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Objectives Pregnancy outcomes of different ovarian stimulation protocols for in vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) in patients with adenomyosis are not explicit. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically evaluate the effects of different IVF/ICSI protocols on pregnancy outcomes.Design Meta-analysis.Data sources PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane library were searched up to October 2023.Eligibility criteria Comparative studies on IVF/ICSI outcomes in the adenomyosis population were eligible. Studies on preimplantation genetic testing, reviews, case reports and animal experiments were excluded.Data extraction and synthesis Valid information was extracted by two independent authors according to a standard data format. All analyses were conducted using Review Manager (RevMan, V.5.3).Results Compared with the non-adenomyosis population, adenomyosis was responsible for a 26% reduction in clinical pregnancy rate (CPR; 42.47% vs 55.89%, OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.66 to 0.82, p

Major groups matching industrial groups in higher vocational colleges is the requirement of integration of industry and education. It is a talent cultivation mode based on the demand of regional advantageous industrial groups for talent quality. It is significant to improve the rationality of professional settings in colleges and promote the development of the economy. This study takes the Yi-Jing-Jing Metropolitan area as a case and uses the coupling coordination model to measure the matching degree of the industrial groups and the major groups. The conclusion is as follows: major groups and industrial groups in this region do not match well, and pay insufficient attention to the development of emerging advantageous industries. Some majors have not adapted to the characteristics of the current era and cannot meet the future development of the industry. According to the research results, it is proposed to strengthen policy guidance, based on changes in demand, and adjust the course content and other aspects to promote the matching of major groups and regional advantageous industrial groups.

Abstract The tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta, or Phthorimaea absouta, is native to South America, but quickly spread to other regions of world, including Europe, Africa, and Asia, devastating to global tomato production. However, a lack of high-quality genome resources makes it difficult to understand its high invasiveness and ecological adaptation. Here, we sequenced the genome of the tomato pinworm using Nanopore platforms, yielding a genome assembly of 564.5 Mb with contig N50 of 3.33 Mb. BUSCO analysis demonstrated that this genome assembly has a high-level completeness of 98.0% gene coverage. In total, 310 Mb are repeating sequences accounting for 54.8% of genome assembly, and 21,979 protein-coding genes are annotated. Next, we used the Hi-C technique to anchor 295 contigs to 29 chromosomes, yielding a chromosome-level genome assembly with a scaffold N50 of 20.7 Mb. In sum, the high-quality genome assembly of the tomato pinworm is a useful gene resource that contributes to a better understanding of the biological characteristics of its invasiveness and will help in developing an efficient control policy.

The response of plants to abiotic stress is intricately mediated by PYR/PYL/RCARs, key components within the ABA signal transduction pathway. Despite the widespread identification of PYL genes across diverse plant species, the evolutionary history and structural characteristics of these genes within the pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) remained unexplored. In this study, we uncovered, for the first time, 12 PgPYLs from the whole genome dataset of ‘Tunisia’, mapping them onto five chromosomes and categorizing them into three distinct subgroups (Group I, Group II, and Group III) through phylogenetic analysis. Detailed examination of the composition of these genes revealed similar conserved motifs and exon–intron structures among genes within the same subgroup. Fragment duplication emerged as the primary mechanism driving the amplification of the PYL gene family, as evidenced by intra-species collinearity analysis. Furthermore, inter-species collinearity analysis provided insights into potential evolutionary relationships among the identified PgPYL genes. Cis-acting element analysis revealed a rich repertoire of stress and hormone response elements within the promoter region of PgPYLs, emphasizing their putative roles in diverse signaling pathways. Upon treatment with 100 μmol/L ABA, we investigated the expression patterns of the PgPYL gene family, and the qRT-PCR data indicated a significant up-regulation in the majority of PYL genes. This suggested an active involvement of PgPYL genes in the plant’s response to exogenous ABA. Among them, PgPYL1 was chosen as a candidate gene to explore the function of the gene family, and the CDS sequence of PgPYL1 was cloned from pomegranate leaves with a full length of 657 bp, encoding 218 amino acids. Tobacco transient expression analysis demonstrated a consistent trend in the expression levels of pBI121-PgPYL1 and the related genes of the ABA signaling pathway, both of which increased initially before declining. This study not only contributes to the elucidation of the genomic and structural attributes of PgPYL genes but also provides a foundation for understanding their potential functions in stress responses. The identified conserved motifs, evolutionary relationships, and expression patterns under ABA treatment pave the way for further research into the PgPYL gene family’s role in pomegranate biology, offering valuable insights for future studies on genetic improvement and stress resilience in pomegranate cultivation.

Abstract Objective Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and pre‐eclampsia (PE) are immune‐related pregnancy complications that have been linked to CD4+ T cells and their cytokines, which can be influenced by genetic polymorphisms. This meta‐analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between interleukin (IL)‐17 and ‐27 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to RPL and PE. Methods All eligible case‐control studies published up to February 2023 were identified by searching PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The risk of recurrent pregnancy loss and PE associated with the IL‐17 rs2275913, IL‐17 rs763780, IL‐27 rs153109, and IL‐27 rs17855750 polymorphisms were estimated for each study. Results The meta‐analysis incorporated a total of 13 studies. The overall analysis indicated that IL‐17 rs2275913, IL‐17 rs763780, IL‐27 rs153109, and IL‐27 rs17855750 polymorphisms were not significantly associated with immune‐related pregnancy complications, including RPL and PE. However, when the analysis was stratified by disease type, the IL‐17 rs2275913 polymorphism was found to be associated with an increased risk of RPL (recessive model AA/GA + GG: OR = 1.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13–2.49, p = .01). Conclusions The IL‐17 rs763780, IL‐27 rs153109, and IL‐27 rs17855750 polymorphisms were not significantly associated with RPL and PE, whereas the IL‐17 rs2275913 polymorphism was associated with the susceptibility to recurrent miscarriage.

Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) is an option for recovering oil from depleted reservoirs. Numerous field trials of MEOR have confirmed distinct microbial community structure in diverse production wells within the same block. The variance in the reservoir microbial communities, however, remains ambiguously documented. In this study, an 8 m long core microbial flooding simulation device was built on a laboratory scale to study the dynamic changes of the indigenous microbial community structure in the Qizhong Block, Xinjiang oil field. During the MEOR, there was an approximate 34% upswing in oil extraction. Based on the 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing, our results indicated that nutrition was one of the factors affecting the microbial communities in oil reservoirs. After the introduction of nutrients, hydrocarbon oxidizing bacteria became active, followed by the sequential activation of facultative anaerobes and anaerobic fermenting bacteria. This was consistent with the hypothesized succession of a microbial ecological “food chain” in the reservoir, which preliminarily supported the two-step activation theory for reservoir microbes transitioning from aerobic to anaerobic states. Furthermore, metagenomic results indicated that reservoir microorganisms had potential functions of hydrocarbon degradation, gas production and surfactant production. Understanding reservoir microbial communities and improving oil recovery are both aided by this work.

Autophagy is a critical protein and organelle quality control system, which regulates cellular homeostasis and survival. Growing pieces of evidence suggest that autophagic dysfunction is strongly associated with many human diseases, including neurological diseases and cancer. Among various autophagic regulators, microphthalmia (MiT)/TFE transcription factors, including transcription factor EB (TFEB), have been shown to act as the master regulators of autophagosome and lysosome biogenesis in both physiological and pathological conditions. According to the previous studies, chlorpromazine (CPZ), an FDA-approved antipsychotic drug, affects autophagy in diverse cell lines, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In our present study, we find that CPZ treatment induces TFEB nuclear translocation through Rag GTPases, the upstream regulators of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling. Meanwhile, CPZ treatment also blocks autophagosome–lysosome fusion. Notably, we find a significant accumulation of immature autophagosome vesicles in CPZ-treated cells, which may impede cellular homeostasis due to the dysfunction of the autophagy–lysosome pathway. Interestingly and importantly, our data suggest that the expression of the active form of Rag GTPase heterodimers helps in reducing the accumulation of autophagosomes in CPZ-treated cells, further suggesting a major contribution of the Rag GTPase–mTORC1–TFEB signaling axis in CPZ-induced autophagic impairment.

The red imported fire ants (RIFA, Solenopsis invicta) have become a well-known invasive species that poses significant ecological and economic threats globally. As of recent times, the geographic scope of its invasion in China is rapidly expanding, thereby aggravating the extent and severity of its detrimental effects. The importance of soil microorganisms for maintaining soil health and ecosystem function has been widely acknowledged. However, the negative impact of RIFAs on soil microbial communities and their functions has not yet been fully understood. In this study, we sequenced the V3-V4 variable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene in soil samples collected from three types of RIFA nests to investigate the impact of RIFA invasion on soil microbial diversity and composition. The results of alpha diversity analysis showed that the normal soil without nests of RIFAs exhibited the highest level of diversity, followed by the soil samples from RIFA-invaded nests and abandoned nests. Taxonomy and biological function annotation analyses revealed significant differences in microbial community structure and function among the different samples. Our findings demonstrate that RIFA invasion can significantly alter soil microbial community composition, which could ultimately affect ecosystem function. Therefore, effective management strategies are urgently needed to mitigate the negative impact of invasive species on native ecosystems.

Background:Empirical use of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in patients with positive antinuclear antibody spectrum (ANAs) test result is controversial regarding its impact on improving perinatal outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the effect of HCQ on adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with placental dysfunction in ANAs-positive patients.Methods:The study included pregnant women with positive ANAs test result from 2016 to 2020 in our center, and divided into a weakly positive and a positive group in just ANA positive patients among them. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the effect of HCQ on pregnancy outcomes in each subgroup. Stratified and interactive analyses were performed to assess the value of HCQ in improving pregnancy outcomes.Results:(i) A total of 261 cases were included, accounting for 30.60% of pregnancy complicated with autoimmune abnormalities, and 65.12% of them used HCQ during pregnancy. (ii) The application of HCQ significantly reduced the incidence of early-onset preeclampsia (1.18% vs. 12.09%, p = 0.040) and small-for-gestational-age infants (10.06% vs. 25.84%, p = 0.003) in the ANAs-positive population, increased birth weight (3075.87 ± 603.91 g vs. 2847.53 ± 773.73 g, p = 0.025), and prolonged gestation (38.43 ± 2.31 vs. 36.34 ± 5.45 weeks, p

Abstract Background The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor is one of the most abundant and conserved gene families in eukaryotes. In addition to participating in plant development and growth, bZIP transcription factors play crucial roles in various abiotic stress responses and anthocyanin accumulation. Up to now, analysis of bZIP gene family members in pomegranate (Punica granatum) has not been reported. Three published pomegranate genome sequences provide valuable resources for further gene function analysis. Results Using bioinformatics analysis, 65 PgbZIPs were identified and analyzed from the ‘Taishanhong’ pomegranate genome. We divided them into 13 groups (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, M, and S) according to the phylogenetic relationship with those of Arabidopsis, each containing a different number of genes. The regularity of exon/intron number and distribution was consistent with the classification of groups in the evolutionary tree. Transcriptome analysis of different tissues showed that members of the PgbZIP gene family were differentially expressed in different developmental stages and tissues of pomegranate. Among them, we selected PgbZIP16 and PgbZIP34 as candidate genes which affect anthocyanin accumulation. The full-length CDS region of PgbZIP16 and PgbZIP34 were cloned from pomegranate petals by homologous cloning technique, encoding 170 and 174 amino acids, which were 510 bp and 522 bp, respectively. Subcellular localization assays suggested that both PgbZIP16 and PgbZIP34 were nucleus-localized. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to explore the expression of PgbZIP16 and PgbZIP34 in the petals of three kinds of ornamental pomegranates at the full flowering stage. The results demonstrated that the expression of PgbZIP16 in red petals was 5.83 times of that in white petals, while PgbZIP34 was 3.9 times. The results of transient expression in tobacco showed that consistent trends were observed in anthocyanin concentration and expression levels of related genes, which both increased and then decreased. Both PgbZIP16 and PgbZIP34 could promote anthocyanin accumulation in tobacco leaves. We obtained transgenic strains overexpressing PgbZIP16, and the histochemical staining for GUS activity showed that overexpressed PgbZIP16 seedlings were expressed in the stem. Transgenic experiments indicated that overexpression of PgbZIP16 significantly upregulated UF3GT, ANS and DFR genes in Arabidopsis and enhanced anthocyanin accumulation. Conclusions The whole genome identification, gene structure, phylogeny, gene cloning, subcellular location and functional verification of the pomegranate bZIP gene family provide a theoretical foundation for the functional study of the PgbZIP gene family and candidate genes for anthocyanin biosynthesis.

