Volatiles released by Chinese liquorice roots mediate host location behaviour by neonate Porphyrophora sophorae (Hemiptera: Margarodidae).

BACKGROUND: The cochineal scale, Porphyrophora sophorae (Hemiptera: Coccoidea, Margarodidae), is one of the most serious arthropod pests of Chinese liquorice, Glycyrrhiza uralensis (Fabaceae), an important medicinal herb. The adult females tend to deposit the ovisacs in soil relatively far away from liquorice plants. After hatching, neonates move out of the soil and may use chemical cues to search for new hosts. RESULTS: We collected and analysed the volatiles from soils with and without liquorice roots, and chromatographic profiles revealed hexanal, ß-pinene and hexanol as potential host-finding cues for P. sphorae. The attractiveness of these compounds to neonates was studied in the laboratory using four-arm olfactometer bioassays. The larvae showed a clear preference for ß-pinene over hexanal and hexanol, as well as all possible combinations of the three compounds. In addition, a field experiment confirmed that ß-pinene was significantly more attractive than hexanal and hexanol. CONCLUSION: Newly eclosed larvae of P. sphorae exploit root volatiles as chemical cues to locate their host plant. ß-Pinene proved to be the major chemical cue used by P. sphorae neonates searching for roots of their host plant. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

MiR-423-3p enhances cell growth through inhibition of p21Cip1/Waf1 in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths globally, with many oncogenes and tumor suppressors involved. The miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs known to play a vital role in the pathogenesis of CRC. The miR-423-3p was reported to act as an oncogene; however, its role in CRC growth remains unknown. METHODS: qPCR assay was used to detect miR-423-3p expression in CRC specimens. Cell proliferation assay and transwell assay were conducted to evaluate CRC cell proliferation and migration. Luciferase reporter assay was to identify the target gene of miR-423-3p. And tumorigenesis model was established to test the role of miR-423-3p in CRC development in vivo. RESULTS: Here, we showed that miR-423-3p was significantly up regulated in CRC tissues and cells compared with normal tissues and cells. Overexpression of miR-423-3p promoted CRC cell proliferation via enhancing the G1/S transition phase of the cell cycle, while inhibition of miR-423-3p repressed cell growth. Further studies showed that p21Cip1/Waf1 mediated the function of miR-423-3p, and overexpression of p21Cip1/Waf1 reversed the augmented effect of miR-423-3p on cell proliferation. Importantly, all these data were validated in the tumorigenesis assay in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our findings demonstrated a critical impact of miR-423-3p on CRC growth.

Lysinibacter cavernae gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member of the family Microbacteriaceae isolated from a karst cave.

A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, straight or slightly bent rod-shaped, non-motile, non-spore-forming bacterium, designated strain CC5-806T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from a wild karst cave in the Wulong region, Chongqing, PR China and examined using a polyphasic approach to clarify its taxonomic position. This bacterium did not produce substrate mycelium or aerial hyphae, and no diffusible pigments were observed on the media tested. Strain CC5-806T grew optimally without NaCl at 20 °C and at pH 7.0. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, indicated that strain CC5-806T belonged to the family Microbacteriaceae and showed the highest levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with Frigoribacterium endophyticum EGI 6500707T (97.56 %), Frigoribacterium faeni 801T (97.53 %) and Glaciihabitans tibetensis MP203T (97.42 %). Phylogenetic trees revealed that strain CC5-806T did not show a clear affiliation to any genus within the family Microbacteriaceae. The DNA G+C content of strain CC5-806T was 62.6 mol%. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained l-lysine as a diagnostic diamino acid. The predominant menaquinones were MK-11, MK-10 and MK-9. Phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified glycolipid, four unidentified phospholipids and other polar lipids were detected in the polar lipid extracts. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and iso-C14 : 0. On the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, and phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain CC5-806T was distinguishable from phylogenetically related genera in the family Microbacteriaceae. It represents a novel species of a novel genus, for which the name Lysinibacter cavernae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CC5-806T ( = DSM 27960T = CGMCC 1.14983T).

Prauserella endophytica sp. nov., an endophytic actinobacterium isolated from Tamarix taklamakanensis.

