Background: Allelopathy is expressed through the release of plant chemicals and is considered a natural alternative for sustainable weed management. Artemisia argyi (A. argyi) is widely distributed throughout Asia, and often dominates fields due to its strong allelopathy. However, the mechanism of A. argyi allelopathy is largely unknown and need to be elucidated at the physiological and molecular levels. Results: In this study, we used electron microscopy, ionomics analysis, phytohormone profiling, and transcriptome analysis to investigate the physiological and molecular mechanisms of A. argyi allelopathy using the model plant rice (Oryza sativa) as receptor plants. A. argyi water extract (AAWE)-treated rice plants grow poorly and display root morphological anomalies and leaf yellowing. We found that AAWE significantly inhibits rice growth by destroying the root and leaf system in multiple ways, including the integrity of ultrastructure, reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, and the accumulation of soluble sugar and chlorophyll synthesis. Further detection of the hormone contents suggests that AAWE leads to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) accumulation in roots. Moreover, ionomics analysis shows that AAWE inhibits the absorption and transportation of photosynthesis-essential mineral elements, especially Mg, Fe, and Mn. In addition, the results of transcriptome analysis revealed that AAWE affects a series of crucial primary metabolic processes comprising photosynthesis in rice plants. Conclusions: This study indicates that A. argyi realizes its strongly allelopathy through comprehensive effects on recipient plants including large-scale IAA synthesis and accumulation, ROS explosion, damaging the membrane system and organelles, and obstructing ion absorption and transport, photosynthesis and other pivotal primary metabolic processes of plants. Therefore, AAWE could potentially be developed as an environmentally friendly botanical herbicide due to its strong allelopathic effects.

Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit. (P. ternata) is a very important plant that is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Its corms can be used as medicine and function to alleviate cough, headache, and phlegm. The epidermis of P. ternata corms is often light yellow to yellow in color; however, within the range of P. ternata found in JingZhou City in Hubei Province, China, there is a form of P. ternata in which the epidermis of the corm is red. We found that the total flavonoid content of red P. ternata corms is significantly higher than that of yellow P. ternata corms. The objective of this study was to understand the molecular mechanisms behind the difference in epidermal color between the two forms of P. ternata. The results showed that a high content of anthocyanidin was responsible for the red epidermal color in P. ternata, and 15 metabolites, including cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside-5-O-glucoside, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, were screened as potential color markers in P. ternata through metabolomic analysis. Based on an analysis of the transcriptome, seven genes, including PtCHS1, PtCHS2, PtCHI1, PtDFR5, PtANS, PtUPD-GT2, and PtUPD-GT3, were found to have important effects on the biosynthesis of anthocyanins in the P. ternata corm epidermis. Furthermore, two transcription factors (TFs), bHLH1 and bHLH2, may have regulatory functions in the biosynthesis of anthocyanins in red P. ternata corms. Using an integrative analysis of the metabolomic and transcriptomic data, we identified five genes, PtCHI, PtDFR2, PtUPD-GT1, PtUPD-GT2, and PtUPD-GT3, that may play important roles in the presence of the red epidermis color in P. ternata corms.

Introduction: Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. is a perennial herb in the Compositae family, often employed in traditional Chinese medicine due to its medicinal value. The planting of C. morifolium faces the challenges of continuous cropping, and intercropping is able to somewhat overcome the obstacles of continuous cropping.Methods: In our study, we designed two different C. morifolium-maize intercropping patterns, including C. morifolium-maize narrow-wide row planting (IS) and C. morifolium-maize middle row planting (IM). Compared with monoculture, the agronomic traits, yield, active ingredients, soil physicochemical properties, soil enzyme activities, and rhizosphere soil microbial communities of C. morifolium and maize were measured under the two C. morifolium-maize intercropping patterns.Results: The findings indicated that (1) Intercropping elevated the agronomic traits, yield, and active ingredients of C. morifolium, especially in C. morifolium-maize narrow-wide row planting pattern, which indicating that interspecific distance played an important role in intercropping system; (2) Intercropping enhanced soil physicochemical properties and enzyme activities of C. morifolium and maize; (3) Intercropping altered rhizosphere soil microbial communities of C. morifolium and maize, making microbial interrelationships more complex. (4) Intercropping could recruit a large number of beneficial microorganisms enrich in the soil, including Bacillus, Sphingomonas, Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia, Chaetomium, and Ceratorhiza, which may increase the content of AN, NN, AvK, ExCa, AvCu, AvZn and other nutrients in soil and promoted the growth and quality of C. morifolium.Discussion: In summary, intercropping with maize could promote the accumulation of beneficial microorganisms in the soil, thus improving the overall growing environment, and finally realizing the growth and improvement of C. morifolium.

