天麻特异DNA序列的克隆及其在天麻鉴定中的应用

应用改进的RAPD方法测定了名贵中药材天麻基因组DNA指纹图谱;通过选择和回收各种天麻种群共有和优良种群特有的DNA片段,加以克隆、测序和生物信息学分析,证明其中5个DNA序列是未报道的,已被美国基因数据库收录,并运用高效液相色谱技术测定了天麻样本的有效成分天麻素含量。运用PCR技术研究了这些DNA序列在9个天麻种群中的分布及其与天麻素含量的关系。结果表明这5个DNA序列在这些天麻种群中的分布各不相同,其中DNA序列1是所研究的全部天麻种群共有、而其伪品没有的特异DNA分子标记;DNA序列2可能与天麻的天麻素含量高有关。这些DNA标记序列可用于天麻的真伪鉴别、品种鉴定和优选优育等。     

天麻3种变型过氧化物酶的同工酶研究

采用聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（PAGE）对天麻3种变型的过氧化物酶（POD）的同工酶进行了研究。结果表明,天麻3种变型的过氧化物酶的同工酶活性不同,酶谱条带数在5～7条之间,且具有特征谱带。其中乌天麻和红天麻的酶谱条带数相同,两者的酶谱条带数均多于绿天麻;绿天麻、乌天麻和红天麻的酶谱条数依次分别为5条、7条和7条;其中基本酶带有5条,Rf值分别为0．06、0．24、0．83,0．89、0．98;乌天麻与红天麻的相似度指数为0．86,说明这两个种亲缘关系近;乌天麻与绿天麻的相似度指数为0．71,反映它们之间的亲缘关系相对较远。     

海拔对乌红杂交天麻产量与品质的影响及其酶学作用机制

蜜环菌生物种和天麻的共生关系是二者侵染-消化系统相互作用的结果,受到温度等环境因子的调节。为揭示海拔对天麻产量及品质的影响,以及温度升高影响蜜环菌生物种-天麻共生关系的作用机制。该研究通过测定不同海拔栽培天麻的产量、主要药用成分天麻素和对羟基苯甲醇的含量;在室内对天麻共生体进行升温处理,测定天麻组织液几丁质酶、β-1,3-葡聚糖酶、苯丙氨酸解氨酶与多酚氧化酶的活性变化,及天麻组织提取液对蜜环菌菌丝体的抑制效应。结果显示:(1)海拔对乌红杂交天麻的产量和有效药用成分存在显著影响,在1 600 m产量最高,且杂交天麻在海拔1 600 m有效成分含量最高。(2)温度显著影响天麻组织的抑菌系统,且天麻的消化酶及防御酶系统对其的响应具有差异性,具体表现为低温状况下天麻的消化酶系统活性增强,高温时防御酶系统活性提升。(3)温度升高导致天麻组织液对蜜环菌菌丝体的抑制效果显著下降,天麻活体中可能存在促进蜜环菌生长的热失活因子。研究表明,天麻种植区海拔下降引起的温度升高可能削弱天麻消化和抑制蜜环菌的能力,从而破坏天麻-蜜环菌的共生平衡。该研究对于揭示蜜环菌-天麻的共生机制具有重要科学价值,并对天麻栽培的区划具有实际指导意义。     

天麻蚜蝇在湖北宜昌发生危害的调查研究

为了保护天麻(Gastrodia elataBl.)的安全生产和麻农的经济效益,为后续防治工作提供科学依据,研究了危害天麻新害虫——天麻蚜蝇Azpeytia shirakii Hurkmans的危害特征、虫口密度、连作与未连作麻窖中天麻受害情况和天麻球茎不同生长发育阶段受害情况。结果表明:天麻蚜蝇幼虫多从天麻球茎的幼嫩生长点或新生麻部蛀入,被害天麻球茎表面可明显地观察到蛀眼,解剖天麻的球茎发现1个天麻内一般有1～3条蛀道,蛀道直径达5～8mm;在1m2麻窖内虫口密度可达38～50头;天麻被危害率(约等于损失率)为20%以上;连作与未连作麻窖中天麻的被危害率之间存在极显著性差异(P<0.01)。并提出了相应的防治建议。     

