Classification and phylogenetic relationships in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum</Emphasis> section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lycopersicon</Emphasis> based on AFLP and two nuclear gene sequences

The classification and phylogeny of the species belonging to Solanum section Lycopersicon is a complex issue that has not yet reached a widely accepted consensus. These species diverged recently, are still closely related and, in some cases, are still even capable of interspecific hybridization, thereby blurring the difference between intra- and interspecific variation. To help resolve these issues, in the present study, several accessions covering the natural range for each species were used. In addition, to avoid biases due to the molecular method employed, both AFLP markers and two nuclear-gene sequences, CT179 and CT66, were used to characterize the plant materials. The data obtained suggest a classification similar to those previously proposed by other authors, although with some significant changes. Twelve species were recognized as distinct based on this dataset. According to the data presented, the recently proposed species, S. corneliomulleri, is indistinguishable from S. peruvianum s.str. In addition, both the sequence and the AFLP trees suggest that S. arcanum could represent a complex of populations composed of two cryptic species. With regard to phylogenetic relationships among these species, some clear groups were found: the Lycopersicon group formed by S. pimpinellifolium, S. lycopersicum, S. cheesmaniae and S. galapagense; the Arcanum group constituted by S. chmielewskii, S. neorickii, S. arcanum and S. huaylasense; and the Eriopersicon group made up of S. peruvianum and S. chilense. Solanum pennellii and S. habrochaites are not included in any group, but are the closest to the S. lycopersicoides outgroup. Jose Blanca and Fernando Nuez have contributed equally to this work and should be regarded as co-second authors.     

两个甘蓝CBL基因的基因组解析

利用比较基因组学的方法从甘蓝基因组中鉴定出两个CBL基因,并对其结构、遗传进化、顺式元件进行了分析,以期为进一步研究这两个基因的功能和利用它们进行甘蓝抗逆分子育种提供有益借鉴。     

Identification and characterization of a tospovirus causing chlorotic ringspots on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phalaenopsis</Emphasis> orchids

A putative virus-induced disease showing chlorotic ringspots on leaves of Phalaenopsis orchids has been observed in Taiwan for several years. A virus culture, 91-orchid-1, isolated from a Phalaenopsis orchid bearing chlorotic ringspot symptoms was established in Chenopodium quinoa and Nicotiana benthamiana, and characterized serologically and biologically. The virus reacted slightly with the antiserum of Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) but not with those of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) and Groundnut ringspot virus (GRSV). Isometric particles measuring about 70–100 nm were observed. Inoculation with isolated virus was conducted to confirm that 91-orchid-1 is the causal agent of chlorotic ringspot disease of Phalaenopsis orchids. To determine the taxonomic relationships of the virus, the conserved region of L RNA and the complete nucleocapsid gene (N gene) were cloned and sequenced. The sequence of conserved region of L RNA shares 83.8, 82.5, 64.4 and 64.9% nucleotide identities and 96.5, 97.7, 67.3 and 67.6% amino acid identities with those of Peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV), WSMoV, TSWV and INSV, respectively, indicating that 91-orchid-1 is a tospovirus related to WSMoV. The complete nucleotide sequence of the N gene determined from a cDNA clone was found to be 828 nucleotides long encoding 275 amino acids. Sequence analyses of the N gene showed that 91-orchid-1 is an isolate of Capsicum chlorosis virus (CaCV) which has been reported to infect tomato and capsicum plants in Australia and Thailand. 91-orchid-1 is therefore designated as CaCV-Ph. To our knowledge, this is the first formal report of a tospovirus infecting Phalaenopsis orchids.     

赤眼鳟线粒体NADH脱氢酶6基因克隆及序列特征分析

[目的]根据赤眼鳟线粒体NADH脱氢酶6（ND6）基因序列分析不同种鱼类的分子进化关系。[方法]根据其他鱼类的线粒体ND6基因及侧翼序列设计引物,采用PCR扩增并克隆、测序赤眼鳟ND6基因,通过MEGA4．0Neighbor—Joining法分析不同鱼类的进化关系。[结果]赤眼鳟（Squaliobarbus curriculus）线粒体基因组ND6基因序列长度为522bp,编码173个氨基酸。该基因碱基组成为：A41．5％、C32．7％、G12．4％、T13．4％,其中A＋T含量（54．9％）高于G＋C含量（45．1％）。将赤眼鳟ND6基因序列与GenBank中其他11种鱼类ND6基因序列进行比对发现,赤眼鳟ND6核酸序列与团头鲂的同源性最高,为90．8％;与红点鲑鱼的同源性最低,为73．0％。赤眼鳟ND6氨基酸序列与其他物种ND6氨基酸进行比对发现,赤眼鳟与团头鲂同源性最高,为98．3％;与大黄鱼的同源性最低,为75．7％。以ND6氨基酸序列采用NJ法构建12种鱼类的系统发生树基本反映了它们的种间、属间和科间的关系。[结论]首次得到了赤眼鳟线粒体ND6基因序列,并确定了赤眼鳟与其他11种鱼类的分子进化关系。     

