Project description:Pistacia chinensis Bunge is known as dioecious, but we have found wild monoecious individuals. In order to screen the candidate genes which may influence the sex expression or floral phenotypic differences of P. chinensis, the inflorescence buds for different sex types associated with the sex differentiation were selected and tested for small RNA sequencing. Sex-specific differentially expressed small RNA were discovered, combined with real-time PCR data, the regulation patterns of various sex types were first revealed. Our study represents the first detailed analysis of small RNA sequencing, providing more clues for understanding the mechanism of sex determination on P. chinensis.
Project description:The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was treated with extracts of the Traditional Chinese Medicine plants Cuscuta chinensis and Eucommia ulmoides from the L4 stage. In aged worms (on the 7th and 12th day of adulthood) different health parameters were determined. Besides the prolongation of lifespan, we found that C. chinensis improved the swimming behavior, pharyngeal pumping rate, stress resistance, mechanosensation and memory of aged C. elegans. Furthermore, the extract treatment reduced the autofluorescence, which is a known biomarker of ageing. Thus, we concluded that C. chinensis is an overall healthspan enhancer. In contrast, the E. ulmoides extract specifically enhanced the lifespan and stress resistance of aged C. elegans, but did not improve any other health aspect. To reveal the mechanism behind the healthspan enhancing effects of C. chinensis, the transcriptome of treated and untreated C. elegans on the 12th day of adulthood was analysed. For comparison purposes, E. ulmoides treated nematodes were included in the analysis.
