Energy Security of China and Oil and Gas Development in Disputed Area of the South China Sea

吴士存，中国南海研究院院长。 任怀锋，中国南海研究院助理研究员。【中文摘要】随着中国经济的持续发展，能源安全问题日益突出。南海油气资源 丰富，对南海周边的国家和地区具有重要意义。由于南海存在主权争议区，所以油气开发活动不但敏感，容易引起冲突，而且风险大、成本高，投资合作难度大。 所以，必须寻求有效的合作开发模式，不但要避免冲突，还要有利于营造合作氛围。 争议区开发模式必须由各方就合作机制与冲突处理机制达成协议，并且要提供必 要的政治保证和资金支持。两岸展开油气合作不但具有可行性，而且可以共同维 护中华民族在南海的实际利益。 【Abstract】With the sustainable economic development in China, energy security has become an increasingly prominent issue. The South China Sea is endowed with rich oil and gas resources, which is of great significance to its neighboring countries and regions. There exists a disputed area in the South China Sea, so the development of oil and gas is sensitive and tends to cause conflicts, with high risks and costs as well as difficulty in investment and cooperation. Therefore, an effective cooperative development model must be found to avoid conflicts and bring benefits to cooperation. Development model in the disputed area must be agreed on by all sides in terms of cooperative mechanism and conflict handling mechanism, and it should provide necessary political guarantee and financial support. It is not only feasible for all sides around the South China Sea to conduct oil and gas development, but also benign to jointly safeguard the actual interests of Chinese nation in the South China Sea

Integrative Investigation of Root-Related mRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs of “Muscat Hamburg” (Vitis vinifera L.) Grapevine in Response to Root Restriction through Transcriptomic Analyses

Root restriction is a physical and ecological cultivation mode which restricts plant roots into a limited container to regulate vegetative and reproduction growth by reshaping root architecture. However, little is known about related molecular mechanisms. To uncover the root-related regulatory network of endogenous RNAs under root restriction cultivation (referred to RR), transcriptome-wide analyses of mRNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) involved in root development were performed. During root development, RR treatment had a positive effect on root weight, typically, young roots were significantly higher than conventional cultivation (referred to NR) treatment, suggesting that root architecture reconstruction under RR was attributed to the vigorous induction into lateral roots. Furthermore, a total of 26,588 mRNAs, 1971 lncRNAs, and 2615 circRNAs were identified in root of annual “Muscat Hamburg” grapevine by the transcriptomic analyses. The expression profile of mRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNA were further confirmed by the quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that a majority of the differentially expressed mRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs were enriched into the categories of cellular process, metabolic process, cell part, binding, and catalytic activity. In addition, the regulatory network of endogenous RNAs was then constructed by the prediction of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA and circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network, implying that these RNAs play significant regulatory roles for root architecture shaping in response to root restriction. Our results, for the first time, the regulatory network of competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) functions of lncRNA and circRNA was integrated, and a basis for studying the potential functions of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) during root development of grapevine was provided

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Vitis vinifera × Vitis labrusca ‘Shenhua’

Vitis vinifera × Vitis labrusca ‘Shenhua’ is a tetraploid grape, a Franco-american species. This study first published the complete chloroplast genome of Vitis vinifera × Vitis labrusca ‘Shenhua’ was assembled. The chloroplast genome is 160928 bp in length, including a large single copy region (89,148 bp), a small single-copy region (19,072 bp) and a pair of inverted repeats of 26,354 bp. The chloroplast genome encodes 133 genes, comprising 88 CDSs, 37 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic tree demonstrated that Vitis vinifera × Vitis labrusca ‘Shenhua’ is different from the other 16 varieties

Identification and Analysis of the <i>MIR399</i> Gene Family in Grapevine Reveal Their Potential Functions in Abiotic Stress

