Zhisheng Xie,Xinjun Xu,Chunyan Xie,Zhikun Liang,Mei Yang,Jieyun Huang,Depo Yang
Tetrandrine and fangchinoline were successfully separated by reversed-phase flash chromatography on a manually-packed C18 column from Radix Stephania tetrandra. After recrystallization by acetone, 13 mg of fangchinoline and 21 mg of tetrandrine were obtained from 100 mg Stephania tetrandra extract, with their relative content 98.78% and 98.19%, respectively. Their structures were characterized by UV, IR, MS, and NMR. The established method was simple, fast, and reproducible, which can be applied to the preparation of reference substances of tetrandrine and fangchinoline.
Meilin Li,Cuilin Huang,Liya Xiong,Xiao Yang,Charles A. Powell,Ronghui Wen,Muqing Zhang
Sugarcane leaf scald, caused by Xanthomonas albilineans , is a significant bacterial disease that poses a substantial threat to global sugar production. The quorum-sensing (QS) system in X. albilineans presents a promising target for anti-virulence strategies. Here, we demonstrate that penicillic acid exhibits potent antibacterial activity against X. albilineans , with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 6 μg/mL and an effective concentration for 50 % inhibition (EC₅₀) of 3.703 μg/mL. Transcriptome analysis, molecular docking, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) confirmed that penicillic acid competitively binds the sensory histidine kinase RpfC, disrupting DSF-mediated QS signaling. At sub-inhibitory concentrations (½ MIC), penicillic acid significantly suppressed twitching, swimming, and swarming motility by downregulating genes associated with type IV pili, flagellar assembly, and chemotaxis. At full MIC, direct binding of penicillic acid to the FlgE and CheW proteins further impaired motility. These findings elucidate the molecular mechanism of penicillic acid and support its potential as a quorum-sensing inhibitor for biocontrol of sugarcane leaf scald.