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The wetland ecosystem and its driving mechanism are significance impact on the ecological environment and the sustainable development of semi-arid regional economy. Agricultural and industrial land use/land cover change (LUCC) is also important for wetland system. The Daihai wetland (DW) in Inner Mongolia has been suffering from severe environmental problems such as water resource shortages and wetland areas decrease. We analyzed spatiotemporal LUCC at the catchment scale of Daihai Lake, which has recently exhibited a dramatic loss of water area, and investigated the potential role of climatic changes and human activities in the wetland loss. From 1976 to 2015, the arable land and construction land increased by 71.72 and 15.81 km2, with ranges of 18.72% and 39.61%, respectively. Meanwhile, the wetland area decreased by 84.47 km2, accounting for 29.07% of the area in 1976. From 1960 to 2015, the area of Daihai Lake decreased by 100.73 km2, diminishing to 37.09% of the area in 1960, and the lake storage accordingly shrank from 12.9 × 108 to approximately 3.9 × 108 m3. The lake level also rapidly declined. From 1962 to 2014, the lake water mineralization, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) increased by 2410, 7.86, and 0.182 mg L−1, respectively. The pollution sources included not only mineral fertilizers and pesticides, but also livestock, poultry breeding, aquaculture, and rural household waste. The lake area decreased with increasing agricultural development, Daihai power plant (DHPP) water consumption, and catchment climatic dryness. Thus, the urgent implementation of effective restoration and mitigation measures are needed.

(±)-Dimercochlearlactones A-J (

(±)-Dispirocochlearoids A-C (1-3), meroterpenoids with a 6/6/5/6/6/6 ring system, were isolated from Ganoderma cochlear. 1-3 are selective COX-2 inhibitors with an IC50 value of (-)-2 at 386 nM. Site-directed mutagenesis identified His351 as a COX-2 active site. In vivo anti-inflammatory activities of (-)-2 were performed against acute lung injury in mice.

Ganoderma mushrooms are not only traditional Chinese medicine, but also dietary supplements and functional foods worldwide. In this work, six new meroterpenoids, ganodercins A − F (2, 3, and 6–9), and three known compounds ganomycin C (1), cochlearin I (4), and fornicin D (5) were isolated from Ganoderma mushrooms. An approach characteristic of the chemical shift for H-8 to assign the geometry of meroterpenoids was developed and successfully used for structure revisions of 1, 5, and previous analogues. Biological evaluation found that 4 selectively inhibits Smad3 phosphorylation in TGF-β1-induced NRK-52E cells. Moreover, 1 and 7 could increase glucose uptake in a dose dependent manner in palmitic acid induced C2C12 cells. Further, 1 was found to activate AMPKα(Thr-172) and AKT(Ser-473) phosphorylation, while 7 could activate AKT(Ser-473) phosphorylation. This study demonstrates the potential of Ganoderma to be developed as new anti-renal fibrosis and improve insulin resistance functional food and medicine.

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is an inherited, lethal ventricular arrhythmia triggered by catecholamines. Mutations in genes that encode cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) and proteins that regulate RyR2 activity cause enhanced diastolic Ca

Five undescribed benzopyran containing meroterpenoids, ganodercins Q－U, two undescribed benzofuran containing meroterpenoids, ganodercins V and W, and two known meroterpenoids were isolated from Ganoderma cochlear. Their structures were elucidated by using HRESIMS, NMR spectroscopy and computational methods. The results of biochemical studies using a palmitic acid (PA) induced insulin resistance (IR) model show that (-)-ganodercin Q, (+)-ganodercins R and W activate phospho-AKT (p-AKT) at 20 μM and improve glucose uptake in a concentration dependent manner. The results of renoprotection studies show that (+)-ganodercin S, cochlearol F, (+)- and (-)-ganodercins V reduce the expression of collagen I.

(+)- and (−)-gancochlearols A (1) and B (2), two pairs of dimeric mertoterpenoid enantiomers were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma cochlear. Their structures were identified by spectr...

