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In-plane (MoSi2N4)5-n/(MoSiGeN4)n heterostructures have been delicately designed and systematically studied using first-principles density functional theory calculations. Such heterostructures exhibit dynamical stability as verified by calculated phonon dispersion spectra. The calculated band gap values increase with the MoSi2N4 area increase, as 1.385(1.860) eV for (MoSi2N4)0/(MoSiGeN4)5 and 1.925(2.385) eV for (MoSi2N4)5/(MoSiGeN4)0 using PBE (HSE06). By density of states analysis, the Ge 4p state made an excellent contribution to moving up the conduction band position and altering the band gap value. Also, the work function values can be modulated by the n numbers of (MoSi2N4)5-n/(MoSiGeN4)n. Based on optical and redox potential calculations, the calculated results suggest that the (MoSi2N4)5-n/(MoSiGeN4)n heterostructures have the potentials to be applied as ideal photocatalysts for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Notably, different photocatalytic reduction reaction products can be formed using such (MoSi2N4)5-n/(MoSiGeN4)n in-plane heterostructures with different n values, indicating that selective catalytic reduction reactions can be realized on the in-plane heterostructures. Our findings suggest that (MoSi2N4)5-n/(MoSiGeN4)n monolayer in-plane heterostructures can serve as a new class of 2D materials for photovoltaic and photocatalysis applications, providing insightful guidance for the development of optoelectronic devices.

Viola huizhouensis (Violaceae), a new species from Xiangtoushan National Nature Reserve of Guangdong Province in China, is described and illustrated. The new species is most similar to V. guangzhouensis, but it can be easily distinguished by its much stouter rhizome, lack of aerial stem, dense pubescence of the basal pedicel and the whole plant. Our phylogenetic analysis, based on ITS sequences, confirms that the new species belongs to V. sect. Diffusae.

Reasonable allocation of urban resources can effectively control changes in ecological quality. This study used Sentinel-2 images, taking urban functional areas as the dividing scale, and combined spatial analysis, statistics, and other relevant methods to explore the factors influencing remote sensing ecological quality in Puxi, Shanghai, China. Landsat-8 and high-resolution Sentinel-2 data fusion achieved more refined remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) distribution data, which is of great significance for ecological quality exploration in small areas; the degree of influence of the selected research factors on the RSEI was spectral index > building > social perception > terrain. The R-value of the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) was 0.970, and it exerted the strongest influence. The R-value of the average building height was 0.103, indicating that it had the weakest influence. The interactions among the selected factors were mainly two-factor and nonlinear enhancements. Most factor combinations exhibited two-factor enhancement. There were six groups of factor combinations for nonlinear enhancement, of which five were related to the average building height. The results of the present study provide a reference for multi-path ecological quality control in small-area regions.

In vehicular edge computing (VEC), some tasks can be processed either locally or on the mobile edge computing (MEC) server at a base station (BS) or a nearby vehicle. In fact, tasks are offloaded or not, based on the status of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. In this paper, device-to-device (D2D)-based V2V communication and multiple-input multiple-output and nonorthogonal multiple access (MIMO-NOMA)-based V2I communication are considered. In actual communication scenarios, the channel conditions for MIMO-NOMA-based V2I communication are uncertain, and the task arrival is random, leading to a highly complex environment for VEC systems. To solve this problem, we propose a power allocation scheme based on decentralized deep reinforcement learning (DRL). Since the action space is continuous, we employ the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm to obtain the optimal policy. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed approach with DRL and DDPG outperforms existing greedy strategies in terms of power consumption and reward.

This research studied the risk assessment of geological hazards, such as landslides and debris flow, under the time series and trend characteristics of extreme precipitation events in the last 60 years in nine typical regions of the lower Jinshajiang River Basin. Nine indicators, including slope, engineering geological rock group, slope structure type, distance to road, topographic relief, distance to fault, distance to the water system, vegetation cover and profile curvature, were selected as the index factors for landslide susceptibility evaluation, and the information quantity method was used to obtain the landslide susceptibility evaluation of the study area. Based on the susceptibility evaluation, the spatial analysis function of GIS was used to derive the geological hazard zoning under the extreme rainfall trend. The results showed that the areas with high extreme rainfall trends have higher densities of geological hazard development and they are concentrated, while areas with low extreme rainfall trends have relatively less geological hazard development, and what development exists is scattered.

SUMOylation is an important post-translational modification that participates in a variety of cellular physiological and pathological processes in eukaryotic cells. Sirt2, a NAD+-dependent deacetylase, usually exerts a tumor-suppressor function. However, the role of SUMOylation in cancer cells is not fully known. In this study, we found that SUMOylation can occur in the Sirt2 protein at both lysine 183 and lysine 340 sites. SUMOylation did not affect Sirt2 localization or stability but was involved in P38-mTORC2-AKT cellular signal transduction via direct deacetylation on a new substrate MAPK/P38. SUMOylation-deficient Sirt2 lost the capability of suppressing tumor processes and showed resistance to the Sirt2-specific inhibitor AK-7 in neuroblastoma cells. Here, we revealed the important function of Sirt2-SUMOylation, which is closely associated with cellular signal transduction and is essential for suppressing tumorigenesis in neuroblastoma.

The environment and climate significantly affect the land surface temperature (LST) of a city. Previous studies have revealed that LST exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity primarily caused by a combination of natural factors and human activities. Based on this, the introduction of point of interest data of the “production–living–ecological space” divides the influencing pattern into a comprehensive description of human activities supplemented by natural factors, resulting in the precise influencing factors of spatial heterogeneity of LST. Taking Nanjing (Jiangsu Province, China) as a case study, this study uses Landsat-8 remote sensing images, point of interest data, and other data to establish a geographically weighted regression model that combines natural factors and human activities. The main research results are as follows: First, the LST of Nanjing ranged from 19.9 °C to 47.6 °C, whereas the distribution trend was “low at both ends and high in the middle.” Second, there is no multicollinearity of the influencing factors, the fitting degree of LST and each influencing factor reached 0.87. The regression coefficients were high and exhibited both positive and negative values, implying that spatial heterogeneity exists among the influencing factors and LST. Finally, the ranking of how all factors influence the LST followed the order of water area > forest and grassland > ecological space > slope > production space > elevation > living space. The research results have practical significance for improving the quality of life of urban residents and providing a critical theoretical basis for optimizing urban human settlements.

