Plant knowledge of the Shuhi in the Hengduan Mountains, Southwest China

The Shuhi are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group of around 1,500 people living exclusively in the Shuiluo Valley, southwest China. We documented their plant knowledge concerning wild collected species, and analyzed food, medicine, and ritual uses. Overall, uses, collection sites, and use frequencies of 136 plant species were documented. The plants were divided in fodder (46 spp.), food (43 spp.), medicine (27 spp.), ritual plants (20 spp.), fuelwood (17 spp.), plants used for construction (8 spp.), ornamentals (2 spp.), and "others" (34 spp.). Food plants mainly consist of fruits and leafy vegetables, and the uses are comparable with those of other ethnic groups in the area. Knowledge about medicinal plants is relatively limited, since traditional Shuhi healers use ritual and other healing methods instead of medicinal plants. Ritual plants play an important role relative to human well-being. Villagers and ritualists use them to keep the environment clean of malevolent spirits and to maintain a good relationship with the deities. All habitats, from the dry shrub vegetation at the valley bottom up to the alpine shrub, are used for plant collection, but 87% of all species are collected in the near vicinity of the villages around the fields and in the dry shrub vegetation. Finally, we postulate two main factors influencing wild plant use among the Shuhi: cultural values and accessibility.     

丽江市国家重点保护野生药用植物资源研究

报道丽江市国家重点保护的34种野生濒危药用植物资源.分析了这些药用植物资源的基本特点和用途,并探讨其保护和开发利用.     

Decline in Medicinal and Forage Species with Warming is Mediated by Plant Traits on the Tibetan Plateau

Experimental studies of how global changes and human activities affect plant diversity often focus on broad measures of diversity and discuss the implications of these changes for ecosystem function. We examined how experimental warming and grazing affected species within plant groups of direct importance to Tibetan pastoralists: medicinal plants used by humans and palatable plants consumed by livestock. Warming resulted in species losses from both the medicinal and palatable plant groups; however, differential relative vulnerability to warming occurred. With respect to the percent of warming-induced species losses, the overall plant community lost 27%, medicinal plants lost 21%, and non-medicinal plants lost 40% of species. Losses of palatable and non-palatable species were similar to losses in the overall plant community. The deep-rootedness of medicinal plants resulted in lowered sensitivity to warming, whereas the shallow-rootedness of non-medicinal plants resulted in greater sensitivity to warming; the variable rooting depth of palatable and non-palatable plants resulted in an intermediate response to warming. Predicting the vulnerability of plant groups to human activities can be enhanced by knowledge of plant traits, their response to specific drivers, and their distribution within plant groups. Knowledge of the mechanisms through which a driver operates, and the evolutionary interaction of plants with that driver, will aid predictions. Future steps to protect ecosystem services furnished by medicinal and palatable plants will be required under the novel stress of a warmer climate. Grazing may be an important tool in maintaining some of these services under future warming. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

产杜仲黄酮内生真菌的初步研究

由杜仲植株的根、茎、叶分离到内生真菌,分别对各菌株进行液体培养,筛选能产生与杜仲药材相同或相似黄酮类化合物的内生真菌。将培养物适当处理后,根据黄酮类化合物所特有的颜色反应进行初筛,然后根据TLC分析和紫外-可见光分光光度法测定结果进行复筛,结果从杜仲植株共分离得到44株内生真菌,其中1株(DZY5)能产出与其宿主相同或相似的黄酮类物质。     

新疆巩乃斯沟药用植物资源多样性研究

从数量、生活型、药用部位等方面对巩乃斯沟药用植物多样性进行了研究。巩乃斯沟的药用植物资源具有丰富的多样性,共有野生药用植物54科260多种,分别占伊犁河谷地区药用植物科、种数的54.54%和46.34%。其中珍稀濒危药用种子植物21种,新疆道地药材8种,蒙医药地道药材38种;多年生草本类型占该区药用种子植物总数的70%以上;全草类和根类药用植物最多,分别占该区药用种子植物总数的50.84%和21.40%,大多数种类属于北温带分布区类型;优势科主要有菊科、蔷薇科、毛茛科和豆科,优势属主要有蒿属,毛茛属和委陵菜属。本文提出了保护和开发利用的具体建议。     

Plant regeneration protocol of medicinally important <Emphasis Type="Italic">Andrographis paniculata</Emphasis> (Burm. F.) Wallich <Emphasis Type="Italic">ex</Emphasis> Nees via somatic embryogenesis

