Sesquiterpenoids from Chloranthus henryi and Their Anti‐neuroinflammatory Activities

Five new and seven known mono‐sesquiterpenoids ( 1 – 5 and 6 – 12 , resp.) together with five known lindenane‐type disesquiterpenoids, 13 – 17 , were isolated from the whole plant of Chloranthus henryi. Based on spectroscopic methods, the new structures were established to be (5S,6R,8S,10R)‐6‐hydroxyeudesma‐4(15),7(11)‐diene‐12,8‐olide ( 1 ), 6α‐hydroxyeudesma‐4(15),7(11),8(9)‐triene‐12,8‐olide ( 2 ), 8,12‐epoxy‐1β‐hydroxyeudesma‐4(15),7,11‐trien‐6‐one ( 3 ), 12‐oxochloraniolide A ( 4 ), and (4α)‐8‐hydroxy‐12‐norcardina‐6,8,10‐trien‐11‐one ( 5 ), respectively. Among the isolates, compound 2 , zederone epoxide ( 8 ), spicachlorantin G ( 13 ), chloramultilide A ( 14 ), shizukaol B ( 15 ), and spicachlorantin B ( 17 ) showed significant anti‐neuroinflammatory effects by inhibiting nitric‐oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐stimulated murine BV‐2 microglial cells with relatively low cytotoxicity.     

Single‐Crystalline Ultrathin Co3O4 Nanosheets with Massive Vacancy Defects for Enhanced Electrocatalysis

The role of vacancy defects is demonstrated to be positive in various energy‐related processes. However, introducing vacancy defects into single‐crystalline nanostructures with given facets and studying their defect effect on electrocatalytic properties remains a great challenge. Here this study deliberately introduces oxygen defects into single‐crystalline ultrathin Co₃O₄ nanosheets with O‐terminated {111} facets by mild solvothermal reduction using ethylene glycol under alkaline condition. As‐prepared defect‐rich Co₃O₄ nanosheets show a low overpotential of 220 mV with a small Tafel slope of 49.1 mV dec^?1 for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is among the best Co‐based OER catalysts to date and even more active than the state‐of‐the‐art IrO₂ catalyst. Such vacancy defects are formed by balancing with reducing environments under solvothermal conditions, but are surprisingly stable even after 1000 cycles of scanning under OER working conditions. Density functional theory plus U calculation attributes the enhanced performance to the oxygen vacancies and consequently exposed second‐layered Co metal sites, which leads to the lowered OER activation energy of 2.26 eV and improved electrical conductivity. This mild solvothermal reduction concept opens a new door for the understanding and future designing of advanced defect‐based electrocatalysts.     

Highly Conductive,Light Weight,Robust, Corrosion‐Resistant,Scalable, All‐Fiber Based Current Collectors for Aqueous Acidic Batteries

Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) are integral parts of modern technology, but can raise safety concerns because of their flammable organic electrolytes with low flash points. Aqueous electrolytes can be used in LIBs to overcome the safety issues that come with organic electrolytes while avoiding poor kinetics associated with solid state electrolytes. Despite advances in aqueous electrolytes, current collectors for aqueous battery systems have been neglected. Current collectors used in today's aqueous battery systems are usually metal‐based materials, which are heavy, expensive, bulky, and prone to corrosion after prolonged use. Here, a carbon nanotube (CNT)–cellulose nanofiber (CNF) all‐fiber composite is developed that takes advantage of the high conductivity of CNT while achieving high mechanical strength through the interaction between CNT and CNF. By optimizing the CNT/CNF weight ratio, this all‐fiber current collector can be made very thin while maintaining high conductivity (≈700 S cm^?1) and strength (>60 MPa), making it an ideal replacement for heavy metal current collectors in aqueous battery systems.     

Cell type-specific proteomics uncovers a RAF15-SnRK2.6/OST1 kinase cascade in guard cells

Multicellular organisms such as plants contain various cell types with specialized functions. Analyzing the characteristics of each cell type reveals specific cell functions and enhances our understanding of organization and function at the organismal level. Guard cells (GCs) are specialized epidermal cells that regulate the movement of the stomata and gaseous exchange, and provide a model genetic system for analyzing cell fate, signaling, and function. Several proteomics analyses of GC are available, but these are limited in depth. Here we used enzymatic isolation and flow cytometry to enrich GC and mesophyll cell protoplasts and perform in-depth proteomics in these two major cell types in Arabidopsis leaves. We identified approximately 3,000 proteins not previously found in the GC proteome and more than 600 proteins that may be specific to GC. The depth of our proteomics enabled us to uncover a guard cell-specific kinase cascade whereby Raf15 and Snf1-related kinase2.6 (SnRK2.6)/OST1(open stomata 1) mediate abscisic acid (ABA)-induced stomatal closure. RAF15 directly phosphorylated SnRK2.6/OST1 at the conserved Ser175 residue in its activation loop and was sufficient to reactivate the inactive form of SnRK2.6/OST1. ABA-triggered SnRK2.6/OST1 activation and stomatal closure was impaired in raf15 mutants. We also showed enrichment of enzymes and flavone metabolism in GC, and consistent, dramatic accumulation of flavone metabolites. Our study answers the long-standing question of how ABA activates SnRK2.6/OST1 in GCs and represents a resource potentially providing further insights into the molecular basis of GC and mesophyll cell development, metabolism, structure, and function.     

