Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), a plant native to Southeastern Asia, has become a major noxious weed covering millions of hectares in the Southern United States. A kudzu patch displaying virus-like symptoms located in Ackerman, northeastern Mississippi (MS), was used as a source for virus isolation and characterization involving mechanical and vector transmission, ultrastructural observation, surveys, Sanger and high-throughput genome sequencing, and sequence analyses. The results revealed the presence of a new potyvirus in infected kudzu, closely related to wisteria vein mosaic virus (WVMV) and provisionally named kudzu chlorotic ring blotch virus (KudCRBV). Genome features and pairwise comparison with six WVMV genomes currently available in GenBank and three additional isolates from MS sequenced in this work suggest that KudCRBV is likely a member of a new species in the genus Potyvirus. Furthermore, under experimental conditions, KudCRBV was successfully transmitted by cotton and potato aphids and mechanically to soybean and beans. A state-wide survey revealed several kudzu patches infected by the virus in northern MS.

Marble is one of the materials most susceptible to copper leaching, resulting in easily identifiable turquoise stains on the marble. This problem is particularly relevant when we are talking about marble structures of heritage value. For this reason, conservators look for cleaning materials that are specific to the structure to be treated without damaging the original surface. Materials such as agar have been studied for a long time. Agar creates a controlled water release system that adapts to the needs of conservators who seek the greatest possible cleanliness without damaging the material to be treated. To improve the cleaning, chelating agents such as EDTA are added to the agar composition. However, the microbiological growth and the damage it produces to the original material are disadvantages to take into account. In order to solve these problems, other natural materials with cleaning potential such as kudzu and konjac gels were studied in combination with other chelating agents such as citrate, oxalate, and gluconic acid. For the characterization and evaluation of copper cleaning, various analytical techniques were used, including Raman spectroscopy, colorimetry, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In this study, both konjac and kudzu emerged as promising alternatives to agar, revealing distinctive features such as simplified preparation methods and inherent antimicrobial properties. The EDTA chelator was found to be the most harmful for marble surfaces, as it extracted a greater amount of calcium from the marble during application of the gels doped with it. Citrate and gluconic acid have been identified as a promising substitute to prepare doped gels for the removal of copper stains. These compounds exhibit comparable or potentially superior cleaning capabilities than EDTA, with no negative side effects.

BACKGROUND: Pueraria montana var. lobata (kudzu) is an important food and medicinal crop in Asia. However, the phylogenetic relationships between Pueraria montana var. lobata and the other two varieties (P. montana var. thomsonii and P. montana var. montana) remain debated. Although there is increasing evidence showing that P. montana var. lobata adapts to various environments and is an invasive species in America, few studies have systematically investigated the role of the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary patterns of plastomes between P. montana var. lobata and its closely related taxa.
RESULTS: 26 newly sequenced chloroplast genomes of Pueraria accessions resulted in assembled plastomes with sizes ranging from 153,360 bp to 153,551 bp. Each chloroplast genome contained 130 genes, including eight rRNA genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 85 protein-coding genes. For 24 newly sequenced accessions of these three varieties of P. montana, we detected three genes and ten noncoding regions with higher nucleotide diversity (π). After incorporated publically available chloroplast genomes of Pueraria and other legumes, 47 chloroplast genomes were used to construct phylogenetic trees, including seven P. montana var. lobata, 14 P. montana var. thomsonii and six P. montana var. montana. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that P. montana var. lobata and P. montana var. thomsonii formed a clade, while all sampled P. montana var. montana formed another cluster based on cp genomes, LSC, SSC and protein-coding genes. Twenty-six amino acid residues were identified under positive selection with the site model. We also detected six genes (accD, ndhB, ndhC, rpl2, rpoC2, and rps2) that account for among-site variation in selective constraint under the clade model between accessions of the Pueraria montana var. lobata clade and the Pueraria montana var. montana clade.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide novel comparative plastid genomic insights into conservative gene content and structure of cp genomes pertaining to P. montana var. lobata and the other two varieties, and reveal an important phylogenetic clue and plastid divergence among related taxa of P. montana come from loci that own moderate variation and underwent modest selection.

Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) is an important medicinal plant, which can associate with rhizobia for nitrogen fixation. The mutualistic symbiosis between rhizobium and kudzu is not well understood, but it is necessary to fully utilize kudzu. Nodules and rhizosphere soils collected from 16 sampling sites were characterized based on phylogenetic analyses of the rpoB gene; 16S rRNA gene; the housekeeping genes SMc00019, truA, and thrA; and the symbiotic genes nodA and nifH. The relationships between biogeographic pattern, nitrogenase activity, and environmental factors were studied. Results indicated that a clear biogeographic pattern of rhizobial communities in the kudzu rhizosphere existed in southern China; latitude and soil pH were found to be the most important factors affecting the biogeographic pattern. Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens and Bradyrhizobium erythrophlei were the dominant species in kudzu rhizosphere. The symbiotic rhizobia in kudzu nodules mainly belonged to B. lablabi, B. elkanii, B. pachyrhizi, and B. japonicum. Nitrogenase activities in the nodules of kudzu in the Jiangxi sampling region were significantly higher than those in the Guangxi and Hunan sampling regions, and they were significantly negatively correlated to pH and exchangeable Ca. These results constitute the first report of the existence of symbiotic genes in kudzu bradyrhizobia, which are similar to those in B. elkanii and B. pachyrhizi. Our findings could improve the understanding of kudzu-rhizobium symbiosis and could advance the application of rhizobial inoculation in medicinal legumes in terms of increasing the content of active ingredients.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common pathology among aging men. Despite the broad pharmacological interventions, the available remedies to treat BPH are yet not devoid of side effects. Herbal compounds are suggested to be an alternative option for the BPH treatment. In our study, we evaluated the effect of kudzu isoflavones and astaxanthin on the BPH animal model. The animals were randomly divided into five groups: control; testosterone-induced BPH group; and three BPH-induced groups, which received intragastrically for 28 days finasteride (5 mg/kg) as a positive control, isoflavones (200 mg/kg), and astaxanthin (25 mg/kg). BPH was induced by castration of animals and subsequent subcutaneous injections of prolonged testosterone (25 mg/kg). Prostate index and histology, biochemical parameters, and antioxidant activity were evaluated. A significant decrease in prostate weight, immunohistochemical markers, and normalization of prostate Ca/Mg ratio was found in all treatment groups. Astaxanthin treatment also resulted in decreased epithelial proliferation and normalized superoxide dismutase activity. In conclusion, both isoflavones and astaxanthin inhibited BPH development at a level comparable to finasteride in terms of prostate weight, prostatic epithelium proliferation, and prostate tissue cumulative histology score. These results suggest that isoflavones and especially astaxanthin could serve as a potential alternative therapy to treat BHP.