Summary In vitro propagation of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wallich ex Nees through somatic embryogenesis, and influence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-1) on induction, maturation, and conversion of somatic embryos were investigated. The concentration of 2,4-D in callus induction medium determined the induction, efficacy of somatic embryogenesis, embryo maturation, and conversion. Friable callus initiated from leaf and internode explants grown on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2.26, 4.52, 6.78, and 9.05μM 2,4-D started to form embryos at 135, 105, 150, and 185d, respectively, after explant establishment. Callus initiated at 13.56μM 2,4-D did not induce embryos even after 240 d, whereas those initiated on MS medium with 4.52μM 2,4-D was most favorable for the formation and maturation of somatic embryos. Callus subcultured on the medium with reduced concentration of 2,4-D (2.26μM) became embryogenic. This embryogenic callus gave rise to the highest number of embryos (mean of 312 embryos) after being transferred to half-strength MS basal liquid medium. The embryos were grown only up to the torpedo stage. A higher frequency of embryos developed from callus initiated on 2.26 or 4.52 μM 2,4-D underwent maturation compared to that initiated on higher concentrations of 2.4-D. The addition of 11.7μM silver nitrate to half-strength MS liquid medium resulted in 71% of embryos undergoing maturation, while 83% of embryos developed into plantlets after being transferred to agar inedium with 0.44 μMN⁶-benzyladenine and 1.44 μM gibberellic acid. Most plantlets (88%) survived under field conditions and were morphologically identical to the parent plant.     

Efficient Regeneration of Tetraploid Isatis indigotica Plants via Adventitious Organogenesis from Hypocotyl Explants

An efficient in vitro plant regeneration system via hypocotyl segments of tetraploid Isatis indigotica Fort. was established. Murashige and Skoog's (MS) and Gamborg's (GB₅) media were found to be superior to White medium for promoting shoot regeneration. The highest shoot regeneration (92 %) was achieved from hypocotyls cultured on MS medium containing 8.9 M benzyladenine (BA) and 2.7 M naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), with an average of 4.2 shoots developed per explant. Plant regeneration was also improved when the explants were cultured in MS basal medium containing 3 % (m/v) sucrose and grown under a 12-h photoperiod. The developed shoots were well rooted in a half-strength MS medium supplemented with 0.5 M indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and were morphologically normal after transfer to soil.     

Plant regeneration from callus cultures of Psoralea corylifolia Linn

Plantlet regeneration via organogenesis was achieved in callus cultures derived form mature leaves, stems and leaves, petioles and roots of young seedling of Psoralea corylifolia on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2.5–3.0 mg L^-1 BA, 1.0 mg L^-1 NAA and 3% (w/v) sucrose. The rate of shoot bud regeneration was positively correlated with the concentration of hormones in the nutrient media. Shoot buds regenerated more readily from juvenile explants (seedling source) as compared to the mature explants. Addition of adenine sulphate (5 mg L^-1) to the culture medium increased the growth of shoot buds. Optimum responses were obtained in hypocotyl and leaf explants using NAA in combination with BA, the highest rate of shoot bud regeneration being in hypocotyl explants. Rooting was readily achieved on the differentiated shoots on MS basal media without growth regulators. Regenerated plantlets were successfully established in the greenhouse.     

Plant Regeneration from Mesophyll Protoplasts of Echinacea Purpurea

An efficient plant regeneration system was developed from isolated protoplasts of Echinacea purpurea L. using an alginate block/liquid culture system. Viable protoplasts could be routinely isolated from young leaves of Echinacea seedlings in an isolation mixture containing 1.0% cellulase Onozuka R-10, 0.5% pectinase and 0.3 mol l^–1 mannitol. Purified protoplasts were embedded in 0.6% Na-alginate block at a density of 1 × 10⁵/ml and cultured in a modified MS medium containing 0.3 mol l^–1 sucrose, 2.5 µmol l^–1 BA and 5.0 µmol l^–1 2,4-D. Cell colonies were observed after 4 weeks of culture, and the protoplast-derived colonies formed calluses when transferred onto 0.25% gellan gum-solidified MS medium supplemented with 1.0 µmol l^–1 BA and 2.0 µmol l^–1 IBA. Shoot organogenesis from protoplast-derived callus was induced on MS medium supplemented with 5.0 µmol l^–1 BA and 2.0 µmol l^–1 IBA. Complete plantlets were obtained from the regenerated shoots on MS basal medium. The protoplast to plant regeneration protocol developed in this study provides the prerequisite for creating novel genotypes of this valuable medicinal species through genetic manipulation.     

南京地区药用植物资源调查

对南京地区的药用植物资源进行了初步调查,据植物分类学统计,南京地区有药用植物107科281属357种,其中蕨类植物12科12属12种,种子植物95科269属345种.对数种江苏特产和稀有的药用植物进行了介绍.     

