Identification and Expression Pattern of Salvia miltiorrhiza Terpenoid Synthase Gene Family / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveBioinformatics methods were used to systematically identify the Salvia miltiorrhiza terpenoid synthase （SmTPS） gene family members and predict their functions from the perspective of the genome. MethodThe genome and transcriptome data of S. miltiorrhiza， Arabidopsis thaliana， and tomato were obtained from the national genomics data center （NGDC）， national center for biotechnology information （NCBI）， the Arabidopsis information resource （TAIR）， and tomato functional genomics database （TFGD）， and the whole genome identification and bioinformatics analysis of the SmTPS gene family member were carried out with the help of Perl language programming， Tbtools， and other bioinformatics tools. ResultA total of 52 TPS gene family members were identified， and they were distributed on eight chromosomes of S. miltiorrhiza. Their coding amino acid number was 207-822 aa. The isoelectric points were 4.76-9.16. The molecular mass was 24.11-94.81 kDa， and all members are hydrophilic proteins. Gene structure analysis showed that there were significant differences in the number of introns among different subfamilies. The number of introns in 72.6% of TPS-a， b， and g subfamilies was 6， and that in 88.9% of TPS-c and e/f subfamilies was more than 10. Protein motifs were conserved among TPS subfamilies. The analysis of promoter cis-acting elements showed that all promoters of the SmTPSs contained a large number of light-responsive elements， and most of them had hormone-responsive elements. Gene expression analysis showed that SmTPS gene family members exhibited tissue-specific expression， and 24 of them responded to exogenous methyl jasmonate. ConclusionBased on the published S. miltiorrhiza genome， 52 SmTPS gene family members were identified， and their functions were predicted based on the phylogenetic analysis and expression patterns. This paper provides reference information for the further biosynthesis pathway and regulatory mechanism analysis of terpenoids in S. miltiorrhiza.

Screening of housekeeping genes in Gelsemium elegans and expression patterns of genes involved in its alkaloid biosynthesis / 生物工程学报

Gelsemium elegans is a traditional Chinese herb of medicinal importance, with indole terpene alkaloids as its main active components. To study the expression of the most suitable housekeeping reference genes in G. elegans, the root bark, stem segments, leaves and inflorescences of four different parts of G. elegans were used as materials in this study. The expression stability of 10 candidate housekeeping reference genes (18S, GAPDH, Actin, TUA, TUB, SAND, EF-1α, UBC, UBQ, and cdc25) was assessed through real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, ΔCT, and RefFinder. The results showed that EF-1α was stably expressed in all four parts of G. elegans and was the most suitable housekeeping gene. Based on the coexpression pattern of genome, full-length transcriptome and metabolome, the key candidate targets of 18 related genes (AS, AnPRT, PRAI, IGPS, TSA, TSB, TDC, GES, G8H, 8-HGO, IS, 7-DLS, 7-DLGT, 7-DLH, LAMT, SLS, STR, and SGD) involved in the Gelsemium alkaloid biosynthesis were obtained. The expression of 18 related enzyme genes were analyzed by qRT-PCR using the housekeeping gene EF-1α as a reference. The results showed that these genes' expression and gelsenicine content trends were correlated and were likely to be involved in the biosynthesis of the Gelsemium alkaloid, gelsenicine.