Five new terpenoids including one new abietane diterpenoid (1), one new aromadendrane diterpenoid (6), two new norsesquiterpenoids (8 and 9), and a new cembrane-derived diterpenoid (12), together with seven known compounds were isolated from Populus euphratica resins. The structures of these new compounds, including their absolute configurations, were characterized by spectroscopic and computational methods. All the compounds except 8 were test for their neuroprotective activities. The result revealed that compounds 1, 7, and 10-12 display neuroprotective activities in glutamate-induced SH-SY5Y cells in a concentration-dependent manner.

Choushenpilosulynes D-G (

Choushenpilosulynes D–G (1-4): four new polyynes were isolated from the roots of Codonopsis pilosula (Campanulaceae) cultivated in Yunnan province, China. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic methods. Bioactive evaluation showed that choushenpilosulynes E (2) and F (3) demonstrated potent inhibitory effect on lipid formation induced by 100 μM oleic acid stimulation. In addition, choushenpilosulyne F (3) uncovered inhibitory activity against the expression of human 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) and squalene monooxygenase (SQLE) gene transcript in HepG2 cells.

Shifts in precipitation regimes have been given increased attention along with climate trends in the arid and semiarid Mongolian Plateau (MP), because precipitation is the dominant factor that controls vegetation growth and land-use practices in the region. However, the temporal variability and spatial heterogeneity of decadal trends in summer precipitation fraction have not been well understood. In this study, the temporal variability and spatial heterogeneity of annual and summer precipitation change were investigated with the major focus on the summer precipitation fraction across the entire MP, using monthly precipitation data from 141 meteorological stations and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation data. The Mann–Kendall trend test, Sen’s regression, and Spatial Analyst methods were used for time series analysis. Results show that the regional summer precipitation fraction declined significantly at a rate of − 1.0%/decade (p

(+)- and (−)-Spirocochlealactones A–C (1–3), three pairs of new spiro meroterpenoidal dimeric enantiomers together with one known compound ganodilactone (4), were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma cochlear. Their structures including absolute configurations were assigned by using spectroscopic methods and ECD calculations. All the isolated compounds were tested for their COX-2 inhibitory and cytotoxic activities toward human cancer lines (A549, K562, and Huh-7). The results show that all the compounds could inhibit COX-2 with IC50 values in the range of 1.29 to 3.63 μM. In addition, (+)-spirocochlealactone A and (+)-ganodilactone were found to be moderate activities against human cancer cell line A549 with the IC50 values of 7.14 and 9.47 μM, respectively.

Belamchinanes A-D (1-4), four triterpenoids with an unprecedented skeleton, were isolated from the seeds of Belamcanda chinensis and fully characterized. The structures of belamchinanes feature a 4/6/6/6/5 polycyclic system in which a four-membered carbocyclic ring bridges the C-1 and C-11 positions of a classical triterpenoid framework. A plausible pathway for the biosynthesis of 1-4 is proposed. Biological studies reveal that 1-4 dose-dependently protect age-related renal fibrosis in vitro .

Precipitation is the dominant factor that controls vegetation growth and land-use practices in the arid and semiarid Mongolian Plateau (MP), so the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of precipitation change has been an important scientific question in the region. This study investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics of annual and seasonal precipitation across the entire MP based on monthly precipitation data from 136 meteorological stations during 1961–2014 by using a modified Mann–Kendall test, Sen’s slope, Morlet Wavelet Transform, and geostatistical methods. Results show the following: 1) Annual precipitation decreased slightly from 1961 to 2014. Stations with positive and negative trends were 41.9% and 58.1%, respectively. Significant positive trends were mainly in the southwestern and northeastern regions of the plateau, whereas significant negative trends were in the northern and southeastern regions. 2) Precipitation decreased at rates of −5.65 and −0.41 mm/decade in summer and autumn, respectively, but increased at 1.91 and 0.51 mm/decade in spring and winter. The contribution of spring and winter precipitation to the annual amount increased significantly, but that of summer precipitation decreased significantly. 3) A large majority of stations (80.2%) showed decreasing trends in summer, whereas 89.7% and 83.1% of stations showed increasing trends in spring and winter. The spatial distribution of trend magnitude in seasonal precipitation amount was strongly heterogeneous. 4) By climatic zones, precipitation increased in humid and arid zones, but decreased in a semiarid zone. On the whole, the MP experienced a drying trend, with significant regional differentiation and seasonal variations.