基于CO II全基因的差翅亚目昆虫分子系统学研究

[目的]对基于CO Ⅱ全基因的差翅亚目昆虫的分子系统学进行研究。[方法]设计蜻蜓目昆虫CO Ⅱ全基因的非特异性引物,获得差翅亚目5科6属8种共8条CO Ⅱ全序列。采用CluxtalX1.8、ContigExpress、MEGA2.1、PHYLIP3.6a以及MrBayes V3.0等生物学软件及简约法和最大似然法对其进行分析并构建分子系统树。[结果]CO Ⅱ的A＋T含量较低（68.6%）,说明蜻蜓目是一比较原始的类群;每条序列均含有2个半胱氨酸,这一点有别于其他类群昆虫;不支持将大蜻亚科上升为科的观点;支持将大蜓科和蜓科归入蜓总科,而将春蜓科上升为总科的观点;差翅亚目5科之间的进化关系由慢到快依次为：春蜓科→大蜓科→蜓科→伪蜻科→蜻科。[结论]为蜻蜓目分子系统学研究提供相关依据。     

Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Anaplasma in Southwestern China based on 16S rRNA sequence

To identify the species within the genus Anaplasma circulating among ruminants in the Southwest of China, we performed the phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene of two Anaplasma isolates from cattle and seven from goats. The two sequences obtained from cattle strains belonged to the A. marginale cluster, whereas the other seven sequences from caprine strains formed two Anaplasma spp. clusters, which diverged earlier than the clusters of A. marginale, A. centrale and A. ovis. These results indicate that there are at least two Anaplasma species circulating among ruminants in Southwestern China.     

Genetic characterization and phylogenetic analysis of porcine circovirus type 2 strains present in Cuban swine herds

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the essential infectious agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) considered as one of the most important swine diseases worldwide. One of the main risk factors reported for the development of PMWS is the PCV2 genotype. The presence of PCV2 in Cuban swine herds has been reported recently. However, genetic information about these viruses is not available yet. Hence, the objectives of this study were to classify the Cuban porcine circovirus type 2 sequences as well as to investigate the genetic diversity and the putative origins of the virus circulating in Cuban swine herds. PCV2 Cuban sequences appeared to be close related when an analysis of the entire viral genome sequences was performed. The main variations on amino acid sequences of the capsid protein were found within the immunoreactive areas. All the Cuban PCV2 sequences analyzed belonged to genotype 1 and were located within the same Cluster (1A). Interestingly, five of them were clustered with high confident values with those described as the PCV2 variants associated with severe porcine circovirus diseases reported in Canada from the late 2004 to 2006. Pigs imported from this source appeared to be the most probable origin of the viruses circulating in Cuban swine herds currently. The fact that one sequence was not clustered with any other group of PCV2 within genotype 1 might suggest that different introductions of the agent in the country from unknown sources have occurred.     

Culture-dependent and culture-independent microbial investigation of pine litters and soil in subtropical Australia

