Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis of ferulic acidpuerarin-astragaloside in combination with neuroprotective in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats

Objective:To investigate the effects of the active ingredients combined therapy on inflammatory factors interleukin 1 beta(IL-1β)and neuropeptide Y(NPY)based on pharmacodynamics in rats.Methods:The animal model was built by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO).The method for evaluating the concentrations of the FA-Pr-AI components in rat plasma was established by using HPLC and the expression levels of IL-1βand NPY were determined by ELISA.A new mathematics method of the trend of percentage rate of change(PRC)was used to assess the correlation between pharmacokinetics(PK)and pharmacodynamics(PD).Results:FA-Pr-Al in combination reduced neurological deficits,decreased infarct volume and inhibited the expression levels of IL-1βand NPY(all P<0.05)compared with the model group.FA,Pr and Al all displayed two compartment open models in rats.Clockwise hysteresis loops were obtained by time-concentration-effect curves.IL-1βand NPY level changes in the plasma followed an opposite trend to the plasma concentration tendency after C_(max)was reached.Astragaloside's PRC value was significantly higher than those of FA and puerarin between 120 to 180 min.Conclusions:The pharmacokinetics of FA-PrAl in combination were closely related its pharmacodynamics in treating ischemia/reperfusion injury,and the components of FA-Pr-Al may have a synergistic pharmacological effect.Astragaloside may play a more pronounced role in regulating IL-1βand NPY levels compared with puerarin or FA.

Metagenomic analysis revealing the metabolic role of microbial communities in the free amino acid biosynthesis of Monascus rice vinegar during fermentation

Free amino acid(FAA)is the important component of vinegar that infl uences quality perception and consumer acceptance.FAA is one of the major metabolites produced by microorganisms;however,the microbial metabolic network on FAA biosynthesis remains unclear.Through metagenomic analysis,this work aimed to elucidate the roles of microbes in FAA biosynthesis during Monascus rice vinegar fermentation.Taxonomic profiles from functional analyses showed 14 dominant genera with high contributions to the metabolism pathways.The metabolic network for FAA biosynthesis was then constructed,and the microbial distribution in different metabolic pathways was illuminated.The results revealed that 5 functional genera were closely involved in FAA biosynthesis.This study illuminated the metabolic roles of microorganisms in FAA biosynthesis and provided crucial insights into the functional attributes of microbiota in vinegar fermentation.

Research progress on the application of ferulic acid in cosmetics

Ferulic acid is a phenolic compound widely exists in plants.Currently ferulic acid on the market is mainly extracted from plants,but it can also be obtained via biosynthesis or chemical synthesis.The biosynthesis method has a great potential for future production of ferulic acid.Ferulic acid is frequently used as a whitening ingredient in cosmetics,since it reduces melanin production by competitively inhibiting tyrosinase activity.It also has strong antioxidant activity,including elimination of free radicals,inhibition of ROS production,and regulation of various signaling pathways and the activity of antioxidant enzymes.The anti-UV activity of ferulic acid makes it applicable in sunscreen cosmetics.It can absorb UV rays and inhibit UVB-induced matrix metalloproteinase MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities to attenuate the damage caused by UV radiation.Ferulic acid is also reported to display protective effects on human keratinocytes and human skin fibroblasts.In addition,it is found to have effective anti-aging effect,mainly through inhibiting the degradation of hyaluronic acid by reducing the activities of collagenase and hyaluronidase,and inducing the biosynthesis of pre-collagen and hyaluronic acid.Ferulic acid shows potential for the treatment of atopic dermatitis,psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases of the skin.Its anti-inflammatory effect results from the inhibition of multiple inflammatory factors and signaling pathways.Ferulic acid displays broad-spectrum antibacterial effect,by damaging the cell membranes of bacteria and fungi which leads to membrane leakage and cell death.Furthermore,ferulic acid can also promote skin healing and regeneration.However,the instability of ferulic acid limits its applications in cosmetics.