Comparative Analysis of Serum Pharmacochemistry of Alismatis Rhizoma Before and After Salt Processing Based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveBased on serum pharmacochemistry and ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS） the transitional components in the serum of rats after intragastric administration of water extract of Alismatis Rhizoma（AR）and salt-processed Alismatis Rhizoma（SAR） were compared. MethodSD rats were randomly divided into blank group, AR group（10 g·kg-1） and SAR group（10 g·kg-1）, 3 rats in each group, the administration groups were given AR and SAR aqueous extracts by gavage, respectively, and the blank group was given an equal volume of drinking water by gavage once in the morning and once in the evening, for 3 consecutive days. Sixty minutes after the last administration, blood was collected from the eye orbits, and the serum samples were prepared. The serum samples were prepared on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column（2.1 mm×50 mm, 1.7 μm） with the mobile phase of acetonitrile（A）-0.1% formic acid aqueous solution（B） in a gradient elution（0-10 min, 10%-50% A; 10-27 min, 50%-95%A; 27-27.1 min, 95%-10% A; 27.1-30 min, 10%A）, the data were collected at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min-1 in positive ion mode with a scanning range of m/z 100-1 200. Based on the self-constructed chemical composition library of AR, the total ion flow diagrams and secondary MS fragmentation information of the aqueous extracts of AR and SAR, as well as the administered serum and the blank serum, were compared with each other by UNIFI 1.9.2, so as to deduce the possible blood-migrating constituents and their cleavage patterns in the aqueous extracts, and the response intensity ratios of each chemical component were calculated before and after processing. ResultA total of 20 components, including 5 prototypical components and 15 metabolites, were analyzed and deduced from the serum of rats given aqueous extract of AR. And 14 components, including 5 prototypical components and 9 metabolites, were analyzed and deduced from the serum of rats given aqueous extract of SAR. Of these, 13 components were common to both of them, including 5 prototypical components and 8 metabolites. The 5 prototypical components were 16-oxoalisol A, alisol A 24-acetate, alisol A, alisol B and alisol C. The metabolites were mainly involved in phase Ⅰ metabolism（oxidation） and phase Ⅱ metabolism（glucuronidation）. There was a big change in the intensity of response of the common components before and after salt-processing, and the response intensities of the prototypical components, 16-oxoalisol A, alisol B and alisol C, were elevated, while the type and response intensity of metabolites were generally decreased, and it was hypothesized that the metabolic rate of terpenoids might be slowed down after salt-processing of AR, so that the blood-migrating constituents could participate in the metabolism of the body more in the form of prototypes. ConclusionSalt-processing of AR may promote the absorption of prototypical components into the blood by slowing down the metabolic rate of terpenoids, which can provide support for the research on material basis of AR and SAR.

Terpenoids from leaves of Chinese hawthorn / 中国中药杂志

Fifteen compounds were isolated from the 70% EtOH extract of leaves of Chinese hawthorn(Crataegus pinnatifida var. major) by various purification steps, and their structures were determined as 2α,3α,12β,19α,-tetrahydroxyursan-13β,28-olide(1),euscaphic acid(2), tormentic acid(3), ursolic acid(4), pomolic acid(5), corosolic acid(6), maslinic acid(7), linalyl rutinoside(8),(Z)-3-hexenyl β-D-glucoside(9),(3S, 6S)-cis-linalool-3,7-oxide-β-D-glucopyranoside(10), pisumionoside(11), icariside B6(12), byzantionoside B(13),(6R,7E,9R)-9-Hydroxy-4,7-megastigmadien-3-one 9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(14) and(6S,7E,9R)-6,9-dihydroxy-4,7-megastigmadien-3-one 9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(15) mainly based on the mass spectrum(MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) spectroscopic techniques, of which compound 1 was a new pentacyclic triterpene, and compounds 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 15 were isolated form this plant for the first time.

Strictosidine synthase, an indispensable enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoid indole and β-carboline alkaloids / 中国天然药物

Terpenoid indole (TIAs) and β-carboline alkaloids (BCAs), such as suppressant reserpine, vasodilatory yohimbine, and antimalarial quinine, are natural compounds derived from strictosidine. These compounds can exert powerful pharmacological effects but be obtained from limited source in nature. the whole biosynthetic pathway of TIAs and BCAs, The Pictet-Spengler reaction catalyzed by strictosidine synthase (STR; EC: 4.3.3.2) is the rate-limiting step. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate their biosynthesis pathways, especially the role of STR, and related findings will support the biosynthetic generation of natural and unnatural compounds. This review summarizes the latest studies concerning the function of STR in TIA and BCA biosynthesis, and illustrates the compounds derived from strictosidine. The substrate specificity of STR based on its structure is also summarized. Proteins that contain six-bladed four-stranded β-propeller folds in many organisms, other than plants, are listed. The presence of these folds may lead to similar functions among organisms. The expression of STR gene can greatly influence the production of many compounds. STR is mainly applied to product various valuable drugs in plant cell suspension culture and biosynthesis in other carriers.

