Chemical constituents from Valeriana jatamansi

Phytochemical study of Valeriana jatamansi Jones afforded 45 compounds, including twenty-three iridoids (1–23), five sesquiterpenes (24–28), three steroids (29–31) and fourteen lignins (32–45). The structures of these compounds were assigned by detailed interpretation of spectroscopic data (1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS) and comparisons with the published data. This is the first report of isolation of compounds (1–6, 10, 21, 25, 41, 43, 44, 45) from Valerianaceae, compounds (13, 27, 39) within the genus Valeriana and compound 30 from V. jatamans. The chemotaxonomic data can support the genus Valeriana being accepted as a member of transitional taxa between the family Valerianaceae and Caprifoliaceae.     

pH regulates peptide–receptor perception

Diverse plant small peptides are perceived by their corresponding receptors to mediate local or long-distance intercellular communications in various developmental and adaptive programs; notably, the mechanisms of peptide–receptor perception remain largely unrevealed. Two reports (Liu et al.; Diaz-Ardila et al.) shed light on how pH regulates peptide–receptor perception.     

Feeding the world sustainably: efficient nitrogen use

Globally, overuse of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in croplands is causing severe environmental pollution. In this context, Gu et al. suggest environmentally friendly and cost-effective N management practices and Hamani et al. highlight the use of microbial inoculants to improve crop yields, while reducing N-associated environmental pollution and N-fertilizer use.     

CONSTANS,a key-player connecting day length to seed size

Plants sense oscillation in the day length as a reliable seasonal cue to drive optimal vegetative and reproductive growth. A recent study by Yu et al. has revealed how day length regulates seed size through CONSTANS. The CONSTANS–APETALA2 module enables plants to optimize their reproductive growth based on their photoperiod response type.     

Dual function of the CHS3-CSA1 immune receptor pair

Plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors mediate specific recognition of pathogen effectors to initiate effector-triggered immunity. Recently, studies by Schulze et al., Yang et al., and Gu et al. collectively show that the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) NLR pair CHS3-CSA1 acts through two distinct activation modes to recognize different pathogen effectors, thus revealing the dual function of the CHS3-CSA1 pair in plant disease resistance.     

Plants 'cry' for help through acoustic signals

Plants perceive sounds, while responses to these sounds were already known. A breakthrough is the discovery by Khait et al. that stressed plants emit various informative ultrasonic sound signals, which can be categorized according to plant species, stress type, and stress severity. This discovery may change how plants are cultivated.     

Actin finally matures: uncovering machinery and impact

Actin, one of the most abundant proteins in nature and a key component of the cytoskeleton, undergoes a unique multistep N-terminal (Nt) maturation. In a recent report, Haahr et al. identified actin maturation protease (ACTMAP) as the dedicated actin aminopeptidase and showed that its absence is associated with abnormal muscle physiology.     

Back to primary endosymbiosis: from plastids to artificial photosynthetic life-forms

Throughout evolution, only two known primary photosynthetic endosymbiosis occurred, which originated the Archaeplastida and the Paulinella spp. Fundamental questions regarding primary endosymbiosis remain unsolved, but may now be addressed with the recent development of chimeric photosynthetic life-form. Cournoyer et al. could establish artificial photosynthetic endosymbiosis between yeast and cyanobacteria.     

Viral sponges sequester nucleotide signals to inactivate immunity

Bacteria synthesize specialized nucleotide signals to control anti-phage defense. Two papers – by Huiting et al. and Jenson et al. – now reveal that bacteriophages encode protein ‘sponges’ that sequester cyclic oligonucleotide immune signals and inactivate host antiviral immunity.     

A complex signaling trio in seed germination: Auxin-JA-ABA

Recently. Mei et al. discovered the molecular mechanism behind the synergistic action of auxins and jasmonates in enhancing the role of abscisic acid (ABA) in seed germination. They found that JASMONATE-ZIM DOMAIN (JAZ) proteins interact with AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF)-16 to mediate auxin–jasmonic acid (JA) crosstalk. Furthermore, they revealed that ARF16 interacts with ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE (ABI)-5 and positively modulates ABA responses at seed germination.     