乌天麻与红天麻杂交制种中定植升温时间研究

分析不同升温时间对乌天麻（Gastrodia elata f. glauca）、红天麻（Gastrodia elata f. elata）箭麻生长习性、花期同步及杂交种子发育影响，为早期获得高质量天麻杂交种子材料，促进天麻杂交种高效育苗提供科学依据。对乌天麻和红天麻箭麻不同时间定植升温（22 ℃）下花茎出苗时间、始花时间、花茎高度、杂交种子质量等进行分析。结果显示，不同升温时间是影响箭麻出苗时间、始花时间的主要因素，乌天麻集中于2月中下旬出苗，红天麻升温10~15 d后陆续出苗；生态变型是影响箭麻生育期长短、花期花朵数的主要因素，乌天麻比红天麻生育期长21.47 d，对花期及蒴果采收期无较大影响，红天麻比乌天麻更易完成抽薹；不同升温时间条件下，乌天麻挂果率为87.76%，红天麻挂果率为94.53%；母本决定杂交种子质量，以红天麻为母本、乌天麻为父本所得杂交种子活性为94.32%，优于以乌天麻为母本、红天麻为父本所得杂交种子活性。因此，生产中应于1月中旬对乌天麻开始升温，待乌天麻出苗后（15 d左右）开始对红天麻升温催芽，使得乌天麻与红天麻于3月中上旬花期同步，4月初可获得优良杂交天麻种子。     

炮制加工对天麻化学成分影响的研究进展

天麻作为著名名贵药材和药食同源试点品种,其产量和消费量逐年上升,炮制加工对其化学成分及活性的影响成为诸多研究者关注的重点。本文从炮制加工(以蒸制和干制为代表)对天麻营养成分(如淀粉、蛋白质和维生素等)、功效成分(如腺苷、多酚及其酚苷和活性多糖等)及天麻微观结构的影响视角深入详细分析了天麻最近5年的研究进展,结果证实在加工过程中天麻化学成分的变化与其微观结构有一定的关联性,揭示了炮制加工影响天麻化学成分及其微观结构的内在原因,最后总结了天麻开发利用现状,为天麻的精细加工及多功能化研发提供了基础与依据。     

人工种植天麻的影响因子优化研究

天麻是一种名贵的中草药,可用于治疗多种疾病。自然条件下,天麻通过与真菌蜜环菌的共生从腐木获取营养进行生长。为了对人工大规模种植天麻的影响因子进行优化研究,利用正交设计方法,在昭通小草坝地区开展了一个样本量较大的种植实验。在测试的4种因子中,接种蜜环菌对种植天麻影响最大：其次,在露天灌木丛地种植的天麻产量明显高于在林地下的种植。此外,开展了12个树种对蜜环菌生长以及天麻种植的影响研究。结果发现十齿花（Dipentodonsinicus）对蜜环菌的生长最好,同时,也在天麻种植实验中有最高的产量;然而,添加磷、钾元素并不提高天麻的产量。     

湖北天麻GAP基地不同品种天麻最佳采收期研究

对湖北两个天麻GAP(good agricu ltural practice)基地不同品种的天麻进行了天麻素含量的动态检测和生态条件及产量的考察。结果表明,天麻在5~9月份生长迅速,从10月下旬开始逐渐停止生长,进入11月份天麻产量达到最大;采用RP-HPLC法测定,11~12月份采收的样本天麻素含量最高。据此,确定了湖北GAP基地天麻的最佳采收期:兴山基地的乌天麻、红乌天麻和乌红天麻,广水基地的红天麻均以11月份采收为宜;兴山基地的红天麻以12月份采收为宜。     

天麻生长地土壤微生物群落的初步分析

目的考察天麻生长地局部微生物群落的生态特征,探索可能会影响天麻品质的土壤微生态因素。方法选择天麻采收期采集不同产地的野生和栽培天麻生长地土壤样本,主要采用平板稀释法检测土壤中真菌、细菌、放线菌总数及优势菌的构成状况,初步分析天麻生长地土壤微生物群落的组成状况。结果所采集天麻生长地土壤样本中,来自不同产地的野生天麻细菌总数和细菌／真菌比值明显低于栽培天麻（P〈0．05）,其他指标基本一致;野生天麻生长地局部土壤中优势菌的种类比栽培天麻复杂,且许多种类为非共有。结论不同产地野生和栽培天麻生长地土壤微生物的组成存在差异,可能是影响天麻品质的重要生态因子。     

天麻竞争性杂菌无公害防控技术

天麻属兰科多年生共生异养草本植物,其球茎具有很高的药用和保健价值,是主产于中国的传统常用名贵中药,三峡地区是天麻主产区之一。由于天麻病害日益加重,致使天麻品质退化、商品形态变劣、产量逐年降低,有的甚至出现种植绝收现象。为配合天麻GAP基地建设,在三峡地区对天麻病害进行了系统调查与研究,发现天麻竞争性杂菌是导致天麻产量质量下降的罪魁祸首之一,对其发生情况及其行之有效的无公害防控技术措施作了概述。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.