Abstract Background Anomalous aortic origin of the coronary artery (AAOCA) is a rare congenital cardiac disease that can cause sudden cardiac death. This condition may be corrected with surgery. Among the different surgical techniques used to correct this malformation, the most common are unroofing and lateral pulmonary translocation. Case presentation Herein, we present a multimodal imaging approach to identifying AAOCA in a 12-year-old male. We also successfully adopted a new operative method, neo-ostium creation combined with lateral pulmonary translocation to correct AAOCA. The detailed imaging and intraoperative data has not been reported in the literature. Conclusions Although several surgical methods exist to reverse the complications of AAOCA, we offer an innovative surgical technique that is easier, faster, and effective.

We demonstrate with morphological characters that the species Pterostyrax burmanicus W.W.Sm. & Farrer and Parastyrax macrophyllus C.Y.Wu & K.M.Feng (Styracaceae) are best placed in the genus Rehderodendron Hu. Rehderodendron burmanicum (W.W.Sm. & Farrer) W.Y.Zhao, P.W.Fritsch & W.B.Liao, comb. nov. and Rehderodendron macrophyllum (C.Y.Wu & K.M.Feng) W.Y.Zhao, P.W.Fritsch & W.B.Liao, comb. nov., are created. We also provide a lectotype for R. macrophyllum. These revisions result in the reduction of Pterostyrax Siebold & Zucc. to three species and this genus is no longer considered to be documented from Myanmar. Further, Parastyrax W.W.Sm. becomes a monotypic genus comprising only P. lacei (W.W.Sm.) W.W.Sm., distributed in Kachin State, northeast Myanmar and Yunnan Province, south-western China.

Eriobotrya laoshanica, a new species of Rosaceae from Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is easily distinguished from the most similar species E. malipoensis K. C. Kuan by its longer petioles (2–5 vs. 0.5–1 cm); indumentum on the lower leaf surfaces (densely tomentose vs. glabrous); much fewer flowers (15- to 30-flowered vs. 50- to 100-flowered) on the panicle; larger flowers (2.5–3 vs. 1.5–2 cm in diameter); and non-angulated (vs. angulated) young fruits.

Vehicular fog and cloud computing (VFCC) system, which provides huge computing power for processing numerous computation-intensive and delay sensitive tasks, is envisioned as an enabler for intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs). Although previous works have studied the optimal offloading scheme in the VFCC system, no existing work has considered the departure of vehicles that are processing tasks, i.e., the occupied vehicles. However, vehicles leaving the system with uncompleted tasks will affect the overall performance of the system. To solve the problem, in this paper, we study the optimal offloading scheme that considers the departure of occupied vehicles. We first formulate the task offloading problem as an semi-Markov decision process (SMDP). Then we design the value iteration algorithm for the SMDP to maximize the total long-term reward of the VFCC system. Finally, the numerical results demenstrate that the proposed offloading scheme can achieve higher system reward than the greedy scheme.

Abstract The ubiquitin system, known as a common feature in eukaryotes, participates in multiple cellular processes, such as signal transduction, cell-cycle progression, receptor trafficking and endocytosis, and even the immune response. In lung cancer, evidence has revealed that aberrant events in ubiquitin-mediated processes can cause a variety of pathological outcomes including tumorigenesis and metastasis. Likewise, ubiquitination on the core components contributing to the activity of cell signaling controls bio-signal turnover and cell final destination. Given this, inhibitors targeting the ubiquitin system have been developed for lung cancer therapies and have shown great prospects for clinical application. However, the exact biological effects and physiological role of the drugs used in lung cancer therapies are still not clearly elucidated, which might seriously impede the progress of treatment. In this work, we summarize current research advances in cell signal regulation processes mediated through the ubiquitin system during the development of lung cancer, with the hope of improving the therapeutic effects by means of aiming at efficient targets.

Danxia landform occurring sporadically in southern China is a unique type of petrographic geomorphology. It has nurtured about 400 rare or threatened plant and animal species, whose diversity, endemism, and conservation have called increasing scientific and public attentions. Among them, Primulina danxiaensis (W. B. Liao, S. S. Lin, and R. J. Shen) W. B. Liao and K. F. Chung is a tiny perennial grass species recorded only in Mount Danxia, a natural World Heritage Site as part of China’s Danxia. In this study, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) was performed to investigate genetic diversity among these 12 populations of P. danxiaensis. A total of 432,041 variant sites were detected in 84,779 loci across 94 samples. The expected heterozygosity (HE) ranged from 0.017 to 0.139. Bottleneck signals were detected in most populations, Tajima’s D tests showed that most loci could be under recent positive selection, and one of the six positively selected loci identified by BayeScan was annotated as tRNAGlu, which may contribute to the species’ adaptation to shady environment. STRUCTURE analysis and phylogenetic tree showed that the 12 populations of P. danxiaensis could be divided into four gene pools (clades) corresponding to their geographic locations, and significant correlation was observed between genetic and geographic distances. Our study demonstrated that P. danxiaensis maintained a middle level of genetic diversity and strong population structure; geographic distance could be an important factor limiting gene flow among populations of P. danxiaensis, which were only sporadically recorded in Mount Danxia.

BackgroundMultiple studies have reported that tissue or serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) level is a prognostic factor for patients with cancer. However, little is known about the role of serum OPG in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we aimed to investigate whether serum OPG concentration has an effect on HCC patients’ prognosis.MethodsA total of 386 eligible HCC patients undergoing radical hepatectomy were enrolled from Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital and Zhongshan Hospital between 2010 and 2018. Kaplan-Meier curves, Cox regression model, and the restricted mean survival time (RMST) were used to estimate the association of OPG and HCC patients’ survival outcome. In addition, sensitivity analyses were carried out including subgroup analysis and propensity score matching (PSM).ResultsPatients were separated into two groups according to the cut-off value of OPG calculated by X-tile. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that patients with high OPG level had worse overall survival (OS) (HR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.40–2.66, p

Senile and disuse osteoporosis have distinct bone turnover status and lack effective treatments. In this study, senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) and hindlimb unloading mouse models were used to explore the protective effects of daphnetin on these two types of osteoporosis, and primary osteoblasts and bone marrow monocyte-derived osteoclasts, as well as pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1, and osteoclast precursor RAW264.7 cells were used to investigate the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that daphnetin administration effectively improved bone remodeling in both senile and disuse osteoporosis, but with different mechanisms. In senile osteoporosis with low bone turnover, daphnetin inhibited NOX2-mediated ROS production in osteoblasts, resulting in accelerated osteogenic differentiation and bone formation, while in disuse osteoporosis with high bone turnover, daphnetin restored SIRT3 expression, maintained mitochondrial homeostasis, and additionally upregulated SOD2 to eliminate ROS in osteoclasts, resulting in attenuation of osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption. These findings illuminated that daphnetin has promising potential for the prevention and treatment of senile and disuse osteoporosis. The different mechanisms may provide clues and basis for targeted prevention and treatment of osteoporosis according to distinct bone turnover status.

