The utilization of natural product resources is significant for economic growth and health care. Herein, Cinnamomum longepaniculatum essential oil (CLEO) was isolated by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAH). The composition of CLEO was determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and the antibacterial, nematicidal and anxiolytic activities of CLEO were evaluated. GC/MS results revealed that 33 compounds were identified, accounting for 99.87% of the total identified compounds. The major components of CLEO were monoterpenes, including β-myrcene (22.55%), eucalyptol (11.59%), α-pinene (11.56%), terpinen-4-ol (8.63%). Further research found that CLEO can inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 7.13 mg/mL, MBC 14.25 mg/mL), Escherichia coli (MIC 14.25 mg/mL, MBC 57 mg/mL), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC 14.25 mg/mL, MBC 28.50 mg/mL), the zone of inhibition were 17.49 ± 0.51 mm, 13.35 ± 0.27 mm and 15.15 ± 0.31 mm, respectively. CLEO could increase cell membrane permeability and make β-galactosidase, protein and other substances leak from the cell. Importantly, CLEO was first used to kill pine wood nematodes (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus). It was found that CLEO was toxic to B. xylophilus (LC₅₀=30.81 mg/mL), and PWN treated with CLEO rapidly died and extended. Furthermore, CLEO was used in anxiolytic for the first time. CLEO inhalation can effectively relieve anxiety-like behaviors in open-field test (OFT) and elevated plus-maze test (EPT), and restore neurotransmitters (5-HT, NE, GABA) in brain tissue to normal levels. This study provides a strategy for the industrial production of CLEO and discovers its potential role in food transportation and preservation, forest pest control, and relief of emotional disorders such as anxiety and stress, which are beneficial to health care and economic development and provides a basis for broader application of CLEO.

Reaumuria soongorica plays critical role in withstanding wind-induced soil erosion and combating desertification due to its unique drought adaptive networks involved in physiological, morphological, biochemical, and molecular biological levels. This review was conceived to summarize the most updated information on drought adaptive mechanisms of R. soongorica to formulate valuable strategies for non-xerophytes crop species to be drought tolerant. Research indicates that R. soongorica can be drought resistant via posing a high root to shoot ratio, having salt secreting gland, subsidized stomata, hard leaf texture, pallet leaf shape, high seeds viability, actively working antioxidative enzymes, secondary metabolites, phytohormones, and differentially expressed drought resistant genes. These characteristics interlink at morpho-physiological, biochemical, metobolic, molecular, and genetic level in R. soongorica to adapt the extreme abitotic stress conditions in desert regions as a plant model in xerophyte. The potentials of using the genetic elements in R. soongorica to produce drought tolerant crop species for yield production on growing on marginal lands could be vital for maintaining future food security. However, functional gene cloning and their transformation in crop species should be conducted as pre-requisite. Key words: Abiotic stress, Crop improvement, Drought adaptive mechanisms, Reaumuria soongorica, Xerophytes

Aim: To formulate and assess the anticancer effect of the poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) copolymer with the thioether groups (diethyl sulfide [Des]) and disulfide bond (cystamine containing disulfide [Cys]), which encapsulated the anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) and triggered PTX release in cancer cell H2O2-rich or glutathione-rich surroundings. Methods: PLGA-b-P (Des@Cys) and PLGA-b-P nanoparticles loaded with PTX were prepared and characterized in vitro. The delivery ability of the PLGA-b-P nanoparticles and PLGA-b-P-PTX nanoparticles was assessed on a CT26 (mouse colon cancer cell line) and mouse lung cancer LLC model. Results: The nanoparticles were successfully prepared. Compared with free PTX, the formulated PLGA-b-P nanoparticles loaded with PTX exhibited greater accumulation at the tumor site in the mouse model. Conclusion: PLGA-b-P nanoparticles promote drug accumulation at tumor sites, providing an effective strategy for an intelligent, responsive drug-delivery system. Tweetable abstractThis study prepared polymer nanocarriers (PLGA-b-p-NPs) with double response to the tumor microenvironment and loaded with traditional antitumor drug paclitaxel, so that drugs can accurately reach tumor cells and be rapidly released in cells. Plain language summaryCancer is one of the diseases with the highest mortality rate in the world. Chemotherapy is the most frequently used method of cancer treatment. However, traditional chemotherapeutic drugs have the disadvantages of lack of specificity, high toxicity to the human body, lack of tumor targeting, inability to exist stably in the body, ease of clearance by the body and drug resistance to tumors, so clinical application is limited. Paclitaxel is widely used in the treatment of various cancers, and its use is limited due to the above disadvantages. The purpose of this study was to construct a nanodelivery system with dual responses to the tumor microenvironment, enabling the efficient accumulation of paclitaxel in solid tumors through the enhanced permeability and retention effect, enhancing the therapeutic effect of cancer. This study also investigated the intravenous safety of this dual-responsive nanodelivery system. It evaluated the toxic effects of drug-loaded nanoparticles on cancer cells and validated the controlled release of nanoparticles at tumor sites by in vivo imaging in mice. The authors concluded that tumor microenvironment dual-responsive nanoparticles are a novel and promising nanodelivery system as an intelligently responsive anticancer agent with great promise in future clinical trials.

