人参种源遗传多样性和遗传关系的AFLP分析

【目的】阐明不同种源人参的遗传关系和遗传多样性。【方法】用AFLP分子标记对来自我国吉林、辽宁2省及韩国、朝鲜的24份人参种源的多态性、亲缘关系和居群遗传多样性进行分析。【结果】从36对AFLP引物组合中,筛选出8对扩增条带清晰、多态性高的引物组合,用这8对引物共扩增出188个位点,其中138个位点为多态位点,多态位点百分率为73.4%;通过聚类分析,可将24个人参种源聚为4类;在集安、抚松和韩国的3个人参居群中,集安居群的Nei’s基因多样度、Shannon’s信息指数均最高,分别为0.1689和0.2738。【结论】AFLP分子标记研究结果能较好地揭示人参种源间的遗传多样性和遗传关系。     

Effects of starch and protein sources on starch disappearance in the gastrointestinal tract of Hanwoo (Korean native) steers

Hanwoo (Korean native) steers (274.8 ± 4.6 kg) with ruminal and duodenal cannulae were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design experiment to examine the effects of dietary treatments on starch disappearance in the gastrointestinal tract. Dietary treatments consisted of concentrate that were based on ground corn with soybean meal (C‐SBM), ground corn with corn gluten meal (C‐CGM), ground barley with soybean meal (B‐SBM) and ground barley with corn gluten meal (B‐CGM). Although the intakes of starch and protein for steers fed experimental diets were different, it did not change ruminal pH and total volatile fatty acid concentrations. Average duodenal CP flow and quantity of CP apparently digested post‐ruminally was higher (P = 0.001) for CGM‐based diets than SBM‐based diets. There were increases in quantity (P < 0.001) and percentage (P < 0.001) of corn starch digested post‐ruminally compared to barley starch. Synchronized diets showed higher percentages (P = 0.03) of starch apparently digested post‐ruminally than asynchronization. Hanwoo steers fed a corn‐based diet with a large quantity of starch reaching the duodenum and fed C‐CGM supplying great amounts of protein to the small intestine may have contributed to increased post‐ruminal starch digestion.     

Flavonoid content in fresh, home-processed, and light-exposed onions and in dehydrated commercial onion products

Onion plants synthesize flavonoids as protection against damage by UV radiation and by intracellular hydrogen peroxide. Because flavonoids also exhibit health-promoting effects in humans, a need exists to measure their content in onions and in processed onion products. To contribute to the knowledge about the levels of onion flavonoids, HPLC and LC-MS were used to measure levels of seven quercetin and isorhamnetin glucosides in four Korean commercial onion bulb varieties and their distribution within the onion, in scales of field-grown onions exposed to home processing or to fluorescent light and in 16 commercial dehydrated onion products sold in the United States. Small onions had higher flavonoid content per kilogram than large ones. There was a graduated decrease in the distribution of the flavonoids across an onion bulb from the first (outside) to the seventh (innermost) scale. Commercial, dehydrated onion products contained low amounts or no flavonoids. Losses of onion flavonoids subjected to "cooking" (in percent) ranged as follows: frying, 33; sauteing, 21; boiling, 14-20; steaming, 14; microwaving, 4; baking, 0. Exposure to fluorescent light for 24 and 48 h induced time-dependent increases in the flavonoid content. The results extend the knowledge about the distribution of flavonoids in fresh and processed onions.     

Sesquiterpenoids isolated from the flower buds of Tussilago farfara L. inhibit diacylglycerol acyltransferase

Inhibition of acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), which is a key enzyme in triglyceride synthesis in eukaryotic organisms, has been proposed as one of the drug targets for treating obesity, type II diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. Bioassay-guided fractionation of EtOH extract of the flower buds of Tussilago farfara , using an in vitro DGAT enzyme assay, resulted in the isolation of four known sesquiterpenoids, tussilagonone (1), tussilagone (2), 7beta-(3-ethyl-cis-crotonoyloxy)-1alpha-(2-methylbutyryloxy)-3,14-dehydro-Z-notonipetranone (3), and 8-angeloylxy-3,4-epoxy-bisabola-7(14),10-dien-2-one (4). DGAT1 inhibitory activity was studied by in vitro DGAT assay using rat liver microsomes and HepG2 cell microsomes. They showed DGAT1 inhibition with IC(50) values of 99.2 (1), 18.8 (2), 47.0 (3), and 211.1 (4) microM (for rat liver microsomes) and >1 mM (1), 49.1 (2), 160.7 (3), and 294.4 (4) microM (for HepG2 cell microsomes), respectively. Compound 2 showed the most potent inhibition against microsomal DGAT1 derived from rat liver and human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and also significantly inhibited triglyceride synthesis by suppressing incorporation of [(14)C]acetate or [(14)C]glycerol into triglycerides in HepG2 cells. These findings suggest that tussilagone is a potential lead compound in the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.     