Fruit cracking tremendously damages the appearance of fruit, easily leads to pathogen invasion, greatly reduces the marketability and causes immense economic losses. The pivotal role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in diverse biological processes has been confirmed, while the roles of lncRNAs underlying fruit cracking remain poorly understood. In this study, the incidence of fruit cracking was 7.26% under the bagging treatment, the control group was 38.11%, indicating that bagging considerably diminished the fruit cracking rate. LncRNA libraries for fruit cracking (FC), fruit non-cracking (FNC) and fruit non-cracking under bagging (FB) in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) were performed and analysed via high-throughput transcriptome sequencing. A total of 3194 lncRNAs were obtained with a total length of 4898846 nt and an average length of 1533.77 nt in pomegranate. We identified 42 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and 137 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEGs) in FC vs FNC and 35 DELs and 160 DEGs in FB vs FC that formed co-expression networks respectively, suggesting that there are involved in phytohormone signaling pathway, lignin catabolic process, lipid transport/binding, cutin biosynthetic process and cell wall organization. We also found that 18 cis-acting DELs regulated 18 target genes, and 10 trans-acting DELs regulated 24 target genes in FC vs FNC, 23 DELs regulate 23 target genes for the cis-acting lncRNAs and 12 DELs regulated 36 target genes in FB vs FC, which provides an understanding for the regulation of the fruit cracking. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis results demonstrated that DELs participated in calcium ion binding, glycerophospholipid metabolism, flavonoid biosynthetic process, cell wall biogenesis, xyloglucan metabolic process, hormone signal transduction and starch and sucrose metabolism. Our findings provide new insights into the roles of lncRNAs in regulating the fruit cracking and lay the foundation for further improvement of pomegranate quality.

Using the water footprint (WF) approach to evaluate the water-use efficiency in agricultural production is crucial for assessing the sustainable use of water resources and mitigating water scarcity and pollution. This study calculated the blue, grey, green and total water footprints of spring maize production in Northeast China in 2019 and 2020 and compared the water footprint values at the provincial and municipal scales. In addition, this study analyzed the spatial variation and drivers of the water footprint. The results show that the average water footprints of spring maize production in Northeast China in 2019 and 2020 were 1.78 m3kg−1 and 2.00 m3kg−1, out of which the grey water footprint contributed the most, accounting for 55.19% and 49.85% of the total water footprint, respectively, while the blue water footprint contributed the least, accounting for only 17.44% and 18.68% of the total water footprint. At the provincial level, the water footprint of spring maize production in Northeast China was spatially clustered, with the lowest total water footprint in Heilongjiang Province and the highest total water footprint in Jilin Province. The spatial distribution difference of the spring maize unit yield was the fundamental factor explaining the difference in the water footprint. The precipitation, surface water resources, average temperature, effective irrigated area and the proportion of effective irrigated area also had impacts on the water footprint. This study provides a scientific basis for optimizing the distribution of spring maize production in Northeast China, formulating appropriate sustainable water resource management plans, improving water-use efficiency and realizing sustainable water resource management in Northeast China.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is regarded as one of the functional fruits because of its large amounts of secondary metabolites. The glycosylation processes mediated by UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) play a decisive role in regulating secondary metabolite availability. In this study, a genome-wide search identified 145 UGT genes in pomegranate, and further phylogenetic analysis defined 17 distinct groups: A to P and R. PgUGTs were dispersed unevenly across all eight chromosomes. Duplication events analysis revealed that both segmental and tandem duplications were the main mechanisms leading to gene family expansions. The comparison of exon–intron patterns identified 53 intron-less genes. A total of 24 types of cis-acting elements related to hormone, stress, and developmental responses were predicted in the promoter regions. Expression analysis of PgUGT genes using RNA-seq data and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) verification suggested that PgUGT genes were expressed at specific stages of fruit development, and different PgUGT members likely played different roles in specific fruit developmental stages. In an attempt to identify the UGTs involved in the glycosylation of flavonoids, 44 PgUGTs were putatively determined, and 5 well-defined orthologous groups (OGs) were characterized by the regioselectivity of these enzymes. These results provide significant insight into the UGT multi-gene family in pomegranate, and will be helpful to further elucidate their roles involved in secondary and specialized metabolism in pomegranate.

Expansins, which are important components of plant cell walls, act as loosening factors to directly induce turgor-driven cell wall expansion, regulate the growth and development of roots, leaves, fruits, and other plant organs, and function essentially under environmental stresses. In multiple species, many expansin genes (EXPs) have been cloned and functionally validated but little is known in pomegranate. In this study, a total of 33 PgEXPs were screened from the whole genome data of ‘Taishanhong’ pomegranate, belonging to the EXPA(25), EXPB(5), EXLA(1), and EXLB(2) subfamilies. Subsequently, the composition and characteristics were analyzed. Members of the same branch shared similar motif compositions and gene structures, implying they had similar biological functions. According to cis-acting element analysis, PgEXPs contained many light and hormone response elements in promoter regions. Analysis of RNA-seq data and protein interaction network indicated that PgEXP26 had relatively higher transcription levels in all pomegranate tissues and might be involved in pectin lyase protein synthesis, whilst PgEXP5 and PgEXP31 might be involved in the production of enzymes associated with cell wall formation. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results revealed that PgEXP expression levels in fruit peels varied considerably across fruit developmental phases. PgEXP23 was expressed highly in the later stages of fruit development, suggesting that PgEXP23 was essential in fruit ripening. On the other hand, the PgEXP28 expression level was minimal or non-detected. Our work laid a foundation for further investigation into pomegranate expansin gene functions.

