Complete chloroplast genome sequencing of Job's tears (Coix L.): genome structure, comparative analysis, and phylogenetic relationships

Research on Coix seed as a food and medicinal resource, it's chemical components and their pharmacological activities: A review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen (Romanet du Caillaud) Stapf is a plant of the genus Coix in the Gramineae family. Coix seed is cultivated in various regions throughout China. In recent years, with the research on the medicinal value of Coix seed, it has received more and more widespread attention from people. Numerous pharmacological effects of Coix seed have been demonstrated through modern pharmacological studies, such as hypoglycemia, improving liver function, anti-tumor, regulating intestinal microbiota, improving spleen function, and anti-inflammatory effects.

AIMS OF THE STUDY

This article is a literature review. In recent years, despite the extensive research on Coix seed, there has yet to be a comprehensive review of its traditional usage, medicinal resources, chemical components, and pharmacological effects is still lacking. To fill this gap, the paper provides an overview of the latest research progress on Coix seed, aiming to offer guidance and references for its further development and comprehensive utilization.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

To gather information on the traditional usage, phytochemical ingredients, and pharmacological properties of Coix seed, we conducted a literature search using both Chinese and English languages in five databases: PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Springer.

RESULTS

This article is a literature review. The chemical constituents of Coix seed include various fatty acids, esters, polysaccharides, sterols, alkaloids, triterpenes, tocopherols, lactams, lignans, phenols, flavonoids and other constituents. Modern pharmacological research has indeed shown that Coix seed has many pharmacological effects and is a natural anti-tumor drug. In addition to its anti-tumor effect, it also has pharmacological effects such as hypoglycemia, improving liver function, regulating intestinal microbiota, improving spleen function, and anti-inflammatory effects.

CONCLUSIONS

This article provides a brief overview of the traditional uses, biotechnological applications, chemical components, and pharmacological effects of Coix seed. It highlights the importance of establishing quality standards, discovering new active ingredients, and exploring pharmacological mechanisms in Coix seed research. The article also emphasizes the significance of clinical trials, toxicology studies, pharmacokinetics data, and multidisciplinary collaboration for further advancements in this field. Overall, it aims to enhance understanding of Coix seed and its potential in pharmaceutical development and wellness products.

Complete chloroplast genome sequence of Lens ervoides and comparison to Lens culinaris

Lens is a member of the Papilionoideae subfamily of Fabaceae and is generally used as a source of vegetable protein as part of human diets in many regions worldwide. Chloroplast (cp) genomes are highly active genetic components of plants and can be utilized as molecular markers for various purposes. As one of the wild lentil species, the Lens ervoides cp genome has been sequenced for the first time in this study using next-generation sequencing. The de novo assembly of the cp genome resulted in a single 122,722 bp sequence as two separate coexisting structural haplotypes with similar lengths. Results indicated that the cp genome of L. ervoides belongs to the inverted repeat lacking clade. Several noteworthy divergences within the coding regions were observed in ndhB, ndhF, rbcL, rpoC2, and ycf2 genes. Analysis of relative synonymous codon usage showed that certain genes, psbN, psaI, psbI, psbE, psbK, petD, and ndhC, preferred using biased codons more often and therefore might have elevated expression and translation efficiencies. Overall, this study exhibited the divergence level between the wild-type and cultured lentil cp genomes and pointed to certain regions that can be utilized as distinction markers for various goals.