Junli Wang

Anticancer, antioxidant and antibiotic activities of mushroom Ramaria flava.

Ramaria flava is a species of edible mushroom with some bioactivity. The anticancer, antioxidant and antibiotic activities and chemical composition of R. flava ethanol extract (EE) were evaluated. The present study exhibited that the EE displayed the strongest inhibitory activity against tumor cell MDA-MB-231 with an IC50 value of 66.54 μg/mL in three tested tumor cell lines, and the inhibition percent was 71.66% at the concentration of 200 μg/mL (MTT assay). The total phenolic compounds varied among four fractions of the EE from 6.66 to 61.01 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per g dry weight. Water fraction exhibited high DPPH and OH radical-scavenging activities with low IC50 values of 5.86 and 18.08 μg/mL, respectively. Meanwhile, three phenolic compounds from water fraction were also identified by HPLC. The antibiotic activities of the EE were evaluated against three microorganisms and three fungi strains by means of the agar well diffusion method and the poisoned medium technique, respectively. The EE also showed moderate antibiotic activities. These results suggest that R. flava could hold a good potential source for human health.

Anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of anemone ( Anemone cathayensis )

This study was performed to evaluate the anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of fractions and isolated compounds from anemone (Anemone cathayensis). Fourteen compounds were isolated from extracts. Anticancer activities of fractions and compounds were determined by MTT assay, and all tested fractions showed inhibition activity on human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231). The fraction 6 displayed the strongest anticancer activity, and inhibition percent was 50.32%. The antioxidant effect of fractions was evaluated by using DPPH scavenging assays. Fraction 5 had a higher DPPH radical scavenging activity with low IC50 value of 30.578 μg/mL. The antimicrobial activity of the fractions was evaluated against 3 microorganisms using the agar well diffusion method. The fractions also showed moderate antimicrobial activity. These results suggest that anemone could hold a good potential source for human health.

Effect of different plant growth regulators on micro-tuber induction and plant regeneration of Pinellia ternate (Thunb) Briet.

An efficient micropropagation system for Pinellia ternate (Thunb) Briet, a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, has been developed. Petiole and lamina of P. ternate were used as explants and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different concentrations of different plant growth regulators. The results indicated that low concentration of 2,4-dicholorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) were suitable for micro-tuber induction, but callus induction rate increased with increasing concentrations of growth regulators. Tubers induction rates of petiole and leaf were (81.8 %–100 %) and (89.4 %–96.0 %) respectively, when 0.2 mg l−1 2, 4-dicholorophenoxy acetic acid, indole-3-acetic acid or α-naphthalene acetic acid were present in the medium. Tubers induction rates of petiole and leaf cultured on MS medium supplemented with 0.2–0.5 mg l−1 6-benzyl amino purine (6-BAP) were (94.1 %–100 %) and (96.0 %–100 %) respectively. When the concentration of 2,4-dicholorophenoxy acetic acid, α-naphthalene acetic acid and 6-benzyl amino purine was increased to 2.0 mg l−1, callus induction rates of petiole and leaf were 100 % and 98.2 %, 91.0 % and 36.0 %, 62.3 % and 70.0 %, respectively. Different concentration of kinetin (KT) and zeatin (ZT) had no significant effect on micro-tuber induction of petiole. Most petioles showed polarity during the cultivation of explants, when supplemented with different concentrations of auxin or cytokinin in the MS medium.

Accumulation of flavonoids and antioxidant activity of Stellera chamaejasme by an efficient callus culture

An efficient callus proliferation system of Stellera chamaejasme was developed. The calli were initially induced by cultivating the leaf explants on the MS medium containing 1.0 mg·L−1 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D). The culture had its fresh and dry weights increased by about 29 and 25 times, respectively, through further cultivation on the MS medium containing 0.5 mg·L−1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 1.0 mg·L−1 n-phenyl-n′ -1,2,3-thiadiazol-5-ylurea (TDZ). The concentrations of NAA and 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) for an efficient accumulation of the total flavonoids in the callus were found to be 1.0 mg·L−1 and 0.25 mg·L−1, respectively. With this combination, the content of the total flavonoids slightly increased to 10.8 mg·g−1 dry weight (DW) in comparison to 10.1 mg·g−1 DW obtained in the root of wild-type plant. The antioxidant activities of all flavonoid extracts were evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The flavonoid extracts from the callus as induced by 1.0 mg·L−1 NAA and 0.25 or 0.5 mg·L/t-1 BA was very active in radical scavenging, and their IC50 values were 11.94 and 19.17 g·mL−1, respectively. Compared to the ascorbic acid (IC50 21.21 g·mL−1), the antioxidant activity of callus from S. chamaejasme was even stronger, suggesting that be another potential source of new natural antioxidants.

A new pyranone from Lenzites betulina

A new pyranone, 2-methoxy-3,6-diphenyl-4H-pyran-4-one, named betulinan C, together with three known compounds, 5α,8α-epidioxy-22E-ergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol (2), β-sitosterol (3), and ergosta-7,22-dien-3-one (4), was isolated from the ethanol extract of Lenzites betulina. Their structures were determined by analysis of spectroscopic data. Compounds 3 and 4 were isolated from the macrofungi for the first time.

A Preliminary Study of Plant Domain Ontology

Plant resources have a wealth of field knowledge, and the method to build a standard and normal ontology in this field can contribute a lot for reusing and sharing knowledge in the field. This article briefly discusses the basic concepts and features of domain ontology, includes the basic methods of domain ontology construction, and sets Medicinal plants in Anguo region as examples, initially proposes the establishment of the process of domain ontology in this field, and constructs plant classification domain ontology.

Anti-oxidative Activities of Ethanol Extracts from Both Wild Plant and Suspension Cell Cultures of Rheum franzenbachii

Abstract Objective To evaluate the content of rhaponticin and anti-oxidative activities of the ethanol extracts from both the wild plants and suspension cell cultures of Rheum franzenbachii. Methods Quantitative analysis of rhaponticin was performed by HPLC. The anti-oxidative activities of the ethanol extracts were evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assays. Results The content of rhaponticin in the roots of the wild plant was 4.36 mg/g, while the content was only 1.59 mg/g in the leaves. The content of rhaponticin in suspension cells cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BAP) and 2.0 mg/L 2,4-dicholorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) was 17.64 mg/g, which increased by 4.05 times compared with the content in the roots of the wild plants. The roots of wild plants displayed the strongest anti-oxidative activity, followed by the suspension cells 5 and 6, and the scavenging percent was 91.96%, 91.23%, and 89.27%, respectively, at the concentration of 100 μg/mL. The IC 50 values were 2.477, 15.644, and 31.415 μg/mL, respectively. In particular, the DPPH scavenging activity of the ethanol extracts from the roots of the wild plant was generally comparable to the control of ascorbic acid (VC), and the IC 50 value of the extracts was lower than that of VC (2.502 μg/mL). Conclusion Rhaponticin production in the cell culture can be modulated and the accumulation can be increased. The roots of the wild plant display the strongest anti-oxidative activity. These results suggest that R. franzenbachii could hold a good potential source for human health.