Filifolium Research Articles

In-vitro and In-vivo Identification, Absorbtion and Metabolism Network Analysis of Filifolium sibiricum Flavonoids Dropping Pill by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS.

Filifolium sibiricum flavonoids dropping pill (FSFp), a unique Chinese Filifolii sibirici herba extract preparation, has the potential as an alternative therapy against S. aureus infection (SA) and antiinfection. However, its chemical composition and in vivo metabolism characteristics remain unknown, which limits its clinical application. Here, we aimed to understand the in vitro and in vivo material basis of FSFp. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was used to identify chemicals in FSFp as well as its phase I and phase II reaction metabolites in plasma, urine and feces. A total of 38 chemicals were characterized in FSFp, including 22 flavonoids, 10 organic acids, 3 chromones, 1 aromatic ketone, 1 coumarin, and 1 ligan. After analysis of the drugged bio-samples, a total of 21 compounds were found in urine, and 16 of them were found in feces, but only one was found in plasma. In addition, 56 FSFp-related metabolites were characterized, of which 56 were in urine, 4 in feces, and 8 in plasma. This is the first comprehensive research of FSFp on chemical constituents and metabolic profiles. It was expected that this study would offer reliable support for further investigation of FSFp.

Structure and ecological features of the Yeravninsky steppes flora (Western Transbaikalia)

The paper is devoted to the characteristics of the floristic diversity of steppe vegetation in the southern part of the Vitim plateau in Yeravninskaya and Uldurginskaya basins. There is a southern border of the permafrost. The flora of the steppes is characterized by a depleted composition in comparison with the steppes of the Selenga middle mountains. Some widespread plant species of the true steppes of the Central Asia are absent here. The basis of the ecological and phytocoenotic structure is the steppe group, which is dominated by mountain and forest-steppe plant species. There is less participation of the true steppe species; this fact indicates an insular nature of these steppes. A group of light-coniferous species is significant; they are the part of the cryoarid forest-steppe complexes of the Vitim plateau. In the ecological structure of the flora xeromesophyte and gemixerophyte species dominate. They have the most important coenotic role in the formation of the vegetation cover of these steppes. The cereals species are of high coenotic significance, there are indicators of the dry bunchgrass steppes of Southern Siberia (Poa botryoides (Trin. ex Griseb.) Roshev., Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn., Koeleria cristata (L.) Pers.). The role of mesoxerophytic of East Asian and Daurian-Manchurian species is also high (Filifolium sibiricum (L.) Kitam., Stellera chamaejasme L., Bupleurum scorzonerifolium Willd.). They are typical for meadow steppes of the Central Asian sector of the Palearctic.

Threatened Status Assessment of Multiple Grassland Ecosystems and Conservation Strategies in the Xilin River Basin, NE China

The Red List of Ecosystems, proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature can determine the status of ecosystems for biodiversity conservation. In this study, we applied the Red List of Ecosystems Categories and Criteria 2.0 with its four major criteria (A, B, C, and D) to assess twelve dominant ecosystems in the Xilin River Basin, a representative grassland-dominating area in China. We employed Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing to process the obtained satellite products from the years 2000 to 2015, and generated indicators for biological processes and degradation of environment with boreal ecosystem productivity simulator. The results show that all twelve ecosystems in the Xilin River Basin confront varying threats: Artemisia frigida grassland and Festuca ovina grassland face the highest risk of collapse, sharing an endangered status; Filifolium sibiricum meadow grassland and Leymus chinensis grassland have a least concern status, while the remaining eight ecosystems display a vulnerable status. This study overcomes the limits of data deficiency by introducing the boreal ecosystem productivity simulator to simulate biological processes and the plant–environment interaction. It sheds light on further application of the Red List of Ecosystems, and bridges the research gap and promote local ecosystems conservation in China.

Chemical composition and biological activities of essential oil from Filifolium sibiricum (L.) Kitam

The essential oil from Filifolium sibiricum (L.) Kitam were extracted using hydrodistillation and GC-MS was used to analyse the essential oil. The main components were espatulenol (8.55%), geranyl acetate (8.03%), caryophyllene oxide (5.47%), calamenene (4.79%), geraniol (4.28%), calamenene (4.53%), geraniol (4.06%), cedrene epoxide (3.23%), myrtenol (3.18%), transgeranylgeranio (3.13%), etc. The essential oil showed intensive inhibitory effects against MCF-7 with IC50 level of 0.78 mg/mL, HepG-2 with IC50 level of 0.44 mg/mL, SKOV-3 with IC50 level of 0.27 mg/mL, BGC-823 with IC50 level of 0.34 mg/mL. In the antibacterial test, the essential oil showed the significant antibacterial activities. The MIC and MBC values were 5.20 and 5.20 mg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus.

