Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials Research Articles

Establishment of deer heart identification method and development of the detection kit based on mitochondrial cytochrome B gene

BackgroundDeer heart is a valuable traditional Chinese medicinal material. At present, there is no functional component or symbol component for deer heart, and it is difficult to identify them by physical and chemical methods. In this study, we established deer heart identification method based on mtDNA cytb gene, and developed a deer heart DNA detection kit. ResultsThere were specific amplification bands in reference medicinal materials and true deer hearts at 194 bp, but no amplification bands in negative control and blank control. Deer heart DNA detection kit has good specificity, reproducibility and stability, and its sensitivity can reach 0.5 mg. ConclusionsThe application of the deer heart DNA detection kit is simple and easy to operate, and the results obtained using the kit is stable, which is suitable for popularization and application.How to cite: Wang Y, Zhang L, Ai J. Establishment of deer heart identification method and development of the detection kit based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Electron J Biotechnol 2023;65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbt.2023.06.003.

Rapid identification of chemical composition and quality markers of Gynostemma pentaphylla by ultra-performance liquid chromatography combined with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry connected with high-performance liquid chromatography

Gynostemma pentaphylla, one of the traditional Chinese medicinal materials, which has gradually become a research hotspot due to its rich pharmacological activities such as hypolipidemic properties, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and etc. The main active ingredients of Gynostemma pentaphyllum are saponins (gypenoside), flavonoids and polysaccharides. The pharmacologically active dose depends on the content of the active ingredient, so it is necessary to establish a reliable quality evaluation standard for Gynostemma pentaphyllum. However, the existing Gynostemma pentaphyllum quality control methods are not perfect, Ginsenoside Rb1 was regarded as a signature ingredient of Gynostemma pentaphylla in local standards. Surprisingly, the high-performance liquid chromatogram results displayed that the content of Ginsenoside Rb1 was not suitable as a quality marker. Therefore, a triple quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer method was developed to explore other potential quality markers in Gynostemma pentaphylla. As a result, a total of 24 compounds was identified tentatively. While another stable and reliable component Gypenoside XLVI was found and the content was carried out. It was expected to replace Ginsenoside Rb1 to establish a more reliable and precise quality standard of Gynostemma pentaphylla.

Spectrum-image dual-modality fusion empowered accurate and efficient classification system for traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) influences the Chinese and global medical systems, with its quality essential to its effectiveness. The origin of TCM material impacts the quality of the same TCM materials. However, the existing origin classification methods of the same TCM materials from different places mainly have two disadvantages: slow processing speed and extensive experience. To address these issues, a fast and real-time technology, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), is introduced into our solution. We propose a TCM classification system that combines one-dimensional LIBS spectra with two-dimensional images. This dual-modality fusion approach represents a significant advancement in multi-view data analysis for TCM classification. As a case study, we focus on wolfberry and construct a new dataset comprising 10,800 pairs of LIBS spectrum and image data to fill the gap. To achieve superior multiple feature fusion, a two-stage fusion network (TFNet) in a coarse-to-fine way is proposed. In the first coarse fusion, the Depth Attention Fusion (DAF) module is applied to extract the key features of stacked spectrum and image. In the second fine fusion, the Line to Area (LTA) module entirely focuses on and highlights the critical spectral line features. Experimental accuracy is over 0.99 with less computation and parameters, indicating the high efficiency and accuracy of the proposed TFNet. Therefore, the classification system achieves exceptional accuracy and efficiency due to its simple sample preparation, real-time data collection and the high-accuracy lightweight network.

