The transcriptome sequencing based on Illumina Novaseq 6000 Platform was performed with the untreated seed embryo(DS), stratified seed embryo(SS), and germinated seed embryo(GS) of Zanthoxylum nitidum, aiming to explore the molecular mechanism regulating the seed dormancy and germination of Z. nitidum and uncover key differentially expressed genes(DEGs). A total of 61.41 Gb clean data was obtained, and 86 386 unigenes with an average length of 773.49 bp were assembled. A total of 29 290 DEGs were screened from three comparison groups(SS vs DS, GS vs SS, and GS vs DS), and these genes were annotated on 134 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathways. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the plant hormone signal transduction pathway is the richest pathway, containing 226 DEGs. Among all DEGs, 894 transcription factors were identified, which were distributed across 34 transcription factor families. These transcription factors were also mainly concentrated in plant hormone signal transduction and mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signaling pathways. Further real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) validation of 12 DEGs showed that the transcriptome data is reliable. During the process of seed dormancy release and germination, a large number of DEGs involved in polysaccharide degradation, protein synthesis, lipid metabolism, and hormone signal transduction were expressed. These genes were involved in multiple metabolic pathways, forming a complex regulatory network for dormancy and germination. This study lays a solid foundation for analyzing the molecular mechanisms of seed dormancy and germination of Z. nitidum.
Zanthoxylum/metabolism* ; Plant Dormancy/genetics* ; Seeds/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Transcriptome ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Germination ; Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; Plant Growth Regulators/genetics* ; Signal Transduction

OBJECTIVE: To explore and verify the effect and potential mechanism of Brucea javanica Seed Oil Emulsion Injection (YDZI) and Shengmai Injection (SMI) on peripheral microcirculation dysfunction in treatment of gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: The potential mechanisms of YDZI and SMI were explored through network pharmacology and verified by cellular and clinical experiments. Human microvascular endothelial cells (HMECs) were cultured for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot analysis, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured for tube formation assay. Twenty healthy volunteers and 97 patients with GC were enrolled. Patients were divided into surgical resection, surgical resection with chemotherapy, and surgical resection with chemotherapy combining YDZI and SMI groups. Forearm skin blood perfusion was measured and recorded by laser speckle contrast imaging coupled with post-occlusive reactive hyperemia. Cutaneous vascular conductance and microvascular reactivity parameters were calculated and compared across the groups. RESULTS: After network pharmacology analysis, 4 ingredients, 82 active compounds, and 92 related genes in YDZI and SMI were screened out. β-Sitosterol, an active ingredient and intersection compound of YDZI and SMI, upregulated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2, P<0.01), downregulated the expression of caspase 9 (CASP9) and estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1, P<0.01) in HMECs under oxaliplatin stimulation, and promoted tube formation through VEGFA. Chemotherapy significantly impaired the microvascular reactivity in GC patients, whereas YDZI and SMI ameliorated this injury (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS YDZI and SMI ameliorated peripheral microvascular reactivity in GC patients. β-Sitosterol may improve peripheral microcirculation by regulating VEGFA, PTGS2, ESR1, and CASP9.
Humans ; Microcirculation/drug effects* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Stomach Neoplasms/physiopathology* ; Emulsions ; Male ; Plant Oils/administration & dosage* ; Brucea/chemistry* ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Drug Combinations ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism* ; Seeds/chemistry* ; Injections ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism* ; Aged ; Network Pharmacology

We used exogenous GA_3 to break the seed dormancy of Thesium chinense. We used high-throughput sequencing technology was used to sequence the transcriptome of dormant seed embryos and dormancy breaking seed embryos of Th. chinense, and the data was analyzed bioinformatically and systematically. The results showed that exogenous GA_3 could effectively break the seed dormancy of Th. chinense; 73 794 up-regulated genes and 42 776 down regulated genes were obtained by transcriptome sequencing; 116 570 diffe-rential genes were annotated by GO function to GO items such as metabolism process, cell process, cell, cell component, binding and catalytic activity. A total of 133 metabolic pathways were found by Pathway analysis of 26 508 differentially expressed genes. In the process of dormancy release, DEGs were mainly enriched in translation, carbohydrate metabolism, folding, classification, degradation and amino acid metabolism. Based on the annotation results in KEGG database, 20 metabolic pathways related to dormancy release were found. Dormancy release of Th. chinense seeds is a complex biological process, including cell morphology construction, secondary metabolite synthesis, sugar metabolism and plant signal transduction, among which plant hormone signal transduction is one of the key factors to regulate dormancy release. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the sequencing results were consistent with the actual results.
Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plant Dormancy ; Plant Growth Regulators ; Santalaceae ; Seeds ; Transcriptome

