Identification and determination of major flavonoids in rat serum by HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS methods following oral administration of Dalbergiaodorifera extract

The major flavonoids in rat serum after oral administration of Dalbergia odorifera extract were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and its coupling to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Utilizing HPLC-MS technique, 18 flavonoids including five isoflavones, four isoflavanones, four neoflavones, two flavanones, two chalcones, one isoflavanonol were identified in free form in serum sample based on comparison with the authentic standards. Furthermore, the amounts of the four prominent flavonoids, (3R)-4'-methoxy-2',3,7-trihydroxyisoflavanone, vestitone, formononetin and sativanone were determined in serum by HPLC-UV with internal standard method. The method was validated and utilized in pharmacokinetic studies of these four analytes. This is the first report on identification and determination of the major flavonoids in rat serum after oral administration of D. odorifera extract and the results provided a firm basis for clarifying the pharmacological effect of D. odorifera and evaluating the clinical applications of this medicinal herb.     

臭牡丹全草化学成分的研究（一）

从臭牡丹全草的乙醇提取物的脂溶性部分分离得到三个单一尬发,经理化常数和波谱分析证明,化全物１为新化合物臭牡丹甾醇（ｂｕｎｇｅｓｔｅｒｏｌ）,化合物Ⅱ为桢桐酯（ｃｌｅｒｏｄｏｎｅ）,化合物Ⅲ为α－香树脂醇（α－ａｍｙｒｉｎ）,均为首次从该植物中得到。     

DNA导入和系选大豆品种及其亲本遗传关系的SSR标记分析

利用现有品种的变异进行系选并培育新品种是一种重要的育种方法。利用SSR标记, 对系选大豆（Glycine max）新品种和其亲本的遗传组成进行分析, 明确二者的遗传关系, 为大豆系选育种提供依据。使用48对SSR引物对22个大豆品种及其亲本进行分析, 结果表明, 由外源DNA导入育成的3个品种与其亲本的一致性为35.42%–95.83%, 虽然供体相同, 但由于导入的外源DNA不同, 故育成的品种间差异很大。另外19个系选品种与其亲本的一致性为27.08%–89.58%, 其中有6个品种与亲本间的差异小于30%。聚类分析发现, 所有参试品种分为东北春大豆及黄淮和南方大豆2类, 其中有8个品种不能与其亲本聚在一起, 说明系选品种并不完全是由于亲本通过突变获得。此外, 农艺性状与分子标记分析结果差异较大, 说明利用有限的农艺性状评价品种间的遗传关系存在一定的局限性。通过比较系选品种和亲本之间的保守位点发现, 特定等位变异出现次数≥7的位点有14个, 分布在11个连锁群, 其中有7个位点与产量和抗病性等重要农艺性状有关, 说明DNA导入和系选品种在选择变异性状的同时, 使一些与重要农艺性状有关的等位变异得到了保留。     

东北春大豆样本的代表性及其SSR位点的遗传多样性分析

从3226份东北春大豆总体中选择283份春大豆种质,用质量性状和数量性状进行检测,对总体的代表性为80%.利用筛选出61对SSR核心引物对具代表性的东北春大豆样本进行分析,共检测到534个等位变异,平均每个位点的等位变异为8.75个,变幅为2～16个;遗传多样性指数变化范围在0.406～0.886,平均为0.704;东北春大豆样本在大多数位点上有优势等位变异,从而降低了其遗传多样性.其中35份种质具有特异等位变异,分布在29个位点上;各个位点上分化系数均较小,遗传多样性分化程度较低.东北春大豆中3个省种质的共有等位变异较多,以吉林省和辽宁省种质的遗传多样性表现较为一致,均高于黑龙江省种质的遗传多样性.地方品种的遗传多样性高于育成品种.东北春大豆种质资源的遗传多样性分布特点为有目的选择杂交亲本拓宽遗传基础以培育新品种提供了理论依据.     

Co-regulation of indole glucosinolates and camalexin biosynthesis by CPK5/CPK6 and MPK3/MPK6 signaling pathways

Secondary plant metabolites, represented by indole glucosinolates (IGS) and camalexin, play important roles in Arabidopsis immunity. Previously, we demonstrated the importance of MPK3 and MPK6, two closely related MAPKs, in regulating Botrytis cinerea (Bc)‐induced IGS and camalexin biosynthesis. Here we report that CPK5 and CPK6, two redundant calcium‐dependent protein kinases (CPKs), are also involved in regulating the biosynthesis of these secondary metabolites. The loss‐of‐function of both CPK5 and CPK6 compromises plant resistance to Bc. Expression profiling of CPK5‐VK transgenic plants, in which a truncated constitutively active CPK5 is driven by a steroid‐inducible promoter, revealed that biosynthetic genes of both IGS and camalexin pathways are coordinately upregulated after the induction of CPK5‐VK, leading to high‐level accumulation of camalexin and 4‐methoxyindole‐3‐yl‐methylglucosinolate (4MI3G). Induction of camalexin and 4MI3G, as well as the genes in their biosynthesis pathways, is greatly compromised in cpk5 cpk6 mutant in response to Bc. In a conditional cpk5 cpk6 mpk3 mpk6 quadruple mutant, Bc resistance and induction of IGS and camalexin are further reduced in comparison to either cpk5 cpk6 or conditional mpk3 mpk6 double mutant, suggesting that both CPK5/CPK6 and MPK3/MPK6 signaling pathways contribute to promote the biosynthesis of 4MI3G and camalexin in defense against Bc.     