Converting and hoarding driven by protein phosphorylation in Toxoplasma gondii

Successful parasitism relies on the evasion of adversarial host responses. Wang et al. have recently shown that Toxoplasma gondii relies on the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) to cause persisting infections. The phosphatase controls the development of dormant parasite stages and the accumulation of sugar supplies.     

Protein circuit design using de novo proteins

Protein-based biological circuits enable customized control of cellular functions, and de novo protein design enables circuit functionalities that are not possible by repurposing natural proteins. Here, I highlight recent progress in protein circuit design, including CHOMP, developed by Gao et al., and SPOC, developed by Fink et al.     

A comprehensive review on the phytochemistry,pharmacokinetics, and antidiabetic effect of Ginseng

BackgroundRadix Ginseng, one of the well-known medicinal herbs, has been used in the management of diabetes and its complications for more than 1000 years.PurposeThe aim of this review is devoted to summarize the phytochemistry and pharmacokinetics of Ginseng, and provide evidence for the antidiabetic effects of Ginseng and its ingredients as well as the underlying mechanisms involved.MethodsFor the purpose of this review, the following databases were consulted: the PubMed Database (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (http://www.cnki.net), National Science and Technology Library (http://www.nstl.gov.cn/), Wanfang Data (http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn/) and the Web of Science Database (http://apps.webofknowledge.com/).ResultsGinseng exhibits glucose-lowering effects in different diabetic animal models. In addition, Ginseng may prevent the development of diabetic complications, including liver, pancreas, adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, nephropathy, cardiomyopathy, retinopathy, atherosclerosis and others. The main ingredients of Ginseng include ginsenosides and polysaccharides. The underlying mechanisms whereby this herb exerts antidiabetic activities may be attributed to the regulation of multiple signaling pathways, including IRS1/PI3K/AKT, LKB1/AMPK/FoxO1, AGEs/RAGE, MAPK/ERK, NF-κB, PPARδ/STAT3, cAMP/PKA/CERB and HIF-1α/VEGF, etc. The pharmacokinetic profiles of ginsenosides provide valuable information on therapeutic efficacy of Ginseng in diabetes. Although Ginseng is well-tolerated, dietary consumption of this herb should follow the doctors’ advice.ConclusionGinseng may offer an alternative strategy in protection against diabetes and its complications through the regulations of the multi-targets via various signaling pathways. Efforts to understand the underlying mechanisms with strictly-controlled animal models, combined with well-designed clinical trials and pharmacokinetic evaluation, will be important subjects of the further investigations and weigh in translational value of this herb in diabetes management.     

A novel module regulating ROS in NLR-mediated immunity

The regulatory mechanisms of apoplastic reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) are well known. However, how ROS levels are regulated during effector-triggered immunity (ETI) remains largely unknown. Recently, Zhang et al. discovered that MAPK-Alfin-like 7 module enhances nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat receptor (NLR)-mediated immunity by negatively regulating genes encoding ROS scavenging enzymes, deepening our understanding of ROS control during ETI in plants.     

CryoEM shows the active dynein complex on microtubules

In a recent study, Chaaban and Carter use cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and an innovative data-processing pipeline to determine the first high-resolution structure of the dynein–dynactin–BICDR1 complex assembled on microtubules. The structure of the complex reveals novel stoichiometry and provides new mechanistic insight into dynein function and mechanism.     

Actin subversion for productive Plasmodium hepatocyte invasion

Productive invasion of hepatocytes by Plasmodium sporozoites is a key step of infection. The parasites traverse hepatocytes before targeting one of them to form a parasitophorous vacuole for parasite expansion. Schepis et al. show the induction of membrane ruffling via host Rho GTPases by Plasmodium sporozoites facilitating productive invasion.     

Osmosensing in plants: mystery unveiled

Osmotic stress limits plant growth and productivity. The downstream signaling components involved in osmotic adjustments are well known, but our knowledge of the perception of osmotic stress is far too limited. Wang et al. have recently identified a lesser-known mechanism of bimolecular condensation that underlies osmotic stress perception in plants.