氮素和水分添加对贝加尔针茅草原植物多样性及生物量的影响

Increases in atmospheric nitrogen deposition and changes in precipitation patterns are important phenomena related to changes in the global environment. These changes have created a series of increasingly serious ecological problems affecting the structure and function of grassland ecosystems. Therefore,grasslands have become a focus of ecological research in China and around the world in recent years. High nitrogen deposition can acidify grassland soils and lead to nutritional imbalances,decreases in biodiversity and productivity,and grassland degradation,all of which are seriousthreats to the function of grassland ecosystems. Precipitation can increase the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer used by plants,and climate warming is accompanied by changes in precipitation. Studies of the interactive effects of nitrogen deposition and variation in rainfall on natural grassland ecosystems can help to increase our understanding of the responses of such ecosystems to changes in the global climate. In China,the Stipa baicalensis steppe,a type of meadow steppe,is mainly distributed in the forest steppe zone of the Songliao Plain and the east Inner Mongolian Plateau. In Inner Mongolia,farmers mainly use S. baicalensis steppe as natural pasture; therefore,it has an important role in livestock production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the responses of grassland plant community species diversity and the aboveground biomass of several common plant species to nitrogen deposition and irrigation. We set up a factorial experiment to test the interactive effects of eight nitrogen treatments and water addition in S. baicalensis steppe in Inner Mongolia in June 2010. This involved nitrogen( NH4NO3) application levels of 0( the control treatment,CK),15,30,50,100,150,200,300 kg N hm-2a-1( referred to as N0,N15,N30,N50,N100,N150,N200,N300,respectively) and simulated 100 mm summer rainfall. In mid-August 2013,we established 96 1 m × 1 m sample plots. The vegetation was harvested from each plot and the biomass of each species was measured to determine the effects of nitrogen and water addition on species diversity and the aboveground biomass of several common plants. Nitrogen and water application reduced plant species diversity in the steppe community,and there was a significant interaction effect between nitrogen and moisture. When water was added,increasing nitrogen application levels resulted in decreases in plant species richness,Shannon-Wiener index,and Pielou evenness index. When water was not added,increasing nitrogen application levels resulted in changes in species richness,ShannonWiener index,and Pielou evenness index that showed a "single-peak",but overall downward trend. Plant species differed in their responses to nitrogen and water addition. With increasing nitrogen application levels,the aboveground biomass of Leymus chinensis increased significantly, reaching a maximum at N300; the aboveground biomass of S. baicalensis,Achnatherum sibiricum,Cleistogenes squarrosa,Carex duriuscula,and Artemisia frigida first increased and then decreased,showing a "single-peak "trend; and the aboveground biomass of Potentilla acaulis,Thermopsis lanceolata,Melilotoides ruthenica,and Filifolium sibiricum decreased gradually. There was a significant interaction effect between water and nitrogen application level on the biomass of S. baicalensis,A. sibiricum,and M. ruthenica. We concluded that the changes in plant species diversity and aboveground biomass were related to nutrient application levels, water availability, their own characteristics,and interspecific and intraspecific competition.

The possibility to use bioacoustic characters in the taxonomy of the jumping plant lice with an example of the genus Craspedolepta (Homoptera, Psyllinea, Aphalaridae) and description of a new species from Transbaikalia

Oscillograms of calling signals of 14 species of Craspedolepta s. l. are presented. Temporal patterns of the signals in representatives of different species groups are quite similar. Therefore, the use of acoustic characters for distinguishing between genera and subgenera of psyllids appears to be impossible. In certain cases, the structure of signals in different species is almost identical. Nonetheless, in strictly sympatric species occurring in the same territory and living on the host plants of the same species, i.e., involved into acoustic interactions with each other, the signal pattern is always distinctly different. Consequently, the similarity of signals can be considered evidence of the synonymy only in sympatric forms dwelling on the same host plant. On the other hand, distinct differences in the signal patterns indicate conclusively that the forms investigated possess the rank of species. Craspedolepta filifoliae sp. n. collected in the steppe of Transbaikalia on Filifolium sibiricum is described and illustrated. The new species is closely related to the widespread C. malachitica, but differs from it in the pattern of the fore wings and certain details of the genitalia structure. Besides, distinct differences in acoustic characters between these forms provide strong evidence that C. filifoliae sp. n. is a separate (valid) species.

