Journal of Microbiology

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'ts

Effects of a Dark-Septate Endophytic Isolate LBF-2 on the Medicinal Plant Lycium barbarum L.: Hai-han Zhang , Ming Tang , Hui Chen , Ya-jun Wang; J. Microbiol. 2012;50(1):91-96. Published online February 27, 2012; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-012-1159-9

Abstract: Dark septate endophytes (DSE) are ubiquitous root associated fungi; however, our understanding of their ecological function remains unclear. Here, we investigated the positive effect of a DSE fungus on its host plant Lycium barbarum L. A DSE isolate, LBF-2, isolated from the roots of L. barbarum, was inoculated onto the roots of plants, which were grown under greenhouse conditions for five weeks. The result of molecular analyses of internal transcribed spacer regions indicated that LBF-2 was 96% similar to Paraphoma chrysanthemicola. Melanized septate hyphae were observed in the root cortical cells of L. barbarum using a light microscope. Inoculation with LBF-2 increased the total biomass by 39.2% and also enhanced chlorophyll fluorescence. Inoculation increased the concentration of total chlorophyll by 22.8% and of chlorophyll a by 21.3%, relative to uninoculated controls. These data indicate that the LBF-2 isolate might be used to facilitate the cultivation of L. barbarum, which has medicinal applications.

Anti-HIV-1 Efficacy of Extracts from Medicinal Plants: Su-A Lee , Seong-Karp Hong , Chang-Il Suh , Mi-Hwa Oh , Jeong-Ho Park , Byoung-Wook Choi , Seung-Won Park , Soon-Young Paik; J. Microbiol. 2010;48(2):249-252. Published online May 1, 2010; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-009-0176-9

Abstract: The anti-HIV-1 activities of butanol, hexane, chloroform and water extracts from four widely used folk medicinal plants (Sophora flavescens, Tulipa edulis, Herba ephedra, and Pachyma hoelen Rumph) were evaluated in this study. The hexane extract of Pachyma hoelen Rumph, PH-4, showed effective inhibition against HIV-1. The 50% effective concentration (EC50) of PH-4 was 37.3 μg/ml in the p24 antigen assay and 36.8% in the HIV-1 recombinant RT activity test (at 200 μg/ml). In addition, the PH-4 showed the protective effect on the infected MT-4 cells, with a 58.2% rate of protection. The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) of PH-4 was 100.6 μg/ml. These results suggest that PH-4 from Pachyma hoelen Rumph might be the candidate for the chemotherapy agent against HIV-1 infection with further study.

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