Determination of Dencichine in Panax notoginseng in the Forest and Field Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Dencichine is a nonprotein amino acid, an effective ingredient in Panax notoginseng with hemostatic and anti-inflammatory effects. There are few studies on the effects of regions and cultivation models on the accumulation of dencichine. In the current study, the content of dencichine in P. notoginseng collected from its global cultivation and trading center Yunnan, China, (>640 samples) was determined using an optimized high-performance liquid chromatography method coupled with a diode array detector but without derivatization. The recovery rate of this method was 80-110%, the relative standard deviation was <10%, and the limits of detection and quantification were 0.003% (w/w) and 0.01% (w/w), respectively. The content of dencichine in each part of P. notoginseng was as follows: rootlets (39.59%) > main roots (29.91%) > leaves (16.21%) > stems (14.29%). For leaves, P. notoginseng in the forest (5.52 ± 2.26 mg/g) was significantly higher than that in the field (3.93 ± 1.72 mg/g) but opposite for main roots. The origins and altitudes made different contributions to the accumulation of dencichine in P. notoginseng. This study provides an effective analytical method to determine dencichines in various parts of P. notoginseng from different origins and altitudes and supports quality control and product development of P. notoginseng.

A Novel Polysaccharide From Heimioporus retisporus Displays Hypoglycemic Activity in a Diabetic Mouse Model.

A novel polysaccharide, Heimioporus retisporus Polysaccharide (HRP) was extracted from the edible mushroom Heimioporus retisporus. HRP had weight-average molecular weight 1,949 kDa and number-average molecular weight 873 kDa, and its major components were arabinose (0.71%), galactose (12.93%), glucose (49.00%), xylose (8.59%), mannose (17.78%), and glucuronic acid (10.99%). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed that HRP was composed of 1,3-linked ß-D-glucose, 1,6-linked ß-D-mannose, 1,6-linked ß-D-galactose, 1,4-linked ß-D-galactose, 1,4-linked ß-D-xylose, and 1,5-linked α-L-arabinose. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that degradation temperature (T0) of HRP was 200°C. In an STZ-induced diabetic mouse model, oral administration of HRP (40 mg/kg/d) for 28 days significantly reduced blood glucose levels, and reduced heart organ index by decreasing expression of IL-6 and TNF-α. Our findings indicate hypoglycemic effect of HRP, and its potential application as a hypoglycemic agent.

Neutral Polysaccharides From Hohenbuehelia serotina With Hypoglycemic Effects in a Type 2 Diabetic Mouse Model.

Neutral polysaccharides (NHSPs) from the mushroom Hohenbuehelia serotina were purified by D301/D152 resin ion-exchange chromatography and DEAE-cellulose anion exchange chromatography. The weight-average molecular weight (MW) and number-average molecular weight (Mn) of NHSP were 1,821 and 820.55 kDa, respectively. A monosaccharide component analysis showed that NHSP was composed of glucose, galactose, and mannose in molar ratio 2.6:2.1:1.0. FT-IR and NMR (1H and HSQC) spectroscopic analyses revealed that NHSP contained mainly 1,3-linked ß-D-glucose, 1,4-linked ß-D-glucose, 1,6-linked ß-D-mannose, 1,6-linked α-D-mannose, and 1,6-linked ß-D-galactose. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that NHSP has good thermal stability below 250°C. NHSP notably reduced the blood glucose level (hypoglycemic effect) at dose 200 mg/kg for 21 days in a type 2 diabetic mouse model. NHSP reduced the liver index significantly, suggesting that it may help prevent hepatic steatosis or hepatomegaly.

A silver@gold nanoparticle tetrahedron biosensor for multiple pesticides detection based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

The detection of multiple pesticides in food and environment is of great importance for human health and safety. In this study, the DNA backbone structure and Ag@Au nanoparticles (NPs) to construct a nano-tetrahedron with the help of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect by controlling the formation of SERS hotspots and subsequently realized the simultaneous detection of multiple pesticides. The DNA aptamers corresponding to the three pesticides of profenofos, acetamiprid and carbendazim were embedded into the three edges of the DNA tetrahedral skeleton, and the tetrahedral corners were connected to modify the Ag@Au NPs with different Raman signaling molecules. When aptamers recognize the related pesticides, the DNA backbone is deformed. Then Ag@Au NPs approach to each other with SERS hotspots formed and the intensity of the Raman signal increased, realizing the detection of the pesticide content. The biosensor constructed from the SERS substrate with higher sensitivity and lower detection limit (profenofos: 0.0021 ng mL-1; acetamiprid: 0.0046 ng mL-1; carbendazim: 0.0061 ng mL-1). The practicability of this proposed method was verified by adding the recovery rate detection and the accuracy of the method was examined by the analysis of the HPLC-MS method. The proposed SERS biosensor could distinguish and detect three pesticides in food and environmental samples with high sensitivity and low detection limit that can be used in practical applications.

Simultaneous and ultrasensitive detection of three pesticides using a surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based lateral flow assay test strip.

Chlorothalonil (CHL), imidacloprid (IMI) and oxyfluorfen (OXY) are commonly used in combination to increase crop yield. However, these three pesticides are toxic to aquatic organisms and do not easily degrade. In this study, a surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based lateral flow assay (SERS-LFA) test strip was prepared by combining antibodies with SERS nanotags, and then competitive immune binding was used to detect the three pesticides simultaneously. Moreover, the two-way binding effect of ssDNA-streptavidin bound to Ag4-NTP@AuNPs and Ag4-NTP@AuNPs with antibodies was used to further amplify the detection signal. Under the optimal conditions, the SERS-LFA test strips exhibited high sensitivity, a low detection limit, short detection time, high specificity and low cost. Furthermore, the detection range was within the values prescribed by international detection standards. By measuring the intensity of the SERS signal on the test line of the paper strip, accurate quantitative analysis was achieved. The practical application of the proposed system was demonstrated by simultaneous detection of CHL, IMI and OXY in environmental and food samples with satisfactory results.