A novel endophytic actinobacterium, designated strain SP28S-3(T), was isolated from a surface-sterilized stem of Tamarix taklamakanensis collected from the southern edge of Taklamakan desert, Xinjiang, China. Strain SP28S-3(T) was found to show chemotaxonomic and morphological properties consistent with its classification in the genus Prauserella. The polar lipids were found to consist of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphoglycolipid, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, a glycolipid, an aminolipid and unidentified phospholipids. The major fatty acids (>10 %) were identified as iso-C16:0 and C16:0. The genomic DNA G+C content was determined to be 69.7 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis of strain SP28S-3(T) clearly showed that the strain had the highest similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequence with Prauserella coralliicola SCSIO 11529(T) (99.9 %), followed by Prauserella marina DSM 45268(T) (97.0 %) and is affiliated with the genus Prauserella. The low level (47.8 ± 5.5 %) of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain SP28S-3(T) and P. coralliicola SCSIO 11529(T) combined with other polyphasic taxonomic evidence clearly support the conclusion that strain SP28S-3(T) represents a novel Prauserella species, for which the name Prauserella endophytica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SP28S-3(T) (=DSM 46655(T) = CGMCC 4.7182 (T)).

Nocardioides deserti sp. nov., an actinobacterium isolated from desert soil.

A rod- or coccus-shaped, non-spore-forming actinobacterium, designated strain SC8A-24(T), was isolated from a soil sample collected from the rhizosphere of Alhagi sparsifolia on the southern edge of the Taklimakan desert, Xinjiang, China, and examined by a polyphasic approach to clarify its taxonomic position. This actinobacterium was Gram-staining-positive and aerobic. Substrate and aerial mycelia were not observed, and no diffusible pigments were observed on the media tested. Strain SC8A-24(T) grew optimally without NaCl at 28-30 °C and pH 7.0-8.0. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain SC8A-24(T) belonged to the genus Nocardioides and shared the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Nocardioides salarius CL-Z59(T) (96.51%), N. pyridinolyticus OS4(T) (96.43%) and N. ginsengagri BX5-10(T) (96.37%). The DNA G+C content of strain SC8A-24(T) was 71 mol%. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained ll-2,6-diaminopimelic acid, and MK-8(H4) was the predominant menaquinone. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified glycolipid and an unidentified phospholipid. The major fatty acids were C17 : 1ω8c, 10-methyl C17 : 0 and C18 : 1ω9c. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis and phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain SC8A-24(T) represents a novel species of the genus Nocardioides , for which the name Nocardioides deserti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SC8A-24(T) ( =DSM 26045(T)  = CGMCC 4.7183(T)).

Nesterenkonia populi sp. nov., an actinobacterium isolated from Populus euphratica.

An alkaliphilic and moderately halophilic actinobacterium, designated strain GP10-3(T), was isolated from Populus euphratica collected from the southern edge of Taklimakan desert, Xinjiang, China. Cells of this strain were Gram-stain-positive, non-motile and non-spore-forming short rods. Strain GP10-3(T) grew optimally at 37 °C on LB agar media in the presence of 5-10% (w/v) NaCl at pH 9.0. The menaquinones were MK-7, MK-8 and MK-9. The major fatty acids (>10%) were anteiso-C17 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The peptidoglycan type was variation A4α, L-Lys-L-Glu. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycolipid, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, glycolipid and an unidentified phospholipid. The DNA G+C content was 67.4 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain GP10-3(T) belonged to the genus Nesterenkonia , sharing 94.6-96.9% sequence similarity with the type strains of species within this genus with validly published names. Based on the evidence of the polyphasic taxonomic study, strain GP10-3(T) represents a novel species of the genus Nesterenkonia , for which the name Nesterenkonia populi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is GP10-3(T) ( = DSM 27959(T) = KCTC 29119(T)).

[Planting area estimation of Chinese Tibetan medicine Herpetospermum pedunculosum based on RS&GIS-by case study of Lengqi and Xinglong town in Luding county].

