An unusual metabolite of cimicidol-3-O-beta-D-xyloside from Cimicifugae rhizoma by rat intestinal bacteria

Cimicidol-3-O-beta-D-xyloside (1), one of the main components isolated from Cimicifugae rhizoma, is an active component with antiosteoporotic effect. The metabolism of 1 by rat intestinal bacteria was investigated, and two metabolites, 11beta-hydroxycimigenol (2) and foetidinol (3), were isolated and characterized by spectroscopic means including two-dimensional NMR. Furthermore, the structures of six intermediates in the bacterial incubation were proposed on the basis of LC/MS analyses, and the possible metabolic pathway of the formation of 2, which passes through a unique sequence including hydrolysis, hydroxylation, and reduction, is discussed in detail.     

Improved curdlan fermentation process based on optimization of dissolved oxygen combined with pH control and metabolic characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agrobacterium</Emphasis> sp. ATCC 31749

A significant problem in scale-down cultures, rarely studied for metabolic characterization and curdlan-producing Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749, is the presence of dissolved oxygen (DO) gradients combined with pH control. Constant DO, between 5% and 75%, was maintained during batch fermentations by manipulating the agitation with PID system. Fermentation, metabolic and kinetic characterization studies were conducted in a scale-down system. The curdlan yield, intracellular nucleotide levels and glucose conversion efficiency into curdlan were significantly affected by DO concentrations. The optimum DO concentrations for curdlan production were 45–60%. The average curdlan yield, curdlan productivity and glucose conversion efficiency into curdlan were enhanced by 80%, 66% and 32%, respectively, compared to that at 15% DO. No apparent difference in the gel strength of the resulting curdlan was detected. The comparison of curdlan biosynthesis and cellular nucleotide levels showed that curdlan production had positive relationship with intracellular levels of UTP, ADP, AMP, NAD⁺, NADH and UDP-glucose. The curdlan productivity under 45% DO and 60% DO was different during 20–50 h. However, after 60 h curdlan productivity of both conditions was similar. On that basis, a simple and reproducible two-stage DO control process for curdlan production was developed. Curdlan production yield reached 42.8 g/l, an increase of 30% compared to that of the single agitation speed control process.     

Dynamic kinetic asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of racemic 2,4-diaryl-2,3-dihydrobenzo[b][1,4]diazepines catalyzed by chiral phosphoric acids

Dynamic kinetic Transfer hydrogenation reaction of 2-methyl-2,4-diaryl-2,3-dihydrobenzo[b][1,4]diazepines, using phosphoric acids as catalysts and Hantzsch ester as hydride source, has been studied. A 3,3′-H8-binol derived phosphoric acid has been identified the optimal chiral catalyst for this transformation, affording 1,3-diamine derivatives with up to 8/1 dr, 86% ee and 94% ee for the major and minor diastereomers, respectively.     

大黄鱼快长相关微卫星标记的筛选与验证

为了筛选与大黄鱼生长性状紧密相关的分子标记,并对这些标记的有效性进行鉴定,研究以大黄鱼家系和群体为材料,经标记筛选、两次验证共三个步骤,找到2个与大黄鱼生长性状紧密相关的微卫星标记:LYC0088和LYC0143,其中LYC0088与体高、体质量均极显著相关（P0.01）,与体长显著相关（P0.05）,LYC0143与体长和体质量显著相关（P0.05）,与体高的相关性极显著（P0.01）。LYC0088与LYC0143位点的优势等位基因分别为E、A,优势等位基因型均为AB,优势等位基因型组合为AB/AB,两个位点呈加性效应。该结果为开展大黄鱼分子标记辅助育种提供了有价值的遗传标记。       

Cloning and functions analysis of a pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase in Brassica napus

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) is a negative regulator of the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (mtPDC), which plays a key role in intermediary metabolism. In this study, a 1,490-bp PDK in Brassica napus (BnPDK1) was isolated and cloned from Brassica cDNA library. BnPDK1 has an 1,104 open reading frame encoding 367 amino acids. Genomic DNA gel blot analysis result indicated that BnPDK1 is a multi-copy gene. RNA gel blot analysis and RNA in situ hybridization were used to determine the expression of BnPDK1 in different organs. BnPDK1 gene was ubiquitously expressed in almost all the tissues tested, having the highest expression in the stamen and the young silique. Over-expression of BnPDK1 in transgenic Arabidopsis lines would repress the PDC activity, and resulted in the decrease of seed oil content and leaf photosynthesis. These results implied that BnPDK1 was involved in the regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis in developing seeds.     

Anti-HBV agents. Part 3: Preliminary structure–activity relationships of tetra-acylalisol A derivatives as potent hepatitis B virus inhibitors

Thirty-two tetra-acylated derivatives of alisol A were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activities and cytotoxicities in vitro. Among the series of alisol A derivatives examined, five analogues were active against HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV e antigen (HBeAg) secretion in HepG 2.2.15 cells. These results also provide interesting structure–activity relationships of tetra-acylalisol A derivatives. Compounds tetra-acetyl alisol A (A1), tetra-methoxyacetyl alisol A (A23), and tetra-ethoxyacetyl alisol A (A24) exhibited high activities against secretion of HBsAg with IC₅₀ values of 0.0048, 0.0044, and 0.014 mM, respectively, HBeAg with IC₅₀ values of 0.011, 0.012, and 0.018 mM, respectively, and remarkable selective index values SI_HBsAg >333, SI_HBeAg >145; SI_HBsAg = 209, SI_HBeAg = 77; and SI_HBsAg >200, SI_HBeAg >156, respectively. Additional studies in rats showed that compound A1 has favorable pharmacokinetic prosperities for further development purpose, with elimination half-time (t_1/2) of 1.63 h and oral bioavailability (F) of 40.9%.     

低聚磷酸盐对粪产碱杆菌合成热凝胶的影响

粪产碱杆菌合成热凝胶需要消耗大量ATP用于前体物质UDPG的再生,利用3种具有不同高能磷酸键的低聚磷酸盐Na4P2O7(2P)、Na5P3O10(3P)和(NaPO3)6(6P)作为高能磷酸键供体,并取代培养基中的KH2PO4-K2HPO4(1P)而作为磷元素供体,研究其对粪产碱杆菌合成热凝胶的影响。结果表明相对于对照磷元素摩尔含量的单倍和双倍量添加3P和6P能够分别提高热凝胶产量23%和134%,达到15.1g/L和30.0g/L;同时副产物乙酸分别较对照降低了87.5%和77.7%;在以双倍量添加6P后,副产物甲酸的生成也显著降低75.7%。当培养基中不含碳酸钙进行低聚磷酸盐添加实验时,生物量显著降低,热凝胶合成几乎没有,发酵液pH最低降到2.1。以磷元素单倍量和双倍量分别添加3P和6P,并与1P混合发酵时,热凝胶产量变化不大;但是,当发酵液不存在碳酸钙而1P被作为缓冲物质时,以单倍量和双倍量添加6P使得热凝胶产量较对照分别提高60.4%和49.4%,分别达到18.4g/L和16.9g/L。