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The pollution of soil with heavy metals is an increasingly serious worldwide problem, and cadmium (Cd) has attracted attention because of its high toxicity to almost all plants. Since castor tolerates the accumulation of heavy metals, it has the potential for heavy metal soil remediation. We studied the mechanism of the tolerance of castor to Cd stress treatments at three doses: 300 mg/L, 700 mg/L, and 1,000 mg/L. Our research provides new ideas for revealing the defense and detoxification mechanisms of Cd-stressed castor. By combining the results of physiology, differential proteomics and comparative metabolomics, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the networks that regulate the response of castor to Cd stress. The physiological results mainly emphasize the super-sensitive responses of castor plant roots to Cd stress and the effects of Cd stress on plants’ antioxidant system, ATP synthesis and ion homeostasis. We confirmed these results at the protein and metabolite levels. At the same time, proteomics and metabolomics show that castor plants mainly block the root system’s absorption of Cd2+ by enhancing the strength of the cell wall, and inducing programmed cell death in response to the three different doses of Cd stress. In addition, the plasma membrane ATPase encoding gene (RcHA4), which was significantly upregulated in our differential proteomics and RT-qPCR studies, was transgenically overexpressed in wild type Arabidopsis thaliana for functional verification. The results indicated that this gene plays an important role in improving plant Cd tolerance.

Six crystalline components were isolated from the lipophilic fraction of Artemisia annua L. They have been identified as four sesquiterpenes, one flavonol and one coumarin. Qinghaosu I and III are new sesquiterpenes. Five main constituents, camphene, iso-artemisia ketone, 1-camphor, β-carophyllene, and β-pinene were identified from the volatile oil of this herb.

The present paper is a continuation of our study on the Chinese traditional herb Artemisia annua L. [1-5], describing several additional constituents: quinghaosu IV and V (V, VII), quinghao acid (VIII) [6], chrysosplenol (VIa) [7] and a paraffinic alcohol; V, VII and VIII are compounds with unreported structures.

A new diterpene glucoside has been isolated from the leaves of Andrographis paniculata and its structure elucidated as deoxyandrographolide-19beta-D-glucoside on the basis of chemical and spectral evidence. A detailed proton magnetic resonance study of the diterpene was crucial in the structure determination.

Isolement de 6 alcaloides indoles des racines d'A. yunnanensis. Hormis la tetrahydroalstonine, les cinq autres alcaloides sont isoles pour la premiere fois d'une Alstonia sp.