The mutual responses of higher plants to environment: physiological and microbiological aspects

Higher plants are different from animals in many aspects, but the important difference may be that plants are more easily influenced by environment. Plants have a series of fine mechanisms for responding to environmental changes, which has been established during their long-period evolution and artificial domestication. The relationship between higher plants and environment is influenced mutually. The component in environment provides higher plants with nutrients for shaping themselves and higher plants simultaneously bring photosynthetic products and metabolites to surroundings, which is the most important part of natural circle. Photosynthetic products are realized mainly by physiological mechanisms, and microbiological aspects in environment (for instance, soil environment) impact the above processes greatly. The complete understanding of the relationship will extremely promote the sustainable utilization of plant resources and make the best use of its current potential under different scales.     

高效液相色谱法同时测定稻田中苄嘧磺隆和苯噻酰草胺残留

建立了同时测定稻田(稻田土壤、水和植株)中苄嘧磺隆和苯噻酰草胺残留量的高效液相色谱(HPLC)分析方法。稻田水样品用二氯甲烷直接萃取;稻田土壤样品用碱性乙腈-二氯甲烷(1:1, v/v)混合液直接提取;水稻植株样品用碱性二氯甲烷提取后,二氯甲烷提取液经弗罗里硅土柱净化。上述样品溶液采用C18不锈钢色谱柱(150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm)分离,流动相为水-甲醇(30:70, v/v),流速为0.5 mL/min,柱温为30 ℃,紫外检测波长为238 nm,外标法定量。苄嘧磺隆和苯噻酰草胺在0.05～5.00 mg/L范围内的线性关系均很好(r＞0.9999)。在稻田水、土壤和水稻植株中添加3个水平(0.05, 0.10, 1.00 mg/kg)的苄嘧磺隆和苯噻酰草胺,两者的回收率均在85.39%～113.33%之间,相对标准偏差为0.91%～10.24%。这表明该方法的灵敏度、准确度和精密度均符合农药残留测定的技术要求。     

Oxidative polymerization of aniline on the surface of insoluble solid poly(sulfo acids) as a method for the preparation of efficient biosorbents

Polyaniline coatings of the cation-exchange resin Dowex and a synthetic composite material based on silica gel surface-modified by a sulfated styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer were prepared by precipitative polymerization of aniline on the surface of the supports. The optimal conditions for the preparation of the polyaniline-containing material providing the formation of a thin polymeric coating on the support surface were determined. Aniline is predominantly consumed to the formation of a uniform polymeric coating about 3 nm thick with an increase in the concentration of sulfo groups on the support surface. The efficiency of using the polyaniline-containing sorbents for the preparative isolation of DNA from plant tissue lysates was demonstrated. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1123–1130, June, 2007.     

Screening of medicinal plants traditionally used in Peruvian Amazon for in vitro antioxidant and anticancer potential

Plants mentioned in this study have numerous records in traditional Peruvian medicine being used in treatment of cancer and other diseases likely to be associated with oxidative stress. Amongst the eight plant species tested, only Dysphania ambrosioides exhibited combinatory antioxidant and anti-proliferative effect on a broad spectrum of cancer cells (DPPH and ORAC values = 80.6 and 687.3 μg TE/mg extract, respectively; IC₅₀ against Caco-2, HT-29 and Hep-G2 = 129.2, 69.9 and 130.6, respectively). Alkaloids and phenolic compounds might significantly contribute to anticancer/antioxidant activity of this plant. The results justify the traditional medicinal use of this plant. Our findings further suggest that D. ambrosioides might serve as a prospective material for further development of novel plant-based antioxidant and/or anti-proliferative agents. Detailed analysis of chemical composition together with toxicology assessments and in vivo antioxidant/anti-proliferative activity of this plant should be carried out in order to verify its potential practical use.     

Determination of some trace metals with a new synthesized polymer resin by FAAS in various tea and herbal plants samples

In this work, a new polymer resin with a functional groups capable of holding trace metals has been synthesized. The structure of polymer resin has been examined by BET-N₂ method analyzer, IR spectrometer, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and elemental microanalyser. The synthesized polymer resin was used for the simultaneous separation and preconcentration of the trace metals from various tea and herbal plants samples. After extraction process, flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) was used to determine the trace metals. The analytical parameters and solid phase extraction (SPE) performance such as pH, sample volume, flow rates of sample, flow rates of eluent, concentration, volume and type of eluent and effect of interference ions, were investigated. The limits of detection (DL) of the SPE procedure for trace metals, were calculated to be (3s) in the range of 0.9?4.0 μg L^?1 (n = 21) and the factors of preconcentration (PF) were obtained at 200 for Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni and Zn, and at 50 for Cr, Mn and Pb ions and the relative standard deviation (RSD) at ≤ 2% (n = 11).     