The thermal inactivation kinetics of kudzu (Pueraria lobata) polyphenol oxidase (PPO) were investigated in model and food systems. PPO in kudzu tissue (tPPO) showed a higher thermostability than that of PPO in crude extract (cPPO) and purification fractions (pPPO). The PPO inactivation rate constant (k) increased with an increase in temperature, and tPPO showed the lowest k value, followed by that of cPPO and pPPO at the same temperature, indicating that PPO in the food system was more resistant to thermal treatment. Food constituents (pectin, starch, sucrose, and bovine serum albumin) in the food system decreased the activity of PPO but increased the thermostability of PPO, among which pectin exhibited the strongest protective effect against thermal inactivation, and the influence of sucrose was much slighter than that of other macromolecules. Fluorescence emission spectra indicated that pPPO exhibited stronger interactions with pectin than sucrose, and pPPO with pectin showed a more stable conformation under thermal treatment.

Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi is an essential traditional oriental medicine with therapeutic effects. In this study, we assembled the complete chloroplast genome of P. lobata. The total genome size was 153,442 bp in length, containing a large single-copy (LSC) region of 84,162 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) of 17,998 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 25,641 bp, and possessing 35.41% GC content. In addition, the whole chloroplast genome encodes a total of 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic tree analysis of 48 species in the family Papilionoideae of Leguminosae indicated that P. lobata was belong to Papilionoideae and closely related to the genus, Pachyrhizus, Vigna and Phaseolus.

Pueraria species are listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia and are being used for the treatment of various health ailments and in protecting health. Puerarin, a chemotaxonomic marker of Pueraria, received investigational drug status for the treatment of alcohol abuse and listed in DRUGBANK database. The purpose of this review is to provide insights on health benefits of Pueraria, its bioactive constituents and molecular mechanisms. The information is retrieved from various databases. The most investigated plant part is tuber and the major bioactive constituents are isoflavones. The Pueraria is reported to possess a lots of health benefits on brain, liver, heart, kidney, bone, stomach, muscle, skin, and reproductive system. Pueraria also shown beneficial effects in postmenopausal women. In this review, the scientific information on Pueraria reported until May 2020 were analysed and summarized logically to appreciate its health benefits and to identify research gaps.

This research study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of kudzu leaf meal (KLM) and alfalfa meal (AM) on broiler performance, carcass characteristics, and organ parameters. Kudzu leaf meal and AM were added at rates of 6% and 7.3%, respectively, to a complete broiler starter diet. Three treatments (control (complete broiler starter diet), KLM supplementation; and AM supplementation) with four replicates were fed to 217 male broilers over a 21 d battery cage grow out. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design with battery cage representing the experimental unit. Birds on KLM and AM had a lower average body weight, lower cumulative feed consumption, and a higher adjusted feed conversion than control (p < 0.05). Additionally, there were observed treatment effects on whole breast weight (p = 0.0010), with control being higher than both treated diets. Minimal treatment effects were observed for organ parameters. Furthermore, there were no observed treatment differences for mortality (p > 0.05). Although broilers on KLM did not perform as well as those in the control group, these results are indicative that kudzu is safe to use in poultry production and has a high potential as a protein supplement in tropical regions with a low availability of commercial protein feedstuffs.

Gegen (Radix Puerariae Lobatae), the root of Pueraria lobata, is an edible and medicinal herb which has been used in treating diabetic symptoms in the orient for thousands of years. We present an evidence map of the efficacy and safety of Gegen and Gegen formulas (GGFs) that use Gegen as an essential herb for diabetes, and also its mechanism of actions. We comprehensively searched the ancient medical records to identify empirical evidence; conducted a systematic review (SR) based on moderate- to high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to synthesize the clinical evidence; and reviewed the possible mechanisms of its antidiabetic effects. Empirical application of Gegen in treating diabetic symptoms dated back to more than 2000 years ago. Common herbs used in RCTs that accompany with Gegen included Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae, Radix et Rhizoma Ginseng, Rhizoma Dioscoreae, Poria, and Radix Ophiopogonis. The combinations used today are consistent with their usage in ancient times. Results of the SR showed that GGFs could benefit patients with type 2 diabetes for blood glucose control. When in combination with hypoglycemic agents or insulin, GGFs enhanced the glucose-lowering effect as well as the lipid-lowering effects. Also, the incidence and the risk of adverse events (AE), especially the hypoglycemic episodes, were lower in the combination group. No serious or life-threatening AE was reported. The experimental evidence presented that Gegen and GGFs might exert and enhance the anti-diabetic effects through activation of multiple mechanisms, such as reducing insulin resistance, increasing insulin release, inhibiting glucose absorption and reabsorption, and improving insulin sensitivity, glucose uptake, and metabolism.