Search

Sansevieria is a genus consisting of about 60 species natively distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. Many Sansevieria species are used for ornamental purposes or in traditional medicine to treat human diseases. Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii,’ commonly known as snake plant, is an evergreen perennial plant used in traditional medicine. The phytochemical investigation of the roots of S. trifasciata ‘Laurentii’ resulted in the isolation and structural characterization of two previously reported saponins: (24S,25R)-1b-[(β-D-fucopyranosyl)oxy]-3b-hydroxyspirost-5-en-24-yl β-D-glucopyranoside (1) and 26-[(β-D-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-3β,22α-dihydroxyfurosta-5,25(27)-dien-1β-yl-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside (2) by analysis of their 1D and 2D NMR spectra and HR-ESI-MS, together with the comparison to data published in the literature.

Plants belonging to the Weigela genus are traditionally used to flourish gardens, homes, and other living areas. This genus contains ten species that are mainly found in Asia, but many cultivars have been cultivated around the world. Previous studies on some species of this genus revealed the occurrence of triterpenoid saponins, which possess interesting biological activities such as cytotoxicity, anti-complementary activity, and anti-inflammatory activity. Based on this suggestion, a phytochemical study on the roots of W. florida “Jean's Gold” was carried out using different chromatographic methods, spectroscopic analysis in 1D- and 2D-NMR, and mass spectroscopic method (HRESI-MS in negative mode). The isolation of three known oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins was revealed as olean-12-en-28-oic acid, 3-[(O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl- (1→3)-O-6-deoxy-α-L-mannopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-xylopyranosyl)oxy]-, (3β)- (compound 1), olean-12-en-28-oic acid, 3-[(O-β- D-xylopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)-O-6-deoxy-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)- α-L-arabinopyranosyl)oxy]-, (3β)- (compound 2), and olean-12-en-28-oic acid, 3-[(O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1→3)-O-[α-Lxylopyranosyl-(1→4)]-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)-O-6-deoxy-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-Larabinopyranosyl)oxy]-, (3β)- (compound 3). Full characterisation of the three saponins presented in this study gives a better understanding of the phytochemistry of ornamental plants, which can be used further for medicinal purposes.

Abstract Adrinandra megaphylla Hu is a medicinal plant belonging to the Adrinandra genus, which is well-known for its potential health benefits due to its bioactive compounds. This study aimed to assemble and annotate the chloroplast genome of A. megaphylla as well as compare it with previously published cp genomes within the Adrinandra genus. The chloroplast genome was reconstructed using de novo and reference-based assembly of paired-end reads generated by long-read sequencing of total genomic DNA. The size of the chloroplast genome was 156,298 bp, comprised a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85,688 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,424 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRa and IRb) of 26,093 bp each; and a total of 51 SSRs and 48 repeat structures were detected. The chloroplast genome includes a total of 131 functional genes, containing 86 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes. The A. megaphylla chloroplast genome indicated that gene content and structure are highly conserved. The phylogenetic reconstruction using complete cp sequences, matK and trnL genes from Pentaphylacaceae species exhibited a genetic relationship. Among them, matK sequence is a better candidate for phylogenetic resolution. This study is the first report for the chloroplast genome of the A. megaphylla.

Capparis kbangensis Sy & D.V. Hai, a new species from Kbang District, Gia Lai Province, Vietnam, is described and illustrated. The new species is morphologically similar to Capparis versicolor but differs by several characters such as emarginate leaf apex, hairy margin of sepals, smaller fruits, and fewer seeds per fruit. Its ecology and conservation status are provided along with a taxonomic key to the closely allied species.

Jewels of Opar (Talinum paniculatum) is a herbaceous plant known for its highly medicinal value. This medicinal plant is listed in the Red List of Vietnam’s medicinal plants and in the handbook of Vietnam’s medicinal plants, both documents warranting its necessity for protection. Jewels of Opar contains bioactive substances such as phytosterols, saponins, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, and many other inorganic substances. Jewels of Opar plants collected in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam, are tree-like herbs, their green trunks grows straight up and then branch out. The shapes of the leaves vary; they are generally oval or ovate-oblong in shape, with wavy veins. The flowers of this tree have five reddish purple wings, two sepals, more than ten stamens, and a spherical ovary. Both the fruits and their seeds are small and black. Tuberous roots are cylindrical with many small roots, and the tubers themselves are sweet and spicy. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region isolated from T. paniculatum plants in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam is 643 bp in length. Based on the nucleotide sequences of the ITS region and using the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the Jewels of Opar samples collected in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam were determined to belong to T. paniculatum species, Talinum genus, Portulacaceae.

