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Gentiana crassicaulis and G. straminea are alpine plants of Gentiana with important medicinal value and complex genetic backgrounds. In this study, the mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) of these two species were sequenced. The mtDNAs of G. crassicaulis and G. straminea are 368,808 and 410,086 bp long, respectively, 52 and 49 unique genes are annotated in the two species, and the gene arrangement varies widely. Compared to G. crassicaulis, G. straminea loses three effective genes, namely atp6, trnG-GCC and trnV-GAC. As a pseudogene, the atp6 gene of G. straminea is incomplete, which is rare in higher plants. We detected 1696 and 1858 pairs of long repeats and 213 SSRs and 250 SSs in the mtDNAs of G. crassicaulis and G. straminea, respectively. There are 392 SNPs and 18 InDels between the two genomes, and syntenic sequence and structural variation analysis show low collinearity between the two genomes. Chloroplast DNA transferring to mtDNA is observed in both species, and 46,511 and 55,043 bp transferred segments containing three tRNA genes are identified, respectively. Comparative analysis of mtDNAs of G. crassicaulis, G. straminea and four species of Gentianales determined 18 core genes, and there is no specific gene in G. crassicaulis and G. straminea. The phylogenetic tree based on mtDNAs places Gentianaceae in a branch of Gentianales. This study is the first to analyze the mtDNAs of Gentianaceae, which could provide information for analysis of the structure of mtDNAs of higher plants and phylogenetic research of Gentianaceae and Gentianales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borneol (BO) represents a global trade-driven spreading of ethnic medicine traceable to the classical age, and won its name specific to its original habitat "Borneo". BO shows broad spectral pharmacological effects, such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, inducing resuscitation, and widely applied in the protection and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, used singly or mostly in compound formulae. Aim of the study: Three stereoscopic configuration forms of BO, l-borneol (LB), d-borneol (DB), and dl-borneol (synthetic, SB), are formulated in broad spectral application, yet their diverse pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties caused by configurations, and accurate assay and quality assessment are often overlooked. A systematic review and analysis of lumped studies and applications is necessary to clarify the relationship between configuration and its original plant, analysis method, activity and side effect BO in order to guarantee the efficacy and safety during their application. The public databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure were referenced to summarize a comprehensive research and application data of BO published up to date. This review includes following sections: History and current status, Stereochemistry, Ethnopharmacology, and Quality assessment. In the section of history, the changes of the plant origins of the two isomeric forms of natural BO were described respectively, and the methods for synthetic racemate SB were also included. The section of stereochemistry deals with the stereoscopic structures, physical/chemical property, optical rotation of the three forms of BO, as well as the main related substances like isoborneol, obtained in SB via chemical transformation of camphor and turpentine oil. In the section of Ethnopharmacology, pharmacological activities and pharmacokinetics of different forms of BO were discussed. BO is usually used as an "adjuvant", by enhancing the permeability of the blood-brain barrier and intervene the ADME/T pathways of the other ingredients in the same formulation. In the section of quality assessment, the analytical methods, including chromatography, especially GC, and spectroscopy were addressed on the chiral separation of the coexisting enantiomers. This overview systematically summarized three forms of BO in terms of history, stereochemistry, ethnopharmacology, and quality assessment, which, hopefully, can provide valuable information and strategy for more reasonable application and development of the globally reputed ethnic medicine borneol with characteristics in stereochemistry. [Display omitted] • Borneol (BO) represents an epic ethnodrug denominated from its habitat Borneo. • Natural (d-/l-) and synthetic (dl -) forms of BO are arbitrarily substituted in use. • Diverse biological and transdermal activities are attributed to their chirality. • BO significantly impacts on the PK/PD behaviors of its combined ingredients. • Efficient chiral separation of BO and its related substances needs to be advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]