Stemona sessilifolia
(Miq.) Miq., commonly known as Baibu, is one of the most popular herbal medicines in Asia. In the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Baibu has multiple authentic sources and there are many ...similar herbs sold as Baibu in herbal medicine markets. The existence of counterfeits of Baibu brings challenges to its identification. To assist in its accurate identification, we sequenced and analyzed the complete chloroplast genome of
S
.
sessilifolia
using next-generation sequencing technology. The genome was found to be 154,037 bp in length, possessing a typical quadripartite structure consisting of a pair of inverted repeats (IRs: 27,090 bp) separated by a large single copy (LSC: 81,949 bp) and a small single copy (SSC: 17,908 bp). A total of 112 unique genes were identified, including 80 protein-coding, 28 transfer RNA and four ribosomal RNA genes. In addition, 45 tandem, 27 forward, 23 palindromic and 104 simple sequence repeats were detected in the genome by repeated analysis. Compared with its counterfeits (
Asparagus officinalis
and
Carludovica palmata
) we found that IR expansion and SSC contraction events of
S
.
sessilifolia
resulted in two copies of
the rpl
22 gene in the IR regions and a partial duplication of the
ndh
F gene in the SSC region. An approximately 3-kb-long inversion was also identified in the LSC region, leading to
the pet
A and
cem
A genes being presented in the complementary strand of the chloroplast DNA molecule. Comparative analysis revealed some highly variable regions, including
trn
F
-
GAA_
ndh
J,
atp
B
_rbc
L,
rps
15
_ycf
1,
trn
G
-
UCC
_trn
R
-
UCU,
ndh
F
_rpl
32,
acc
D
_psa
I,
rps
2
_rpoC
2, t
rn
S
-
GCU
_trn
G
-
UCC,
trn
T
-
UGU
_trn
L-UAA and
rps
16
_trn
Q-UUG. Finally, gene loss events were investigated in the context of phylogenetic relationships. In summary, the complete plastome of
S
.
sessilifolia
will provide valuable information for the distinction between Baibu and its counterfeits and assist in elucidating the evolution of
S
.
sessilifolia
.
Polymer nanoparticles of 40−400 nm diameter with spiropyran−merocyanine dyes incorporated into their hydrophobic cavities have been prepared; in contrast to their virtually nonfluorescent character ...in most environments, the merocyanine forms of the encapsulated dyes are highly fluorescent. Spiro−mero photoisomerization is reversible, allowing the fluorescence to be switched “on” and “off” by alternating UV and visible light. Immobilizing the dye inside hydrophobic pockets of nanoparticles also improves its photostability, rendering it more resistant than the same dyes in solution to fatigue effects arising from photochemical switching. The photophysical characteristics of the encapsulated fluorophores differ dramatically from those of the same species in solution, making nanoparticle-protected hydrophobic fluorophores attractive materials for potential applications such as optical data storage and switching and biological fluorescent labeling. To evaluate the potential for biological tagging, these optically addressable nanoparticles have been delivered into living cells and imaged with a liquid nitrogen-cooled CCD.
Alpinia species are widely used as medicinal herbs. To understand the taxonomic classification and plastome evolution of the medicinal Alpinia species and correctly identify medicinal products ...derived from Alpinia species, we systematically analyzed the plastome sequences from five Alpinia species. Four of the Alpinia species: Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd., Alpinia hainanensis K.Schum., Alpinia officinarum Hance, and Alpinia oxyphylla Miq., are listed in the Chinese pharmacopeia. The other one, Alpinia nigra (Gaertn.) Burtt, is well known for its medicinal values.
The four Alpinia species: A. galanga, A. nigra, A. officinarum, and A. oxyphylla, were sequenced using the Next-generation sequencing technology. The plastomes were assembled using Novoplasty and annotated using CPGAVAS2. The sizes of the four plastomes range from 160,590 bp for A. galanga to 164,294 bp for A. nigra, and display a conserved quadripartite structure. Each of the plastomes encodes a total of 111 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding, 28 tRNA, and four rRNA genes. In addition, 293-296 SSRs were detected in the four plastomes, of which the majority are mononucleotides Adenine/Thymine and are found in the noncoding regions. The long repeat analysis shows all types of repeats are contained in the plastomes, of which palindromic repeats occur most frequently. The comparative genomic analyses revealed that the pair of the inverted repeats were less divergent than the single-copy region. Analysis of sequence divergence on protein-coding genes showed that two genes (accD and ycf1) had undergone positive selection. Phylogenetic analysis based on coding sequence of 77 shared plastome genes resolves the molecular phylogeny of 20 species from Zingiberaceae. In particular, molecular phylogeny of four sequenced Alpinia species (A. galanga, A. nigra, A. officinarum, and A. oxyphylla) based on the plastome and nuclear sequences showed congruency. Furthermore, a comparison of the four newly sequenced Alpinia plastomes and one previously reported Alpinia plastomes (accession number: NC_048461) reveals 59 highly divergent intergenic spacer regions. We developed and validated two molecular markers Alpp and Alpr, based on two regions: petN-psbM and psaJ-rpl33, respectively. The discrimination success rate was 100 % in validation experiments.
The results from this study will be invaluable for ensuring the effective and safe uses of Alpinia medicinal products and for the exploration of novel Alpinia species to improve human health.