Ferulic acid reduces inflammatory response induced by radiation through Sirt1-NLRP3 pathway

Objective:A model of inflammatory damage was induced by radiation to investigate whether ferulic acid(FA)can reduce the inflammatory response through the Sirt1-NLRP3 inflammatory pathway.This will help discover radiation-protective drugs and elucidate the molecular mechanisms related to radiation-induced inflammatory damage.Methods:A mouse model of radiation-induced immunoinflammatory injury was established to verify the anti-inflammatory effects of FA in vivo.C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into six groups,and 5 Gy whole-body irradiation was used for modeling.Mice were administered a gastric solvent,amifostine,or 25,50,or 100 mg/kg FA daily for 12 days,consecutively,before irradiation.The serum of mice was collected 24 hour after irradiation to observe the content of inflammatory factors interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-18,IL-6,and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α.The spleen and thymus tissues of mice were weighed and the organ index was calculated for pathological testing and immunofluorescence detection.Results:FA reduced the radiation-induced decrease in the spleen and thymus indices.FA significantly reduced the secretion of inflammatory factors in the serum and reversed the radiation-induced reduction in lymphocytes in the spleen and thymus of mice.FA activated Sirt1 and inhibited the expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome to alleviate the inflammatory response.Conclusions:FA reduced radiation-induced inflammation in animals,possibly by activating Sirt1 and reducing nucleotide oligomerization domain(NOD)-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3(NLRP3)inflammasome expression,thereby reducing the secretion of inflammatory factors.

Analysis of the Temporal-spatial Distribution and Seasonal Variation of the Acid Rain in Guangxi Province

The temporal-spatial distribution and seasonal variation of the precipitation acidity in Guangxi Province were statistically analyzed by means of the data from 2003 to 2008 in 10 Stations of Acid Rain Observation in the province and the data from 1996 to 2008 in two Monitoring Spots in Nanning and Baise,respectively.The results showed that annual average pH value of precipitation was <5.6 based on the analysis of the data from 10 Stations of Acid Rain Observation in the province,among which,the data from 5 stations indicated that annual average pH value of precipitation was <4.5.Thus,it can be thought that the serious acid rain had appeared in the province.There was an obvious seasonal variation in the extent of the acidity in precipitation and the acidity of precipitation in spring and winter was heavier than that in summer and autumn.

Study on the Temporal and Spatial Distribution Characteristic of Acid Rain in Guangxi Based on EOF Analysis

Based on acid rain data from ten monitoring sites in Guangxi from 2003 to 2009,the temporal and spatial distribution characteristic of acid rain in Guangxi were analyzed by means of empirical orthogonal function resolution(EOF).The results showed that there was fluctuating change of acid rain frequency in Guangxi,and acid rain pollution became severer in 2004-2008;acid rain frequency changed conformably in the whole region and it was obviously higher in eastern and northwestern Guangxi,while acid rain pollution became severe in western Guangxi;acid rain frequency varied out of phase between northeastern and southwestern Guangxi in an individual year.

Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Capacity of Ferulic Acid Released from Wheat Bran by Solid-state Fermentation of Aspergillus niger

Objective A strain of Aspergillus niger(A. niger), capable of releasing bound phenolic acids from wheat bran, was isolated. This strain was identified by gene sequence identification. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity of ferulic acid released from wheat bran by this A. niger strain(FA-WB) were evaluated. Methods Molecular identification techniques based on PCR analysis of specific genomic sequences were conducted; antioxidant ability was examined using oxygen radical absorbance capacity(ORAC), cellular antioxidant activity(CAA) assays, and erythrocyte hemolysis assays. RAW264.7 cells were used as a model to detect anti-inflammatory activity. Results The filamentous fungal isolate was identified to be A. niger. ORAC and CAA assay showed that FA-WB had better antioxidant activity than that of the ferulic acid standard. The erythrocyte hemolysis assay results suggested that FA-WB could attenuate AAPH-induced oxidative stress through inhibition of reactive oxy gen species(ROS) generation. FA-WB could significantly restore the AAPH-induced increase in intracellular antioxidant enzyme activities to normal levels as well as inhibit the intracellular malondialdehyde formation. TNF-?, IL-6, and NO levels indicated that FA-WB can inhibit the inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide(LPS). Conclusion Ferulic acid released from wheat bran by a new strain of A. niger had good anti-inflammatory activity and better antioxidant ability than standard ferulic acid.