Rhus typhina L. is widely recognized as a landscape ornamental plant and its extracts have demonstrated biological activity against multiple weed types. This makes it a promising candidate in sustainable agriculture as a bioherbicide by offering a solution to mitigate the growing problem of herbicide resistance. Therefore, this study was designed in agar culture to analyze the effect of powders of the branch, fallen leaf, and pericarp from Rhus typhina L. against seed germination of Portulaca oleracea L. and evaluate its inhibitory mechanisms based on anatomical structure and the activities of antioxidative enzymes, α-amylase, and β-amylase. The main allelopathic compounds were also identified based on high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and their bioherbicidal effects were evaluated. Brassica napus L. was used as the object for biosafety evaluation. The results showed that the seed germination of Portulaca oleracea L. under treatment with powder extract from Rhus typhina was inhibited by exhhibting swelling and deformation in endosperm cells and chaotically scattered starch granules in seed embryos with a shorter radicle length than the control. During the period of treatment, antioxidative enzymes were quickly activated to scavenge the suddenly surging reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a measure of boosted malonaldehyde (MDA) content. Antioxidative enzyme (POD, SOD, and CAT) activities were also activated to mitigate the oxidative damage. In contrast, both α-amylase and β-amylase activities were significantly suppressed. A total of 16 allelochemicals were identified in the branch, fallen leaf, and pericarp of Rhus typhina L. Among these, gallic acid, methyl gallate, and tyrosol were identified as exhibiting the most significant inhibitory effect during the whole germination process of Portulaca oleracea L., resulting in browned seedlings and stunted radicle length compared with the control, while far weaker inhibitory effects were found against Brassica napus L. In summary, extracts from Rhus typhina L. targeted α-amylase and β-amylase activities rather than antioxidative enzyme activities to inhibit the germination of Portulaca oleracea L. Gallic acid, methyl gallate, and tyrosol were the key compounds that inhibited its germination.

Lamiaceae plants produce essential oils (EOs) with diverse chemical compositions and biological activities. This study investigated the volatile composition and multiple biological activities of EOs from 13 Lamiaceae species. EOs were obtained by hydrodistillation and characterized by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), followed by hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis. Antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxic, and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated using in vitro and murine models. GC-MS analysis revealed substantial interspecific variation in volatile composition, with Origanum vulgare characterized by carvacrol and limonene, Thymus spp. by thymol, Rosmarinus officinalis by eucalyptol and α-pinene, Mentha canadensis by L-menthol, and Perilla frutescens by perillaldehyde. Scutellaria baicalensis, Elsholtzia ciliata, Phlomis mongolica, and Schizonepeta tenuifolia showed distinctive profiles associated with limonene and isopulegone, nepetalactone, pulegone, and anethole and anisaldehyde, respectively. Multivariate analysis further separated the 13 oils into three chemotype groups: a carvacrol-rich Origanum group, a Scutellaria and Thymus group enriched in sesquiterpenes or thymol, and a group comprising the remaining six genera dominated by shared monoterpene hydrocarbons. Most EOs exhibited substantial 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity, with Rosmarinus officinalis and Perilla frutescens showing the strongest activity, with IC₅₀ values of 2.14 and 2.08 μg/mL, respectively. Origanum vulgare, Thymus citriodorus, Thymus vulgaris, and Thymus mongolicus displayed strong antibacterial activity against five pathogens, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 2 to 8 μg/mL. Cytotoxicity assays showed potent activity against HepG2 and LNCaP cells, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.31 to 0.95 μg/mL. Elsholtzia ciliata and Perilla frutescens exhibited particularly strong potency, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.31 to 0.40 μg/mL. In a murine skin inflammation model, selected EOs significantly reduced inflammation-related markers, including COX-2, TNF-α, NF-κB, IKK, Akt, and PKC. Correlation analysis identified significant associations of carvacrol, thymol, and β-linalool with antibacterial activity, whereas no significant associations were observed between individual major constituents and antioxidant or cytotoxic activity after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Overall, the 13 Lamiaceae EOs displayed distinct chemical profiles and activity patterns, providing a basis for further investigation of their bioactive constituents and potential applications.