Since Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) was chosen as a model organism to study genetics, the worms have been widely used in many research areas, either as research or drug screening model, such as in development, lipid metabolism and obesity, aging, neurodegenerative disease, antimicrobials, virulence and parasites, biomedical and environmental toxicology, and cancer. Treating worms with too...
Since the discovery of aspirin as one of nonsterodial anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) more than a century ago, aspirin has become the most widely administered medicine in the treatment of conditions such as pain, fever, and inflammation. In addition to its anti-inflammatory effects, it was reported that long-term use of aspirin could improve many aspects of health status, but the molecular mec...
Vibralactone (1), a rare fused bicyclic β-lactone from the basidiomycete fungus Boreostereum vibrans (syn. Stereum vibrans), was found to inhibit pancreatic lipases highly relevant to fat absorption. While vibralactone seems structurally simple for its small size, contradicting biosynthetic origins, including sesquiterpenoid and polyketide, of this bicyclic β-lactone have been proposed. Furth...
Over the past decades, biodiversity conservation in China has achieved a number of successes. However, due to inadequate conservation policies, poor implementation and lack of financial support, these conservation achievements are not sufficient to protect China’s high level of plant species diversity. One of the most important is that there is no clear concept of which wild species should rec...
There are only two endemic species of Poncirus (Rutaceae) in China, P. trifoliate and P. polyandra. P. trifoliate was originated in central China. P. polyandra, which is endemic to Yunnan Province, was first found in Fumin County in 1984. It is a precious breeding germplasm resource of citrus as its fruits are a medical substitute of fructus aurantii, so it’s named as "Anti-tussive tree" by th...
Mushrooms of Boletaceae are with important economic and ecological values. Many species in this fungal family are famous edible mushrooms, while some others are poisonous. Ecologically, most species in this group are ectomycorrhizal fungi. However, the systematics of Boletaceae has been problematic due to its wide distribution range, phenotypic plasticity and complicated evolutionary history.
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Although alpine areas are generally characterized by low temperatures, high solar radiation, strong winds, cloudiness, frequent precipitation, low levels of insect abundance and activity and etc., it harbours high biodiversity. Thus, how these plants reproduce successfully in hostile environmental conditions is the topic of evolutionary biology. Plants in these areas frequently exhibit highly s...
Desiccation-sensitive recalcitrant seeds and fruits are killed by the loss of even moderate quantities of water. Consequently, minimizing the rate of water loss may be an important ecological factor and evolutionary driver by reducing the risk of mortality during post-dispersal dry-spells. For recalcitrant fruits of a range of Quercus species, prolonged drying times have been observed previousl...
Species of Taxus are very important economic plants and resources for isolation of anti-cancer drug “Taxol”. Because of excessive harvesting and commercial over-exploitation for the production of anti-cancer drugs, up to 90% of natural yew populations disappeared along the HKH over the last few decades. Despite the availability of several studies to clarify taxonomic problems on the highly th...
