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Red leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativaL.) is popular due to its high anthocyanin content, but poor leaf coloring often occurs under low light intensity. In order to reveal the mechanisms of anthocyanins affected by light intensity, we compared the transcriptome ofL. sativaL. var.capitataunder light intensities of 40 and 100 μmol m−2s−1. A total of 62,111 unigenes were de novo assembled with an N50 of 1,681 bp, and 48,435 unigenes were functionally annotated in public databases. A total of 3,899 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected, of which 1,377 unigenes were up-regulated and 2,552 unigenes were down-regulated in the high light samples. By Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis, the DEGs were significantly enriched in 14 pathways. Using gene annotation and phylogenetic analysis, we identified seven anthocyanin structural genes, includingCHS,CHI,F3H,F3′H,DFR,ANS, and3GT, and two anthocyanin transport genes,GSTandMATE. In terms of anthocyanin regulatory genes, five MYBs and one bHLH gene were identified. AnHY5gene was discovered, which may respond to light-signaling and regulate anthocyanin structural genes. These genes showed a log2FC of 2.7–9.0 under high irradiance, and were validated using quantitative real-time-PCR. In conclusion, our results indicated transcriptome variance in red leaf lettuce under low and high light intensity, and observed a anthocyanin biosynthesis and regulation pattern. The data should further help to unravel the molecular mechanisms of anthocyanins influenced by light intensity.

Paeonia jishanensis is endemic in China, and has been proven to be one of the most important ancestral species of cultivated tree peonies. Wild P. jishanensis has been over-exploited and becomes qu...

On-site inspection of nuclear power plants is an important operation and maintenance means to ensure the safety, reliability and economic of the operation of the units. Due to the complexity of the scene, generally, staff required to execute the inspection directly and cannot rely on automated equipment. The nuclear site exist a variety of risk factors, like other industrial sites, and also some other adverse environmental factors like radiation and other unavoidable ones, the overall personnel risk is proportional to the residence time and the complexity of the work. The use of mobile device combined with specially designed functions to assist the on-site inspections of nuclear power has been proposed in this paper which can greatly optimize the long time-consuming process such as positioning the inspection point, so as to reduce personnel risk and radiation dose. The mobile equipment can also assist the results of on-site multimedia recording, quick analysis, and help to carry out the preliminary issue cause determination. The on-site inspection assistance system developed based on this method has been successfully applied in many nuclear power plants and played an important role.

According to the requirement of the nuclear power plant ageing management, combined with the nuclear safety guide HAD103/12 “nuclear power plant ageing management" released by NNSA (national nuclear safety administration), this paper introduces the applicable to multiple power plant equipment ageing and life management of the database design requirements, the development process, general structure, composition and function, application scope, maintenance and safety related content.

The pigmented cells in defined region of a petal constitute the petal spots. Petal spots attract pollinators and are found in many angiosperm families. Several cultivars of tree peony contain a single red or purple spot at the base of petal that makes the flower more attractive for the ornamental market. So far, the understanding of the molecular mechanism of spot formation is inadequate. In this study, we sequenced the transcriptome of the purple spot and the white non-spot of tree peony flower. We assembled and annotated 67,892 unigenes. Comparative analyses of the two transcriptomes showed 1,573 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), among which 933 were up-regulated, and 640 were down-regulated in the purple spot. Subsequently, we examined four anthocyanin structural genes, including PsCHS, PsF3’H, PsDFR and PsANS, which expressed at a significantly higher level in the purple spot than in the white non-spot. We further validated the digital expression data using quantitative real-time PCR. Our result uncovered transcriptome variance between the spot and non-spot of tree peony flower, and revealed that the co-expression of four anthocyanin structural genes was responsible for spot pigment in tree peony. The data will further help to unravel the genetic mechanism of peony flower spot formation.

BackgroundThe chloroplast (cp) genome is useful in plant systematics, genetic diversity analysis, molecular identification and divergence dating. The genusGentianacontains 362 species, but there are only two valuable complete cp genomes. The purpose of this study is to report the characterization of complete cp genome ofG. lawrenceivar.farreri, which is endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP).MethodsUsing high throughput sequencing technology, we got the complete nucleotide sequence of theG. lawrenceivar.farrericp genome. The comparison analysis including genome difference and gene divergence was performed with its congeneric speciesG. straminea. The simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and phylogenetics were studied as well.ResultsThe cp genome ofG. lawrenceivar.farreriis a circular molecule of 138,750 bp, containing a pair of 24,653 bp inverted repeats which are separated by small and large single-copy regions of 11,365 and 78,082 bp, respectively. The cp genome contains 130 known genes, including 85 protein coding genes (PCGs), eight ribosomal RNA genes and 37 tRNA genes. Comparative analyses indicated thatG. lawrenceivar.farreriis 10,241 bp shorter than its congeneric speciesG. straminea.Four large gaps were detected that are responsible for 85% of the total sequence loss. Further detailed analyses revealed that 10 PCGs were included in the four gaps that encode nine NADH dehydrogenase subunits. The cp gene content, order and orientation are similar to those of its congeneric species, but with some variation among the PCGs. Three genes,ndhB,ndhFandclpP, have high nonsynonymous to synonymous values. There are 34 SSRs in theG. lawrenceivar.farrericp genome, of which 25 are mononucleotide repeats: no dinucleotide repeats were detected. Comparison with theG. stramineacp genome indicated that five SSRs have length polymorphisms and 23 SSRs are species-specific. The phylogenetic analysis of 48 PCGs from 12 Gentianales taxa cp genomes clearly identified three clades, which indicated the potential of cp genomes in phylogenetics.DiscussionThe “missing” sequence ofG. lawrenceivar.farrerimainly consistent ofndhgenes which could be dispensable under chilling-stressed conditions in the QTP. The complete cp genome sequence ofG. lawrenceivar.farreriprovides intragenic information that will contribute to genetic and phylogenetic research in the Gentianaceae.