In this study, we investigated the expression of seven MYB transcription factors (a total of 17 genes that included Dof1.1, IQD1-1, MYB28, MYB29, MYB34, MYB51, and MYB122 and their isoforms) involved in aliphatic and indolic glucosinolate (GSL) biosynthesis and analyzed the aliphatic and indolic GSL content in different organs of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapassp. Pekinensis). MYB28 and MYB29 expression in the stem was dramatically different when compared with the levels in the other organs. MYB34, MYB122, MYB51, Dof1.1, and IQD1-1 showed very low transcript levels among different organs. HPLC analysis showed that the glucosinolates (GSLs) consisted of five aliphatic GSLs (progoitrin, sinigrin, glucoalyssin, gluconapin, and glucobrassicanapin) and four indolic GSLs (4-hydroxyglucobrassicin, glucobrassicin, 4-methoxygluco-brassicin, and neoglucobrassicin). Aliphatic GSLs exhibited 63.3% of the total GSLs content, followed by aromatic GSL (19.0%), indolic GSLs (10%), and unknown GSLs (7.7%) in different organs of Chinese cabbage. The total GSL content of different parts (ranked in descending order) was as follows: seed > flower > young leaves > stem > root > old leaves. The relationship between GSLs accumulation and expression of GSLs biosynthesis MYB TFs genes in different organs may be helpful to understand the mechanism of MYB TFs regulating GSL biosynthesis in Chinese cabbage.

Context: The pharmacokinetics properties of dihydromyricetin (DHM) are still unknown. Objective: This study investigates the pharmacokinetic characteristics of DHM using a sensitive and reliable LC-MS/MS method. Materials and methods: A rapid and sensitive LC-MS/MS method was developed for the determination of DHM in male Sprague–Dawley rat plasma. Twelve rats were equally randomized into two groups, including the intravenous group (2 mg/kg) and the oral group (20 mg/kg). Blood samples (250 μL) were collected at designated time points and analyzed using this method. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using DAS 3.0 pharmacokinetic software. Results: The calibration curve was linear within the range of 0.5–200 ng/mL (r > 0.998) with the lower limit of quantification at 0.5 ng/mL. After the intravenous injection, DHM reached a maximum concentration of 165.67 ± 16.35 ng/mL, and t_1/2 was 2.05 ± 0.52 h. However, DHM was not readily absorbed and reached C_max 21.63 ± 3.62 ng/mL at approximately 2.67 h following the oral administration of DHM, and t_1/2 was 3.70 ± 0.99 h. The MRT for the intravenous group and the oral group were 2.62 ± 0.36 and 5.98 ± 0.58 h, respectively. The AUC_(0-t) for the intravenous group and the oral group were 410.73 ± 78.12 and 164.97 ± 41.76 ng·L/mL, respectively, so the absolute bioavailability of DHM was 4.02% which was poor. Discussion and conclusion: The results indicated that the bioavailability was poor. Further work needs to be conducted to investigate the reason for poor bioavailability and improve this situation.

Lycium chinense is well known in traditional Chinese herbal medicine for its medicinal value and composition, which have been widely studied for decades. However, further research on Lycium chinense is limited due to the lack of transcriptome and genomic information. The transcriptome of L. chinense was constructed by using an Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencing platform. All 56,526 unigenes with an average length of 611 nt and an N50 equaling 848 nt were generated from 58,192,350 total raw reads after filtering and assembly. Unigenes were assembled by BLAST similarity searches and annotated with Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) orthology identifiers. Using these transcriptome data, the majority of genes that are associated with phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in L. chinense were identified. In addition, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis-related gene expression and compound content in different organs were analyzed. We found that most phenylpropanoid genes were highly expressed in the red fruits, leaves, and flowers. An important phenylpropanoid, chlorogenic acid, was also found to be extremely abundant in leaves. Using Illumina sequencing technology, we have identified the function of novel homologous genes that regulate metabolic pathways in Lycium chinense.

Two previously undescribed sesquiterpenes along with nine known compounds were isolated from the fermentation broth of Aspergillus fumigatus, an endophyte of Ligusticum wallichii. Their structures were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic analysis combined with quantum chemical ECD calculations. Two new compounds exhibited moderate growth inhibition against MV4-11 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.

Context: Dihydromyricetin (DHM) is the most abundant and active flavonoid component isolated from Ampelopsis grossedentata (Hand-Mazz) W.T. Wang (Vitaceae) and it possesses numerous pharmacological activities. However, whether DHM affects the activity of human liver cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes remains unclear. Materials and methods: The inhibitory effects of DHM on eight human liver CYP isoforms (i.e., 1A2, 3A4, 2A6, 2E1, 2D6, 2C9, 2C19 and 2C8) were investigated in vitro using human liver microsomes (HLMs). Results: The results showed that DHM could inhibit the activity of CYP3A4, CYP2E1 and CYP2D6, with IC₅₀ values of 14.75, 25.74 and 22.69 μM, respectively, but that other CYP isoforms were not affected. Enzyme kinetic studies showed that DHM was not only a non-competitive inhibitor of CYP3A4 but also a competitive inhibitor of CYP2E1 and CYP2D6, with Ki values of 6.06, 9.24 and 10.52 μM, respectively. In addition, DHM is a time-dependent inhibitor for CYP3A4 with K_I/K_inact value of 12.17/0.057 min⁻¹μM⁻¹. Discussion and conclusion: The in vitro studies of DHM with CYP isoforms indicate that DHM has the potential to cause pharmacokinetic drug interactions with other co-administered drugs metabolized by CYP3A4, CYP2E1 and CYP2D6. Further clinical studies are needed to evaluate the significance of this interaction.

Astragalus membranaceus is one of the most important traditional Korean and Chinese medicinal herbs because it contains triterpenoid saponins (astragaloside I, II, III, and IV), which have beneficial and pharmacological effects on health. In this study, we analyzed 10 mevalonate pathway genes that are involved in astragaloside biosynthesis using the Illumina/Solexa HiSeq2000 platform. We determined the expression levels of the 10 genes using quantitative real-time PCR, and analyzed the accumulation of astragalosides in different organs using high-performance liquid chromatography. Genes related to the mevalonate pathway were expressed in different levels in different organs. Almost all genes showed high transcript levels in the stem and leaf, with the lowest transcript levels being recorded in the root. In contrast, most astragalosides accumulated in the root. In particular, the astragaloside IV content was distributed in the following order: root (0.58 mg/g DW) > flower (0.27 mg/g DW) > stem (0.23 mg/g DW) > leaf (0.04 mg/g DW). In the root, astragaloside II exhibited the highest content (2.09 mg/g DW) compared to astragaloside I, III, and IV. Notably, gene expression did not follow the same pattern as astragaloside accumulation. We suggest carefully that astragalosides are synthesized in the leaves and stem and then translocated to the root. This study contributes towards improving our understanding of astragaloside biosynthesis in A. membranaceus.