Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of Coptis chinensis Franch. and Its Evolutionary History

Coptischinensis Franch root rot infection disrupts microecological balance of rhizosphere soil and endophytic microbiomes

Introduction

The ecological balance of the plant microbiome, as a barrier against pathogens, is very important for host health. Coptis chinensis is one of the important medicinal plants in China. In recent years, Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing technology was frequently used to analyze root rot pathogens and the effects of root rot on rhizosphere microorganisms of C. chinensis. But the effects of root rot infection on rhizosphere microecological balance of C. chinensis have received little attention.

Methods

In this study, Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing technology was applied to analyze the impact on microbial composition and diversity of C. chinensis by root rot.

Results

The results showed that root rot infection had significant impact on bacterial α-diversity in rhizome samples, but had no significant effect on that in leaf samples and rhizosphere soil samples, while root rot infection exhibited significant impact on the fungal α-diversity in leaf samples and rhizosphere soil samples, and no significant impact on that in rhizome samples. PCoA analysis showed that the root rot infection had a greater impact on the fungal community structure in the rhizosphere soil, rhizome, and leaf samples of C. chinensis than on the bacterial community structure. Root rot infection destroyed the microecological balance of the original microbiomes in the rhizosphere soil, rhizome, and leaf samples of C. chinensis, which may also be one of the reasons for the serious root rot of C. chinensis.

Discussion

In conclusion, our findings suggested that root rot infection with C. chinensis disrupts microecological balance of rhizosphere soil and endophytic microbiomes. The results of this study can provide theoretical basis for the prevention and control of C. chinensis root rot by microecological regulation.

Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals the Resistance Mechanism and the Pathogens Causing Root Rot of Coptis chinensis

Coptis chinensis is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb used for more than 2,000 years. Root rot in C. chinensis can cause brown discoloration (necrosis) in the fibrous roots and rhizomes, leading to plants wilting and dying. However, little information exists about the resistance mechanism and the potential pathogens of the root rot of C. chinensis plants. As a result, in order to investigate the relationship between the underlying molecular processes and the pathogenesis of root rot, transcriptome and microbiome analyses were performed on healthy and diseased C. chinensis rhizomes. This study found that root rot can lead to the significant reduction of medicinal components of Coptis, including thaliotrine, columbamine, epiberberin, coptisine, palmatine chloride, and berberine, affecting its efficacy quality. In the present study, Diaporthe eres, Fusarium avenaceum, and Fusarium solani were identified as the main pathogens causing root rot in C. chinensis. At the same time, the genes in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, and alkaloid synthesis pathways were involved in the regulation of root rot resistance and medicinal component synthesis. In addition, harmful pathogens (D. eres, F. avenaceum and F. solani) also induce the expression of related genes in C. chinensis root tissues to reduce active medicinal ingredients. These results provide insights into the root rot tolerance study and pave the way for process disease resistance breeding and quality production of C. chinensis. IMPORTANCE Root rot disease significantly reduces the medicinal quality of Coptis chinensis. In the present study, results found that the C. chinensis fibrous and taproot have different tactics in response to rot pathogen infection. Diaporthe eres, Fusarium avenaceum, and Fusarium solani were isolated and identified to cause different degrees of C. chinensis root rot. These results are helpful for researchers to further explore the mechanism of resistance to rhizoma Coptis root rot.

Discovery of oxyepiberberine as a novel tubulin polymerization inhibitor and an anti-colon cancer agent against LS-1034 cells

Coptis chinensis Franch. has been extensively used in traditional Chinese medicine. The chemical structure of oxyepiberberine, as an alkaloid isolated from Coptis chinensis Franch., has been previously studied. However, anti-cancer effects and underlying mechanisms of oxyepiberberine need to be explored. This study aimed to investigate the anti-cancer effects and underlying mechanisms of oxyepiberberine on LS-1034 human colon cancer cells. The anti-proliferative effects of six derivatives of oxyepiberberine on colon cancer cells were assessed. Among six derivatives, oxyepiberberine showed the greatest anti-proliferative effect on LS-1034 cells with an IC₅₀ value of 1.36 μM. Oxyepiberberine also induced apoptosis and inhibited migration of LS-1034 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Importantly, oxyepiberberine was identified as a potent tubulin polymerization inhibitor. The tubulin polymerization inhibitory effects of oxyepiberberine in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC₅₀ value of 1.26 μM were observed. A xenograft mouse model of colon cancer showed that oxyepiberberine could suppress tumor growth without an obvious toxicity. Conclusion Oxyepiberberine was found as a novel tubulin polymerization inhibitor, and it could be a promising agent to treat colon cancer.

Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of 10 alkaloids in beagle plasma after the oral administration of the three Coptidis rhizoma extracts

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Coptidis rhizoma (CR) is the dried rhizome of the ranunculaceous plant CR. For decades in China, this plant has been used to treat hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and chronic diarrhea and has been officially included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The present paper presents a review of the pharmacokinetics of CR.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The pharmacokinetic studies and differences of 10 alkaloids among Coptis deltoidea C. Y. cheng et Hsiao, Coptis chinensis Franch and Coptis teeta Wall. Are seldom reported. This study is the first to determine corydaline, dehydrocorydaline, tetrahydropalmatine, palmatine, magnoflorine, jatrorrhizine, berberine, worenine, berberrubine, and coptisine, which adopted an ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry, simultaneously.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Chromatographic separation was performed within 8 min by using an Agilent SB-C₁₈ column (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.8 μm) with gradient mobile phase consisting of 0.3% acetic acid water (v/v) and acetonitrile at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. Multiple reaction monitoring mode was used to detect the tandem mass spectrum in the positive ionization mode by electrospray ionization source.

RESULTS

The method was fully validated to be linear over a wide concentration (r > 0.9916), and the linear concentration range was 0.195-2260 ng/mL. Intra- and interday precisions were below 14.19% and 18.56% for the 10 analytes, respectively. The accuracy ranged from -9.30% to 6.31%. The extraction recovery of the 10 alkaloids and internal standard ranged from 79.76% to 95.37%. Pharmacokinetic comparative study showed that the C_max and AUC_0-∞ values of dehydrocorydaline, tetrahydropalmatine, palmatine, magnoflorine, jatrorrhizine, berberine, worenine, berberrubine, and coptisine increased significantly (p < 0.05), which was different for beagles after oral administration. The results can help determine the mechanism of action and guide clinical application of these three extracts.

CONCLUSION

This validated method was successfully applied for the pharmacokinetics study of beagle plasma after oral administration of three CR extract types.