No abstract

SuHeXiang (SHX) has been used to treat a wide range of diseases, including those related to the central nervous system. However, the effects of SHX on mood disorders are still elusive. This study aimed to investigate the effects of SHX essential oil on stress-induced depression of mice. In an acute stress-induced depression model, mice inhaled vehicle (1% Tween 80) for 10 min or 10% SHX for 10 or 30 min once daily for 12 continuous days. In the chronic mild stress (CMS)-induced depression model, mice were exposed to a 28-d CMS treatment. Tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST), sucrose preference test (SPT), open field test (OFT), and novelty suppressed feeding (NSF) test were conducted. In addition, serum levels of angiogenin (ANG), thrombopoietin (TPO), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assays. The results showed that in mice exposed to acute stress, repeated SHX inhalation exerted significant antidepressant and anxiolytic activities, and also reduced the serum levels of ANG, TPO, IL-6, and TNF-α. It also significantly reversed the depressive and anxiety-like behaviors, and reduced the serum levels of ANG and TPO in mice exposed to CMS. This is the first report to show that SHX inhalation could produce significant antidepressant and anxiolytic-like effects. These effects might be mediated by SHX ability to modulate the inflammatory response, and reduce dysfunction of vascular genesis and thrombosis. These results support further exploration for developing SHX inhalation as a novel therapeutic strategy for depression and stress-related disorders.

The effect of introduction of the Zephyranthes grandiflora agglutinin gene (zga) to tobacco on its anti-pest ability for peach-potato aphids was investigated. PCR analysis confirmed that the zga gene was integrated into the plant genome. The results from semi-quantitative RT-PCR and real-time PCR assays revealed that the zga gene was expressed at various levels in the transgenic plants. A bioassay with aphids indicated that transgenic plants conferred enhanced resistance to aphids. Compared with the controls, the average number of aphids fed with transgenic plants during a 20-day assay evidently decreased by 70.4% in leaf disc bioassay and 77.9% in whole plant bioassay. The average number of nymph was significantly reduced by 36.4% on zga-expressing plants in leaf disc bioassay and 35.6% in whole plant bioassay. The report indicated that the introduction of zga gene to tobacco plants is a useful method to improve its anti-pest ability for aphids.

Fungi from unique environments exhibit special physiological characters and plenty of bioactive natural products. However, the recalcitrant genetics or poor transformation efficiencies prevent scientists from systematically studying molecular biological mechanisms and exploiting their metabolites. In this study, we targeted a guanophilic fungus Amphichorda guana LC5815 and developed a genetic transformation system. We firstly established an efficient protoplast preparing method by conditional optimization of sporulation and protoplast regeneration. The regeneration rate of the protoplast is up to about 34.6% with 0.8 M sucrose as the osmotic pressure stabilizer. To develop the genetic transformation, we used the polyethylene glycol-mediated protoplast transformation, and the testing gene AG04914 encoding a major facilitator superfamily transporter was deleted in strain LC5815, which proves the feasibility of this genetic manipulation system. Furthermore, a uridine/uracil auxotrophic strain was created by using a positive screening protocol with 5-fluoroorotic acid as a selective reagent. Finally, the genetic transformation system was successfully established in the guanophilic fungus strain LC5815, which lays the foundation for the molecular genetics research and will facilitate the exploitation of bioactive secondary metabolites in fungi.