Search

Early nodulin genes, such as ENOD2, may be conserved and could function as molecular markers for nodulation. Many nodulating and nonnodulating legumes must be analyzed before the role of such genes in nodulation can be determined. Japanese pagodatree and American yellowwood are closely related, ornamental woody legumes. Unsubstantiated reports of nodulation in Japanese pagodatree require confirmation, and American yellowwood has not been observed to nodulate. We investigated the presence of putative ENOD2 genes in these species, and we are studying differential and temporal expression. Genomic DNA of Japanese pagodatree and primers, derived from proline-rich pentapeptide repeats of conserved ENOD2 sequences, were used to obtain a 555-bp PCR fragment. This cloned fragment was used as a probe for Southern and Northern hybridizations. Genomes of Japanese pagodatree and American yellowwood contained sequences that are similar to ENOD2 sequences in other legumes. Treatments with either cytokinin or an auxin transport inhibitor may induce expression of the putative ENOD2 genes. New data on the characteristics of nodulin genes in woody legumes will clarify the nature and evolution of nodulation in legumes and may have implications for developing sustainable nursery production protocols.

Ten-week-oldSophora japonica seedlings were grown for 10 weeks at 17, 22, or 27°C and then exposed to 0 or 1.0 μl/SO2 for 48 hours. The seedlings were subsequently grown at 22°C and harvested 12 weeks later. Effects of preconditioning temperature and SO2 on leaf formation, seedling height and stem diameter, as well as dry weight increment and relative growth rates of leaves, stems, and roots were studied. The preconditioning temperature regime influenced growth and subsequently affected SO2 uptake and growth. However, the responses of seedlings to temperature and SO2 varied with the growth parameter measured. The need for greater standardization of methods and criteria for assessing pollution tolerance of plants is emphasized.

High levels of 4-methyleneglutamine accumulate in the roots and leaves of Sophora japonica , but no detectable amounts of 4-methyleneglutamic acid and only trace quantities of 2-oxo-4-methyleneglutaric acid are seen. 4-Methylglutamic acid, however, is present in leaves and roots at a level 5–25% of that found for 4-methyleneglutamine; 2-oxo-4-methylglutaric acid is the most abundant keto acid detected in 28-day leaf extracts, but no 4-methylglutamine is seen. Transamination by pig heart glutamate: oxalacetate aminotransferase of the 2-oxo-4-methylglutaric acid that occurs in this species yields erythro -4-methylglutamic acid; the 2-oxo acid, therefore, has the (4 R ) configuration. The 4-methylglutamic acid isolated from this plant is also the erythro isomer and is probably of the (2 S , 4 R ) configuration. This is the first report of the presence of 4-substituted glutamic acids in Sophora and the first instance where high levels of 4-methyleneglutamine are present in the absence of detectable levels of 4-methyleneglutamic acid.

Since hapten inhibition of precipitation is relatively time consuming, we have developed a hapten inhibition of adsorption assay to explore the sugar binding specificity of the Sophora japonica lectin. Adsorbents were prepared with Sephadex and p-aminophenyl beta-D-galactopyranoside using the CNBr procedure. The ability of simple saccharides to inhibit the binding of lectin to the adsorbent was performed employing a fixed amount of adsorption with respect to the logarithm of micromoles of inhibitor yielded sigmoid shaped curves. The quantities of various saccharides required to cause 50% inhibition of the lectin--adsorbent interaction relative to D-galactose were within+/-5% of the relative inhibiting potencies of the sugars in

A new aromatic glycoside, named sophoraside A (1), was isolated from the roots of Sophora japonica, together with puerol A (2) and puerol B (3). The structure of 1 was characterized as puerol B 5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside by its chemical and spectral data. These compounds have new frameworks among the naturally occurring compounds.2 greatly inhibits 3H-ethylketocycloazocine on the receptor-binding assay test.

The total flavonoid content of the flowers, fruits, leaves, and small branches of Sophora japonica L. was determined colorimetrically after addition of 0.lM aqueous aluminum chloride. The total flavonoid and isoflavonoid content of the fruits was determined gravimetrically. Rutin was separated by thin layer chromatography from the different organs, and determined either densitometrically or spectrophotometrically, using a modified elution technique. Rutin was recovered almost completely with an average loss of 2.5%. The percentages of flavonoids and rutin of the flower buds, pericarps, seeds, leaflets, and small branches were 24.29 and 23.5, 10.57 and 4.3, 1.75 and 0.55, 6.63 and 4.7, and 1.5 and 0.26, respectively, while the total flavonoid and isoflavonoid content of the fruits was 43%.

