Study on in vitro propagation of Sophora tonkinensis Gagnep through stem node culture

In the present study, authors propagated Sophora tonkinensisGagnep plants using stem nodal culture. The results indicated that on MS medium supplemented with 30 g/l sucrose, 5.5 g/l agar, 200 ml/l coconut water, 1 g/l activated charcoal, 0.75 mg/l TDZ shoots proliferated from stem segments have the best count and height of shoots. The most appropriate medium for multiplication of shoots was the MS medium supplemented with 30 g/l sucrose, 5.5 g/l agar, 200 ml/l coconut water, 1 g/l activated charcoal, 0.75 mg/l TDZ, 0.5 mg/l IBA, 2.0 g/l peptone, 30 g/l carrot puree, pH 5.5 with the results of 20.60 shoots/explant, shoot height of 3.75 cm and 4.6 leaves/shoot after 8 weeks of culture. Root formation of shoots carried out on the MS medium supplemented with 30 g/l sucrose, 5.5 g/l agar, 200 ml/l coconut water, 1 g/l activated charcoal, 1.0 mg/l αNAA gave the best result. In the nursery, a mixture of humus + coconut fiber powder (70:30 ratio) was regarded as the best substrate due to the high survival rate of plantlets (92%) and healthy plantlets (10.30 cm high with 7.2 leaves and 4.3 new roots/a plantlet) at 10 weeks after planting

Integrated transcriptome and small RNA sequencing analyses reveal a drought stress response network in Sophora tonkinensis

Background Sophora tonkinensis Gagnep is a traditional Chinese medical plant that is mainly cultivated in southern China. Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that negatively impacts S. tonkinensis growth. However, the molecular mechanisms governing the responses to drought stress in S. tonkinensis at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels are not well understood. Results To identify genes and miRNAs involved in drought stress responses in S. tonkinensis, both mRNA and small RNA sequencing was performed in root samples under control, mild drought, and severe drought conditions. mRNA sequencing revealed 66,476 unigenes, and the differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were associated with several key pathways, including phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, sugar metabolism, and quinolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis pathways. A total of 10 and 30 transcription factors (TFs) were identified among the DEGs under mild and severe drought stress, respectively. Moreover, small RNA sequencing revealed a total of 368 miRNAs, including 255 known miRNAs and 113 novel miRNAs. The differentially expressed miRNAs and their target genes were involved in the regulation of plant hormone signal transduction, the spliceosome, and ribosomes. Analysis of the regulatory network involved in the response to drought stress revealed 37 differentially expressed miRNA-mRNA pairs. Conclusion This is the first study to simultaneously profile the expression patterns of mRNAs and miRNAs on a genome-wide scale to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the drought stress responses of S. tonkinensis. Our results suggest that S. tonkinensis implements diverse mechanisms to modulate its responses to drought stress.

A Review of Pharmacological and Toxicological Effects of Sophora tonkinensis with Bioinformatics Prediction

Sophora tonkinensis Gagnep. (ST) (Fabaceae) is distributed chiefly in south-central and southeast China and Vietnam. In traditional Chinese medicine theory, the root and rhizome of ST are toxic and mainly used in the treatment of pharyngeal and laryngeal diseases. Modern studies provide new insights into the pharmacological and toxicological aspects of ST. The pharmacological and toxicological properties of ST were reviewed in this paper based on the literature from Google Scholar and CNKI, and the bioinformatics platforms were applied to explore the pharmacological and toxicological potentials of ST. The results of the literature analysis showed that ST has hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, and anticancer effects and produces obvious toxicity to the liver and nervous and cardiovascular system. The results of bioinformatics showed that the compounds from ST may be applied to the treatment of cancer and digestive and nervous system diseases and show the possibility to cause hematotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and immunotoxicity. The present review demonstrates that attention should be paid to the potential toxicity of ST in the treatment of diseases and provides the reference for the subsequent pharmacological toxicological studies on the mechanism and chemical basis of ST.