Search Results (4)

To overcome the depletion of wild resources and limited seed propagation of Valeriana fauriei, an adventitious root suspension culture system was established and optimized, and methyl jasmonate (MeJA)-elicited metabolic responses were then evaluated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based untargeted metabolomics. Culture conditions were optimized using a single-factor medium screening experiment combined with a uniform design for four culture-condition factors. The results showed that the optimized culture system increased the 28 d proliferation coefficient of Valeriana fauriei adventitious roots to 27.07. A total of 181 significant differential metabolites were identified and classified into four clusters according to their changing trends. The first cluster increased and then decreased, reaching the maximum value at 80 mg·L⁻¹ MeJA. The second cluster decreased and then increased, reaching the minimum value at 80 mg·L⁻¹ MeJA. The third cluster increased, then decreased, and then increased again, reaching the maximum value at 40 mg·L⁻¹ MeJA and the minimum value at 160 mg·L⁻¹ MeJA. The fourth cluster increased continuously with increasing MeJA concentration. Subsequently, KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was performed for the metabolite sets of the four clusters. Combined analysis indicated that 80 mg·L⁻¹ MeJA was the treatment concentration that most strongly affected the metabolic biosynthesis of V. fauriei adventitious roots. Under this treatment, pathways related to membrane transport, amino acid metabolism, translation, nucleotide metabolism, and the biosynthesis of other secondary metabolites were the most significantly enriched. Full article

We isolated seven new iridoid glucosides (valerianairidoids I–VII; 1–3, 6, 7, 9, and 12) and six known compounds from the methanol extract of the dried rhizomes and roots of Valeriana fauriei. Chemical and spectroscopic data were used to elucidate the chemical structures of the seven new iridoid glucosides, and their absolute configurations were determined by comparing their electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra with those determined experimentally. Aglycones 1a, 6a, and 9a, which were obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of the isolated iridoid glucosides, exhibited anti-proliferative activities against cancer stem cells (CSCs) established by a sphere-formation assay using human breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) and human astrocytoma (U-251MG) cells. Interestingly, these iridoids selectively showed anti-proliferative activities against CSCs from MDA-MB-231 cells. These results suggest that the iridoids obtained in this study may have potency as a breast cancer treatment and as preventive agent via exterminating CSCs. Full article

Caprifoliaceae s.l. plastid genomes (plastomes) show that one inversion and two inverted repeat boundary shifts occurred in the common ancestor of this family, after which the plastomes are generally conserved. This study reports plastome sequences of five additional species, Fedia cornucopiae, Valeriana fauriei, and Valerianella locusta from the subfamily Valerianoideae, as well as Dipsacus japonicus and Scabiosa comosa from the subfamily Dipsacoideae. Combined with the published plastomes, these plastomes provide new insights into the structural evolution of plastomes within the family. Moreover, the three plastomes from the subfamily Valerianoideae exhibited accelerated nucleotide substitution rates, particularly at synonymous sites, across the family. The patterns of accD sequence divergence in the family are dynamic with structural changes, including interruption of the conserved domain and increases in nonsynonymous substitution rates. In particular, the Valeriana accD gene harbors a large insertion of amino acid repeat (AAR) motifs, and intraspecific polymorphism with a variable number of AARs in the Valeriana accD gene was detected. We found a correlation between intron losses and increased ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution rates in the clpP gene with intensified positive selection. In addition, two Dipsacoideae plastomes revealed the loss of the plastid-encoded rps15, and a potential functional gene transfer to the nucleus was confirmed. Full article

Valeriana fauriei (V. fauriei), which emits a characteristic and unpleasant odor, is important in traditional medicine. In this study, the expression of terpenoid biosynthetic genes was investigated in different organs that were also screened for volatile compounds including valerenic acid and its derivatives. Specific expression patterns from different parts of V. fauriei were observed using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The highest transcript levels of biosynthetic genes involved in mevalonic acid (MVA) and methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) production were found in the stem. Although the amounts of volatile compounds were varied by organ, most of the volatile terpenoids were accumulated in the root. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified 128 volatile compounds, which represented 65.33% to 95.66% of total volatiles. Certain compounds were only found in specific organs. For example, isovalerenic acid and valerenic acid and its derivatives were restricted to the root. Organs with high transcript levels did not necessarily have high levels of the corresponding chemical constituents. According to these results, we hypothesize that translocation may occur between different organs in V. fauriei. Full article