Background, aim, and scope  Forest plantations, widely grown for wood production, involve the selective promotion of single-tree species or replacement of natural species by exotic tree species. Slash pine (Pinus elliottii) has been chosen for reforestation of infertile sandy soils in southeast Queensland, Australia. These exotic pine plantations minimize soil and water losses and are important scientific study sites. The soil environment of these plantations, though devoid of sufficient nutrients, organic carbon and other factors, harbors innumerable bacteria that may play a crucial role in maintaining soil quality and ecosystem functions. These soil microorganisms also have the potential for use as sensitive biological indicators to reflect environmental changes. It is therefore essential to understand the interrelationships among bacterial communities and their environment by assessing their structural and functional diversity and their responses to disturbances. The main aim of our investigation was to determine the diversity of bacterial communities in forest litters and soil during the forest leaf litter decomposition using culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. Materials and methods  A 25-cm (diameter) × 40-cm core sample was collected and fractionated into three subsamples designated E1 (L leaf litter layer), E2 (F leaf litter layer), and E5 (0–10 cm soil layer). Both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods were applied in this study. In the culture-independent study, a strategy of whole-community DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification followed by cloning and 16S rDNA sequence analysis was used; for culture-dependent study, the strategy included sample plating and bacteria isolating, DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The diversity similarities between two bacterial communities and two methods are quantified using Jensen–Shannon divergence. Results  From culture-dependent study, 336 colonies in total were isolated and grouped from the three subsamples, and the 16S rRNA sequence analysis from a representative isolate from each morphogroup (21 isolates) indicated that they belonged to the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. Culture-independent assessment based on 16S rRNA gene library comprising 194 clones revealed that members of the phylum Actinobacteria were absent in the culture-independent studies. Clones in libraries from E1 consisted exclusively of members of the Firmicutes. The majority of clones from E2 were related to Firmicutes (79%) and Proteobacteria (21%). Clones derived from E5 were mostly affiliated with Acidobacterium (42%), followed by unclassified bacteria (27%), Verrucomicrobiales (12%), Proteobacteria (11%), and Planctomycetes (8%). Discussion  This study showed that bacterial culturabilities in different fractions of leaf litters were similar, and both of them were higher than the bacterial culturability in the soil. Unculturable bacterial diversity in the soil, however, was much higher than the leaf litter bacterial diversity. The bacterial diversity on the top layer of leaf litters was slightly less than that on the bottom layer of leaf litters. This might indicate that forest soils are a more complex environment than leaf litters are and also that they might inhabit more unculturable microorganisms in the forest soils, which would need to be further investigated. The leaf litter layer samples also demonstrate the significant difference between the bacterial community diversity discovered by these two methods in this study. The information provided by assessing the different fractions of leaf litters and forest soil has improved our understanding of the bacterial community distributions within the forest soil and the above-leaf litters in an exotic pine plantation of subtropical Australia. Conclusions  This study represents the first attempt to examine the bacterial community in the different fractions of forest leaf litters and soil in subtropical Australia. The data from this study show that the 16S rDNA clone libraries provided more comprehensive phylogenetic diversity in the soil and leaf litter samples than the culture collections provided, and both the culture-dependent and culture-independent studies revealed that the bacterial diversity present in the leaf litters was very different to that present in the soil. The comparative analysis of bacterial communities in different fractions of leaf litters and soil samples has also provided important baseline information about the bacterial diversity and composition in the exotic pine forest plantations. Recommendations and perspectives  The experimental data provided important information on the bacterial diversity in forest leaf litter and soil samples, though additional surveys and comparisons at different locations would be needed to further characterize. In addition, combined methods that can provide different parts of information on bacterial diversity are encouraged to be used in bacterial community study. The established libraries of diverse 16S rRNA gene fragments from slash pine leaf litters and forest soil can be used to construct specific DNA primers and probes to target bacterial groups of interest. It may then be possible to study the ecology of these bacterial communities and the role of specific bacterial groups that contribute to the many interesting properties of these environments.     

Identification of mangrove endophytic fungus 1403 (Fusarium proliferatum) based on morphological and molecular evidence

A mangrove endophytic fungus 1403 isolated from the South China Sea Coast, which is able to produce griseofulvin and anthracenediones under submerged fermentation, was compared with Fusarium genus with the similar morphological characters such as elongated, microconidium-producing conidiophores, ovoid microconidia and straight to slightly curved macroconidia. It was found that the fungus 1403 resembles pathogenic F. verticillioides (teleomophy Gibberella moniliforme) in the production of false head or chains and abundant microconidia on the aerial mycelium, but different in the occasional formation of polyphialides with relatively long as well as short monophialides, in its typical coiled hyphae and mycelia fusion. Through maximum Parsimony and Bayesian analyses, the fungus 1403 was further compared with some similar Fusarium species. The results indicated that this endophyte was identified as Fusarium proliferatum based on the analyses of partial 18S and 28S rDNA genes, ITS region, and EF-1α gene. Foundation project: This research was supported partly by the Guangzhou Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2007Z3-EO581), the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2007A0200300001-7; 05003268), the Chinese High-Tech 863 Project (Grant No. 2006AA09Z422), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20572136)