MiR399 plays an important role in plant growth and development. The objective of the present study was to elucidate the evolutionary characteristics of the MIR399 gene family in grapevine and investigate its role in stress response. To comprehensively investigate the functions of miR399 in grapevine, nine members of the Vvi-MIR399 family were identified based on the genome, using a miRBase database search, located on four chromosomes (Chr 2, Chr 10, Chr 15, and Chr 16). The lengths of the Vvi-miR399 precursor sequences ranged from 82 to 122 nt and they formed stable stem–loop structures, indicating that they could produce microRNAs (miRNAs). Furthermore, our results suggested that the 2 to 20 nt region of miR399 mature sequences were relatively conserved among family members. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Vvi-MIR399 members of dicots (Arabidopsis, tomato, and sweet orange) and monocots (rice and grapevine) could be divided into three clades, and most of the Vvi-MIR399s were closely related to sweet orange in dicots. Promoter analysis of Vvi-MIR399s showed that the majority of the predicted cis-elements were related to stress response. A total of 66.7% (6/9) of the Vvi-MIR399 promoters harbored drought, GA, and SA response elements, and 44.4% (4/9) of the Vvi-MIRR399 promoters also presented elements involved in ABA and MeJA response. The expression trend of Vvi-MIR399s was consistent in different tissues, with the lowest expression level in mature and young fruits and the highest expression level in stems and young leaves. However, nine Vvi-MIR399s and four target genes showed different expression patterns when exposed to low light, high light, heat, cold, drought, and salt stress. Interestingly, a putative target of Vvi-MIR399 targeted multiple genes; for example, seven Vvi-MIR399s simultaneously targeted VIT_213s0067g03280.1. Furthermore, overexpression of Vvi_MIR399e and Vvi_MIR399f in Arabidopsis enhanced tolerance to drought compared with wild-type (WT). In contrast, the survival rate of Vvi_MIR399d-overexpressed plants were zero after drought stress. In conclusion, Vvi-MIR399e and Vvi-MIR399f, which are related to drought tolerance in grapevine, provide candidate genes for future drought resistance breeding

Development, Identification and Validation of a Novel SSR Molecular Marker for Heat Resistance of Grapes Based on miRNA

The adverse effects of high temperatures on fruit quality and yield have been reported in many studies of grapevines. MiRNAs play crucial roles in plant growth and development and also fulfill functions in regulating the high-temperature response. In this research, miRNA-based SSR (simple sequence repeat) polymorphisms were analyzed according to the grape genome sequence and then combined with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and Sanger sequencing methods to analyze the miRNA-SSR diversity of different heat-resistant grape varieties. A statistical analysis of SSR sequences showed that 391 and 12 SSRs were specific to pri-miRNA and pre-miRNA, respectively. In pri-miRNA containing SSR, hexa-nucleotide repeats were the most abundant (52.69%), followed by tetra-nucleotide (13.04%) and minimum penta-nucleotide (4.09%), which were also observed in pre-miRNA sequences. On the other hand, differences in heat resistance among grape varieties were observed. Based on the results of leaf Fv/Fm images, values and phenotypic changes under high-temperature stress, 20 heat-resistant (e.g., Niagara Rosada and Grand Noir) and 20 heat-sensitive (e.g., Shine Muscat and Jumeigui) grape varieties were identified. Further, PCR-Sanger sequencing was used to screen SSR differences in four thermos-tolerant and four thermos-sensitive grape varieties, and finally, eight SSR differential primers were found to be able to distinguish these varieties. Of these, four pairs of primers were selected for validation in 40 grape germplasm resources (20 thermo-tolerance and 20 thermo-sensitivity). The VMIRSSR167c3 highlights that the ratio of SSR (CT) repeat values greater than 17 in heat-resistant varieties was 90%. In conclusion, the VMIRSSR167c3 marker can accurately distinguish between heat-resistant and heat-sensitive grape varieties. The results provide a novel molecular marker for the genetic improvement of grape germplasm resources and will be beneficial to the breeding of heat-resistant varieties in the future