Proteomic Identification of Plasma Components in Tachypleus tridentatus and Their Effects on the Longitudinal Bone Growth Rate in Rats.

Tachypleus tridentatus (T. tridentatus) is a marine animal and traditional Chinese medicine. T. tridentatus plasma is a valuable resource for important medical and health-based functions. In this experiment, in order to evaluate the effect and mechanism of T. tridentatus plasma with respect to the promotion of bone tissue growth in rats, the processes of ultrafiltration and mass spectrometry were first used to separate and identify the components of T. tridentatus plasma. Then, a comparison of the effects of the T. tridentatus plasma samples, which each possessed different molecular weights, regarding the growth of the long bones of rats was conducted. Finally, transcriptomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics were all used to analyze the biological functions and related signaling pathways of the T. tridentatus plasma in order to promote rat bone growth. The results showed that the contents of amino acid residues in peptides are related to the growth promotion that was contained in the 10-30 kDa plasma group. Moreover, the T. tridentatus plasma samples were found to be higher in this respect than those in the whole plasma group. In addition, the 10-30 kDa plasma group could significantly promote bone growth activity in rats. The proteomic analysis showed that the proteins that were differentially expressed in the 10-30 kDa plasma group were mainly enriched in the PI3K-AKT signal pathway. Our study suggested that the T. tridentatus plasma possesses promising potential for the purposes of clinical use, whereby it can serve the role of a growth-promoting agent.

Deaminative-cleaved S. monotuberculatus fucosylated glycosaminoglycan: Structural elucidation and anticoagulant activity.

Stichopus monotuberculatus is a tropical sea cucumber species and used as a folk medicine and tonic food. In this study, a fucosylated glycosaminoglycan (SmFG), the depolymerized SmFG (dSmFG) and its oligosaccharide fractions were prepared. The SmFG and its depolymerized products were comprised of a chondroitin-sulfate-E backbone, and various sulfated fucose side chains, including an unusual disaccharide side chain connected to the C-3 position of D-glucuronic acid (GlcA) or GlcA-ol. A peeling reaction occurred during the deaminative depolymerization process. The dSmFG and its fractions showed strong anticoagulant activity by selectively inhibiting intrinsic tenase complex, and had no anti-factor IIa, Xa and VIIa activity. The anticoagulant activity reduced with the decrease of molecular weight, and the unusual branch and novel reducing end may enhance the anticoagulant activity. These findings can provide significant information for development and utilization of depolymerized products from SmFG in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Simulated digestion, dynamic changes during fecal fermentation and effects on gut microbiota of Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh. fruit non-starch polysaccharides.

Grey mangrove (Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh.) fruit is a traditional folk medicine and health food consumed in many countries. In this study, its polysaccharides (AMFPs) were obtained and analyzed by chemical and instrumental methods, with the results indicating that AMFPs consisted of galactose, galacturonic acid, arabinose, and rhamnose in a molar ratio of 4.99:3.15:5.38:1.15. The dynamic changes in AMFPs during the digestion and fecal fermentation processes were then investigated. The results confirmed that AMFPs were not depolymerized by gastric acid and various digestive enzymes. During fermentation, 56.05 % of the AMFPs were utilized by gut microbiota. Galacturonic acid, galactose, and arabinose from AMFPs, were mostly consumed by gut microbiota. AMFPs obviously decreased harmful bacteria and increased some beneficial microbiota, including Megasphaera, Mistuokella, Prevotella, and Megamonas. Furthermore, AMFPs obviously increased the levels of various short-chain fatty acids. These findings suggest that AMFPs have potential prebiotic applications for improving gut health.

The Metabolic Potential of Endophytic Actinobacteria Associated with Medicinal Plant Thymus roseus as a Plant-Growth Stimulator.

