Different mechanisms underlie similar species-area relationships in two tropical archipelagoes.

Despite much research in the field of island biogeography, mechanisms regulating insular diversity remain elusive. Here, we aim to explore mechanisms underlying plant species-area relationships in two tropical archipelagoes in the South China Sea. We found positive plant species-area relationships for both coral and continental archipelagoes.

Community composition of phytopathogenic fungi significantly influences ectomycorrhizal fungal communities during subtropical forest succession.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) can form symbiotic relationships with plants, aiding in plant growth by providing access to nutrients and defense against phytopathogenic fungi. In this context, factors such as plant assemblages and soil properties can impact the interaction between EMF and phytopathogenic fungi in forest soil. However, there is little understanding of how these fungal interactions evolve as forests move through succession stages.

The colonial legacy of herbaria.

Herbarium collections shape our understanding of Earth's flora and are crucial for addressing global change issues. Their formation, however, is not free from sociopolitical issues of immediate relevance. Despite increasing efforts addressing issues of representation and colonialism in natural history collections, herbaria have received comparatively less attention.

Phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of Asia (Lamiaceae), with consideration of a long-distance dispersal across the Pacific Ocean -insights into divergence modes of pantropical flora.

There are about 140 species of L. 1753 (Lamiaceae), with more species richness in tropical to subtropical Asia and the New World. The genus might provide an insight into the amphi-Pacific disjunction pattern of tropical and subtropical vegetation.

Comprehensive transcriptomic profiling reveals complex molecular mechanisms in the regulation of style-length dimorphism in (Rubiaceae), a species with "anomalous" distyly.

Background: The evolution of heterostyly, a genetically controlled floral polymorphism, has been a hotspot of research since the 19th century. In recent years, studies on the molecular mechanism of distyly (the most common form of heterostyly) revealed an evolutionary convergence in genes for brassinosteroids (BR) degradation in different angiosperm groups. This floral polymorphism often exhibits considerable variability that some taxa have significant stylar dimorphism, but anther height differs less.

Diverse mating consequences of the evolutionary breakdown of the sexual polymorphism heterostyly.

Reproductive systems of flowering plants are evolutionarily fluid, with mating patterns changing in response to shifts in abiotic conditions, pollination systems, and population characteristics. Changes in mating should be particularly evident in species with sexual polymorphisms that become ecologically destabilized, promoting transitions to alternative reproductive systems. Here, we decompose female mating portfolios (incidence of selfing, outcross mate number, and intermorph mating) in eight populations of a self-compatible insect-pollinated herb.

Genomic evidence supports the genetic convergence of a supergene controlling the distylous floral syndrome.

Heterostyly, a plant sexual polymorphism controlled by the S-locus supergene, has evolved numerous times among angiosperm lineages and represents a classic example of convergent evolution in form and function. Determining whether underlying molecular convergence occurs could provide insights on constraints to floral evolution. Here, we investigated S-locus genes in distylous Gelsemium (Gelsemiaceae) to determine whether there is evidence of molecular convergence with unrelated distylous species.

Drivers of foliar N trends in southern China over the last century.

Foliar stable nitrogen (N) isotopes (δ N) generally reflect N availability to plants and have been used to infer about changes thereof. However, previous studies of temporal trends in foliar δ N have ignored the influence of confounding factors, leading to uncertainties on its indication to N availability. In this study, we measured foliar δ N of 1811 herbarium specimens from 12 plant species collected in southern China forests from 1920 to 2010.

Development of microsatellite markers for the mycoheterotrophic species Burmannia nepalensis (Miers) Hook.f. based on RAD sequencing.

Mycoheterotrophic plants can derive carbon from fungi rather than from photosynthesis. Habitat destruction and sensitivity to environmental perturbation may result in the loss of biodiversity including genetic variation of mycoheterotrophic plants. Burmannia nepalensis (Miers) Hook.

Development of the first microsatellite markers using high-throughput sequencing for a hexaploid coastal species, Tournefortia argentea L. f. (Boraginaceae).

Backgroud: Tournefortia argentea L. f. is a hexaploid shrub or tree species with ecological and evolutionary significances, which forms the fringe of vegetation closest to the sea on tropical coral islands.

Soil fungal diversity and community assembly: affected by island size or type?

Fungi have a huge biodiversity and play important roles in soil biogeochemical cycling in island ecosystems. Although island biogeography has been widely studied for macroorganisms, fungal community assembly in true islands and its relationship with island area are less documented. We examined soil fungal communities in 18 oceanic islands of two types (eight non-coral islands and 10 coral islands) using the Illumina MiSeq sequencing technique.

Specificity of assemblage, not fungal partner species, explains mycorrhizal partnerships of mycoheterotrophic Burmannia plants.

Mycoheterotrophic plants (MHPs) growing on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) usually maintain specialized mycorrhizal associations. The level of specificity varies between MHPs, although it remains largely unknown whether interactions with mycorrhizal fungi differ by plant lineage, species, and/or by population. Here, we investigate the mycorrhizal interactions among Burmannia species (Burmanniaceae) with different trophic modes using high-throughput DNA sequencing.

Floral fungal-bacterial community structure and co-occurrence patterns in four sympatric island plant species.

