Nectar robbing by bees affects the reproductive fitness of the distylous plant (Linaceae).

Nectar robbing can affect plant reproductive success directly by influencing female and male fitness, and indirectly by affecting pollinator behavior. Flowers have morphological and chemical features that may protect them from nectar robbers. Previous studies on nectar robbing have focused mainly on homotypic plants.

Stronger susceptibilities to air pollutants of influenza A than B were identified in subtropical Shenzhen, China.

Air pollution was indicated to be a key factor contributing to the aggressive spread of influenza viruses, whereas uncertainty still exists regarding to whether distinctions exist between influenza subtypes. Our study quantified the impact of five air pollutants on influenza subtype outbreaks in Shenzhen, China, a densely populated and highly urbanized megacity. Daily influenza outbreak data of laboratory-confirmed positive cases were obtained from the Shenzhen CDC, from May 1, 2013 to Dec 31, 2015.

Ancillary polymorphic floral traits between two morphs adaptive to hawkmoth pollination in distylous plant Tirpitzia sinensis (Linaceae).

Background: Floral morphs are characterized differentiations in reciprocal positions of sexual organs and ancillary floral traits in heterostylous plants. However, it remains unclear how differential floral morphs ensure reproductive success between morphs using the same pollinator.

Results: Measurements of floral traits in white-flowered Tirpitzia sinensis with long corolla tubes indicated that it is typically distylous, long-styled (L-) morph producing more but smaller pollen grains per flower than short-styled (S-) morph.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of (Magnoliaceae), a critically endangered endemic to China.

, Chang et B. L. (Magnoliaceae) is a critically endangered tree, endemic to Yunnan province, China.

The complete chloroplast genome of (Balsaminaceae), an endemic species in China.

is an endemic species in China. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of was sequenced and analyzed. The total chloroplast genome size of is 152,928 bp, including a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,007 bp) separated by a large single copy (LSC, 83,722 bp) region and a small single copy region (SSC, 17,192 bp).

Size-dependent and environment-mediated shifts in leaf traits of a deciduous tree species in a subtropical forest.

Aims: Understanding the joint effects of plant development and environment on shifts of intraspecific leaf traits will advance the understandings of the causes of intraspecific trait variation. We address this question by focusing on a widespread species in a subtropical broad-leaved forest.

Methods: We sampled 262 individuals of .

Have China's national forest reserves designated since 1990 conserved forests effectively?

China's forests were severely degraded by human activities during the latter half of the 20th century. Therefore, China enacted ambitious programs of natural forest protection and afforestation to protect and expand forests. Yet it is unclear how the programs, especially the designation of forest reserves, have affected forest cover and fragmentation.

Functional analysis of a dihydroflavonol 4-reductase gene in (OjDFR1) reveals its role in the regulation of anthocyanin.

Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), a key regulatory enzyme, participated in the biosynthesis of anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins and other flavonoids that essential for plant survival and human health. However, the role of this enzyme in is still unknown. Here, three putative genes were firstly isolated from .

Influenza A and B outbreaks differed in their associations with climate conditions in Shenzhen, China.

Under the variant climate conditions in the transitional regions between tropics and subtropics, the impacts of climate factors on influenza subtypes have rarely been evaluated. With the available influenza A (Flu-A) and influenza B (Flu-B) outbreak data in Shenzhen, China, which is an excellent example of a transitional marine climate, the associations of multiple climate variables with these outbreaks were explored in this study. Daily laboratory-confirmed influenza virus and climate data were collected from 2009 to 2015.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of (Acoraceae).

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of was assembled and characterized as a resource for future genetic studies. With a total length of 152,887 bp, the chloroplast genome comprised of a large single-copy (LSC) region of 83,005 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,230 bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 25,826 bp. The overall GC contents of the chloroplast genome were 38.

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PDR1 from root of karst adaptive plant enhances Arabidopsis thaliana resistance to alkaline stress through modulation of plasma membrane H-ATPase activity.

Exploration of native microbes is a feasible way to develop microbial agents for ecological restoration. This study was aimed to explore the impact of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PDR1 from karst adaptive plant on the activity of root plasma membrane H-ATPase in Arabidopsis thaliana. A.

Chalcone Isomerase a Key Enzyme for Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in .

Anthocyanins are distributed ubiquitously to terrestrial plants and chalcone isomerase (CHI) catalyzes the stereospecific isomerization of chalcones - a committed step in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway. In this study, one gene encoding CHI was isolated from and designated as . Multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis revealed that OjCHI had the conserved CHI active site residues and was classified into type I CHI group.

Distinct endophytes are used by diverse plants for adaptation to karst regions.

The present study aimed at systematically investigating the endophytic communities of dominant plants in the karst ecosystem. Soil and plant materials were collected and after sequencing of the 16 s RNA, the diversity and abundance of the endophytic community structures in leaves were examined. Our results showed that abundant and diverse endogenous bacteria were associated with the leaves of common dominant plants living in the karst ecological environment.

Karst rocky desertification progress: Soil calcium as a possible driving force.

Karst rocky desertification is a severe irreversible ecosystem failure. The karst ecosystem is so fragile that it is vulnerable to environmental changes, degrading into rocky desertification. Prior studies revealed the potential connections between the soil bacterial community, the edaphic properties and the aboveground vegetation cover in the karst ecosystem.

Analysis of the Bacterial Communities in Two Liquors of Soy Sauce Aroma as Revealed by High-Throughput Sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 Hypervariable Region.

Chinese liquor is one of the world's oldest distilled alcoholic beverages and an important commercial fermented product in China. The Chinese liquor fermentation process has three stages: making (the starter), stacking fermentation on the ground, and liquor fermentation in pits. We investigated the bacterial diversity of Maotai and Guotai and liquor fermentation using high-throughput sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene.

Fluctuating selection by water level on gynoecium colour polymorphism in an aquatic plant.

Background And Aims: It has been proposed that variation in pollinator preferences or a fluctuating environment can act to maintain flower colour polymorphism. These two hypotheses were tested in an aquatic monocot Butomus umbellatus (Butomaceae) with a pink or white gynoecium in the field population.

Methods: Pollinator visitation was compared in experimental arrays of equivalent flowering cymes from both colour morphs.

Discovery of gynoecium color polymorphism in an aquatic plant.

Flower color polymorphism exhibited by natural populations provides an opportunity for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms contributing to the diversity of floral morphology. However, little is known about the color polymorphism of female organs in flowering plants. Here we report gynoecium color polymorphism in Butomus umbellatus (Butomaceae), an emergent, aquatic monocot.