Bio-fertilizer practice considers not only economical but also environmentally friendly, sustainable agriculture. Endophytes can play important beneficiary roles in plant development, directly, indirectly, or synergistically. In this study, the majority of our endophytic actinobacteria were able to possess direct plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits, including auxin (88%), ammonia (96%), siderophore production (94%), and phosphate solubilization (24%), along with cell-wall degrading enzymes such as protease (75%), cellulase (81%), lipase (81%), and chitinase (18%). About 45% of tested strains have an inhibitory effect on the phytopathogen Fusarium oxysporum, followed by 26% for Verticillium dahlia. Overall, our results showed that strains XIEG63 and XIEG55 were the potent strains with various PGP traits that caused a higher significant increase (p ≤ 0.05) in length and biomass in the aerial part and roots of tomato and cotton, compared to the uninoculated plants. Our data showed that the greatest inhibition percentages of two phytopathogens were achieved due to treatment with strains XIEG05, XIEG07, XIEG45, and XIEG51. The GC-MS analysis showed that most of the compounds were mainly alkanes, fatty acid esters, phenols, alkenes, and aromatic chemicals and have been reported to have antifungal activity. Our investigation emphasizes that endophytic actinobacteria associated with medicinal plants might help reduce the use of chemical fertilization and potentially lead to increased agricultural productivity and sustainability.

UPLC-MS/MS Profile Combined With RNA-Seq Reveals the Amino Acid Metabolism in Zanthoxylum bungeanum Leaves Under Drought Stress.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum leaves have a unique taste and incomparable nutritional value and hence are popular as a food item and traditional medicine in China. However, the studies on the metabolites in Z. bungeanum leaves are quite limited, especially for amino acids. Therefore, this study explored the amino acid component in Z. bungeanum leaves and also the accumulation mechanism under drought stress in two Z. bungeanum cultivars using the widely targeted metabolome combined with transcriptome analysis. A total of 56 amino acids and their derivatives were identified in Z. bungeanum leaves, including eight essential amino acids. The total amino acid content with most individual amino acids increased under progressive drought stress. More differentially accumulated amino acids (DAAs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in FJ (Z. bungeanum cv. 'Fengjiao') than in HJ (Z. bungeanum cv. 'Hanjiao'). The orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis identified nine and seven indicator DAAs in FJ and HJ leaves, respectively. The weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) showed that the green module was significantly correlated with most indicator DAAs and revealed the important role of FBA3, DELTA-OAT, PROC, and 15 transcription factor genes in regulating the amino acid synthesis. Furthermore, the correlation analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA) identified four candidate synthesis genes (ASNS, AK, ASPS, and PK) in amino acid biosynthesis pathway. This study provided useful information for the development of Z. bungeanum leaves in food and nutrition industry and also laid the foundations for future molecular breeding.

A derivant of ginsenoside CK and its inhibitory effect on hepatocellular carcinoma.

Epidemiological studies have shown that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a main cause of tumor death worldwide. Accumulating data indicate that ginsenoside CK is an effective compound for preventing HCC growth and development. However, improvement of pharmaceutical effect of the ginsenoside CK is still needed. In our study, we performed acetylation of ginsenoside CK (CK-3) and investigated the antitumor effects of the derivative in vitro and in vivo. The cytotoxicity analysis revealed that compared with CK, CK-3 could inhibit the proliferation of multiple tumor cell lines at a lower concentration. Treating with CK-3 on HCC cells arrested cell cycle in G2/M phase and induced cell apoptosis through AO/EB staining, TUNEL analysis and flow cytometry. Meanwhile, CK-3 significantly inhibited tumor growth in an HCC xenograft model and showed no side effect on the function of the main organs. Mechanistically, whole transcriptome analysis revealed that the antitumor effect of CK-3 was involved in the Hippo signaling pathway. The immunoblotting and immunofluorescence results illustrated that CK-3 directly facilitated the phosphorylation of YAP1 and decreased the expression of the main transcription factor TEAD2 in HCC cell lines and tumor tissue sections. Collectively, our results demostrate the formation of a new derivative of ginsenoside CK and its regulatory mechanism in HCC, which could activate the Hippo-YAP1-TEAD2 signaling pathway to regulate HCC progression. This research could provide a new direction for traditional Chinese medicine in the therapy of tumors.

Synergistic Plant-Microbe Interactions between Endophytic Actinobacteria and Their Role in Plant Growth Promotion and Biological Control of Cotton under Salt Stress.