Systematic variations associated with renal disease uncovered by parallel metabolomics of urine and serum

Background

Membranous nephropathy is an important glomerular disease characterized by podocyte injury and proteinuria, but no metabolomics research was reported as yet. Here, we performed a parallel metabolomics study, based on human urine and serum, to comprehensively profile systematic metabolic variations, identify differential metabolites, and understand the pathogenic mechanism of membranous nephropathy.

Results

There were obvious metabolic distinctions between the membranous nephropathy patients with urine protein lower than 3.5 g/24 h (LUPM) and those higher than 3.5 g/24 h (HUPM) by Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) model analysis. In total, 26 urine metabolites and 9 serum metabolites were identified to account for such differences, and the majority of metabolites were significantly increased in HUPM patients for both urines and serums. Combining the results of urine with serum, all differential metabolites were classified to 5 classes. This classification helps globally probe the systematic metabolic alterations before and after blood flowing through kidney. Citric acid and 4 amino acids were markedly increased only in the serum samples of HUPM patients, implying more impaired filtration function of kidneys of HUPM patients than LUPM patients. The dicarboxylic acids, phenolic acids, and cholesterol were significantly elevated only in urines of HUPM patients, suggesting more severe oxidative attacks than LUPM patients.

Conclusions

Parallel metabolomics of urine and serum revealed the systematic metabolic variations associated with LUPM and HUPM patients, where HUPM patients suffered more severe injury of kidney function and oxidative stresses than LUPM patients. This research exhibited a promising application of parallel metabolomics in renal diseases.

     

Development and utilization of a new chemically‐induced soybean library with a high mutation density

Mutagenized populations have provided important materials for introducing variation and identifying gene function in plants. In this study, an ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)‐induced soybean (Glycine max) population, consisting of 21,600 independent M₂ lines, was developed. Over 1,000 M_{4 (5)} families, with diverse abnormal phenotypes for seed composition, seed shape, plant morphology and maturity that are stably expressed across different environments and generations were identified. Phenotypic analysis of the population led to the identification of a yellow pigmentation mutant, gyl, that displayed significantly decreased chlorophyll (Chl) content and abnormal chloroplast development. Sequence analysis showed that gyl is allelic to MinnGold, where a different single nucleotide polymorphism variation in the Mg‐chelatase subunit gene (ChlI1a) results in golden yellow leaves. A cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence marker was developed and may be applied to marker‐assisted selection for the golden yellow phenotype in soybean breeding. We show that the newly developed soybean EMS mutant population has potential for functional genomics research and genetic improvement in soybean.     

Genetic analysis and QTL detection of reproductive period and post-flowering photoperiod responses in soybean

Reproductive period (RP) is an important trait of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] It is closely related to yield, quality and tolerances to environmental stresses. To investigate the inheritance and photoperiod response of RP in soybean, the F(1), F(2), and F(2:3) populations derived from nine crosses were developed. The inheritance of RP was analyzed through the joint segregation analysis. It was shown that the RP was controlled by one major gene plus polygenes. 181 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) generated from the cross of Xuyong Hongdou?×?Baohexuan 3 were further used for QTL mapping of RP under normal conditions across 3 environments, using 127 SSR markers. Four QTLs, designated qRP-c-1, qRP-g-1, qRP-m-1 and qRP-m-2, were mapped on C1, G and M linkage groups, respectively. The QTL qRP-c-1 on the linkage group C1 showed stable effect across environments and explained 25.6, 27.5 and 21.4% of the phenotypic variance in Nanjing 2002, Beijing 2003 and Beijing 2004, respectively. Under photoperiod-controlled conditions, qRP-c-1, and two different QTLs designated qRP-l-1 and qRP-o-1, respectively, were mapped on the linkage groups L and O. qRP-o-1 was detected under SD condition and can explained 10.70% of the phenotypic variance. qRP-c-1 and qRP-l-1 were detected under LD condition and for photoperiod sensitivity. The two major-effect QTLs can explain 19.03 and 19.00% of the phenotypic variance, respectively, under LD condition and 16.25 and 14.12%, respectively, for photoperiod sensitivity. Comparative mapping suggested that the two major-effect QTLs, qRP-c-1 and qRP-l-1, might associate with E8 or GmCRY1a and the maturity gene E3 or GmPhyA3, respectively. These results could facilitate our understanding of the inheritance of RP and provide information on marker-assisted breeding for high yield and wide adaptation in soybean.