Screening Of In Vitro Antiviral Activity Of Purified Terpenoid Extracts Of Selected Sea Weeds Against Chikungunya Virus

Currently, the search of novel phytochemicals with unique biological potentialities is a pre-requisite for the designing ideal drugs for the human kind. Sea weeds are bioresources with a broad spectrum of medicinal properties with minimal side effects. Kerala, the Southern state of India reported high incidence of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infections in the last several tears. No specific virucidal therapy or effective vaccines are available. This emphasizes the need of searching for phytochemicals as drugs with less cost and more effective. Therefore, an attempt was made in screening purified terpenoid extracts of selected sea weeds as anti-CHIKV potential. In this study the terpenoids composition from the red algae Hypnea musciformis, Kappaphycus alvarezii and Gracillaria dura were identified and analyzed by thin layer chromatography and Gas chromatography- Mass spectrum. The methanolic extract of seaweeds was purified by column chromatography and each fraction was eluted by using petroleum ether and ethyl acetate as solvent combination. The analysis of the purified fraction of H. musciformis and K. alvarezii revealed the presence of 8 terpenoid fractions, and G. dura showed only 4 major components respectively. Vero cell lines were employed in the antiviral assays, infected to CHIKV, and treated with varied doses of purified terpenoid extracts. In the antiviral activity, terpenoid extracts of G. dura showed remarkable and promising EC50 inhibitory effect at 1.25 μg/ml. Further, the terpenoid extracts displayed efficient virucidal activity against CHIKV (inhibit around 90%) with 5 μg/ml dosage. As the last phase, terpenoid extracts added at time intervals of 0, 1, 2, 3 post-infection periods still maintained a significant inhibitory potential against CHIKV viral replication. Thus, the overall study suggests that the terpenoid extracts of G. dura may be effectively used in the prevention and treatment of CHIKV infections. Clinical studies may be warranted for designing a promising new anti-CHIKV drug.

Bioactivity And Apoptotic Efficacy Of The Purified Terpenoid Extract From The Moss Brachythecium Buchananii (Hook.) A. Jaeger Against Mg 63 Cells

Bryophytes are primitive non vascular plants. A little is explored regarding the medicinal effects of bryophytes on carcinoma. This study investigated the biological effects of purified terpenoids from Brachythecium buchananii on selected cell lines such as HeLa, MDAMB-231 and MG63 human osteosarcoma cells and also elucidating the regu­latory signaling pathways underlying the effects of terpenoids towards caspase cascade and the antioxidant enzyme system. The cell lines were treated with various concentrations of purified terpenoid extracts interms of evaluating viability (MTT assay). Interestingly, MG63 cell lines showed poor viability as compared to other ongo cells and was subjected to further molecular evaluations. Migration and invasion assay results using wound-healing and transwell assays, respectively reveal the pro-antimetastatic potential of the purified terpenoids from the moss. The flow cytometry study substantiated terpenoid induced apoptosis in MG63 cells. Cell cycle analysis revealed the significant increase in the number of cells arrested at the S growth phase. Terpenoid extract also displayed DNA fragmentation in the cells. Western blot analysis revealed the down regulation of the anti‑apoptotic proteins Bcl‑2, pro‑caspase 3 and over expression of the pro‑apoptotic protein Bax. In addition, the caspase cascade profile of the terpenoid extract substantiated their efficacy in tumour inhibition. Thus, the overall results confirmed the biological features of terpenoid induced apoptosis in the MG63 cells.