Bacterial endophytes are well-acknowledged inoculants to promote plant growth and enhance their resistance toward various pathogens and environmental stresses. In the present study, 71 endophytic strains associated with the medicinal plant Thymus roseus were screened for their plant growth promotion (PGP), and the applicability of potent strains as bioinoculant has been evaluated. Regarding PGP traits, the percentage of strains were positive for the siderophore production (84%), auxin synthesis (69%), diazotrophs (76%), phosphate solubilization (79%), and production of lytic enzymes (i.e., cellulase (64%), lipase (62%), protease (61%), chitinase (34%), and displayed antagonistic activity against Verticillium dahliae (74%) in vitro. The inoculation of strain XIEG05 and XIEG12 enhanced plant tolerance to salt stress significantly (p < 0.05) through the promotion of shoot, root development, and reduced the activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, and CAT), compared with uninoculated controls in vivo. Furthermore, inoculation of strain XIEG57 was capable of reducing cotton disease incidence (DI) symptoms caused by V. dahliae at all tested salt concentrations. The GC-MS analysis showed that many compounds are known to have antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Our findings provide valuable information for applying strains XIEG05 and XIEG12 as bioinoculant fertilizers and biological control agent of cotton under saline soil conditions.

Osteoclastogenesis inhibitory phenolic derivatives produced by the Beibu Gulf coral-associated fungus Acremonium sclerotigenum GXIMD 02501.

Three new chlorinated orsellinic aldehyde derivatives, orsaldechlorins A - C (1-3) and a naturally new brominated orsellinic acid (7), along with ten known biosynthetically related phenolic (4-6, 8-13) and cyclohexanone (14) derivatives, were identified from the Beibu Gulf coral-derived fungus Acremonium sclerotigenum GXIMD 02501. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data interpretation and comparison with those reported in the literature. Several of them showed inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NF-κB activation in RAW 264.7 macrophages at 20 µM. Moreover, the two new potent inhibitors (1 and 2) suppressed RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation without cytotoxicity in bone marrow macrophages cells (BMMs). Our findings reveal that the phenolic compounds could be potential candidates for the prevention and treatment of osteolytic bone diseases.

Zanthoxylum-specific whole genome duplication and recent activity of transposable elements in the highly repetitive paleotetraploid Z. bungeanum genome.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum is an important spice and medicinal plant that is unique for its accumulation of abundant secondary metabolites, which create a characteristic aroma and tingling sensation in the mouth. Owing to the high proportion of repetitive sequences, high heterozygosity, and increased chromosome number of Z. bungeanum, the assembly of its chromosomal pseudomolecules is extremely challenging. Here, we present a genome sequence for Z. bungeanum, with a dramatically expanded size of 4.23 Gb, assembled into 68 chromosomes. This genome is approximately tenfold larger than that of its close relative Citrus sinensis. After the divergence of Zanthoxylum and Citrus, the lineage-specific whole-genome duplication event η-WGD approximately 26.8 million years ago (MYA) and the recent transposable element (TE) burst ~6.41 MYA account for the substantial genome expansion in Z. bungeanum. The independent Zanthoxylum-specific WGD event was followed by numerous fusion/fission events that shaped the genomic architecture. Integrative genomic and transcriptomic analyses suggested that prominent species-specific gene family expansions and changes in gene expression have shaped the biosynthesis of sanshools, terpenoids, and anthocyanins, which contribute to the special flavor and appearance of Z. bungeanum. In summary, the reference genome provides a valuable model for studying the impact of WGDs with recent TE activity on gene gain and loss and genome reconstruction and provides resources to accelerate Zanthoxylum improvement.

Diversity and function of rhizosphere microorganisms between wild and cultivated medicinal plant Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch under different soil conditions.

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch is a widely cultivated traditional Chinese medicine plant. In the present study, culture-independent microbial diversity analysis and functional prediction of rhizosphere microbes associated with wild and cultivated G. uralensis Fisch plant (collected from two locations) were carried. Soil physicochemical parameters were tested to assess their impact on microbial communities. A total of 4428 OTUs belonging to 41 bacterial phyla were identified. In general, cultivated sample sites were dominated by Actinobacteria whereas wild sample sites were dominated by Proteobacteria. The alpha diversity analysis showed the observed species number was higher in cultivated soil samples when compared with wild soil samples. In beta diversity analysis, it was noticed that the weighted-unifrac distance of two cultivated samples was closer although the samples were collected from different regions. Functional annotation based on PICRUST and FAPROTAX showed that the nitrogen metabolism pathway such as nitrate reduction, nitrogen fixation, nitrite ammonification, and nitrite respiration were more abundant in rhizosphere microorganisms of wild G. uralensis Fisch. These results also correlate in redundancy analysis results which show correlation between NO3--N and wild samples, which indicated that nitrogen nutrition conditions might be related to the quality of G. uralensis Fisch.

