This paper aims to contribute to guaranteeing the stable development and enhancing the understanding of ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica so that the national strategy and industrial demand can be better served. It first introduces current traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)policy and industrial development status from five aspects, including policy guarantee, theoretical support, technological innovation, standardization system, and brand influence. Then, the paper analyzes the development dilemma of TCM agriculture in production and quality increase and ecological environment protection. It also proposes the development goals of ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica that meet the current industrial development demand, which are reducing chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and carbon emissions, improving quality, increasing efficiency, and protecting ecological environment. In addition, the new development goals are interpreted through case studies. Finally, this paper proposes four development strategies for ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica: conducting research on the pattern and spatial and temporal variations of nationwide TCM production areas; studying the internal and external ecological memories of medicinal plant growth from the perspectives of genetic variations and environmental adaptation variations and elucidating their contributions to the formation of quality; carrying out selection and breeding of stress-resistant varieties for ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica, the optimization of key technologies for soil improvement and restoration and green prevention and control against diseases and pests, and the improvement of quality; carrying out research on the quality assurance and value realization of ecological products made from TCM. This research can provide guidance for policy formulation, theoretical development of the discipline, and the enhancement of industrial technology for ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica.
Agriculture/methods* ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Plants, Medicinal/chemistry* ; Ecosystem ; Materia Medica ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Diterpenoid ferruginol is a key intermediate in biosynthesis of active ingredients such as tanshinone and carnosic acid.However, the traditional process of obtaining ferruginol from plants is often cumbersome and inefficient. In recent years, the increasingly developing gene editing technology has been gradually applied to the heterologous production of natural products, but the production of ferruginol in microbe is still very low, which has become an obstacle to the efficient biosynthesis of downstream chemicals, such as tanshinone. In this study, miltiradiene was produced by integrating the shortened diterpene synthase fusion protein,and the key genes in the MVA pathway were overexpressed to improve the yield of miltiradiene. Under the shake flask fermentation condition, the yield of miltiradiene reached about(113. 12±17. 4)mg·L~(-1). Subsequently, this study integrated the ferruginol synthase Sm CYP76AH1 and Sm CPR1 to reconstruct the ferruginol pathway and thereby realized the heterologous synthesis of ferruginol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The study selected the best ferruginol synthase(Il CYP76AH46) from different plants and optimized the expression of pathway genes through redox partner engineering to increase the yield of ferruginol. By increasing the copy number of diterpene synthase, CYP450, and CPR, the yield of ferruginol reached(370. 39± 21. 65) mg·L~(-1) in the shake flask, which was increased by 21. 57-fold compared with that when the initial ferruginol strain JMLT05 was used. Finally, 1 083. 51 mg·L~(-1) ferruginol was obtained by fed-batch fermentation, which is the highest yield of ferruginol from biosynthesis so far. This study provides not only research ideas for other metabolic engineering but also a platform for the construction of cell factories for downstream products.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics* ; Diterpenes/metabolism* ; Metabolic Engineering ; Fermentation ; Abietanes

To clarify the species, pathogenicity, and distribution of the pathogens causing the root rot of Atractylodes lancea in Hubei province, the tissue separation method was used to isolate the pathogens from root rot samples in the main planting areas of A. lancea in Hubei. Based on the preliminary identification of the Fusarium genus by the internal transcribed spacer(ITS) sequence, three housekeeping genes, EF1/EF2, Btu-F-FO1/Btu-F-RO1, and FF1/FR1, were amplified and sequenced. Subsequently, a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on these TEF gene sequences to classify the pathogens. The pathogenicity of these strains was determined using the root irrigation method. A total of 194 pathogen strains were isolated using the tissue separation method. Molecular identification using the three housekeeping genes identified the pathogens as F. solani, F. oxysporum, F. commune, F. equiseti, F. tricinctum, F. redolens, F. fujikuroi, F. avenaceum, F. acuminatum, and F. incarnatum. Among them, F. solani and F. oxysporum were the dominant strains, widely distributed in multiple regions, with F. solani accounting for approximately 54% of the total isolated strains and F. oxysporum accounting for approximately 34%. Other strains accounted for a relatively small proportion, totaling approximately 12%. The results of pathogenicity determination showed that there were certain differences in pathogenicity among strains. The analysis of the pathogenicity differentiation of the widely distributed F. solani and F. oxysporum strains revealed that these dominant strains in Hubei were mainly highly pathogenic. This study determined the species, pathogenicity, and distribution of the pathogens causing the root rot of A. lancea in Hubei province. The results provide a scientific basis for further understanding the root rot of A. lancea and its epidemic occurrence and scientifically preventing and controlling this disease.
Plant Diseases/microbiology* ; Atractylodes/microbiology* ; Phylogeny ; Plant Roots/microbiology* ; Fusarium/classification* ; China ; Virulence ; Fungal Proteins/genetics*

