A Comparative Analysis of Selection Pressures Suffered by Mitochondrial Genomes in Two Planthopper Species with Divergent Climate Distributions.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been widely used as a valuable tool in studies related to evolution and population genetics, under the implicit assumption of neutral evolution. However, recent studies suggest that natural selection also plays a significant role in shaping mitochondrial genome evolution, although the specific driving forces remain elusive. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether and how climate influences mitochondrial genome evolution by comparing the selection pressures acting on mitochondrial genomes between two rice planthoppers, Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) and Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén), which have different climate distributions. We employed the dN/dS method, MK test and Tajima's D tests for our analysis. Our results showed that the mitochondrial genomes of the two species appear to undergo predominantly purifying selection, consistent with the nearly neutral evolution model. However, we observed varied degrees of purifying selection among the 13 protein-coding genes. Notably, ND1, ND2, ND6, COIII, and ATP8 exhibited significantly stronger purifying selection and greater divergence between the two species compared to the other genes. Additionally, we observed relatively stronger purifying selection in the mitochondrial genomes of S. furcifera compared to L. striatellus. This difference could be attributed to varying metabolic requirements arising from distinct habitats or other factors that are unclear here. Furthermore, we speculate that mito-nuclear epistatic interactions may play a role in maintaining nonsynonymous polymorphisms, particularly for COI and COII. Overall, our results shed some light on the influence of climate on mitochondrial genome evolution.

Genetic evidence of transoceanic migration of the small brown planthopper between China and Japan.

BACKGROUND: The small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén), is an important pest of rice. It is suspected of migrating over the sea from China to Japan. However, where in China it comes from and how it affects Japanese populations remain unclear. RESULTS: Here, we studied the genetic structure of 15 L. striatellus populations sampled from Japan and China using single nucleotide polymorphisms generated by the double digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing technique. We found weak genetic differentiation between the Chinese and Japanese populations. Our data revealed migration signals of L. striatellus from China to southern and northern Japan. However, the source regions of the immigrants remain unclear due to the low genetic differentiation between populations. Our results also pointed to the possibility of backward gene flow from Japanese to Chinese populations. We suspect that the south-eastern wind associated with the East Asian summer monsoon may facilitate the reverse migration of L. striatellus from Japan to China. Interestingly, we found that the X chromosome displayed relatively higher genetic differentiation among populations and suffered more intensive selection pressure than autosomes. CONCLUSION: We provide genetic evidence of transoceanic migration of L. striatellus from China to Japan and found that the X chromosome can aid the deciphering of the migration trajectories of species with low genetic differentiation. These findings have implications for forecasting the outbreak of this pest and also provide insights into how to improve the tracking of the migration routes of small insects via population genomics. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Iron-Catalyzed Regioselective α-C-H Alkylation of N-Methylanilines: Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling between Unactivated C(sp3)-H and C(sp3)-H Bonds via a Radical Process.

The iron-catalyzed α-C-H alkylation of N-methylanilines without any directing group by cross-dehydrogenative coupling between unactivated C(sp3)-H and C(sp3)-H bonds has been established for the first time, which provides a good complement to C(sp3)-H activation reactions and expands the field of Fe-catalyzed C-H functionalizations. Many different C(sp3)-H bonds in cyclic alkanes, cyclic ethers, and toluene derivatives can be used as coupling partners. Mechanistic investigations including the radical reaction process, the main role of various reagents, and the kinetic isotope effect experiment were also described.

Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of α-C(sp3)-H Bonds in N-Methylamides with C(sp3)-H Bonds in Cyclic Alkanes.

A nickel-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling reaction of α-C(sp3)-H bonds in N-methylamides with C(sp3)-H bonds from cyclic alkanes has been developed, which offers a cheap transition-metal-catalyzed C-H activation method for amides without the requirement for any extraneous directing group. This new strategy is highly selective and tolerates a variety of functional groups. Mechanistic investigations into the reaction process are also described in detail.

Cobalt(ii)-catalyzed regioselective C-H halogenation of anilides.

A cobalt-catalyzed regioselective C-H halogenation methodology is reported herein. The highlight of this work is the highly selective C-H functionalization of anilides, which results in high-yielding, versatile, and practical halogenated products. Thereby, brominations, chlorinations and iodinations of many electron-rich and electron-deficient anilides were achieved in a highly selective fashion. Mechanistic studies with respect to the pathway of the reaction are also described.

The selective hydrogenolysis of C-O bonds in lignin model compounds by Pd-Ni bimetallic nanoparticles in ionic liquids.

ß-O-4 and α-O-4 linkages can be selectively cleaved by Pd-Ni bimetallic nanoparticles in ionic liquids using hydrogen gas as the hydrogen donor under ambient pressure and neutral conditions. No hydrogenation of the benzene ring takes place in the catalytic system. An obvious improvement in activity is found compared with single nickel and palladium catalysts based on the results of experiments and characterization. After the reaction, the catalytic system still remains in the reactor by simple extraction, which can be reused without further treatment.