[Breeding of new Artemisia annua variety "Kehao No.1"].

As a natural plant source of artemisinin,a first-line drug against malaria,Artemisia annua directly affects the extraction process of artemisinin and the source of artemisinin. At present,traditional breeding methods combined with tissue culture are often used to breed high-yield artemisinin-containing new varieties of A. annua. However,the breeding method has the disadvantages of low efficiency and continuous selection. In this study,heavy ion beam irradiation technology was used to observe the specific germplasm resources of A. annua,and the morphological characteristics,agronomic traits and artemisinin content were used as indicators to observe the selection materials and materials. The cultivated new varieties were compared with trials and regional trials. In addition,the new variety of A. annua was identified by SRAP molecular marker technology. The results showed that the new variety of A. annua, " Kehao No.1",had an average yield of 235. 0 kg of dry leaf per mu,which was more than 20% higher than that of the control. Especially,the average artemisinin content was 2. 0%,which was 45% higher than that of the control,and the " Kehao No.1" has high anti-white powder disease,high-yield and high-quality new varieties. Therefore,mutagenic breeding of heavy ion beam irradiation can significantly improve the yield and artemisinin content of the " Kehao No. 1" and it has a good promotion value.

A pair of epimeric spirosesquiterpenes from the roots of Ligularia fischeri.

Two new highly oxygenated spirosesquiterpene lactones, ligulactones A (1) and B (2), and one known sesquiterpenoid, 1beta,10beta-epoxy-6beta-isobutyryloxy-9-oxo-furanoeremophilane (3), were isolated from the roots of Ligularia fischeri. Their structures and relative configurations were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and MS data and by comparison of their NMR data with those of related compounds. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses confirmed their structures. Compounds 1 and 2 are C-7 epimers. A possible biosynthetic process for their formation is proposed. Structure 3 was proposed as the likely parent compound for the two new epimeric sesquiterpenoids.

Simultaneous determination of seven alkaloids in Phellodendron chinense Schneid by high-performance liquid chromatography.

By optimizing the extraction, separation, and analytical conditions, a reliable and accurate HPLC method coupled with a photodiode array detector was developed for simultaneous detection and quantification of seven alkaloids, i.e., (-)-(R)-platydesmin, noroxyhydrastinine, berberine, skimmianine, canthin-6-one, chilenine, and pteleine in "huangbo" (the bark of Phellodendron chinense), a commonly used herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The optimal condition for separation was achieved on a reversed-phase Cis column with a stepwise mobile phase gradient prepared from 0.1% phosphoric acid and acetonitrile. For all the alkaloids, a good linear regression relationship (r > 0.9997) was obtained between the peak area and concentration at the range of 0.5-700 microg/mL. The LODs and LOQs for the analytes ranged from 0.07 to 0.28 microg/mL and from 0.28 to 1.12 microg/mL, respectively. The optimized method was applied to the determination of alkaloids in several P. chinense samples, and found to be feasible and reliable. This method and quantitative results can provide scientific and technical bases for setting up QC standards to assure the safety and quality of P. chinense bark raw material, as well as for proprietary Chinese medicine products containing P. chinense bark.

Radiation induces acid tolerance of Clostridium tyrobutyricum and enhances bioproduction of butyric acid through a metabolic switch.

BACKGROUND: Butyric acid as a renewable resource has become an increasingly attractive alternative to petroleum-based fuels. Clostridium tyrobutyricum ATCC 25755T is well documented as a fermentation strain for the production of acids. However, it has been reported that butyrate inhibits its growth, and the accumulation of acetate also inhibits biomass synthesis, making production of butyric acid from conventional fermentation processes economically challenging. The present study aimed to identify whether irradiation of C. tyrobutyricum cells makes them more tolerant to butyric acid inhibition and increases the production of butyrate compared with wild type. RESULTS: In this work, the fermentation kinetics of C. tyrobutyricum cultures after being classically adapted for growth at 3.6, 7.2 and 10.8 g·L-1 equivalents were studied. The results showed that, regardless of the irradiation used, there was a gradual inhibition of cell growth at butyric acid concentrations above 10.8 g·L-1, with no growth observed at butyric acid concentrations above 3.6 g·L-1 for the wild-type strain during the first 54 h of fermentation. The sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis also showed significantly different expression levels of proteins with molecular mass around the wild-type and irradiated strains. The results showed that the proportion of proteins with molecular weights of 85 and 106 kDa was much higher for the irradiated strains. The specific growth rate decreased by 50% (from 0.42 to 0.21 h-1) and the final concentration of butyrate increased by 68% (from 22.7 to 33.4 g·L-1) for the strain irradiated at 114 AMeV and 40 Gy compared with the wild-type strains. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that butyric acid production from glucose can be significantly improved and enhanced by using 12C6+ heavy ion-irradiated C. tyrobutyricum. The approach is economical, making it competitive compared with similar fermentation processes. It may prove useful as a first step in a combined method employing long-term continuous fermentation of acid-production processes.

Dammarane- and taraxastane-type triterpenoids from Saussurea oligantha Franch.

A new dammarane triterpenoid oliganthas A (1) and a new taraxastane triterpenoid oliganthas B (2), as well as five known taraxastane triterpenoids, ptiloepoxide (3), taraxast-20(30)ene-3beta,21alpha-diol (4), 22-oxo-20-taraxasten-3beta-ol (5), taraxast-20-ene-3beta,30-diol (6), and taraxastane-3beta,20alpha-diol (7), were isolated from the whole plant of Saussurea oligantha Franch. Their structures were elucidated by a series of spectroscopic methods. These compounds, especially taraxastanes 2, 5, and 6, exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Actinomyces viscosus ATCC27044.