The interaction of endophytes and host plant is an effective mean to regulate the growth and secondary metabolism of medicinal plants. Here we want to elucidate the effects and mechanism of Phoma herbarum D603 on the root development and tanshinone synthesis in root of Salvia miltiorrhiza by endophyte-plant coculture system. The mycelium of P. herbarum D603 was colonized in the root tissue space, and formed a stable symbiotic relationship with host plant. The in vitro activities analysis showed that the concentration of IAA produced by D603 can reach(6.45±0.23) μg·mL~(-1), and this strain had some abilities of phosphorus solubilization and siderophore production activities. The coculture experiment showed that strain D603 can significantly promote the synthesis and accumulation of tanshinones in the root of S. miltiorrhiza, in which after 8 weeks of treatment with D603, the content of tanshinone Ⅱ_A in the roots reached up to(1.42±0.59) mg·g~(-1). By the qRT-PCR analysis results, we found that D603 could improve the expression levels of some key genes(DXR, DXS, GGPP, HMGR, CPS) of tanshinone biosynthesis pathway in host plant S. miltiorrhiza, but the promoting effect mainly occurred in the early stage of the interaction, and the enzyme activity level decreased in varying degrees of the later stage. In summary, seed-associated endophyte P. herbarum D603 can promote the growth and root development of S. miltiorrhiza by producing hormones, promoting nutrient absorption and siderophore production, and promote the synthesis and accumulation of tanshinones by regulating the expression level of key genes in the synthetic pathway in S. miltiorrhiza.
Abietanes/biosynthesis* ; Ascomycota/growth & development* ; Endophytes/growth & development* ; Plant Roots/microbiology* ; Salvia miltiorrhiza/microbiology* ; Seeds/microbiology*

The study is aimed to create seed materials and dissect the molecular mechanism of sexual propagation of Gastrodia elata. In this research, thirteen characteristics of flowers, flower stem, fruits, seeds and embryo of G.elata f. glauca and G.elata f. elata after bolting at room temperature(RT) and constant temperature(CT, 22 ℃) were determined. It was found that the constant temperature condition could prolong the bolting duration of G.elata and increased the number of flowers, while the variety of G.elata only affected the bolting duration, but had no effect on the number of flowers, and the G.elata f. elata was more likely to bolting than the G.elata f. glauca. The variety of G.elata was the main factor affecting the time of dehiscent fruit of G.elata, the temperature was the main factor affecting the fruits number and fruits diameter, and the constant temperature was more conducive to the fruits shape of G.elata than the room temperature. There was no significant difference in seed phenotype of G.elata varieties, but the seed embryo of G.elata seeds cultivated at constant temperature was fuller than that of G.elata cultivated at room temperature, and temperature had less influence on the seed phenotype of G.elata. But it was interesting to find that temperature and varieties had greater influence on the seed embryo of G.elata, constant temperature cultivation was more conducive to the formation of seed embryo of G.elata, and more the seed embryo of G.elata f. elata was easier to form than the seed embryo of G.elata f. glauca. However, the development of seeds and embryos of G.elata was significantly affected, and the development of seeds and embryos of G.elata f. glauca was more sensitive to temperature than G.elata f. elata. The research suggested that it is advisable for G.elata to produce seed materials by bolting at constant temperature(22 ℃).
Fruit/growth & development* ; Gastrodia/growth & development* ; Phenotype ; Reproduction ; Seeds/growth & development* ; Temperature

Hyoscyami Semen, the mature dried seed of Hyoscyamus niger L., has long been used as a traditional Chinese medicine to treat human diseases. Hyoscyami Semen is found in local markets in China. In markets, sellers and buyers commonly inadvertently mix the seeds of H. niger with the seeds of related species such as Hygrophila salicifolia (Vahl) Nees, Astragalus complanatus R. Br., Cuscuta australis R. Br., Cuscuta chinensis Lam., and Impatiens balsamina L. because of their similar morphologies or similar names. Thus, developing a reliable method for discriminating H. niger seeds from its adulterants is necessary to reduce confusion and ensure the safe use of Hyoscyami Semen. The present study was designed to evaluate the efficiency of high-resolution melting analysis combined with DNA barcoding (Bar-HRM) with internal transcribed spacer 2 to discriminate H. niger. Our results show that Bar-HRM successfully identified the adulterants and detected the proportion of H. niger DNA extract within an admixture. In particular, HRM detected H. niger DNA extract in A. complanatus DNA extract at concentrations as low as 1%. In conclusion, the Bar-HRM method developed in the present study for authenticating H. niger is rapid and cost-effective. It can be used in the future to guarantee the purity of Hyoscyami Semen for the clinical use.
China ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Intergenic ; chemistry ; genetics ; DNA, Plant ; chemistry ; genetics ; Discriminant Analysis ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Hyoscyamus ; genetics ; growth & development ; Seeds ; genetics ; growth & development ; Transition Temperature

