Soil Physical and Chemical Properties， Microorganisms and Metabolites in Different Culture Environments of Gastrodia elata / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To study the soil physical and chemical properties， microorganisms， and metabolites in different culture environments of <italic>Gastrodia elata</italic>， so as to provide scientific basis for subsequent cultivation of <italic>G. elata</italic> in multiple environments. Method:The tubersphere soil of <italic>G. elata</italic> cultured in different environments was collected for analyzing the soil nutrients， microbial numbers， and metabolite differences using the agrochemical method， plate-count method， and gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry （GC-TOF-MS）-based non-targeted metabonomic approach. Result:The analysis of soil physical and chemical properties revealed the highest soil moisture， pH， available potassium， and available phosphorus in the spinney and the highest electrical conductivity， total nitrogen， alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen， and organic matter in the pinewood. As demonstrated by the quantitative analysis of soil microorganisms， the cultivable microorganisms were bacteria， actinomycetes， and fungi， with the bacterial population and total microbial biomass in the spinney and the number of fungi and actinomycetes in the barren slope detected to be the largest. The ratio of bacteria to fungi （B/F value） in the pinewood was the highest， while that in the barren slope was the lowest. The results of metabonomic research demonstrated that the compositions and quantities of soil metabolites in the spinney （Z group）， pinewood （S group）， and barren slope （HD group） varied. Through comparisons between S and Z groups， between HD and Z groups， as well as between HD and S groups by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA）， 18， 35， and 24 differential metabolites were separately screened out， and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis yielded 5， 9， and 13 metabolic pathways. There existed a significant causal relationship of the soil physical and chemical properties and microbial numbers with the metabolites. Conclusion:The soil physical and chemical properties， microbial numbers， and metabolite changes differed significantly in different culture environments of <italic>G. elata</italic>， which were sorted by the suitability in a descending order as follows： spinney > pinewood >barren slope. The soil physical and chemical properties and microbial numbers are the crucial factors driving changes in soil metabolites， suggesting that regulating the soil physical and chemical characteristics and microbial characteristics in the culture environment is an important mechanism for maintaining the <italic>G. elata</italic>-soil-microbial symbiotic system.

Correlation between optical coherence tomography, multifocal electroretinogram findings and visual acuity in diabetic macular edema.

AIM: To analyze the correlation between macular morphology and function in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODS: Fifty-five eyes with different visual acuity (VA) of 32 patients who suffered from DME were analyzed using multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). The parameters of mfERG including implicit times and response amplitude were compared to those of 50 normal eyes of 36 age-matched subjects. Correlation analysis was performed between VA, the parameters of mfERG including implicit times and response amplitude, and the central macular thickness (CMT). RESULTS: The amplitude of N1 and P1 were significantly decreased and their latency were significantly increased in five ring regions of the retina in patients with DME. There was statistically significant correlation between logMAR BCVA and P1 amplitude densities in rings 1-4 (r=-0.306, -0.536, -0.470, -0.362; P=0.023, <0.01, <0.01, 0.007 respectively), N1 amplitude in ring 2 and ring 3 (r=-0.035, -0.286; P=0.019, 0.034 respectively). There was poor correlation between the CMT and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; r=0.288, P=0.033), but there was no significant correlation between CMT and amplitude or implicit time of N1 and P1 (P>0.05) in the central macular ring. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that P1 amplitude density in ring 2 was the only contributor to the VA. CONCLUSION: It seems to be more appropriate of combining use of mfERG with OCT for the evaluation of macular function in eyes with DME.

Status and further development of regulation for pesticide registration for Chinese medicinal materials / 中国中药杂志

Nowadays, the cultivation of traditional Chinese medicinal materials is faced with the problems of pesticides illegal uses and pesticides residues. In the early period of eco-agriculture of Chinese materia medica, the uses of pesticides in special time is still inevitable. However, the registration of pesticides for Chinese medicinal materials now is far from enough to meet demand. So it is necessary to publish policies to expand the pesticides registration for Chinese medicinal materials. We collected and analyzed the data of pesticide registration for Chinese medicinal materials, the results showed that till March 2018, there were 10 kinds of Chinese medicinal materials, 91 pesticide products and 46 kinds of pesticide ingredients registered. Based on the current status of the pesticide management in China and the experience of the registration pesticide for minor crops in countries around the world, we point out that the pesticide registration for Chinese medicinal materials should be carried out in the form of minor crops and some specific methods are also provided in this paper.