Artemisia argyi Lévl. et Vant. is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant that is widely distributed across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, especially in East Asian countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia. The widespread application of A. argyi in medicine, foods, and folk customs gives it great economic value and strong cultural relevance in China. It has been used in treating diseases for over 2000 years, with modern pharmacological research validating diverse functions (including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, and analgesic activities) of metabolites produced by A. argyi. Surges in clinical demand have led to the formation of a domesticated A. argyi industry, which has produced a relatively mature artificial planting technology system and comprehensive quality evaluation standards in China. In recent years, the assembly and release of A. argyi chloroplast and chromosome-scale nuclear genomes have enabled identification of key genes in the biosynthetic pathways of various important active compounds. In addition, non-medicinal applications of A. argyi have received widespread attention due to the plant's promising herbicidal, antibacterial, and preservative effects, which could allow its use in place of chemical products. We here review recent progress in A. argyi research with a focus on botanical characteristics, artificial cultivation methods, quality evaluation, genomic and molecular research, pharmacological effects, and non-medicinal value development. This review lays a strong foundation for future research to develop and increase the value of A. argyi and other traditionally medicinal plants.

Organic acids are a key active component of Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit, and their concentration is closely associated with the quality of P. ternata. Developing an efficient and rapid method for detecting organic acids can offer a valuable technology for real-time assessment of P. ternata quality. In this work, a high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-QqQ-MS/MS) approach, combining the optimization of extraction conditions using response surface methodology (RSM), was developed for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of six organic acids in P. ternata. The optimal extraction conditions for organic acids in P. ternata were ultrasonic extraction with a solid–liquid ratio of 1:50, ultrasonic time of 60 min, and extraction temperature of 55 °C. Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) scanning was employed for quantification using HPLC-QqQ-MS/MS in negative ionization mode through a single run of 10 min, and the limit of detection (LLOD) and limit of quantification (LLOQ) for organic acids were as low as 0.138 ng/mL and 0.614 ng/mL, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of reproducibility, precision, and stability were all lower than 5.0%, and recovery rates were 97.75–107.14%, with RSDs < 5.0%. Finally, this method was successfully applied to determine the investigated organic acids in 12 production regions of P. ternata, revealing significant differences between different production areas. This indicates that the optimized method is suitable for further accurate investigations of organic acids of P. ternata.

Background: Pinellia ternata (Thunb.), a perennial herbal plant in the Araceae family, has great medicinal value and market demand. In August 2020, an outbreak of severe leaf spot blight disease resulted in a huge yield loss of P. ternata. It is necessary to isolate and identify the pathogens that cause spot blight on P. ternata. Methods: In this study, we isolated and identified the pathogens by fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Disease samples with typical spot blight symptoms were collected and pathogens were isolated from the diseased tissues. The pathogen was identified based on its biological characteristics and molecular analysis of internal transcribed (rDNA-ITS) and large subunit (LSU) sequences. Phylogenetic tree were constructed using MEGA7 software and pathogenicity tests were performed using in vivo inoculation. Finally, the pathogen was recovered and identified from the inoculated plants. Results: Based on Koch’s postulates, we identified the pathogen causing spot blight on P. ternata as Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore spot blight on P. ternata caused by S. cucurbitacearum in China.