The influences of inorganic elements in soil on the development of famous - region Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC

Induction and metabolomic analysis of hairy roots of Atractylodes lancea

Atractylodes lancea is an important source of traditional Chinese medicines. Sesquiterpenoids are the key active compounds in A. lancea, and their presence determines the quality of the material. Hairy hoot (HR) culture is a potential method to produce medicinally active compounds industrially; however, the induction and metabolic profiling of A. lancea HR have not been reported. We found that optimal induction of A. lancea HR was achieved by Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain C58C1 using the young leaves of tissue culture seedlings in the rooting stage as explants. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric analyses of the chemical compositions of HR and normal root (NR) led to the annotation of 1046 metabolites. Over 200 differentially accumulated metabolites were identified, with 41 found to be up-regulated in HR relative to NR and 179 down-regulated in HR. Specifically, atractylodin levels were higher in HR, while the levels of β-eudesmol and hinesol were higher in NR. Metabolic pathway analyses showed a significant difference in metabolites of the shikimate acid pathway between HR and NR. Five A. lancea compounds are potential biomarkers for evaluation of HR and NR quality. This study provides an important reference for the application of HR for the production of medicinally active compounds. KEY POINTS: • We established an efficient protocol for the induction of HR in A. lancea • HR was found to have a significantly higher amount of atractylodin than did NRs • Metabolic pathway analyses showed a significant difference in metabolites of the shikimate acid pathway between HR and NR.

Discrimination between Korean and Chinese Kimchi using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry: A multivariate analysis of Kimchi

Kimchi has been designated as one of the world's five healthiest foods, and it is a traditional Korean fermented food. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the origin of Kimchi can be discriminated against by using inorganic elements to develop a more accurate method. The OPLS-DA showed that the R² and Q² values were 0.908 and 0.81, a high-quality model. We selected 24 elements (¹³³Cs, ²³⁸U, ⁸⁸Sr, K, ¹⁵⁷Gd, Na, Mg, ¹³⁹La, P, ¹⁴¹Pr, ⁷²Ge, ¹⁴⁶Nd, ¹⁴⁷Sm, ¹⁵³Eu, ⁵⁵Mn, ¹⁶⁵Ho, ¹⁶³Dy, ¹⁶⁶Er, Fe, ¹⁷²Yb, ¹⁶⁹Tm, ¹⁸⁵Re, ¹⁷⁵Lu, and ¹¹⁸Sn) with VIP 1 or higher in the OPLS-DA model. In ROC, the selected elements had an accuracy of 100%. The heatmap confirmed the contents of rare earth elements (REEs) in Korean and Chinese Kimchi, the accuracy of distinguishing classification in CDA is 100%. Such results will help to distinguish the origin of agricultural products through inorganic analysis.

Diversity and structural analysis of rhizosphere soil microbial communities in wild and cultivated Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae and their effects on the accumulation of active components

Rhizosphere microorganisms are the main factors affecting the formation of high quality medicinal materials and promoting the accumulation of secondary metabolites. However, the composition, diversity, and function of rhizosphere microbial communities in endangered wild and cultivated Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae (RAM) and their relationships with active component accumulation have remained unclear. In this study, high-throughput sequencing and correlation analysis were used to study the rhizosphere microbial community diversity (bacteria and fungi) of three RAM species and its correlation with the accumulation of polysaccharides, atractylone, and lactones (I, II, and III). A total of 24 phyla, 46 classes, and 110 genera were detected. The dominant taxa were Proteobacteria, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota. The microbial communities in both wild and artificially cultivated soil samples were extremely species-rich, but there were some differences in their structure and the relative abundances of microorganism taxa. Meanwhile, the contents of effective components in wild RAM were significantly higher than those in cultivated RAM. Correlation analysis showed that 16 bacterial and 10 fungal genera were positively or negatively correlated with active ingredient accumulation. These results showed that rhizosphere microorganisms could play an important role in component accumulation and might lay a foundation for future research on endangered materials.