We have developed a class of spiropyran dyes and their fluorescence colors can be reversibly photoswitched from red to green, blue, or nearly dark, thus alternating between two colors. Such ...individual dyes emit either one color or the other but not both simultaneously. Nanoparticles enabled with these photoswitchable dyes, however, emit either one pure color or a combination of both colors because the nanoparticle fluorescence originates from multiple dyes therein. As a result, the nanoparticle shines >30 times brighter than state-of-the-art organic dyes such as fluorescein. Interestingly, these copolymer nanoparticles exhibit tunable nonspecific interactions with live cells, and nanoparticles containing properly balanced butyl acrylate and acrylamide monomers render essentially very little nonspecific binding to live cells. Decorated with HMGA1 protein, these optically switchable dual-color nanoparticles undergo endocytosis and unambiguously identify themselves from fluorescence interference including autofluorescence, thus enabling a new tool for live cell imaging.
Optically switchable dual-color fluorescent nanoparticles that incorporate two classes of dyes into the polymeric chains have been synthesized using an emulsion polymerization method. The ...nanoparticles consist of an organic photoisomerizable dye, spiropyran, as an optically responsive component and another fluorescent dye, perylene diimide, as a high-energy emitter. Under UV irradiation, the colorless spiropyran undergoes photoisomerization to yield merocyanine, which absorbs at 588 nm and fluoresces strongly at 670 nm. The absorption band of the merocyanine matches well the fluorescence bands of perylene diimide (at 535 and 575 nm), and therefore fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) converts the high-energy green emission of the perylene into low-energy red emission when the merocyanine form is present. Upon exposure to alternating UV (<400 nm) and visible (>420 nm) light, the nanoparticles cycle between red and green fluorescence as the spiro and mero forms of the optically responsive component interconvert. The relative photoluminescent intensities of the green-fluorescence perylene diimide and red-fluorescence merocyanines can be controlled by varying the feed ratio of perylene diimide and spiropyran monomer during polymerization. These dual-color fluorescent nanoparticles were developed as potential new tools for biomedical applications and live-cell imaging. When delivered into HEK-293 cells, they display either red or green fluorescence, depending upon the wavelength of light to which the cells are highlighted.
Callicarpa macrophylla Vahl. belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Its root is a widely used Yao Medicine (YM) to treat internal and external bleeding at the Yao minority areas in southern China. Here, we ...provide the complete chloroplast genome of C. macrophylla which was collected from Laibin city in Guangxi, China. The total length of the chloroplast genome is 154,141 bp, including a large single-copy (LSC) region, a small single-copy (SSC) region, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) regions which are separated by the LSC and SSC, with lengths of 84,904 bp, 17,839 bp, and 25,699 bp, respectively. One hundred and thirty-one genes were identified, including 89 protein-coding genes, 34 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The overall GC content is 38%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that C. macrophylla is closely related to C. integerrima var. chinensis.
Ardisia crispa (Thunb.) A. DC. belongs to the genus Ardisia (Myrsinaceae). It is a traditional medicinal plant widely used to treat inflammatory-related diseases in southern China. Here, we provide ...the complete chloroplast genome of A. crispa from Laibin, Guangxi, PR China using Illumina high-throughput sequencing approach. The total length of the chloroplast genome is 156,709 bp, including a large single-copy (LSC) region, a small single-copy (SSC) region, and a pair of inverted repeats IRa and IRb regions which are separated by the LSC and SSC, with lengths of 86,301 bp, 18,411 bp, and 25,999 bp, respectively. In general, 132 genes were identified, including 93 protein-coding genes, 31 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and eight ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The overall GC content is 47.82%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. crispa is close to congeneric species A. mamillata.
Ban-Lan-Gen, the root tissues derived from several morphologically indistinguishable plant species, have been used widely in traditional Chinese medicines for numerous years. The identification of ...reliable markers to distinguish various source plant species is critical for the effective and safe use of products containing Ban-Lan-Gen. Here, we analyzed and characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of
(Nees) Kuntze to identify high-resolution markers for the species determination of Southern Ban-Lan-Gen. Total DNA was extracted and subjected to next-generation sequencing. The cp genome was then assembled, and the gaps were filled using PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. Genome annotation was conducted using CpGAVAS web server. The genome was 144,133 bp in length, presenting a typical quadripartite structure of large (LSC; 91,666 bp) and small (SSC; 17,328 bp) single-copy regions separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs; 17,811 bp). The genome encodes 113 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding, 30 transfer RNA, and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. A total of 20 tandem, 2 forward, and 6 palindromic repeats were detected in the genome. A phylogenetic analysis based on 65 protein-coding genes showed that
was closely related to
and
, which belong to the same family, Acanthaceae. One interesting feature is that the IR regions apparently undergo simultaneous contraction and expansion, resulting in the presence of single copies of rps19, rpl2, rpl23, and ycf2 in the LSC region and the duplication of psbA and trnH genes in the IRs. This study provides the first complete cp genome in the genus
, containing critical information for the classification of various
species in the future. This study also provides the foundation for precisely determining the plant sources of Ban-Lan-Gen.
This minireview highlights recent advances of research dedicated to photoswitchable fluorescent nanoparticles and their applications. Recently, several strategies have been developed to synthesize ...nanoparticles with optically switchable emission properties: either fluorescence on/off or dual‐alternating‐color fluorescence photoswitching. The underlying mechanisms of fluorescence photoswitching enable many different types of photoswitchable fluorescent nanoparticles to change fluorescence colors, thus validating the basis of the initial photoswitching design. Among all possible applications, the usage of photoswitchable fluorescent nanoparticles to empower super‐resolution fluorescence imaging and to label biological targets was subsequently reviewed. Finally, we summarize the important areas regarding future research and development on photoswitchable fluorescent nanoparticles.
Little chameleons: Photoswitchable fluorescent nanoparticles enable live‐cell imaging with nanometer resolution (see picture). This Minireview summarizes the synthetic strategies, fluorescence photoswitching properties, and the emerging applications of such novel nanoparticles.
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