In the previous paper, it was reported that two crystalline compounds, tentatively named B1 and C1, were isolated from Sophora subprostrata in poor yield. In the present wark, two new crystalline compounds were obtained from the roots of Sophora japonica in good yields and named B2 and C2, respectively. The chemical structures of these four compounds were established as follows : B1 : l-Maackiain-mono-β-D-glucoside, C1 : l-pterocarpin, B2 : d-maackiain-mono-β-D-glucoside and C2 : dl-maackiain. B1 seems to be identical with trifolirhizin which was recently reported by J.B. Son Bredenberg et al. B2 is one of the diastereomers of trifolirhizin and so the name sophojaponicin was proposed.

The results of comparative toxicity tests on rutins isolated from Sophora japonica (Papilionaceae) and Fagopyrum esculentum (Polygonaceae) are presented. The acute toxicity of S. japonica rutin when administered intravenously to mice does not differ from that of F. esculentum. The absorption spectra of the two rutins in the ultraviolet are identical.

Rutinose and sophorose were present in hydrolyzates of Sophora japonica pods, and rutinose was present in similar hydrolyzates of the leaves. Neither sophorabiose nor any other oligosaccharides were detected in these hydrolyzates. Similar hydrolyzates of Sophora tetraptera pods and leaves and Sophora microphylla and Sophora prostrata pods contained no oligosaccharides. Enzyme extracts of S. tetraptera pods but not those of S. japonica pods or leaves contained β-glucosidase activity. The method for the isolation of sophorose from S. japonica pods has been modified.

We separated rutin from the blossoms of Sophora japonica L. in the method of hot methyl alcohol extraction and examined its properties. We found that about one third of the dry matter of the blossoms consisted of rutin.

The quantities of active constituents in commercially avaliable Sophora japonica L. (huai-hua) and its processed samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Rutin, quercetin, sophoricoside, sophorabioside and genistein were found. Sophora flower buds (huai-mi) contained a great deal of rutin, while the immature fruits (huai-chiao) contained sophoricoside and sophorabioside. When Sophora flower bud was stir-fried for short periods using low heat, the extracted rate of rutin and quercetin increased slightly, decreasing with longer cooking periods at higher temperatures. When stir-fried with vinegar, it quickly blackened, but when cooked with honey, it changed very little. Immature Sophora fruit, however, exhibits less variation in its active constituents after processing. All huai-hua processed samples give forth a pronounced aroma and could be more easily extracted with water than that of the unprocessed herbs.

SUMMARY Thirty-six species of higher plants were found to contain substances in their fruit or seed extracts, which were heat stable and inhibitory for anti-Lea agglutinin. Both preparations partially fractionated from Sophora japonica and Euonymus Sieboldiana were also slightly inhibitory for anti-Leb agglutinin.

The erythroagglutinating activity of the purified lectin from Sophora japonica seeds appears to be related to the presence of the I antigen. It was found that 10–40 times greater concentrations of lectin was needed to agglutinate A or B adult or cord red blood cells which are relatively deficient in the I antigen than required to agglutinate type A or B adult human erythrocytes possessing the I determinant. The relationship of structures other than the A and B immunodominant residues of blood group substance to the ability of the lectin to react with the substance is demonstrated by the similar and relatively strong interaction of untreated and Smith degraded blood group substances with the lectin. The concept that reactivity of blood group antigens with the S. japonica agglutinin depends upon the presence of either the A or B as well as I determinants is supported by the findings that O erythrocytes are not agglutinated by the lectin and that α-galactosidase degradation of blood group substance causes a decrease in reactivity with the lectin. It is proposed that the S. japonica hemagglutinin preferentially reacts with AI and BI cells due to a higher concentration of reactive groupings (sum of non-reducing terminal 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-α- D -galactosyl and β- D -galactosyl or α- D -galactosyl residues) on I cells.

By following the antihemostatic activity of the material according to Tajima's method, the antihemostatic principle was isolated from dried buds of Sophora japonica L., and identified as isorhamnetin [2-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-trihydroxy-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one]. The antihemostatic specificity of isorhamnetin toward antihemorrhagic compounds isolated previously from hemostatic herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine was examined.

