An account of the teaching of EFL to university non-English majors in the 1990s

Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. is a traditional Chinese herbal medicinal plant and a low-cost succedaneum for Panax ginseng and contains various bioactivity components. In this work, we first evaluated the effects of the inoculation of the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain GB03 on growth and metabolite accumulation of C. pilosula. The results demonstrated that application of B. amyloliquefaciens GB03 significantly improved the growth of C. pilosula compared to DH5α, Luria broth medium, and water treatment, respectively. On the other hand, we observed that the content of lobetyolin, one of the most important secondary metabolites in C. pilosula, was obviously improved by inoculation of GB03 and almost reached twice that compared to the other three treatments. In addition, some amino acids of roots were elevated by GB03, although not significantly. In conclusion, B. amyloliquefaciens GB03 could induce positive effects on the growth and further stimulate accumulation of secondary metabolites in C. pilosula.

Bacillus subtilis strain GB03 enhances growth and photosynthesis in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and several crop plants. In the present study, the effects of seed soaking with GB03 suspension culture and its volatile organic compounds on seed germination of Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. were investigated, and soil-grown C. pilosula seedlings were assayed to measure growth and photosynthetic capacity after soil inoculation with GB03. Both seed soaking with GB03 suspension culture and the presence of volatile organic compounds enhanced seed germination, especially seed germination vigour. GB03 significantly improved shoot and root length, branching, plant biomass (whole plant fresh and dry weight), leaf area and chlorophyll content in C. pilosula seedlings after 20, 40 and 60 days of soil inoculation. GB03 significantly enhanced transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and net photosynthetic rate, but decreased intercellular CO2 concentration. This study provides insight for the application of selected bacteria to improve biomass in Chinese herbal crops.

In this study, we explored the adaptive mechanism of two varieties of Angelica sinensis exposed to enhanced Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation. The radiation had different effects on the biomass, photosynthetic performance, oxidative damage, antioxidant defense system, and levels of bioactive compounds of Mingui 1 (C1) and Mingui 2 (C2). C2 outperformed C1 under enhanced UV-B radiation, compared to natural light. Using the Illumina RNA-seq, we obtained 6,326 and 2,583 DEGs in C1 and C2, respectively. Under enhanced UV-B radiation, the mRNA levels of genes involved in photosynthesis, antennae protein synthesis, carbon fixation, chlorophyll synthesis, and carotenoid synthesis were decreased in C1 but stable in C2, involving few DEGs. TFs were widely involved in the response of C1 to enhanced UV-B radiation; almost all bHLH and MYB coding genes were downregulated whereas almost all genes encoded WRKY22, WRKY50, WRKY72, NCF, and HSF were upregulated. These results indicate that enhanced UV-B radiation was not conducive to the synthesis of flavonoids, while disease resistance was enhanced. Regarding the ROS scavenging system, upregulated DEGs were mainly found in the AsA-GSH cycle and PrxR/Trx pathways. Remarkably, DEGs that those encoding biosynthetic key enzymes, including ferulic acid (CHS, CHI, DFR, and ANS) and flavonoid (CHS, CHI, DFR, and ANS), most upregulation in C2, leading to increased accumulation of ferulic acid and flavonoids and adversely affecting C1. Genes encoding key enzymes involved in the synthesis of lactone components (ACX, PXG) were mostly up-regulated in C1, increasing the content of lactone components. Our results reveal the DEGs present between C1 and C2 under enhanced UV-B radiation and are consistent with the observed differences in physiological and biochemical indexes. C1 was more sensitive to enhanced UV-B radiation, and C2 was more tolerant to it under moderate enhanced UV-B radiation stress. In addition, the large amount of A. sinensis transcriptome data generated here will serve as a source for finding effective ways to mitigate UV-B enhancement, and also contribute to the well-established lack of genetic information for non-model plant species.

Trityl olmesartan ethyl ester (TOEE), a key intermediate of the launched angiotensin II receptor blocker olmesartan medoxomil, was built using two blocks via an N-alkylation reaction, wherein the imidazole N-1 isomer of this intermediate was the only isomeric product reported previously. Unexpectedly, from a sample of laboratory trials, an undesired impurity (a level of 0.2− 0.3%) sharing the same molecular mass with TOEE was detected and assumed to be an N-3 regioisomeric impurity of TOEE. Accordingly, a five-step lactone ring-opening synthetic route was designed and successfully used to obtain this impurity, whose structure perfectly matched the NMR and mass spectra. Subsequent characterization by SCXRD directly confirmed the initial speculation of it being an N-3 regioisomer, which was reported for the first time. Next, two downstream impurities toward the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) were synthesized, in which the N-3 impurity of API proved to be inseparable with the API molecule under the European Pharmacopoeia chromatography method, introducing a risk of impurity identification. Sequential investigations focusing on impurity tracing and control strategies of the downstream impurities were conducted to meet the quality control requirements.