Soil extracellular enzyme activity (EA) and its eco-enzyme stoichiometric ratio (ES) are extremely sensitive to environmental change. This study aimed to clarify the change law of EA and ES in soil with different nitrogen addition levels under plastic film mulching, and to optimize the application amount of nitrogen fertilizer that was used. Based on the location experiment of plastic film mulching fertilization that has been ongoing since 2015, soil samples were collected from different depths (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm) during the harvest period of spring maize in October 2021. Four soil extracellular enzyme activities (β-1,4 glucosidase (βG), β-1, 4-N-acetylglucosidase (NAG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP)) involved in soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling at different nitrogen application levels (0, 90, 150, 225 and 300 kg·hm−2) were studied under two planting patterns of no plastic film mulching (LD) and plastic film mulching (PM). The latest discovery of this study is that the activities of soil EA involved in the cycling of soil carbon C, N and P are similar in different soil depths (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm). Both EC:P and EC:P in the soil in this area are less than 1:1, indicating that the soil is limited by N and P. Comprehensive analysis showed that a nitrogen application level of 225 kg·hm−2 was beneficial to the balance of soil nutrients and the improvement of soil EA at harvest. At the same time, PM can effectively improve the soil EA and is more conducive to the balance of soil nutrients. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that EA and ES were strongly correlated with pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Most importantly, this study revealed that the activity of extracellular enzymes in arid and semi-arid areas was constantly self-regulated with the addition of nitrogen, which provided theoretical and technical support for the efficient use of nitrogen under the condition of plastic film mulching.

The P300-based brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) enable participants to communicate by decoding the electroencephalography (EEG) signal. Different regions of the brain correspond to various mental activities. Therefore, removing weak task-relevant and noisy channels through channel selection is necessary when decoding a specific type of activity from EEG. It can improve the recognition accuracy and reduce the training time of the subsequent models. This study proposes a novel block sparse Bayesian-based channel selection method for the P300 speller. In this method, we introduce block sparse Bayesian learning (BSBL) into the channel selection of P300 BCI for the first time and propose a regional smoothing BSBL (RSBSBL) by combining the spatial distribution properties of EEG. The RSBSBL can determine the number of channels adaptively. To ensure practicality, we design an automatic selection iteration strategy model to reduce the time cost caused by the inverse operation of the large-size matrix. We verified the proposed method on two public P300 datasets and on our collected datasets. The experimental results show that the proposed method can remove the inferior channels and work with the classifier to obtain high-classification accuracy. Hence, RSBSBL has tremendous potential for channel selection in P300 tasks.

Abstract Backgrounds Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an important commercial fruit tree, with moderate tolerance to salinity. The balance of Cl− and other anions in pomegranate tissues are affected by salinity, however, the accumulation patterns of anions are poorly understood. The chloride channel (CLC) gene family is involved in conducting Cl−, NO3 −, HCO3 − and I−, but its characteristics have not been reported on pomegranate. Results In this study, we identified seven PgCLC genes, consisting of four antiporters and three channels, based on the presence of the gating glutamate (E) and the proton glutamate (E). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that seven PgCLCs were divided into two clades, with clade I containing the typical conserved regions GxGIPE (I), GKxGPxxH (II) and PxxGxLF (III), whereas clade II not. Multiple sequence alignment revealed that PgCLC-B had a P [proline, Pro] residue in region I, which was suspected to be a NO3 −/H+ exchanger, while PgCLC-C1, PgCLC-C2, PgCLC-D and PgCLC-G contained a S [serine, Ser] residue, with a high affinity to Cl−. We determined the content of Cl−, NO3 −, H2PO4 −, and SO4 2− in pomegranate tissues after 18 days of salt treatments (0, 100, 200 and 300 mM NaCl). Compared with control, the Cl− content increased sharply in pomegranate tissues. Salinity inhibited the uptake of NO3 − and SO4 2−, but accelerated H2PO4 − uptake. The results of real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) revealed that PgCLC genes had tissue-specific expression patterns. The high expression levels of three antiporters PgCLC-C1, PgCLC-C2 and PgCLC-D in leaves might be contributed to sequestrating Cl− into the vacuoles. However, the low expression levels of PgCLCs in roots might be associated with the exclusion of Cl− from root cells. Also, the up-regulated PgCLC-B in leaves indicated that more NO3 − was transported into leaves to mitigate the nitrogen deficiency. Conclusions Our findings suggested that the PgCLC genes played important roles in balancing of Cl− and NO3 − in pomegranate tissues under salt stress. This study established a theoretical foundation for the further functional characterization of the CLC genes in pomegranate.

Based on the genome and small-RNA sequencing of pomegranate, miRNA167 and three target genes PgARF6 were identified in “Taishanhong” genome. Three PgARF6 genes and their corresponding protein sequences, expression patterns in pomegranate flower development and under exogenous hormones treatments were systematically analyzed in this paper. We found that PgARF6s are nuclear proteins with conserved structures. However, PgARF6s had different protein structures and expression profiles in pomegranate flower development. At the critical stages of pomegranate ovule sterility (8.1–14.0 mm), the expression levels of PgARF6s in bisexual flowers were lower than those in functional male flowers. Interestingly, PgARF6c expression level was significantly higher than PgARF6a and PgARF6b. Under the treatment of exogenous IBA and 6-BA, PgARF6s were down-regulated, and the expression of PgARF6c was significantly inhibited. PgmiR167a and PgmiR167d had the binding site on PgARF6 genes sequences, and PgARF6a has the directly targeted regulatory relationship with PgmiR167a in pomegranate. At the critical stage of ovule development (8.1–12.0 mm), exogenous IBA and 6-BA promoted the content of GA and ZR accumulation, inhibited BR accumulation. There was a strong correlation between the expression of PgARF6a and PgARF6b. Under exogenous hormone treatment, the content of ZR, BR, GA, and ABA were negatively correlated with the expressions of PgARF6 genes. However, JA was positively correlated with PgARF6a and PgARF6c under IBA treatment. Thus, our results provide new evidence for PgARF6 genes involving in ovule sterility in pomegranate flowers.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda is a major agricultural pest in China, and has migrated from its continuous breeding area to other parts of China. In our study, the biological behaviors of S. frugiperda fed on maize, wheat, barley, faba beans, and soya beans were evaluated in a growth chamber. Results indicated that maize-fed S. frugiperda larvae performed well, as evidenced by shorter larva-adult periods, adult pre-oviposition period (APOP), total pre-oviposition period (TPOP), and generation time (T), and a higher survival rate, intrinsic (r) and finite (λ) rate of increase, and net reproductive rate (Ro), However, S. frugiperda larvae performed weakly when fed barley and faba bean plants, as indicated by lower survival rates, r, and λ, and longer pre-adult period, TPOP, and T. A heavier pupal weight of both sexes was recorded on faba beans (0.202 g) and a lighter weight on barley (0.169 g). Fecundity was higher when fed faba beans and maize, and lower when fed wheat and barley. Thus, maize was the most optimal and barley was the least optimal host plant, followed by faba beans, for S. frugiperda larvae growth and development. This study enhances our knowledge of S. frugiperda in these host plants and can help in the design of management approaches.