Five pairs of meroterpenoid enantiomers, (±)-gancochlearols J − N (1–5), were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma cochlear. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS data. The absolute configurations of gancochlearols J − M (1–4) were assigned by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Biological evaluation showed that (–)-1 and (–)-2 could inhibit renal fibrosis in TGF-β1-induced rat kidney proximal tubular cells (NRK-52e).

Two new mertoterpenoids, australins A (

Populusone (1), a cembrane-type macrocyclic trinorditerpenoid, was isolated from the exudates of Populus euphratica and shown to have an unprecedented carbon skeleton, The structure was identified using spectroscopic methods and X-ray crystallography. A possible pathway for the biosynthesis of 1 was proposed. Populusone (10 μM) was found to promote proliferation and differentiation of umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells into keratinocyte like cells.

Six new meroterpenoids, australeols A−F (1–6), together with nineteen known compounds (7–25), were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma australe. Their structures including absolute configurations were assigned by using spectroscopic methods, CD comparison, and X-ray crystallography analysis. Biological evaluation reveals that compounds 13, (–)-19, and 23 exhibit potent neuroprotective activities in glutamate-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells.

(+)- and (-)-gancochlearols A (

Seven new meroterpenoids, lucidumones B-H (1 and 3-8), along with one known meroterpenoid (2), were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum. The structures of the new compounds were assigned by spectroscopic and computational methods. All the isolated compounds were tested for their inhibition on human cancer cell migration. It was found that compounds (-)-1, (+)-2, (-)-4, (+)-6, and (+)-8 could significantly inhibit cell migration in KYSE30 cell line. Further examination disclosed that cell migration inhibition of (+)-6 and (+)-8 might be related with downregulation of N-cadherin.

Five new meroterpenoids, gancochlearols E − I (1, 3–6), and one compound ganomycin K (2) were isolated from the fruiting bodies of G. cochlear. Their structures were assigned by 1D and 2D NMR, MS, and CD analysis. Rh2(OCOCF3)4-induced ECD method was used to clarify the absolute configuration of secondary alcohol in 1 and 2. Biochemical evaluation showed that all the isolates significantly inhibit COX-2 enzyme in vitro with the IC50 values range from 1.03 μM to 2.71 μM. Further cellular assay revealed that (+)-3 and (−)-6 could suppress metastatic phenotype of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells via impeding the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Two structurally novel meroterpenoids, ganodermaones A (1) and B (2), were isolated from Ganoderma fungi (G. cochlear and G. lucidum). The structures of 1 and 2 were assigned by spectroscopic, computational, and X-ray diffraction methods. Compounds 1 and 2 represent the first examples of meroterpenoids in Ganoderma fungal species featuring with carbon migration. The plausible biosynthetic pathway for 1 was proposed. Biological evaluation showed that both 1 and 2 could inhibit renal fibrosis in TGF-β1-induced kidney proximal tubular cells.

(±)-Petchilactones A-C (1-3), three pairs of enantiomeric meroterpenoids respectively with a 6/6/5/5 or a 5/5/5/7/6 ring system were isolated from Ganoderma petchii. Their structures including absolute configurations were assigned by using spectroscopic, computational, and X-ray diffraction methods. Compounds 1 and 2 represent a new skeletal meroterpenoid. Biological evaluation found that (-)-1 and (-)-3 could induce umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into keratinocyte-like cells.

Seven new compounds including three pairs of enantiomeric xanthine analogues (1–3), a pair of enantiomeric hypoxanthine analogue (4), and three pairs of enantiomeric N-acetyldopamine dimers (6–8), together with a known one (5) were isolated from the insect Cyclopelta parva. Their structures including absolute configurations were assigned by using spectroscopic and computational methods. Chiral HPLC was used to separate racemic 1–8. Biological evaluation found that 6b and 7a are potent COX-2 inhibitory agents with IC50 values at 385.2 nM and 868.8 nM respectively.

