Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. (Polygonum cuspidatum), also known as Reynoutria japonica Houtt and Huzhang in China, is a traditional and popular Chinese medicinal herb. Polygonum cuspidatum ...with a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects has been used for treatment of inflammation, favus, jaundice, scald, and hyperlipemia, etc.
The present paper reviews the traditional applications as well as advances in botany, phytochemistry, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of this plant. Finally, the tendency and perspective for future investigation of this plant are discussed, too.
A systematic review of literature about Polygonum cuspidatum is carried out using resources including classic books about Chinese herbal medicine, and scientific databases including Pubmed, SciFinder, Scopus, the Web of Science and others.
Polygonum cuspidatum is widely distributed in the world and has been used as a traditional medicine for a long history in China. Over 67 compounds including quinones, stilbenes, flavonoids, counmarins and ligans have been isolated and identified from this plant. The root of this plant is used as the effective agent in pre-clinical and clinical practice for regulating lipids, anti-endotoxic shock, anti-infection and anti-inflammation, anti-cancer and other diseases in China and Japan.
As an important traditional Chinese medicine, Polygonum cuspidatum has been used for treatment of hyperlipemia, inflammation, infection and cancer, etc. Because there is no enough systemic data about the chemical constituents and their pharmacological effects or toxicities, it is important to investigate the pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms of this plant based on modern realization of diseases’ pathophysiology. Drug target-guided and bioactivity-guided isolation and purification of the chemical constituents from this plant and subsequent evaluation of their pharmacologic effects will promote the development of new drug and make sure which chemical constituent or multiple ingredients contributes its pharmacological effects. Additionally, chemicals and their pharmacological effects of the other parts such as the aerial part of this plant should be exploited in order to avoid resource waste and find new chemical constituents.
Display omitted
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica, also known as Polygonum cuspidatum) is a common invasive plant species on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, whereas it has been used in Chinese medicine and ...more recently as a raw material for extracting resveratrol. This paper reports on the quantification of resveratrol, polydatin, emodin, and physcion in roots, stems, and leaves of Japanese knotweed samples from PEI and British Columbia (BC), Canada, and nine provinces of China, by ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC). The results showed that the root contains a much higher level of resveratrol than the stem and leaf, and it is accumulated in its highest level in October. PEI-grown knotweed contains similar levels of resveratrol and polydatin compared to Chinese samples collected in the month of October, but the contents of the other anthraquinones (emodin and physcion) are different. As such, Japanese knotweed grown in PEI could be a commercially viable source of raw material for resveratrol production; however, caution has to be taken in harvesting the right plant species.
Full text
Available for:
IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
The expansion of invasive Japanese knotweed
s
.
l
. is of particular concern because of its aptitudes to rapidly colonize diverse environments, especially anthropized habitats generally characterized ...by their pollution with heavy metals. Whether the presence of heavy metals impacts the performance traits of this plant is a central question to better understand its invasive properties, though no controlled approach to assess these effects was yet reported. In this aim, we undertook greenhouse experiments where rhizome fragments of Japanese knotweed
s
.
l
. (
Fallopia japonica
and
Fallopia
×
bohemica
) were grown during 1 and 3 months, in a soil pot artificially polluted or not with heavy metals added in mixture (Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn). Our results showed that (i) the presence of heavy metals delayed rhizome regeneration and induced lowered plant part weights but did not affect plant height after 3 months; (ii) the effect of metals on the metabolic profiles of belowground part extracts was only detectable after 1 month and not after 3 months of growth, though it was possible to highlight the effect of metals independently of time and genotype for root extracts, and torosachrysone seemed to be the most induced compound; and (iii) the hybrid genotype tested was able to accumulate relatively high concentrations of metals, over or close to the highest reported ones for this plant for Cr, Cd and Zn, whereas Pb was not accumulated. These findings evidence that the presence of heavy metals in soil has a low impact on
Fallopia
sp. overall performance traits during rhizome regeneration, and has a rather stimulating effect on plant growth depending on pollution level.
The expansion of invasive species challenges our understanding of the process of adaptation. Given that the invasion process often entails population bottlenecks, it is surprising that many invasives ...appear to thrive even with low levels of sequence‐based genetic variation. Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and methylation sensitive‐AFLP (MS‐AFLP) markers, we tested the hypothesis that differentiation of invasive Japanese knotweed in response to new habitats is more correlated with epigenetic variation than DNA sequence variation. We found that the relatively little genetic variation present was differentiated among species, with less differentiation among sites within species. In contrast, we found a great deal of epigenetic differentiation among sites within each species and evidence that some epigenetic loci may respond to local microhabitat conditions. Our findings indicate that epigenetic effects could contribute to phenotypic variation in genetically depauperate invasive populations. Deciphering whether differences in methylation patterns are the cause or effect of habitat differentiation will require manipulative studies.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Japanese knotweed (R. japonica var japonica) is one of the world's 100 worst invasive species, causing crop losses, damage to infrastructure, and erosion of ecosystem services. In the UK, this ...species is an all-female clone, which spreads by vegetative reproduction. Despite this genetic continuity, Japanese knotweed can colonise a wide variety of environmental habitats. However, little is known about the phenotypic plasticity responsible for the ability of Japanese knotweed to invade and thrive in such diverse habitats. We have used attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, in which the spectral fingerprint generated allows subtle differences in composition to be clearly visualized, to examine regional differences in clonal Japanese knotweed.
We have shown distinct differences in the spectral fingerprint region (1800-900 cm
) of Japanese knotweed from three different regions in the UK that were sufficient to successfully identify plants from different geographical regions with high accuracy using support vector machine (SVM) chemometrics.