Oxidase-mimicking activity of ultrathin MnO2 nanosheets in a colorimetric assay of chlorothalonil in food samples.

Chlorothalonil is a class of 2B carcinogen which is widely used in the prevention and treatment of fungal diseases in food samples. Its residual problem has been increasingly concerned by society. In this paper, a fast and simple colorimetric assay based on Manganese dioxide nanosheets (MnO2 NSs)-oxidize 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) platform was used to detect residual pesticide chlorothalonil in food samples. Under optimal conditions, the half maximal inhibitory concentration and the limit of detection of chlorothalonil were 3.27 and 0.024 ng/mL. There were no obvious cross-reactivity between chlorothalonil and interference substances. The recoveries shown the satisfactory results. The results of colorimetric assay for the authentic samples were largely consistent with gas chromatography. Therefore, the proposed method would be convenient and satisfactory analytical methods for the monitoring of chlorothalonil. Furthermore, the MnO2 - TMB system was used to produce test strips for quick and convenient visual detection of chlorothalonil with good performance.

Ratiometric Fluorescent Quantum Dot-Based Biosensor for Chlorothalonil Detection via an Inner-Filter Effect.

A new sensitive sensor for detecting chlorothalonil (CHL) based on the inner-filter effect (IFE) between gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and ratiometric fluorescent quantum dots (RF-QDs) was developed. Here, RF-QDs were designed by two different color CdTe QDs. Based on the IFE, the AuNPs can quench the fluorescence of the RF-QDs. Because of the electrostatic attraction between protamine (PRO) and the AuNPs, the PRO can restore fluorescence effectively. Papain (PAP) can easily hydrolyze PRO and causes the quench of fluorescence quenching. The addition of CHL can inhibit PAP activity and restore the fluorescent signal. Through the characterization of the structural changes of PAP, the inhibition and mechanism of CHL on PAP activity were studied. The ability of CHL to inhibit PAP activity was evaluated by measuring the fluorescence of the RF-QDs. Under the optimal conditions, this sensing platform shows a response to CHL in the range of 0.34-2320 ng/mL and a detection limit of 0.0017 ng/mL. Based on the CHL inhibition of PAP activity, the RF-QDs showed good selectivity for CHL. The practical application of the proposed system was demonstrated by detecting CHL in food and environmental samples with satisfying results.

Solving NP-Hard Problems with Physarum-Based Ant Colony System.

NP-hard problems exist in many real world applications. Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms can provide approximate solutions for those NP-hard problems, but the performance of ACO algorithms is significantly reduced due to premature convergence and weak robustness, etc. With these observations in mind, this paper proposes a Physarum-based pheromone matrix optimization strategy in ant colony system (ACS) for solving NP-hard problems such as traveling salesman problem (TSP) and 0/1 knapsack problem (0/1 KP). In the Physarum-inspired mathematical model, one of the unique characteristics is that critical tubes can be reserved in the process of network evolution. The optimized updating strategy employs the unique feature and accelerates the positive feedback process in ACS, which contributes to the quick convergence of the optimal solution. Some experiments were conducted using both benchmark and real datasets. The experimental results show that the optimized ACS outperforms other meta-heuristic algorithms in accuracy and robustness for solving TSPs. Meanwhile, the convergence rate and robustness for solving 0/1 KPs are better than those of classical ACS.

Multi-Objective Ant Colony Optimization Based on the Physarum-Inspired Mathematical Model for Bi-Objective Traveling Salesman Problems.

Bi-objective Traveling Salesman Problem (bTSP) is an important field in the operations research, its solutions can be widely applied in the real world. Many researches of Multi-objective Ant Colony Optimization (MOACOs) have been proposed to solve bTSPs. However, most of MOACOs suffer premature convergence. This paper proposes an optimization strategy for MOACOs by optimizing the initialization of pheromone matrix with the prior knowledge of Physarum-inspired Mathematical Model (PMM). PMM can find the shortest route between two nodes based on the positive feedback mechanism. The optimized algorithms, named as iPM-MOACOs, can enhance the pheromone in the short paths and promote the search ability of ants. A series of experiments are conducted and experimental results show that the proposed strategy can achieve a better compromise solution than the original MOACOs for solving bTSPs.

Characterization of a novel laccase purified from the fungus Hohenbuehelia serotina and its decolourisation of dyes.

A novel laccase was purified from the white rot fungus, Hohenbuehelia serotina, to investigate the applications of this laccase in the decoloration of various dyes. SDS-PAGE revealed a single band of this laccase corresponding to a molecular weight of approximately 57.8 kDa. The enzyme showed activity towards several substrates, the most sensitive of which was 2,2'-Azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS). The highest enzymatic activity using ABTS as a substrate was observed at pH 6.8 and 30°C. The enzyme activity was found to be significantly enhanced in the presence of Zn(2+) ions and inhibited by Fe(2+) ions. Moreover, SDS and ß-mercaptoethanol were inhibitory, and inhibition by L-cysteine was observed while EDTA and DMSO had almost no inhibitory effect. The laccase could effectively decolorize seven different dyes within 30 minutes at 40°C.