The hydrothermally synthesized Co7(μ3-OH)8(μ-ox)3(μ-ppz)3 contains heptanuclear hydroxo-bridged Co(II) clusters in the form of corner-fused double cubanes. Each cluster is further bridged by six oxalate (ox) and six piperazine (ppz) ligands with 12 other clusters into a 3-D structure.

Taxus sumatrana (Miq.) de Laub. (Taxaceae) is an endangered conifer with a scattered distribution in central Taiwan. In this study, we described the development of 12 microsatellite loci in T. sumatrana for genetic studies. These new markers were tested in nine individuals of the rare species. The number of alleles ranged from 3 to 13 and expected heterozygosity from 0.627 to 0.948. Eleven of twelve loci are significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg expectations due to the heterozygote deficiency.

Anthropogenic activities accompanied by heavy metal waste threaten the environment. Heavy metal pollution alters the soil microbial community composition, and the microorganisms that adapt to this stress increase in abundance. The remediation process of contaminated soil not only reduces the concentration of heavy metals but also alters the bacterial communities. High-throughput 16S rDNA sequencing techniques were applied to understand the changes in soil microbial communities. Using the remediation approach of the soil mixing, the concentrations of heavy metals in the contaminated areas were diluted and the soil environment was changed. The change of soil environment as a disturbance contributed to the alteration of microbial diversity of the remediated areas. The pH and heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn) were the most influential factors driving the changes in community structure. The bacterial community structure was significantly different among sample areas. The decrease of heavy metals in soil may be the important factors that changed the microbial composition. This study provides the better understanding of the changes in composition of microbial communities affected by the remediation process in heavy metal-contaminated soil.

We report 11 novel microsatellite primer pairs for the wild tea, Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze forma formosensis Kitamura. These simple sequence repeat markers were tested in 24 samples collected from wild tea populations, and in cultivars and C. japonica. The number of alleles ranged from 4 to18. The expected (H E ) and observed (H O ) heterozygosity were 0.687-0.946 and 0.042-0.792, respectively. All loci were significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg expectations due to the heterozygote deficiency, indicating a dramatic loss of genetic polymorphisms in the rare species. Significant LD was discovered in most loci. These primers may provide a tool for understanding demography and population structure in wild tea.

The cyprinid genus Onychostoma Günther, 1896 consists of 24 valid species distributed in Southeast Asia, including Taiwan, Hainan, mainland China and the Indochina region. In the present study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of O. lepturum, which is 16,598 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and a typical control region (D-loop). To verify the molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Acrossocheilinae, we provide new insights to better understand the taxonomic status of Acrossocheilus, Onychostoma and Folifer brevifilis. The phylogenetic trees presented three major clades based on the 13 protein-coding genes from 28 Acrossocheilinae species. Clades I and II represent the Onychostoma and Acrossocheilus groups, respectively. Species of Acrossocheilus, Onychostoma and F. brevifilis are included in Clade III, which is considered as an ancestral group. This work provides genomic variation information and improves our understanding of the Acrossocheilinae mitogenome, which will be most valuable in providing new insights for phylogenetic analysis and population genetics research.