Analysis of key genes and their expression characteristics related to terpenoid biosynthesis in Tussilago farfara based on transcriptome sequencing / 中草药

Objective: To screen candidate genes involved in the terpenoid biosynthetic pathway of Tussilago farfara. Methods: The transcriptome of buds and leaves of wild T. farfara were respectively sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 high-throughput sequencing platform. The clean reads were de novo assembled by Trinity software, and the assembled sequences then followed by a series of bioinformatics analysis such as gene function annotation and differential expression gene. According to sequence annotation and differentially expressed genes analysis, the key enzyme genes related to the terpenoid biosynthesis were identified. Results: After high through-put sequencing, a total of 39 912 371 clean reads were obtained (SRA accession: SRR9113366, SRR9113367). The clean reads were then assembled into 91 118 unigenes. A total of 55 830 unigenes were annotated by a similarity search against NR, Swiss-Port, GO, COG, KEGG five public databases. Base on KEGG annotation and differentially expressed genes, totally 129 catalytic enzyme genes referring to the terpenoid biosynthesis were identified, including 91 terpenoid backbone biosynthesis genes, 32 terpene synthases, and 6 cytochrome P450 (CYP450) genes. Among them, 25 genes were differentially expressed. The expression of four enzyme genes in MVA pathway in leaves were higher than that in buds, while the five enzyme genes in MEP pathway were lower in leaves than that in buds. In addition, 10 genes were highly expressed in leaves, and nine genes were highly expressed in buds. According to the high expression of differentially expressed HMGR, TPS, AS, CYP450 genes in buds, it was speculated that these genes may be related to the high content of terpenoids in flower buds. Conclusion: This work obtained candidate key enzyme genes that may be involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoid by transcriptome sequencing. The results laid a foundation for further elucidating the molecular mechanism of terpenoid biosynthetic pathway in T. farfara.

Two new monoterpenoids of Zingiber officinale peel / 药学学报

The chemical constituents of Zingiber officinale peel were isolated and purified by various chromatographic separation techniques such as Diaion HP-20, MCI Gel CHP-20, Sephadex LH-20, ODS, silica gel and semi-preparative HPLC. Seven terpenoids were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral data: (4R,6S)-1-(hydroxymethyl)-5,5-dimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-2-en-4-ol (1), 4-(hydroxymethyl)-1-isopropylcyclohex-2-ene-3,4-diol (2), 3,5,6-trihydroxy-7-megastigmen-9-one (3), 3-(3-hydroxybutyl)-2,4,4-trimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one (4), angelicoidenol (5), grasshopper ketone (6), and dihydrophaseic acid (7), in which compounds 1, 2 are new compounds, named: (4R,6S)-1-(hydroxymethyl)-5,5-dimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-2-en-4-ol and 4-(hydroxymethyl)-1-isopropylcyclohex-2-ene-3,4-diol, and compounds 3-7 were obtained from this plant for the first time.

Cloning and expression analysis of three critical triterpenoid pathway genes in Osmanthus fragrans

Background: Osmanthus fragrans is an important ornamental tree and has been widely planted in China because of its pleasant aroma, which is mainly due to terpenes. The monoterpenoid and sesquiterpenoid metabolic pathways of sweet osmanthus have been well studied. However, these studies were mainly focused on volatile small molecule compounds. The molecular regulation mechanism of synthesis of large molecule compounds (triterpenoids) remains unclear. Squalene synthase (SQS), squalene epoxidase (SQE), and beta-amyrin synthase (BETA-AS) are three critical enzymes of the triterpenoid biosynthesis pathway. Results: In this study, the full-length cDNA and gDNA sequences of OfSQS, OfSQE, and OfBETA-AS were isolated from sweet osmanthus. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that OfSQS and OfSQE had the closest relationship with Sesamum indicum, and OfBETA-AS sequence shared the highest similarity of 99% with that of Olea europaea. The qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the three genes were highly expressed in flowers, especially OfSQE and OfBETA-AS, which were predominantly expressed in the flowers of both "Boye" and "Rixiang" cultivars, suggesting that they might play important roles in the accumulation of triterpenoids in flowers of O. fragrans. Furthermore, the expression of OfBETA-AS in the two cultivars was significantly different during all the five flowering stages; this suggested that OfBETA-AS may be the critical gene for the differences in the accumulation of triterpenoids. Conclusion: The evidence indicates that OfBETA-AS could be the key gene in the triterpenoid synthesis pathway, and it could also be used as a critical gene resource in the synthesis of essential oils by using bioengineered bacteria.