Alkaloids from Ba lotus seeds (ABLS) are a kind of important functional compounds in lotus seeds. The present study was designed to determine its hypertension prophylactic effects in the L-NNA-induced mouse hypertension model. The mice were treated with ABLS, the serum and tissues levels of NO, MDA, ET-1, VEGF, and CGRP were determined using the experimental kits, the mRNA levels of various genes in the heart muscle and blood vessel tissues were further determined by RT-PCR assay. ABLS could reduce the systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean blood pressure (MBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), compared to that of the model control group. After ABLS treatment, the NO (nitric oxide) contents in serum, heart, liver, kidney and stomach of the mice were higher than that of the control mice, but the MDA (malonaldehyde) contents were lower than that of the control mice. The serum levels of ET-1 (endothelin-1), VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) were decreased after ABLS treatment, but CGRP (calcium gene related peptide) level was increased. The ABLS treated mice had higher mRNA expressions of HO-1, nNOS, and eNOS and lower expressions of ADM, RAMP2, IL-1β, TNF-α, and iNOS than the control mice. Higher concentration of ABLS had greater prophylactic effects, which were close to that of the hypertension drug captopril. These results indicated the hypertension prophylactic effects of ABLS could be further explored as novel medicine or functional food in the future.
Alkaloids ; administration & dosage ; Animals ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Hypertension ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Interleukin-1beta ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Nitroarginine ; Nymphaeaceae ; chemistry ; Seeds ; chemistry ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; metabolism

This paper is in order to discussion with the composition and characteristics of Tibetan medicine plant resources, and promote the reasonable protection and utilization of the resources of Tibetan materia medica. Statistical analysis of species, distributions, and others of Chinese endemic seed plant from Tibetan medicine plants and usually used in the clinic of Tibetan medicine. The results showed that there are 523 species (25%) of Chinese endemic seed plant, belonging to 65 families and 162 genera, in about 2 000 varieties of Tibetan medicine plants recorded in relevant literatures. There are 180 Chinese endemic seed plant species (28%) belonging to 42 families and 72 genera from 625 medicine plants usually used in the clinic of Tibetan medicine. Specifically, the most of these Chinese endemic seed plant species are characteristic crude drug used in Tibetan medicine, and mainly or only distributed in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. And a few species of them were intersected with traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) and other ethnic medicines. In addition, about 10% are listed in China Species Red List. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the most abundant areas of Areal-types of the Chinese endemic seed plant. This is the biological and ecological reason formation the characteristics of Tibetan medicine plant resources. Therefore, strengthen the research of Chinese endemic seed plants used in Tibetan medicine is great significance for the reasonable protection and utilization of Tibetan medicine plant resources.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; classification ; growth & development ; Seeds ; chemistry ; classification ; Tibet

To offer the reference and method for salt damage in the cultivation of Marsdenia tenacissima, the seeds of M. tenacissima collected from Maguan city ( Yunnan province) were taken as the test materials to study the effects of different priming materials on improving germination and growth under high-level salt stress condition. Four different treatments, which were GA3, KNO3-KH2PO4, PEG-6000, NaCl, combined with ANOVA were applied to test the performance of germination energy, germination percentage, germination index, MDA, SOD, and CAT. The results showed that the seed germination was obviously inhibited under salt stress and the soaked seeds with different priming materials could alleviate the damage of salt stress. Under these treatments, the activities of SOD, CAT the content of soluble protein significantly increased. While the content of MDA significantly decreased. The maximum index was obtained when treated with 1.20% KNO3-KH2PO4, the germination percentage increased from 52.67% to 87.33% and the activity of SOD increased from 138.01 to 219.44 respectively. Comparing with the treatment of 1.20% KNO3-KH2PO4, the germination percentage of treating with 300 mg x L(-1) GA3 increased from 52.67% to 80.67%, while the activity of SOD increased from 138.01 to 444.61.
Germination ; drug effects ; physiology ; Marsdenia ; drug effects ; growth & development ; Nitrates ; pharmacology ; Polyethylene Glycols ; pharmacology ; Potassium Compounds ; pharmacology ; Seeds ; drug effects ; growth & development ; Sodium Chloride ; pharmacology ; Stress, Physiological ; Xanthones ; pharmacology

In order to explore the dormancy physiological and biochemical mechanism of Paris seeds, the seed embryo growth courses, and the dynamic change of 5 enzymes, include SOD, POD, CAT, MDH, G-6-PDH were measured during variable temperature stratification. The results indicated that Paris seeds embryo grew quickly after 40 d in warm-stratification (18 ± 1) °C, at the meantime the metabolic activity was significantly strengthened. These facts showed that Paris seeds turned into physiological after-ripening process. After 60-80 d, the morphological embryo after-ripping process basically completed, and the following cold-stratification (4 ± 1) °C furthered Paris seed to finish physiological after-ripening. After 40 d, the activity of MDH decreased while G-6-PDH increased significantly. This showed that the main respiratory pathway of seed changed from TCA to PPP, which benifited breaking seed dormancy. In the whole period of stratification process, the activity variation of SOD and CAT was insignificantly and the activity of POD was enhanced significantly after shifting the seed in cold stratification process. This showed that SOD, CAT had no direct effects on breaking Paris seed dormancy but keeping the seed vigor, while the POD might involve in the process of Paris seed dormancy breaking.
Germination ; Liliaceae ; chemistry ; embryology ; enzymology ; Plant Proteins ; metabolism ; Seeds ; chemistry ; enzymology ; growth & development ; Temperature