The ubiquitination pathway is essential for several developmental phases in plants, and the U-box protein family of ubiquitin ligases plays an important role in this process. However, little is known about pomegranate’s PUB genes. In this investigation, the pomegranate U-box gene family was identified using whole-genome sequencing data. We identified a total of 56 members of the pomegranate U-box family based on the U-box domain, and the PgPUBs were classified into four groups. Chromosomal localization, phylogenetic analysis, motif distribution, gene duplications, cis-acting elements, and expression profiling were also investigated. The PgPUB genes were unevenly distributed among the eight pomegranate chromosomes, and collinear duplicated genes were identified between the Arabidopsis thaliana genome and the Punica granatum genome. Furthermore, the gene expression analysis revealed that expression of U-box genes in pomegranate was induced by abiotic stressors. Collectively, our findings provide insight into the U-box gene family and will assist in understanding the functional divergence of U-box genes in Punica granatum L.

Pomegranates (Punica granatum L.) are one of the most fashionable fruits and can be cultivated in both tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is a shiny and attractive pome due to its cultivation. It belongs to the Lythraceae family. In this study, we analyzed the chloroplast genome of wild pomegranate based on whole genome shotgun sequences. In wild pomegranate, we found 158,645 bp in size, 132 genes containing 84 protein genes, 37 tRNA genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 36.92% of GC content, one infA and two duplicated ycf15 pseudogenes. Moreover, 21 chloroplast genes contained intros that are detected in a large single copy (LSC), small single copy (SSC), and two inverted repeats (IRA and IRB) regions, 17 of which were involved in single introns, while four genes (ycf3, rps12, clpP and rsp12) located in LSC, IRA, and IRB region. In total, 26,272 codons are found in protein-coding genes (PCGs); relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis revealed that the most abundant amino acid is leucine containing 2773 codons (10.55%), less abundant is methionine amino acid containing 1 codon (0.0032) in the PCGs. Furthermore, a total of 233 cpSSRs were identified in the wild pomegranate cp genome, and their distribution was analyzed in three regions, namely IR, LSC, and SSC. However, 155 cpSSR were found in the LSC (66.5%), followed by 40 cpSSR in the SSC (17.2%) and 38 cpSSR in the IR (16.3%) regions. Phylogenetic validation revealed that wild pomegranate is close to the pemphis acidula species. We believe that the cp genome allocates significant information promising for breeding research of wild pomegranate to Lythraceae.

The cultivated apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) is one of the most important crop fruits with high-economic values in the world. In the present study, we characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of apple cultivar ‘Yantai Fuji 8’. The complete cp genome is 160,062 bp in length with a typical quadripartite structure. A total of 112 unique genes were found in the newly sequenced genome, including 78 protein-coding, 30 tRNA, and 4 rRNA genes. Of these, 7 protein-coding genes, 7 tRNA genes, and all 4 rRNA genes are duplicated in the inverted regions. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the full length of cp genome to show the relationships among species in Rosaceae. The complete cp genome will be potential genetic resources for apple breeding programs.

Skeleton-based 3D object retrieval is a very efficient method to query the sketch databases in numerous applications. However, few skeleton images are found so far in existing sketch benchmarks. In this paper, we provide an initial benchmark dataset consisting of skeleton sketches, including hand-drawn skeletons and skeletons extracted from 3D objects, and both of them are used to form a generic object class. Then we present a method for skeleton-based 3D object retrieval using a retina-like feature descriptor (S3DOR-RFD) based on the structural property of the human retina for processing complex visual information in a very efficient way. As part of the S3DOR-RFD algorithm, we combine artificial bee colony (ABC) in support vector machine (SVM) so as to improve the performance with automatic parameter selection, where one can make full use of the advantages of ABC and SVM to further improve the accuracy rate of 3D object retrieval. Experimental results indicate that skeleton sketches can be automatically distinguished from perspective sketches, and that the proposed S3DOR-RFD method works efficiently for selected object classes.

To solve the problem of low demodulation accuracy of conventional peak-to-peak algorithm for fiber-optic Fabry-Perot (FP) sensors due to failure of determining the interference order, a novel cavity length sequence matching demodulation algorithm based on a combined valley peak positioning is proposed. Firstly, a pair of a peak and its neighboring valley in the reflection spectrum is selected and positioned, and two groups of interference orders are supposed to generate two groups of cavity length sequences. Finally, these cavity lengths are compared to find the real interference order of the peak and valley for the extraction of the accurate cavity length. In order to verify the feasibility and performance of the proposed algorithm, simulations and experiments were carried out for fiber-optic FP sensors with cavity lengths in the range of 15–115 μm. A demodulation accuracy better than 8.8 nm was found. The proposed algorithm can achieve highly accurate cavity length demodulation of fiber-optic FP sensors.