Physicochemical study of interaction between polychlorobiphenyls and an amino acid reagent in solutions and soils

The interaction between polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and an alkaline amino acid reagent (NaL) in solutions and a gray forest soil contaminated by these solutions was studied by IR spectroscopy and gas-liquid chromatography depending on the component concentrations and reaction time. Intermolecular interaction of PCBs with NaL by hydrogen bonds of hydroxyl, amide, and carboxyl groups, as well as the detachment of chlorine from the aromatic ring of PCB molecules, was revealed in solutions. A significant decrease (by 32 to 75%) in total PCBs was observed in solutions and gray forest soil in the presence of the amino acid reagent depending on the concentration of the reagent and the amount of its addition to soil samples. Changes in the relative content of low-and high-chlorinated PCB congeners were revealed in solutions and PCB-contaminated gray forest soil in the presence of the amino acid reagent, which indicated their stepwise dechlorination.     

Impact of soil organic matter on calcium carbonate equilibrium and forms of Pb in water extracts from Kastanozem complex

Purpose

Accounting for ionic strength and ion association, the degree of calculated supersaturation with CaCO₃ of gleyic solonetz and molic solonetz soil solution is high. The purpose of the research was to reveal the effect of the water-dissolved organic matter (DOM) on the calcium carbonate equilibrium (CCE) in soil solution, to create a thermodynamic model of carbonate association and complexation with DOM and heavy metals (HMs), and to correct the principal of soil management.

Materials and methods

Object of research—Kastanozem complex of the dry steppe, Rostov Oblast, Russia. The water extraction of soluble salts was made at the water-to soil-ratio 5:1 and analyzed using standard methods. DOM content was determined by Strosser (J Agrobiol 27:49–60, 2010). The soil solution macro-ion equilibrium composition was calculated using ION-2 program (Endovitsky et al. 2009). DOM role in soil solution supersaturation with СаСО₃ was assessed, comparing C content in real solution and in identical artificial solution prepared without organic matter. Taking into account the ion association, the molar fractions of free and bound HM ion were calculated using microelement association coefficient, k_as(ME). The soil liquid-phase saturation with CaCO₃ was characterized by the ratio of the real solubility product (S) to the thermodynamic solubility product (S⁰): К?=?S/S⁰.

Results and discussion

The soil solution supersaturation with CaCO₃ was characterized by the product of analytical concentrations (S), equilibrium concentrations [accounting ion activity (S^I), ion association (S^II), ion association and complexation (S^III)], and the thermodynamic solubility product (S⁰). To evaluate the role of DOM in soil solution supersaturation with CaCO₃, the initial pure Ca (HCO₃)₂ solution series was prepared. The humic and fulvic acids from the illuvial horizon of gleyic solonetz with concentrations of 20 mg C L^?1 and 120 mg C L^?1 decreased the CaCO₃ precipitation compared with initial soil solution. The release of CaCO₃ from soil water extracts containing water-soluble organic matter was 1.2–1.9 times less compared with identical artificial solution not containing organic matter. The HM binding by carbonates is proportional to the DOM content.

Conclusions

In molic solonetz and gleyic solonetz, the neutralization of the soda should be assessed by the soil solution supersaturation with CaCO₃. To calculate the degree of HM passivation in soil solution containing DOM, the coefficient of soil solution oversaturation with CaCO₃ is proposed. For reducing soil organic matter and DOM mobility and loss from soil, as well as for Pb passivation, intra-soil mechanical processing, intra-soil waste management, and intra-soil watering are proposed.

     

A Systematic Review on Marine Algae-Derived Fucoxanthin: An Update of Pharmacological Insights