Effect of Botanical Extracts on the Growth and Nutritional Quality of Field-Grown White Head Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)

Nutraceuticals and functional foods are gaining more attention amongst consumers interested in nutritious food. The consumption of foodstuffs with a high content of phytochemicals has been proven to provide various health benefits. The application of biostimulants is a potential strategy to fortify cultivated plants with beneficial bioactive compounds. Nevertheless, it has not yet been established whether the proposed higher plants (St. John’s wort, giant goldenrod, common dandelion, red clover, nettle, and valerian) are appropriate for the production of potential bio-products enhancing the nutritional value of white cabbage. Therefore, this research examines the impact of botanical extracts on the growth and nutritional quality of cabbage grown under field conditions. Two extraction methods were used for the production of water-based bio-products, namely: ultrasound-assisted extraction and mechanical homogenisation. Bio-products were applied as foliar sprays to evaluate their impact on total yield, dry weight, photosynthetic pigments, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, vitamin C, nitrates, micro- and macroelements, volatile compounds, fatty acids, sterols, and sugars. Botanical extracts showed different effects on the examined parameters. The best results in terms of physiological and biochemical properties of cabbage were obtained for extracts from common dandelion, valerian, nettle, and giant goldenrod. When enriched with nutrients, vegetables can constitute a valuable component of functional food.     

Gas Chromatographic Method for Routine Determination of Oleanolic and Ursolic Acids in Medicinal Plants

Summary A rapid and simple gas chromatographic method has been established for routine analysis of free oleanolic and ursolic acids in dried samples of medicinal herbs. Soxhlet extraction of triterpenes was followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE). Amounts of the compounds were measured by gas chromatography after silylation of the purified samples. Experiments were performed to establish the optimum conditions (e.g. solvent, and mode and duration of extraction) for calibration curve linearity, sensitivity, reproducibility, and recovery. The conditions used for derivatization and gas chromatographic analysis resulted in an improvement on literature data. The method devised enables accurate routine measurement of many samples in quite a short time (e.g. for chemotaxonomical screening, or quality control of herbal drugs). The practical application of the method was illustrated on five Lamiaceae species.     

Macrodasine A, a novel macroline derivative incorporating fused spirocyclic tetrahydrofuran rings containing a spiroacetal moiety

A novel indole alkaloid, viz., macrodasine A, incorporating fused spirocyclic tetrahydrofuran rings onto a macroline-like moiety, was obtained from a Malayan Alstonia species. The structure, which is also notable for the presence of an unprecedented spiroacetal moiety in an indole alkaloid, was established by spectroscopic analysis.     

Ultrasound/microwave‐assisted extraction and comparative analysis of bioactive/toxic indole alkaloids in different medicinal parts of Gelsemium elegans Benth by ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography with MS/MS

Indole alkaloids are the main bioactive/toxic components in Gelsemium elegans Benth. To determine the distribution and contents of indole alkaloids in its different medicinal parts, a novel and rapid method using ultra‐high performance LC (UPLC) with MS/MS has been established and validated with an optimized ultrasound/microwave‐assisted extraction method. Four constituents, namely, humantenidine, humantenmine, gelsemine, and koumine, were simultaneously determined in 6 min. Chromatographic separation was achieved on an ultra‐high performance LC BEH C₁₈ column with a gradient mobile phase consisting of methanol and water (containing 0.1% formic acid both in methanol and water) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole electrospray MS/MS by positive ion multiple‐reaction monitoring mode. All the analytes showed good linearity (r ≥ 0.9934) within a concentration range from 0.1–25 μg/mL with a LOQ of 25–50 ng/mL. The overall intra‐ and intervariations of four components were <4.7% with an accuracy of 97.3–101.3%. The analysis results showed that there were remarkable differences in the distribution and contents of four chemical markers in the roots, stems, and leaves of G. elegans Benth. The findings can provide necessary and meaningful information for the rational utilization of its resources.     

Cloning of Promoter of Chinese Bean GRP 1.8 Gene and Characterization of Its Function in Transgenic Tobacco Plants

IntroductionVascular cells that are determined to becometracheary elements undergo a very distinct celldifferentiation.In contrast to many other types ofplant cells that can dedifferentiate and evenultimately form a new plant,cells determined tobecome tracheary elements are programmed to die.Glycine- rich proteins belong to a class ofstructural cell wall proteinsthatcontain about60 %glycine on the molar basis. Glycine- rich proteinsare localized in cell walls of bean[1] .Glycine- richprotein1…