Paenibacillus solani sp. nov., isolated from potato rhizosphere soil.

A novel Gram-stain-positive, endospore-forming bacterium, designated FJAT-22460T, was isolated from a soil sample of a potato field in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. Cells were rods that were catalase-positive and motile by peritrichous flagella. The strain was found to grow at temperatures ranging from 10 to 40 °C (optimum 30 °C) and at pH 5.0-12.0 (optimum pH 7) with 0-5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0 % NaCl). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain FJAT-22460T belonged to the genus Paenibacillus and exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 97.3, 97.2, 97.2 and 97.0 % with Paenibacillus glucanolyticus DSM 5162T, Paenibacillus lautus DSM 3035T, Paenibacillus lactis MB 1871T and Paenibacillus chibensis JCM 9905T, respectively. DNA-DNA relatedness of strain FJAT-22460T with Paenibacillus glucanolyticusDSM 5162T and Paenibacillus lautus DSM 3035T was 62.6 % and 33.3 %, respectively, lower than the 70 % accepted for species delineation. The menaquinone was identified as MK-7. The major fatty acids detected were anteiso-C15 : 0 (51.4 %), iso-C15 : 0 (5.3 %), C16 : 0 (12.1 %), iso-C16 : 0 (10.7 %) and anteiso-C17 : 0 (6.9 %). The DNA G+C content was determined to be 50.9 mol%. Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic properties clearly indicated that isolate FJAT-22460T represents a novel species within the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus solani sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-22460T (=DSM 100999T=CCTCC AB 2015207T).

[Preventive Effect of Fangshuan Capsule on PCI-induced Myocardial Damage and Vascular Endo- thelial Injury in Patients with Unstable Angina Pectoris].

Objective To observe the prevention of Fangshuan Capsule (FC) on percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) induced myocardial damage and vascular endothelial injury in patients with un- stable angina pectoris (UAP). Methods Totally 100 UAP patients undergoing PCI were assigned to the control group and the treatment group by random digit table, 50 in each group. All patients received routine Western medicine therapy. Those in the treatment group additionally took FC, 6 pills each time, three times per day for at least 2 days before PCI operation. The therapeutic course for each group was 2 weeks. The clinical therapeutic effect was observed in the two groups. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) , changes of myocardial oxygen consumption ( HR x SBP, kPa/min) were compared. The levels of serum troponin I (cTn 1), creatinine kinase-MB (CK-MB) , myoglobin (MYO) , endothelin (ET), and nitric oxide (NO) were measured before PCI, and 6, 12, 24 h, 3 and 7 days after PCI. Results The markedly effective rate of Chinese medical syndromes was 54% (17/50) and the total effective rate was 94% (47/50) in the treatment group, obviously higher than those of the control group [26% (13/50) and 88% (44/50) ; P <0. 01]. Compared with before treatment in the same group, HR, SBP, myocardial oxygen consumption, and plasma ET level were reduced, plasma NO level was elevated in two groups after treatment (P <0.05, P <0. 01). cTnl concentration increased at 6, 12, 24 h, and day 3 (P <0. 05, P <0. 01 ) ; CK-MB concentration was elevated at 6, 12, and 24 h (P <0. 05, P <0. 01) ; MYO concentration increased at 6 and 12 h (P < 0. 01) in the control group after treatment. cTnl concentration increased at 12 and 24 h (P <0. 05, P <0. 01); CK-MB concentration was elevated at 6 and 12 h (P <0. 05) ; MYO concentration increased at 6 h (P <0. 01) in the treatment group after treatment. Compared with the control group at the same time point, HR, myocardial oxygen consumption, and plasma ET level decreased (P <0. 05); cTnl decreased at 6, 12, and 24 h (P <0. 05); CK-MB concentration decreased at 12 h (P <0. 05); MYO concentration decreased at 6 and 12 h (P <0. 05) in the treatment group after treatment. Conclusion FC could effectively improve scores of Chinese medical syndromes after PCI surgery, reduce myocardial oxygen consumption, attenuate myocar- dial damage and vascular endothelial injury in UAP patients after PCI.

Bacillus solani sp. nov., isolated from rhizosphere soil of a potato field.

A novel Gram-stain-positive, endospore-forming bacterium, designated strain FJAT-18043T, was isolated from a soil sample of a potato field in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. Cells were rods that were catalase-positive and motile by peritrichous flagella. The strain grew at 20-45 °C (optimum 35 °C), at pH 6.0-10.0 (optimum pH 9) and with 0-10 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain FJAT-18043T belonged to the genus Bacillus and exhibited similarities of 97.7, 97.6, 97.2 and 97.2 % with Bacillus eiseniae A1-2T, Bacillus horneckiae DSM 23495T, Bacillus gottheilii WCC 4585T and Bacillus purgationiresistens DS22T, respectively. DNA-DNA relatedness between strain FJAT-18043T and B. eiseniae A1-2 T was lower than 70 % (36.1 %). The menaquinone was identified as MK-7 and the major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The major fatty acids detected were anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0, C16 : 0 and iso-C14 : 0. The DNA G+C content was 48.8 mol%. Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic properties clearly indicated that isolate FJAT-18043T represents a novel species within the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus solani sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-18043T ( = DSM 29501T = CCTCC AB 2014277T).

Effects of puerarin on expression of cardiac Smad3 and Smad7 mRNA in spontaneously hypertensive rat.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Puerarin is a pure extract from traditional Chinese medicine Kudzu root. It has been used to treat hypertension and angina pectoris. In our previous study, it showed a protective effect against cardiac hypertrophy in rats. This study was to observe effects of puerarin on expression of cardiac transforming growth factor ß(1) (TGF-ß(1)), Smad3 and Smad7 mRNA in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), and to explore its possible mechanism of myocardial protection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five 12-week-old SHRs were randomly allocated into 5 groups of 7 rats as follows: 3 groups which received intraperitoneal (i.p.) puerarin (100 mg kg(-1), 50 mg kg(-1) and 25 mg kg(-1)), 1 group which received captopril (30 mg kg(-1), i.g.) and 1 control group of untreated SHRs. In addition, a control group of 7 Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats was established. Both control groups received i.p. injections of saline. All rats were treated for six weeks. At the end of this period all rats were sacrificed, and their hearts were quickly removed for semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. RESULTS: Compared with WKY control group, expression of TGF-ß(1) and Smad3 mRNA was increased (p<0.01) and Smad7 mRNA expression was decreased in SHR control group (p<0.01). High- and middle-dose puerarin decreased the expression of TGF-ß(1) and Smad3 mRNA (p<0.01) and increased the expression of Smad7 mRNA (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Puerarin reduces expression of TGF-ß(1) and Smad3 mRNA and increases that of Smad7 mRNA in SHR myocardium. These changes in gene expression may be a mechanism by which puerarin provides myocardial protection from hypertension.