Supply and utilization of traditional Chinese medicine services in the nine Pearl River Delta cities in the Greater Bay Area

Objective: To analyze the present situation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) service supply and utilization in 9 cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China and provide the specific suggestions for further rational allocation of TCM service resources in the 9 cities in PRD region. Methods: Excel was used to conduct a descriptive statistical analysis of the main indicators of TCM service supply and utilization from 2010 to 2019. Results: In 2019, there were 100 TCM hospitals in the nine cities of the Pearl River Delta in the Greater Bay Area, with the number (0.155) of TCM hospitals for every 100,000 people; and the numbers (0.97 in Zhuhai and 0.19 in Dongguan) of TCM hospital beds for every 1,000 people. The utilization rate of TCM hospital beds was the highest in Zhongshan (93.3%), and the lowest in Huizhou (71.9%) for 10 consecutive years. The city with the highest average daily medical visits was Foshan (4051.2). Conclusion: In Shenzhen and Zhuhai, the input of TCM service personnel and materials is large but the utilization rate is low. The supply of TCM services in Dongguan is insufficient, and there is a huge gap between the demand and the supply. Thus, it is necessary to rationally allocate TCM medical resources, increase the supply of TCM services in some areas, and improve the utilization efficiency of TCM resources.

Identification of Traditional Chinese Medicine Based on KNN Algorithm and Random Forest

Medicinal materials are a system of components and complex mixtures, and spectroscopic principles can provide in-depth analysis of the composition mechanism of traditional Chinese medicinal materials through the determination of their material structures. Chinese medicinal materials of different origins and varieties exhibit different spectral characteristics due to differences in chemical composition and organic matter. However, spectral features have high-dimensional attributes, so PCA principal component dimensionality reduction is considered to condense spectral features into representative feature variables. Then, a hierarchical clustering method with a clear hierarchy can be used to classify multiple Chinese medicinal materials into three categories based on their spectral characteristics; At the same time, in order to solve the problem of origin identification, based on the situation that there are many classifications of origins, the KNN algorithm is combined to achieve the requirements of origin identification; Using both mid infrared and near infrared spectral data and using KNN algorithm to verify the origin of Chinese medicinal materials is more accurate; Due to the small number of categories, the prediction of the types of Chinese medicinal materials is implemented using commonly used random forests. The realization of the above methods demonstrates the feasibility of identifying Chinese medicinal materials through infrared spectroscopy, and it is also worth further exploration and research.

Intelligent Identification Method of Geographic Origin for Chinese Wolfberries Based on Color Space Transformation and Texture Morphological Features

Geographic origins play a vital role in traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Using the geo-authentic crude drug can improve the curative effect. The main producing areas of Chinese wolfberry are Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, and so on. The geographic origin of Chinese wolfberry can affect its texture, shape, color, smell, nutrients, etc. However, the traditional method for identifying the geographic origin of Chinese wolfberries is still based on human eyes. To efficiently identify Chinese wolfberries from different origins, this paper presents an intelligent identification method for Chinese wolfberries based on color space transformation and texture morphological features. The first step is to prepare the Chinese wolfberry samples and collect the image data. Then the images are preprocessed, and the texture and morphology features of single wolfberry images are extracted. Finally, the random forest algorithm is employed to establish a model of the geographic origin of Chinese wolfberries. The proposed method can accurately predict the origin information of a single wolfberry image and has the advantages of low cost, fast recognition speed, high recognition accuracy, and no damage to the sample.

Insights into the nutritional properties and molecular basis of biosynthesis of amino acids and vitamins of Gastrodia elata offered by metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis.

Gastrodia elata Blume (GE), a traditional and precious Chinese medicinal material, has been approved as a functional food. However, understanding GE's nutritional properties and its molecular basis remains limited. Here, metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses were performed on young and mature tubers of G. elata.f.elata (GEEy and GEEm) and G. elata.f.glauca (GEGy and GEGm). A total of 345 metabolites were detected, including 76 different amino acids and their derivatives containing all human essential amino acids (e.g., l-(+)-lysine, l-leucine), 13 vitamins (e.g., nicotinamide, thiamine), and 34 alkaloids (e.g., spermine, choline). GEGm has higher amino acid accumulation than GEEy, GEEm and GEGy, and vitamin contents were also slightly different in all four samples. Implying that GE, especially GEGm, is a kind of excellent complementary food as amino acid nutrition provider. From assembled 21,513 transcripts (genes) based on the transcriptome, we identified many genes that encode enzymes (e.g., pfkA, bglX, tyrAa, lysA, his B, aroA), which are responsible for the biosynthesis of amino acids and enzymes (e.g., nadA, URH1, NAPRT1, punA, rsgA) that related to vitamins metabolism. A total of 16 pairs of the differentially expressed genes (DEG) and differentially accumulated metabolites (DAM) (e.g., gene-tia006709 coding GAPDH and l-(+)-arginine, and gene-tia010180 coding tyrA and l-(+)-arginine) and three DEG-DAM pairs (e.g., gene-tia015379 coding NadA and nicotinate d-ribonucleoside) show significant similar positive or negative correlation based on three, and two comparisons of GEEy vs. GEGy, GEGy vs. GEGm, GEEy vs. GEGy and GEEm vs. GEGm, which involved into amino acid biosynthesis, and nicotinate nicotinamide metabolism, respectively. These results prove that the enzyme coded by these DEG promotes (positive correlation) or inhibits (negative correlation) the biosynthesis of parallel DAM in GE. Overall, the data and corresponding analysis in this study provide new insights into the nutritional properties of GE and the related molecular basis.

UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS assisted UPLC-TQ-MS/MS strategy to comparatively investigate the rat pharmacokinetics of N-acetyldopamine oligomers derived from Cicadae Periostracum

Cicadae Periostracum (CP), the slough molted from the nymph of Cryptotympana pustulata, is a widely used medicinal material in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). N-acetyldopamine oligomers (NAOs), the homologues of acetyldopamine, including N-acetyldopamine dimers/trimers/tetramers/pentamers (NADs/NATrs/NATes/NAPs), side-chain isomer of dimers/trimers (SCIDs/SCITrs), are major bioactive ingredients of CP. However, owing to commercially unavailable reference substances of all NAOs, simultaneous quantification of these NAOs in biological samples is difficult, and thus their pharmacokinetics are still unknown. In this study, a comprehensive strategy for simultaneous quantification/semi-quantification of NAOs in plasma with single N-acetyldopamine dimer A (NAD-A) as reference substance was established and comparatively investigated their pharmacokinetics after oral administration of pure NAD-A and two types of CP extracts, i.e., post-molting-washed slough (CP-WAT) and pre-molting-washed slough (CP-WBT). A UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS assisted UPLC-TQ-MS/MS strategy was developed to quantify NAOs in rat plasma. NAOs in CP extract were qualitatively characterized by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS, then the quasi-molecular ions and characteristic fragment ions of the identified NAOs by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS were transferred to UPLC-TQ-MS/MS as parent-daughter ion pairs for MRM mode quantification of the NAOs, and the method was validated with single NAD-A for quantifying NAD-A and semi-quantifying other NAOs in plasma. The established method was applied to compare the pharmacokinetics of NAOs after oral administration of NAD-A and the extracts of CP-WBT/CP-WAT respectively. Six quasi-molecular ions and characteristic fragment ion m/z 192.1 were characterized by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS and transferred to be the parent-daughter ion pairs for UPLC-TQ-MS/MS analysis of six kinds of NAOs. For the pharmacokinetics, NAD-A showed double peaks absorption character when administered with single compound, but with higher relative bioavailability when administered with CP extracts with the similar dosage. Compared with CP-WAT, NAOs in CP-WBT reached the maximum plasma concentration in much shorter time.

A comprehensive quality evaluation of Cimicifugae Rhizoma using UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS/MS coupled with multivariate chemometric methods.

Cimicifugae Rhizoma, known in Chinese as Shengma, is a common medicinal material in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), mainly used for treating wind-heat headaches, sore throat, uterine prolapse, and other diseases. An approach using a combination of ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), mass spectrometry (MS), and multivariate chemometric methods was designed to assess the quality of Cimicifugae Rhizoma. All materials were crushed into powder and the powdered sample was dissolved in 70% aqueous methanol for sonicating. Chemometric methods, including hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), were adopted to classify and perform a comprehensive visualization study of Cimicifugae Rhizoma. The unsupervised recognition models of HCA and PCA obtained a preliminary classification and provided a basis for classification. In addition, we constructed a supervised OPLS-DA model and established a prediction set to further validate the explanatory power of the model for the variables and unknown samples. Exploratory work research found that the samples were divided into two groups, and the differences were related to appearance traits. The correct classification of the prediction set also demonstrates a strong predictive ability of the models for new samples. Subsequently, six chemical makers were characterized by UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS/MS, and the content of four components was determined. The results of the content determination revealed the distribution of representative chemical markers caffeic acid, ferulic acid, isoferulic acid, and cimifugin in two classes of samples. This strategy can provide a reference for assessing the quality of Cimicifugae Rhizoma, which is significant for the clinical practice and quality control of Cimicifugae Rhizoma.