Soil extracellular enzymes are pivotal for microbial nutrient cycling in the ecosystem. In order to study the effects of different nitrogen application rates under plastic film mulching on soil extracellular enzyme activities and stoichiometry, five nitrogen application levels (i.e., 0, 90, 150, 225 and 300 kg·hm−2) were set based on two treatments: plastic film mulching (PM) and no film mulching (LD). We measured the soil extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs) and stoichiometry (EES) of four enzymes (i.e., β-1,4-glucosidase (βG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), β-1,4-N-acetylaminoglucosidase (NAG) and alkaline phosphatase (AP)) involved in the C, N and P cycles of soil microorganisms in surface soil at five maize growth stages (seedling stage, jointing stage, trumpet stage, grout stage and harvest stage). The results showed that there were significant differences in soil EEA at different maize growth stages. The soil nutrient content and soil EEA were significantly improved under PM, and the stoichiometric ratio of extracellular enzymes (EC:N:P) was closer to 1:1:1, which indicated that PM was beneficial to the balance of soil nutrients and the activity of microorganisms. At each stage, with the increase in nitrogen application levels, the soil EEA showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing (or remained unchanged), and both LD and PM treatments reached their highest activity at the 225 kg·hm−2 nitrogen application rate. When the nitrogen application level was less than 225 kg·hm−2, the soil enzyme activity was mainly limited by the N nutrient, and when the nitrogen application level reached 300 kg·hm−2, it was mainly limited by the P nutrient. RDA and correlation analysis showed that the soil C:P, C:N, N:P and pH had significant effects on soil βG, NAG + LAP and AP activities as well as EC:N, EC:P and EN:P.

In the multilabel learning framework, each instance is no longer associated with a single semantic, but rather with concept ambiguity. Specifically, the ambiguity of an instance in the input space means that there are multiple corresponding labels in the output space. In most of the existing multilabel classification methods, a binary annotation vector is used to denote the multiple semantic concepts. That is, +1 denotes that the instance has a relevant label, while −1 means the opposite. However, the label representation contains too little semantic information to truly express the differences among multiple different labels. Therefore, we propose a new approach to transform binary label into a real-valued label. We adopt the low-rank decomposition to get latent label information and then incorporate the information and original features to generate new features. Then, using the sparse representation to reconstruct the new instance, the reconstruction error can also be applied in the label space. In this way, we finally achieve the purpose of label conversion. Extensive experiments validate that the proposed method can achieve comparable to or even better results than other state-of-the-art algorithms.

Background/Aims: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are transcribed prevalently in the genome; however, their potential roles in multiple cardiovascular diseases, particularly preeclampsia (PE), are not yet well understood. This study investigated the expression profiles of circRNAs and explored circRNA-mediated pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) expression as a potential biomarker for PE before 20 weeks of pregnancy. Methods: A nested case-control two-phase screening/validation study was performed in pregnant women before 20 weeks of gestation (before clinical diagnosis) at Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center from 2012 to 2015. In the screening phase, circRNA expression profiles of blood cells were assessed using a human circRNA microarray, which was designed to detect simultaneously 5396 circRNAs, in 5 patients with PE and 5 age- and gestational week-matched controls. In the validation phase, 18 circRNAs in blood cells predicted by bioinformatics tools were validated by quantitative reverse transcription PCR in a cohort of 60 patients (PE and age-, gestational week-, and sample storage time-matched controls). Then, we examined the involvement of circRNAs in PE-related pathways via interactions with miRNAs by multiple bioinformatics approaches. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that hsa_circ_0004904 and hsa_circ_0001855 miRNA sponges directly target PAPP-A. PAPP-A was verified in the serum of the same cohort of patients using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Finally, we combined PAPP-A with circRNAs to create a novel preclinical diagnostic model for PE with logistic regression and evaluated the efficiency of this model with receiver operating curve analysis. Results: Volcano plot analysis using various parameters showed that circRNAs were differentially expressed among both groups (P < 0.01, fold change > 2). In the screening phase, we found that 2178 circRNAs were differentially expressed between the control and PE groups, in which 884 circRNAs were downregulated and 1294 circRNAs were upregulated in the PE group compared with the control group. In the validation phase, two circRNAs, hsa_circ_0004904 and hsa_circ_0001855, were significantly upregulated in PE patients compared with healthy pregnant women (P < 0.05). PAPP-A expression levels, related to the two circRNAs based on bioinformatics prediction, were increased in the PE group compared with the control group. The area under the curve of the combined model was 0.94 in the predicted PE subjects. Conclusions: This is the first study to report circRNA profiling in patients with PE prior to the onset of symptoms. Our data suggested that hsa_circ_0004904 and hsa_circ_0001855 combined with PAPP-A might be promising biomarkers for the detection of PE. Moreover, circRNAs may provide new insights into the potential mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of PE.

Apple is one of the most important fruit crops in international trade. In this study, we presented the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of apple cultivar ‘Yantai Fuji 8’. The complete mitochondrial genome is 396947 bp in length with an overall GC content of 45.40%. It contains 57 genes including 33 protein-coding genes, 4 rRNAs, and 20 tRNAs. The phylogenetic analysis showed that ‘Yantai Fuji 8’ was clustered with the Malus of Rosaceae family.

Background Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) is one of the most popular of the temperate fruits. Previous studies have demonstrated that there were several haplotypes in the chloroplast genome of sweet cherry cultivars. However, none of chloroplast genome of a sweet cherry cultivar were yet released, and the phylogenetic relationships among Prunus based on chloroplast genome data were unclear. Methods In this study, we assembled and annotated the complete chloroplast genome of a sweet cherry cultivar P. avium ‘Summit’ from high-throughput sequencing data. Gene Ontology (GO) terms were assigned to classify the function of the annotated genes. Maximum likelihood (ML) trees were constructed to reveal the phylogenetic relationships within Prunus species, using LSC (large single-copy) regions, SSC (small single-copy) regions, IR (inverted repeats) regions, CDS (coding sequences), intergenic regions, and whole cp genome datasets, respectively. Results The complete plastid genome was 157, 886 bp in length with a typical quadripartite structure of LSC (85,990 bp) and SSC (19,080 bp) regions, separated by a pair of IR regions (26,408 bp). It contained 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA genes and 8 ribosomal RNA genes. A total of 77 genes were assigned to three major GO categories, including molecular function, cellular component and biological process categories. Comparison with other Prunus species showed that P. avium ‘Summit’ was quite conserved in gene content and structure. The non-coding regions, ndhc-trnV, rps12-trnV and rpl32-trnL were the most variable sequences between wild Mazzard cherry and ‘Summit’ cherry. A total of 73 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified in ‘Summit’ cherry and most of them were mononucleotide repeats. ML phylogenetic tree within Prunus species revealed four clades: Amygdalus, Cerasus, Padus, and Prunus. The SSC and IR trees were incongruent with results using other cp data partitions. These data provide valuable genetic resources for future research on sweet cherry and Prunus species.