In this paper, the thermoelectric properties of p-type and n-type GeSe are studied systematically by using first principles and Boltzmann transport theory. The calculation includes electronic structure, electron relaxation time, lattice thermal conductivity and thermoelectric transport properties. The results show that GeSe is an indirect band gap semiconductor with band gap 1.34 eV. Though p-type GeSe has a high density of states near Fermi level, the electronic conductivity is relative low because there is no carrier transport pathway along the a-axis direction. For n-type GeSe, a charge density channel is formed near conduction band minimum, which improves the electrical conductivity of n-type GeSe along the a-axis direction. At 700 K, the optimal ZT value reaches 2.5 at 4 × 1019 cm−3 for n-type GeSe, while that is 0.6 at 1 × 1020 cm−3 for p-type GeSe. The results show n-type GeSe has better thermoelectric properties than p-type GeSe, indicating that n-type GeSe is a promising thermoelectric material in middle temperature.

Saxifraga damingshanensis (Saxifragaceae), a new species from Damingshan Nature Reserve in Guangxi Province, is described and illustrated. A morphological comparison between the new species and its putative relatives, S. mengtzeana and S. luoxiaoensis, is presented. The new species is morphologically similar to S. mengtzeana, but it can be easily distinguished by its non-peltate leaf, both surfaces of mature leaf blade covered with white glandular trichome, petals 3-veined and margin entire. Phylogenetic analysis, based on two chloroplast DNA regions (matK and psbA-trnH), confirmed that the new species belongs to S. sect. Irregulares. The new species is currently only known from Damingshan, Guangxi and we assign it an IUCN Red List preliminary status as Data Deficient.

Morinda officinalis How (Rubiaceae) is well known as one of the four most popular medicinal plants in the southern region of China. In order to assess its genetic diversity and assist the development of its molecular assisted-selection breeding in China, we constructed the transcriptome database of M. officinalis using fresh leaf material and developed novel expressed sequence tag–simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers for this important medicinal plant species. Our study identified 8064 potential EST-SSRs from 6668 unigenes. For perfect repeat motifs, the mononucleotide repeats were most abundant (4221; 52.34%), followed by the trinucleotide repeats (1588; 19.69%), and the dinucleotide ones (1040; 12.90%). The seven most commonly occurring repeat motifs were A/T (4661), AG/CT (588), AAG/CTT (408), AC/GT (353), ATC/ATG (338), AT/AT (296) and AGG/CCT (277). Of a total of 5605 SSR primer sets that were successfully designed de novo, 100 were selected for validation analysis. There, 24 primer sets were polymorphic across the 96 M. officinalis individuals collected from four different populations in Guangdong province. Based on cross-species transferability test, 19 and 22 primer sets produced successful amplification in M. umbellata subsp. obovata and M. parvifolia, respectively. These novel EST-SSR markers with high cross-species transferability between M. officinalis and its closely-related species could serve as aids to future studies in genetic diversity, conservation, assisted-selection breeding and genes associated with the medical uses of the genus.

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI), especially radiation pneumonitis (RP), is a common clinical complication associated with thoracic radiotherapy for malignant tumors. However, the specific contributions of each cell subtype to this process are unknown. Here, we provide the single-cell pathology landscape of the RP in a mouse model by unbiased single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq). We found a decline of type 2 alveolar cells in the RP lung tissue, with an expansion of macrophages, especially the Fabp4low and Spp1high subgroup, while Fabp4high macrophages were almost depleted. We observed an elevated expression of multiple mitochondrial genes in the RP group, indicating a type 2 alveolar cell (AT2) response to oxidative stress. We also calculated the enrichment of a cGAS-STING signaling pathway, which may be involved in regulating inflammatory responses and cancer progression in AT2 cells of PR mice. We delineate markers and transcriptional states, identify a type 2 alveolar cell, and uncover fundamental determinants of lung fibrosis and inflammatory response in RP lung tissue of mice.

This paper considers observer design for discrete-time descriptor systems with packet losses. By taking packet loss into consideration, the error dynamic of the proposed observer becomes a stochastic switched system. Consequently, the proposed observer is synthesized in a stochastic switched system framework. Sufficient conditions for the stochastic stability with a prescribed robust performance of the error dynamic system are derived and converted into linear matrix inequalities. Not only can the proposed observer deal with packet losses, but it also attenuates the effect of process disturbance and measurement noise. A numerical simulation of a truck-trailer is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

AIM: To investigate the efficacy of the combined treatment of Conbercept and panretinal photocoagulation(PRP)for neovascular glaucoma(NVG)with central retinal vein occlusion(CRVO). METHODS: The clinical data of 100 NVG patients with CRVO treated in our hospital from May 2014 to May 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. In those, 50 patients treated with glaucoma filtering surgery combined with PRP were selected as control group, and based on this, 50 patients treated with intravitreal injection of conbercept were included in the observation group. The best corrected visual acuity(BCVA)before treatment, and after 7d, 1, 3, and 6mo treatment were compared. The intraocular pressure IOP of each period with the non-contact tonometer were also compared, the effect of surgery was evaluated by slit-lamp examination of neovascularization combined with intraocular pressure, and then recurrence rate and complication was recorded during 6mo follow-up. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found between preoperative and after surgery at each time point(P>0.05). The intraocular pressure of the two groups was significantly lower than that of before the surgery, the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group 7d and 1mo after surgery, and the difference was statistically significant(PP>0.05). The operation success rate was 100% in the observation group and was 92% in the control group, the difference was statistically significant(PPPP>0.05). CONCLUSION: Preoperative intravitreal injection of conbercept combined with panretinal photocoagulation for neovascular glaucoma after central retinal vein occlusion make the pressure recovery and neovascularization time shorter with better surgical results, and can control the anterior chamber hemorrhage and reduce the recurrence rate.