Transcriptome data assembly and gene function annotation of flowers and leaves of Ocimum basilicum / 中草药

Objective To understand the transcriptome data of flowers and leaves of Ocimum basilicum, and analyze the transcriptome sequencing and bioinforamtics of O. basilicum. Methods Selecting fresh flowers and leaves of O. basilicum as samples, the transcriptome libraries of O. basilicum were constructed using Illumina HiSeqTM 2500 sequencing technique and analyzed using the bioinformatics methods subsequently, such as sequencing assess, transcriptome data assembly, and gene function annotation. Results After transcriptome sequencing and removing insignificant reads, 86 331 137 reads of O. basilicum were obtained. All of the reads contained 6 455 365 309 nucleotides. After de novo splicing, 90 341 Unigenes were obtained. The Unigenes were aligned in COG database, and searching result demonstrated that UniGenes were devided into 25 classes according to function. The Unigene GO functions could be broadly divided into biological processes, cellular components and molecular function categories of 43 branches. In KEGG database, the data in transcriptome could be divided into 111 classes according to the metabolic pathway which included the biochemical pathway in plants-Pathogens interaction, terpenoid and steroid compounds synthesis, lipid metabolism, RNA degradation and so on. Totally 15 617 pairs of SSR primers were successful designed by MISA software, and 10 254 SNP loci were detected. Conclusion The results of this study can provide the further development of functional gene excavation, mentabolic pathways and their regulatory mechanism for O. basilicum with theatrical basis.

Transcriptome characterization of Stellera chamaejasme with Illumina sequencing technology / 中草药

Objective To obtain the transcriptome database and gene sequence, SSR as well as transposon information of Stellera chamaejasme. Methods Using the high-throughput sequencing platform (Illumina HiSeq 2000), a root transcriptome dataset of S. chamaejasme was obtained, and the sequencing results were analyzed with the bioinformatic way. Results With a total of 26 785 872 clean reads, 47 053 unigenes were assembled. All these unigenes were then blasted with Nr, Swiss-Prot, KEGG, COG, and GO databases. There were 11 138 and 24 744 unigenes were annotated with Nr and Swiss-Prot databases, respectively. The unigenes were involved in 36 GO-terms and 119 metabolic pathways. Further analysis showed that 15 unigenes were involved in terpenoids biosynthesis. Using MISA software, the results showed that there were 3 480 SSR from the 47 053 unigenes, and the most type of SSR was mononucleotide (1 986) with the frequency of 57.07%. Moreover, the hexanucleotide only had five repeat SSR and the frequency was only 0.14%. With RepeatMasker online tools to analyze the transposon of the transcriptome sequences, the results indicated that there were 1 497 transposons, and the number of transposons with E < 1×10-5 was 827. All the transposons were grouped into 22 types, and the LINE/L1 type (405) had the highest frequency (48.97%). The DNA/Ginger, DNA/hAT, DNA/PIF-ISL2EU, and LINE/Jockey as well as LTR/Lenti were the least type since each of them has only one transposon. Conclusion In this study, rich sequence information of gene, SSR as well as transposon information of Stellera chamaejasme is helpful to carry out the research of the molecular mechanism of phorbol ester biosynthesis in S. chamaejasme in the future.

In vitro aldose reductase inhibitory potential of fractions isolated from Potentilla fulgens roots.