Functional Characterization of a New Degradation Peptide BmTX4-P1 from Traditional Chinese Scorpion Medicinal Material.

Thermally processed Buthus martensii Karsch scorpion is an important traditional Chinese medical material that has been widely used to treat various diseases in China for over one thousand years. Our recent work showed that thermally processed Buthus martensii Karsch scorpions contain many degraded peptides; however, the pharmacological activities of these peptides remain to be studied. Here, a new degraded peptide, BmTX4-P1, was identified from processed Buthus martensii Karsch scorpions. Compared with the venom-derived wild-type toxin peptide BmTX4, BmTX4-P1 missed some amino acids at the N-terminal and C-terminal regions, while containing six conserved cysteine residues, which could be used to form disulfide bond-stabilized α-helical and β-sheet motifs. Two methods (chemical synthesis and recombinant expression) were used to obtain the BmTX4-P1 peptide, named sBmTX4-P1 and rBmTX4-P1. Electrophysiological experimental results showed that sBmTX4-P1 and rBmTX4-P1 exhibited similar activities to inhibit the currents of hKv1.2 and hKv1.3 channels. In addition, the experimental electrophysiological results of recombinant mutant peptides of BmTX4-P1 indicated that the two residues of BmTX4-P1 (Lys22 and Tyr31) were the key residues for its potassium channel inhibitory activity. In addition to identifying a new degraded peptide, BmTX4-P1, from traditional Chinese scorpion medicinal material with high inhibitory activities against the hKv1.2 and hKv1.3 channels, this study also provided a useful method to obtain the detailed degraded peptides from processed Buthus martensii Karsch scorpions. Thus, the study laid a solid foundation for further research on the medicinal function of these degraded peptides.

Identification of geographical origins of Astragalus membranaceus in China using electrochemical fingerprinting

Astragalus membranaceus quality differs across different geographical locations. The electrochemical fingerprint technique is a detection technology that captures the electrochemical activity of a sample. The electrochemical fingerprint feature represents each sample, and can collect information about the electrochemical active components in traditional Chinese medicine, which can be used to distinguish between different medicinal materials and verify their authenticity. In this study, electrochemical fingerprinting was used to collect data from three different geographical locations of Astragalus membranaceus. We employed differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) to establish an electrochemical fingerprint of Astragalus membranaceus, reflecting the proportional content of various components. Ten potential markers were selected from the collected data for similarity calculations. Additionally, the original fingerprint data was used for cluster analysis and heatmap construction. The results demonstrate the potential of electrochemical fingerprinting as a technique for identifying the origin of traditional Chinese medicinal materials. This study explored the feasibility of using electrochemical fingerprint sensors for identifying the origin of the same medicinal material from different geographical locations.

Development of anti-aflatoxin B1 nanobodies from a novel mutagenesis-derived synthetic library for traditional Chinese medicine and foods safety testing

BackgroundThe main commercially available methods for detecting small molecules of mycotoxins in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and functional foods are enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and mass spectrometry. Regarding the development of diagnostic antibody reagents, effective methods for the rapid preparation of specific monoclonal antibodies are inadequate.MethodsIn this study, a novel synthetic phage-displayed nanobody Golden Glove (SynaGG) library with a glove-like cavity configuration was established using phage display technology in synthetic biology. We applied this unique SynaGG library on the small molecule aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which has strong hepatotoxicity, to isolate specific nanobodies with high affinity for AFB1.ResultThese nanobodies exhibit no cross-reactivity with the hapten methotrexate, which is recognized by the original antibody template. By binding to AFB1, two nanobodies can neutralize AFB1-induced hepatocyte growth inhibition. Using molecular docking, we found that the unique non-hypervariable complementarity-determining region 4 (CDR4) loop region of the nanobody was involved in the interaction with AFB1. Specifically, the CDR4’s positively charged amino acid arginine directed the binding interaction between the nanobody and AFB1. We then rationally optimized the interaction between AFB1 and the nanobody by mutating serine at position 2 into valine. The binding affinity of the nanobody to AFB1 was effectively improved, and this result supported the use of molecular structure simulation for antibody optimization.ConclusionIn summary, this study revealed that the novel SynaGG library, which was constructed through computer-aided design, can be used to isolate nanobodies that specifically bind to small molecules. The results of this study could facilitate the development of nanobody materials to detect small molecules for the rapid screening of TCM materials and foods in the future.