Inhibitory Effect of Ferulic Acid on Oxidation of L-DOPA Catalyzed by Mushroom Tyrosinase

The inhibitory effect of ferulic acid on the diphenolase activity of mushroom tyrosinase and the kinetic behavior were studied with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine （L-DOPA） as substrate. The inhibitor concentration leading to 50% relative activity lost （IC50） was estimated to be 0.15 mmol·L^-1. The inhibition mechanism obtained from Lineweaver-Burk plots shows that ferulic acid is a competitive inhibitor and the inhibition of tyrosinase by ferulic acid is a reversible reaction. The equilibrium constant for ferulic acid binding with the tyrosinase was determined to be 0.25 mmol·L^-1 for diphenolase. Keywords tyrosinase, ferulic acid, kinetics, inhibition, L-DOPA, diphenolase

Fractal analysis of polyferric chloride-humic acid(PFC-HA) flocs in different topological spaces

The fractal dimensions in different topological spaces of polyferric chloride-humic acid （PFC-HA） flocs, formed in flocculating different kinds of humic acids （HA） water at different initial pH （9.0, 7.0, 5.0） and PFC dosages, were calculated by effective densitymaximum diameter, image analysis, and N2 absorption-desorption methods, respectively. The mass fractal dimensions （De） of PFC-HA floes were calculated by bi-logarithm relation of effective density with maximum diameter and Logan empirical equation. The Df value was more than 2.0 at initial pH of 7,0, which was 11% and 13% higher than those at pH 9.0 and 5.0, respecively, indicating the most compact flocs formed in flocculated HA water at initial pH of 7.0. The image analysis for those flocs indicates that after flocculating the HA water at initial pH greater than 7.0 with PFC flocculant, the fractal dimensions of D2 （logA vs. logdL） and D3 （logVsphere vs. logdL） of PFC-HA floes decreased with the increase of PFC dosages, and PFC-HA floes showed a gradually looser structure. At the optimum dosage of PFC, the D2 （logA vs. logdL） values of the flocs show 14%-43% difference with their corresponding Dr, and they even had different tendency with the change of initial pH values. However, the D2 values of the floes formed at three different initial pH in HA solution had a same tendency with the corresponding Df. Based on fractal Frenkel-Halsey-HiU （FHH） adsorption and desorption equations, the pore surface fractal dimensions （Ds） for dried powders of PFC-HA flocs formed in HA water with initial pH 9.0 and 7.0 were all close to 2.9421, and the Ds values of flocs formed at initial pH 5.0 were less than 2.3746. It indicated that the pore surface fractal dimensions of PFC-HA floes dried powder mainly show the irregularity from the mesopore-size distribution and marcopore-size distribution.

Quantitative analysis of sialic acids in Chinese conventional foods by HPLC-FLD

Background: Sialic acids are a family of ninecarbon sugar compounds with carboxylic acyl derivatives. It exists in bacteria, fish, mammals and other living organisms, participates in and regulates many important life events, such as cell recognition, membrane flow, endocytosis and so on. Sialic acid is usually located in the outermost layer of the sugar part of the cell membrane and the key positions of secreted glycoconjugates (glycolipids, glycoprotein and lipopolysaccharide). Sialic acid (Sia) is an important material foundation for variety of the structure and founction of glycoconjugates. Sia has been known as nearly 50 members, including N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac), N-glycoulylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) and deaminoneuraminic acid (KDN) as its core monomer. The rest of the sialic acids are derived from these three monomers. The contents of Sia in Chinese food products are unknown. Objective: To determine the contents of Sia in raw and cooked red meat, seafood, poultry and so on. Design: The following food products were purchased from a Chinese supermarket: pork, beef, lamb, salmon, cod, tuna, cow milk, cheese, butter, duck, chicken and chicken eggs. Human milk was collected from Xiamen Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital (Xiamen, China). All tissues were homogenized and hydrolyzed with 0.05 M, 0.1 M and 0.2 M TFA for 150 min at 80°C in dark, respectively. The concentrations of Neu5Ac, Neu5Gc and KDN were determined by using HPLC with fluorescence detector. Results: The contents of total Sia (μg/g tissue or μg/mL liquid sample) in Chinese raw meat were highest in lamb (269.60), followed by pork (254.88), duck (200.63), chicken (162.86) and beef (88.03). The percentages of Neu5Gc were 36.08%, 26.48%, 0%, 0% and 28.40%, respectively. Cod contained higher levels of Sia (171.63) than salmon (104.43) and tuna (77.98). Only Neu5Ac was 50 found in detected aquatic product. Egg yolk contained the highest level of Sia (682.04), and a higher level of Sia (390.67) was found in the egg white. Also our result showed that human milk contained extremely high level of Sia (602.55). Neu5Ac was the predominant form of Sia in all the deteced samples. KDN was found in cow milk only among the samples, the content was 1.14 μg/g. Conclusion: The highest content of Sia in examined Chinese foods was found in 56 eggs, followed by lamb, pork, duck, cod, chicken, salmon, beef and tuna. Knowledge of the Sia content in conventional foods may help us to better understand possible medical disorders involving the uptake of the “non-human” Neu5Gc from our diet.

