Mining the chemodiversity of the genus Myrica to reveal bioactive molecules for their medicinal uses

该项目的主要目标是：1。建立对杨梅属植物生物活性成分的新认识。将对基尤的大量植物标本（包括来自不同地理位置的>85个杨梅植物标本馆标本）进行取样和化学分析，以通过绘制空间背景下化学成分的发生图来评估地理或环境或植物部分是否是药用植物化学的决定因素。化学性状在属内和种内（M。salicifolia）进行比较，以确定最合适的杨梅来源（基于化学多样性），以选择用于详细的生物活性研究。2.明确杨梅生物活性分子的分子机制，以解释其目前和潜在的药用价值。在非动物药物遗传学模型Dictyosteelium discoideum中建立的专业知识，将用于提供关于分子机制的独特信息，并使用创新的分子遗传学技术为杨梅提取物的主要成分的目标。将使用直接化学-靶标相互作用的计算机模拟，并通过人蛋白质的异源表达拯救突变体，对已鉴定的分子靶标进行验证。

The main aims of this project are to: 1. Build new understanding of the bioactive components of Myrica species. The extensive plant Collections at Kew (include >85 Myrica Herbarium specimens from different geographic locations) will be sampled and analysed chemically to assess whether geography or environment, or plant part, are determinants of medicinal plant chemistry by mapping the occurrence of chemical constituents in a spatial context. Chemical traits across the genus and intraspecifically (M. salicifolia) will be compared to identify the most suitable Myrica sources (based on chemodiversity) to select for detailed bioactivity studies. 2. Identify molecular mechanism(s) of Myrica bioactive molecules from to explain their current and potential medicinal uses. The established expertise in the non-animal pharmacogenetic model Dictyostelium discoideum, will be employed to provide unique information regarding the molecular mechanisms and targets for the major Myrica extracts constituents using innovative molecular genetic techniques. Identified molecular targets will be validated using in silico modelling of direct chemical-target interactions, and through rescue of mutants by heterologous expression of human proteins.