Comparison of AHP and BWM methods based on ArcGIS for ecological suitability assessment of Panax notoginseng in Yunnan Province, China

Panax notoginseng (P. notoginseng) is a traditional Chinese medicinal material with high economic and medicinal value. There is an urgent need to find new cultivation areas due to continuous cropping barriers and the effects of climate change. This study integrated the geographical environment of Yunnan with the necessary requirements for a suitable habitat for P. notoginseng and comprehensively analyzed climatic, topographical and soil factors. Furthermore, the criteria were weighted and prioritized by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the best worst method (BWM) respectively, and the overlay analysis method was used to present the suitability map in the GIS environment. Two ecological suitability assessment models were established and compared to explore the ecological suitability regionalization of P. notoginseng in Yunnan Province, China. The results showed that:(1) Among the 12 driving factors, precipitation in the hottest season is the most important, followed by average temperature in the coldest season, average temperature in the hottest season, altitude, and annual precipitation. (2) The most suitable, suitable, and unsuitable regions obtained by the AHP-GIS model accounted for respective 17.98%, 33.41%, and 48.61% of the total area of Yunnan. The values for BWM-GIS model were 13.93%, 40.25%, and 45.81%, respectively. (3) The suitable regions obtained by the two models were overlayed and concentrated in Wenshan, Qujing, Kunming, Chuxiong, Baoshan, Dali, Lijiang, Honghe and Yuxi in central Yunnan, while the unsuitable regions were distributed in Xishuangbanna, Puer, Dehong, Diqing, and southwestern Zhaotong. The sensitivity of the assessment model was analyzed, and its reliability was verified by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under curve (AUC). The BWM-GIS model (AUC=0.85) had higher accuracy than AHP-GIS model (AUC=0.822), and was more suitable for ecological suitability analysis of P. notoginseng. Our research results provide a theoretical basis for the rational expansion of cultivation regions of P. notoginseng and agricultural layout planning in Yunnan Province of China.

Chromosome-level genome assembly of Salvia miltiorrhiza with orange roots uncovers the role of Sm2OGD3 in catalyzing 15,16-dehydrogenation of tanshinones.

Salvia miltiorrhiza is well known for its clinical practice in treating heart and cardiovascular diseases. Its roots, used for traditional Chinese medicine materials, are usually brick-red due to accumulation of red pigments, such as tanshinone IIA and tanshinone I. Here we report a S. miltiorrhiza line (shh) with orange roots. Compared with the red roots of normal S. miltiorrhiza plants, the contents of tanshinones with a single bond at C-15,16 were increased, whereas those with a double bond at C-15,16 were significantly decreased in shh. We assembled a high-quality chromosome-level genome of shh. Phylogenomic analysis showed that the relationship between two S. miltiorrhiza lines with red roots was closer than the relationship with shh. It indicates that shh could not be the mutant of an extant S. miltiorrhiza line with red roots. Comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses showed that a 1.0kb DNA fragment was deleted in shh Sm2OGD3m. Complementation assay showed that overexpression of intact Sm2OGD3 in shh hairy roots recovered furan D-ring tanshinone accumulation. Consistently, in vitro protein assay showed that Sm2OGD3 catalyzed the conversion of cyptotanshinone, 15,16-dihydrotanshinone I and 1,2,15,16-tetrahydrotanshinone I into tanshinone IIA, tanshinone I and 1,2-dihydrotanshinone I, respectively. Thus, Sm2OGD3 functions as tanshinone 15,16-dehydrogenase and is a key enzyme in tanshinone biosynthesis. The results provide novel insights into the metabolic network of medicinally important tanshinone compounds.