Marinoid J, a phenylglycoside from Avicennia marina fruit, ameliorates cognitive impairment in rat vascular dementia: a quantitative iTRAQ proteomic study.

CONTEXT: Fruit of Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh. (Acanthaceae) is used as a Chinese herb. Studies have found that it contains marinoid J, a novel phenylethanoid glycoside (PG) compound, but its neuroprotective functions are largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effects of marinoid J on vascular dementia (VD) and determined its potential mechanisms of action. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The VD model was established by the ligation of the bilateral common carotid artery in Sprague-Dawley rats, who received daily intragastrically administration of saline, marinoid J (125 or 500 mg/kg body weight/d), or oxiracetam (250 mg/kg body weight/d) for 14 days (20 rats in each group). The Morris water maze (MWM) was used to evaluate cognitive performance. The hippocampus was subjected to histological and proteomic analyses. RESULTS: Marinoid J shortened the escape latency of VD rats (31.07 ± 3.74 s, p < 0.05). It also decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) (27.53%) and nitric oxide (NO) (20.41%) while increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD) (11.26%) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) (20.38%) content in hippocampus tissues. Proteomic analysis revealed 45 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in marinoid J-treated VD rats, which included angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), keratin 18 (KRT18), cluster of differentiation 34 (CD34), and synaptotagmin II (SYT2). CONCLUSIONS: Marinoid J played a role in protecting hippocampal neurons by regulating a set of proteins that influence oxidative stress and apoptosis, this effect may thereby alleviate the symptoms of VD rats. Thus, pharmacological manipulation of marinoid J may offer a novel opportunity for VD treatment.

Isolation, structures and biological activities of polysaccharides from Chlorella: A review.

Chlorella, a green microalga, has been used as an important ingredient in food and medicine because of its excellent nutritive and functional properties. Polysaccharides, as major active ingredients of Chlorella, have attracted increasing attention due to their various health promotion activities, such as those associated with immunomodulation, antioxidation, anti-hyperlipidemia, antitumor, neuroprotection, and anti-asthmatic effect. The significance of polysaccharides from various species of the Chlorella genus has been extensively reported by the scientific community from the perspectives of extraction, structural features, biological activities, and potential uses, which need to be reviewed to improve the understanding, development and utilization of these species. Therefore, this review aims to comprehensively summarize previous and current references regarding the extraction, purification, structural characterization and biological activities of polysaccharides from Chlorella. Moreover, this review also highlights the challenges of investigation and future considerations for holistic utilization in food and medicine.

Four new steroids from the marine soft coral-derived fungus Penicillium sp. SCSIO41201.

Penicildiones A-D (1-4), four new steroids derivatives together with three known compounds including 16α-methylpregna-17α,19-dihydroxy-(9,11)-epoxy-4-ene-3,18-dione-20-acetoxy (5), stachybotrylactone B (6) and stachybotrin (7) were isolated from the soft coral-derived fungus Penicillium sp. SCSIO41201, cultured in the 1% NaCl PDB substrate. Their structures were determined through spectroscopic methods and X-ray crystallography. Biological evaluation results revealed that 6 exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against HL-60, K562, MOLT-4, ACHN, 786-O, and OS-RC-2 cell lines with IC50 values of 5.23, 4.12, 4.31, 23.55, 7.65 and 10.81 µmol·L-1, respectively, while other compounds showed weak or no cytotoxicity at 50 µmol·L-1.

Diversity and Antimicrobial Potential of Cultivable Endophytic Actinobacteria Associated With the Medicinal Plant Thymus roseus.

