In this paper,the author preliminarily discusses significance for strengthening the standard work of ethnic crude drugs in China,and summarizes overall achievements and insufficiency of this work.Further,the authors puts forward his own points about the scope or conditions of the crude drugs recorded in national or local drug standards,the main principle of quality standards formulation,as well as several problems that should be paid attention to in the actual research.Moreover,the author puts forward some beneficial suggestions about strengthening the standardization building of ethnic crude drugs in China.

Objective: To research identification methods of the two crude drugs from the original plants with close relationship and very similar macroscopic shape,"Chuipencao"(Herba Sedi) and "Fujiacao"(Herba Sedi Linearis).Methods:Microscopic technique and TLC were used to determine the pharmacognostical characters for identification purpose.Results: The microscopic observations showed that the tissue structures of the stems and the microscopic characters of the powders were very similar between the two herbal drugs.But there were significant differences in number of the vessel,shape of the pith,and number of the purplish-red cell.For the samples collected in August,number of the vessel of the former usually was only 35-58,while the latter was 75-150.Pith of the former usually was in the shape of a triangle,while the latter was in the shape of Y.The TLC result had also obvious difference between the two drugs.Besides,there were some differences of the pharmacognostical characters of the samples collected in distinct periods.Conclusion: The results provided scientific basis for the identification of the two crude drugs and suggested that the general microscopic features be not important in the microscopic identification of the crude drugs from the original plants with closer relationship.

Objective:to study and solve some difficult problems in identification of medicinal plants in Selaginellaceae, and research the phylogenetic relationships among them.Methods:All the spectra were collected by using a Fourier transform near-infrared spectrometer equipped with a fiber-optic probe and a InGaAs detector for reflectance measurements.All the samples were scanned from 9 000 cm-1 to 4 000 cm-1,and each sample spectrum was obtained as an automatic mean of 32 times.The samples were measured 5 times.The average spectra obtained were transformed to first-order derivative spectra,and the latter were computerized with OPUS/INDENT operation software to conduct cluster analysis.Results:According to the information obtained from spectrograms and dendrograms,two types of S.heterostachys and two types of S.delicatula were identified as the same species respectively,and the variable type of the latter should be treated as a variety.S.tamariscina and S.pulvinata have very close relationship,indicating it is reasonable that they were applied as the same medicinal materials Juanbai.There is close phylogenetic relationship between S.moellendorffii and S.delicatula.This is also accord with the fact that they were used as the same folk herbal medicine.Conclusion:It shows that NIRS can be conveniently and quickly used for authentication of the medicinal plant species,resolving some correlative difficult problems,and inducing certain relationships between interspecies.

Objective: To explore the characteristics of IR spectra of the crude drug Herba Sedi collected in different habitats and seasons.Methods: The infrared spectra of all the samples of the whole plants were obtained by FT-IR spectroscopy,the sample powder tablets were used,and identifi cation features were determined through comparative study.Results: The harvest seasons of the samples are remarkly related to the positions(cm-1),intensity or ratios of some major absorbing peaks of the infrared spectra from the 15 samples of several different months and 4 habitats in Hubei Province,China.As for peak positions,the peak values(1625?7)cm-1 of all the samples in spring are less than 1623cm-1,but in autumn(April to October) are generally more than 1628 cm-1.And peak values(1057?16)cm-1 of the samples of spring are more than 1050 cm-1,but less than 1050 cm-1 for the samples of summer and autumn.Moreover,the habitats of samples are also related to IR spectra to some certain extent.Conclusion: The harvest seasons of Herba Sedi from Hubei Province can be preliminarily ascertained according to the IR spectra features.IR technique should be paid attention to in research and identifi cation of the harvest periods of crude plant drugs.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the chemical constituents in the roots of Polygonum amplexicaule var. sinense.

METHODThe compounds were isolated by column chromatography on silica gel and Sephadex LH-20. The structures were identified by means of IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and MS analyses.

RESULTEight compounds were isolated and identified as friedelin (1), beta-sitosterol (2), simiarenone (3), angelicin (4), psoralen (5), palmitic acid (6), (-)-epicatechin (7), and quercetin (8), respectively.

CONCLUSIONAll compounds were isolated from this species for the first time and compounds 1, 3-6 were obtained from this genus for the first time.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Mass Spectrometry ; Organic Chemicals ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Polygonum ; chemistry

Objective To clone the full-length sequence,subcellular localization,and analyze the expression patterns of the β-caryophyllene synthase gene(AaCPS)of Artemisia argyi,in order to lay a foundation for the gene function analysis of sesquiterpene biosynthesis pathway in A.argyi.Methods The genes annotated as CPS were selected from the transcriptome data of A.argyi.The full-length cDNA sequence of the target gene was obtained by PCR,and the coding region was analyzed using bioinformatics.A prokaryotic expression vector was constructed and transformed into Escherichia coli competent cells to express recombinant protein.A green fluorescent protein(GFP)fused expression vector was constructed,and the subcellular localization of AaCPS was observed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens transient expression method in tobacco.Real-time quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR)was used to analyze the expression patterns of the AaCPS at different harvest times(April,May,June,July).Determination of β-caryophyllene by HS-SPME-GC-MS and correlation analysis.Results The AaCPS gene was cloned from A.argyi.The full-length open reading frame(ORF)was 1647 bp,encoding 548 amino acids.The molecular weight was 63 667 Da with a theoretical pI of 5.94.AaCPS contained conserved Terpen_synth and Terpen_synth_C domains.Phylogenetic analysis indicated that AaCPS was closely related to the CPS protein of Artemisia annua.SDS-PAGE showed the presence of target protein bands between 75 000-120 000 Da(containing 28 132 Da of the labeled protein),indicating successful expression of the AaCPS protein.The protein was found to be localized in the cytoplasm.As shown by qRT-PCR,the expression of AaCPS gene showed an upward trend,reaching the highest in July.The results of HS-SPME-GC-MS showed that the content of β-caryophyllene increased gradually from April to the highest in June.It is consistent with the trend of AaCPS gene expression from April to June.Conclusion Through the cloning and analysis of AaCPS gene,a foundation has been laid for further study of the functional identification of the AaCPS gene in the sesquiterpenes biosynthesis pathway in A.argyi.