RESUMO
Dirigent(DIR) proteins are involved in the biosynthesis of lignin, lignans, and gossypol in plants and respond to biotic and abiotic stresses. Based on the full-length transcriptome of Schisandra chinensis, bioinformatics methods were used to preliminarily identify the DIR gene family and analyze the physico-chemical properties, subcellular localization, conserved motifs, phylogeny, and expression patterns of the proteins. The results showed that a total of 34 DIR genes were screened and the encoded proteins were 156-387 aa. The physico-chemical properties of the proteins were different and the secondary structure was mainly random coil. Half of the DIR proteins were located in chloroplast, while the others in extracellular region, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasm, etc. Phylogenetic analysis of DIR proteins from S. chinensis and the other 8 species such as Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, and Glycine max demonstrated that all DIR proteins were clustered into 5 subfamilies and that DIR proteins from S. chinensis were in 4 subfamilies. DIR-a subfamily has the unique structure of 8 β-sheets, as verified by multiple sequence alignment. Finally, through the analysis of the transcriptome of S. chinensis fruit at different development stages, the expression pattern of DIR was clarified. Combined with the accumulation of lignans in fruits at different stages, DIR might be related to the synthesis of lignans in S. chinensis. This study lays a theoretical basis for exploring the biological functions of DIR genes and elucidating the biosynthesis pathway of lignans in S. chinensis.
Assuntos
Frutas/genética , Lignanas/análise , Filogenia , Schisandra , Alinhamento de SequênciaRESUMO
Cambodia is rich in medicinal plant resources. One hundred and thirty-three medicinal material samples, including the hole herb, root, stem/branch, leaf, flower, fruit, seed, and resin, were collected from the Orussey Herbal Market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and then authenticated by ITS and psbA-trnH. A total of 46 samples were identified based on ITS sequences, belonging to 24 families, 40 genera, and 42 species. A total of 100 samples were identified by psbA-trnH sequences to belong to 42 families, 77 genera, and 84 species. A total of 103 samples were identified by two DNA barcodes. According to the morphological characteristics of the medicinal materials, 120 samples classified into 50 species, 86 genera, and 86 families were identified, and the majority of them were from Zingiberaceae, Fabaceae, and Acanthaceae. Such samples have been commonly used in traditional Cambodian medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Unani medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and ethnomedicine, but different medical systems focus on different functional aspects of the same medicinal material. The results of this study have demonstrated that DNA barcoding has a significant advantage in identifying herbal products, and this study has provided basic data for understanding the traditional medicinal materials used in Cambodia.
Assuntos
Humanos , Camboja , Código de Barras de DNA Taxonômico , DNA de Plantas/genética , Folhas de Planta , Plantas Medicinais/genéticaRESUMO
Cranberry extract (CBE) rich in polyphenols are potent to delay paralysis induced by alleviating β-amyloid (Aβ) toxicity in C. elegans model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In order to better apply CBE as an anti-AD agent efficiently, we sought to deterrmine whether preventive or therapeutic effect contributes more prominently toward CBE's anti-AD activity. As the level of Aβ toxicity and memory health are two major pathological parameters in AD, in the present study, we compared the effects of CBE on Aβ toxicity and memory health in the C. elegans AD model treated with preventive and therapeutic protocols. Our results revealed that CBE prominently showed the preventive efficacy, providing a basis for further investigation of these effects in mammals.