Dragon blood has been used in wound treatment for many years and can be obtained from several distinct plant species. Dracorhodin, the active substituent of dragon blood, is a characteristic compound of the palm tree, Daemonorops draco . At present, the only method to evaluate the quality of commercial dragon blood samples is a HPLC method which determines the amount of dracorhodin in a dragon blood sample. In this study, we used zebrafish embryos as a platform to demonstrate the in vivo pro-angiogenic activity of dracorhodin perchlorate, the chemically synthesized analog of dracorhodin. By using this platform, three different commercial dragon blood samples were also examined. Our results clearly show that even though the commercial dragon blood samples had similar amounts of dracorhodin, they showed highly variable biological activity, such as pro-angiogenic effects and toxicity. In short, an in vivo activity assay platform for rapidly examining the biological activity of commercial dragon blood samples was successfully established here, which complements the current HPLC-based assay method.

Forcipomyia taiwana is an irritating hematophagous midge that preferentially attacks humans and affects leisure industries in Taiwan. Understanding the female reproductive biology of such pests would facilitate the development of pest control strategies. However, knowledge about oogenesis in the genus Forcipomyia is unavailable. Accordingly, we examined the ovariole structure and features of oogenesis in terms of the oocyte and the nurse cell. After being blood-fed, we observed a high degree of gonotrophic harmony—the synchronization of developing follicles. The follicle of the F. taiwana has only one nurse cell connected to the oocyte, which is distinct among hematophagous midges. In the nurse cell, we identified the perinuclear localization of the germline marker, Vasa. The Vasa localization is reminiscent of the nuclear envelope-associated nuage observed by electron microscopy. To determine whether F. taiwana Vasa (FtVasa) is an authentic nuage component, we produced transgenic flies expressing FtVasa in the female germline and proved that FtVasa was able to be localized to Drosophila nuage. By characterizing the oogenesis and Vasa expression in the germline cells of F. taiwana, this study extends knowledge about the female reproductive biology of hematophagous midges.

During the past decade, the synthesis of sugar-based ionic liquids (SILs) from natural sugars has been described as a promising candidate. This is due to their natural abundance in large...

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