Clinical features and effectiveness of Chinese medicine in patients with COVID-19 from overseas: A retrospective study in Xiamen, China.

COVID-19, referred to as new coronary pneumonia, is an acute infectious disease caused by a new type of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. To evaluate the effect of integrated Chinese medicine and Western medicine in patients with COVID-19 from overseas. Data were collected from 178 COVID-19 patients overseas at First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from April 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021. These patients received therapy of integrated Chinese medicine and western medicine. Demographic data and clinical characteristics were extracted and analyzed. In addition, the prescription which induced less length of PCR positive days and hospitalization days than the median value was obtained. The top 4 frequently used Chinese medicine and virus-related genes were analyzed by network pharmacology and bioinformatics analysis. According to the chest computed tomography (CT) measurement, abnormal lung findings were observed in 145 subjects. The median length of positive PCR/hospitalization days was 7/7 days for asymptomatic subjects, 14/24 days for mild subjects, 10/15 days for moderate subjects, and 14/20 days for severe subjects. The most frequently used Chinese medicine were Scutellaria baicalensis (Huangqin), Glycyrrhiza uralensis (Gancao), Bupleurum chinense (Chaihu), and Pinellia ternata (Banxia). The putative active ingredients were baicalin, stigmasterol, sigmoidin-B, cubebin, and troxerutin. ACE, SARS-CoV-2 3CL, SARS-CoV-2 Spike, SARS-CoV-2 ORF7a, and caspase-6 showed good binding properties to active ingredients. In conclusion, the clinical results showed that integrated Chinese medicine and Western medicine are effective in treating COVID-19 patients from overseas. Based on the clinical outcomes, the putative ingredients from Chinese medicine and the potential targets of SARS-CoV-2 were provided, which could provide a reference for the clinical application of Chinese medicine in treating COVID-19 worldwide.

Genome-wide identification, phylogenetic and expression of MAPKKK gene family in Arabidopsis pumila.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinases (MAPKKKs) are important components of the MAPK cascade and play crucial roles in development and stress responses. Arabidopsis pumila is an ephemeral Brassicaceae plant growing in Xinjiang desert regions, which possesses salt tolerance. To explore the evolution and function of the MAPKKK gene family in A. pumila, 143 ApMAPKKK genes were identified from A. pumila genome by genome-wide analysis, which were categorized into three subfamilies: ZIK (20), MEKK (36) and RAF (87). There existed 74 and 72 colinear genes between A. thaliana, A. lyrata and A. pumila, respectively, indicating that this gene family expanded obviously in A. pumila genome. Evolutionary analysis revealed that there were 64 duplicated gene pairs with Ka/Ks less than 1, and purifying selection was dominant. RNA-seq data were used to analyze the expression characteristics of ApMAPKKK genes in response to salt stress and in different tissues. The results showed that most ApMAPKKK genes were up-regulated under 250 mmol/L NaCl stress. For example, ApMAPKKK18-1/2 and ApMAPKKK17-1/2 were substantially up-regulated. Tissue expression profiles showed that ApMAPKKK mainly presented six expression patterns. Some duplicated genes were differentially expressed in response to salt stress and in different tissues. These results lay a foundation for further understanding the complex mechanism of MAPKKK gene family transduction pathway in response to abiotic stresses in A. pumila.

[Genome-wide identification, phylogenetic analysis and expression profiling of the MKK gene family in Arabidopsis pumila].

Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK or MKK) is an important component of the MAPK cascade, which plays important roles in plant growth and development as well as in various stress responses. At present, the MKK gene family has been identified in a variety of plants, but there has been no systematic study in Cruciferous plant Arabidopsis pumila. To explore the evolution and function of the MKK gene family in Arabidopsis pumila, 16 ApMKK genes were identified from the Arabidopsis pumila genome by genome-wide analysis, and they were distributed on 10 chromosomes of Arabidopsis pumila. According to phylogenetic analysis and multiple sequence alignment, these putative genes were divided into five known subfamilies, i.e, Groups A, B, C, D, and E, which includes 5, 2, 4, 3, 2 members, respectively. Evolutionary and syntenic analysis showed that there are seven pairs of duplication genes in Arabidopsis pumila: ApMKK1-1/1-2, ApMKK2-1/2-2, ApMKK3-1/3-2, ApMKK4-1/4-2, ApMKK5-1/5-2, ApMKK9-1/9-2, and ApMKK10-1/10-2. Ka/Ks and Tajima analysis indicated that evolution of ApMKK1-1/1-2 was accelerated after the duplication event. Combining the distribution of cis-element in the promoter region of ApMKKs and the expression profile of ApMKKs in mature leaves, stems, flowers and fruits as well as under salt stress, we found that the expressions of paralogous genes (duplication genes) were tissue-specific and their functions were diversified. The expression patterns of some duplicated genes in tissues were different, but the expression patterns under salt stress were basically the same. These results lay the foundation for analyzing the complex mechanisms of MKK-mediated growth and development and abiotic stress signal transduction pathways in Arabidopsis pumila.

Construction of a cDNA library from the ephemeral plant Olimarabidopsis pumila and preliminary analysis of expressed sequence tags.

Olimarabidopsis pumila is a close relative of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana but, unlike A. thaliana, it is a salt-tolerant ephemeral plant that is widely distributed in semi-arid and semi-salinized regions of the Xinjiang region of China, thus providing an ideal candidate plant system for salt tolerance gene mining. A good-quality cDNA library was constructed using cap antibody to enrich full-length cDNA with the gateway technology allowing library construction without traditional methods of cloning by use of restriction enzymes. A preliminary analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was carried out. The titers of the primary and the normalized cDNA library were 1.6 x 10(6) cfu/mL and 6.7 x 10(6) cfu/mL, respectively. A total of 1093 clones were randomly selected from the normalized library for EST sequencing. By sequence analysis, 894 high-quality ESTs were generated and assembled into 736 unique sequences consisting of 72 contigs and 664 singletons. The resulting unigenes were categorized according to the gene ontology (GO) hierarchy. The potential roles of gene products associated with stress-related ESTs are discussed. The 736 unigenes were similar to A. thaliana, A. lyrata, or Thellungiella salsuginea. This research provides an overview of the mRNA expression profile and first-hand information of gene sequence expressed in young leaves of O. pumila.

Evolutionarily conserved DELLA-mediated gibberellin signaling in plants.

Gibberellins (GAs) play important roles in many essential plant growth and development processes. A family of nuclear growth-repressing DELLA proteins is the key component in GA signaling. GA perception is mediated by GID1, and the key event of GA signaling is the degradation of DELLA proteins via the 26S proteasome pathway. DELLA proteins integrating other plant hormones signaling and environmental cue modulating plant growth and development have been revealed. GA turning on the de-DELLA-repressing system is conserved, and independently establishes step-by-step recruitment of GA-stimulated GID1-DELLA interaction and DELLA growth-repression functions during land plant evolution. These discoveries open new prospects for the understanding of GA action and DELLA-mediated signaling in plants.