Laser drive ramp compression is an important method to achieve an extremely high-pressure but relatively low-temperature material state. In this study, we found VISAR streaks disappearing under high pressure. To solve this problem, the mechanism of probe-laser absorption in laser drive ramp compression experiments has been studied, and X-ray preheat is found to be the main factor in this mechanism. Subsequently, target configuration optimization and code simulation were performed based on previous experiments, and laser drive ramp compression experiments were performed on the SHENGGUANG prototype facility. In the experiments, the probe-laser reflectivity was above 90% at 450 GPa, which is much higher than those in previous experiments, demonstrating that the X-ray preheat was shielded well with the optimized target configuration.

Fruit cracking is a physiological disease that occurs during fruit development, which limits the quality and marketability of the fruit and causes great economic losses. Fruit cracking is affected by physiological, genetic and environmental factors. In this paper, the mechanism of fruit cracking was elaborated from cutin and cell wall, especially the gene families related to cell wall metabolism, including the polygalacturonase (PG) gene family, xylologlucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase (XTH) gene family and expansin gene family. In addition, due to the advancement of high-throughput sequencing technology, an increasing number of horticultural plants have completed genome sequencing. This paper expounds the application of omics, including transcriptome, proteome, metabolomics and integrative omics in fruit cracking. The measures to reduce fruit cracking include using plastic rain covers and bagging, and spraying mineral and plant growth regulators. In this paper, the mechanisms of fruit cracking are reviewed at the molecular level, and the problems needing to be solved in fruit cracking research are put forward.

Gene duplication is the major resource with which to generate new genes, which provide raw material for novel functions evolution. Thus, to elucidate the gene family evolution after duplication events is of vital importance. Anthocyanin O-methyltransferases (AOMTs) have been recognized as being capable of anthocyanin methylation, which increases anthocyanin diversity and stability and improves the protection of plants from environmental stress. Meanwhile, no detailed identification or genome-wide analysis of the AOMT gene family members in pomegranate (Punicagranatum) have been reported. Three published pomegranate genome sequences offer substantial resources with which to explore gene evolution based on the whole genome. Altogether, 58 identified OMTs from pomegranate and five other species were divided into the AOMT group and the OMT group, according to their phylogenetic tree and AOMTs derived from OMTs. AOMTs in the same subclade have a similar gene structure and protein conserved motifs. The PgAOMT family evolved and expanded primarily via whole-genome duplication (WGD) and tandem duplication. PgAOMTs expression pattern in peel and aril development by qRT-PCR verification indicated that PgAOMTs had tissue-specific patterns. The main fates of AOMTs were neo- or non-functionalization after duplication events. High expression genes of PgOMT04 and PgOMT09 were speculated to contribute to “Taishanhong” pomegranate’s bright red peel color. Finally, we integrated the above analysis in order to infer the evolutionary scenario of AOMT family.

MADS-box is a critical transcription factor regulating the development of floral organs and plays essential roles in the growth and development of floral transformation, flower meristem determination, the development of male and female gametophytes, and fruit development. In this study, 36 MIKC-type MADS-box genes were identified in the ‘Taishanhong’ pomegranate genome. By utilizing phylogenetic analysis, 36 genes were divided into 14 subfamilies. Bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the gene structure, conserved motifs, cis-acting elements, and the protein interaction networks of the MIKC-type MADS-box family members in pomegranate, and their expressions pattern in different tissues of pomegranate were analyzed. Tissue-specific expression analysis revealed that the E-class genes (PgMADS03, PgMADS21, and PgMADS27) were highly expressed in floral tissues, while PgMADS29 was not expressed in all tissues, indicating that the functions of the E-class genes were differentiated. PgMADS15 of the C/D-class was the key gene in the development network of pomegranate flower organs, suggesting that PgMADS15 might play an essential role in the peel and inner seed coat development of pomegranate. The results in this study will provide a reference for the classification, cloning, and functional research of pomegranate MADS-box genes.

Laser pulse shape design is a key work in the design of indirect-laser-driven experiments, especially for long pulse laser driven quasi-isentropic compression experiments. A method for designing such a laser pulse shape is given here. What’s more, application experiments were performed, and the results of a typical shot are presented. At last of this article, the details of the application of the method are discussed, such as the equation parameter choice, radiation ablation pressure expression, and approximations in the method. The application shows that the method can provide reliable descriptions of the energy distribution in a hohlraum target; thus, it can be used in the design of long-pulse laser driven quasi-isentropic compression experiments and even other indirect-laser-driven experiments.

Calycanthaceae is a perennial shrub endemic to China with important ornamental and medicinal values. In this study, Chimonanthus praecox cv. concolor chloroplast (cp) genome was characterized using Illumina paired-end reads data. In total, whole cp genome is 153,254 bp long and contains a small single-copy region of 19,769 bp, a pair of repeat (IRa and IRb) regions of 23,286 bp each, and a large single-copy region of 86,913 bp. This genome contains 129 genes, including 84 protein-genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 37 tRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 19 cp genomes showed that C. praecox cv. concolor is closely related to Chimonanthus praecox and Chimonanthus nitens.

Spiraea blumei G. Don is an ornamental shrub widely distributed in Eastern Asia. Here, we reported and characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of S. blumei (GenBank accession number: MN418904) to provide genomic resources for promoting its conservation. The total chloroplast genome is 155,957 bp in length and contains the typical chloroplast structure, including two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,343 bp, a large single-copy (LSC) region of 84,384 bp, and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,887 bp. The overall guanine-cytosine (GC) content of the S. blumei chloroplast genome is 36.8%. The cp genome encodes 133 unique genes, including 85 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 40 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. We used the cp genome of S. blumei and 26 other cp genomes to perform a phylogenetic analysis, which indicated that S. blumei was closely related to S. martini in Rosaceae.

Kerria japonica (L.) DC., a monotypic species endemic to China and Japan, is an important ornamental shrub. In this study, we reported the complete chloroplast genome sequence of K. japonica (L.) DC. ‘pleniflora’ (GenBank accession number: MN418902) to provide genomic resources for its conservation. The total chloroplast (cp) genome is 160,007 bp in length, including a large single-copy region (LSC) of 87,672 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 19,461 bp, which are separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,437 bp. The overall guanine-cytosine (GC) content of the genome sequence is 34.0%. The cp genome encodes 132 unique genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 40 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis of 25 cp genomes showed that K. japonica ‘pleniflora’ was most closely related to K. japonica and then had a close genetic relationship with Neviusia cliftonii in Rosaceae.

