DNA barcoding identification of original plants of a rare medicinal material Resina Draconis and related Dracaena species / 中国中药杂志

Resina Draconis, a rare and precious traditional medicine in China, is known as the "holy medicine for promoting blood circulation". According to the national drug standard, it's derived from the resin extracted from the wood of Dracaena cochinchinensis, a Liliaceae plant. In addition, a variety of Dracaena species all over the world can form red resins, and there is currently no molecular identification method that can efficiently identify the origin of Dracaena medicinal materials. In this study, seven species of Dracaena distributed in China were selected as the research objects. Four commonly used DNA barcodes(ITS2, matK, rbcL and psbA-trnH), and four highly variable regions(trnP-psaJ, psbK-psbI, trnT-trnL, clpP) in chloroplast genome were used to evaluate the identification efficiency of Dracaena species. The results showed that clpP sequence fragment could accurately identify seven species of Dracaena plants. However, due to the long sequence of clpP fragment, there were potential problems in the practical application process. We found that the combined fragment "psbK-psbI+ trnP-psaJ" can also be used for accurate molecular identification of the Resina Draconis origin plants and relative species of Dracaena, which were both relatively short sequences in the combined fragment, showing high success rates of amplification and sequencing. Therefore, the "psbK-psbI+ trnP-psaJ" combined fragment can be used as the DNA barcode fragments for molecular identification of Resina Dracon's origin plants and relative species of Dracaena. Research on the identification of Dracaena species, the results of this study can be used to accurately identify the original material of Resina Draconis, and providing effective means for identification, rational development and application of Resina Draconis base source.

Fungal composition in massa medicata fermentata based on culture dependent method and independent PCR-SSCP technique / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the fungal composition in Massa Medicata Fermentata based on culture dependent method and independent PCR-SSCP technique.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Fungi were directly isolated from Massa Medicata Fermentata samples. The obtained strains were identified according to morphology and DNA sequence. Meanwhile the total fungal DNA was extracted from Massa Medicata Fermentata samples, the cultural independent PCR-SSCP technique based on β-tubulin gene were used to identify the mycobiota.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>According to cultural method, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus oryzae were present in Massa Medicata Fermentata samples, while A. flavus and A. niger were present in fried Massa Medicata Fermentata samples. In contrast, 5 species were obtained by PCR-SSCP technique, A. flavus was overlapped with fungal taxa derived from culture dependent method; A. ambiguu and A. s ivoriensis were dominant with relative abundance of 57% and 35% respectively, while the relative abundance of A. flavus was as low as 4%. None species was obtained from fried Massa Medicata Fermentata samples.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PCR-SSCP based on β-tubulin gene could distinguish fungi into species, culture dependent method combined with culture independent method could better understand the fungal composition associated with Massa Medicata Fermentata fermentation.</p>

Primary study of Dendrobium polysaccharides improving immunity activity on mouse / 中国药学杂志

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect on mice immunity activity of Dendrobium devonianum polysaccharides and Dendrobium candidum polysaccharides. METHODS: Cultured splenic lymphocytes of mice in vitro to observe the influence of Dendrobium devonianum polysaccharides and Dendrobium candidum polysaccharides separately cooperated with ConA on proliferation of splenic lymphocyte and content of IFN-γ and IL-2. In animal experiments, respectively offered Dendrobium devonianum polysaccharides and Dendrobium candidum polysaccharides to mouse in different dosage, after 14d, copied the model of toe swelling induced by SRBC to observe the effect of Dendrobium polysaccharides on toe swelling and viscera index. RESULTS: Medium dosage groups of two Dendrobium polysaccharides both can stimulate the proliferation of splenic lymphocyte observably; medium and high dosage groups both can promote the secretion of IFN-γ and IL-2 in splenic lymphocyte: In addition, high dosage groups of two Dendrobium polysaccharides both can increase toe swelling and spleen index of mouse obviously, but every dosage groups have no effect on thymus index of mouse. CONCLUSION: To some extent, Dendrobium devonianum polysaccharides and Dendrobium candidum polysaccharides can improve the immunity activity of mouse.