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Orchidaceae are one of the two largest families of flowering plants, new orchid genera are being described at a rate of about 13 per year. Bletilla sinensis is one of five species in the Bletilla. It has high medicinal value and can promote blood circulation and anti-inflammation. However, its phylogenetic status is controversial. In this study, the chloroplast genes of B. sinensis were sequenced and assembled, and download 73 complete chloroplast genes of orchid plants from NCBI to construct a molecular evolutionary tree, which provided new clues for the classification of B. sinensis. The results showed that the length of chloroplast genes was 156,941 bp, the GC content was 37.12%, and it contained 139 genes. The results of the molecular evolutionary tree show that the genus Bletilla is a single branch and has an independent evolutionary status. However, our sample is not in the same branch as the Bletilla, indicating that this sample may have an independent and effective taxonomic status. Based on the chloroplast genome structure and composition of this species, it also supports its independent taxonomic status from the Bletilla. Judging from the genetic distance between genera of Orchidaceae, the genetic distance between this sample and any other genera is greater than 0.02, which is greater than the genetic distance between the other two identified genera. In addition, the integration of morphological data from the Flora of China found that there are certain differences in morphology from other species of the genus Bletilla. Therefore, the above results suggest that this group should be a new genus of Orchidaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lycium barbarum Thunb. and Lycium ruthenicum Murray (wolfberries) have been utilized as traditional medicinal and nutritional plants in China for centuries. Much research has been focused on their high quality, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying morphological differences remain unclear. In this study, a comparative analysis of morphological and cytological characteristics indicated that significant differences existed. Meanwhile, transcriptomic analyses of the flower and fruit were performed at different developmental stages, and a total of 54 795 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses showed that these DEGs were significantly enriched in substance metabolism, catalytic activity, single organism process, starch and sucrose metabolism, carotenoid biosynthesis, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and other pathways. Based on these significantly enriched pathways, the ratio between nonsynonymous and synonymous substitution rates (Ka/Ks), and numerous studies related to flower and fruit development, we preliminarily screened eight transcription factor families related to flower and fruit development and counted the number of potential transcription factor genes. These candidate genes could provide a basis for future functional verification, helping to further research on the molecular mechanism of morphological differences in the two Lycium species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial and temporal variations of total column of CH 4 and CO (TotCH 4 and TotCO) associated with the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan and 20 April 2013 Lushan earthquakes in western Sichuan, China were investigated using satellite data from AQUA AIRS in order to understand the lithospheric and atmospheric interactions during the seismic activity. The Wenchuan M S 8.0 and Lushan M S 7.0 earthquakes occurred in the Longmenshan fault zone. It was observed that large amounts of gases emitted from the earth's crust into the atmosphere before, during and after the earthquakes. The anomalies of TotCH 4 and TotCO occurred along the fault zone, and the peak values were found at the intersection areas where the crust stress approached the maximum. Furthermore, temporal anomalies of TotCH 4 and TotCO occurred during and after the Wenchuan earthquake, but 3 months before the Lushan earthquake. The anomalies related to the Lushan earthquake could be partially attributed to the Wenchuan earthquake because of the seismotectonic changes and fractures in the crust produced by the Wenchuan earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the 15-MW Heavy Water Research Reactor (HWRR) at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) in Beijing is the only neutron source available for neutron-scattering experiments in China. A 60-MW tank-in-pool inverse neutron trap-type research reactor, the China Advanced Research Reactor (CARR), is now being built at CIAE to meet the increasing demand of neutronscattering research in China. According to the design, the maximum unperturbed thermal neutron flux is expected to be 8 × 10[sup 14]n/cm²s in the reflector region. Seven out of nine tangential horizontal beam tubes will be dedicated for neutron-scattering experiments. A cold source, a hot source and a 30 × 60 m² guide-tube hall will also be constructed. In this paper, a brief introduction to HWRR, the existing neutron-scattering facilities and research activities at HWRR, CARR and the facilities to be built at CARR are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]