The herbs used as the material for traditional Chinese medicine are mostly planted at mountain areas where there is appropriate weather condition. Due to the complex terrain condition in mountain area, the planting at such places is always associated with a scattered pattern, which inevitably bring difficulty to the work of accurate measurement for the planting area. Advanced research about monitoring the planting area for medicine-herb under complex environmental condition is so critical and meaningful for developing the medicine-herb planting to a large scale and an industry. Therefore, this research, taking the planting of Herpetospermum pedunculosum in Luding county as an example, utilizes RS&GIS: using the image data from TM and ETM datum as the remote sensing information source, integrating GPS data from quadrat survey on the spots, and analyzing on a GIS platform, to extract the planting area of H. pedunculosum in Luding county. The results indicate that: (1) the method and technology used to estimate the planting area of H. pedunculosum are feasible and can be applied to monitoring the planting area of medicine-herb at mountain area under complex environmental conditions: (2) the planting area of H. pedunculosum in Luding county is estimated to be 857. 246 acres by the methods utilized in this research, which is closed to the value from local statistical data with an error range less than 5%; (3) in consideration of those inevitable errorrs generating from the procedures such as remote sensing data acquisition, data preprocessing, data interpretation, and so on, and the fact that the classification of remote sensing data, which must be implemented by those above procedures, was used directly to extract the herb type, the accuracy of area estimation for the herb is significantly influenced by the accuracy of classification for herb type, and the estimated area is inevitably associated with some error.

[Effects of volume resuscitation on venous pressure gradient in hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of venous pressure gradient [D(c-i)VP] between central venous pressure (CVP) and iliac vein pressure (IVP) in assessing the responsiveness to volume resuscitation in hypovolemic patient undergoing mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Thirty hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, with maintenance of similar ventilation conditions, graded volume loading was performed with 250 ml Ringer lactate solution (LR) for each infusion in hypovolemic patients, until mean arterial pressure (MAP) ≥65 mm Hg(1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa), CVP≥8 mm Hg, strong pulse, perfusion improvement (recovery in the end) were reached. Before infusion, 10 minutes after infusion, and at the end of recovery, the heart rate (HR), MAP, CVP, IVP, stroke volume (SV), thoracic fluid content (TFC) and D(c-i)VP were measured and recorded, the correlations between D(c-i)VP and TFC, SV before and after infusion were analyzed. RESULTS: Before infusion, 10 minutes after infusion, and at the end of recovery, no significant difference was found in HR, MAP, CVP, and IVP,while D(c-i)VP (mm Hg) was obviously lowered (4.89 ± 1.70, 2.80 ± 1.44, 2.10 ± 1.30, respectively), and SV (ml) and TFC (ml) were significantly increased (SV was 42.0 ± 10.5, 49.0 ± 8.3, 58.0 ± 12.1, respectively; TFC was 30.0 ± 9.6, 38.0 ± 8.6, 43.0 ± 11.1, respectively), with statistical differences (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Negative correlations were found between D(c-i)VP and TFC, SV [r(1)=-0.580, P(1)=0.004; r(2)=-0.462, P(2) =0.017]. CONCLUSIONS: In the course of fluid resuscitation in hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, the D(c-i)VP was significantly reduced with fluid resuscitation. At the same time, significant correlations between D(c-i)VP, TFC and SV were demonstrated. The measurement of D(c-i)VP could help guide fluid resuscitation in hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.

[Effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on the pressure gradient of venous return in hypovolemic patients under mechanical ventilation].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on central venous pressure (CVP) and common iliac venous pressure (CIVP), and the difference between CVP and CIVP [D(c-i)VP] in hypovolemic patients under mechanical ventilation. METHODS: From May 2007 to May 2009, 30 acute hypovolemic adult patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in intensive care unit (ICU) were enrolled. The patients were randomly divided into three groups, and PEEP with 0, 5, 10 cm H(2)O (1 cm H(2)O=0.098 kPa) levels were used respectively. Ten mechanically ventilated patients with similar basic clinical conditions but normal blood volume were selected randomly as the control group. CVP, CIVP and D(c-i)VP were measured and recorded at each PEEP level in both groups. The patients' heart rate, mean artery pressure and respiratory pressure data were also collected. The correlation analysis was used to analyze relationship between CVP and CIVP and between the changes in venous pressure and the changes in respiratory pressure. RESULTS: (1)CVP increased significantly when PEEP level was elevated in the study group. When PEEP was 0, 5 and 10 cm H(2)O, the CVP was (1.3+/-0.9), (3.1+/-1.3) and (4.5+/-1.3) mm Hg, respectively (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa, all P<0.01). Whereas, in the control group, the changes in CVP was small. At 0, 5 and 10 cm H(2)O PEEP levels, CVP was (6.9+/-1.3), (7.2+/-1.2) and (8.0+/-1.5) mm Hg, respectively, but when CVP at PEEP0 and PEEP5 was compared with that of PEEP10, the difference was significant (P<0.01 and P<0.05). There was slight increase of CIVP in both groups when PEEP was elevated. D(c-i)VP was increased significantly in the study group compared with control group (all P<0.01). But the value was gradually decreased when with elevation of PEEP. When PEEP level was elevated from 0 to 10 cm H(2)O, D(c-i)VP value was lowered from (4.9+/-1.7) mm Hg to (2.8+/-1.4) mm Hg. No significant difference in D(c-i)VP was found in the control group. The D(c-i)VP values in the control group were equal or lower than 1.5 mm Hg at three PEEP levels. (2)No relationship was found between CVP and CIVP at each PEEP level in the study group (r(1)=0.236, r(2)=0.299, r(3)=0.262, all P>0.05), but there was a statistically significant correlation between CVP and CIVP in the control group (r(1)=0.485, r(2)=0.679, r(3)=0.748, all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that it may not be appropriate to use CVP or CIVP to evaluate the patients' blood volume and effect of volume resuscitation in the hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in combination with PEEP.

