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Coilia nasus is widely distributed in the Yangtze River, the coastal waters of China, Korea and the Ariake Sound of Japan. Several ecotypes exist and this provides a useful model for the study of comparative diversity between molecular markers. Here we analyze and compare the nucleotide sequences between single-copy ribosomal protein S7 gene intron 1 (rpS7) and multiple-copy ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) in this species to compare the phylogenetic signal of the two nuclear genes. Nucleotide substitutions among the two gene sequences and partial sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene were also analyzed. A total of 115 clones for rpS7 and 122 clones for ITS1 were obtained from 37 specimens. The nucleotide sequence length is 741 to 743 bp for rpS7 and 334 to 348 bp for ITS1. Intra- and inter-specimen variation in rpS7 results from nucleotide substitution, while such variation in ITS1 is mainly due to different numbers of short base repeats. The content of G + C is lower in rpS7 (43.5%) than in ITS1 (68.2%). Our results indicate that the proportion of the sequence variable sites is higher in rpS7 (61) than in ITS1 (23); the informative parsimony of rpS7 is evidently higher than that of ITS1 (26 vs. 2); the overall ratio between transitions and transversions in ITS1 is slightly lower than in rpS7, but remarkably lower than in COI. These results suggest that rpS7 is more suitable than ITS1 as a marker for genetic divergence of this group. Furthermore, gene flow is observed between the different geographic populations of C. nasus from the phylogeny of this species based on rpS7, showing that rpS7 has more evolutionary characteristics for understanding the processes of genomic evolution at the intraspecific level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biogeochemical model (DNDC) is combined with a plant ecological model to estimate N_2O emission from rice paddy fields in the Yangtze River Delta region. The model is driven by local meteorological, soil, and physiological data and is validated for 1999 and 2000 at a site in the region, which showed that the simulated N_2O emissions agree fairly well with the observed data. This adds some confidence in the estimated N_2O emissions during 1950 and 2000 in the Hangzhou Region. A significant correlation between the N_2O emissions and the population for the Hangzhou Region is found, which is due to a combination of increased application of fertilizers and cultivated area. Such a correlation can not be established for the whole Yangtze River Delta region when the data of both urban and rural areas are included. However, when the data from the heavily urbanized areas are excluded, a significant correlation between population and N_2O emissions emerges. The results show clearly that both the temporal and the spatial N_2O emissions have significant positive relationship with population under traditional farming practice. These results have implications for suitable mitigation options towards a sustainable agriculture and environment in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]