A new species of shrew moles, genus Uropsilus Milne-Edwards, 1871 (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Talpidae), from the Wuyi Mountains, Jiangxi Province, eastern China

Asian shrew moles, genus Uropsilus, are the most primitive members of family Talpidae. They are distributed mainly in southwestern China and adjacent Bhutan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. In June 2022, we collected five specimens of Uropsilus from Mount Huanggang, Jiangxi Province, eastern China, which is the highest peak of the Wuyi Mountains. We sequenced two mitochondrial (CYT B and 12S rRNA) and three nuclear (PLCB4, RAG1, and RAG2) genes to estimate the phylogenetic relationship of the five shrew moles. We also compared their morphology with recognized species within the genus. Our results show that these specimens collected from Mount Huanggang differ from all named species in Uropsilus. We formally describe the species here as Uropsilus huanggangensis sp. nov. Morphologically, the new species is distinguishable from the other Uropsilus species by the combination of dark chocolate-brown pelage, long snout, enlarged first upper incisor, similarly sized lacrimal and infraorbital foramens, and the curved and sickle-like coronoid process. The genetic distances of the cytochrome b (CYT B) gene between U. huanggangensis and other recognized Uropsilus species ranged between 9.3% and 16.4%. The new species is geographically distant from other species in the genus and is the easternmost record of the Uropsilus. The divergence time of U. huanggangensis was estimated to be the late Pliocene (1.92 Ma, 95% CI = 0.88–2.99)

A new species of shrew moles, genus Uropsilus Milne-Edwards, 1871 (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Talpidae), from the Wuyi Mountains, Jiangxi Province, eastern China

Asian shrew moles, genus Uropsilus, are the most primitive members of family Talpidae. They are distributed mainly in southwestern China and adjacent Bhutan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. In June 2022, we collected five specimens of Uropsilus from Mount Huanggang, Jiangxi Province, eastern China, which is the highest peak of the Wuyi Mountains. We sequenced two mitochondrial (CYT B and 12S rRNA) and three nuclear (PLCB4, RAG1, and RAG2) genes to estimate the phylogenetic relationship of the five shrew moles. We also compared their morphology with recognized species within the genus. Our results show that these specimens collected from Mount Huanggang differ from all named species in Uropsilus. We formally describe the species here as Uropsilus huanggangensis sp. nov. Morphologically, the new species is distinguishable from the other Uropsilus species by the combination of dark chocolate-brown pelage, long snout, enlarged first upper incisor, similarly sized lacrimal and infraorbital foramens, and the curved and sickle-like coronoid process. The genetic distances of the cytochrome b (CYT B) gene between U. huanggangensis and other recognized Uropsilus species ranged between 9.3% and 16.4%. The new species is geographically distant from other species in the genus and is the easternmost record of the Uropsilus. The divergence time of U. huanggangensis was estimated to be the late Pliocene (1.92 Ma, 95% CI = 0.88–2.99)

Rethinking the intensified disparity in urbanization trajectory of a Chinese coastal province and its implications

Given the complexity and diversity of local conditions and institutional arrangements that influence the regional urbanization in a country like China, the existing of regional disparity is predictable or even inevitable. However, excessive imbalance and lack of coordination will induce a series of social, economic and environmental problems that seriously threaten the sustainability of urbanization. The aim is to explore the changing trend of regional disparity through revisiting and comparing the differentiated trajectories of urban development in coastal and mountainous regions. An index system including 19 indices has been developed to evaluate the integrated level of regional urbanization from four perspectives: population, economy, society and space. Using a coastal province, Fujian, as a case study, the comparative analysis of coastal and mountainous urbanization from 2001 to 2012 has revealed that: 1) the coast-mountain gap has been doubled during the past decade; 2) the recent regional disparity is not merely quantitative but more qualitative and structural; 3) large scale mountain-to-coast migration and irrational investment are the main causes for an uncoordinated urbanizai:ion. Based on these results, the pertinence and effectiveness of the &#39;new-type&#39; urbanization strategy are discussed in view of regional urbanization regulation and suggestions to improve the &#39;mountain-coast&#39; coordination are put forward. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

