Characterization of the first chloroplast genome of Dichroa febrifuga and its phylogenetic analysis.

Dichroa febrifuga, seen as a medicinal plant, has a long history in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, we adopted Illumina Hiseq sequencing technology in order to determine the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of D. febrifuga. The cp genome was 157,647 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 86,728 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,675 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,122 bp. The genome encoded 128 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis based on 20 complete cp genome sequences revealed that D. febrifuga was the sister of the ancestor of the reported Hydrangeeae species. The findings of the study will serve as a stepping stone for follow-up researches regarding the development of the D. febrifuga species.

First complete chloroplast genome of the rare medicinal plant Schnabelia tetrodonta.

Schnabelia tetrodonta is a medicinal plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, the molecular biology data of the species was too scarce to bioprospect the medicinal species. In this study, the first complete chloroplast genome (cp) of S. tetrodonta was sequenced and assembled based on the next generation sequencing. The cp genome is 157,004 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 83,605 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 36,899 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 18,250 bp each. The genome encodes 134 genes, including 90 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The GC content of whole genome is 37.80%. The phylogenetic analysis based on 20 complete cp sequences (19 genome sequences from the Teucrioideae of Lamiaceae and an outgroup of Ipomoea purpurea) revealed that S. tetrodonta was closely related to S. oligophylla.

The first complete plastome of Chimonobambusa quadrangularis (Fenzl) Makino: assembly, annotation and phylogenetic analysis.

Chimonobambusa quadrangularis (Fenzl) Makino is one of the 'Square Bamboo' due to its square-shaped culm. However, as an edible bamboo, there is no genomic information reported so far. In this study, we reported and characterized the first plastome of C. quadrangularis based on Illumina Hiseq sequencing. The plastome exhibited a typical angiosperm circular structure, containing four regions: large single-copy region (LSC: 83,125 bp), small single-copy region (SSC: 12,811 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IR: 21,802 bp). The plastome consisted of 139,540 bp in size, with 82 protein-coding genes, 39 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The total nucleotide composition consisted of 30.16% A, 30.97% T, 19.25% C, and 19.63% G. The G + C content of the whole plastome was 38.88%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete plastomes of six species indicated that C. quadrangularis was closed to C. hejiangensis. The plastome is helpful for studying the evolution of beneficial adaptations and developing bioremediation and biomedical science.

Long-term Fertilization Structures Bacterial and Archaeal Communities along Soil Depth Gradient in a Paddy Soil.

Soil microbes provide important ecosystem services. Though the effects of changes in nutrient availability due to fertilization on the soil microbial communities in the topsoil (tilled layer, 0-20 cm) have been extensively explored, the effects on communities and their associations with soil nutrients in the subsoil (below 20 cm) which is rarely impacted by tillage are still unclear. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to investigate bacterial and archaeal communities in a Pup-Calric-Entisol soil treated for 32 years with chemical fertilizer (CF) and CF combined with farmyard manure (CFM), and to reveal links between soil properties and specific bacterial and archaeal taxa in both the top- and subsoil. The results showed that both CF and CFM treatments increased soil organic carbon (SOC), soil moisture (MO) and total nitrogen (TN) while decreased the nitrate_N content through the profile. Fertilizer applications also increased Olsen phosphorus (OP) content in most soil layers. Microbial communities in the topsoil were significantly different from those in subsoil. Compared to the CF treatment, taxa such as Nitrososphaera, Nitrospira, and several members of Acidobacteria in topsoil and Subdivision 3 genera incertae sedis, Leptolinea, and Bellilinea in subsoil were substantially more abundant in CFM. A co-occurrence based network analysis demonstrated that SOC and OP were the most important soil parameters that positively correlated with specific bacterial and archaeal taxa in topsoil and subsoil, respectively. Hydrogenophaga was identified as the keystone genus in the topsoil, while genera Phenylobacterium and Steroidobacter were identified as the keystone taxa in subsoil. The taxa identified above are involved in the decomposition of complex organic compounds and soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus transformations. This study revealed that the spatial variability of soil properties due to long-term fertilization strongly shapes the bacterial and archaeal community composition and their interactions at both high and low taxonomic levels across the whole soil profile.