Research Advances in Multi-Omics on the Traditional Chinese Herb Dendrobium officinale

Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo is an important epiphytic plant, belonging to the Orchidaceae family. There are various bioactive components in D. officinale plants, mainly including polysaccharides, alkaloids, and phenolic compounds. These compounds have been demonstrated to possess multiple functions, such as anti-oxidation, immune regulation, and anti-cancer. Due to serious shortages of wild resources, deterioration of cultivated germplasm and the unstable quality of D. officinale, the study has been focused on the biosynthetic pathway and regulation mechanisms of bioactive compounds. In recent years, with rapid developments in detection technologies and analysis tools, omics research including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics have all been widely applied in various medicinal plants, including D. officinale. Many important advances have been achieved in D. officinale research, such as chromosome-level reference genome assembly and the identification of key genes involved in the biosynthesis of active components. In this review, we summarize the latest research advances in D. officinale based on multiple omics studies. At the same time, we discuss limitations of the current research. Finally, we put forward prospective topics in need of further study on D. officinale.

Whole-Genome Resequencing of Wild and Cultivated Cannabis Reveals the Genetic Structure and Adaptive Selection of Important Traits

Background: Cannabis is an important industrial crop, whose bast fiber, seed, flowers and leaves are widely used by humans，especially cannabinoids extracted from plants as medicine is a hot spot in recent years. China is one of the origins of cannabis, where it has been cultivated and utilized for more than 6000 years, with the largest planting area of industrial hemp at present. China is rich in cannabis germplasm resources covering different latitudes (23 to 51°N) and is one of the few countries with wild cannabis resources. However, the genetic structure of Chinese cannabis populations and the adaptive selection of important traits remain unclear.Results: We identified the main morphological and physiological characteristics of wild cannabis and defined the genetic structure and relationships among wild and cultivated Chinese cannabis accessions and foreign representatives. This suggested that wild resources in Xinjiang have played an important role in the process of cannabis domestication. Adaptive selection analysis revealed that cultivated cannabis has undergone selective evolution or adaptation in flowering, growth and stress tolerance, and many functional genes were identified. Flowering characteristics analysis implied that wild cannabis is native to high latitudes and possesses the typical characteristic of early flowering, while cultivated cannabis has undergone a process of adaptive evolution to adjust to natural photoperiod conditions in different latitudes through regulation of FT-like expression.Conclusion: This study clarifies the genetic structure of Chinese cannabis and provides insight into adaptive selection and breeding in cannabis.

Edible Aquatic Insects: Diversities, Nutrition, and Safety

Edible insects have great potential to be human food; among them, aquatic insects have unique characteristics and deserve special attention. Before consuming these insects, the nutrition and food safety should always be considered. In this review, we summarized the species diversity, nutrition composition, and food safety of edible aquatic insects, and also compared their distinguished characteristics with those of terrestrial insects. Generally, in contrast with the role of plant feeders that most terrestrial edible insect species play, most aquatic edible insects are carnivorous animals. Besides the differences in physiology and metabolism, there are differences in fat, fatty acid, limiting/flavor amino acid, and mineral element contents between terrestrial and aquatic insects. Furthermore, heavy metal, pesticide residue, and uric acid composition, concerning food safety, are also discussed. Combined with the nutritional characteristics of aquatic insects, it is not recommended to eat the wild resources on a large scale. For the aquatic insects with large consumption, it is better to realize the standardized cultivation before they can be safely eaten.

Rapid Propagation System in Vitro of Medicinal Plant Cynanchum Atratum Bunge

As a traditional Chinese medicinal material, Cynanchum atratum Bunge has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for its treatment of abscesses, acute urinary infection and hectic fever.Thus, wild resources of it have been endangered by overharvesting. Plant tissue culture technology is an important measure to protect wild resources of medicinal plants, including C. atratum. Therefore, a fast and efficient propagation system of C. atratum through axillary bud proliferation pathwayhas been established. Through axillary bud proliferation, the medium [MS+sucrose 30 g/L+Agar 7 g/L+NAA 0.2 mg/l+IBA 1.5mg/l+KT 0.5 mg/l] can effectively proliferate adventitious buds, and the induction rate was 100 %, proliferation coefficient could reach 8.56. MS medium was used to induce adventitious bud rooting, with rooting rate of 98% and no callus. The highest survival rate was 90% when the ratio of grass mud pond and orchard red soil was 1:1. To our knowledge this is the first report of rapid propagation system in C. atratum, it achieve rapid reproduction of C. atratum.