Effect of Auxins on in vitro Rooting of Plumbago Zeylanica: Peroxidase Activity as a Marker for Root Induction

Induction of rooting in the microshoots of Plumbago zeylanica was achieved on halfstrength basal Murashige and Skoog's medium supplemented with 0.25 mg dm^–3 indole-3-butyric acid. Rooting was totally inhibited when the microshoots were cultured in vitro under continuous light, however, maximum percentage of microshoots rooted when incubated in continuous light for 4 weeks before transfer to the rooting media. Peroxidase activity increased markedly during root induction indicating a key role of peroxidase in rooting of microshoots of Plumbago zeylanica in vitro.     

药用植物细胞悬浮培养与新药研发进展(综述)

本文概述药用植物细胞悬浮培养技术研究进展,讨论药用植物细胞悬浮规模培养技术,展望该技术在新药研发中的应用前景。     

诸葛菜(Orychopheagmus violaceus)叶肉原生质体培养再生植株

由诸葛菜无菌苗的叶肉组织分离原生质体,在附加0.5 mg/L BA,1.0 mg/L 2,4—D(或NAA)和9％甘露醇的MS液体培养基中作浅层培养,10d后分裂频率约45％,两周时形成大量细胞团,随后直接转到分化培养基上或逐步降低原生质体培养基的渗透压及生长素浓度,均可诱导形成大量苗或胚状体结构。转移到无激素的培养基上即可形成完整植株。     

Plant regeneration from somatic tissue of Rhododendron laetum x aurigeranum

The influence of the source of plant material (greenhouse-grown plants or in vitro shoot cultures), the type of tissue explant (shoot-tip, single-node stem segment, whole leaf, leaf strip or half-leaf section) and growth regulator concentration on shoot regeneration from somatic tissue of Rhododendron laetum × aurigeranum was evaluated. No regeneration response was obtained on explants from greenhouse-grown plants. Adventitious shoots were obtained from callus produced at the basal end of shoot-tip and single-node stem segment explants derived from in vitro-grown shoots cultured on Anderson's medium supplemented with 22.8 M IAA and 73.8 M 2iP. The greatest percentage of adventitious shoot regeneration (77%) was induced on leaf sections cultured in the presence of 22.8 M IAA and 147.6 M 2iP. Plant regeneration was accomplished with minimal callus formation. This technique represents a further step toward gene manipulation of Rhododendron.Abbreviations IAA 1-H-Indole-3-acetic acid - 2iP N-(3-methyl-2-Butenyl)-1H-purin-6 amine     

Plant regeneration from embryogenic suspension cultures ofCamellia Japonica

Summary Two methods (I and II) for somatic embryo production from embryogenic suspension cultures ofCamellia japonica are presented. Method I, embryogenic suspension cultures, was established from suspension cultures initiated from leaf-derived callus. These cultures were maintained by reducing agitation and increasing subculture interval. Induction of somatic embryogenesis was achieved in MS28 medium, 6, 12, 24, and 36 mo. after culture establishment. Embryo production decreased after 1 yr of culture. Method II, suspensions of single embryogenic cells and proembryos, was obtained from leaves cultured in liquid MS13 medium 6 wk after culture initiation. Embryo production was 23 embryos/ml. Germination of cell suspension-derived embryos on MS56 medium was 16.7 % (&#x00B1;4.2%) for method I, and 35.4% (&#x00B1;5.1%) for method II. The embryos germinated into plantlets with 0 to 7 axillary shoots.     

Plant regeneration from leaf explants of Rhodiola fastigiata

Summary An efficient plant regeneration protocol for rapidly propagating Rhodiola fastigiata (Hk. f. et Thoms.) S.H.FU, a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, was developed. Shoot organogenesis occurred from the leaf explants inoculated on medium with appropriate supplements of plant growth regulators. Up to 5.3 shoots formed per leaf explant cultured on a medium containing 13.32 μM 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and 0.54 μM 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Regenerated shoots formed complete plantlets on a medium containing 1.48 μM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), and mature plants were established, acclimatized, and thrived in greenhouse conditions. The regeneration protocol developed in this study provides a basis for germplasm conservation and for further investigation of medicinally active constituents of the elite Chinese medicinal plant.     

Echinacea purpurea microbiota: bacterial–fungal interactions and the interplay with host and non-host plant species in vitro dual culture

• Important evidence is reported on the antimicrobial and antagonistic properties of bacterial endophytes in Echinacea purpurea and their role in the modulation of plant synthesis of bioactive compounds. Here, endophytic fungi were isolated from E. purpurea, and the dual culture approach was applied to deepen insights into the complex plant–microbiome interaction network.
• In vitro experiments were carried out to evaluate the species specificity of the interaction between host (E. purpurea) and non-host (E. angustifolia and Nicotiana tabacum) plant tissues and bacterial or fungal endophytes isolated from living E. purpurea plants to test interactions between fungal and bacterial endophytes.
• A higher tropism towards plant tissue and growth was observed for both fungal and bacterial isolates compared to controls without plant tissue. The growth of all fungi was significantly inhibited by several bacterial strains that, in turn, were scarcely affected by the presence of fungi. Finally, E. purpurea endophytic bacteria were able to inhibit mycelial growth of the phytopathogen Botrytis cinerea.
• Bacteria and fungi living in symbiosis with wild Echinacea plants interact with each other and could represent a potential source of bioactive compounds and a biocontrol tool.

