[Responses of tree growth and intrinsic water-use efficiency of Robinia pseudoacacia to climate factors]. / åˆºæ§ç”Ÿé•¿å’Œå† åœ¨æ°´åˆ†åˆ©ç”¨æ•ˆçŽ‡å¯¹æ°”å€™å› å­çš„å“åº”.

We investigated tree growth in Robinia pseudoacacia plantations at Ansai in Shaanxi Province and at Ji-xian in Shanxi Province by comparing the tree-ring width, basal area increase (BAI), δ13C value, intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE), and stomatal regulation. We quantified the responses of tree growth and iWUE to climatic factors at each site. The tree-ring width at Ansai and Jixian decreased with stand age, whereas the BAI at Ansai increased, and that at Jixian decreased after the BAI peaked. The δ13C value and iWUE of trees at Jixian were higher than those at Ansai. The iWUE of trees at both sites was similar to the constant intercellular CO2 concentration/atmospheric CO2 concentration (Ci/Ca) scenario, indicating that the Ci of trees was elevated with increasing Ca, while the stomata remained open. The BAI at Ansai was significantly positively correlated with highest temperature in May, relative humidity in June, precipitation in August, relative humidity in September, and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) in September and October of current year, but negatively correlated with temperature in June. The BAI at Jixian was significantly positively correlated with SPEI in June and July, and lowest temperature in October of current year. The iWUE of trees at Ansai was significantly positively correlated with relative humidity and precipitation in June of the current year, but negatively correlated with minimum temperature in May, relative humidity in June, and temperature and maximum temperature in July of current year. A significant positive correlation between iWUE of trees at Jixian and lowest temperature in June of current year was detected. At the annual scale, the BAI of trees at Ansai was positively correlated with precipitation and SPEI, but no significant relationship was observed for trees at Jixian. However, the iWUE of trees at both sites was significantly affected by precipitation. Path analysis showed that SPEI and minimum temperature had a direct effect on BAI and iWUE of trees at Ansai, whereas precipitation and average temperature indirectly affected BAI and iWUE through SPEI. The highest temperature had a direct effect on tree growth at Jixian, whereas precipitation, minimum temperature, and average temperature had direct effects on iWUE. These results suggested that SPEI was the main climatic factor that affected the growth of R. pseudoacacia, while Ci was an important physiological factor. Our results could provide reference for the protection and management of R. pseudoacacia plantations under climate change.

Light-Emitting Diodes Modify Medicinal Quality of Mown Rabdosia rubescens, with Changes in Growth, Physiology, and Antioxidant Activity, under Drought Stress.

Medicinal plants accommodated by understory habitats can easily suffer over-exploitation in the heavy harvest of natural products. It is necessary to develop a sustainable cultural protocol to provide high-quality stocks for efficient regeneration. Drought places stress on medicinal plants during their culture by limiting new sprout growth and reducing the quality of medicinal extracts. Artificial mediating approaches should be considered in a sustainable regime of medicinal plant culture to test the potential tradeoff between resistance to drought and production ability. In this study, Rabdosia rubescens seedlings were raised in three light-emitting diode (LED) spectra from red (71.7% red, 14.6% green, 13.7% blue), green (26.2% red, 17.4% green, 56.4% blue), and blue (17.8% red, 33.7% green, 48.5% blue) lights. Mown seedlings were subjected to a simulated drought event. Drought stressed the seedlings by reducing the growth, dry mass, nitrogen (N) uptake, and oridonin content. Mowing increased the oridonin content but decreased total C and N accumulation and the δ13C level. The red light benefitted starch accumulation only under the well-watered condition, and the green light induced an upregulation of δ13C but decreased antioxidant activity. Oridonin content was negatively associated with combined δ13C and catalase activity. Overall, either mowing or blue light can be recommended for the culture of R. rubescens to increase oridonin content, alleviating some of the negative consequences of drought.

Wogonin inhibits latent HIV-1 reactivation by downregulating histone crotonylation.