Three pairs of meroterpenoids (±) cochlearoids N-P (1-3) were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma cochlear. Their structures including absolute configurations were assigned by spectroscopic techniques. All the isolated compounds were tested for their inhibitory activities toward BRD4, human cancer cells, and micro-organisms. The results show that the enantiomers of (±)-1 are BRD4 inhibitors, (-)-1 and (+)-3 are cytotoxic against human cancer cells (K562) with IC

Seven compounds, including two pairs of new meroterpenoids, (+)- and (&minus, )-gancochlearol C (1), (+)- and (&minus, )-cochlearoid Q (3), and a new meroterpenoid gancochlearol D (2), together with four known meroterpenoids were isolated from the aqueous EtOH extract of the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma cochlear. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against three human lung cancer cells (H1975, PC9, A549) and N-acetyltransferase inhibitory property. The results show that (+)-gancochlearol C could inhibit N-acetyltransferase with an IC50 value of 5.29 &mu, M. In addition, ganomycin F was found to show moderate activity against the H1975 human lung cancer cell line, with an IC50 value of 19.47 &mu, M.

Seven compounds, including two pairs of new meroterpenoids, (+)- and (−)-gancochlearol C (1), (+)- and (−)-cochlearoid Q (3), and a new meroterpenoid gancochlearol D (2), together with four known meroterpenoids were isolated from the aqueous EtOH extract of the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma cochlear. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against three human lung cancer cells (H1975, PC9, A549) and N-acetyltransferase inhibitory property. The results show that (+)-gancochlearol C could inhibit N-acetyltransferase with an IC50 value of 5.29 μM. In addition, ganomycin F was found to show moderate activity against the H1975 human lung cancer cell line, with an IC50 value of 19.47 μM.

Choushenflavonoids A (1) and B (2), two unusual proline-containing catechin glucosides, were isolated from the roots of Codonopsis pilosula cultivated in a high-altitude location of Yunnan province. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data and chemical methods. Specifically, the absolute configuration of glucose residue in 1 and 2 was assigned by acid hydrolysis followed by derivatization and gas chromatography (GC) analysis. In addition, biological evaluation of 1 and 2 against Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) was carried out.

Choushenosides A-C, three dimeric catechin glucosides, were isolated from the roots of Codonopsis pilosula cultivated at high elevations in Yunnan province of the People's Republic of China. The structures of these substances were determined by using spectroscopic and chemical methods. Biological evaluation showed that choushenoside C is a dose-dependent inhibitor of SIRT1.

Annual mean NDVI of different Vegetation types during growing season are extracted from MODIS 8-day composite 500m reflectivity data in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2011 to analyze vegetation dynamic change and its spatial variation trends. It is shown that annual mean NDVI of different vegetation types has a slight upward trend during the past 12 years and the overall vegetation cover increases slightly. Area of improved vegetation is larger than degradated area and one third area basically no vegetation change, spatial pattern of vegetation cover change shows evident differences between regions.

Three new polyynes, named choushenpilosulynes A–C (1–3), were isolated from an 85% aqueous EtOH extract of the roots of Codonopsis pilosula cultivated in Xundian County of Yunnan province, China. Their structures, including the absolute configuration of the glucose residue in 1 and 2, were determined by spectroscopic analysis and gas chromatography (GC). In addition, biological evaluation shows that all the compounds can inhibit the expression of the squalene monooxygenase (SQLE) gene in HepG2 cells, suggesting that these compounds may be involved in lipid metabolism.

Cochlearoids L (1) and M (2), two new meroterpenoids and three known ones, were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma cochlear. The new structures were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical methods. Biological evaluation showed that 1 could inhibit bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) with IC50 value of 68.7 μM. Besides, 1 was found to have weak cytotoxic activities against three human cell lines (A549, K562, Huh-7) with IC50 values in the range of 39.6–190.0 μM.

Two new compounds, pilosuloside A (1) and pilosulain A (2), one new natural occurring compound (3), and twelve known compounds (4-15), were isolated from the roots of Codonopsis pilosula. Their structures were elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic methods. Regulation of SIRT1 activity by all the compounds was evaluated. The results showed that 4 could activate SIRT1 in a concentration-dependent manner.