Sinapis Semen: A review on phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, analytical methods and pharmacokinetics.

Sinapis Semen (SS), the dried mature seed of Sinapis alba L. and Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. et Coss., is one of the traditional Chinese medicinal materials with a wide range of pharmacological effects being used for asthma, cough and many other ailments. SS is also widely used in food agriculture, medicine and other industries in North America and South Asia. More recently, the research on SS has gradually intensified and increased. However, there is no systematic review of SS. In this review, through literature exploration and analysis, the research advance on phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, analytical methods and pharmacokinetics of SS was aggregated initially. Total 144 compounds have been isolated and identified from SS. Among them, glucosinolates and their hydrolysates and volatile oils are the main active ingredients and important chemical classification markers. SS has a wide range of pharmacological effects, especially in cough suppressing, asthma calming, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, cardiovascular protective, inhibiting androgenic effects, anti-tumor, and skin permeation promoting effects. Sinapine and sinapic acid are the main active ingredients of SS for its medicinal effects. However, SS has a strong skin irritation, presumably related to the time of application, the method of processing, and original medicinal plants. This review will provide useful data for the follow-up research and safe and reasonable clinical application of SS.

Classification optimization of traditional Chinese medicine materials based on additive physical properties of powder

According to the method of predicting the physical properties of oily powder based on the additive physical properties of Chinese medicinal powder, Dioscoreae Rhizoma and calcined Ostreae Concha with high sieve rate and good fluidity were mixed and crushed with Persicae Semen, Platycladi Semen, Raphani Semen, Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, and other typical oily materials with high fatty oil content in proportion to obtain 23 mixed powders. Fifteen physical properties such as bulk density, water absorption, and maximum torque force were measured, and the physical properties of typical oily powders were predicted. When the mixing and grinding ratio was in the range of 5∶1-1∶1, the r value in the correlation equation between the weighted average score of the mixed powder and the powder proportion ranged from 0.801 to 0.986, and the linearity was good, indicating that the method of predicting the physical properties of oily powder based on the additive physical properties of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)powder was feasible. The results of cluster analysis showed that the classification boundaries of the five kinds of TCM materials were clear, and the similarity of the physical fingerprints of powdery and oily materials decreased from 80.6% to 37.2%, which solved the problem of fuzzy classification boundaries of powdery and oily materials due to the lack of representativeness of oily material model drugs. The classification of TCM materials was optimized, laying a foundation for optimizing the prediction model of the prescription of personalized water-paste pills.

Suitability changes of Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis Swingle, a medicine-food plants affected by climate warming using the optimized MaxEnt model.

Climatic variables are important conditions for plant growth, development and reproduction. Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis Swingle (Rutaceae: Citrus) is one of the traditional bulk Chinese medicinal materials in China with the effects of bacteriostasis, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, anti-cancer cells, regulating the immun. Analyzing the impact of climate change on geographical distribution of C. medica L. var. sarcodactylis can provide strong support for its production layout and agricultural zoning. In our paper, MaxEnt and ArcGIS were applied to simulate the suitable areas of C. medica L. var. sarcodactylis in China from the perspectives of bioclimate, soil, topographic factors and human activities, and the future climate scenarios generated by global climate models (GCMs) were selected to predict its suitable areas in 2050s and 2090s. Results showed that, 1) Under current climate condition, areas of the total, most, moderately and poorly suitable habitats of C. medica L. var. sarcodactylis in China were 177.36×104 km2, 22.27×104 km2, 51.96×104 km2 and 103.13×104 km2 respectively. The range of the most suitable habitat was the narrowest, which was located in the middle east of Sichuan, western Chongqing in the upstream of the Yangtze River Basin, southern Guizhou and western Guangxi in the upstream of the Pearl River Basin, central and southern Yunnan and Southeast Tibet in the Middle-Lower reaches of the Southwest River Basin and western Taiwan. 2) Under the future climate change scenarios, the total suitable area showed a significant increase trend in 2090s, and the change of most, moderately and poorly suitable habitats showed no obvious law. 3) Under SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, the centroid of the most suitable habitat of C. medica L. var. sarcodactylis would move to the northwest, southeast and southwest respectively.

