The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Clematis Montana Buch.-Ham. (Ranunculaceae) and its phylogenetic analysis.

Clematis montana is a medicinal plant commonly used in southwest of China. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of C. montana was sequenced using the Illumina Hiseq 4000 platform. The cp genome of C. montana was 159,523 bp in length with 37.98% overall GC content. This circular molecule had a typical quadripartite structure containing a large single-copy (LSC) region of 79,385 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,092 bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 31,023 bp. The cp genome contained 135 genes, including 91 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on whole cp genome sequences showed that C. montana was closest to C. alternata.

Identification of copy number variation and population analysis of the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera).

The sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is widely cultured in East Asia for its horticultural, agricultural, and medicinal values. Although many molecular markers had been used to extrapolate population genetics of the sacred lotus, a study of large variations, such as copy number variation (CNV), are absent up to now. In this study, we applied whole-genome re-sequencing to 24 lotus accessions, and use read depth information to genotype and filter original CNV call. Totally 448 duplications and 4,267 deletions were identified in the final CNV set. Further analysis of population structure revealed that the population structure patterns revealed by CNV and SNP are largely consistent with each other. Our result indicated that deep sequencing followed by genotyping is a quick and straightforward way to mine out CNV from the population, and the CNV along with SNP could enable us to better comprehend the biology of the plant.

NMR-based Metabolomic Techniques Identify the Toxicity of Emodin in HepG2 Cells.

Emodin is a natural anthraquinone derivative that is present in various herbal preparations. The pharmacological effects of emodin include anticancer, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and even antimicrobial activities. However, emodin also has been reported to induce hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, genotoxicity and reproductive toxicity. The mechanism of emodin's adverse effects is complicated and currently not well understood. This study aimed to establish a cell metabonomic method to investigate the toxicity of emodin and explore its potential mechanism and relevant targets. In the present study, metabonomic profiles of cell extracts and cell culture media obtained using the 1H NMR technique were used to assess emodin toxicity in HepG2 cells. Multivariate statistical analyses such as partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to characterize the metabolites that differed between the control and emodin groups. The results indicated that emodin resulted in differences in 33 metabolites, including acetate, arginine, aspartate, creatine, isoleucine, leucine and histidine in the cell extract samples and 23 metabolites, including alanine, formate, glutamate, succinate and isoleucine, in the cell culture media samples. Approximately 8 pathways associated with these metabolites were disrupted in the emodin groups. These results demonstrated the potential for using cell metabonomics approaches to clarify the toxicological effects of emodin, the underlying mechanisms and potential biomarkers. Our findings may help with the development of novel strategies to discover targets for drug toxicity, elucidate the changes in regulatory signal networks and explore its potential mechanism of action.

[Prescription compatibility effect on the major components absorption in danshen extract and their identification].

An improved everted gut sac method was applied to the study of prescription compatibility effect on the major components in Danshen extracts. With the separation and detection by HPLC-ECD, 5 major peaks could be detected in intestinal absorbed solution after prescription administration. Following the identification by HPLC-MS/MS, peak 2, 3, 4, and 5 were rosmaric acid, lithospermic acid, salvianolic acid B, and salvianolic acid A, respectively, which also confirmed with reference standards of those components. Through paralleling substance identification, peak 2, 3, 4, and 5 could be found as the major components in Danshen extracts, except Salvianolic acid E which is undetectable in intestinal solution. The contents of peak 2, 3, and 4 did not show difference before and after compatible prescription administrated, where the peak 5 had a significant increase in the same process. Those results revealed that peak 5, salvianolic acid A, might lead to an increasing pharmacological effect after prescription compatibility.