Endangered but genetically stable-Erythrophleum fordii within Feng Shui woodlands in suburbanized villages

Habitat diversification associated with urban development has a little effect on genetic structure in the annual native plant Commelina communis in an East Asian megacity

Urban development greatly alters the natural and semi-natural habitats of native plants. Urbanisation results in a range of diverse habitats including remnant agricultural lands, urban parks, and roadside habitats. This habitat diversity often promotes trait divergence within urban areas. However, the mechanisms by which diverse urban habitats influence the population genetic structure of individual plant species remain poorly understood. We investigated the effects of urbanisation on genetic diversity and structure within 24 Commelina communis populations across diverse habitat types (rural agricultural land, urban agricultural land, urban park land, and urban roadsides) within the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe megacity in Japan. We conducted multiplexed inter-simple sequence repeat genotyping to compare genetic diversity among populations in different habitats. We also examined the correlation between Nei's genetic distance and geographic and environmental distances and performed principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) to evaluate genetic differentiation among urban habitats. There were no significant differences in genetic diversity indices between urban and rural populations and among urban habitat types. Although we detected no isolation-by-distance structure in population pairs of the same habitat type and in those of different habitats, the difference in surrounding landscape facilitated genetic differentiation not only between urban and rural habitats but also between different urban habitats. PCoA revealed no clear genetic differentiation among rural and urban habitat populations. Our findings indicate that the establishment of diverse habitat types through urbanisation has no and little impact on genetic diversity and structure, respectively, in C. communis, likely due to its high selfing rate and ability to adapt to urban conditions.

Genome assembly of Erythrophleum Fordii, a special "ironwood" tree in China

OBJECTIVES

Erythrophleum is a genus in the Fabaceae family. The genus contains only about 10 species, and it is best known for its hardwood and medical properties worldwide. Erythrophleum fordii Oliv. is the only species of this genus distributed in China. It has superior wood and can be used in folk medicine, which leads to its overexploitation in the wild. For its effective conservation and elucidation of the distinctive genetic traits of wood formation and medical components, we present its first genome assembly.

DATA DESCRIPTION

This work generated ~ 160.8 Gb raw Nanopore whole genome sequencing (WGS) long reads, ~ 126.0 Gb raw MGI WGS short reads and ~ 29.0 Gb raw RNA-seq reads using E. fordii leaf tissues. The de novo assembly contained 864,825,911 bp in the E. fordii genome, with 59 contigs and a contig N50 of 30,830,834 bp. Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) revealed 98.7% completeness of the assembly. The assembly contained 471,006,885 bp (54.4%) repetitive sequences and 28,761 genes that coded for 33,803 proteins. The protein sequences were functionally annotated against multiple databases, facilitating comparative genomic analysis.

Empirical and quantitative studies of Feng Shui: A systematic review (PRISMA 2009 item 1)

Despite a long period of scholarly interest in Feng Shui, there has been no systematic review of this subject. The objective of this study was, therefore, to conduct a systematic review of empirical and quantitative Feng Shui journal articles written in Chinese or English to shed light on the nature of Feng Shui. This study identifies both existing empirical and quantitative studies of Feng Shui and directions for further research. It is the first to provide a synthesis of empirical and quantitative findings on the specific outcomes of Feng Shui, and more importantly, to explore its reliability and validity. We searched four databases, two in Chinese (Taiwan Periodical Literature and WANFANG DATA) and two in English (Web of Science and SCOPUS), and reviewed 36 articles following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA 2009). The eligibility criteria were: (1) any kind of participants or study samples; (2) any Feng Shui-related intervention; (3) comparators belonging to the same study samples or between different study samples; (4) the outcome of any empirical and quantitative measurement of Feng Shui; and (5) any study design except for qualitative studies. We used the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Tools to analyze the research quality of the included articles. We found that Feng Shui was associated with housing prices in societies influenced by Chinese culture. Other findings suggested that: (1) Feng Shui was associated with the decisions of house-buyers growing up in societies influenced by Chinese culture; (2) Feng Shui forests had greater habitat diversity than other forests in China; (3) Feng Shui environments in Asia had more comfortable wind fields than non-Feng Shui settings; (4) in Asia, Feng Shui was related to sunlight; (5) Feng Shui had good reliability; and (6) Feng Shui was valid with respect to environmental features but its influence on humans has not been determined. We therefore conclude that Feng Shui is neither a superstition nor a science. Given that the research quality of the included articles was less than ideal and the number of each specific outcome and their samples were also limited, their findings should be interpreted with caution. We look forward to more good quality empirical studies of Feng Shui in the future, particularly those involving de facto field experiments recruiting non-Asian participants to provide further insights into the quasi-science of Feng Shui. (PRISMA 2009 Item 2).

Drivers of population divergence and genetic variation in Elymus breviaristatus (Keng) Keng f. (Poaceae: Triticeae), an endemic perennial herb of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau

Elymus breviaristatus, a rare grass species with excellent resistance and ecological importance, is narrowly distributed on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Populations of E. breviaristatus are declining due to habitat fragmentation, and thus far, characteristics of genetic differentiation and adaptive responses to climate change remain poorly understood in this species. Here, we explored the genetic structure of 18 natural populations (269 individuals) in the transition zone between Tibet and the Hengduan Mountains using 15 expressed sequence tag (EST)-SSR primer pairs and identified possible barriers to gene flow that might have caused genetic discontinuities. Additional analyses were performed to identify the environmental factors affecting genetic diversity and to test whether the patterns of genetic variation among populations were more consistent with the isolation by distance (IBD) or isolation by environment (IBE) model. Multiple measures of genetic diversity revealed that intra-population genetic variation was low, while inter-population genetic variation was high. Clustering, structure, and principal coordinate analyses identified three genetic groups: (a) Eastern Qamdo, (b) Nagqu and Western Qamdo, and (c) Lhasa and Nyingchi. A clear physical barrier to gene flow was formed by the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon and the Tanggula Mountains. We found that both IBD and IBE contributed to the observed patterns of genetic variation, and the IBE model played a leading role. In addition, precipitation-related variables, soil phosphorus content and soil K:P ratio significantly affected population genetic variation. Overall, our results emphasized the genetic fragility of E. breviaristatus populations and showed that this species requires attention, as future climate changes and human activities may further threaten its survival. In addition, the genetic differences among E. breviaristatus populations should be considered when formulating conservation measures for E. breviaristatus populations in the study area.