities. More recently, GA has been shown to exert anti-cancer activities via several biological pathways that include migration, metastasis, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, angiogenesis, and oncogene expression. This review discusses two aspects, one is the anti-cancer potential of GA against different types of cancer and the underlying molecular mechanisms, the other is the bibliometric analysis of GA in cancer and tumor research. The results indicated that lung cancer, prostate cancer, stomach cancer, and colon adenocarcinoma may become a hot topic in further research. Overall, this review provides evidence that GA represents a promising novel, potent, and safe anti-cancer drug candidate for treating cancer.

Current Status and Research Trends of Panax Between 1900-2019: A Bibliometric Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status and further development of Panax genus and 6 important individual species including P. notoginseng, P. quinquefolium, P. vietnamensis, P. japonicus, P. stipuleanatus and P. zingiberensis. METHODS: The bibliometric analysis was based on the Web of Science core database platform from Thomson Reuters. Totally, 7,574 records of scientific research of Panax species published from 1900-2019 were analyzed. The statistical and visualization analysis was performed by CiteSpace and HistCite software. RESULTS: The academic research of Panax species increase promptly. Plant science is the main research field while research and experimental medicine and agricultural engineering will be the further development tendency. Particularly, the discrimination research of P. notoginseng will be the research tendency among Panax species, especially diversity research. In addition, P. vietnamensis deserves more attention in the genus Panax. CONCLUSION: This research provides a reference for further research of the genus and individual species.

A systematic study on the chemical diversity and efficacy of the inflorescence and succulent stem of Cynomorium songaricum.

Cynomorium songaricum is a medicinal, edible, and endangered plant species. Since inflorescences are not considered medicinal parts, their discard causes a waste of resources. To expand the medicinal uses of C. songaricum, we evaluated their chemistry and pharmacology by applying widely targeted metabolomics, network pharmacology, and molecular docking. Widely targeted metabolomics results indicated chemical diversity in C. songaricum with 599 compounds. Among them, 280 compounds were different between the succulent stem and inflorescence. With 218 upregulated compounds, inflorescence has more abundant compounds than the succulent stem, especially pigment compounds such as flavonols, flavones, and flavanones. Moreover, anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin were unique compounds in the inflorescence and succulent stem, respectively. Sixty-five compounds in inflorescence and 18 compounds in succulent stems were found to be associated with atherosclerosis in the network pharmacology analysis. Tests revealed that inflorescence had a stronger anti-atherosclerotic effect than succulent stems. Molecular docking analysis revealed that 30 compounds (29 pigment compounds) in inflorescence and 6 compounds (4 pigment compounds) in succulent stem showed strong binding affinities with three target proteins, namely ALB, MPO, and NOS2, especially amentoflavone, quercetin 7-O-rutinoside, and luteolin 7-O-glucoside (cynaroside). Results demonstrated that the inflorescence is rich in pigment compounds and has a potential anti-atherosclerosis effect. This study provides novel methods and ideas for the sustainable development of endangered medicinal plants.

The discovery of pivotal fungus and major determinant factor shaping soil microbial community composition associated with rot root of American ginseng.

American ginseng, a valuable medicinal and food plant, is threatened by rot root, which affects its yield and quality. However, limited studies have investigated the changes in soil microbial community and physiochemical properties between healthy and rot root American ginseng. Here, high-throughput sequencing and soil physiochemical properties were used to characterize these changes. The soil physiochemical properties showed significance differences between the soil of healthy and rot root, in which the pH, available potassium, available phosphorus, soil organic carbon and soil organic matter were significantly higher in healthy root soil. Besides, fungal α-diversity was also higher in healthy root soil than that in rot root. Importantly, the dominant fungal genera differed between soils of healthy and rot root of American ginseng, and LEfSe further indicated that six fungal genera (Devriesia, Chrysosporium, Dichotomopilus, Pseudeurotium, Acaulium and Scedosporium) were significantly enriched in the soil of healthy plants, whereas six fungal genera (Gibellulopsis, Fusarium, Plectosphaerella, Tetracladium, Gibberella and Ilyonectri) were significantly enriched in the soil of rot root, suggesting that an increase in the relative abundance of these pathogenic fungi (Fusarium, Plectosphaerella, and Ilyonectri) may be associated with ginseng rot root. Notably, this study is the first to report that an increase in the relative abundances of Gibellulopsis and Gibberella in the rot root soil of American ginseng may be associated with the onset of rot root symptoms in this plant. The functional profile prediction showed that the there was a significantly Pathotrophs increase in the rot root soil compared with healthy root soil and Saprotrophs were more abundant in the healthy root soil. Finally, correlation analyses revealed that soil cation exchange capacity was an important factors affecting the composition of rot root of American ginseng soil microbial communities. This study not only used a new approach to explore the new fungal associated with rot root in American ginseng but also excavated the major soil physiochemical properties affecting the microbiome diversity, providing foundation for developing biocontrol strategies against rot root.