Atractylodes lancea is a perennial herbaceous plant of Asteraceae, with rhizomes for medical use. However, A. lancea plants from different habitats have great variability, and the germplasm resources of A. lancea are unclear and mixed during production. Therefore, it is urgent to protect new varieties of A. lancea. The distinctness, uniformity, and stability(DUS) testing of new plant varieties is the foundation of plant variety protection, and the DUS testing guidelines are the technical basis for variety approval agencies to conduct DUS testing. In this study, the phenotypic traits of 94 germplasm accessions of A. lancea were investigated considering the breeding and variety characteristics of A. lancea in China. The traits were classified and described, and 24 traits were preliminarily determined, including 20 basic traits that must be tested and four traits selected to be tested. The 20 basic traits included 3 quality traits, 5 false quality traits, and 12 quantitative traits, corresponding to 1 plant traits, 2 stem traits, 8 leaf traits, 6 flower traits, and 3 seed traits. The measurement ranges and coefficients of variation of eight quantitative traits were determined, on the basis of which the grading criteria and codes of the traits were determined and assigned. The guidelines has guiding significance for the trait evaluation, utilization, and breeding of new varieties of A. lancea.
Atractylodes/growth & development* ; China ; Phenotype ; Guidelines as Topic ; Plant Breeding

Many triterpenoid compounds have been successfully heterologously synthesized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To increase the yield of triterpenoids, various metabolic engineering strategies have been developed. One commonly applied strategy is to enhance the supply of precursors, which has been widely used by researchers. Squalene, as a precursor to triterpenoid biosynthesis, plays a crucial role in the synthesis of these compounds. This study primarily investigates the effect of different squalene levels in chassis strains on the synthesis of triterpenoids(oleanolic acid and ursolic acid), and the underlying mechanisms are further explored using real-time quantitative PCR(qPCR) analysis. The results demonstrate that the chassis strain CB-9-5, which produces high levels of squalene, inhibits the synthesis of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid. In contrast, chassis strains with moderate to low squalene production, such as Y8-1 and CNPK, are more conducive to the synthesis of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid. The qPCR analysis reveals that the expression levels of ERG1, βAS, and CrCYP716A154 in the oleanolic acid-producing strain CB-OA are significantly lower than those in the control strains C-OA and Y-OA, suggesting that high squalene production in the chassis strains suppresses the transcription of certain genes, leading to a reduced yield of triterpenoids. Our findings indicate that when constructing S. cerevisiae strains for triterpenoid production, chassis strains with high squalene content may suppress the expression of certain genes, ultimately lowering their production, whereas chassis strains with moderate squalene levels are more favorable for triterpenoid biosynthesis.
Squalene/analysis* ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics* ; Triterpenes/metabolism* ; Metabolic Engineering ; Oleanolic Acid/biosynthesis* ; Ursolic Acid

