Renoprotective effect of Chinese chive polysaccharides in adenine-induced chronic renal failure.

In this work, we investigated the effect of Chinese chive polysaccharides (CCP) on renal function in mice with adenine-induced chronic renal failure (CRF). Results exhibited that adenine treatment caused serious renal pathological damages and elevation of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen of mice. However, these changes could be significantly reversed by the administration of CCP in a dose-dependent manner. When CCP dosage reached 200mg/kg/day, the area of renal pathological damage was decreased by 59.2%, and the levels of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were decreased by 23.9% and 34.7% compared to those of model group. Moreover, it was found that renal oxidative damage, inflammation and fibrosis of adenine-induced CRF mice could also be significantly inhibited by CCP. These results suggested that CCP could improve the kidney functions of adenine-induced CRF mice and the renoprotective effect might be associated with its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrosis activities.

Homozygous and heterozygous point mutations in succinate dehydrogenase subunits b, c and d of Rhizoctonia cerealis conferring resistance to thifluzamide.

BACKGROUND: Thifluzamide, a succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicide, is a promising fungicide for controlling wheat sharp eyespot (WSE). WSE is caused by Rhizoctonia cerealis. Information on the resistance mechanism of this pathogen to thifluzamide remains unavailable. RESULTS: We used selective reculturing and UV mutagenesis to generate thifluzamide-resistant mutants. Thifluzamide-resistant mutants were only generated through UV mutagenesis. Sequence analysis of succinate dehydrogenase (Sdh) genes revealed that two mutants had no mutation in RCSdhB, RCSdhC and RCSdhD, and the other 18 mutants all had at least one mutation in RCSdhB, RCSdhC or RCSdhD, either in a homozygous or heterozygous state. The majority of mutants included either RCSdhD-H116Y or RCSdhC-H139Y. They showed slight resistance to boscalid, bixafen and penflufen. Only one mutant possessed RCSdhB-H246Y, and it showed medium resistance to boscalid and penflufen and a slight resistance to bixafen. All the thifluzamide mutants were sensitive to flutolanil. Compared with their parental isolates, these mutants present no or minor fitness penalties. CONCLUSION: Homozygous and heterozygous point mutations in the succinate dehydrogenase subunits b, c and d of R. cerealis may be involved in thifluzamide resistance. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

A new kinetic model of ultrasound-assisted extraction of polysaccharides from Chinese chive.

Chinese chive, a famous green vegetable, is widely cultivated in the Asia. In the present study, we found that ultrasound caused the degradation of Chinese chive polysaccharides (CCP) in the process of extraction. Since lacking the consideration of polysaccharide degradation, the traditional kinetic models can not reflect the real extraction process of CCP. Therefore, a modified kinetic model was thus established by introducing a parameter of degradation coefficient based on the Fick's second law, suggesting the diffusion and degradation of CCP is highly dependent on the ultrasonic power, extraction temperature and solid-liquid ratio. According to this modified model, the maximum CCP yield was obtained under an optimal extraction condition including extraction temperature 37°C, ultrasonic power 458 w, extraction time 30min and solid-liquid ratio 1:32. The objective polysaccharides responding to ultrasound were shown to be four different fractions, contributing to the increased diffusion and degradation of CCP by ultrasound treatment.

Structural identification and immunostimulating activity of a Laminaria japonica polysaccharide.

In the present study, a new water-soluble polysaccharide (LJP-11) was obtained from Laminaria japonica by anion exchange DEAE-cellulose chromatography and Sephacryl S-500 chromatography. The average molecular weight of this polysaccharide was estimated to be about 2.89×10(6) Da by high performance liquid chromatography system. Gas chromatography showed that LJP-11 was composed of arabinose, mannose and glucose in a molar ratio of 1.0:1.16:6.33. LJP-11 contains a long backbone consisting of (1→4)-ß-D-GlcpAc, (1→4)-α-D-Glcp, (1→6)-ß-D-Glcp and (1→3,6)-α-D-Manp. The 1-linked ß-L-Araf was linked to the C-6 of (1→3)-α-D-Manp and the sulfate group was attached to the C-4 of (1→6)-ß-D-Glcp. Pharmacological tests displayed that LJP-11 can stimulate macrophages to release NO, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 as well as the up-regulation of their gene expressions, indicating LJP-11 has beneficial effects on immunostimulation. Moreover, LJP-11 exhibited positive effects on the translocation of NF-κB p65 from cytoplasm to nucleus and the phosphorylation of IκBα, ERK1/2, JNK1/2 and P38 in macrophages. These results suggested that the activation of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways is one of the mechanisms responsible for the immunostimulating activity of LJP-11.