Photosynthetic Pathways and Life Form Types for Native Plant Species from Hulunbeier Rangelands, Inner Mongolia, North China

Photosynthetic pathway Types (C3, C4, and CAM) and life forms of native species from Hulunbeier rangelands, north China were studied. Of the total 258 species, 216 species in 132 genera and 42 families had C3 photosynthetic pathway, including dominant herbs, e.g. Stipa baicalensis Roshev. and Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel., Filifolium sibiricum Kitam. and Arudinella hirta (Thunb.) Koidz. 38 species in 28 genera and 10 families were found with C4 photosynthesis, and 4 species in 2 genera and 1 family had CAM photosynthetic pathway. The occurrence of C4 species was common in Gramineae and Chenopodiaceae, and the two families were leading ones within C4 plants. More than 52 % of the total 258 species were in H form, 21 % in Th form, 19 % in G form; the other life form Types, e.g. Ch, M, N, and HH, formed less than 3 %. 68 % of C4 species were in Th form and 24 % in H form, indicating that these Types were the dominant life forms for C4 species in the rangeland region. The occurrence of C4 species was closely related with plant habitats, disturbed lands had the highest C4 abundance (55 % of the total C4 species), followed by grasslands and sandy soil, and forests had the lowest C4 abundance (8 %). Hence the occurrence of C4 species could be efficient indicator for rangeland dynamics in Hulunbeier rangelands.

Observation and modeling of plant biomass of meadow steppe in Tumugi, Xingan League, Inner Mongolia, China

We examined the long-term dynamics of plant biomass of Filifolium sibiricum steppe, Stipa baicalensis steppe and Leymus chinense (syn. Aneurolepidium chinense) steppe relative to interannual variation of precipitation and temperature during 1981–1990 in the Tumugi, Xingan League, eastern Inner Mongolia of China. On the average, annual precipitation was 41.1 cm. Peak live aboveground biomass (PLAB) was 152 g m-2 for F. sibiricum steppe and S. baicalensis steppe and 162 g m-2 for L. chinense steppe. Peak live belowground biomass (PLBB) varied between 968 g m-2 for F. sibiricum steppe and 1022 g m-2 for L. chinense steppe. The coefficient of variation (CV) in annual precipitation (25%) was lower than the CV in PLAB (35% to 37%) but larger than the CV in PLBB (10%) of the three meadow steppe sites. Rain use efficiency was 3.6 gDM m-2 cm-1 yr-1 for F. sibiricum steppe and S. baicalensis steppe, and 3.9 gDM m-2 cm-1 yr-1 for L. chinense steppe, respectively. Using the CENTURY ecosystem model, simulation results agreed reasonably well with the observed soil organic matter, seasonal dynamics and interannual variation of plant biomass of these three steppe sites during 1981–1990. The CENTURY model is slightly more successful than the empirical regression models that use annual precipitation to estimate PLAB of these meadow steppe over time. Both seasonal distribution and interannal variation in precipitation and temperature are the important controls of temporal dynamics of plant biomass, rain use efficiency, carbon flux and storage of these meadow steppe ecosystems over time.

Sensitivity of Inner Mongolia Grasslands to Climate Change

We investigated the effects of global climate change and doubled atmospheric CO2 concentration to plant primary production and soil organic matter of typical steppe (Leymus chinense steppe and Stipa grandis steppe) and meadow steppe (Filifolium sibiricum steppe, S. baicalensis steppe and L. chinense steppe) at individual sites in Inner Mongolia, using the CENTURY ecosystem model. In the simulation of climate change, loss of soil organic C ranges from 783 gC.m-2 in meadow steppe to 1485 gC.m-2 in typical steppe, and annual above-ground net primary production (ANPP) decreases by 17.6 gC.m-2 in meadow steppe to 29.5 gC.m-2 in typical steppe under CCC (Canadian Climate Center). While under GFDL (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory), loss of soil organic C varies from 584 gC.m-2 in typical steppe to 1164 gC.m-2 in meadow steppe, and ANPP decreases in the range of 18.3 gC.m-2 in typical steppe to 32.1 gC.m-2 in meadow steppe. In the simulations of climate change plus elevated CO2 (from 350 p.p.m. to 700 p.p.m.), ANPP decreases by 5.4 gC.m-2 in meadow steppe to 11.3 gC.m-2 in typical steppe under CCC +CO2, while ANPP varies from an increase of 1.8 gC.m-2 in S. grandis steppe to a decrease of 20.6 gC.m-2 in meadow steppe under GFDL + CO2. Losses of soil organic C are slightly lower (in the range of 42 gC.m 2 to 248 gC.m -2) than losses of soil organic C under climate