BACKGROUND Litter decomposition greatly influences soil structure, nutrient content and carbon sequestration, but how litter decomposition is affected by climate change is still not well understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A field experiment with increased temperature and nitrogen (N) addition was established in April 2007 to examine the effects of experimental warming, N addition and ...

Global warming and nitrogen (N) deposition have an important influence on terrestrial ecosystems; however, the influence of warming and N deposition on plant photosynthetic products and nutrient cycling in plants is not well understood. We examined the effects of 3 years of warming and N addition on the plant photosynthetic products, foliar chemistry and stoichiometric ratios of two dominant sp...

Schizandra chinensis fruit has long been used for the treatment of cardiovascular symptoms associated especially with menopausal symptoms in Korea. To provide a scientific rationale for such uses, we have investigated the vasorelaxant effects of Schizandra chinensis fruit on the vasomotor tone of the rat thoracic aorta in an organ bath. The crude extracts of Schizandra chinensis fruit (SC-Ex) e...

AIM: To identify the chemical constituents in Cuscuta Chinensis. METHODS: A High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method combined with quadrupole-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) has been developed for precise separation and structural identification of components in Cuscuta Chinensis. Mass spectrometry was performed in reflective time-of-flight using electron spraying ionizat...

Salacia chinensis plant extract evaluated the effect of isoproterenol induced myocardial infarction in rats. Myocardial infarction was induced by isoproterenol in adult male rats, as a single intraperitoned injection at a dose of 150mg/ kg body weight / the induced myocardial infarction in rats were pre-treated by salacia chinensis (300mg / kg body weight / day oral) in aqueous solution orally ...

Eucryptorrhynchus chinensis Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the most important pests of Ailanthus altissima; however, so far, no studies on the genome or transcriptome of E. chinensis have been reported. Using the Roche 454 FLX Titanium platform, an RNA pool obtained from E. chinensis eggs, larva, pupae, and adults was sequenced and assembled de novo to achieve maximum diversity o...

Investigations have been carried out on the relative preference of U. mukerjii to four common species viz., C. maculatus, C. analis, C. chinensis and Zabrotes subfasciatus of store bruchids. Results show correspondence between the acceptance/contact ratio and the total number of eggs laid by the parasitoid for Callosobruchus species. U. mukerjii shows maximum preference on C. maculatus followed...

Leymus chinensis has extensive ecological adaptability and can grow well in saline-alkaline soils. The knowledge about tolerance mechanisms of L. chinensis could be base for utilization of saline-alkaline soils and grassland restoration and rebuilding. Two neutral salts (NaCl : Na₂SO₄ = 9 : 1) and two alkaline salts (NaHCO₃ : Na₂CO₃ = 9 : 1) with concentration of 0, 100, and 200 mmol/L were use...

Bioassay was conducted to determine the susceptibility level of the adults of Callosobruchus chinensis, Sitophilus granarius and Tribolium casteneum against four BT isolates (1i, 27s, 27f and HD73) where mortality effects were counted from 24 to 192 hours (8 days) at 24 hours of intervals. All strains of BT were highly active against C. chinensis and the LC50 were found to be 0.30, 0.73, 0.62 a...

Many diseases occur when the immune system is weakened. Intracellular signals activate immuno-responsive cells to produce cytokines that modulate the immune response. Schisandra chinensis has been used traditionally to treat general fatigue, neurasthenia, and spontaneous sweating. In the present study, the effect of constituents of S. chinensis on cytokine release by human monocytic leukemia ce...