A Seasonal Change of Active Ingredients and Mineral Elements in Root of Astragalus membranaceus in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Astragalus membranaceus is an important traditional Chinese herb whose roots have been used for medicinal purposes for more than 2000 years. Because of excessive exploitation, the wild resources are currently almost exhausted, and therefore, artificial planting of Astragalus membranaceus has been increasingly important. But to date, few studies have focused on the active ingredients and mineral element of Astragalus membranaceus in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.In this study, five density gradients (M1: 10 cm × 25 cm, M2: 15 cm × 25 cm, M3: 20 cm × 25 cm, M4: 25 cm × 25 cm and M5: 30 cm × 25 cm) were assessed to evaluate the effects of various planting densities on the mineral element and secondary metabolite content of Astragalus membranaceus roots in different months. It was found that the content of calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside and astragaloside IV reached its highest in October. Ononin content increased month by month, while formononetin content decreased during months. Calycosin content did not show significant changes during seasons. Taken together, these results suggest that the optimal planting density is 15 cm × 25 cm (D2) and the optimal harvest period is October. According to the results, the Cu content in all samples did not exceed the limit (20 mg/kg). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that Na, P, K Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, Li, and Mn were selected as characteristic elements of Astragalus membranaceus. The results also showed a high correlation between elements and active ingredients. Ba and Co had extremely significant associations with astragaloside IV.

Evaluation of heritability of β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio in Atractylodes lancea De Candolle

Background

Atractylodes lancea De Candolle is a medicinal plant distributed in East Asia. Its rhizome has been used as an important crude drug in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicines for the treatment of numerous diseases and disorders. In recent years, the demand for mass production of the crude drug with a stable quality has increased. Its major active compounds are sesquiterpenoids, such as β-eudesmol and hinesol that have closely related chemical structures with each other. As the criteria for evaluating the quality of A. lancea, the β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio is considered important. In A. lancea, the ratio could be considered to be influenced by genetic factors, geographical environment factors and these interactions. Few studies of a detail genetic analyses for β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio have been reported. Therefore, we evaluated the heritability and genotype–environment interaction on the β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio in A. lancea using clonal lines propagated with division of rhizome.

Results

The heritability of the β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio in A. lancea was evaluated through the cultivation of clonal lines of A. lancea in both different years (2016, 2017) and locations (Hokkaido, Ibaraki). Correlations between β-eudesmol and hinesol contents were identified in all clonal lines, with high correlation coefficients (r = 0.73–0.99). The broad-sense heritability of the β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio was revealed to be high at 0.92. The effects of cultivation year were smaller than that of genotype, and few genotype–environment interactions were observed. In addition, the influence of cultivation location was also smaller than that of genotype, and the correlation between the two cultivation locations on the β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio was high. The results suggested that the β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio in A. lancea is highly dependent on genetic factors.

Conclusion

We demonstrate that the heritability of β-eudesmol/hinesol content ratio is high and that the effects of genetic factors were stronger than that of environmental factors such as cultivation location and year. Our findings suggested that selective breeding and clonal propagation are effective strategies for the production of A. lancea with stable qualities for use in the production of crude drugs.

Atractylodes lancea rhizome water extract reduces triptolide-induced toxicity and enhances anti-inflammatory effects

The present study was designed to explore the influence of water extracts of Atractylodes lancea rhizomes on the toxicity and anti-inflammatory effects of triptolide (TP). A water extract was prepared from A. lancea rhizomes and co-administered with TP in C57BL/6 mice. The toxicity was assayed by determining serum biochemical parameters and visceral indexes and by liver histopathological analysis. The hepatic CYP3A expression levels were detected using Western blotting and RT-PCR methods. The data showed that the water extract of A. lancea rhizomes reduced triptolide-induced toxicity, probably by inducing the hepatic expression of CYP3A. The anti-inflammatory effects of TP were evaluated in mice using a xylene-induced ear edema test. By comparing ear edema inhibition rates, we found that the water extract could also increase the anti-inflammatory effects of TP. In conclusion, our results suggested that the water extract of A. lancea rhizomes, used in combination with TP, has a potential in reducing TP-induced toxicity and enhancing its anti-inflammatory effects.