Isoetes sinensis Palmer is a critically endangered, first-class protected plant in China. Until now, researchers have primarily focused on the ultrastructure, phylogeny, and transcriptomes of the plant. However, flavonoid profiles and bioactivity of I. sinensis have not been extensively investigated. To develop the endangered I. sinensis for edible and medicinal purposes, flavonoid content, chemical constitution, and antioxidant activities were investigated in this study. Results revealed the following. 1) The total flavonoid content was determined as 10.74 ± 0.25 mg/g., 2) Antioxidant activities were stronger than most ferns, especially ABTS free radical scavenging activities. 3) Four flavones, containing apigenin, apigenin-7-glucuronide, acacetin-7-O-glcopyranoside, and homoplantageninisoetin; four flavonols, namely, isoetin, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-[6”-O-(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl)-β-D-glucopyranoside], and limocitrin-Neo; one prodelphinidin (procyanidins;) and one nothofagin (dihydrochalcone) were tentatively identified in the mass spectrometry-DAD (254nm) chromatograms. This study was the first to report on flavonoid content and antioxidant activities of I. sinensis. Stronger antioxidant activity and flavonoid content suggests that the endangered I. sinensis is an important and potentially edible and medicinal plant.

Isoetes sinensis Palmer (Isoetaceae) is a critically endangered fern that is a marsh plant (that is an aquatic or amphibious plant) in China. To evaluate damage or influence of lead (Pb) on cell ultrastructure in I. sinensis, we used 2000mg·L^-1 Pb(NO₃)₂ solution to treat I. sinensis for 35d, and used transmission electron microscope (TEM) to observe the cell ultrastructure of leaf blades and roots of the plant. Our results indicated that Pb induced distinct changes of the organelles including chloroplast, mitochondria, nucleolus and vacuole. The level of damage organ was lower leaf > upper leaf > root The typical performance of the damages caused by lead shown that part of the nucleolus cracked; the cristae dilated, matrix vacuolized and membrane structure blurred in mitochondria; the vacuole cracked; grana lamella decreased, stroma lamella loosed, starch grains decreased, and membrane structure was disrupted in chloroplasts; Pb deposits were present on cell wall. The damages to chloroplasts and mitochondria were relatively severe, while damage to the nucleus was relatively lighter. The damage to the cell ultrastructure of leaf blades with direct contact with Pb was more severe than that without direct contact with Pb.

Cryptic species are commonly misidentified because of high morphological similarities to other species. One group of plants that may harbor large numbers of cryptic species is the quillworts (Isoëtes spp.), an ancient aquatic plant lineage. Although over 350 species of Isoëtes have been reported globally, only ten species have been recorded in China. The aim of this study is to better understand Isoëtes species diversity in China. For this purpose, we systematically explored the phylogeny and evolution of Isoëtes using complete chloroplast genome (plastome) data, spore morphology, chromosome number, genetic structure, and haplotypes of almost all Chinese Isoëtes populations. We identified three ploidy levels of Isoëtes in China—diploid (2n = 22), tetraploid (2n = 44), and hexaploid (2n = 66). We also found four megaspore and microspore ornamentation types in diploids, six in tetraploids, and three in hexaploids. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed that I. hypsophila as the ancestral group of the genus and revealed that Isoëtes diploids, tetraploids, and hexaploids do not form monophyletic clades. Most individual species possess a single genetic structure; however, several samples have conflicting positions on the phylogenetic tree based on SNPs and the tree based on plastome data. All 36 samples shared 22 haplotypes. Divergence time analysis showed that I. hypsophila diverged in the early Eocene (∼48.05 Ma), and most other Isoëtes species diverged 3–20 Ma. Additionally, different species of Isoëtes were found to inhabit different water systems and environments along the Yangtze River. These findings provide new insights into the relationships among Isoëtes species in China, where highly similar morphologic populations may harbor many cryptic species.

Matteuccia struthiopteris is one of the most globally consumed edible ferns and widely used in folk medicine. Reports mainly focus on young fronds and the rhizome which are common edible medicinal parts. However, there are few detailed reports on other parts. Therefore, the volatile components of different parts based on HS-SPME-GC-MS were identified, and total flavonoid contents, antioxidant activities and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities were compared in order to reveal the difference of volatile components and potential medicinal value of different parts. The results showed that total flavonoid contents, antioxidant activities and volatile components of different parts were obviously different. The crozier exhibited the strongest antioxidant activities, but only underground parts exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition potential against AChE. Common volatile compounds were furfural and 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-methyl-. In addition, it was found that some volatile components from adventitious root, trophophyll, sporophyll and petiole were important ingredients in food, cosmetics, industrial manufacturing and pharmaceutical applications.