Background Rice is not only an essential food but also a source of high quality protein. Polyploidy is an evolutionary trajectory in plants, and enhancing glutelin by polyploidization is an attractive strategy for improving the nutritional value of rice seeds and presents a great potential for enhancing the commercial value of rice. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying glutelin synthesis and accumulation in tetraploid rice is of great significance. Results To enhance the nutritional value of rice, we developed tetraploid rice and evaluated the contents of various nutrient elements in mature seeds. The results revealed a significant increase in protein contents, including the total seed storage proteins, glutelins, and amino acids in tetraploid rice when compared with those in diploid rice. Tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomic analyses of seeds revealed that glutelins regulated by several glutelin genes in 9311-4x were significantly up-regulated (≥1.5-fold), which was further verified by immunoblot analyses. In addition, temporal expression patterns of various glutelin subunits in different rice lines were investigated. The results revealed significant differences in the expression patterns between diploid and tetraploid rice seeds. Cytohistological analyses results revealed that the thickness of aleurone cell layers increased significantly by 32% in tetraploid rice, the structures of protein storage vacuoles (PSVs) in sub-aleurone cells were more diverse and abundant than those of diploid rice. Temporal expression and proteomic analyses results revealed that protein disulfide isomerase-like 1–1 expression levels were higher in tetraploid rice than in diploid rice, and that the gene responded to oxidative folding with increased levels of proglutelin and appropriate distribution of seed glutelins in tetraploid rice. Conclusion The results of the present study revealed that polyploidization increased glutelin content by influencing glutelin biosynthesis, transport, and deposition, while variations in glutelin accumulation between tetraploid and diploid rice were largely manifested in the initial time, duration, and relative levels of various glutelin gene expressions during seed filling stages. These findings provide novel insights into improving the protein quality and nutritional value of rice seeds by polyploid breeding.

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Bioassay-guided fractionation of the root wood of Zanthoxylum wutaiense led to the isolation of five new compounds, wutaipyranol A (1), 8-methoxywutaipyranol A (2), demethoxywutaiensal (3), demethoxywutaiensol (4), and dihydrodemethoxywutaiensol (5), together with six known compounds. Their structures were elucidated by 1D- and 2D-NMR, as well as MS analyses. Among the isolates, wutaipyranol A (1), 8-methoxywutaipyranol A (2), and demethoxywutaiensal (3) exhibited antitubercular activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37) Rv in vitro, with MIC values of 52.4, 55.6, and 45.8 μg/ml, respectively.

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A convergent synthesis of IMMH002 in 36% overall yield starting from bromobenzene is described with a key Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction used to provide a crucial intermediate. The route does not require column chromatography and solves the most intractable quality problem caused by a homologue by-product in the original linear synthesis. Furthermore, reducing the use of Lewis acid mediated reactions improves the environmental impact of the synthesis and reduces overall waste. The new route described herein is more efficient, convenient, reliable, and economically more viable when compared to the previously reported linear route.