AIM: To investigate the clinical efficacy of intravitreal injection of Conbercept combined with trabeculectomy and panretinal photocoagulation for the treatment of neovascular glaucoma(NVG). METHODS: The clinical data of 90 patients with NVG treated in our hospital from June 2014 to June 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 42 patients treated with trabeculectomy and panretinal photocoagulation enrolled as the control group. On the basis of this, 48 patients who received intravitreal injection of conbercept 5-7d preoperatively were enrolled as observation group. The best corrected visual acuity(standard logarithmic visual acuity), intraocular pressure and the regression of neovascularization were observed and compared before treatment, and 1wk, 1, 3, and 6mo post treatment. Then the clinical efficacy and postoperative complications were observed and recorded. RESULTS: The difference of visual acuity of the two groups was significant before and after treatment, and the best corrected visual acuity of observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group at 1mo after the operation(PP>0.05). The pre- and postoperative intraocular pressure of the two groups showed significant difference, and the intraocular pressure of the observation group was significantly lower than the control group at 1wk, 1, 3 and 6mo post treatment(Pvs 64%), with statistical significance(PPP>0.05). Moreover, the recurrence rate of neovascularization in the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group at 6mo after operation(PCONCLUSION: The intravitreal injection of conbercept 5-7d before panretinal photocoagulation can significantly reduce intraocular pressure, improve the visual acuity for the treatment of NVG, which also has a higher comprehensive cure rate.

AIM: To investigate the effect of phacoemulsification intraocular lens implantation combined with trabeculectomy on ocular surface in the treatment of glaucoma and cataract. METHODS: Totally 45 cases of patients with glaucoma and cataract in our hospital from February 2016 to February 2017 were enrolled. All the patients had unilateral disease, and the medical records of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. The sicked eyes were set as the observation group and contralateral eyes were set as the control group. The dry eye score, break-up time(BUT), corneal fluorescein staining score(FL), tear secretion test(SⅠt)and conjunctival epithelium goblet cell density(CIC)was compared between two groups before operation and at 1wk, 1 and 3mo after operation. RESULTS: The preoperative dry eye score of the observation group had no significant difference with that of the control group(P>0.05). At 1wk, 1mo after operation, data of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group and before operation, with statistical significance(PP>0.05). Preoperative BUT of the observation group had no significant difference with that of the control group(P>0.05); at 1 wk,1 and 3mo after operation, data of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group and before operation, with statistical significance(PPPP>0.05), and the postoperative SⅠt scores of the observation group at 1wk, 1 and 3mo postoperatively was evidently lower than that of the control group and before operation(PPCONCLUSION: Phacoemulsification intraocular lens implantation combined with trabeculectomy for treatment of glaucoma and cataract can aggravate dry eye symptoms, as well as reduce tear film stability and tear secretion, impair conjunctival epithelium goblet cell.

Abstract Background Minimally invasive approaches such as perventricular closure of ventricular septal defects (VSD) have been applied for the surgical correction of congenital heart defects in order to avoid disadvantages related to median sternotomy with a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). However, reports remain scarce regarding combined perventricular closure of VSD and atrial septal defects (ASD) via minimally invasive approaches, such as lower ministernotomy. Results The authors have operated on 5 patients who were diagnosed with VSD in association with ASD, successfully realizing perventricular closure via lower ministernotomy. Conclusion The proposed technique proved to be safe and effective.

Sorbus insignis (Hook. f.) Hedl., belonging to S. sect. Multijugae Yu is an epiphytic shrub. Its phylogenetic position is still poorly understood. In this study, we assembled its complete chloroplast genome from whole-genome high-throughput sequencing data. The chloroplast genome was 159, 993 bp in length, with a large single-copy (LSC) region of 87, 932 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 19, 255 bp, separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26, 403 bp each. It was predicted to contain a total of 132 genes, with an overall GC content of 36.56%. Phylogenetic analysis suggested S. insignis belongs to S. L. sensu stricto and closest to S. prattii Koehne among the published chloroplast genome.

Edgeworthia chrysantha is a subtropical plant with significant medicinal value. Herein, we assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast genome of E. chrysantha as genomic resource for future study. The genome consisted a total length of 172,446 bp, comprising of a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85,527 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 2871 bp, separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 42,024 bp each; a total of 139 genes were predicted for the chloroplast genome. Phylogenetic analysis showed that E. chrysantha is placed at the base of the Daphne group of tribe Daphneae, within the family Thymelaeaceae.

AIM: To compare the efficacy between Ranibizumab and Conbercept for wet age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: Totally 78 cases(78 eyes)of wet age-related macular degeneration treated in our hospital from February 2014 to March 2016 were selected and divided into Group A and Group B, each with 39 cases(39 eyes). Patients in two groups were given ranibizumab and conbercept respectively, and were followed up for 12mo. The various data including visual acuity, the macular foveal retinal thickness, choroidal neovascularization(CNV)leakage and complications were compares between two groups. RESULTS: At 1wk, 1 and 3mo after treatment, the uncorrected vision of Group A was higher than that of Group B, the difference was statistical significance(t=14.05, 12.71, 18.27; Pt=13.04, 12.17, 18.19; Pχ2=1.076, 0.253; P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The ranibizumab and conbercept shows identical effect in treating CNV leakage of patients wet age-related macular degeneration without any serious complications occurred, but the comparison of the two shows that the improvements of visual acuity and macular foveal retinal thickness are better in ranibizumab treatment than in conbercept treatment.

AIM: To investigate the visual acuity after cataract extraction and vitrectomy with gas tamponade for idiopathic macular hole(IMH)at different stages. METHODS: In this study, 75 IMH patients(75 eyes)treated in our hospital from August 2014 to August 2016 were enrolled and underwent cataract extraction, vitrectomy and C3F8 gas tamponade. Patients were divided into stage Ⅱ Group(18 cases), stage Ⅲ(36 cases)and stage Ⅳ(21 cases)according to Gass stages, and macular hole closure at 2 and 4wk postoperatively were compared. The routine visual acuity examination before and after surgery were performed, and the visual acuity in each group were compared. The optical coherence tomography(OCT)was used to measure the macular thickness before and after surgery. RESULTS: The closure rate of macular hole in stage Ⅱ was significantly higher than that of stage III and IV at the 1mo after operation, that at the stage Ⅲ was significantly higher than that of stage Ⅳ group, and the difference was statistically significant(PP>0.05). The proportion of eyes with visual acuity of finger counting, 0.02-0.08, 0.10-0.20, 0.25-0.40 and ≥0.50 was statistically significant different before and after surgery(PP>0.05), the decreasing range of the stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ was not statistically significantly different(P>0.05), which were significantly higher than that of the stage Ⅳ, the difference was statistically significant(PCONCLUSION: Cataract extraction, vitrectomy and C3F8 gas tamponade surgery is conducive to the vision recovery after idiopathic macular hole, but the effects with different Gass staging are different, surgery should be performed as early as possible to improve macular hole closure and eyesight recovery.

AIM: To study the influence of Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation on eyesight, intraocular pressure and corneal endothelial cell density of patients with traumatic angle recession glaucoma. METHODS: Totally 33 cases(35 eyes)of patients with traumatic angle recession glaucoma admitted to our hospital since June 2014 to June 2016 were selected and treated with Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation. The clinical data of all patients were retrospectively analyzed, so as to evaluated to success rate of surgery. Non-contact tonometer was applied to surveying intraocular pressure before treatment and at 1wk, 1,3,6mo and 1a post treatment. Specular microscope was adopted to examine and calculate the corneal endothelial cell density before treatment and at 1wk, 1,3,6mo and 1a post treatment. All affected eyes were compared for visual acuity before surgery and in 1a after surgery, moreover, patients were followed-up, received the further consultations and the complications were recorded. RESULTS: As for 35 affected eyes, the absolute success rate of surgery was 54%, while the relative success rate was 40%, and the total successful rate and failure rate were 94% and 6% respectively. In terms of the number of people who had no light sensation before surgery, or who had light sensation, ≤0.01, 0.01-0.10 or >0.10-0.20, there was no significant difference(Z=-0.132, P=0.362). The intraocular pressure before treatment was 43.43±3.65mmHg, at 1wk after surgery was 13.50±2.54mmHg, at 1mo was 15.93±2.61mmHg,at 6mo was 16.00±2.18mmHg and at 1a was 16.45±2.21mmHg, and the difference among different time points had statistical significance(F=887.82, PPP>0.05). Before treatment, the corneal endothelial cell density was 2443.35±343.12 pieces/mm2, in 1wk after the surgery was 2231.67±334.45 pieces /mm2, in 1mo after the surgery was 2065.47±336.45 pieces /mm2, in 3mo after surgery was 2031.47±345.76 pieces/mm2, in 6mo was 2001.72±337.18 pieces /mm2 and in 1a after the surgery was 1979.65±301.32 pieces /mm2, and the difference among different time points had statistical significance(F=13.49, PPP>0.05). After surgery, there were 4 cases(4 eyes)of ocular hypotension, 3 cases(3 eyes)of hyphema, 2 cases(2 eyes)of drainage tube plugging and 2 cases(2 eyes)of intraocular hypertension, which were all quickly relieved after basic intervention treatment. CONCLUSION: Treating traumatic angle recession glaucoma with Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation can dramatically optimize the state of intraocular hypertension and protect the retaining visual acuity, and visual acuity can be optimized in some cases. It causes little complication that can be relieved with basic prognosis, but postoperative corneal endothelial cell loss exists in some cases.

Premise Ixonanthes (Ixonanthaceae) consists of between three and 19 species, among which I. chinensis and I. khasiana are considered vulnerable. Here, 58 microsatellite markers were developed for further conservation of these two Ixonanthes species. Methods and Results RNA transcripts of I. chinensis were sequenced and assembled into 19,545 unigenes, and 994 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci were identified from 920 contigs. Based on these, 106 primer pairs were designed, 58 were successfully amplified, and 12 demonstrated polymorphism among five populations. The number of alleles per locus varied from three to 10, and the levels of observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.000 to 1.000 and 0.000 to 0.844, respectively. Further assessment of the transferability of the 58 amplifiable primers reported 30 being successfully cross‐amplified in I. icosandra and three in Erythroxylum sinense. Conclusions These novel SSR markers will be useful for future genetic conservation studies on these Ixonanthes species.

Lindera Thunb. (Lauraceae) consists of approximately 100 species, mainly distributed in the temperate and tropical regions of East Asia. In this study, we report 20 new, complete plastome sequences including 17 Lindera species and three related species, Actinodaphne lancifolia, Litsea japonica and Sassafras tzumu. The complete plastomes of Lindera range from 152,502 bp (L. neesiana) to 154,314 bp (L. erythrocarpa) in length. Eleven small inversion (SI) sites are documented among the plastomes. Six of the 11 SI sites are newly reported and they locate in rpoB-trnC, psbC-trnS, petA-psbJ, rpoA and ycf2 regions. The distribution patterns of SIs are useful for species identification. An average of 83 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were detected in each plastome. The mono-SSRs accounted for 72.7% of total SSRs, followed by di- (12.4%), tetra- (9.4%), tri- (4.2%), and penta-SSRs (1.3%). Of these SSRs, 64.6% were distributed in an intergenic spacer (IGS) region. In addition, 79.8% of the SSRs are located in a large single copy (LSC) region. In contrast, almost no SSRs are distributed in inverted repeat (IR) regions. The SSR loci are useful to identifying species but the phylogenetic value is low because the majority of them show autapomorphic status or highly homoplastic characteristics. The nucleotide diversity (Pi) values also indicated the conserved nature of the IR region compared to LSC and small single copy (SSC) regions. Five spacer regions with high Pi values, trnH-psbA, petA-psbJ and ndhF-rpl32, rpl32-trnL and Ψycf1-ndhF, have a potential use for the molecular identification study of Lindera and related species. Lindera species form a paraphyletic group in the plastome tree because of the inclusion of related genera such as Actinodaphne, Laurus, Litsea and Neolitsea. A former member of tribe Laureae, Sassafras, forms a clade with the tribe Cinnamomeae. The SIs do not affect the phylogenetic relationship of Laureae. This result indicated that ancient plastome captures may have contribute to the mixed intergeneric relationship of Laureae. Alternatively, the result may indicate that the morphological characters defined the genera of Lauraceae originated for several times.

Danxiaorchis singchiana (Orchidaceae) is a leafless mycoheterotrophic orchid in the subfamily Epidendroideae. We sequenced the complete plastome of D. singchiana. The plastome has a reduced size of 87,931 bp, which includes a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 13,762 bp each that are separated by a large single copy (LSC) region of 42,575 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 17,831 bp. When compared to its sister taxa, Cremastra appendiculata and Corallorhiza striata var. involuta, D. singchiana showed an inverted gene block in the LSC and SSC regions. A total of 61 genes were predicted, including 21 tRNA, 4 rRNA, and 36 protein-coding genes. While most of the housekeeping genes were still intact and seem to be protein-coding, only four photosynthesis-related genes appeared presumably intact. The majority of the presumably intact protein-coding genes seem to have undergone purifying selection (dN/dS < 1), and only the psaC gene was positively selected (dN/dS > 1) when compared to that in Cr. appendiculata. Phylogenetic analysis of 26 complete plastome sequences from 24 species of the tribe Epidendreae had revealed that D. singchiana diverged after Cr. appendiculata and is sister to the genus Corallorhiza with strong bootstrap support (100%).

Hiking is a popular recreational activity and to cater to public demand, it is apt to increase the number of hiking trails. Various methodologies have been proposed to evaluate the suitability of forest trails to be constructed as hiking trails, but they can be costly and require relevant knowledge in analyzing digital information through a high-throughput dataset. Therefore, there is a need to come up with a simple method to obtain first-hand information on the trail condition, particularly considering the aspects of safety and suitability to hikers, using both on-ground and aerial observations. In this study, we introduce a new assessment approach to analyze and select old forest trails to be reconstructed as new hiking trails. This is useful for park managers who prioritize safety, comfort, and aesthetic features of the recreation site for their visitors. Trail condition assessment was carried out along the trail whereby a 2×2 m sampling plot was constructed at every 100 m. Aerial drone survey was conducted to produce an ortho-mosaic that revealed the percentage of exposed trail from above. Potential phytotourism products and scenic spots were identified and recorded for their locations along the trail to promote the aesthetic value of the recreation site. A strength distribution plot was prepared based on the trail condition, canopy coverage, and aesthetic features along the trail that were categorized using three altitude ranges (n ≤ 150 m, 150 < n < 250 m, n ≥ 250 m a.s.l.). This is to assess the trade-offs in safety, comfort, and aesthetic features along the trail. The development of this methodology offers a direct and cost-effective, yet informative approach to evaluate the quality of a potential hiking trail, thus could effectively aid in the promotion of nature-based tourism.

Gossypium hirsutum is an allotetraploid species, meaning that mutants that are difficult to be generated by classical approaches due to gene redundancy. The CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system is a robust and highly efficient tool for generating target gene mutants, by which the genes of interest may be functionally dissected and applied through genotype-to-phenotype approaches. In this study, the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system was developed in G. hirsutum through editing the Gh14-3-3d gene. In T0 transgenic plants, lots of insertions and deletions (indels) in Gh14-3-3d at the expected target site were detected in the allotetraploid cotton At or Dt subgenomes. The results of the PCR, T7EI digestion and sequencing analyses showed that the indels in Gh14-3-3d gene can be stably transmitted to the next generation. Additionally, the indels in the At and Dt subgenomes were segregated in the T1 transgenic plants following Mendelian law, independing on the T-DNA segregation. Two homozygous Gh14-3-3d-edited plants free of T-DNA were chosen by PCR and sequencing assays in the T1 plants, which were called transgene-clean editing plants and were designated ce1 and ce2 in the T2 lines showed higher resistance to Verticillium dahliae infestation compared to the wild-type plants. Thus, the two transgene-clean edited lines can be used as a germplasm to breed disease-resistant cotton cultivars, possibly avoiding complex and expensive safety assessments of the transgenic plants.

Polygonatum humile (Asparagaceae) is a medicinal and food plant that is naturally distributed in the North East Asia region and East of Russia. Here we report on the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of P. humile. The cp genome is 155,313 bp in size and includes two inverted repeat regions of 26,302 bp each, which is separated by a large single-copy region of 84,239 bp and a small single-copy region of 18,470 bp. A total of 132 genes were predicted, including 39 tRNA, 8 rRNA, and 85 protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analysis placed P. humile under the subfamily Nolinoideae of the family Asparagaceae.

Alternanthera philoxeroides is a notoriously invasive weed that can readily adapt to different environmental conditions. Control of this weed is difficult, and it spreads easily and causes damage to native habitats and agriculture. In this study, our goal was to investigate the molecular mechanisms that lead to the ability of A. philoxeroides to invade new habitats, to adapt to environmental stresses, and to cause damage. We developed a simple and highly effective potato virus X-based virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) approach. The VIGS approach was first used to silence the phytoene desaturase gene, which resulted in the expected photo-bleaching phenotype. Next, the VIGS approach was used to silence two additional genes, drought-induced protein gene 15 (ApDRI15) and salinity-induced protein gene 1 (ApSI1). When ApDRI15 was knocked down, the plants were more sensitive to drought stress than the control plants, with smaller leaves, shorter internodes, and lower biomass. The ApDRI15-silenced plants had lower relative water content, lower free proline levels, and higher water loss rates than the control. Silencing of ApSI1 significantly decreased tolerance to salinity, and the ApSI1-silenced plants were withered and smaller. These results indicate that the pgR107 VIGS approach is a simple and highly effective tool for dissecting gene function in A. philoxeroides. Further experiments with the VIGS approach will enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the adaptability and plasticity of A. philoxeroides and improve our ability to combat the damage caused by this weed.

Hybridization accompanied by polyploidization and apomixis has been demonstrated as a driving force in the evolution and speciation of many plants. A good example to study the evolutionary process of hybridization associated with polyploidy and apomixis is the genus Cotoneaster (Rosaceae), which includes approximately 150 species, most of which are polyploid apomicts. In this study, we investigated all Cotoneaster taxa distributed in a small region of Malipo, Yunnan, China. Based on the morphological characteristics, four Cotoneaster taxa were identified and sampled: C. dielsianus, C. glaucophyllus, C. franchetii, and a putative hybrid. Flow cytometry analyses showed that C. glaucophyllus was diploid, while the other three taxa were tetraploid. A total of five low-copy nuclear genes and six chloroplast regions were sequenced to validate the status of the putative hybrid. Sequence analyses showed that C. dielsianus and C. glaucophyllus are distantly related and they could be well separated using totally 50 fixed nucleotide substitutions and four fixed indels at the 11 investigated genes. All individuals of the putative hybrid harbored identical sequences: they showed chromatogram additivity for all fixed differences between C. dielsianus and C. glaucophyllus at the five nuclear genes, and were identical with C. glaucophyllus at the six chloroplast regions. Haplotype analysis revealed that C. dielsianus possessed nine haplotypes for the 11 genes, while C. glaucophyllus had ten, and there were no shared haplotypes between the two species. The putative hybrid harbored two haplotypes for each nuclear gene: one shared with C. dielsianus and the other with C. glaucophyllus. They possessed the same chloroplast haplotype with C. glaucophyllus. Our study provided convincing evidence for natural hybridization between C. dielsianus and C. glaucophyllus, and revealed that all hybrid individuals were derivatives of one initial F1 via apomixes. C. glaucophyllus served as the maternal parent at the initial hybridization event. We proposed that anthropological disturbance provided an opportunity for hybridization between C. dielsianus and C. glaucophyllus, and a tetraploid F1 successfully bred many identical progenies via apomixis. Under this situation, species integrity could be maintained for these Cotoneaster species, but attentions should be kept for this new-born hybrid.

Inferring the origins of hybrid taxa based on morphology alone is difficult because morphologically similar hybrids can arise from hybridization between different populations of the same parental species or be produced by hybridization of different parental species. In this study, we investigated the origins of two semi-creeping taxa in Melastoma, which are morphologically similar to a natural hybrid, M. intermedium, by sequencing a chloroplast intergenic spacer, nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer and two low-copy nuclear genes (tpi and cam) in these taxa and their putative parental species. Our sequence analysis provides compelling evidence for the hybrid status of the two semi-creeping taxa: one originating from hybridization between M. dodecandrum and M. malabathricum, and the other between M. dodecandrum and M. normale. The origins of these hybrids are therefore clearly different from M. intermedium, and morphological similarity for the three hybrids is most likely due to their origins from hybridization between the same creeping species M. dodecandrum and a different erect species in each of the three cases. We also observed low rate of introgression from M. normale to M. dodecandrum, and genetic exchange between them may transfer adaptive traits to M. dodecandrum. Rare occurrence of these two hybrids may be due to small range overlaps between parental species in one case, and different flowering periods between parental species in the other.

The electronic, vibrational and thermoelectric transport characteristics of AgInTe2 and AgGaTe2 with chalcopyrite structure have been investigated. The electronic structures are calculated using the density-functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) of Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof functional considering the Hubbard-U exchange correlation. The band-gaps of AgInTe2 and AgGaTe2 are much larger than previous standard GGA functional results and agree well with the existing experimental data. The effective mass of the hole and the shape of density of states near the edge of the valence band indicate AgInTe2 and AgGaTe2 are considerable p-type thermoelectric materials. An analysis of lattice dynamics shows the low thermal conductivities of AgInTe2 and AgGaTe2. The thermoelectric transport properties' dependence on carrier concentration for p-type AgInTe2 and AgGaTe2 in a wide range of temperatures has been studied in detail. The results show that p-type AgInTe2 and AgGaTe2 at 800 K can achieve the merit values of 0.91 and 1.38 at about 2.12 × 1020 cm−3 and 1.97 × 1020 cm−3 carrier concentrations, respectively. This indicates p-type AgGaTe2 is a potential thermoelectric material at high temperature.

Platooning strategy is an important component of autonomous driving technology. Autonomous vehicles in platoons are often equipped with a variety of on-board sensors to detect the surrounding environment. The abundant data collected by autonomous vehicles in platoons can be transmitted to the infrastructure through vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications using the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) mechanism and then uploaded to the cloud platform through the Internet. The cloud platform extracts useful information and then sends it back to the autonomous vehicles respectively. In this way, autonomous vehicles in platoons can detect emergency conditions and make a decision in time. The characteristics of platoons would cause a fair-access problem in the V2I communications, i.e., vehicles in the platoons moving on different lanes with different velocities would have different resident time within the infrastructure’s coverage and thus successfully send different amounts of data to the infrastructure. In this case, the vehicles with different velocities will receive different amounts of useful information from the cloud. As a result, vehicles with a higher velocity are more likely to suffer from a traffic accident as compared to the vehicles with a lower velocity. Hence, this paper considers the fair-access problem and proposes a fair-access scheme to ensure that vehicles with different velocities successfully transmit the same amount of data by adaptively adjusting the minimum contention window of each vehicle according to its velocity. Moreover, the normalized throughput of the proposed scheme is derived. The validity of the fair-access scheme is demonstrated by simulation.

Many Firmiana species are locally endemic, providing an interesting system for studying adaptation and speciation. Among these species, F. danxiaensis is a tree species endemic to Mount Danxia in Guangdong, China, which is an area known for presenting the Danxia landform. How F. danxiaensis could have adapted to the stressful environment of rocky cliffs covered with barren soils in the Danxia landform is still unknown. In this study, we performed de novo assembly of the transcriptome of F. danxiaensis, obtaining 47,221 unigenes with an N50 value of 987 bp. Homology analysis showed that 32,318 of the unigenes presented hits in the NCBI non-redundant database, and 31,857 exhibited significant matches with the protein database of Theobroma cacao. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation showed that hundreds of unigenes participated in responses to various stresses or nutritional starvation, which may help us to understand the adaptation of F. danxiaensis to Danxia landform. Additionally, we found 263 genes related to responses to Cd, partially explaining the high accumulation of Cd observed in Firmiana species. The EuKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotations revealed many genes playing roles in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and environmental adaptation, which may also contribute to the survivor and success of Firmiana species in extreme environments. Based on the obtained transcriptome, we further identified a Firmiana-specific whole-genome duplication event that occurred approximately 20 Mya, which may have provided raw materials for the diversification of Firmiana species.

Five combinations of three ratios (PS9-sPS1, PS7-sPS3 and PS6-sPS4) were prepared with polysaccharide (PS) and sulfated polysaccharide (sPS). The antiviral activities of these compounds were subsequently compared in vitro using the MTT assay, observation of the virus structure and immunofluorescence. The results demonstrated that SP9-sCP1, CP7-sCA3, EP7-sAP3, CA9-sEP1 and EP7-sCA3 presented higher activities, and SP9-sCP1 displayed the highest virus inhibition rate and clearly killed the virus and inhibited viral antigen expression. In an in vivo test, 28-day-old chickens were challenged with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and were administered the five drug combinations. On day 14 after the challenge, the morbidity, mortality and cure rate in each group were calculated. The results indicated that SP9-sCP1 presented the lowest morbidity and mortality and the highest cure rate. These results indicate that Solomonseal polysaccharide and sulfated Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide synergistically resist NDV. Moreover, SP9-sCP1 had the highest efficacy and may be used as a new antiviral drug.

The garlic polysaccharide was modified by HNO3-Na2SeO3 method according to orthogonal design L9(3(4)) to obtain nine selenizing garlic polysaccharides, sGPS1-sGPS9. Their effects on chicken peripheral lymphocytes proliferation in vitro were compared by MTT assay. The results showed that sGPSs could significantly promote lymphocytes proliferation, sGPS3, sGPS5 and sGPS6 presented stronger efficacy. In vivo experiment, 14-day-old chickens were injected respectively with sGPS3, sGPS5 and sGPS6 when they were vaccinated with ND vaccine taking unmodified GPS as control. The results showed that three sGPSs could significantly promote lymphocyte proliferation, enhance serum antibody titer, IFN-γ and IL-2 contents. These results indicated that selenylation modification could significantly enhance the immune-enhancing activity of GPS, sGPS6 possessed the best efficacy and could be as a candidate drug of immunoenhancer. Its optimal modification conditions were 400 mg of sodium selenite for 500 mg of GPS, reaction temperature of 70°C and reaction time of 6 h.

Disanthus cercidifolius subsp. longipes is an endangered species in China. Genetic diversity and structure analysis of this species was investigated using amplified fragments length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting. Nei's gene diversity ranged from 0.1290 to 0.1394. The AMOVA indicated that 75.06% of variation was distributed within populations, while the between-group component 5.04% was smaller than the between populations-within-group component 19.90%. Significant genetic differentiation was detected between populations. Genetic and geographical distances were not correlated. PCA and genetic structure analysis showed that populations from East China were together with those of the Nanling Range. These patterns of genetic diversity and levels of genetic variation may be the result of D. c. subsp. longipes restricted to several isolated habitats and "excess flowers production, but little fruit set". It is necessary to protect all existing populations of D. c. subsp. longipes in order to preserve as much genetic variation as possible.

Natural hybridization can lead to various evolutionary outcomes in plants, including hybrid speciation and interspecific gene transfer. It can also cause taxonomic problems, especially in plant genera containing multiple species. In this study, the hybrid status of Melastoma affine, the most widespread taxon in this genus, and introgression between its putative parental species, M. candidum and M. sanguineum, were assessed on two sites, Hainan and Guangdong, using 13 SSR markers and sequences of a chloroplast intergenic spacer. Bayesian-based STRUCTURE analysis detected two most likely distinct clusters for the three taxa, and 76.0% and 73.9% of the morphologically identified individuals of M. candidum and M. sanguineum were correctly assigned, respectively. 74.5% of the M. affine individuals had a membership coefficient to either parental species between 0.1 and 0.9, suggesting admixture between M. candidum and M. sanguineum. Furthermore, NewHybrids analysis suggested that most individuals of M. affine were F2 hybrids or backcross hybrids to M. candidum, and that there was extensive introgression between M. candidum and M. sanguineum. These SSR data thus provides convincing evidence for hybrid origin of M. affine and extensive introgression between M. candidum and M. sanguineum. Chloroplast DNA results were consistent with this conclusion. Much higher hybrid frequency on the more disturbed Guangdong site suggests that human disturbance might offer suitable habitats for the survival of hybrids, a hypothesis that is in need of further testing.

The Mount Jinggangshan region is located between Jiangxi and Hunan provinces in southeastern China in the central section of the Luoxiao Mountains. A detailed investigation of Mount Jinggangshan region shows that the seed plant flora comprises 2,958 species in 1,003 genera and 210 families (Engler's system adjusted according to Zhengyi Wu's concept). Among them, 23 species of gymnospermae belong to 17 genera and 9 families, and 2,935 species of angiosperms are in 986 genera and 201 families. Moreover, they can also be sorted into woody plants (350 genera and 1,295 species) and herbaceous plants (653 genera and 1,663 species). The dominant families are mainly Fagaceae, Lauraceae, Theaceae, Hamamelidaceae, Magnoliaceae, Ericaceae, Styracaceae, Aquifoliaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Aceraceae, Rosaceae, Corylaceae, Daphniphyllaceae, Symplocaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae and Taxaceae. Ancient and relic taxa include Ginkgo biloba, Fokieniahodginsii, Amentotaxusargotaenia, Disanthuscercidifolia subsp. longipes, Hamamelismollis, Manglietiafordiana, Magnoliaofficinalis, Tsoongiodendronodorum, Fortuneariasinensis, Cyclocaryapaliurus, Eucommiaulmoides, Sargentodoxacuneata, Bretschneiderasinensis, Camptothecaacuminata, Tapisciasinensis, etc. The flora of Mount Jinggangshan region includes 79 cosmopolitan genera and 924 non-cosmopolitan genera, which are 7.88% and 92.12% of all genera. The latter includes 452 tropical genera (48.92%) and 472 temperate genera (51.08%). The temperate elements include 44 genera endemic to China, accounting for 4.76% of all genera. Among 1,003 genera, 465 have only a single species and 401 are oligotypic genera (with 2-5 species). These genera account for 86.34% of all genera. The floristic analysis indicates that the flora of Mount Jinggangshan region is closely related to the flora of Mount Wuyishan region in southeastern China. The flora of Mount Jinggangshan region also contains many elements of central and southern China. Mount Jinggangshan region is an important north-south floristic passageway and is also a boundary between the floras of eastern, central and south China.

Dihydroflavanol 4-reductase (DFR) is a key later enzyme involved in two polyphenols’ (anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins (PAs)) biosynthesis, however it is not characterized in cotton yet. In present reports, a DFR cDNA homolog (designated as GhDFR1) was cloned from developing fibers of upland cotton. Silencing GhDFR1 in cotton by virus-induced gene silencing led to significant decrease in accumulation of anthocyanins and PAs. More interestingly, based on LC-MS analysis, two PA monomers, (–)-epicatachin and (–)-epigallocatachin, remarkably decreased in content in fibers of GhDFR1-silenced plants, but two new monomers, (–)-catachin and (–)-gallocatachin were present compared to the control plants infected with empty vector. The ectopic expression of GhDFR1 in an Arabidopsis TT3 mutant allowed for reconstruction of PAs biosynthesis pathway and led to accumulation of PAs in seed coat. Taken together, these data demonstrate that GhDFR1 contributes to the biosynthesis of anthocyanins and PAs in cotton.