The Genus Alnus, A Comprehensive Outline of Its Chemical Constituents and Biological Activities

The genus Alnus (Betulaceae) is comprised of more than 40 species. Many species of this genus have a long history of use in folk medicines. Phytochemical investigations have revealed the presence of diarylheptanoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids and other compounds. Diarylheptanoids, natural products with a 1,7-diphenylheptane structural skeleton, are the dominant constituents in the genus, whose anticancer effect has been brought into focus. Pure compounds and crude extracts from the genus exhibit a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities both in vitro and in vivo. This paper compiles 273 naturally occurring compounds from the genus Alnus along with their structures and pharmacological activities, as reported in 138 references

Supplementary material 3 from: Ren X, Xu Y, Li Y, Yao H, Fang Y, Khanal L, Cheng L, Zeng W, Jiang X, Chen Z (2023) A new species of shrew moles, genus Uropsilus Milne-Edwards, 1871 (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Talpidae), from the Wuyi Mountains, Jiangxi Province, eastern China. ZooKeys 1186: 25-46. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1186.111592

Partitioning schemes and molecular evolution model used in mitochondrial–nuclear concatenated gene tree estimation

Comparative Study of Isoflavone Synthesis Genes in Two Wild Soybean Varieties Using Transcriptomic Analysis

Soybean is an important food crop that contains high amounts of isoflavones. However, due to the expression of multiple genes, different soybean seeds have different isoflavone compositions. The underlying mechanisms for this complexity remain unknown. In this study, we identified potential differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in two wild soybean cultivars, ZYD7068 (high isoflavone) and ZYD7194 (low isoflavone), at different seed developmental stages using RNA-seq technology and compared their differences in isoflavone content. A total of 1067 and 6479 differentially metabolized genes were identified at R6 and R8 stages, respectively. Subsequent analysis of the KEGG pathway revealed that three of these differential metabolized genes were involved in the Isoflavonoid biosynthesis and Flavone and flavonol biosynthesis at the R6 stage. A total of 80 TF genes encoding differential expression of MYB, bZIP, and WRKY were identified in A1 vs. B1 and A3 vs. B3. Eight differentially expressed genes were identified in duplicates at both stages, and three genes showed the same expression trend at both stages. To confirm the results of RNA-seq, qRT-PCR was performed to analyze the expression of the six identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The results of qRT-PCR were consistent with the results of RNA-seq. We found that four genes (Glyma.13G173300, Glyma.13G173600, Glyma.14G103100, and Glyma.17G158900) may be involved in the positive regulation of isoflavone synthesis, while two genes (Glyma.04G036700 and Glyma.19G030500) may be involved in the negative regulation of isoflavone synthesis. These findings suggest that the observed difference in isoflavone levels between the two cultivars may be attributable to the differential expression of these six genes at later stages of seed development

Supplementary material 4 from: Ren X, Xu Y, Li Y, Yao H, Fang Y, Khanal L, Cheng L, Zeng W, Jiang X, Chen Z (2023) A new species of shrew moles, genus Uropsilus Milne-Edwards, 1871 (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Talpidae), from the Wuyi Mountains, Jiangxi Province, eastern China. ZooKeys 1186: 25-46. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1186.111592

Independent-sample t-tes

Supplementary material 1 from: Ren X, Xu Y, Li Y, Yao H, Fang Y, Khanal L, Cheng L, Zeng W, Jiang X, Chen Z (2023) A new species of shrew moles, genus Uropsilus Milne-Edwards, 1871 (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Talpidae), from the Wuyi Mountains, Jiangxi Province, eastern China. ZooKeys 1186: 25-46. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1186.111592

PCR amplification primer sequences for CYT B, 12S, RAG1, RAG2, and PLCB