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A supramolecular solvent (SUPRAS)-based sample preparation method was proposed for the determination of lignans in Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis) fruit. The optimal conditions were: proportion of hexafluoroisopropanol in SUPRAS: 35% (v/v), solid-to-liquid ratio: 20:1 mg/mL, and vortex time: 30 s. Additionally, simple, rapid, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry and multiple reaction monitoring was employed to simultaneously quantify seven lignans in S. chinensis. The validation showed that the linearity from 0.01 to 20.83 µg/mL was excellent (all R2 ≥ 0.99). The lowest limits of quantification were from 0.14 to 17.79 ng/mL. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the intra-day retention time and peak area were from 0.12% to 0.21% and 2.35% to 6.41%. The RSD of retention time and peak area for the inter-day precision ranged from 0.17% to 0.32% and 3.83% to 7.39%. The average recoveries (80.21%–114.53%) demonstrated good accuracy for all analytes. The developed procedure was employed to determine lignans in processed and raw S. chinensis fruit. The lignans were concentrated in the seeds and the wine-processed material had the highest content. This study provides a reference for the analysis of S. chinensis fruit for lignans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms play an important role in plant growth and development. In particular, endophytic fungi is one of the important kinds of microorganisms and has a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with host plants. Endophytic fungi have many substantial benefits to host plants, especially for woody plants, such as accelerating plant growth, enhancing stress resistance, promoting nutrient absorption, resisting pathogens and etc. However, the effects of endophytic fungi on the growth and development of woody plants have not been systematically summarized. In this review, the functions of endophytic fungi for the growth and development of woody plants have been mainly reviewed, including regulating plant growth (e.g., flowering, root elongation, etc.) by producing nutrients and plant hormones, and improving plant disease, insect resistance and heavy metal resistance by producing secondary metabolites. In addition, the diversity of endophytic fungi could improve the ability of woody plants to adapt to adverse environment. The components produced by endophytic fungi have excellent potential for the growth and development of woody plants. This review has systematically discussed the potential regulation mechanism of endophytic fungi regulating the growth and development of woody plants, it would be of great significance for the development and utilization of endophytic fungi resource from woody plants for the protection of forest resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractCyanobacteria, the only oxygenic photoautotrophs among prokaryotes, are developing as both carbon building blocks and energetic self-supported chassis for the generation of various bioproducts. However, one of the challenges to optimize it as a more sustainable platform is how to release intracellular bioproducts for an easier downstream biorefinery process. To date, the major method used for cyanobacterial cell lysis is based on mechanical force, which is energy-intensive and economically unsustainable. Phage-mediated bacterial cell lysis is species-specific and highly efficient and can be conducted under mild conditions; therefore, it has been intensively studied as a bacterial cell lysis weapon. In contrast to heterotrophic bacteria, biological cell lysis studies in cyanobacteria are lagging behind. In this study, we reviewed cyanobacterial cell envelope features that could affect cell strength and elicited a thorough presentation of the necessary phage lysin components for efficient cell lysis. We then summarized all bioengineering manipulated pipelines for lysin component optimization and further revealed the challenges for each intent-oriented application in cyanobacterial cell lysis. In addition to applied biotechnology usage, the significance of phage-mediated cyanobacterial cell lysis could also advance sophisticated biochemical studies and promote biocontrol of toxic cyanobacteria blooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]