Fluorescence Microscopic Image Analysis of Nucleic Acids Based on The Capillary Flow Directed Assembly Ring of Neutral Red-nucleic Acid Supramolecular Complexes

It is critical to establish a direct and precise method with a high sensitivity and selectivity in analytical chemistry. In this research, making use of a well known phenomenon of capillary flow, we have proposed an image analysis method of nucleic acids at the price of a small amount of sample. When a droplet of the supramolecular complex solution, formed by neutral red and nucleic acids(NA) under an approximate neutral condition, was placed on the hydrophobic surface of dimethyl dichlorosilane pretreated glass slides, and it was evaporated, the supramolecular complex exhibited the periphery of the droplet due to the capillary effect, and accumulated there to form a red capillary flow directed assembly ring(CFDAR). A typical CFDAR has an outer diameter of (2 r ) about 1.18 mm and a ring width(2 δ ) of about 41 μm. Depending on the experimental conditions, a variety of CFDAR can be assembled. The experimental results are in agreement with our former theoretical discussion. It was found that when a droplet volume is 0.1 μL, the fluorescence intensity of the CFDAR formed by the NR NA is in proportion to the content of calf thymus DNA in the range of 0-0.28 ng, fish sperm DNA of 0-0.24 ng and yeast RNA of 0-0.16 ng with the limit of detection(3 σ ) of 1 7, 1.4 and 0.9 pg, respectively for the three nucleic acids.

Process design and economic analysis of methacrylic acid extraction for three organic solvents

In this work,a techno-economic study for the solvent based extraction of methacrylic acid from an aqueous solution is presented.The involved phase equilibrium calculations in process design are verified by measured experimental data.First,experiments are conducted with different solvent candidates to measure LLE(liquid–liquid equilibrium)data and to establish the effects of extraction temperature and dosage of solvent.Next,the binary interaction parameters for the UNIQUAC model to be used for equilibrium calculations are fine-tuned with measured data.Then,a process for the solvent based extraction of methacrylic acid recovery is designed and verified through simulation with the regressed UNIQUAC model parameters.The optimal configuration of the process flowsheet is determined by minimizing the total annualized cost.Among the three solvent candidates considered-cyclohexane,hexane and toluene-the highest efficiency and the lowest total annualized cost is found with toluene as the solvent.

Cost benefit analysis of the use of tranexamic acid in primary lower limb arthroplasty: A retrospective cohort study

AIM: To examine the cost benefit conferred by the perioperative administration of intravenous tranexamic acid(TXA) in lower limb arthroplasty.METHODS: This study evaluates the use of TXA in 200 consecutive lower limb arthroplasties performed in a single surgeon series. The initial 100 patients(control group) underwent surgery without perioperative administration of TXA while the subsequent 100 patients(TXA group) all received 1 g TXA at the time of induction of anaesthesia. Pre- and post-operative haemoglobin, platelet count, haematocrit, the use of blood product post-operatively, length of stay were examined. A financial analysis of both groups was then undertaken. RESULTS: The mean age of patients in both groups was 63 ± 13 years. There were no significant differences between groups in terms of gender(P = 0.47), proportion of total hip replacement to total knee replacement(P = 0.25) or pre-operative haemoglobin(P = 0.43). In the control group, the transfusion rate was 22%. In the TXA group, the transfusion rate dropped to 2%(P < 0.001). The mean post-operative haemoglobin was 10.82 ± 1.55g/dL in the control group vs 11.33 ± 1.27 g/dL in the TXA group(P = 0.01). The total cost of transfused blood products was €11055 and €603 respectively. The mean length of stay in the control group was 6.53 ± 5.93 d vs 5.47 ± 4.26 d in the TXA group(P = 0.15) leading to an estimated financial saving of €114586. There was one pulmonary embolus in the control group and one deep venous thrombosis in the TXA group.CONCLUSION: Intravenous TXA reduces blood loss in lower limb arthroplasty. This leads to lower transfusion rates, shorter length of stay in hospital and significant financial savings.