The present study was investigated to identify the active fraction of P. fulgens with aldose reductase (AR) inhibitory potential. AR is the rate limiting step of polyol pathway implicated in the onset of chronic complications of diabetes. In this study, kidney homogenates of normoglycemic and diabetic mice were used as a source of AR enzyme preparation for in vitro analysis. The Terpenoid/Phenolic (TP) fraction of P. fulgens had the lowest IC50 value (0.152 mg/ml) for AR than the other fractions. TP fraction was separated using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and separated TLC fractions were tested for their AR inhibitory activity. Among the TLC fractions, F-V had the lowest IC50 value (0.156 mg/ml) and was characterized further using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Infra-Red (IR) Spectroscopy and Mass Spectroscopy (MS). F-V showed absorption maxima at λ230 nm and λ280 nm. HPLC profile of this fraction showed the presence of one prominent peak with a retention time of 1.621. IR spectra of the prominent peak indicated the presence of aromatic group which is phenolic in nature. MS of the prominent peak showed m/z ratio of 458.8. The active fraction isolated from P. fulgens has been shown to inhibit AR in normoglycemic and diabetic mice.

A Research Progress on the Biosynthetic Pathways of Indole Alkaloids / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Indole alkaloid family has been the biggest so far among the various alkaloids,which contains pharmaceutical and effective constituents of various plants featuring diverse biological activities.Thanks to the development of metabonomics,to reveal the biosynthetic pathway of active components for the molecular mechanism of indole alkaloids and the regulation research of plant metabolism present a growing importance and significantly direct the researches of improving biological production.This paper reviewed the biosynthetic pathways of some indole alkaloids in accordance with the structure classification of indole alkaloids to lay a foundation for the further studies on the biosynthetic pathways of indole alkaloids and provide a reference for the biosynthetic pathways of other indole alkaloids.

Cloning, bioinformatic analysis, and prokaryotic expression of LaPMK gene in Lepidium apetalum / 中草药

Objective: To obtain the key enzyme gene involved in terpenoid biosynthesis pathway, phosphomevalonate kinase (PMK) gene was cloned from Lepidium apetalum, and sequence analysis and prokaryotic expression were performed. Methods: Based on the transcriptome data of L. apetalum, by designing specific primers of LaPMK gene, an open reading frame (ORF) of LaPMK gene was isolated from L. apetalum. Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells were transformed with the prokaryotic expression vector pET32a-LaPMK and used for prokaryotic expression under IPTG induction. Results: LaPMK gene has ORF of 1 518 bp (GenBank accession number KT004541), which encoded a protein of 505 amino acid residues. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that LaPMK protein which located in cytoplasm had no transmembrane domain and signal peptide, and exhibited the specific N-terminal domain and C-terminal domain of GHMP kinase super family. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that LaPMK protein showed the highest homology, 92% similarity, with PMK protein from Brassica rapa. The recombinant LaPMK protein was successfully expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells. Conclusion: The LaPMK gene is cloned from L. apetalum, and the stable prokaryotic expression system of pET32a-LaPMK is constructed. This study will provide the fundamental information for the further purification and the antibody preparation of LaPMK protein be helpful for the functional researches of LaPMK gene in terpenoid biosynthesis pathway.

Simultaneous determination of six terpenoids in Crotonis Crassifolii Radix by HPLC / 中草药

Objective: To establish an HPLC method for simultaneous determination of chettaphanin I, teucvidin, crassifolin B, cyperenoic acid, crassifolin A, and cyperenol in Crotonis Crassifolii Radix. Methods: The separation was performed on a Kromasil 100-5 C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with acetonitrile (A)-0.02% trifluoroacetic acid water (B) as the mobile phase in a gradient elution (0-35 min, 35% A; 35-55 min, 35%-60% A; 55-80 min, 60% A) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detective wavelength was set at 210 nm, and the column temperature was set at 25℃. Results: The six terpenoids all have good separating degree and good linearity (r>0.999 7). The sample recoveries of compounds 1-6 were 100.2% (RSD=0.48%), 99.13% (RSD=0.48%), 98.48% (RSD=0.96%), 99.22% (RSD=1.10%), 101.1% (RSD=1.35%), and 102.5% (RSD=0.95%), respectively. Conclusion: The established method is rapid and accurate, and has high repeatability, which could provide the scientific evidence for the quality control of Crotonis Crassifolii Radix.

