Textual Research on Dioscorides and De Materia Medica

The Greek pharmacologist Dioscorides’s De Materia Medica is one of the greatest works in the history of Greek-Arabic Traditional Medicine, and also is an essential medical textbook and pharmacological standard in Europe. This paper studied the historical background, academic characteristics, editions, and significant contributions to traditional medicine of De Materia Medica and Dioscorides. It was concluded that the book has substantial scientific importance and remarkable cultural attributes. De Materia Medica of Dioscorides has both nourished world traditional medicine and promoted the communication and development of medicinal knowledge worldwide. It is significant for us to explore further the related understanding of traditional medicine, history, society, and culture.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Ampittia dioscorides （Lepidoptera： Hesperiidae） and its phylogenetic analysis

The complete mitochondrial genome of Ampittia dioscorides （Lepidoptera： Hesperiidae） was determined. The sequenced genome is a circular molecule of 15313 bp, containing 13 protein-coding genes （PCGs）, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and an A ＋ T-rich region. The gene arrangements and transcribing directions are identical to those in most of the reported lepidopteran mitogenomes. The base composition of the whole genome and genes or regions are also similar to those in other lepidopteran species. All the PCGs are initiated by typical ATN codons; the exception being CO1, which begins with a CGA codon. Eight genes （ND2, ATPase8, ATPase6, COIII, ND5, ND4L, ND6, and Cytb） end with a TAA stop codon, and two genes （ND1 and ND3） end with TAG. The remaining three genes （CO1 and COIl, which end with TA-, and ND4, which ends with T-） have incomplete stop codons. All tRNAs have the typical clover-leaf structure of mitochondrial tRNAs, with the exception of tRNAser（AGY）. On the basis of the concatenated nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the 13 PCGs and wingless gene of 22 butterfly species, maximum parsimony （MP） and Bayesian inference （BI） trees were constructed, respectively. Both MP and BI trees had the same topological structure： （（（（Nymphalidae ＋ Danaidae） ＋ Lycaenidae） ＋ Pieridae） ＋ Papilionidae） ＋ Hesperiidae）. The results provide support for Hesperiidae as a superfamily-level taxon.

Searching for Chinese Medicinal Plants in Greek Classical Medicine: A First Approach

This article examines the presence and uses of plants attested in the Chinese medical tradition in the materia medica literature of classical antiquity.It is based on the consultation of the major ancient compilations on materia medica of Chinese medicine and classical antiquity,specifically Bencao Gangmu by Li Shizhen(16th cent.)and De materia medica by Dioscorides(1st cent.A.D.).The article is divided in three major parts:the identification of plants used in the Chinese medical tradition in the medicine of the Mediterranean World in Antiquity;the analysis of the knowledge of these plants and their origin in classical antiquity;a comparison of the uses of these plants in the Bencao Gangmu and De materia medica.It traces the presence of plants of the Chinese medical tradition in Classical antiquity.Although their exact origin was not known,they were reputed at that time to be native to either India or the Black Sea,two areas that correspond to the ending points of the Silk Road.As for their uses in both traditions,they correspond for some plants,whereas they do not for others because either the uses attested in the Chinese tradition were not preserved on the Mediterranean or different uses appeared in the Mediterranean tradition.These differentiated uses hint at both continuities and ruptures,with the latter resulting from the long journey of the plants from the Chinese World to the Mediterranean and,at the same time,attempts aimed to diversify and optimize the applications of non-native medicinal substances.