Identification of the traditional Tibetan medicine “Shaji” and their different extracts through tri-step infrared spectroscopy

Development and validation of sex-linked molecular markers for rapid and accurate identification of male and female Hippophae tibetana plants

Hippophae tibetana, one of the highest-altitude woody plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, primarily thrives on riverbanks formed by glacial meltwater. As a dioecious species, it demonstrates significant ecological and economic value in extreme alpine environments. However, the lack of sex identification techniques outside of the flowering period severely limits research on sex ratio, differentiation, and breeding. There is an urgent need to develop effective sex-linked molecular markers that are independent of developmental stages, but current research in this area remains limited. This study developed a set of accurate sex-linked molecular markers for the rapid identification of male and female individuals of H. tibetana. Through whole-genome resequencing of 32 sexually differentiated H. tibetana samples, this study offers strong evidence supporting chromosome 2 as the sex chromosome and successfully identified key loci related to sex determination on this chromosome. Utilizing these loci, we, for the first time, developed three reliable pairs of sex-specific molecular markers, which exhibited high accuracy during validation across various geographic populations, offering an effective tool for the sex identification of H. tibetana. Additionally, this study lays the groundwork for further research into the mechanisms of sex determination and the evolution of sex chromosomes in H. tibetana.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Hippophae tibetana: insights into adaptation to high-altitude environments

Hippophae tibetana, belonging to the Elaeagnaceae family, is an endemic plant species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, valued for its remarkable ecological restoration capabilities, as well as medicinal and edible properties. Despite being acknowledged as a useful species, its mitochondrial genome data and those of other species of the Elaeagnaceae family are lacking to date. In this study, we, for the first time, successfully assembled the mitochondrial genome of H. tibetana, which is 464,208 bp long and comprises 31 tRNA genes, 3 rRNA genes, 37 protein-coding genes, and 3 pseudogenes. Analysis of the genome revealed a high copy number of the trnM-CAT gene and a high prevalence of repetitive sequences, both of which likely contribute to genome rearrangement and adaptive evolution. Through nucleotide diversity and codon usage bias analyses, we identified specific genes that are crucial for adaptation to high-altitude conditions. Notably, genes such as atp6, ccmB, nad4L, and nad7 exhibited signs of positive selection, indicating the presence of unique adaptive traits for survival in extreme environments. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the close relationship between the Elaeagnaceae family and other related families, whereas intergenomic sequence transfer analysis revealed a substantial presence of homologous fragments among the mitochondrial, chloroplast, and whole genomes, which may be linked to the high-altitude adaptation mechanisms of H. tibetana. The findings of this study not only enrich our knowledge of H. tibetana molecular biology but also advance our understanding of the adaptive evolution of plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This study provides a solid scientific foundation for the molecular breeding, conservation, and utilization of H. tibetana genetic resources.

Identification of Three Dalbergia Species Based on Differences in Extractive Components

Dalbergia cultrate, Dalbergia latifolia, and Dalbergia melanoxylon are precious and valuable traded timber species of the genus Dalbergia. For chemotaxonomical discrimination between these easily confused species, the total extractive content of the three wood species was determined using four different organic solvents. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to analyze functional group differences in the extractive components, inferring the types of principal chemical components according to characteristic peak positions, intensities, and shapes. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was carried out a detailed characterization of the extractive components. The relative content of individual chemical components was determined by area normalization. Results revealed differences in the chemical components and total and individual extract contents of the three Dalbergia species, indicating that FTIR and GC-MS spectroscopy can be applied to identify and discriminate between Dalbergia cultrate, Dalbergia latifolia, and Dalbergiamelanoxylon.

Metabolic discrimination of sea buckthorn from different Hippophaë species by 1H NMR based metabolomics

Sea buckthorn (Hippophaë; Elaeagnaceae) berries are widely consumed in traditional folk medicines, nutraceuticals, and as a source of food. The growing demand of sea buckthorn berries and morphological similarity of Hippophaë species leads to confusions, which might cause misidentification of plants used in natural products. Detailed information and comparison of the complete set of metabolites of different Hippophaë species are critical for their objective identification and quality control. Herein, the variation among seven species and seven subspecies of Hippophaë was studied using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) metabolomics combined with multivariate data analysis, and the important metabolites were quantified by quantitative ¹H NMR (qNMR) method. The results showed that different Hippophaë species can be clearly discriminated and the important interspecific discriminators, including organic acids, L-quebrachitol, and carbohydrates were identified. Statistical differences were found among most of the Hippophaë species and subspecies at the content levels of the aforementioned interspecific discriminators via qNMR and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. These findings demonstrated that ¹H NMR-based metabolomics is an applicable and effective approach for simultaneous metabolic profiling, species differentiation and quality assessment.