Leojaponic acids A and B, two new homologous terpenoids, isolated from Leonurus japonicus / 中国天然药物

The present study aimed at isolation and purification of the bioactive terpenoids from the herb of Leonurus japonicus by chromatographic separations such as silica gel, sephadex LH-20 and C18 reversed phase silica gel, as well as preparative HPLC. As a result, leojaponic acids A (1, C17H24O4) and B (2, C18H26O4), two homologous terpenoids, together with (-)-loliolide (3), 1-(3-ethylphenyl) ethane-1, 2-diol (4) and dibutyl phthalate (5), were isolated from the EtOH extract of L. japonicus. All the chemical structures of the isolates were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR analyses. Compounds 1 and 2 were new terpenoids, and Compounds 3 and 4 were isolated and identified for the first time from this plant. In addition, the α-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the new compounds were evaluated.

Advance in biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids and its regulation in Catharanthus roseus / 中国中药杂志

Catharanthus roseus can produce a variety of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIA), most of which exhibit strong pharmacological activities. Hence, biosynthesis and regulation of TIA have received recent attention. 3α (S)-strictosidine is an important node in TIA biosynthesis, which is a condensation product of secologanin and tryptamine. The former is produced in iridoid pathway, and the latter is produced in indole pathway. Vindoline and catharanthine, which are produced respectively by 3α (S)-strictosidine via multi-step enzymatic reaction, can form α-3, 4-anhydrovinblastine by the condensation reaction. Then, vinblastine and vincristine are generated from α-3, 4-anhydrovinblastine. Many transcription factors are involved in the regulation of TIA synthesis, such as AP2/ERF and WRKY. Illumination of biosynthetic pathway has laid a foundation for the study of synthetic biology. Today, 3α (S)-strictosidine and vindoline have been synthesized in heterologous hosts Saccharomyces cerevisiae.Research about synthetic biology and the regulation mechanisms will provide a guidance for the production and development of TIA drugs in C. roseus.

Codon usage bias of Catharanthus roseus / 中国中药杂志

This study aimed to provide guidance for the heterogenous gene expression, gene prediction and species evolution by analyzing codon usage bias of Catharanthus roseus.The codon composition and usage bias of 30 437 high-confidence coding sequences from C.roseus were analyzed and the proportion of rare codons of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in 25 genes involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) in C.roseus were calculated.The results showed that the average GC content of the genes was 42.47%; the average GC content of the third bases in codon was 35.89%.The relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) of 28 codons were greater than 1 and 26 of them ended with A or T.The above 25 genes involved in TIA biosynthesis contained much more rare condons of E.coli than that of S.cerevisiae.It was concluded that C.roseus mainly prefered the codons ending with A or T and the rule of codon usage was more different to E.coli than S.cerevisiae.Thus, S.cerevisiae may be more suitable host for heterologous expression of these genes.

Terpenoids from Euphorbia micractina / 药学学报

From an ethanol extract of Euphorbia micractina roots, sixteen terpenoids were isolated by a combination of various chromatographic techniques, including column chromatography over macroporous resin, silica gel, and Sephadex LH-20 and reversed-phase HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data analysis as loliolide myristate (1), 24-methylenetirucall-8-en-3β,11α-diol-7-one (2), loliolide (3), 3β-hydroxy-5α,6α-epoxy-7-megastigmen-9-one (4), jolkinol A (5), jolkinol D (6), latilagascene F (7), helioscopinolide A (8), helioscopinolide B (9), 3-O-acetylhelioscopinolide B (10), helioscopinolide D (11), helioscopinolide E (12), (+)-11-acetoxyatis-16-en-3,14-dione (13), erythrodiol (14), uvaol (15) and betulin (16). All of the compounds were obtained from this plant for the first time, in which 1 and 2 are new compounds.