A Novel Multi-Preprocessing Integration Method for the Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Wild Medicinal Plants: Gentiana rigescens as an Example

Until now, the over-exploitation of wild resources has increased growing concern over the quality of wild medicinal plants. This led to the necessity of developing a rapid method for the evaluation of wild medicinal plants. In this study, the content of total secoiridoids (gentiopicroside, swertiamarin, and sweroside) of Gentiana rigescens from 37 different regions in southwest China were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) was adopted to trace the geographical origin (331 individuals) and predict the content of total secoiridoids (273 individuals). In the traditional FT-IR analysis, only one scatter correction technique could be selected from a series of preprocessing candidates to decrease the impact of the light correcting effect. Nevertheless, different scatter correction techniques may carry complementary information so that using the single scatter correction technique is sub-optimal. Hence, the emerging ensemble approach to preprocessing fusion, sequential preprocessing through orthogonalization (SPORT), was carried out to fuse the complementary information linked to different preprocessing methods. The results suggested that, compared with the best results obtained on the scatter correction modeling, SPORT increased the accuracy of the test set by 12.8% in qualitative analysis and decreased the RMSEP by 66.7% in quantitative analysis.

Seasonal variability of women’s dietary diversity and food provisioning: a cohort study in rural Burkina Faso

Objective: To investigate the seasonal variations of women’s dietary diversity (WDD) (items consumed and food supply) and its linkages with agriculture, market and wild resources. Design: A cohort of 300 women was followed-up over a year to investigate WDD and food sources (production, purchase or foraging). Monthly qualitative 24h-recalls allowed computing WDD Scores from a standard 10-food groups (FG) classification (WDDS-10). Associations between farm/women’s characteristics and WDDS-10 were investigated using multivariate mixed models including interaction terms factor*months. Setting: Tuy province, Burkina Faso Participants: 300 women of reproductive age Results: Both dietary diversity and food sources were seasonal. The mean WDDS-10 was relatively stable from August to January (ranging from 3.1 to 3.5 FG) when farm production predominated. The WDDS-10 gradually increased from February, concomitantly with an increase in food purchases (onions, tomatoes, mangoes), and reached its highest levels (>4 FG) from March to June, when food purchases were still relatively high and when more women consumed foraged fruits (shea plums, wild grapes). Women living on farms owning >3 plough oxen and different animal species had significantly higher WDDS-10 than others (+0.28 and +0.35 FG, respectively). Women who practiced off-farm activities also had higher WDDS-10 than those who did not (+0.21 FG, p<0.05). Other factors, e.g. the number of foraged edible species, provided advantages in terms of dietary diversity only during certain seasons (October-January, P for interaction<0.01). Conclusions: Diversifying women’s diets throughout the year requires complementary interventions aimed at diversifying production, promoting foraging and increasing income-generating activities to enable food purchasing.

Bee products in the prehistoric southern levant: evidence from the lipid organic record

Beehive products have a rich global history. In the wider Levantine region, bees had a significant role in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and intensive beekeeping was noted in Israel during the Biblical period when apiaries were first identified. This study investigates the origins of this extensive beekeeping through organic residue analysis of pottery from prehistoric sites in the southern Levant. The results suggest that beehive products from likely wild bees were used during the Chalcolithic period as a vessel surface treatment and/or as part of the diet. These functions are reinforced by comparison to the wider archaeological record. While the true frequency of beeswax use may be debated, alternatives to beehive products were seemingly preferred as wild resources contrasted with the socio-economic system centred on domesticated resources, controlled production and standardization. Bee products only became an important part of the economic canon in the southern Levant several millennia later.

Research Progress of the Wild Medicinal Plant, Pinellia ternata

Based on literature reviews and analysis of research reports on Pinellia ternata found locally and abroad in recent years, this article summarizes and arranges them. The research on Pinellia ternata mainly focuses on its cultivation, tissue culture, and so on. There are only a few research on its active components and its regulation mechanism. The wild resources of Pinellia ternata are gradually decreasing, hence it is urgent to take effective measures to protect these wild resources as well as to establish germplasm resources bank and nursery. In order to meet the needs of the domestic market, it is necessary to investigate the distribution of wild Pinellia ternata resources, explore the best growing environment and conditions, artificially cultivate Pinellia ternata, as well as implement resource industrialization, sustainable development, and utilization.

Documentation of Wild Edible Leafy Vegetable Traditionally Used By Tribal and Rural Communities of North Maharashtra, India

Number of wild edible plants is commonly used in the traditional diets of tribal people in many parts of the world. North Maharashtra is well known for its tribal region and tribes from this region partially or fully dependent on the wild resources for their nutritional requirements. The present study was designed to document specifically the wild leafy vegetables from North Maharashtra. A total of 62 traditionally used wild leafy vegetable species were collected, identified and documented. Out of 62 species, 61 species belongs to Angiosperms and 1 belong to pteridophyte. With respect to families Amaranthaceae, Araceae, Asteraceae and Fabaceae were found to be the largest families with 29 species. Herbs are the major source of wild leafy vegetables with 43 species and forest is the home for the majority of wild leafy vegetables. Due to less awareness, loss of vegetation and fast erosion of traditional knowledge many species are on the line of rarity. The study helps to conserve those wild food species and cultivate them on large scales, to uplift their economical status and sustainable management in near future.