We report for the first time the isolation of endophytic actinobacteria associated with wild populations of the Chinese medicinal herb Thymus roseus Schipcz obtained from the arid land in Ili and Tacheng of the Xinjiang Province, China. Strains were isolated by special pretreatment of plant tissues and identified based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences, and their antimicrobial activities in vitro were evaluated. A total of 126 endophytic actinobacteria belonging to two classes, eight orders, 14 families, and 24 genera were isolated from different organs at the Ili and Tacheng sites. In addition, the diversity of culturable endophytic actinobacteria genera was higher at Tacheng site (n = 71, 56.35%) than the Ili site (n = 55, 43.65%). A neighbor-joining tree of 126 isolated actinobacteria showing the phylogenetic relationships based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and the genus Streptomyces was the most dominant isolate. The number of endophytic actinobacteria genera obtained from root tissues (n = 54, 42.86%) was higher compared to stem (n = 35, 27.78%) and leaf tissue (n = 37, 29.36%). Among 126 endophytic actinobacteria, 54 strains were antagonistic against at least one or more indicator organisms in vitro. Notably, most strains of Streptomyces proved antagonistic activities. For example, strain T4SB028, namely Streptomyces polyantibioticus, showed the highest inhibition ratio reached 67.06, 64.20, and 70.55% against Alternaria solani, Valsa malicola, and Valsa mali, respectively. The results demonstrate that about 30.95%, 23.01% of the tested endophytic actinobacteria were capable of producing siderophores and chitinase, respectively. Additionally, the results of the amplification of biosynthetic genes polyketide synthetase (PKS-I) and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) indicated that at least one antibiotic biosynthetic gene was detected in 27 (50%) of the tested strains. Our result emphasizes that the endophytic actinobacteria communities are different based on the plant tissues and the geographical environment of the sampled area. Thus, we conclude that T. roseus Schipcz. provided a rich source of endophytic actinobacteria that exhibited a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent.

Beneficial Endophytic Bacterial Populations Associated With Medicinal Plant Thymus vulgaris Alleviate Salt Stress and Confer Resistance to Fusarium oxysporum.

As a result of climate change, salinity has become a major abiotic stress that reduces plant growth and crop productivity worldwide. A variety of endophytic bacteria alleviate salt stress; however, their ecology and biotechnological potential has not been fully realized. To address this gap, a collection of 117 endophytic bacteria were isolated from wild populations of the herb Thymus vulgaris in Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah of North Sinai Province, Egypt, and identified based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences. The endophytes were highly diverse, including 17 genera and 30 species. The number of bacterial species obtained from root tissues was higher (n = 18) compared to stem (n = 14) and leaf (n = 11) tissue. The endophytic bacteria exhibited several plant growth-promoting activities in vitro, including auxin synthesis, diazotrophy, phosphate solubilization, siderophore production, and production of lytic enzymes (i.e., chitinase, cellulase, protease, and lipase). Three endophytes representing Bacillus species associated with T. vulgaris such as EGY05, EGY21, and EGY25 were selected based on their ex-situ activities for growth chamber assays to test for their ability to promote the growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under various NaCl concentrations (50-200 mM). All three strains significantly (P < 0.05) promoted the growth of tomato plants under salt stress, compared to uninoculated controls. In addition, inoculated tomato plants by all tested strains decreased (P < 0.05) the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase). Six strains, representing Bacillus and Enterobacter species EGY01, EGY05, EGY16, EGY21, EGY25, and EGY31 were selected based on in vitro antagonistic activity to F. oxysporum for pot experiments under salt stress. All tested strains reduced the disease severity index (DSI) of tomato plants at all tested salt concentrations. Gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry analysis of cell-free extracts of B. subtilis (EGY16) showed at least ten compounds were known to have antimicrobial activity, with the major peaks being benzene, 1,3-dimethyl-, p-xylene, dibutyl phthalate, bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and tetracosane. This study demonstrates that diverse endophytes grow in wild thyme populations and that some are able to alleviate salinity stress and inhibit F. oxysporum pathogenesis, making them promising candidates for biofertilizers and biocontrol agents.

Coupling phytoremediation efficiency and detoxification to assess the role of P in the Cu tolerant Ricinus communis L.

Phosphorous (P) fertilization is an important agronomic practice, but its role in enhancing phytoremediation efficacy and mediating detoxification has rarely been reported in environmental remediation studies. In this study, a pot experiment was undertaken to assess: firstly, the effect of P on phytoextraction of Cu by Ricinus communis L.; secondly, the potential mechanisms by differentiating the effects of the plant from that of P fertilizer (Ca(H2PO4)2); and thirdly, the role of P in physiological detoxification. Results showed that the application of P fertilizer significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the plant biomass as well as the Cu concentrations in plant tissues. This enhanced the phytoremediation efficiency represented by the total Cu extraction (up to 121.3 µg Cu plant-1). Phosphorous (P) fertilizer led to a negligible decline in soil pH (0.2 units) but significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced the concentrations of soil available in Cu and Fe, due to the formation of insoluble Cu/Fe-phosphate precipitates. Nevertheless, P fertilizer still improved the accumulation and extraction of Cu by R. communis, most likely attributable to the Fe-deficiency induced by applied P fertilizer. Moreover, the application of P fertilizer revealed a significant reduction in MDA, and a profound (p ≤ 0.05) elevation in the amount of photosynthetic pigments, GSH and AsA, along with the enhanced activities of antioxidative enzymes (SOD, POD, and CAT). In this way, Cu toxicity was alleviated. P fertilizers not only enhance the phytoremediation efficiency of Cu-contaminated soils by R. communis, but they also facilitate detoxification, which improves our understanding of the role of P in phytoremediation technologies.