     

Plant regeneration from protoplasts of Triticum aestivum L. cv. Nakasoushu

A fast-growing, small, granular, embryogenic callus was selected from primary calli induced from the Japanese wheat cultivar Nakasoushu and the Australian wheat cultivar Bodallin. Regenerable and fine suspension cultures were induced three to six months after liquid culture was initiated and were characterized by dense cytoplasm and active division. These suspension cultures routinely provided high yields of protoplasts with about 90% viability when incubated in a modified KMP (Kao and Michayluk, 1975) medium containing 1 mg l^-1 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), and 1 mg l^-1 zeatin. Nakasoushu and Bodallin protoplasts divided at frequencies of 8.6% and 11.1%, respectively, in agarose-solidified media. When Nakasoushu protoplasts were cultured with effective nurse cells of sorghum and wheat, protoplast division increased to 16.9% and 12.6%, respectively. Plating efficiencies varied from 0.03% to 2.5%. After subculture, protocolonies yielded embryogenic calli and somatic embryos, from which green plants were eventually regenerated. Whole plants obtained from Nakasoushu protoplasts were fertile, demonstrating the first report of Japanese cultivars in wheat protoplast cultures. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Plant regeneration from indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) protoplasts

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants of the indica cultivar IR54 were regenerated from protoplasts. Conditions were developed for isolating and purifying protoplasts from suspension cultures with protoplast yields ranging from 1·10⁶ to 15·10⁶ viable protoplasts/1 g fresh weight. Protoplast viability after purification was generally over 90%. Protoplasts were cultured in a slightly modified Kao medium in a Petri plate by placing them onto a Millipore filter positioned on top of a feeder (nurse) culture containing cells from a suspension culture of the japonica rice, Calrose 76. Plating efficiencies of protoplasts ranged from 0.5 to 3.0%; it was zero in the absence of the nurse culture. Protoplast preparations usually contained no contaminating cells, and when present, the number of cells never exceeded 0.1% of the protoplasts. After three weeks the Millipore filter with callus colonies were transferred off feeder cells and onto a Linsmaier and Skoog-type medium for an additional three weeks. Selected callus colonies that had embryo-like structures were then transferred to regeneration medium containing cytokinins, and regeneration frequencies up to 80% were obtained. Small shoots emerged and were transferred to jars for root development prior to transferring to pots of soil and growing the plants to maturity in growth chambers. Of the cytokinins evaluated, N⁶-benzylaminopurine was the most effective in promoting shoot formation; however, kinetin was also somewhat effective. Regeneration medium could be either an N₆ or Murashige and Skoog basal medium. Of 76 plants grown to maturity, 62 were fertile, and the plant heights averaged about three-fourths the height of seed-grown plants.Two other suspension cultures of IR54, one developed from the protoplast callus of the initial IR54 line, and the other developed from callus produced by mature seeds, have yielded protoplasts capable of regenerating plants when using cells of the Calrose 76 suspension as a nurse culture. In addition, protoplasts obtained from three-week-old primary callus of immature embryos of IR54 were capable of regenerating plants when using the same culture conditions.Abbreviations 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - pcy packed cell volume - BAP N⁶-benzylaminopurine - FDA fluorescein diacetate - FW fresh weight - IAA indole-3-acetic acid Media AA Muller and Grafe (1978) - CPW Frearson et al. (1973) - Kao^* Kao (1977) - LS Linsmaier and Skoog (1965) - MS Murashige and Skoog (1962) - N₆ Chu et al. (1975) - PCM Ludwig et al. (1985)     

Plant regeneration from cultured protoplasts of a glutinous rice

Young embryos of rice (Oryza sativa L. subsp, japonicavar. Guo-xiang No. 1) were cultured on MS agar medium(2,4-D 2 mg/l). Calli were formed and subcultured on N6 agar medium (2,4-D 2 mg/l ). After selection, the small, grainy and pale yellowish cell clusters with dense cytoplasm were used in protoplast preparation. Isolated protoplasts were cultured in N6 medium (2,4-D 1 mg/l, 6-BA 0.2 mg/l)~1 with agarose block culture method. The protoplasts grew, divided and formed calli. After inducing differentiation, the regenerated mature plants were obtained.