In order to support the implementation of the Opinions on Improving the Quality of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry and fundamentally promote the high-quality development of Chinese materia medica(CMM) industry, this article analyzed the quality and safety issues arising during the transition of CMM from wild harvesting to cultivation. Root causes of these issues were identified, including changes in the habitats of medicinal plants caused by inappropriate field cultivation patterns, excessive use of chemical inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, and shortened cultivation periods due to rising economic costs. To address the above issues, the following countermeasures and suggestions were proposed to advance the high-quality development of CMM:(1) comprehensively adjust the cultivation patterns, vigorously promote ecological cultivation of CMM, and ensure production quality and safety of CMM from the source;(2) strengthen the breeding of high-quality, stress-resistant CMM varieties, improve cultivation techniques to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and improve the quality and efficiency of ecological cultivation of CMM;(3) systematically design the production, operation, and supervision models for ecological cultivation of CMM, carry out demonstrations of "high quality with fair price", and ensure the sustainable development of ecological cultivation of CMM.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/standards* ; Quality Control ; Plants, Medicinal/chemistry* ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; China ; Fertilizers/analysis* ; Materia Medica/standards* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/standards*

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is the pillar for the development of motherland medicine, and animal medicine has a long history of application in China, characterized by wide resources, strong activity, definite efficacy, and great benefits. It has significant potential and important status in the consumption market of raw materials of TCM. In the context of global climate change, farming system alterations, and low renewability, the depletion of wild medicinal animal resources has accelerated. Accordingly, the conservation and sustainable utilization of wild resources of animal medicinal materials has become a problem that garners increasing attention and urgently needs to be solved. This paper summarizes the current situation of domestic and foreign medicinal animal breeding and research progress in industrial application in recent years and points out the issues related to standardized breeding, germplasm selection and breeding, and quality evaluation standards for medicinal animals. Furthermore, this paper discusses standardized breeding, quality standards, resource protection and utilization, and the search for alternative resources for rare and endangered medicinal animals. It proposes that researchers should systematically carry out in-depth basic research on animal medicine, improve the breeding scale and level of medicinal animals, employ modern technology to enhance the quality standards of medicinal materials, and strengthen the research and development of alternative resources. This approach aims to effectively address the relationship between protection and utilization and make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of medicinal animal resources and the animal-based Chinese medicinal material industry.
Animals ; Breeding ; China ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Conservation of Natural Resources