A new griseofulvin derivative from a soft coral-derived fungus Eupenicillium sp. SCSIO41208.

A new griseofulvin derivative, eupenigriseofulvin (1), together with six known compounds, griseofulvin (2), dechlorogriseofluvin (3), dechloroisogriseofulvin (4), trichopyrone (5), 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-ethanol (6), and 1-phenylethane-1,2-diol (7), were isolated from the EtOAc extract of Eupenicillium sp. SCSIO41208. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including NMR and mass spectrometry. The absolute configuration of 1 was determined on the basis of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data analysis.

New quinoline alkaloid and bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoid derivatives from the deep-sea-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. SCSIO06786.

One new quinoline alkaloid (1), two new bisabolane-type sesquiterpene derivatives (2 and 3), and a new natural product (4) along with ten known compounds (514) were isolated from the deep sea-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. SCSIO06786 which cultured on solid rice medium. Three new structures were elucidated by analysis of 1D/2D NMR data and HR-ESI-MS. The absolute configurations of 2 and 3 were established by comparison of the experimental and reported ECD values. Compounds 11-13 exhibited moderate selective inhibitory activities against the tested pathogenic bacteria with MIC values among 3.13-12.5 µg/mL.

Croceibacterium gen. nov., with description of Croceibacterium ferulae sp. nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from Ferula sinkiangensis K. M. Shen and reclassification of Porphyrobacter mercurialis as Croceibacterium mercuriale comb. nov.

A novel endophytic bacterium, designated strain SX2RGS8T, was isolated from the surface-sterilized roots of an endangered medicinal plant (Ferula sinkiangensis K. M. Shen) collected from Xinjiang, north-western PR China. The taxonomic position of the candidate was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Strain SX2RGS8T was found to be aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, oxidase-negative, catalase-positive and axiolitic-shaped. Strain SX2RGS8T grew at 4-45 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 4.0-10.0 (pH 7.0) and in the presence of 0-5 % (w/v) NaCl. The polar lipids detected for strain SX2RGS8T were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, unidentified phosphoglycolipids, an unidentified phospholipid and unidentified lipids. The major respiratory quinone of strain SX2RGS8T was ubiquinone 10 and the major fatty acid was summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c). The DNA G+C content was determined to be 66.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate belonged to the family Erythrobacteraceae and showed 99.2 % (Porphyrobacter mercurialis), 95.5 % (Porphyrobacter donghaensisi) and 95.4 % (Porphyrobacter colymbi) similarities to its closest relatives. The isolate contained carotenoids, but no bacteriochlorophyll a. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data, strain SX2RGS8T represents a novel species of a novel genus in the family Erythrobacteraceae, for which the name Croceibacterium ferulae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SX2RGS8T (=CGMCC 1.16402T=KCTC 62090T). In addition, Porphyrobacter mercurialis Coil et al. 2016 is proposed to be transferred to this new genus as Croceibacterium mercuriale comb. nov.

Structurally diverse sesquiterpenoids and polyketides from a sponge-associated fungus Aspergillus sydowii SCSIO41301.

Five new compounds, including one bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids, namely aspergillusene D (1), two new xanthones (2 and 3), and two new catecholderivatives (4 and 5), together with fourteen known compounds (6-19), were isolated and identified from the fungus Aspergillus sydowiiSCSIO 41,301 from the sponge Phakellia fusca. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Most of the isolated compounds (1-3, and 6-19) were evaluated for their antiviral, cytotoxic, and antibacterial activities. Among them, new compounds 2 and 3 displayed obvious selective inhibitory activities against two influenza A virus subtypes, including A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) and A/FM-1/1/47 (H1N1), with IC50 values ranging from 2.17 ±â€¯1.39 to 4.70 ±â€¯1.11 µM.