Ping Li

The Chinese rare minnow, Gobiocypris rarus, which is endemic to China, is an attractive aquatic laboratory animal in China. In the present study, the complete mitogenome sequence of G. rarus has been determined using long polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. It was 16,601 bp in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region, the gene composition and order of which are similar to most other vertebrates. Except for eight tRNA and ND6 genes, all other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand. The overall base composition of the heavy strand is 29.5% A, 27.6% T, 25.7% C, and 17.2% G, with a slight AT bias of 57.1%. There are 10 regions of gene overlap totaling 27 bp and 13 intergenic spacer regions totaling 63 bp. The mitogenome sequence of G. rarus could contribute to a better solution of its phylogenetic position within cyprinid fishes based on the whole mitogenomic data.

Microsatellites are short tandem repeats of one to six bases in genomic DNA. As microsatellites are highly polymorphic and play a vital role in gene function and recombination, they are an attractive subject for research in evolution and in the genetics and breeding of animals and plants. Orphan genes have no known homologs in existing databases. Using bioinformatic computation and statistical analysis, we identified 19,26 orphan genes in the rice (Oryza sativa ssp. Japanica cv. Nipponbare) proteome. We found that a larger proportion of orphan genes are expressed after sexual maturation and under environmental pressure than nonorphan genes. Orphan genes generally have shorter protein lengths and intron size, and are faster evolving. Additionally, orphan genes have fewer PROSITE patterns with larger pattern sizes than those in nonorphan genes. The average microsatellite content and the percentage of trinucleotide repeats in orphan genes are also significantly higher than in nonorphan genes. Microsatellites are found less often in PROSITE patterns in orphan genes. Taken together, these orphan gene characteristics suggest that microsatellites play an important role in orphan gene evolution and expression.

The complete mitogenome sequence of the spotted steed (Hemibarbus maculatus) was determined using long PCR reactions. The genome is 16,611 bp long and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. The gene order and composition of H. maculatus was similar to that of most other vertebrates. The base composition of H-strand in descending order is A (29.16%), C (27.41%), T (25.93%), and G (17.50%), with an AT content of 55.09%. The Kimura two-parameter distances between mitogenome sequences of H. maculatus and Hemibarbus labeo, Hemibarbus barbus, Hemibarbus longirostris, Hemibarbus mylodon were 2.09%, 2.35%, 12.77%, and 13.92%, respectively. The phylogenetic relationships among the five Hemibarbus species based on the whole mitogenome sequence data were (((H. barbus, H. labeo), H. maculatus), (H. longirostris, H. mylodon)).

Zingiberaceae plants are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, being used in many famous medicinal materials. Meanwhile, some Zingiberaceae plants are important horticultural flowers because they are green all year round and have special aromas. To conduct an extensive investigation of the resources of Zingiberaceae plants, the volatile compounds of ten species of Zingiberaceae were extracted and analyzed by GC–MS, including Costus comosus var. bakeri (K.Schum.) Maas, Curcuma rubescens Roxb., Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb., Curcuma attenuata Wall., Hongfengshou, Hedychium coronarium Koeng, Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith, Hedychium brevicaule D. Fang, Alpinia oxyphylla Miq., and Alpinia pumila Hook.F. A total of 162 compounds were identified, and most of those identified were monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. (E)-labda-8(17),12-diene-15,16-dial, n-hexadecanoic acid, 4-methoxy-6-phenethyl-2H-pyran-2-one, and L-β-pinene were found in high concentrations among the plants. These ten species of Zingiberaceae contained some of the same volatiles, but their contents were different. Pharmacological effects may be associated with the diversity of volatiles in these ten plants.