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A field trial to examine growth and wound healing of pruned Corymbia torelliana was established in a 40-month-old plantation in western Guangdong, China. It included: (1) pruning all branches up to stem diameters of 5, 6, 7 or 8 cm, (2) wound protection with wax or paint and (3) a control with no pruning. Measurements of growth and wound occlusion taken at various intervals up to 12 months after pruning showed that pruning generally impeded height growth, promoted diameter at breast height (dbh) growth and slightly increased taper. The optimal pruning intensity for tree growth was pruning up to stem diameter of 8 cm. Lower wound occlusion rates occurred in heavier pruning intensities. The optimal intensity for rapid wound occlusion was pruning up to stem diameter of 7 or 8 cm. Paint resulted in better occlusion than wax. The fastest wound occlusion occurred in stem section of height 2.51 to 5.35 m above the ground. Rate of wound occlusion up to 12 months showed correlations with dbh increment, initial wound size and pruning intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven eucalypt species and Acacia mangium from a species trial in southern China were assessed for growth, stem form and wood properties at age 6 years. Differences in growth were highly significant for mean tree volume with the order Eucalyptus urophylla > E. cloeziana > A. mangium > E. grandis > E. urophylla × grandis > E. saligna > E. pellita > E. torelliana. There were also significant differences between species for stem form, height to first live branch and stem straightness. Positive correlations were found between height to first live branch and stem straightness. Pilodyn was used to assess variation in wood density and Fakopp was used to indirectly assess modulus of elasticity (MOE). Eucalyptus cloeziana had the highest wood density and MOE, while E. grandis had the lowest wood density and E. torelliana, the lowest MOE. With regard to growth, stem form and wood properties at age 6 years, the order of species for the purpose of conversion of logs into solid wood products was E. cloeziana > E. urophylla × grandis > E. urophylla > E. pellita > A. mangium > E. grandis > E. saligna > E. torelliana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic maps are essential tools for quantitative trait locus analysis and marker-assisted selection breeding. In order to select parents that are highly heterozygous for genetic mapping, the heterozygosity (HS) of 24 tea cultivars (Camellia sinensis) was analyzed with 72 simple sequence repeat markers. In total, 359 alleles were obtained with an average of 4.99 per marker. The HS varied greatly from 37.5 to 71.0% with an average of 51.3%. On average, tea cultivars from Fujian Province showed a higher level of heterozygosity (59.8%) than those from Zhejiang (48.5%) and Yunnan (44.5%), and the 12 national tea cultivars were generally more heterozygous than the 12 provincial cultivars. Unweighted pair-group analysis using the arithmetic average grouping divided the 24 cultivars into 2 groups that are consistent with the morphological classification. All dual combinations of the 24 cultivars were studied to calculate the percentage of mappable markers when using pseudo-testcross mapping strategy, and results showed that this value also varied greatly from 51.4 to 90.3%. The genetic relationships and HS differences among different cultivars were discussed, and tea cultivars with high HS were recommended as cross parents for genetic mapping programs.

Disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis is an autosomal dominant cutaneous disorder characterized by many uniformly small, minimal, annular, anhidrotic, and keratotic lesions. The genetic basis for this disease is unknown. Using a genomewide search in a large Chinese family, we identified a locus at chromosome 12q23.2-24. 1 responsible for disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis. The fine mapping study indicates that the disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis gene is located within a 9.6 cM region between markers D12S1727 and D12S1605, with a maximum two-point LOD score of 20.53 (theta = 0.00) at D12S78. This is the first locus identified for a genetic disease where the major phenotype is porokeratosis. The study provides a map location for isolation of a gene causing disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis.

A new diarylheptanoid, 1,7-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxy-1,3-heptadien-5-one (1), along with seven other known compounds, were isolated from the seeds of Alpinia blepharocalyx. Of these, compounds 1 and 3 showed strong inhibition of collagen-induced, arachidonic acid-induced, and adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation of human whole blood. Compound 3 also strongly inhibited ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation. Structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical means.