Fucoxanthin, belonging to the xanthophyll class of carotenoids, is a natural antioxidant pigment of marine algae, including brown macroalgae and diatoms. It represents 10% of the total carotenoids in nature. The plethora of scientific evidence supports the potential benefits of nutraceutical and pharmaceutical uses of fucoxanthin for boosting human health and disease management. Due to its unique chemical structure and action as a single compound with multi-targets of health effects, it has attracted mounting attention from the scientific community, resulting in an escalated number of scientific publications from January 2017 to February 2022. Fucoxanthin has remained the most popular option for anti-cancer and anti-tumor activity, followed by protection against inflammatory, oxidative stress-related, nervous system, obesity, hepatic, diabetic, kidney, cardiac, skin, respiratory and microbial diseases, in a variety of model systems. Despite much pharmacological evidence from in vitro and in vivo findings, fucoxanthin in clinical research is still not satisfactory, because only one clinical study on obesity management was reported in the last five years. Additionally, pharmacokinetics, safety, toxicity, functional stability, and clinical perspective of fucoxanthin are substantially addressed. Nevertheless, fucoxanthin and its derivatives are shown to be safe, non-toxic, and readily available upon administration. This review will provide pharmacological insights into fucoxanthin, underlying the diverse molecular mechanisms of health benefits. However, it requires more activity-oriented translational research in humans before it can be used as a multi-target drug.     

Modelling herbicide dose and weed density effects on crop:weed competition

The effects of a range of herbicide doses on crop:weed competition were investigated by measuring crop yield and weed seed production. Weed competitivity of wheat was greater in cv. Spark than in cv. Avalon, and decreased with increasing herbicide dose, being well described by the standard dose–response curve. A combined model was then developed by incorporating the standard dose–response curve into the rectangular hyperbola competition model to describe the effects of plant density of a model weed, Brassica napus L., and a herbicide, metsulfuron‐methyl, on crop yield and weed seed production. The model developed in this study was used to describe crop yield and weed seed production, and to estimate the herbicide dose required to restrict crop yield loss caused by weeds and weed seed production to an acceptable level. At the acceptable yield loss of 5% and the weed density of 200 B. napus plants m^–2, the model recommends 0.9 g a.i. metsulfuron‐methyl ha^–1 in Avalon and 2.0 g a.i. in Spark.     

Assessing estrogenic activity of pyrethroid insecticides using in vitro combination assays

Pyrethroid insecticides are among the most commonly used classes of insecticides worldwide, but their endocrine disrupting activities remain unclear. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the estrogenic activities of pyrethroid insecticides in E-screen and competition binding assays. In addition, we measured estrogen receptor (ER) protein and pS2 mRNA levels in human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 BUS) to clarify the mechanism of their estrogenicity. Seven pyrethroid insecticides (bioallethrine, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, fenvalerate, permethrin, sumithrin, and tetramethrin) were tested because of their worldwide usage. In addition, 17beta-estradiol was tested as a positive control. As expected, 17beta-estradiol significantly increased MCF-7 BUS cell proliferation at concentrations of 10(-11) M and above. Of the pyrethroid insecticides tested, only sumithrin increased MCF-7 BUS cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner; the maximum induction of cell proliferation was observed at a dose of 10(-5) M. In the anti-estrogenic activity test, bioallethrin, fenvalerate, and permethrin significantly inhibited 17beta-estradiol-induced MCF-7 BUS cell proliferation at 10(-6) M, a concentration comparable to the effective dose (10(-9) M) of ICI 182,780, a pure ER antagonist. However, none of the pyrethroid insecticides competitively inhibited the binding of [(3)H]estradiol to rat uterus ERs in competition binding assays. Both 17beta-estradiol (10(-10) M) and sumithrin (10(-5) M) decreased the levels of cytosolic ERalpha and ERbeta protein expression significantly as compared with the vehicle control. In addition, 17beta-estradiol (10(-10) M) increased pS2 mRNA expression markedly, and sumithrin significantly increased pS2 mRNA levels in a dose-dependent manner. The other six compounds tested in the present study did not affect ER protein levels or pS2 mRNA levels. These results suggest that certain pyrethroid insecticides may be considered to be estrogen-like chemicals that act through pathways other than direct ER binding, and may function as endocrine modulators in both wildlife and humans.     

Detection of Lawsonia intracellularis using immunomagnetic beads and ATP bioluminescence

Lawsonia intracellularis is an obligate intracellular pathogenic bacterium that causes proliferative enteropathy in various animals. The detection of L. intracellularis in clinical and environmental samples is necessary for the diagnosis of infection and epidemiological investigations. For the detection of L. intracellularis in fecal samples, we have developed an immunological method using immunomagnetic separation and ATP bioluminescence. Magnetic beads were coated with an anti-Lawsonia surface antigen (LsaA) antibody in order to capture the L. intracellularis in fecal samples from infected rabbits and the bacteria captured by the immunomagnetic beads were assayed by means of ATP bioluminescence. Our results showed that L. intracelluraris was detected by immunomagnetic separation of bacteria-holding magnetic beads and ATP-based bioluminescence, suggesting that our methods could be useful for the diagnosis of proliferative enteropathy.