Zingiber officinale, commonly known as ginger, is an important plant of the family Zingiberaceae and is widely used as an herbal medicine and condiment. The lack of chloroplast genomic information hinders molecular research and phylogenetic analysis on ginger. We introduced the complete chloroplast genome of Z. officinale and identified its phylogenetic position in Zingiberaceae. The chloroplast genome of Z. officinale is 162,621 bp with a four-part circular structure and 36.1% GC content. All 113 unique genes were annotated. A total of 78 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 42 long repeat sequences, which are potential areas for species authentication, were found. Comparative analysis revealed some highly variable regions, including rps16-trnQ-UUG, atpH-atpI, trnT-UGU-trnL-UAA, ycf1, and psaC-ndhE. Moreover, the small single-copy (SSC) region was the most variable region in all four shared regions, indicating that it may be undergoing rapid nucleotide substitution in the family Zingiberaceae. Phylogenetic analysis based on all available chloroplasts of Zingiberales in the National Center for Biotechnology Information indicated that Zingiber is a sister branch to Kaempferia species. The availability of the Z. officinale chloroplast genome provided invaluable data for species-level authentication and phylogenetic analysis and can thus benefit further investigations on species in the family Zingiberaceae.

Dragon’s blood (DB) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with hemostatic effects and antibacterial properties. However, it is still challenging to use for rapid hemostasis because of its insolubility. In this study, different amounts of DB were loaded on mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) to prepare a series of DB-MSN composites (5DB-MSN, 10DB-MSN, and 20DB-MSN). DB-MSN could quickly release DB and activate the intrinsic blood coagulation cascade simultaneously by DB and MSN. Hemostasis tests demonstrated that DB-MSN showed superior hemostatic effects than either DB or MSNs alone, and 10DB-MSN exhibited the best hemostatic effect. In addition, the antibacterial activities of DB-MSN against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) improved with the increase in DB. Furthermore, the hemolysis assay and cytocompatibility assay demonstrated that all DB-MSNs exhibited excellent biocompatibility. Based on these results, 10DB-MSN is expected to have potential applications for emergency hemostatic and antibacterial treatment in pre-hospital trauma.

Phellodendron amurense Rupr., a species of Rutaceae, is a nationally protected and valuable medicinal plant. It is generally considered to be dioecious. With the discovery of monoecious P. amurense, the phenomenon that its sex development is regulated by epigenetics has been revealed, but the way epigenetics affects the sex differentiation of P. amurense is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of DNA methylation on the sexual development of P. amurense. The young inflorescences of male plants were treated with the demethylation agent 5-azaC, and the induced female flowers were obtained. The induced female flowers’ morphological functions and transcriptome levels were close to those of normally developed plants. Genes associated with the development of female flowers were studied by comparing the differences in transcriptome levels between the male and female flowers. Referring to sex-related genes reported in other plants, 188 candidate genes related to the development of female flowers were obtained, including sex-regulating genes, genes related to the formation and development of sexual organs, genes related to biochemical pathways, and hormone-related genes. RPP0W, PAL3, MCM2, MCM6, SUP, PIN1, AINTEGUMENTA, AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6, AGL11, SEUSS, SHI-RELATED SEQUENCE 5, and ESR2 were preliminarily considered the key genes for female flower development. This study has demonstrated that epigenetics was involved in the sex regulation of P. amurense, with DNA methylation as one of its regulatory modes. Moreover, some candidate genes related to the sexual differentiation of P. amurense were obtained with analysis. These results are of great significance for further exploring the mechanism of sex differentiation of P. amurense and studying of sex differentiation of plants.

Chloranthus coccineus, a new species discovered in Hubei Province, China, is illustrated and described. It is shown to be similar with C. fortunei by detailed morphological comparison and chromosome number count. However, they are easily distinguished by the lengths of the peduncles, the colors of leaf veins when dry and the colors of stamen connectives. Karyotype also lends strong support for the validity as a new species. Moreover, the phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ITS2 and plastid trnL-F data from seven taxa of Chloranthus showed that the putative new species is closest to C. fortunei but they are reciprocally monophyletic to each other for the sampled individuals from different populations. In conclusion, morphological, cytological and molecular evidence supports that C. coccineus is a new species.

Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua (Asparagaceae) is a perennial herb widely distributed in China (Chen et al. 2021). The rhizome has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties and is traditionally used to treat dizziness, diabetes, and asthma (Lu et al. 2023; Pang et al. 2022). About 3000 P. cyrtonema plants were planted in five fields at the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development (40.04°N, 116.28°E), Beijing, China, where rhizome rot was observed from June to October 2023, with an incidence rate of about 10%. Most cases occurred in low-lying, waterlogged fields. Initially, infected plants had no obvious aboveground symptoms but had brown spots on their rhizomes. In severe cases, plants exhibited aboveground withering and brown rot in rhizomes. A fungus was isolated from symptomatic plants (isolation rate 73%), and single spores were used to grow pure colonies on potato-dextrose-agar (PDA) and incubated for 5 d at 25°C in the dark. Eleven isolates with the same morphology were obtained. The upper surface of the colonies was white, with cottony mycelium and a light purple center. The lower surface of the colonies was hazel in the center. Two representative isolates, C76 and C78, were cultivated on carnation leaf agar medium. Microconidia of the isolates were aseptate, oval, elliptic or clavate, and their dimensions were 4.9 to 12.1 × 1.5 to 4.5 μm (n = 50). Macroconidia were long, slender and thin, rod-shaped or slightly curved, with one to five septa, and their dimensions were 15.3 to 44.9 × 2.7 to 4.5 μm (n = 50). The isolates were classified as Fusarium based on morphology (Leslie and Summerell 2006). To determine the species identity, we sequenced the translation elongation factor (TEF-1α) and partial RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2) of two isolates (i.e., C76 and C78, GenBank access numbers: TEF-1α, PQ550044, PQ285402; RBP2, PQ550045, PQ285403, respectively) (Crous et al 2009) and compared them to other Fusarium species found at Fusarium-ID and GenBank databases. Both isolates exhibited 99.84% (TEF-1α, MT305203) and 100% (RBP2, LT841252) similarity with Fusarium proliferatum. The phylogenetic tree was constructed by combining TEF-1α, and RBP2 using MEGA6, and the two isolates clustered with F. proliferatum. To demonstrate pathogenicity, 2 mL of conidial suspension (1 × 106 conidia/mL) of the isolate of F. proliferatum designed C76 were dropped on the surface of four rhizomes without wounding. For the control, sterile water was applied on two control rhizomes. All treatments were repeated three times. Seedlings were grown at 25°C in moist soil. After 7 d, inoculated roots exhibited similar symptoms to those in the field, while control roots showed no symptoms. The same isolate was reisolated from diseased roots and was identified based on morphological characteristics, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Based on morphology and molecular biology, the isolates were identified as F. proliferatum, a ubiquitous pathogen (Li, et al 2017) that was reported to cause leaf spot on P. cyrtonema (Zhou, et al. 2021). This is the first report of F. proliferatum causing rhizome rot on P. cyrtonema. This research will help develop strategies to manage rhizome rot incited by F. proliferatum.