Flowers' fungal and bacterial communities can exert great impacts on host plant wellness and reproductive success-both directly and indirectly through species interactions. However, information about community structure and co-occurrence patterns in floral microbiome remains scarce. Here, using culture-independent methods, we investigated fungal and bacterial communities associated with stamens and pistils of four plant species (Scaevola taccada, Ipomoea cairica, Ipomoea pes-caprae, and Mussaenda kwangtungensis) growing together under the same environment conditions in an island located in South China.

In situ glacial survival maintains high genetic diversity of on continental islands in subtropical China.

Generally, island populations are predicted to have less genetic variation than their mainland relatives. However, a growing number of studies have nevertheless reported exceptions, indicating that the relationships were impacted by several factors, for example, historical processes. In the present study, we chose a group of subtropical islands located in South China as the study system, which are quite younger and much closer to the mainland than most of the previous studied island systems, to test the hypothesis that in situ glacial survival contributes to high levels of genetic diversity in island populations.

Plants are visited by more pollinator species than pollination syndromes predicted in an oceanic island community.

The pollination syndrome concept has provided powerful utility in understanding the evolution and adaptation of floral traits. However, the utility of this conception has been questioned on the grounds that flowers usually attract a broader spectrum of visitors than one might expect. Furthermore, the relationship between plant specialization and floral traits is poorly understood.

(Oleaceae), a new species from southern Yunnan, China.

(Oleaceae), a new species from tropical limestone habitats in Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated here. The new species is similar to and , but can be distinguished by its linear calyx lobes, dry calyces without ridges, terminal 1 (or 3)-flowered cymes and axillary solitary flowers.

Mainland and island populations of Mussaenda kwangtungensis differ in their phyllosphere fungal community composition and network structure.

We compared community composition and co-occurrence patterns of phyllosphere fungi between island and mainland populations within a single plant species (Mussaenda kwangtungensis) using high-throughput sequencing technology. We then used 11 microsatellite loci for host genotyping. The island populations differed significantly from their mainland counterparts in phyllosphere fungal community structure.

Complete plastid genome of L. (Surianaceae) and its implications in phylogenetic reconstruction of Fabales.

The present paper reports for the first time the characteristics of the complete plastid genome of Surianaceae ( L.) in the order Fabales. The circular complete plastid genome is 163,747 bp in length with a typical quadripartite organization containing 115 unique genes, of which 80 are protein-coding genes, 31 tRNA genes and four rRNA genes.

Plastome of mycoheterotrophic Mak. (Burmanniaceae) exhibits extensive degradation and distinct rearrangements.

Plastomes of heterotrophs went through varying degrees of degradation along with the transition from autotrophic to heterotrophic lifestyle. Here, we identified the plastome of mycoheterotrophic species and compared it with those of its reported relatives including three autotrophs and one heterotroph () in Dioscoreales. .

The complete plastid genome of Hong Kong Orchid Tree, × Dunn (Leguminosae).

× Dunn, or the Hong Kong Orchid Tree, is a popular ornamental plant in the tropical and subtropical regions. In this study, we report and characterise the complete plastid genome of × in an effort to provide genomic resources for genetic utilization. The complete plastome is 156,100 bp in length and contains the typical quadripartite structure, including two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 25,847 bp, a large single-copy (LSC) region of 86,484 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,922 bp.

The complete plastid genome of Chun (Leguminosae).

Chun is a rare and threatened species of the monotypic genus Chun in the subfamily Dialioideae of Leguminosae. The complete plastid genome of was sequenced for the first time which also represents the first complete plastid genome of the subfamily Dialioideae. The total length of this genome is 159,358 bp with a large single copy (LSC) region (88,507 bp), a small single copy (SSC) region (18,689 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,081 bp).

Global transcriptome and gene co-expression network analyses on the development of distyly in Primula oreodoxa.

Distyly is a genetically controlled flower polymorphism that has intrigued both botanists and evolutionary biologists ever since Darwin's time. Despite extensive reports on the pollination and evolution of distylous systems, the genetic basis and mechanism of molecular regulation remain unclear. In the present study, comparative transcriptome profiling was conducted in primrose (Primula oreodoxa), the prime research model for heterostyly.

A symbiotic balancing act: arbuscular mycorrhizal specificity and specialist fungus gnat pollination in the mycoheterotrophic genus Thismia (Thismiaceae).

Background And Aims: Mycorrhizal associations in mycoheterotrophic plants are generally more specialized than in autotrophs. Mycoheterotrophs typically bear small, inconspicuous flowers that often self-pollinate to maximize seed set, although some have structurally complex flowers indicative of xenogamy. A trade-off has previously been proposed between specialization in these above- and below-ground symbioses, although empirical data are lacking.

Leaf and Root Endospheres Harbor Lower Fungal Diversity and Less Complex Fungal Co-occurrence Patterns Than Rhizosphere.

Plant-associated microbiomes are key determinants of host-plant fitness, productivity, and function. However, compared to bacterial community, we still lack fundamental knowledge concerning the variation in the fungal microbiome at the plant niche level. In this study, we quantified the fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil, as well as leaf and root endosphere compartments of a subtropical island shrub, , using high-throughput DNA sequencing.