Optimization on the Conversion of Bamboo Shoot Shell to Levulinic Acid with Environmentally Benign Acidic Ionic Liquid and Response Surface Analysis

Levulinic acid（LA） has been identified as a promising green,biomass derived platform chemical.Response surface analysis（RSA） with a four-factor-five-level central composite design（CCD） was applied to optimize the hydrolysis conditions for the conversion of bamboo（Phyllostachys Praecox f.preveynalis） shoot shell（BSS） to LA catalyzed with ionic liquid [C4mim]HSO4.The effects of four main reaction parameters including temperature,time,C[C4mim]HSO4（initial [C4mim]HSO4 concentration） and XBSS（initial BSS intake） on the hydrolysis reaction for yield of LA were analyzed.A quadratic equation model for yield of LA was established and fitted to the data with an R2 of 0.9868,and effects of main factors and their corresponding relationships were obtained with RSA.Model validation and results of CCD showed good correspondence between actual and predicted values.The analysis of variance（ANOVA） of the results indicated that the yield of LA in the range studied was significantly（P＆lt;0.05） affected by the four factors.The optimized reaction conditions were as follows：temperature of 145 ℃,time of 103.8 min,C[C4mim]HSO4 of 0.9 mol.L-1 and XBSS of 2.04%（by mass）,respectively.A high yield [（71±0.41）%（by mol）,triplicate experiment] was obtained at the optimum conditions of temperature of 145 ℃,time of 104 min,C[C4mim]HSO4 of 0.9 mol.L-1 and XBSS of 2%（by mass）,which obtained from the real experiments,concurred with the model prediction [73.8%（by mol） based on available C6 sugars in BSS or 17.9%（by mass） based on the mass of BSS],indicating that the model was adequate for the hydrolysis process.

Ferulic acid alleviates lipopolysaccharide-induced depression-like behavior by inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis

Objective:To identify the anti-depressive effect of ferulic acid(FA)in mice exposed to lipopolysaccharide(LPS)and explore its molecular mechanisms.Methods:The mice were divided into 5 groups as follows:Control,LPS,LPS+SP,LPS+FA,and LPS+FA+anisomycin.The LPS+FA and LPS+FA+anisomycin groups were administered with FA(100 mg/kg,i.p.)once daily continuously for 7 days,and the other groups received an equivalent volume of saline.On the 7 th day,LPS(0.1 mg/m L,i.p.)was injected in all mice except the control group 30 min after FA or saline administration.The LPS+SP and LPS+FA+anisomycin groups were intravenously administered with SP600125[c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK)inhibitor](100μL/site,i.v.)and anisomycin(JNK activator)(100μL/site,i.v.)15 min before LPS,respectively.The depressive behaviors were assessed by open field test,sucrose preference test,and forced swimming test at 24 h post-LPS administration.Tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and interleukin-1β(IL-1β)levels in plasma were measured by ELISA.The levels of phospho-JNK,TNF-α,IL-1β,Bcl-2,Bax,cytochrome c and caspase-3 were evaluated by Western blotting.Results:FA alleviated depression symptoms caused by LPS in mice,including increasing sucrose water consumption in sucrose preference test and reducing the immobility time in forced swimming test.FA could inhibit upregulated levels of phospho-JNK,TNF-α,and IL-1β.FA also markedly decreased Bax,caspase-3,and cytochrome c,and increased Bcl-2 levels.Besides,SP600125 showed neuroprotective effect similar to FA which was attenuated by anisomycin.Conclusions:FA attenuates inflammation and apoptosis by inhibiting LPS-induced activation of JNK to alleviate depressionlike behaviors.

In vitro and in vivo effects of ferulic acid on gastrointestinal motility:Inhibition of cisplatin-induced delay in gastric emptying in rats

AIM: To study the effects of ferulic acid on gastrointe-stinal motility both in vitro and in vivo.METHODS: Ferulic acid induced concentration-dependent stimulation of the basal tone of isolated guinea pig ileum (2-20 μmol/L) and isolated rat fundus (0.05-0.4 mmol/L). RESULTS: Ferulic acid significantly accelerated the gastrointestinal transit and gastric emptying in rats in a dose-dependent manner (50-200 mg/kg, po). Cisplatin (2.5-20 mg/kg, ip) induced a dose-dependent delay in gastric emptying in rats. Pretreatment with ferulic acid dose-dependently, significantly reversed the cisplatin-induced delay in gastric emptying. CONCLUSION: The endogenous prostaglandins (PGs) are involved in mediating the stimulant effects of ferulic acid. This effect of dietary ferulic acid may help improve other accompanying gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal discomfort and also may protect against emesis induced by cytotoxic drugs.

