Origin，Changes and Analysis of Efficacy of Cimicifugae Rhizoma / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Cimicifugae Rhizoma originated from Shennong′s Classic of Materia Medica（《神农本草经》）. Before the Jin-Yuan period （1115-1368 AD）， the efficacy of Cimicifugae Rhizoma was clearing heat and removing toxin whether it was recorded in herbal works or medical formularies. Since ZHANG Yuan-su in the Jin-Yuan period， its efficacy has changed， and that of raising Yang Qi has begun to appear. LI Dong-yuan and WANG Hao-gu followed ZHANG Yuan-su's point of view， and did not realize the efficacy of clearing heat and removing toxin and regarded Cimicifugae Rhizoma as a representative medicine for raising Yang Qi. During the Ming and Qing dynasties， the efficacy of Cimicifugae Rhizoma was mainly divided into two categories： both clearing heat and removing toxin and raising Yang Qi， and raising Yang Qi only. In modern times， the efficacy realized by previous generations is criticized， and two views emerge. One is inheriting the two-way theory of both clearing heat and removing toxin and raising Yang Qi. The other is that Cimicifugae Rhizoma is purely the medicine for clearing heat and removing toxin and its efficacy of raising Yang Qi is firmly refuted， which conforms to that of Cimicifugae Rhizoma before the Jin-Yuan period， and is also supported by Japanese scholars. Chinese Pharmacopoeia （1985） concludes that Cimicifugae Rhizoma has three major functions： releasing exterior and promoting eruption， clearing heat and removing toxin， and raising Yang Qi， which represents the current mainstream understanding of Cimicifugae Rhizoma in the academic world. Some contemporary scholars， including clinical physicians， medical historians， and pharmacists， still object to the raising Yang Qi of Cimicifugae Rhizoma. This article systematically sorted out the origin and changes of the efficacy of Cimicifugae Rhizoma， and analyzed the reasons for the changes. Combining philosophical thinking and modern pharmacology research， the authors also believe that Cimicifugae Rhizoma can not raise Yang Qi .

Differential expression of proteins in red pear following fruit bagging treatment.

Fruit bagging is a very effective method for study of fruit qualities and anthocyanin synthesis. The characterization of differentially expressed proteins that were isolated from both bagged and normal fruit skin tissue is apparently an essential parameter for understanding the effect of shading on fruit qualities and to understand the mechanism of fruit coloring in Pyrus communis. Proteome maps of both bagged and normal P. communis 'Placer' fruit skin were obtained by performing two-dimensional electrophoresis analysis and compared to assess the extent to which protein distribution differed in pear skin. The comparative analysis showed 38 differentially expressed proteins between the two samples: with three protein spots up-regulated and 35 down-regulated in the bagged fruit. Differentially expressed protein spots were subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis and the data compared to that of known proteins to deduce their possible functions. Of these, 21 protein spots were identified and classified into functional classes. These identified proteins were mainly involved in photosynthesis, signal transduction, energy pathway, protein folding and assembly, and carbohydrate and acidity metabolisms, and were under-expressed in bagged fruit skins. This work provides a first characterization of the proteome changes in response to fruit bagging treatment in red pears.

[Identifying the S genotypes of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars].

This report identified S-RNase genes (S genes) of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), presented the sequences of S genes by using a pair of specific primers PruC2 and PruC4R based on the conserved regions C2 and RC4 of Rosaceous S-RNase genes and researched the S gene specific products from the genomic DNAs of different cultivars in which most of the S genotypese were unknown. The bands of PCR were cloned and their sequences were compared in GenBank. Four S genes were defined and the conclusion was made that all the same bands from PCR in the agarose gel had the same length and sequence of nucleic acid and were the same kind of S gene. The lengths of the amplified S genes are as follows: S1 is 677 bp, S3 762 bp, S4 945 bp, S6 456 bp. The S genotypes (S gene genotypes) of the tested self-incompatible cultivars were identified as follows: 'Hongdeng', 'Hongyan' and 'Early ruby', as same as 'Van', were S1 S3; 'Jueze', 'Hongfeng' and 'Napoleon' were S3S4; 'Dazi' was S1 S6; 'Changbahong' was S1 S4; 'Elton' was S3S6. The self-compatibile cultivars 'Waiyin No.7' and 'Stella' had the same S genotypes S3 S4'.