In clinical practice, antibiotics have historically been utilized for the treatment of pathogenic bacteria. However, the gradual emergence of antibiotic resistance among bacterial strains has posed a significant challenge to this approach. In 2022, Escherichia coli, a Gram-negative bacterium renowned for its widespread pathogenicity and high virulence, emerged as the predominant pathogenic bacterium in China. The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains has rendered antibiotics insufficient to fight E. coli infections. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has made remarkable contributions to the health of Chinese people for thousands of years, and its significant therapeutic effects have been proven in clinical practice. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the advances and mechanisms of TCM and its active ingredients against antibiotic-resistant E. coli infections. First of all, this review introduces the classification, antibiotic resistance characteristics and mechanisms of E. coli. Then, the TCM formulas and extracts are listed along with their active ingredients against E. coli, including extraction solution, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and the antibacterial mechanisms. In addition, there is growing evidence supporting the synergistic therapeutic strategy of combining TCM with antibiotics for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant E. coli infections, and we provide a summary of this evidence and its underlying mechanisms. In conclusion, we present a comprehensive review of TCM and highlight its potential and advantages in the prevention and treatment of E. coli infections. We hold the opinion that TCM will play an important role in global health, pharmaceutical development, and livestock farming in the future.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of pneumococcal meningitis(PM),and drug sensitivity of Streptococcus pneumoniae(SP)isolates in Chinese children.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical information,laboratory data,and microbiological data of 160 hospitalized children under 15 years old with PM from January 2019 to December 2020 in 33 tertiary hospitals across the country.Results Among the 160 children with PM,there were 103 males and 57 females.The age ranged from 15 days to 15 years,with 109 cases(68.1% )aged 3 months to under 3 years.SP strains were isolated from 95 cases(59.4% )in cerebrospinal fluid cultures and from 57 cases(35.6% )in blood cultures.The positive rates of SP detection by cerebrospinal fluid metagenomic next-generation sequencing and cerebrospinal fluid SP antigen testing were 40% (35/87)and 27% (21/78),respectively.Fifty-five cases(34.4% )had one or more risk factors for purulent meningitis,113 cases(70.6% )had one or more extra-cranial infectious foci,and 18 cases(11.3% )had underlying diseases.The most common clinical symptoms were fever(147 cases,91.9% ),followed by lethargy(98 cases,61.3% )and vomiting(61 cases,38.1% ).Sixty-nine cases(43.1% )experienced intracranial complications during hospitalization,with subdural effusion and/or empyema being the most common complication[43 cases(26.9% )],followed by hydrocephalus in 24 cases(15.0% ),brain abscess in 23 cases(14.4% ),and cerebral hemorrhage in 8 cases(5.0% ).Subdural effusion and/or empyema and hydrocephalus mainly occurred in children under 1 year old,with rates of 91% (39/43)and 83% (20/24),respectively.SP strains exhibited complete sensitivity to vancomycin(100% ,75/75),linezolid(100% ,56/56),and meropenem(100% ,6/6).High sensitivity rates were also observed for levofloxacin(81% ,22/27),moxifloxacin(82% ,14/17),rifampicin(96% ,25/26),and chloramphenicol(91% ,21/23).However,low sensitivity rates were found for penicillin(16% ,11/68)and clindamycin(6% ,1/17),and SP strains were completely resistant to erythromycin(100% ,31/31).The rates of discharge with cure and improvement were 22.5% (36/160)and 66.2% (106/160),respectively,while 18 cases(11.3% )had adverse outcomes.Conclusions Pediatric PM is more common in children aged 3 months to under 3 years.Intracranial complications are more frequently observed in children under 1 year old.Fever is the most common clinical manifestation of PM,and subdural effusion/emphysema and hydrocephalus are the most frequent complications.Non-culture detection methods for cerebrospinal fluid can improve pathogen detection rates.Adverse outcomes can be noted in more than 10% of PM cases.SP strains are high sensitivity to vancomycin,linezolid,meropenem,levofloxacin,moxifloxacin,rifampicin,and chloramphenicol.[Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics,2024,26(2):131-138]

Objective:To explore the value of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 in peripheral blood for risk stratification and prognostic evaluation of acute graft-versus-host disease(aGVHD)after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT)in children.Methods:From January 2020 to March 2022,70 children with aGVHD after allo-HSCT in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were selected as the research objects,of which 50 cases were mild aGVHD(grade Ⅰ-Ⅱ)and 20 cases were severe aGVHD(grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ).30 healthy children who underwent physical examinations in our hospital during the same period were selected as the control group.Luminex platform was used to detect the protein expression levels of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 during aGVHD occurrence,and the differences between the three groups were analyzed by one-way ANOVA.According to the outcome of aGVHD treatment within 28 days,the patients were divided into a good prognosis group of 58 cases and a poor prognosis group of 12 cases.The ROC curve was used to analyze the value of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 in predicting the prognosis of children with aGVHD.Results:The peripheral blood levels of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 in the mild aGVHD and severe aGVHD groups were significantly higher than those in the control group(P＜0.05),and those in the severe aGVHD group were significantly higher than those in the mild aGVHD group(P＜0.05).Compared with the good prognosis group,the peripheral blood levels of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 in the poor prognosis group were significantly higher(t=9.27,3.33,2.97;P＜0.01).ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve(AUC),sensitivity and specificity of the combined detection of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 in predicting the prognosis of children with aGVHD were higher than those of the above indicators detected alone or in pairs.Conclusion:The expression levels of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 were related to the severity of aGVHD.The combination of REG3α,sST2 and TNFR1 has a high clinical value in predicting the prognosis of children with aGVHD,which is expected to provide a reliable reference for clinical evaluation of the prognosis of children with aGVHD.