BACKGROUND: Wogonin, a flavone isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, is a commonly used phytochemical with anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties. However, the antiviral activity of wogonin against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has not been reported. PURPOSE: The current study aimed to explore whether wogonin can suppress latent HIV-1 reactivation and the mechanism of wogonin in inhibiting proviral HIV-1 transcription. METHODS: We assessed the effects of wogonin on HIV-1 reactivation using flow cytometry, cytotoxicity assay, quantitative PCR (qPCR), viral quality assurance (VQA), and western blot analysis. RESULTS: Wogonin, a flavone isolated from S. baicalensis, significantly inhibited the reactivation of latent HIV-1 in cellular models and in primary CD4+ T cells from antiretroviral therapy (ART)-suppressed individuals ex vivo. Wogonin exhibited low cytotoxicity and long-lasting inhibition of HIV-1 transcription. Triptolide is a latency-promoting agent (LPA) that inhibits HIV-1 transcription and replication; wogonin had a stronger ability to inhibit HIV-1 latent reactivation than triptolide. Mechanistically, wogonin inhibited the reactivation of latent HIV-1 by inhibiting the expression of p300, a histone acetyltransferase, and decreasing the crotonylation of histone H3/H4 in the HIV-1 promoter region. CONCLUSION: Our study found that wogonin is a novel LPA that can inhibit HIV-1 transcription by HIV-1 epigenetic silencing, which could bear promising significance for future applications of HIV-1 functional cure.

Effects of dietary fish meal replacement by fermented moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) leaves on growth performance, nonspecific immunity and disease resistance against Aeromonas hydrophila in juvenile gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio var. CAS III).

This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of partial replacement of fish meal by fermented moringa leaves (FMLs) on growth performance, serum biochemistry, antioxidant status, nonspecific immunity, and resistance against Aeromonas hydrophila in juvenile gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio var. CAS III). Four isonitrogenous and isoenergetic balanced diets, including three FML diets (substituting 20%, 40%, 60% of the fish meal in basal diet, F20, F40 and F60, respectively) and a basal diet (a diet containing 10% fish meal) were used. Each diet was randomly allocated to four fish groups (F20, F40, F60 and control) reared in a recirculating system. After 50 days of the feeding trial, fish were challenged by A. hydrophila. The result revealed that final mean body weight (FBW), weight gain rate (WGR), specific growth rate (SGR), feed efficiency (FE) and survival rate (SR) were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in F20 and F40 groups compared with the control group. Decreased hepatosomatic index (HSI), body crude lipid, serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities, and increased serum alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and serum glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were observed in F40 and F60 groups compared with the control and F20 groups. All FMLs-supplemented groups increased (P < 0.05) serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and lysozyme activities, complement component 3 (C3) and serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) concentration, or decreased serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl (PCC) contents (P < 0.05). After the challenge test, the significant downregulation of toll-like receptors2 (TLR2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1ß and IL-8 mRNA transcription levels was observed in spleens of FMLs supplemented groups. Dietary F40 and F60 showed higher (P < 0.05) relative percent survival (RPS) (48.72% and 43.59%, respectively) against A. hydrophila infection than control. These results indicate that, as a dietary fish meal substitute, FMLs enhance the growth, and antioxidant and immune response, and regulate the expression of immune-related genes and increase disease resistance against A. hydrophila via TLR2 pathway in gibel carp, with greatest effects of 40% fish meal substitution.

[Clinical observation on treatment of Stein-Leventhal syndrome caused sterility by combined use of clomiphene and Chinese nourishing shen and activating blood circulation drugs].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy of combination therapy of clomiphene and Chinese drugs for nourishing Shen and activating blood circulation (NSABC) in treating Stein-Leventhal syndrome caused sterility. METHODS: Sixty-two patients with anovulation caused sterility were randomly divided into the treated group (n = 32) and the control group (n = 30). The treated grop was treated with the combination therapy and the control group treated by the same dosage of clomiphene alone. RESULTS: After treatment, when comparing with that before treatment, the endocrine hormones in the treated group improved significantly, showing a markedly decrease of androgen and luteotropic hormone, and increase of estrogen (P < 0.001). The periodic ovulation rate in the treated group reached 87%, the total pregnancy rate being 65.6%, with no occurrence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and luteinized unruptured follicle syndrome (LUFS), while in the control group, the periodic ovulation rate was 66%, the total pregnancy rate 36.6%, with LUFS occurred in 4 patients. Comparison of the therapeutic effects between the two groups showed significant difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The combination therapy of clomiphene and NSABC has a better therapeutic effect in treating Stein-Leventhal syndrome caused sterility than that of using clomiphene alone.