Scutellarin isolated from Erigeron multiradiatus inhibits high glucose-mediated vascular inflammation.

Erigeron multiradiatus (Lindl.) Benth is a traditional Tibetan medicine herb long used to treat various diseases related to inflammation. Our previous phytochemical studies on E. multiradiatus resulted in the isolation of scutellarin, which is a known flavone glucuronide with comprehensive pharmacological actions. In present study, we investigated the inhibition action of scutellarin on high glucose-induced vascular inflammation in human endothelial cells (ECV304 cells). Consistent with previous reports, exposure of ECV304 cells to high glucose for 24 h caused an increase of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), and promoted cell adhesion between monocyte and ECV304 cells. However, pretreatment with scutellarin (0.1 and 1 microM) reversed these effects in a concentration-dependent manner. Scutellarin was able to inhibit the activation of NF-kappaB induced by high glucose in ECV304 cells. Furthermore, although oral administration of scutellarin (10 and 50 mg/kg) did not produce significant antihyperglycemic action, it lowered the serum MCP-1 levels significantly in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Therefore, our results suggest that scutellarin has anti-inflammation effect that may afford some protection against hyperglycemia-induced vascular inflammatory both in vitro and in vivo.

[Effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on central venous pressure and common iliac venous pressure in mechanically ventilated patients].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on central venous pressure (CVP) and common iliac venous pressure (CIVP), the relationship between CVP and CIVP, in order to analyze the correlation between CVP or CIVP and airway pressure in patients during mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Twenty mechanically ventilated adult patients with steady circulatory state and without cardiopulmonary ailment, abdominal distention or coagulopathy were enrolled for the study from February to August in 2007. 0, 5, 10 cm H(2)O (1 cm H(2)O=0.098 kPa) PEEP was used randomly in all cases during mechanical ventilation. CVP, CIVP, the gradient between CVP and CIVP at each PEEP level were measured. Linear correlation and linear regression analysis were used to analyze relative changes between CVP and CIVP. The data of airway pressure in the patients with mechanical ventilation were obtained for evaluating their correlation with CVP or CIVP. RESULTS: CVP and CIVP increased as PEEP was elevated (P<0.05 or P<0.01). There was a significant linear correlation between CVP and CIVP at 0, 5, 10 cm H(2)O PEEP level (r was 0.620, 0.658 and 0.777, respectively, P<0.01). The linear regression equation was Y (CVP)=0.402+0.732X (CIVP). The mean difference between CVP and CIVP at 0, 5, 10 cm H(2)O PEEP level was (1.9+/-1.7), (2.3+/-1.3), and (1.9+/-1.1) mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa, respectively P>0.05). There was a positive correlation between CVP or CIVP and the airway pressure, but only mean airway pressure and PEEP showed significant linear correlation with CVP (r was 0.634, 0.603, respectively, P<0.01) and CIVP (r was 0.751, 0.685, respectively, P<0.01). No obvious change was found in mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and expiratory tidal volume during the study. CONCLUSION: CVP and CIVP increased when PEEP is set