RUTIN (3-rhamnoglucoside of 5,7,3′,4′-tetrahydroxyflavanol) (I), one of the most widespread flavonoids, has been found in numerous plant materials1,2. On the commercial scale for pharmaceutical purposes it is usually manufactured by isolation from stalk and leaves of buck-wheat (Fagopyrum sagittatum)3,4 and from the Japanese pagoda tree (Sophora japonica)5. A chemically pure preparation is then obtained by repeated recrystallization of the crude product.

n/a

Entre las especias del género Sophora cultivadas en la República Argentina, la S. Japónica L. — incluyendo su forma péndula,— ocupa un señalado lugar, en la ornamentación vegetal de nuestra metrópoli. En cambio la S. Tomentosa L., apenas se la conoce para ese objeto, por más que algunos autores, la dan como muy difundida, particularmente, en las ciudades de Buenos Aires y La Plata. Sin embargo, las características botánicas de ambas especies, guardan entre sí límites inconfundibles , para poderlas confundir., Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales

AGGLUTININS acting strongly on suspensions of human group A and B erythrocytes in isotonic saline, and weakly or not at all on those of group O, are present in the seeds of Sophorajaponica 1, Coronilla varia 1, Crotalaria striata 2, and in recently harvested samples of Bandeiraea simplicifolia 3. The agglutinins of Sophora japonica, Coronilla varia and Bandeiraea simplicifolia act more powerfully, and to much higher titres, on B cells than on A cells ; the reverse being true of those of Crotalaria striata.

Since the first report on transformation of Bt gene into Populus nigra was published in 1989, transgenic approaches have been widely used in breeding trees for high tolerance to insects and environmental stresses in China. Notably, field testing of the transgenic poplar with Bt was performed in 1994 and permitted to be commercialized as the first commercialized transgenic tree in the world. Up to now, nearly 50 species have been used as recipients for genetic transformation including poplar, birch, locust tree, walnut, aimed to improve their tolerance to insects and diseases, environmental stresses, prolonged storage lifetime, wood property, flowering time control, etc.. On May 5, 2006, the State Forest Administration (SFA) launched its first regulatory framework on “Management measures on the inspection and permit of forest genetic engineering” taken effect on July 1, 2006. It states that small-scale field testing, environmental release and pilot production test of each transgenic line are required before its permit of commercialization, with each phase must be evaluated by the experts. “A technical guideline on safety evaluation of the transgenic forest plants and their products” was published by SFA on June 4, 2007, which provides a standard procedure for molecular breeders to follow in order to commercialize their transgenic trees. To the year 2010, 128 field trials have been granted by SFA, 84 of which belong to tree species while 44 to grass species. Thirty three of them were granted to transgenic poplars, with tolerance to insects and diseases, drought and salt stresses, altered wood property, etc. , and 25 to locust tree. Transgenic Populus tomentaosa with antisense CCoAOMT (coding for a key enzyme involved in lignin monomer biosynthesis) , transgenic Robinia pseudoacacia with BADH, Sophora japonica with RD29A and P. nigra with Bt are under environmental release testing. The transgenic poplar plantation has increased to 450 hm2 this year since two Bt transgenic poplars were commercialized in 2001 in China. The transgenic poplar plantations have effectively inhibited the fast-spread of target insects and significantly reduced the times of insecticide application on poplar plantation. The transgenic Populus nigra was also used in hybridization with non-transgenic P. deltoides as an insect-resistant source for breeding new hybrid clones.

The dried flowers and buds of Sophora japonica are used as a medicinal herb in China, Japan and Korea to treat bleeding hemorrhoids and hematemesis. This article presents an overview of the effects of Sophora japonica on cerebral infarction based on literature searched from Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Library and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Sophora japonica contains both anti-hemorrhagic and anti-hemostatic substances. Sophora japonica reduces cerebral infarction partly as a result of its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. Previous studies found that Sophora japonica reduced the size of cerebral infarction and neurological deficits and reduced microglial activation, interleukin-1β release and number of apoptotic cells in ischemia-reperfusion injured Sprague-Dawley rats. Further study is required to determine the relationship between Sophora japonica-mediated reduction in cerebral infarction size and the effects of Sophora japonica on platelet aggregation and cardiovascular function.