Analysis of Amino Acids in a Single Human Red Blood Cell by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis with Intracellular NDA- derivatization and Electrochemical Detection

A novel method for determination of amino acids in individual human red blood cells has been developed. In this method, the derivatization reagents (NDA and CN-) are introduced into living cells by electroporation. After completion of derivatization, the amino acids in a single cell is determined by capillary zone electrophoresis with end-column amperometric detection.

The structural analysis of protein sequences based on the quasi-amino acids code

Proteomics is the study of proteins and their interactions in a cell. With the successful completion of the Human Cenome Project, it comes the postgenome era when the proteomics technology is emerging. This paper studies protein molecule from the algebraic point of view. The algebraic system （∑, ＋, ＊） is introduced, where ∑ is the set of 64 codons. According to the characteristics of （∑, ＋, ＊）, a novel quasi-amino acids code classification method is introduced and the corresponding algebraic operation table over the set ZU of the 16 kinds of quasi-amino acids is established. The internal relation is revealed about quasi-amino acids. The results show that there exist some very close correlations between the properties of the quasi-amino acids and the codon. All these correlation relationships may play an important part in establishing the logic relationship between codons and the quasi-amino acids during the course of life origination. According to Ma F et al （2003 J. Anhui Agricultural University 30 439）, the corresponding relation and the excellent properties about amino acids code are very difficult to observe. The present paper shows that （ZU, ＋,×） is a field. Furthermore, the operational results display that the eodon tga has different property from other stop codons. In fact, in the mitochondrion from human and ox genomic codon, tga is just tryptophane, is not the stop codon like in other genetic code, it is the case of the Chen W C et al （2002 Acta Biophysiea Siniea 18（1） 87）. The present theory avoids some inexplicable events of the 20 kinds of amino acids code, in other words it solves the problem of ＇the 64 codon assignments of mRNA to amino acids is probably completely wrong＇ proposed by Yang （2006 Progress in Modern Biomedicine 6 3）.

Phenotype and mechanism analysis of plant dwarfing in pear regulated by abscisic acid

Close planting of dwarf varieties is currently the main cultivation direction for pear trees,and the screening of excellent dwarf varieties is an important goal for breeders.In this study,the dwarfing pear variety‘601D’and its vigorous mutant‘601T’were used to show their biological characteristics and further explore the dwarfing mechanism in‘601D’.The biological characteristics showed that‘601D’had a shorter internode length,a shorter and more compact tree body,thicker and broader leaves,lower stomata density,larger stomata size(dimension),and higher photosynthetic capacity.The biological characteristics of‘601T’showed notable contrasts.The results of endogenous hormone tests indicated that the contents of abscisic acid(ABA),ABA-glucosyl ester,and GA_(4) were higher in‘601D’,but the trans-zeatin content was lower.By transcriptomic analysis,significant differences were found in the biosynthetic and metabolic pathways of ABA.Related transcription factors such as bHLH,WRKY,and homeobox also participated in the regulation of plant dwarfing.We therefore examined three hormones with obvious differences with‘601T’,and found that only ABA could induce‘601T’to return to a dwarfing plant phenotype.Therefore,we conclude that the dwarfing of‘601D’is caused by an excessive accumulation of ABA.This study provides a new theoretical basis for breeding dwarf varieties.

Biodegradation of ferulic acid by a newly isolated strain of Cupriavidus sp. B-8

As a major component of lignin and abundantly existing in softwood and hardwood, ferulic acid has been used as a lignin-related compound for lignin biodegradation study. Biodegradation of ferulic acid by Cupriavidus sp. B-8, a newly isolated strain, was studied. This strain is able to utilize a wide range of lignin-related aromatic compounds as the sole carbon and energy source, including guaiacol, veratric acid, vanillic acid, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and sinapic acid. In addition, the effects of different concentrations of ferulic acid on growth of Cupriavidus sp. B-8 were studied. The growth of Cupriavidus sp. B-8 is better under the condition of lower concentration. High-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） analysis reveals that above 95% of ferulic acid is degraded within 12 h by Cupriavidus sp. B-8. Based on identification of biodegradation intermediates and further metabolites, the biodegradation pathway of ferulic acid by Cupriavidus sp. B-8 was proposed. Ferulic acid is initially converted to 4-vinylguaiacol, and further oxidized to vanillic acid and protocatechuic acid.