[Community structure and leaf trait diversity in a vulnerable species, Phoebe chekiangensis (Lauraceae).] / æ¸å±æ¤ç‰©æµ™æ±Ÿæ¥ ç¾¤è½ç»“æž„åŠå¶ç‰‡æ€§çŠ¶å¤šæ ·æ€§.

Phoebe chekiangensis, as one original species of 'Nanmu with golden tint', harbors limited natural distribution regions, which is recognized as a vulnerable species in China under nationwide protection. Under the background of global climate change, it is of scientific significance to study the community structure and diversity of the natural populations of P. chekiangensis. In this study, community structure, species diversity and the phenotypic variation leaf traits in the communities of thirteen residue natural populations were analyzed. A total of 235 vascular species from 162 genera and 87 families were found in 16 plots within 13 natural populations, including 221 seed plants from 151 genera and 79 families. The species diversity in tree layer of community in Kaihua, Zhejiang and Linan, Zhejiang was significantly lower than that of other communities due to severe disturbance, while intermediate disturbance promoted the species diversity of shrub layer in community in Jianning, Fujian, and slight disturbance was beneficial to natural regeneration of P. chekiangensis. Foliage phenotype was important for species identification within Phoebe genus. There existed substantial variation in foliage phenotypic diversity among and within populations. The mean coefficient of variation was 17.2%, ranging from 10.4% to 27.5%. The variation was greater among populations (53.6%) than within populations (17.0%). Mean phenotypic differentiation coefficient was 75.1% among populations, indicating that the variance among populations was the main source for the phenotypic variation of the species. Results from the cluster analysis indicated that the 13 natural populations were divided into two distinct groups based on the Euclidean distance (10 cm), with stochastic variation.

Molecular Characterization of SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) Gene Family in Betula luminifera.

As a major family of plant-specific transcription factors, SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) genes play vital regulatory roles in plant growth, development and stress responses. In this study, 18 SPL genes were identified and cloned from Betula luminifera. Two zinc finger-like structures and a nuclear location signal (NLS) segments were existed in the SBP domains of all BlSPLs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these genes were clustered into nine groups (group I-IX). The intron/exon structure and motif composition were highly conserved within the same group. 12 of the 18 BlSPLs were experimentally verified as the targets of miR156, and two cleavage sites were detected in these miR156-targeted BlSPL genes. Many putative cis-elements, associated with light, stresses and phytohormones response, were identified in the promoter regions of BlSPLs, suggesting that BlSPL genes are probably involved in important physiological processes and developmental events. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that miR156-targeted BlSPLs exhibited a more differential expression pattern, while most miR156-nontargeted BlSPLs tended to be constitutively expressed, suggesting the distinct roles of miR156-targeted and nontargeted BlSPLs in development and growth of B. luminifera. Further expression analysis revealed that miR156-targeted BlSPLs were dramatically up-regulated with age, whereas mature BlmiR156 level was apparently declined with age, indicating that miR156/SPL module plays important roles in vegetative phase change of B. luminifera. Moreover, yeast two-hybrid assay indicated that several miR156-targeted and nontargeted BlSPLs could interact with two DELLA proteins (BlRGA and BlRGL), which suggests that certain BlSPLs take part in the GA regulated processes through protein interaction with DELLA proteins. All these results provide an important basis for further exploring the biological functions of BlSPLs in B. luminifera.

[Expression analysis of miR164 and its target gene NAC1 in response to low nitrate availability in Betula luminifera].

