Taxonomic synopsis of Berberis(Berberidaceae)from the northern Hengduan mountains region in China,with descriptions of seven new species

Though Berberis(Berberidaceae)is widely distributed across the Eurasian landmass it is most diverse in the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountain(HHM)region.There are more than 200 species in China where it is one of the most common mountain shrubs.The study on the taxonomy and evolution of Berberis in this region can thus provide an important insight into the origin and diversification of its flora.A prerequisite to this is mapping and describing the various species of Berberis in the region-a task that despite recent progress is by no means complete.It is clear that in China there may be a significant number of species still to be described and that even with published species much about their distribution remains to be discovered.As a contribution to the first of these tasks seven new species from the northern Hengduan Mountain of N.Sichuan and S.Qinghai:Berberis chinduensis,Berberis degexianensis,Berberis jiajinshanensis,Berberis jinwu,Berberis litangensis,Berberis longquensis and Berberis riparia,are described here.Differences in overall morphology and especially in floral structures with each other and with similar species of Berberis in the same region are presented.The report is the result of phylogenetic analyses based on plastome and partial nrDNA sequences of both the seven proposed new species and a significant number of similar species already published.Provisional conclusions as to the insights provides on the history of the genetic divergence are discussed.

Investigation of the metabolites of five major constituents from Berberis amurensis in normal and pseudo germ-free rats

Berberis amurensis(Berberidaceae)is a traditional Chinese medicine,which is often used to treat hypertension,inflammation,dysentery and enteritis.It contains alkaloids,mainly including berberine,berbamine,magnoflorine,jatrorrhizine and palmatine.Berberis amurensis extracts(BAEs)is often orally taken.Oral herbs might be metabolized by intestinal bacteria in the small intestine.However,the interaction between the herb and the gut microbiota is still unknown.In the current study,UPLC/Q-TOFMS/MS combined with Metabolitepilot and Peakview software was used to identify the metabolites of BAEs in anti-biotic cocktail induced pseudo germ-free rats and normal rats.As a result,a total of 46 metabolites in normal rats were detected and its main metabolic pathways include demethylation,dehydrogenation,methylation,hydroxylation,sulfation and glucuronidation.Only 29 metabolites existed in pseudo germ-free rats.Dehydrogenated metabolites(M29,M30,M34 and M36),methylated metabolites(M33,M41 and M46)and other metabolites were not detected in pseudo germ-free rats.The result implied that the intestinal bacteria have an influence on the metabolism of BAEs.Furthermore,this investigation might contribute to the understanding of the metabolism of BAEs,and further promote its clinical application.

A New Furan Flavonol Glycoside from Epimedium koreanum

Objective To study the chemical constituents of Epimedium koreanum.Methods Separation was carried out through silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and HPLC method.The chemical structures were elucidated by spectroscopic method including 1D-NMR and 2D-NMR.Results A new furanflavonol glycoside（1）was isolated and identified.Conclusion Compound 1 is a new furanflavonol glycoside,and its structure is corroborated as 5,4′-dihydroxyfurano[2″,3″：7,8]flavonol 3-O-α-L-rhamnoside.