These differences were not correlated with environmental variations between regions, raising the possibility that epigenetic modifications may contribute to the phenotypic plasticity responsible for the ability of R. japonica to invade and thrive in such diverse habitats.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Resveratrol is one of the most studied plant secondary metabolites owing to its numerous health benefits. It is accumulated in some plants following biotic and abiotic stress pressures, including ...UV-C irradiation.
represents the major natural source of concentrated resveratrol but the underlying mechanisms as well as the effects of UV-C irradiation on resveratrol content have not yet been documented. Herein, we found that UV-C irradiation significantly increased by 2.6-fold and 1.6-fold the resveratrol content in irradiated leaf samples followed by a dark incubation for 6 h and 12 h, respectively, compared to the untreated samples. De novo transcriptome sequencing and assembly resulted into 165,013 unigenes with 98 unigenes mapped to the resveratrol biosynthetic pathway. Differential expression analysis showed that
strongly induced the genes directly involved in the resveratrol synthesis, including phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase and stilbene synthase (
) genes, while strongly decreased the chalcone synthase (
) genes after exposure to UV-C. Since CHS and STS share the same substrate,
tends to preferentially divert the substrate to the resveratrol synthesis pathway under UV-C treatment. We identified several members of the MYB, bHLH and ERF families as potential regulators of the resveratrol biosynthesis genes.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Japanese knotweed
Fallopia japonica
is an extremely abundant invasive plant in Belgium and surrounding countries. To date, no eradication method is available for land managers facing the invasion of ...this rhizomatous plant. We tested different chemical herbicides with two application methods (spraying and stem injection), as well as mechanical treatments, on knotweed clones throughout southern Belgium. The tested control methods were selected to be potentially usable by managers, e.g., using legally accepted rates for herbicides. Stem volume, height and density reduction were assessed after one or two years, depending on the control method. Labor estimations were made for each control method. No tested control method completely eradicated the clones. Stem injection with glyphosate-based herbicide (3.6 kg ha
−1
of acid equivalent glyphosate) caused the most damage, i.e., no sprouting shoots were observed the year following the injection. The following year, though, stunted shoots appeared. Among the mechanical control methods, repeated cuts combined with native tree transplanting most appreciably reduced knotweed development. The most efficient methods we tested could curb knotweed invasion, but are not likely to be effective in eradicating the species. As such, they should be included in a more integrated restoration strategy, together with prevention and public awareness campaigns.
Soil carbon (C) sequestration, as an ecosystem property, may be strongly influenced by invasive plants capable of depositing disproportionately high quantities of chemically distinct litter that ...disrupt ecosystem processes. However, a mechanistic understanding of the processes that regulate soil C storage in invaded ecosystems remains surprisingly elusive. Here, we studied the impact of the invasion of two noxious nonnative species, Polygonum cuspidatum, which produces recalcitrant litter, and Pueraria lobata, which produces labile litter, on the quantity, molecular composition, and stability of C in the soils they invade. Compared with an adjacent noninvaded old‐field, P. cuspidatum‐invaded soils exhibited a 26% increase in C, partially through selective preservation of plant polymers. Despite receiving a 22% higher litter input, P. lobata‐invaded Pinus stands exhibited a 28% decrease in soil C and a twofold decrease in plant biomarkers, indicating microbial priming of native soil C. The stability of C exhibited an opposite trend: the proportion of C that was resistant to oxidation was 21% lower in P. cuspidatum‐invaded soils and 50% higher in P. lobata‐invaded soils. Our results highlight the capacity of invasive plants to feed back to climate change by destabilizing native soil C stocks and indicate that environments that promote the biochemical decomposition of plant litter would enhance the long‐term storage of soil C. Further, our study highlights the concurrent influence of dominant plant species on both selective preservation and humification of soil organic matter.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) and Bohemian knotweed (Fallopia × bohemica) are invasive plants that use allelopathy as an additional mechanism for colonization of the new habitat. ...Allelochemicals affect the growth of roots of neighboring plants. In the present study, we analyze the early changes associated with the inhibited root growth of radish seedlings exposed to aqueous extracts of knotweed rhizomes for 3 days. Here, we show that cells in the root cap treated with the knotweed extracts exhibited reduced cell length and displayed several ultrastructural changes, including the increased abundance of dilated ER cisternae filled with electron‐dense material (ER bodies) and the accumulation of dense inclusions. Moreover, mitochondrial damage was exhibited in the root cap and the meristem zone compared to the non‐treated radish seedlings. Furthermore, malfunction of the intracellular redox balance system was detected as the increased total antioxidative capacity. We also detected increased metacaspase‐like proteolytic activities and, in the case of 10% extract of F. japonica, increased caspase‐like proteolytic activities. These ultrastructural and biochemical effects could be the reason for the more than 60% shorter root length of treated radish seedlings compared to controls.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Phosphorus is a key plant nutrient linked to plant growth during the early stages of primary succession in volcanic soils. Available phosphorus is thought to include soil and atmospheric phosphorus, ...but it is not well understood. Here, we focused on deposition as a potential phosphorus source. We evaluated the contribution of deposition to phosphorus uptake and growth in Fallopia japonica, a key pioneer species of primary succession. When we experimented with growing F. japonica under field conditions, F. japonica not covered by a roof absorbed more phosphorus than that covered by the roof, suggesting the influence of total (dry + wet) deposition. Furthermore, we tested the effects of deposition by treating F. japonica seedlings with wet deposition or distilled water in six volcanic soils. Plants that received the wet deposition treatment exhibited higher phosphorus contents and growth rates than those treated with distilled water. The phosphorus from wet deposition and the phosphorus from soil contributed nearly equally to F. japonica development. Our findings suggest that F. japonica grows during primary succession and builds up the phosphorus cycle by absorbing a trace amount of phosphorus from deposition and volcanic soils.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
