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Bacillus subtilis 1JN2 can serve as an effective biocontrol agent against Ralstonia wilt on tomato, but the efficiency of control depends on the levels of heavy metals in the rhizosphere soil. Here, we investigated how the heavy metal Cd2+ affects the biocontrol efficacy of B.subtilis 1JN2 on Ralstonia wilt. We found that low Cd2+ content of 2mM or lower had no effects on the biofilm formation of 1JN2, while media containing 3mM or higher Cd2+ levels inhibited biofilm formation. Interestingly, high concentration of Cd2+ (5mM) showed inhibition of B.subtilis 1JN2 cell growth. We next tested the effects of Cd2+ in the soil by supplementing artificial Cd2+ in the tomato rhizosphere in a greenhouse setting. We found that 3mM Cd2+ in the tomato rhizosphere inhibited the colonization of B.subtilis 1JN2, reducing its ability to control against Ralstonia wilt. At 3mM Cd2+, we only detected 103 CFU/mL 1JN2 one week post treated with 107 CFU/mL but 105 CFU/mL could be detected without Cd2+ in the soil. The presence of Cd2+ had no effect on the colonization of Ralstonia solanacearum on tomato, but the biocontrol efficacy against Ralstonia wilt by 1JN2 decreased 54.2% when the soil contained 3mM Cd2+ compared to the control without Cd2+. Taken together, we find that the failure of biofilm formation of Bacillus subtilis 1JN2 that affected by Cd2+ lead to the decrease of its biocontrol efficacy against Ralstonia wilt on tomato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method was established for the preparative separation of three sesquiterpenoid lactones from Eupatorium lindleyanum DC. The two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (1:4:2:3, v/v/v/v) was selected. From 540 mg of the n-butanol fraction of Eupatorium lindleyanum DC., 10.8 mg of 3ββ-hydroxy-8β-[4'-hydroxytigloyloxy]-costunolide, 17.9 mg of eupalinolide A and 19.3 mg of eupalinolide B were obtained in a one-step HSCCC separation, with purities of 91.8%, 97.9% and 97.1%, respectively, as determined by HPLC. Their structures were further identified by ESI-MS and 1H-NMR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antioxidant activities of water extract (WE), ethanol extract (EE), residue water extract (RWE) and petroleum ether (PF), ethyl acetate (EF), n-BuOH (BF) and water (WF) fractions of the ethanol extract from Eupatorium Lindley DC were investigated for the first time. Total phenolics content, DPPH radical scavenging activities, superoxide radical scavenging activities, total reduction capability, and ferrous ions chelating activities were determined for all the extracts and fractions. The results showed that all the extracts and fractions exhibited antioxidant activities with different magnitudes of potency. Among all the samples, WE and RWE exhibited the best antioxidant capacities, the BF also exhibited high antioxidant abilities in all tests except for the metal chelating activity, while the other extracts and fractions were relatively weak antioxidants. The BF had the highest total phenolics contents in all extracts and fractions, and the WE and RWE were found to be rich in tannins. Furthermore, the content of total phenolics showed good correlation with DPPH radical scavenging activity, superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, and the reducing power. Phenolic composition of all the extracts and fractions was identified and quantified by HPLC. The results indicate that the extracts of E. Lindley DC might be a useful potential source of natural antioxidant ingredients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]