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Relict species play an important role in understanding the biogeography of intercontinental disjunctions. Pterocarya (a relict genus) is the valuable model taxon for studying the biogeography of East Asian versus southern European/West Asian disjunct patterns. This disjunction has not been as well studied as others (e.g., between Eastern Asia and North America). Several phylogenetic studies on Pterocarya have been conducted, but none have provided a satisfactory phylogenetic resolution. Here, we report the first well-resolved phylogeny of Pterocarya using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing data based on the sampling of all taxa across the entire distribution area of the genus. Taxonomic treatments were also clarified by combining morphological traits. Furthermore, fossil-calibrated phylogeny was used to explore the biogeography of Pterocarya. Our results support the existence of two sections in Pterocarya, which is in accordance with morphological taxonomy. Section Platyptera comprises three species: P. rhoifolia, P. macroptera, and P. delavayi. Section Pterocarya also comprises three species: P. fraxinifolia, P. hupehensis, and P. stenoptera. The divergence between the two sections took place during the early Miocene (20.5 Ma). The formation of the Gobi Desert and climate cooling of northern Siberia in the Middle Miocene (15.7 Ma) might have caused the split of the continuous distribution of this genus and the formation of the East Asian versus southern European/West Asian disjunct pattern. Lastly, the divergence between P. hupehensis and P. stenoptera as well as between P. rhoifolia and P. macroptera/P. delavayi (10.0 Ma) supports the late Miocene diversification hypothesis in East Asia.

Background Maple is an important ornamental plant in China. With the increasing use of maple trees in landscaping, a symptom of shoot dieback has been observed in Henan province, China. Results In this study, 28 Diaporthe isolates were obtained from symptomatic shoots of maple trees between 2020 and 2023. Phylogenetic analyses based on five loci (ITS, TEF , CAL , HIS and TUB ) coupled with morphology of 12 representative isolates identified three known species ( D. eres , D. pescicola and D. spinosa ) and one new species, namely D. pseudoacerina sp. nov. Koch’s postulates confirmed that all these species were pathogenic. Additionally, D. pseudoacerina was able to infect China wingnut ( Pterocarya stenoptera ), pear ( Pyrus sp.), and black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia ). This study marks the first report of Diaporthe spinosa and D. pescicola pathogens infecting maple trees. Conclusions These findings enhance the existing knowledge of the taxonomy and host diversity of Diaporthe species as, while also providing valuable information for managing of maple shoot dieback in Henan Province, China.

Climate change poses a serious threat to biodiversity. Predicting the effects of climate change on the distribution of a species' habitat can help humans address the potential threats which may change the scope and distribution of species. Pterocarya stenoptera is a common fast‐growing tree species often used in the ecological restoration of riverbanks and alpine forests in central and eastern China. Until now, the characteristics of the distribution of this species' habitat are poorly known as are the environmental factors that influence its preferred habitat. In the present study, the Maximum Entropy Modeling (Maxent) algorithm and the Genetic Algorithm for Ruleset Production (GARP) were used to establish the models for the potential distribution of this species by selecting 236 sites with known occurrences and 14 environmental variables. The results indicate that both models have good predictive power. Minimum temperature of coldest month (Bio6), mean temperature of warmest quarter (Bio10), annual precipitation (Bio12), and precipitation of driest month (Bio14) were important environmental variables influencing the prediction of the Maxent model. According to the models, the temperate and subtropical regions of eastern China had high environmental suitability for this species, where the species had been recorded. Under each climate change scenario, climatic suitability of the existing range of this species increased, and its climatic niche expanded geographically to the north and higher elevation. GARP predicted a more conservative expansion. The projected spatial and temporal patterns of P. stenoptera can provide reference for the development of forest management and protection strategies. Minimum temperature of coldest month (Bio6), mean temperature of warmest quarter (Bio10), annual precipitation (Bio12), and precipitation of driest month (Bio14) were important environmental variables influencing the prediction of the Maxent model. Under each climate change scenario, climatic suitability of the existing range of this species increased, and its climatic niche expanded geographically toward farther north and higher elevation. The GARP predicted a more conservative expansion.

