The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Amentotaxus yunnanensis (Taxaceae).

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Amentotaxus yunnanensis has been defined in this study. The genome is 138,604 bp in length and one of the large inverted repeats found till date. The overall GC content of the genome is 35.1%. The A. yunnanensis chloroplast genome contains 118 unique genes, including 81 protein-coding genes, 31 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. Nine protein-coding genes and 6 tRNA contain a single intron, while another species (ycf3) has a couple of introns. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic analysis suggested that A. yunnanensis is closely related to A. argotaenia and A. formosana within the Taxaceae family.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of the Camellia nitidissima, an endangered and medicinally important tree species endemic to Southwest China.

The Camellia nitidissima is an endangered tree species native to Southwest China with high economic and medicinal values. Genetic information of C. nitidissima would provide good knowledge for the conservation of this wild resource. In this article, we characterized the complete chloroplast genome of C. nitidissima using Illumina sequencing technology. The size of circular genome is 157,247 bp, containing a large single copy (LSC) region of 86,880 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 18,258 bp. The LSC region and SSC region are separated by a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb), each of 26,068 bp. In total, 136 genes are encoded in this cp genome, including 89 protein-coding genes (81 species), 39 tRNA genes (30 species), and 8 rRNA genes (4 species). The overall G + C content of the chloroplast genome is 37.3%. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that C. nitidissima is closely related to C. petelotti.

Rhodococcus equi in the soil environment of horses in Inner Mongolia, China.

Little is known about the distribution of Rhodococcus equi in the soil environment of native horses in China. One hundred and eight soil samples were collected from native-horse farms in the Hulun Beier grasslands of eastern Mongolia, the Xilin Goler grasslands of southern Mongolia, and Tongliao City in Inner Mongolia, China. The isolation rates of R. equi from soil samples from the Hulun Beier and Xilin Goler grasslands ranged from 25.9% to 30.0%. In contrast, isolation rates from soil samples from Tongliao City were as high as 82.3% and the mean number of R. equi in soil samples from Tongliao City was 10 times more than those of samples from the grasslands. The 488 isolates were examined using PCR for the presence of genes that encode virulence-associated 15-17 kDa antigen protein (VapA) and the 20 kDa antigen protein (VapB). All isolates were negative for virulence-associated proteins. Plasmid profiles of these avirulent isolates showed that cryptic plasmids of various sizes were present with an incidence of 13.3% to 21.5%. The results of the present study contrast with those of our recent study (J. Vet. Med. Sci. 67:611-613, 2005), in which we reported that R. equi was absent from Mongolian horses in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It is suggested that the difference between the results of these two studies is due to the mobile pasturing system in Mongolia and nonmobile pasturing system in Inner Mongolia.