Metabolome profiling and molecular docking analysis revealed the metabolic differences and potential pharmacological mechanisms of the inflorescence and succulent stem of Cistanche deserticola.

Cistanche deserticola is an endangered plant used for medicine and food. Our purpose is to explore the differences in metabolism between inflorescences in non-medicinal parts and succulent stems in medicinal parts in order to strengthen the application and development of the non-medicinal parts of C. deserticola. We performed metabolomics analysis through LC-ESI-MS/MS on the inflorescences and succulent stems of three ecotypes (saline-alkali land, grassland and sandy land) of C. deserticola. A total of 391 common metabolites in six groups were identified, of which isorhamnetin O-hexoside (inflorescence) and rosinidin O-hexoside (succulent stems) can be used as chemical markers to distinguish succulent stems and inflorescences. Comparing the metabolic differences of three ecotypes, we found that most of the different metabolites related to salt-alkali stress were flavonoids. In particular, we mapped the biosynthetic pathway of phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) and showed the metabolic differences in the six groups. To better understand the pharmacodynamic mechanisms and targets of C. deserticola, we screened 88 chemical components and 15 potential disease targets through molecular docking. The active ingredients of C. deserticola have a remarkable docking effect on the targets of aging diseases such as osteoporosis, vascular disease and atherosclerosis. To explore the use value of inflorescence, we analyzed the molecular docking of the unique flavonoid metabolites in inflorescence with inflammation targets. The results showed that chrysoeriol and cynaroside had higher scores for inflammation targets. This study provides a scientific basis for the discovery and industrialization of the resource value of the non-medicinal parts of C. deserticola, and the realization of the sustainable development of C. deserticola. It also provides a novel strategy for exploring indications of Chinese herb.

Untargeted liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry reveals metabolic changes in nitrogen-deficient Isatis indigotica Fortune.

Isatis indigotica Fortune is a popular herb in traditional Chinese medicine, and various types of metabolites are the basis for its pharmacological efficacy. The biosynthesis and accumulation of these metabolites are closely linked to nitrogen availability; the benefits of low nitrogen application on the environment and herb quality are increasingly prominent. To analyze metabolic changes in the leaves and roots of I.indigotica in nitrogen deficiency conditions, and to identify the pathways and metabolites induced by low nitrogen availability, we used untargeted liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TripleTOF) to obtain metabolomics profiling of I.indigotica under two N-deficiency treatments (0 kg/hm2; 337.5 kg/hm2) and normal nitrogen treatment (675 kg/hm2). A total of 447 metabolites were annotated. Principal component analysis separated the three nitrogen treatments. A greater diversity of metabolites was observed in roots than in leaves under N-deficiency treatments, suggesting that roots have a more important function in low N tolerance. Differential metabolites were mainly enriched in purine metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, the shikimate pathway, tryptophan metabolism, and flavonoid biosynthesis that notably induced only in leaves in low nitrogen stress. Moderate N-deficiency benefits carbohydrate accumulation, whereas accumulation of most amino acids decreases. Uniquely, L-tryptophan was maintained at a high concentration in N-deficiency conditions. Low nitrogen stress induced the accumulation of some specialized metabolites (matairesinol, dictamnine, 5-hydroxyindoleacetate (serotonin) in roots and vitexin, xanthohumol, sinapyl alcohol in leaves). N-deficiency also increased the accumulation of adenosine and quality indicators of I.indigotica (indirubin-indigo, epigoitrin and anthranilic acid) in a certain degree. Our findings showed that nitrogen deficiency modified roots and leaves conditions of I.indigotica, affecting both the primary and secondary metabolism. Moderate nitrogen reduction was beneficial to the accumulation of active ingredients. Our methods and analysis are expected to provide an insight regarding the diversity of metabolites and regulation of their synthesis in low nitrogen application, and better investigate the nitrogen deficiency effect on I.indigotica.