Gastrolina depressa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) has been found to damage many walnut plants in China. It prefers to feed on the annual leaves of an important economic plant, Pterocarya stenoptera (Fagales: Juglandaceae), and causes extensive cosmetic destruction, even plant death. Nevertheless, its biological characteristics are mostly unknown. In this study, we investigate the harmful and biological characteristics of G. depressa with different developmental stages. The results showed that G. depressa had four developmental stages: egg, larva (1 st -3 rd instar), pupa, and adult, the life history lasted nine days, with obvious overlapping generations. The food intake of the larvae increased with the increase of the instar, and the maximum food intake of the 3 rd instar larvae was 448.19 mm 2 . The abdomen of the females was enlarged before oviposition, and the average number of eggs laid was 47.63 ± 13.53. Bioassay showed that there was no difference in the search time for the young (2.03, 1.25, 1.15, and 0.91 min) and old leaves (1.68, 1.15, 0.90, and 1.93 min) of P. stenoptera between 1 st -3 rd instar larvae and adults; the feeding preference of 1 st -3 rd instar larvae and adults for young leaves was higher than that to old leaves (23.33%, 26.67%, 33.33%, and 21.67%, respectively). The successful selection rates of 1 st -3 rd instar larvae and adults to young leaves (81.67%, 80%, 85.00%, and 70.00%, respectively) was higher than to old leaves (8.35%, 11.67%, 3.34%, and 11.67%, respectively).

Ring nematodes of the genus Criconemoides are a group of polyphagous, migratory root-ectoparasites of plants. In a nematological survey of Zhejiang Province, three new Criconemoides species were isolated from the rhizosphere of Citrus sp., Euonymus alatus and Pterocarya stenoptera trees. In the present study, the new species characterized using an integrative taxonomic approach and described as Criconemoides parainformis n. sp., C. geraerti n. sp. and C. rotundicaudatus n. sp. Three of the species shares truncated anteriorly flattened lip region comprised of two annuli, body annuli margin smooth with few anastomoses, (except C. rotundicaudatus n. sp. it has crenated annuli margins and numerous anastomoses), excretory pore 1–2 annuli posterior to pharyngeal bulb base, (except C. geraerti n. sp. it has excretory pore at the same level, or 1–2 annuli anterior to pharyngeal bulb base), vulva closed, anus hardly visible 1–3 annuli posterior to vulva. The new species can be distinguished based on their en face view pattern under scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the tail shapes. i.e. C. parainformis n. sp. has an ellipsoid oral disc, slightly fused pseudolips and tail ending in a bilobed terminus. C. geraerti n. sp. has a hexagonal oral disc, separated pseudolips, and a bluntly conoid tail. C. rotundicaudatus n. sp. has a rounded oral disc, well developed pseudolips, and a short broadly rounded tail. Besides detailed morphological studies using SEM, genomic and mitochondrial molecular data were obtained for the three described new species. In inferred phylogenies, these three species clustered with known Criconemoides species in 18S, 28S, ITS and coxI trees. Currently, only four known Criconemoides species occur in China and the discovery of the three new Criconemoides species in present study has increased our knowledge on the diversity of Criconemoides in China.

Background Drought is the main stress factor for the cultivation of Pterocarya stenoptera in urban areas, and this factor will cause its dehydration and affect its growth. Identifying drought-related genes will be useful for understanding the drought adaptation mechanism of P. stenoptera . Results We used physiological indicator detection, comparative transcriptome sequencing, and reanalysis on the results of previous landscape genomics studies to investigate the drought adaptation mechanism in P. stenoptera . The changes in malondialdehyde content showed that P. stenoptera was remarkably affected by drought stress, and the increase in soluble sugar content suggested its important role in response to drought stress. Results of comparative transcriptome sequencing showed that P. stenoptera initiated a series of programs, such as increasing the gene expression of unsaturated fatty acids, tyrosine, and plant pathogen resistance, to deal with the transient drought stress. According to the annotated results in a previous study, P. stenoptera adapts to the long-term differential drought stress by regulating the thickness of cell walls and expressing upper or lower limits of the downstream genes in the hormone signaling pathway. Through the comparative analysis of drought-responsive and -adaptive genes in P. stenoptera , this study supports the hypothesis that the environment-responsive genes (ERGs) introduced by the transient environmental stresses will be substantially more than the environment-adaptive genes (EAGs) in response to long-term differential environmental stresses, and the EAGs are not necessarily ERGs. Conclusions Our study identified drought-responsive and -adaptive genes in P. stenoptera and revealed that P. stenoptera increased the gene expression of unsaturated fatty acids, tyrosine, and plant pathogen resistance in response to transient drought stress. This study reveals the different adaptation mechanism of P. stenoptera under the transient and long-term differential drought stresses.

