Project description:Semiliquidambar cathayensis Chang was a traditional medicinal plant and used to treat rheumatism arthritis and rheumatic arthritis for centuries in China with no scientific validation, while only 15 components were reported. Thus, a rapid, efficient, and precise method based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was applied in both positive- and negative-ion modes to rapidly analysis the main chemical compositions in S. cathayensis for the first time. Finally, a total of 85 chemical compositions, including 35 alkaloids, 12 flavonoids, 7 terpenoids, 5 phenylpropanoids, 9 fatty acids, 7 cyclic peptides, and 10 others were identified or tentatively characterized in the roots of S. cathayensis based on the accurate mass within 5 ppm error. Moreover, alkaloid, flavonoid, phenylpropanoid, and cyclic peptide were reported from S. cathayensis for the first time. This rapid and sensitive method was highly useful to comprehend the chemical compositions and will provide scientific basis for further study on the material basis, mechanism and clinical application of S. cathayensis roots.
Project description:<i>Semiliquidambar cathayensis</i> is a semi-evergreen broad-leaved tree species distributed in southern China. In 1999, it was approved and published as a national secondary protected plant. We obtained the complete chloroplast genome sequence of <i>S. cathayensis</i> by Illumina sequencing data. The complete chloroplast sequence is 160,430?bp, include large single-copy (LSC) region of 88,991?bp, small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,917?bp, and a pair of invert repeats (IR) regions of 26,261?bp. Plastid genome contain 133 genes, 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that <i>S. cathayensis</i> is closely related to <i>Liquidambar formosana.</i>
Project description:Hickory (Carya cathayensis Sarg.), an important nut-producing species in Southeastern China, has high economic value, but so far there has been no cultivar bred under species although it is mostly propagated by seeding and some elite individuals have been found. It has been found recently that this species has a certain rate of apomixis and poor knowledge of its genetic background has influenced development of a feasible breeding strategy. Here in this paper we first release SSR (Simple sequence repeat) markers developed in this species and their transferability to other three species of the same genus, Carya. A total of 311 pairs of SSR primers in hickory were developed based on sequenced cDNAs of a fruit development-associated cDNA library and RNA-seq data of developing female floral buds and could be used to distinguish hickory, C. hunanensis Cheng et R. H. Chang ex R. H. Chang et Lu, C. illinoensis K. Koch (pecan) and C. dabieshanensis M. C. Liu et Z. J. Li, but they were monomorphic in both hickory and C. hunanensis although multi-alleles have been identified in all the four species. There is a transferability rate of 63.02% observed between hickory and pecan and the markers can be applied to study genetic diversity of accessions in pecan. When used in C. dabieshanensis, it was revealed that C. dabieshanensis had the number of alleles per locus ranging from 2 to 4, observed heterozygosity from 0 to 0.6667 and expected heterozygosity from 0.333 to 0.8667, respectively, which supports the existence of C. dabieshanensis as a separate species different from hickory and indicates that there is potential for selection and breeding in this species.
Project description:The complete chloroplast genome sequence of <i>Chaenomeles cathayensis</i> and Chaenomeles thibetica was characterized from Illumina pair-end sequencing. The length of <i>C</i>. <i>cathayensis</i> and <i>C</i>. <i>thibetica</i> chloroplast genome of was 159,875?bp and 159,907?bp, respectively. The <i>C</i>. <i>cathayensis</i> chloroplast genome contained a large single-copy region (LSC) of 87,813bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 19,304?bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,379?bp, which is a quadripartite structure. Similarity, The <i>C</i>. <i>thibetica</i> chloroplast genome also contained a quadripartite structure, including a LSC region (87,851?bp), a SSC region (19,298?bp), and two IR regions (26,379?bp). The overall GC content of <i>C</i>. <i>cathayensis</i> and <i>C</i>. <i>thibetica</i> are both 36.57%. The <i>C</i>. <i>cathayensis</i> and <i>C</i>. <i>thibetica</i> chloroplast genome contains 130 complete genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The <i>C</i>. <i>thibetica</i> chloroplast genome contains 130 complete genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The neighbour-joining phylogenetic analysis showed that <i>C</i>. <i>cathayensis</i> and <i>C</i>. <i>thibetica</i> clustered together, indicated that <i>C</i>. <i>cathayensis</i> and <i>C</i>. <i>thibetica</i> have closed evolutionary relationship compared with other <i>Chaenomele</i>s species.