Talinum paniculatum plants contain flavonoids and saponins, which have strong antioxidant properties and are used in the treatment of numerous diseases, such as inflammation, allergies, and gastric ulcers. Currently, there is no published research on the flavonoid content of T. paniculatum plants; however, it has been determined that the species in the genus Talinum have very low flavonoid content, and therefore the effective approach to enhance the flavonoid content in T. paniculatum plants is overexpression of the Glycine max chalcone isomerase (GmCHI) gene. In this study, we analyzed GmCHI gene overexpression, which has increased total flavonoid content in transgenic T. paniculatum lines. We have successfully transformed T. paniculatum plants with the pCB301- GmCHI vector and created 2 lines in generation T1 (T1-2.2 and T1-10) with a transgenic frequency of 0.27%. Recombinant CHI protein expressed in transgenic lines has a molecular weight of approximately 25 kDa, and the concentration of this protein in the two transgenic lines T1-2.2 and T1-10 was 4.29 µg mg-1 and 6.14 µg mg-1, respectively. Total flavonoid contents of the two transgenic lines T1-2.2 and T1-10 were 4.24 mg g-1 and 2.74 mg g-1, respectively, which showed increases of 7.4-fold and 4.8-fold compared to that of the nontransgenic plants, respectively. Thus, overexpression of the GmCHI gene enabled T. paniculatum plants to improve their total flavonoid content. This work also confirmed the effectiveness of Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation in enhancement of flavonoid accumulation in T. paniculatum plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant defensins are multifunctional small cysteine-rich proteins. They are active against fungi, bacteria, and many viruses, and they inhibit trypsin and α-amylase activities. In this study, we expressed the maize defensin gene (ZmDEF1) in tobacco seeds in order to establish the basis for generating transgenic maize plants resistant to weevils. The ZmDEF1 gene was isolated from Maison, a Vietnamese local maize cultivar, which is well known for having the highest resistance to weevils among other local cultivars. The ZmDEF1 gene was cloned into a binary vector, pBetaPhaso-dest, which carries phaseolin, a seed-specific promoter, to direct defensin expression in tobacco seeds. We obtained 13 transgenic tobacco lines from Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and regeneration, called the T0 generation. T0's seeds (called the T1 generation) were collected and analyzed for ZmDEF1 gene expression. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results showed that 4 out of 13 lines (T1-1, T1-3, T1-10, and T1-17) expressed the ZmDEF1 gene at the transcriptional level. These lines were further analyzed by real-time RT-PCR until their transcript expression could be identified. The results showed that the line T1-17 expressed it at the highest expression level. The western blot method also showed that ZmDEF1 was expressed in all four lines above. These transgenic seeds can inhibit maize weevils' α-amylase activity. Extracted protein from transgenic lines reduced weevil α-amylase activity by 67.9%-71.4% in comparison with protein extracted from nontransgenic plants. These results will hopefully provide a useful background to create transgenic maize plants with high resistance to weevils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EXP1 gene encodes expansin, which has the ability to loosen the plant cell wall. The soybean expansin gene GmEXP1 is activated specifically during the root elongation process, and thus it plays important roles in root development. During the drought period, changes in pressure within the cell and the fast development of the root allow plants to collect water from deep soil, which in turn helps plants grow and develop. In this study, we have successfully cloned and generated a GmEXP1 construct expressing recombinant expansin protein in tobacco plants. GmEXP1 is expressed in transgenic tobacco plants and passed on to the next generation. The transgenic tobacco plants have improved drought tolerance, which is demonstrated in both the length and volume of roots. From these promising results, we applied the same approach to generate drought-tolerant plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]