Molecular evidence provides new insights into the evolutionary origin of an ancient traditional Chinese medicine, the domesticated "Baizhi".

Introduction: "Baizhi" is a famous herbal medicine in China, and it includes four landraces named as 'Hangbaizhi', 'Chuanbaizhi', 'Qibaizhi', and 'Yubaizhi'. Long-term artificial selection had caused serious degradation of these germplasms. Determining the wild progenitor of the landraces would be benefit for their breed improvements. Previous studies have suggested Angelica dahurica var. dahurica, A. dahurica var. formosana, or A. porphyrocaulis as potential candidates, but the conclusion remains uncertain, and their phylogenetic relationships are still in controversy. Methods: In this study, the genetic variation and phylogenetic analyses of these species and four landraces were conducted on the basis of both the nrITS and plastome datasets. Results: Genetic variation analysis showed that all 8 population of four landraces shared only one ITS haplotype, meanwhile extremely low variation occurred within 6 population at plastid genome level. Both datasets supported the four landraces might be originated from a single wild germplasm. Phylogenetic analyses with both datasets revealed largely consistent topology using Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood methods. Samples of the four landraces and all wild A. dahurica var. dahurica formed a highly supported monophyletic clade, and then sister to the monophyly clade comprised by samples of A. porphyrocaulis, while four landraces were clustered into one clade, which further clustered with a mixed branches of A. porphyrocaulis and A. dahurica var. dahurica to form sister branches for plastid genomes. Furthermore, the monophyletic A. dahurica var. formosana was far distant from the A. dahurica var. dahurica-"Baizhi" clade in Angelica phylogeny. Such inferences was also supported by the evolutionary patterns of nrITS haplotype network and K2P genetic distances. The outcomes indicated A. dahurica var. dahurica is most likely the original plant of "Baizhi". Discussion: Considering of phylogenetic inference and evolutionary history, the species-level status of A. dahurica var. formosana should be accepted, and the taxonomic level and phylgenetic position of A. porphyrocaulis should be further confirmed. This study preliminarily determined the wild progenitor of "Baizhi" and clarified the phylogenetic relationships among A. dahurica var. dahurica, A. dahurica var. formosana and A. porphyrocaulis, which will provide scientific guidance for wild resources protections and improvement of "Baizhi".

The identification of a novel compound heterozygous mutation in hereditary human coagulation factor VII deficiency following a bamboo leaf green snake bite.

Hereditary factor VII (FVII) deficiency is an uncommon autosomal recessive disorder associated with mutations in the F7 gene, and laboratory investigations usually reveal isolated prolongation in prothrombin time (PT)/international normalized ratio (INR). Venom-induced consumptive coagulopathy (VICC) is distinguished by the activation of the coagulation pathway, which is triggered by procoagulant toxins in snake venom. Diagnosing snakebites in patients with hereditary FVII deficiency presents a challenge because prolonged time PT/INR is considered the most valuable diagnostic method for VICC. Therefore, it is possible that certain patients may not promptly receive an accurate diagnosis of hereditary FVII deficiency. We present a pedigree featuring hereditary FVII deficiency, which was diagnosed through Sanger sequencing, following a bamboo leaf green snake bite.

Cell-bound IgE and plasma IgE as a combined clinical diagnostic indicator for allergic patients.

Allergic responses are mainly caused by IgE, which is often located on the cell surface. The current diagnostic method detects both allergen-specific IgE and total IgE levels, but a number of allergic patients have a normal serum IgE level, which is a poor clinical correlate for allergy. Here, we developed a simple method to detect the level of cell-bound IgE by dissociating it from blood cells with lactic acid. Dissociated cell-bound IgE and plasma IgE levels were detected using the same ELISA kit at the same time. We established two clinical cohorts: an allergic patient group and a healthy participant group. In general, cell-bound IgE correlated well with plasma IgE; however, some patients exhibited high cell-bound IgE levels but low plasma IgE levels. We recommended 350 ng/mL peripheral blood total IgE (cell-bound IgE + plasma IgE) as the cut-off value for allergy diagnosis. Using this indicator, 90.32% of our allergic patients were correctly diagnosed. The peripheral blood total IgE level is a promising clinical diagnostic indicator in allergic patients and will provide more guidance for allergy diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation.

Anodic electrogenerated chemiluminescence of self-assembled peptide nanotubes in an aqueous system.

Anodic electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of the self-assembled peptide nanotube (PNT) modified electrode in an aqueous system was observed for the first time using tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) as the coreactant. The potential application of ECL PNTs in analytical chemistry was also demonstrated using Cu(2+) as an example.

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence behavior of peptide nanovesicle and its application in sensing dopamine.

The electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) behavior of the bioinspired peptide nanovesicles (PNVs) was reported for the first time. The PNVs modified glassy carbon electrodes have shown a stable and efficient cathodic ECL signal with K2S2O8 as coreactant in aqueous solution. The possible ECL reaction mechanism was proposed. Dopamine (DA) was chosen as a model analyte to study the potential of the PNVs in the ECL analytical application. It was found that the ECL intensity of the PNVs was effectively increased by trace amounts of DA. The limit of detection was estimated to be 3.15 pM (S/N=3). These results suggest that the PNVs could be a new class of promising materials for the ECL design and bioassays in the future due to their fascinating features, such as excellent biocompatibility, tunable composition as well as capability of molecular recognition.

[Mn2+-cTMAB-sensitized fluorescent microscopic determination of tosufloxacin tosylate based on a self-ordered ring].

With the development of antimicrobial drugs, drug residue in animal products has a serious potential hazards for the environment and public health, it is urgent to set up drug residue detection method with low detection limit and good selectivity. In our paper, with poly (vinyl alcohol)-124 (PVA-124) and NH3-NH4Cl (pH 10.50) as the medium, Mn2+ and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTMAB) as sensitizer, tosufloxacin tosylate (TSFX) formed a self-ordered ring (SOR) on a hydrophobic glass slide support. When the droplet volume is 0.20 microL, the TSFX can be detected in the range of 4.05 x 10(-14) approximately 4.28 x 10(-13) mol x ring(-1) (2.02 x 10(-7) approximately 2.14 x 10(-6) mol x L(-1)), and the limit of detection (LOD) can reach 4.1 x 10(-15) mol x ring(-1) (2.0 x 10(-8) mol x L(-1)). The established method had been applied satisfactorily to determine the content of TSFX in tablet, which close to the marked value of 0.15 g x piece(-1)) found value: 0.144 g x piece(-1)) and the results of TSFX concentrations in rabbit serum at different time after dosing with the recoveries of 90.0% - 105.0% and RSDs 1.9% - 3.3% were satisfactory. Xilinguole of Inner Mongolia is the national important livestock products ground, whose lamb is the main suppling source for Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan region. It is very urgent to detect residue of antibacterial drug in its sheep tissue samples (meat, liver, kidney). In this paper, when acetonitrile was used as extraction agent in pretreatment of sheep tissue samples in six rangelands including Sonid Right Banner, Xiwuzhumuqin Banner, Xilinhot City, Duolun County, The white Flag Town and The Blue Flag Town, the extract can be directly determined with SOR technology without filtering process, the sample standard addition recovery of sheep tissues were 92.0%-101.0% and RSDs were less than 2.7%. The results indicated that the SOR technique can be successfully applied to pharmaceuticals and biological samples, which broaden the applied range of SOR technique. The assay would provide reliable experimental data and theoretical basis for the relevant departments.