Conference 2024: Building an innovative scientific research ecosystem for microbiome and One Health.

The Conference 2024 provides a platform to promote the development of an innovative scientific research ecosystem for microbiome and One Health. The four key components - Technology, Research (Biology), Academic journals, and Social media - form a synergistic ecosystem. Advanced technologies drive biological research, which generates novel insights that are disseminated through academic journals.

Whole-Genome Analyses Reveal the Distinct Taxonomic Status of the Hainan Population of Endangered and Its Conservation Implications.

Eld's deer (McClelland, 1842) is an ungulate that lives in tropical lowland forests in several countries of Indochina and Hainan Island of China. Its remaining population is small and scattered, and the species is listed as an Endangered species on the IUCN Red List. The debate over the taxonomic status of the Hainan population has persisted for over a century-as an island-endemic subspecies , or an insular population of the subspecies , would have significant conservation implications.

Characteristics of demersal fish community structure during summer hypoxia in the Pearl River Estuary, China.

In recent decades, hypoxic areas have rapidly expanded worldwide in estuaries and coastal zones. The Pearl River Estuary (PRE), one of China's largest estuaries, experiences frequent seasonal hypoxia due to intense human activities and eutrophication. However, the ecological effects of hypoxia in the PRE, particularly on fish communities, remain unclear.

Distribution model and prediction of the tree fern Baker (Cyatheaceae) in China.

Climatic change is a challenge for plant conservation due to plants' limited dispersal abilities. The survival and sustainable development of plants directly depend on the availability of suitable habitats. In this study, we employed an optimized MaxEnt model to evaluate the relative contribution of each environmental variable and predict the suitable habitat for under past, current, and future periods, which is an endangered relict tree fern known as a living fossil.

Cultivation strategies for prokaryotes from extreme environments.

The great majority of microorganisms are as-yet-uncultivated, mostly found in extreme environments. High-throughput sequencing provides data-rich genomes from single-cell and metagenomic techniques, which has enabled researchers to obtain a glimpse of the unexpected genetic diversity of "microbial dark matter." However, cultivating microorganisms from extreme environments remains essential for dissecting and utilizing the functions of extremophiles.

Low but highly geographically structured genomic diversity of East Asian Eurasian otters and its conservation implications.

Populations of Eurasian otters , one of the most widely distributed apex predators in Eurasia, have been depleted mainly since the 1950s. However, a lack of information about their genomic diversity and how they are organized geographically in East Asia severely impedes our ability to monitor and conserve them in particular management units. Here, we re-sequenced and analyzed 20 otter genomes spanning continental East Asia, including a population at Kinmen, a small island off the Fujian coast, China.

Epigenetic architecture of : Revealing the synergistic effects of climate and soil variables.

Whether conifers can withstand environmental changes especially temperature fluctuations has been controversial. Epigenetic analysis may provide new perspectives for solving the issue. is an endangered gymnosperm species endemic to China.

Comparison of root morphology and rhizosphere microbial communities form moso-bamboo in different forest types.

Moso-bamboo (), with the favor of human disturbance, rapidly invades adjacent forests to form monocultures in East Asia. Moso-bamboo not only intrudes the broadleaf forests but also the coniferous, and it could impact by above- and below-ground pathways. However, it still remains unclear whether the below-ground performance of moso-bamboo differs from broadleaf to coniferous forests, especially those differing in competitive and nutrient acquisition strategies.

Geographic isolation and environmental heterogeneity contribute to genetic differentiation in .

Evaluating the contributions of geographic distance and environmental heterogeneity to the genetic divergence can inform the demographic history and responses to environmental change of natural populations. The isolation-by-distance (IBD) reveals that genetic differentiation among populations increases with geographic distance, while the isolation-by-environment (IBE) assumes a linear relationship between genetic variation and environmental differences among populations. Here, we sampled and genotyped 330 individuals from 18 natural populations of throughout the species' distribution.

Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic target of NETosis in diseases.

Evidence shows that neutrophils can protect the host against pathogens in multiple ways, including the formation and release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs are web-like structures composed of fibers, DNA, histones, and various neutrophil granule proteins. NETs can capture and kill pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa.

Comparative genomic analysis of provides insights into the evolutionary history of an incomplete denitrification pathway.

Biological denitrification is a crucial process in the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle, and has been reported to be a significant heterotrophic denitrifier in terrestrial geothermal environments. However, neither the denitrification potential nor the evolutionary history of denitrification genes in the genus or phylum is well understood. Here, we performed a comparative analysis of 23 genomes and identified denitrification genes in 15  strains.

Transcriptome analysis and molecular characterization of soluble chemical communication proteins in the parasitoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae).

is an important egg parasitoid wasp of pests such as the rice planthopper. Based on the powerful olfactory system of sensing chemical information in nature, . shows complicated life activities and behaviors, such as feeding, mating, and hosting.

Loss of the IR region in conifer plastomes: Changes in the selection pressure and substitution rate of protein-coding genes.

Plastid genomes (plastomes) have a quadripartite structure, but some species have drastically reduced or lost inverted repeat (IR) regions. IR regions are important for genome stability and the evolution rate. In the evolutionary process of gymnosperms, the typical IRs of conifers were lost, possibly affecting the evolutionary rate and selection pressure of genomic protein-coding genes.

Phylogenetic significance of the characteristics of simple sequence repeats at the genus level based on the complete chloroplast genome sequences of Cyatheaceae.

The simple sequence repeats (SSRs) of plant chloroplasts show considerable genetic variation and have been widely used in species identification and phylogenetic relationship determination. Whether chloroplast genome SSRs can be used to classify Cyatheaceae species has not yet been studied. Therefore, the chloroplast genomes of eight Cyatheaceae species were sequenced, and their SSR characteristics were compared and statistically analyzed.

High genetic and epigenetic variation of transposable elements: Potential drivers to rapid adaptive evolution for the noxious invasive weed .

Why invasive species can rapidly adapt to novel environments is a puzzling question known as the genetic paradox of invasive species. This paradox is explainable in terms of transposable elements (TEs) activity, which are theorized to be powerful mutational forces to create genetic variation. , a noxious invasive weed, in this sense provides an excellent opportunity to test the explanation.

EST-SSR-based landscape genetics of , a tertiary relict conifer endemic to China.

, belonging to the monotypic genus (Taxaceae), is a relict conifer endemic to China. Its populations are usually small and patchily distributed, having a low capacity of natural regeneration. To gain a clearer understanding of how landscape variables affect the local adaptation of .

Plastid genome sequencing, identification of nuclear SNP markers, and quality assessment of medicinal rhizomatous herb (Asparagaceae) cultivars.

(Mill.) Druce (Asparagaceae, Asparagales) is a widely cultivated medicinal herb in China. However, this useful herb is understudied despite being known as a medicinal resource with top grade medical and edible properties since long.

Molecular evolution and SSRs analysis based on the chloroplast genome of .

Chloroplast genome sequences have been used to understand evolutionary events and to infer efficiently phylogenetic relationships. (Cupressaceae) is an endemic species in China. Its phylogenetic position is controversial due to morphological characters similar to those of , and .

Use of artificial structures to enhance fish diversity in the Youjiang River, a dammed river of the Pearl River in China.

The fragmentation and homogenization of habitats have seriously affected the fishery resources of the Pearl River. To protect the fishery resources, a novel artificial habitat, constructed using bamboo and palm slices, was deployed in the Youjiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River in China. The results of field and laboratory experiments showed that fish abundance, species richness and Shannon-Wiener diversity index were higher in the artificial habitats than at the control sites.