Nitrogen, an essential macronutrient for the growth and development of plants, affects above- ground biomass accumulation dramatically. Thus, it is very important to reveal the molecular mechanisms of how plants resist or adapt to low nitrogen availability. The NAC1(NAM, ATAF, CUC 1) gene, located in the upstream regulatory network, has been reported to resist low nitrogen by regulating expression of key downstream genes and thus root growth in (Populus tremula × alba).In this study, we detected the responses of miR164 and its target gene NAC1 under nitrate-starvation condition using the Betula luminifera somaclones G49-3 as material. The NAC1 gene which contains 1497 bp sequence, encodes 358 amino acids and contains a highly conserved NAM domain at N terminal was cloned by the RACE method. The NAC1 was then validated to be the target gene of miR164 via 5'-RACE, and the cleavage site was between the 10(th) and 11(th) base. The expression patterns of miR164 and its target gene NAC1 were further detected under nitrate-starvation condition through qRT-PCR analysis. The results showed that miR164 expression was repressed by nitrate-starvation at the beginning of the treatment (4 d) and then ascended. However, the expression pattern of miR164 in roots was different from that in shoots and leaves. Moreover, the expression levels of target gene NAC1 and miR164 were negatively correlated. The expression level of miR164 in root was increased while that of NAC1 was decreased under Re treatment, which indicated that miR164 and its target gene NAC1 play a regulatory role in response to low nitrate availability. The findings of our study may help elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which miR164 regulates target gene NAC1 at post-transcriptional level, and provide valuable information for further study of the regulatory roles of miR164-NAC1 under nitrate-starvation condition.

De novo characterization of the Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) transcriptome and analysis of candidate genes involved in cellulose and lignin biosynthesis.

BACKGROUND: Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) is an important timber species that accounts for 20-30% of the total commercial timber production in China. However, the available genomic information of Chinese fir is limited, and this severely encumbers functional genomic analysis and molecular breeding in Chinese fir. Recently, major advances in transcriptome sequencing have provided fast and cost-effective approaches to generate large expression datasets that have proven to be powerful tools to profile the transcriptomes of non-model organisms with undetermined genomes. RESULTS: In this study, the transcriptomes of nine tissues from Chinese fir were analyzed using the Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 sequencing platform. Approximately 40 million paired-end reads were obtained, generating 3.62 gigabase pairs of sequencing data. These reads were assembled into 83,248 unique sequences (i.e. Unigenes) with an average length of 449 bp, amounting to 37.40 Mb. A total of 73,779 Unigenes were supported by more than 5 reads, 42,663 (57.83%) had homologs in the NCBI non-redundant and Swiss-Prot protein databases, corresponding to 27,224 unique protein entries. Of these Unigenes, 16,750 were assigned to Gene Ontology classes, and 14,877 were clustered into orthologous groups. A total of 21,689 (29.40%) were mapped to 119 pathways by BLAST comparison against the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. The majority of the genes encoding the enzymes in the biosynthetic pathways of cellulose and lignin were identified in the Unigene dataset by targeted searches of their annotations. And a number of candidate Chinese fir genes in the two metabolic pathways were discovered firstly. Eighteen genes related to cellulose and lignin biosynthesis were cloned for experimental validating of transcriptome data. Overall 49 Unigenes, covering different regions of these selected genes, were found by alignment. Their expression patterns in different tissues were analyzed by qRT-PCR to explore their putative functions. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial fraction of transcript sequences was obtained from the deep sequencing of Chinese fir. The assembled Unigene dataset was used to discover candidate genes of cellulose and lignin biosynthesis. This transcriptome dataset will provide a comprehensive sequence resource for molecular genetics research of C. lanceolata.

[Effects of storage time on magnolol and honokiol contents in bark of Magnolia officinalis].

OBJECTIVE: To reveal the relationship between the storage time of the bark of Magnolia officinalis and the content of phenols in it, and lay a theoretical foundation for the harvest, processing, management and storage. METHOD: The contents of magnolol and honokoiol in 15 bark samples, collected from the main producing areas in China, were determined in the time of freshly harvest and 3 and 10 years after respectively by HPLC method. RESULT: It showed that within a certain period of time, bark storage was favorable to conversion and accumulation of phenols, that the content of magnolol tended to increase from year 0 to year 3, then followed by slight decrease with years on account of volatilization of phenols, but was still higher when the bark was stored for 10 years than that that when the bark was freshly harvested, and the content of honokoiol still tended to increase when the bark had been stored for 10 years. CONCLUSION: The phenols in bark of M. officinalis is quite stable and the bark can be stored for 10 years or longer.