[Determination and fingerprint analysis of tetramethylpyrazine and ferulic acid in Ligusticum chuanxiong].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the contents of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) and ferulic acid in Ligusticum chuanxiong from different producing areas and seasons. METHODS: The contents of TMP and ferulic acid were determined by HPLC, and then analyzed by Chromatographic Fingerprints. RESULTS: The contents of TMP and ferulic acid from different seasons were obviously different from each other. It was much higher in "laoxiong" than that in "naixiong". The similarity of fingerprints was high if the samples were collected from the same season, or the same areas, but not different seasons. CONCLUSIONS: The contents of TMP and ferulic acid were different from different producing areas. The evident variety of Ligusticum chuanxiong's fingerprints from different collecting seasons, Laoxiong and Naixiong, was not relevant for clinical use as the same medicine.

[Carotenoid biosynthesis in plants and application of its relative genes in gene engineering].

In recent years, the cloning and characterization of carotenogenic genes has provided new gene resources and molecular tools, which can be utilized to genetically alter carotenoid composition and enrich the carotenoid content in vivo by gene engineering technique for plants. Increasing evidences in the studies of biochemistry of carotenogenesis and its regulation in vivo make the genetically manipulating carotenoid biosynthesis pathway to be possible in plants. In this review, the carotenoid biosynthesis pathways and the some genes involved in this pathway in plants are summarized, and some progresses including author's work in the successful manipulation of carotenoid composition and content in plants using gene-transfer technology are also covered.