Phomopamide A, a cyclic pentadepsipeptide with α-glucosidase inhibition activity from the endophytic fungus Diaporthe sp.

An undescribed cytotoxic cyclopeptide named phomopamide A (1) was isolated from Diaporthe sp., which is an endophytic fungus from Artemisia argyi. Phomopamide A (1) featured an pentadepsipeptide skeleton and composed of two Phe, one Val, one Leu, and one 2-hydroxyoctanoic acid units. The structure of this new compound was fully characterised on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis. Moreover, phomopamide A was evaluated for in vitro cyctotoxic and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. As a result, phomopaminde A exhibited no cytotoxic activity against four tumour cell lines, while it showed a potent α-glucosidase inhibition effect with IC50 value of 62.35 µM.

Implementation of the HACCP System for Apple Juice Concentrate Based on Patulin Prevention and Control.

Patulin (PAT) is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp., which acts as a contaminant of most apples and their products. The internationally recognized HACCP system is selected as the theoretical basis to more effectively reduce the PAT in apple juice concentrate (AJC). Through field investigation of apple juice concentrate (AJC) production enterprises, we collected 117 samples from 13 steps of AJC production, including whole apple, apple pulp, and apple juice. PAT contents were analyzed via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and compared with samples from the different production processes. The result demonstrated that the PAT content was significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by five processes, receipt of raw apples, sorting of raw apples, adsorption step, pasteurization, and aseptic filling. These processes were determined as the CCPs. Monitoring systems for maintaining CCPs within acceptable limits were established, and corrective actions were proposed in case a CCP was surpassed. Based on the above-identified CCPs, critical limits, and control methods (corrective actions), a HACCP plan related to the production process of AJC was established. This study provided important guidance for juice manufacturers wishing to effectively control the PAT content in their products.

Effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens XJ-BV2007 on Growth of Alternaria alternata and Production of Tenuazonic Acid.

Large amounts of processing tomato are grown in Xinjiang, China. Tomato black spot disease, caused by Alternaria spp., and the produced alternaria toxins in tomato products are posing risks to human health. In this study, we isolated a rhizospheric bacterium, XJ-BV2007, from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fields, which we identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. We found that this bacterium has a strong antagonistic effect against Alternaria alternata and reduces the accumulation of alternaria toxins in tomatoes. According to the antifungal activity of the bacteria-free filtrate, we revealed that B. amyloliquefaciens XJ-BV2007 suppresses A. alternata by the production of antifungal metabolites. Combining semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, we employed UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis and the Oxford cup experiment to find that fengycin plays an important role in inhibiting A. alternata. This paper firstly reported that B. amyloliquefaciens efficiently controls tomato black spot disease and mycotoxins caused by A. alternata. B. amyloliquefaciens XJ-BV2007 may provide an alternative biocontrol strain for the prevention of tomato black spot disease.

The Potential of Alternaria Toxins Production by A. alternata in Processing Tomatoes.

As a filamentous and spoilage fungus, Alternaria spp. can not only infect processing tomatoes, but also produce a variety of mycotoxins which harm the health of human beings. To explore the production of Alternaria toxins in processing tomatoes during growth and storage, four main Alternaria toxins and four conjugated toxins were detected by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-IMS QToF MS) in processing tomatoes on different days after being inoculated with A. alternata. The results show that the content of Alternaria toxins in an in vivo assay is higher than that under field conditions. Tenuazonic acid (TeA) is the predominant toxin detected in the field (205.86~41,389.19 µg/kg) and in vivo (7.64~526,986.37 µg/kg) experiments, and the second-most abundant toxin is alternariol (AOH). In addition, a small quantity of conjugated toxins, AOH-9-glucoside (AOH-9-Glc) and alternariol monomethyl ether-3-glucoside (AME-3-Glc), were screened in the in vivo experiment. This is the first time the potential of Alternaria toxins produced in tomatoes during the harvest period has been studied in order to provide data for the prevention and control of Alternaria toxins.

Screening of multi-mycotoxins in fruits by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

A modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction procedure combined with ultra-performance liquid chromatographic separation and ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was developed to determine the presence of 20 mycotoxins (i.e., Alternaria toxins, ochratoxin, patulin, aflatoxin and trichothecenes) in fruit samples from Xinjiang. A complete platform, including screening via an in-house library, confirmation and quantification using reference standards, was established, which provided accurate MS data and complete spectra containing the fragment ions for each analyte. To evaluate the performance of the developed method, satisfactory validation parameters, such as linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9992), precision (RSDs ≤ 9.8%), recovery (81.2-99.2%), LOD (0.06-2.22 µg kg-1), and LOQ (0.2-7.39 µg kg-1), were obtained. The analysis of 130 fruit samples revealed nonnegligible contamination with mycotoxins; specifically, the highest levels of three Alternaria toxins were detected in jujube, wolfberries and raisins.

The floral morphology of four Chinese Bambusa species (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) previously described only from vegetative material.