Background The investigation of the genetic basis of local adaptation in non-model species is an interesting focus of evolutionary biologists and molecular ecologists. Identifying these adaptive genetic variabilities on the genome responsible can provide insight into the genetic mechanism of local adaptation. Results We investigated the spatial distribution of genetic variation in 22 natural populations of Pterocarya stenoptera across its distribution area in China to provide insights into the complex interplay between multiple environmental variables and adaptive genetic differentiation. The Bayesian analysis of population structure showed that the 22 populations of P. stenoptera were subdivided into two groups. Redundancy analysis demonstrated that this genetic differentiation was caused by the divergent selection of environmental difference. A total of 44 outlier loci were mutually identified by Arlequin and BayeScan, 43 of which were environment-associated loci (EAL). The results of latent factor mixed model analysis showed that solar radiation in June (Sr6), minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio6), temperature seasonality (Bio4), and water vapor pressure in January (Wvp1) were associated with the highest numbers of EAL. Sr6 was associated with the ecological habitat of “prefered light”, and Bio6 and Wvp1 were associated with the ecological habitat of “warm and humid environment”. Conclusions Our results provided empirical evidence that environmental variables related to the ecological habitats of species play key roles in driving adaptive differentiation of species genome.

Accurate descriptions of home ranges can provide important information for understanding animal ecology and behavior and contribute to the formulation of conservation strategies. We used the grid cell method and kernel density estimation (KDE) to estimate the home range size of golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve. We also used Moran’s eigenvector maps analysis and variation partitioning to test the influence of environmental variables on home range use. The seasonal home range size was 15.4 km2 in spring, 11.6 km2 in summer, 13.7 km2 in autumn, and 15.6 km2 in winter, based on the grid cell method. The seasonal core area of 50% KDE was 9.86 km2 in spring, 5.58 km2 in summer, 7.20 km2 in autumn, and 4.23 km2 in winter. The environmental variables explained 63.60% of home range use intensity in spring, 72.21% in summer, 26.52% in autumn, and none in winter, and some environmental variables contributed to the spatial variation in home range use intensity. Water sources, tree density, and dominant trees of Chinese wingnut (Pterocarya stenoptera) were the important environmental factors determining home range use. These environmental factors require protection to ensure the survival of the golden snub-nosed monkey.

The establishment of riparian protection forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) is an ideal measure to cope with the eco-environmental problems of the water-level fluctuation zone (WLFZ). Thus, the information for screening winter-flood-tolerant woody plant species is useful for the recovery and re-establishment of the riparian protection forests in the TGR WLFZ. Therefore, we discussed the possibilities of constructing and popularizing riparian protection forests in the TGR WLFZ from several aspects, including the woody plant species distribution in the WLFZ, the survival rate analyses of suitable candidate woody species under controlled flooding conditions, the survival rate investigation of some woody plant species planted in the TGR WLFZ, and the physiological responses of some woody plant species during the recovery stage after winter floods. The results of woody species investigation showed that most woody plant species that existed as annual seedlings in the TGR WLFZ are not suitable candidates for the riparian protection forests. However, arbor species (e.g., Salix matsudana, Populus×canadensis, Morus alba, Pterocarya stenoptera, Taxodium ascendens, and Metasequoia glyptostroboides) and shrub species (e.g., Salix variegata, Distylium chinensis, Lycium chinense, Myricaria laxiflora, and Rosa multiflora) might be considered suitable candidates for the riparian protection forests in the TGR WLFZ by survival rate analyses under controlled winter flooding conditions, and survival rate investigations of woody plant species planted in the TGR WLFZ, respectively. Physiological analyses showed that P.×canadensis, M. alba, L. chinense, and S. variegata could develop specific self-repairing mechanisms to stimulate biomass accumulation and carbohydrate synthesis via the increases in chlorophyll pigments and photosynthesis during recovery after winter floods. Our results suggested these woody plant species could endure the winter flooding stress and recover well, and be used as candidate for the construction of riparian protection forests in the TGR WLFZ.

Pterocarya stenoptera bark extract (PSBE) was assessed for its chemical constituents, antioxidant activity, and antibacterial activity. The total phenolic content (TPC) in the PSBE was 272.92 ± 3.22 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g. Three phenolic compounds (quercetin-3-O-(2″-O-galloyl)-rhamnoside, quercetin, and juglone) were identified in the PSBE via ultraperformance liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (UPLC/MS) analysis. The PSBE possessed remarkable antioxidant activity in the DPPH and ABTS+ radicals scavenging system, with IC50 values of 96.25 ± 3.82 μg/mL and 158.26 ± 6.08 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the PSBE had high antibacterial activity, which was especially sensitive to Staphylococcus aureus. The antibacterial mechanism of the PSBE on the S. aureus was related to the deformation of the cell morphology and the destruction of the cell membrane structure, which was confirmed using a BacLight Viability Kit and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations. These findings suggest that the strong antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the bark extract from P. stenoptera make the tree species suitable as a natural additive in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries.