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In a changing climate, drought and flood hazards become more frequent, posing high risks to human life and property. The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is selected as the study area. The flood and drought records, and the daily precipitation data at 23 stations from 1958 to 2016 are adopted. The temporal and spatial trends of precipitation intensities, precipitation days and the corresponding proportions relative to the total amounts are examined using the Mann‐Kendall trend test. The influence of the rainfall intensity on floods and droughts in Guangxi is also investigated. During the past 59 years in Guangxi, there is a significant decrease in light rain, and an increase in rainstorm in general. The larger the rainfall intensity is, the more stations show increasing trends of the corresponding rain events on different time scales (the monthly, seasonal or annual scale). Significant decreasing trends of the number of days with light precipitation are found over entire Guangxi, while increasing trends of the number of days with rainstorm events are widely distributed in most parts of Guangxi. There is a decrease in the number of stations indicating increases in proportion of light precipitation days, while an increase in the number of stations showing increases in proportion of rainstorm days. A significant increase in flood hazards is detected since the 1990s. The precipitation in Guangxi tends to be intensified in the future. The frequency and intensity of drought and flood events are very likely to increase, posing challenges to future agricultural production, water resources planning and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cosmopolitan red algal genus Pyropia sensu lato is the most speciose of the bladed Bangiales genera. In a major revision of the Bangiales, Pyropia was resurrected from Porphyra, although there was evidence at the time that species of Pyropia could be separated into several genera. Subsequent global phylogenetic analyses continued to resolve species assigned to Pyropia into several major clades with strong support, and the latest biogeographic analyses indicated that species distribution was also a pointer to the underlying phylogeny of Pyropia sensu lato. Therefore, in the present study, we have redefined the genus Pyropia, resurrected Porphyrella, and proposed four new genera: Calidia, Neoporphyra, Neopyropia, and Uedaea. Based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the bladed Bangiales of China, a species which did not match any known taxa was resolved in the new genus Calidia. The species, Calidia pseudolobata sp. nov., is described based on both morphological and molecular data. Molecular sequence data for rbcL, 18S, and COI‐5P were amplified for 15 samples in the present study. All the obtained rbcL sequences were identical to each other except for one (LYCN117) with one base pair difference. Two haplotypes of 18S (V9 region) were observed with one base pair difference (C/T30). All the obtained COI‐5P sequences were identical. Morphological comparisons were conducted not only with species in Calidia, but also with generically uncertain species currently assigned to Porphyra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a systematic quality comparison of protein crystals obtained with and without cross-linked protein crystal (CLPC) seeds. Four proteins were used to conduct the experiments, and the results showed that crystals obtained in the presence of CLPC seeds exhibited a better morphology. In addition, the X-ray diffraction data showed that the CLPC seeds method is a powerful tool to obtain high-quality protein crystals. Therefore, we recommend the use of CLPC seeds in preparing high-quality diffracting protein crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A molecular taxonomic study was undertaken for the first time of the bladed Bangiales of the mainland coast of China (Northwest Pacific) based on sequence data of 201 plastid rbc L and 148 nuclear 18S sequences of historical and contemporary specimens. The results revealed that only one genus of bladed Bangiales, Pyropia , was present along Chinese coast. Species delimitation was determined using two empirical methods: the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) and General Mixed Yule Coalescence (GMYC) coupled with detection of monophyly in tree reconstruction. At least fourteen species of Pyropia were recovered. Six species were confirmed that had been recorded previously based on morphology ( Py . suborbiculata , Py . yezoensis , Py . haitanensis , Py . katadae , Py . tenera and Py . acanthophora ), three species were recorded from China for the first time ( Py . kinositae , Py . pseudolinearis and Py . tanegashimensis ), and five cryptic species that did not match any molecular sequences were also discovered. The phylogeny of the concatenated rbc L and 18S dataset resolved three singletons and four clades. Each clades has a strong trend towards occupying a biogeographic region, but they are not confined to them. A transoceanic and antitropical pattern of distribution was found for Pyropia at both the subgeneric and species level. This together with high biodiversity (ca. 30% of all known Pyropia species) indicates that the Northwest Pacific might act as a centre of origin for modern distribution of Pyropia since the early Cenozoic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]