Papers by Author: Fang Wang

Abstract: Rosmarinic acid, a polyphenol-containing hydroxy acid, is believed to have many activities, such as anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, immune regulation, anti-thrombosis generation, anti-baterial, anti-virus and anti-depressants. It is used commercially for food preservation. Here we report that rosmarinic acid extended the lifespan of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) under normal culture conditions (25°C) and under thermal stress (35°C). C. elegans dieted rosmarinic acid with final concentration 50mg / L and 100mg / L under two kind of conditions were shown to have extended lifespan compared to the control without rosmarinic acid uptake. Furthermore, the rosmarinic acid with final concentration 50mg/L had more obvious longevity-extending effect. The precise mechanism (s) responsible for this remains to be identified. To study the anti-senescence molecular mechanism of rosmarinic acid, semi-quantitative RT-PCR was used to analyze the expression of aging-associated genes such as daf-16 and heat shock protein 16.2 (hsp-16.2). As a result, the expression of aging-associated genes was up-regulated. This study suggested that rosmarinic acid significantly extends the lifespan of C. elegans through up-regulating some genes' expression such as daf-16 and hsp-16.2 which will provide important reference for antiaging research of rosmarinic acid.

Abstract: A japonica restorer line (named m119) with extremely high protein content was bred successfully, whose protein content (wet base) reached 13.30%±0.19% in brown rice. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the proportion of glutelin to total protein content increased to 71.77% in m119 compared with CK. The fracture of m119 grain was rough compared with CK, which might bring about negative influence to cooking and eating quality. However, there was no significant difference of endosperm cell in size, shape and distribution compared with CK. The increase of protein content in brown rice was neither proportion nor synchronization; The axis of japonica rice grain was nearly at the center and close to the ventral part of the grain fracture observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, which was associated with the distribution of vascular bundles transporting nutrition to the grain. The proportion of smooth to rough surface in soaked grain fracture had certain correlation with protein content and cooking and eating quality.