Association of the parainfluenza virus fusion and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase glycoproteins on cell surfaces.

We previously observed that cell fusion caused by human parainfluenza virus type 2 or type 3 requires the expression of both the fusion (F) and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) glycoproteins from the same virus type, indicating that a type-specific interaction between F and HN is needed for the induction of cell fusion. In the present study we have further investigated the fusion properties of F and HN proteins of parainfluenza virus type 1 (PI1), type 2 (PI2), and type 3 (PI3), Sendai virus (SN), and simian virus 5 (SV5) by expression of their glycoprotein genes in HeLa T4 cells using the vaccinia virus-T7 transient expression system. Consistent with previous results, cell fusion was observed in cells transfected with homotypic F/HN proteins; with one exception, coexpression of any combination of F and HN proteins from different viruses did not result in cell fusion. The only exception was found with the closely related PI1 HN and SN HN glycoproteins, either of which could interact with SN F to induce cell fusion upon coexpression as previously reported. By specific labeling and coprecipitation of proteins expressed on the cell surface, we observed that anti-PI2 HN antiserum coprecipitated PI2 F when the homotypic PI2 F and PI2 HN were coexpressed, but not the F proteins of other paramyxoviruses when heterotypic F genes were coexpressed with PI2 HN, suggesting that the homotypic F and HN proteins are physically associated with each other on cell surfaces. Furthermore, we observed that PI3 F was found to cocap with PI3 HN but not with PI2 HN, also indicating a specific association between the homotypic proteins. These results indicate that the homotypic F and HN glycoproteins are physically associated with each other on the cell surface and suggest that such association is crucial to cell fusion induced by paramyxoviruses.     

荷花品种分类新系统

就古今中外荷花工作者对茶花品种分类研究进行的分析比较,提出品种分类的基本原则,对《中国荷花品种图志》（１９８９）制定的荷品种分类系统作了若干调整,即认定美国莲（Ｎｅｌｕｍｂｏｌｕｔｅａ）为中国莲亚种后重新确定基分类地位;将中,小株型品种并列与大标型品种分开;增设新类型,补充重台型品种和间色花品种,调整后制定的荷花品种分类新系统检索表,包括３种系,６群,１４类,３８型,含２７８个品种。     

胡萝卜HRGP启动子调控GUS基因的某些特点

HRG(hydroxyproline rich glycoproteins)是高等植物细胞壁中一类富含羟脯氨酸的糖蛋白,是植物细胞壁中主要的结构蛋白。早期研究认为其在细胞壁的形成过程中起作用并称之为伸展蛋白(extensin)。在双子叶植物中,HRGP基因以多基因家族形式存在,具有特定的表达模式。许多条件及处理都能引起HRGP表达量的增加,如伤害、真菌感染、病毒感染、乙烯、细胞培养、红光等,同时也受到发育水平的调节。在单子叶植物中,玉米HRGP的表达是在发育水平上受伤害调节的。HRGP基因还具有组织专一性表达的特点。在大豆种子中,HRGP主要存在于种皮的外两层、表皮栅栏组织和滴漏细胞中,属于起支持作用的厚壁组织。在胡萝卜根韧皮部薄壁细胞中HRGP含量最丰富,而在健康的番茄根中     

Study on interactions of aminoglycoside antibiotics with calf thymus DNA and determination of calf thymus DNA via the resonance Rayleigh scattering technique

A simple and sensitive resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) spectra method was developed for the determination of calf thymus DNA (ctDNA). The enhanced RRS signals were based on the interactions between ctDNA and aminoglycoside antibiotics (AGs) including kanamycin (KANA), tobramycin (TOB), gentamicin (GEN) and neomycin (NEO) in a weakly acidic medium (pH 3.3–5.7). Parameters influencing the method were investigated. Under optimum conditions, increments in the scattering intensity (?I) were directly proportional to the concentration of ctDNA over certain ranges. The detection limit ranged from 12.2 to 16.9 ng/mL. Spectroscopic methods, including RRS spectra, absorption spectra and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, coupled with thermo‐denaturation experiments were used to study the interactions, indicating that the interaction between AGs with ctDNA was electrostatic binding mode. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.