Due to their specialised flowering biology where frequent or even annual flowering is uncommon, reproductive materials of bamboos are not always available, so hampering taxonomic interpretation and research into other aspects. Bambusacontracta, B.corniculata, B.cornigera and B.subtruncata were established only based on vegetative materials and flowering or fruiting material has been hitherto unknown. The floral morphology of these four species is described for the first time and, correspondingly, epitypes are designated to support a more complete interpretation of the species.

The complete chloroplast genome of Aganope dinghuensis (Fabaceae).

Aganope is a genus in the family Fabaceae, with only 11 species. They are distributed throughout Asia and Africa. Aganope dinghuensis, a newly reported species, is native to China with a restricted distribution. We, therefore, report its complete chloroplast genome for better future conservation. The chloroplast genome of A. dinghuensis is 143,690 bp, with a GC content of 35.32%. In the genome, a pair of inverted repeat regions of 13,015 bp each, a large single-copy region of 98,824 bp, and a small single-copy region of 18,836 bp were identified. Genome annotation identified 115 genes, comprising 74 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, and 33 transfer RNA genes. Repeat analysis indicates that the chloroplast genome of A. dinghuensis contains 126 simple sequence repeats (SSR), of which the majority are A/T mononucleotides. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. dinghuensis is a sister to the clade that includes Indigofera tinctoria, Desmodium uncinatum, Sarcodum scandens, Wisteria brachybotrys, and Callerya nitida.

Khoonmengia honbaensis, a new genus and species of temperate bamboo (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) from central-southern Vietnam.

A new genus of Arundinarieae, Khoonmengia, is established to accommodate a unique new bamboo species, K. honbaensis, from central-southern Vietnam. The morphological features, habitats and distribution of Khoonmengia and related genera, i.e. Ampelocalamus and Hsuehochloa, are compared. The characters of its scrambling habit, internodes with brownish green dots, conspicuous nodes swollen at one side, elliptic buds wholly sunken into culm, extravaginal branching pattern, mid-culm branch complement with one central dominant branch elongating to reiterate the culm accompanied by several lateral slender branches, swollen culm sheath base with a distinctive zone of transverse wrinkles, synflorescence composed of only one spikelet, single or several to many synflorescences arranged into a raceme or panicle terminal on leafy branches, purple anthers and nut-like caryopsis with hardened pericarp and loosely adherent lemma and palea distinguish K. honbaensis from morphologically similar taxa. In order to investigate the phylogenetic position of this unknown bamboo, molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the nuclear gene GBSSI were also conducted, and the results proved that K. honbaensis is definitely a member of Arundinarieae with an isolated position, which also indicated that this species could not be assigned to any of the already described genera and supported the establishment of the new genus.

Tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system PCR (T-ARMS-PCR) rapidly identified a critical missense mutation (P236T) of bovine ACADVL gene affecting growth traits.

Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, very long chain (ACADVL), encoding ACADVL protein, targets the inner mitochondrial membrane where it catalyzes the first step of the mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation pathway and plays an important role in body metabolism and oxidation of long chain fatty acid releasing energy. Tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system PCR (T-ARMS-PCR) is an easy-to-operate, rapid, inexpensive, and exact method for SNP genotyping. Herein, T-ARMS-PCR was carried out to detect a critical missense mutation (AC_000176:g.2885C>A; Pro236Thr) within the ACADVL gene in 644 individuals from two cattle breeds. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the T-ARMS-PCR at this locus, the genotype of the sampled individuals was also identified by PCR-RFLP. The concordance between these two methods was 98.76%. Statistical analysis showed that the bovine ACADVL gene had a significant effect on chest width (P<0.05), chest depth (P<0.05), and hip width (P<0.05) in the Qinchuan breed. The cattle with AA genotype had superior growth traits compared to cattle with AC and/or CC genotypes. The "A" allele had positive effects on growth traits. Therefore, T-ARMS-PCR can replace PCR-RFLP for rapid genotyping of this mutation, which could be used as a DNA marker for selecting individuals with superior growth traits in the Qinchuan breed. These findings contribute to breeding and genetics in beef cattle industry.

[Analysis of the correlations between growth hormone receptor gene polymorphism and body size indexes in cattle].

Polymorphism in exon 10 of growth hormone receptor (GHR) was detected in three cattle breeds (Nanyang cattle, limousin and galloway), They were at A/T at nt. 495, C/T at nt. 622, A/C at nt. 650, T/C at nt. 702 and A/G at nt. 730. Results indicated that there were six genotypes, namely AA, BB, CC, AB, AC and BC. The frequencies of different genotypes in different breeds and the relationship between the six genotypes and traits of these cattle were analyzed using a linear model. Statistical results showed that the GHR SSCP sites in Nanyang, Limousin and Galloway cattle were at Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values indicated that the SSCPs were highly polymorphic (PIC < 0.50) in the Nanyang breed, and were moderately polymorphic in Limousin and Galloway breeds. The least squares means of body weight of 12-month-old cattle was lower for genotype CC than for genotypes AB and BC (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively). The least squares means of body weight of 18-month-old cattle was lower for genotype CC than for BC (P < 0.05). The least squares means of heart girth in 18-month-old cattle was lower for genotype CC than for AB (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the genotype distribution among other genotypes.