Project description:Application of auxin to root stock and scion increases the success rate of grafting in Chinese hickory. The nuts of the Chinese hickory (Carya cathayensis) tree are considered both delicious and healthy. The popularity and high demand result is that the hickory nuts are of very high economical value for horticulture. This is particularly true for the Zhejiang province in eastern China where this tree is widely cultivated. However, there are several difficulties surrounding the hickory cultivation, such as for example long vegetative growth, tall trees, labour-intensive nut picking, and slow variety improvements. These complications form a great bottleneck in the expansion of the hickory industry. The development of an efficient grafting procedure could surpass at least some of these problems. In this study, we demonstrate that application of the auxin indole-3-acetic acid promotes the grafting process in hickory, whereas application of the auxin transport inhibitor 1-N-naphthylphthalamic acid inhibits the grafting process. Furthermore, we have identified hickory genes in the PIN, ABCB, and AUX/LAX-families known to encode influx and efflux carriers in the polar transport of auxin. We show that increased expression of several of these genes, such as CcPIN1b and CcLAX3, is correlating with successful grafting.
Project description:Chinese hickory (Carya cathayensis), a popular nut food tree species, is mainly distributed in southeastern China. A field study was carried out to investigate the effect of long-term intensive management on fertility of soils under a C. cathayensis forest. Results showed that after 26 years' intensive management, the soil organic carbon (SOC) content of the A and B horizons reduced by 19% and 14%, respectively. The reduced components of SOC are mainly the alkyl C and O-alkyl C, whereas the aromatic C and carbonyl C remain unchanged. The reduction of active organic matter could result in degradation of soil fertility. The pH value of soil in the A horizon had dropped by 0.7 units on average. The concentrations of the major nutrients also showed a decreasing trend. On average the concentrations of total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) of tested soils dropped by 21.8%, 7.6%, and 13.6%, respectively, in the A horizon. To sustain the soil fertility and C. cathayensis production, it is recommended that more organic fertilizers (manures) should be used together with chemical fertilizers. Lime should also be applied to reduce soil acidity.
Project description:BACKGROUND: Different from herbaceous plants, the woody plants undergo a long-period vegetative stage to achieve floral transition. They then turn into seasonal plants, flowering annually. In this study, a preliminary model of gene regulations for seasonal pistillate flowering in hickory (Carya cathayensis) was proposed. The genome-wide dynamic transcriptome was characterized via the joint-approach of RNA sequencing and microarray analysis. RESULTS: Differential transcript abundance analysis uncovered the dynamic transcript abundance patterns of flowering correlated genes and their major functions based on Gene Ontology (GO) analysis. To explore pistillate flowering mechanism in hickory, a comprehensive flowering gene regulatory network based on Arabidopsis thaliana was constructed by additional literature mining. A total of 114 putative flowering or floral genes including 31 with differential transcript abundance were identified in hickory. The locations, functions and dynamic transcript abundances were analyzed in the gene regulatory networks. A genome-wide co-expression network for the putative flowering or floral genes shows three flowering regulatory modules corresponding to response to light abiotic stimulus, cold stress, and reproductive development process, respectively. Totally 27 potential flowering or floral genes were recruited which are meaningful to understand the hickory specific seasonal flowering mechanism better. CONCLUSIONS: Flowering event of pistillate flower bud in hickory is triggered by several pathways synchronously including the photoperiod, autonomous, vernalization, gibberellin, and sucrose pathway. Totally 27 potential flowering or floral genes were recruited from the genome-wide co-expression network function module analysis. Moreover, the analysis provides a potential FLC-like gene based vernalization pathway and an 'AC' model for pistillate flower development in hickory. This work provides an available framework for pistillate flower development in hickory, which is significant for insight into regulation of flowering and floral development of woody plants.