The dwarf M9 (Malus domestica ‘M9’) rootstock is the most widely available Malus rootstock, here we report the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of ‘M9’ rootstock. The size of the complete cp genome was 159,926 bp, with the large-copy (LSC, 88,065 bp) regions, small single-copy (SSC, 19,157 bp) regions, and two inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,352 bp each). It contained 110 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 28 transfer RNA genes (tRNA), and 4 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA). A phylogenetic tree demonstrated that ‘M9’ rootstock was closely related to M. hupehensis, M. baccata, M. prunifolia, M. micromalus, and M. tschonoskii.

The European wild apple (Malus sylvestris L.) is an important economical fruit crop. In this present study, we characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of Malus sylvestris L. The complete cp genome is 159,926 bp in length with a typical quadripartite structure, containing a large single-copy region (88,064 bp), a small single-copy region (26,353 bp) and a pair of inverted repeat regions (19,157 bp each). A total of 110 unique genes were found in the newly sequenced genome, including 78 protein-coding genes, 28 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. Of these, 6 protein-coding genes, 7 tRNA genes, and all 4 rRNA genes are duplicated in the inverted regions. A phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the neighbor-joining method based on the full length of cp genomes within genus Malus. The result showed that M. sylvestris L. was clustered together with the cultivated apple. The complete cp genome could provide valuable information for understanding the phylogenetic relationships within the genus Malus.

Malus baccata var. xiaojinensis belonging to Rosaceae is not only an ornamental tree but also an apple genotype that is highly tolerant to Fe deficiency. In this study, we reported the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of M. baccata var. xiaojinensis using ILLUMINA sequencing. The whole cp genome is 160,067 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 26,358 bp, a large single copy (LSC) region of 88,157 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 19,194 bp. And, the overall GC content of the cp genome was 36.56%. A total of 110 unique genes were found in the cp genome. 17 genes were duplicated in the IRs, including six protein-coding genes, seven tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. Fourteen genes contained one intron, whereas three genes (rps12, clpP, and ycf3) contained two introns. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a close relationship between M. baccata var. xiaojinensis and Malus hupehensis.

Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. ‘Pissardii’, is a widespread ornamental and fruit tree. Here, we reported the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of P. cerasifera ‘Pissardii’ (GenBank accession number: MN418903). The total cp genome is 157,952 bp in length, displayed a typical quadripartite structure, including a large single copy region (LSC) of 86,286 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,926 bp, which are separated by a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,370 bp. The overall guanine-cytosine (GC) content of the genome sequence is 36.7%. The cp genome encodes 134 unique genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 42 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis of 27 chloroplast genomes showed that P. cerasifera ‘Pissardii’ was closely related to P. humilis in Rosaceae.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum), as one of the most important fruit trees, is widely cultivated in the tropical and subtropical of the world. In our present study, we assembled a complete chloroplast genome of an important pomegranate cultivar ‘Bhagwa’ using whole genome sequencing data previously reported. The complete cp genome is 158,641 bp in length. A total of 112 unique genes were annotated, including 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on complete cp genomes of Myrtales supported that P. granatum belongs to the Lythraceae family.

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is one of the two major species of cherries in world trade. In this study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of sweet cherry cultivar ‘summit’ using whole genome sequencing data. The genome was 389,709 bp in size. Totally, 44 genes were predicted, including 25 protein-coding, 16 tRNA, and 3 rRNA genes. A maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree was reconstructed based on the complete mitochondrial genome sequences of eight species within Rosales. The result indicated that P. avium was clustered together with other Rosaceae species with high support value. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of P. avium could provide valuable information for understanding the phylogenetic relationships within the Rosaceae family.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is widely grown in arid and semiarid regions, where the salinization may have developed through irrigation. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate NaCl stress on growth, photosynthesis, and nutrients of 18 pomegranate cultivars. One group was irrigated twice a week with a nutrient solution. The other group was watered twice a week with the same nutrient solution and 200 mM NaCl for five weeks. Dry weight, shoot length, new shoot number, root length and number, leaf area, leaf relative water content, and net photosynthesis of salt-treated plants were negatively impacted by salt stress, and there was a significant difference among cultivars. Few foliar damages were observed. Na content of plants significantly increased in all cultivars, while P, S, K, Ca, Mg, Si, Al, Zn content of plants decreased under salt stress. Fe, Mn, and Cu content increased in most cultivars. Pomegranate accumulated supraoptimal Na mostly in roots and transported more K and Ca to shoots, which was attributed to maintaining a higher ratio of K/Na and Ca/Na in the aerial part of plants. Ten of the 18 cultivars were considered salt-tolerant, which would offer a reference for pomegranate cultivation on saline lands.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is widely grown in arid and semi-arid soils, with constant soil salinization. To elucidate its molecular responses to salt stress on mRNA levels, we constructed 18 cDNA libraries of pomegranate roots and leaves from 0 (controls), 3, and 6 days after 200 mM NaCl treatment. In total, we obtained 34,047 genes by mapping to genome, and then identified 2255 DEGs (differentially expressed genes), including 1080 up-regulated and 1175 down-regulated genes. We found that the expression pattern of most DEGs were tissue-specific and time-specific. Among root DEGs, genes associated with cell wall organization and transmembrane transport were suppressed, and most of metabolism-related genes were over-represented. In leaves, 41.29% of DEGs were first suppressed and then recovered, including ions/metal ions binding-related genes. Also, ion transport and oxidation-reduction process were restricted. We found many DEGs involved in ABA, Ca2+-related and MAPK signal transduction pathways, such as ABA-receptors, Ca2+-sensors, MAPK cascades, TFs, and downstream functional genes coding for HSPs, LEAs, AQPs and PODs. Fifteen genes were selected to confirm the RNA-seq data using qRT-PCR. Our study not only illuminated pomegranate molecular responses to salinity, but also provided references for selecting salt-tolerant genes in pomegranate breeding processes.