Application of tissue culture technology of medicinal plants in sustainable development of Chinese medicinal resources

Chinese medicinal resources are the cornerstone of the sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine industry. However, due to the fecundity of species, over-exploitation, and limitations of artificial cultivation, some medicinal plants are depleted and even endangered. Tissue culture, a breakthrough technology in the breeding of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, is not limited by time and space, and can allow the production on an annual basis, which plays an important role in the protection of Chinese medicinal resources. The present study reviewed the applications of tissue culture of medicinal plants in the field of Chinese medicinal resources, including rapid propagation of medicinal plant seedlings, breeding of novel high-yield and high-quality cultivars, construction of a genetic transformation system, and production of secondary metabolites. Meanwhile, the current challenges and suggestions for the future development of this field were also proposed.

Lipidomic and transcriptomic profiles of glycerophospholipid metabolism during Hemerocallis citrina Baroni flowering

BackgroundHemerocallis citrina Baroni (daylily) is a horticultural ornamental plant and vegetable with various applications as a raw material in traditional Chinese medicine and as a flavouring agent. Daylily contains many functional substances and is rich in lecithin, which is mostly composed of glycerophospholipids. To study the comprehensive dynamic changes in glycerophospholipid during daylily flowering and the underlying signalling mechanisms, we performed comprehensive, time-resolved lipidomic and transcriptomic analyses of ‘Datong Huanghua 6’ daylily.ResultsLabelling with PKH67 fluorescent antibodies clearly and effectively helped visualise lipid changes in daylily, while relative conductivity and malonaldehyde content detection revealed that the early stages of flowering were controllable processes; however, differences became non-significant after 18 h, indicating cellular damage. In addition, phospholipase D (PLD) and lipoxygenase (LOX) activities increased throughout the flowering process, suggesting that lipid hydrolysis and oxidation had intensified. Lipidomics identified 558 lipids that changed during flowering, with the most different lipids found 12 h before and 12 h after flowering. Transcriptome analysis identified 13 key functional genes and enzymes in the glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway. The two-way orthogonal partial least squares analysis showed that diacylglycerol diphosphate phosphatase correlated strongly and positively with phosphatidic acid (PA)(22:0/18:2), PA(34:2), PA(34:4), and diacylglycerol(18:2/21:0) but negatively with phospholipase C. In addition, ethanolamine phosphotransferase gene and phospholipid-N-methyltransferase gene correlated positively with phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)(16:0/18:2), PE(16:0/18:3), PE(33:2), and lysophosphatidylcholine (16:0) but negatively with PE(34:1).ConclusionsOverall, this study elucidated changes in the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway during the daylily flowering process, as well as characteristic genes, thus providing a basis for future studies of glycerophospholipids and signal transduction in daylilies.

Quality Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Mylabris Based on Heavy Metal Risk Assessment and Analysis of Pharmacological Component Contents.

As a highly representative traditional Chinese anti-tumor medicinal material, the biomass of Mylabris is collected from the wild. However, the living environments of Mylabris is differ, so Mylabris may be contaminated by heavy metal pollution depending on the environment. These environments may also affect the amount of biosynthesis of its medicinal ingredient, cantharidin, there by affecting the quality of Mylabris. In this study, we determined the heavy metal content in Mylabris from different origins by using ICP-MS, evaluated the risk posed by these heavy metals, and recommended theoretical maximum limits of heavy metals in medicinal Mylabris. The results show that the Cu content in Mylabris is substantially higher than that in Cr, As, Pb, Cd, and Hg. A quantitative risk assessment showed that Mylabris poses no noncarcinogenic risks. The results of the total carcinogenic risk value showed that origins S12 and S13 pose carcinogenic risk by Cr and As, and the rest of the origins were in the human-tolerable carcinogenic risk range. We found large differences in the cantharidin content in Mylabris from different origins. In general, the Mylabris from origins S2, S3 and S4 had a higher in vivo cantharidin content, which proved that the quality of the medicinal materials was higher here than in other production areas. Finally, we providing a reference for the quality evaluation of medicinal Mylabris materials.