One-sentence summary: A Mediator subunit creates a direct bridge for communication between a phytochrome interacting factor and the general transcriptional machinery to regulate shade-induced hypocotyl elongation in tomato.

Hepatozoon species are the most common hemoparasites of snakes. In this study, Hepatozoon parasites were examined for the first time in king rat snakes (Elaphe carinata) from Shanghai, China. All 10 snakes were found to be infected with Hepatozoon gamonts. The gamonts were folded back in a hook-wise fashion for about 3 μm at one end. Parasitemia levels ranged from 4-43 infected erythrocytes per 1,000 examined. The gamonts changed the morphology of the parasitized erythrocytes. Although the gamonts showed some distinct variations in both the parasite and its nucleus, phylogenetic analysis indicated that all the E. carinata in this study formed a monophyletic group, and were distinct from all other published Hepatozoon species. A new species, Hepatozoon chinensis, was proposed based on the molecular and morphologic evidence.

We report here the complete sequence of novel duck reovirus (N-DRV) strain SD12 isolated from diseased wild mallard ducklings in the Shandong Province of China in 2012. The complete genome consists of 23,420 nucleotide base pairs (bp), including 10 segments ranging from 1,191 bp (S4) to 3,959 bp (L1).

Parasites are ubiquitous members of biotic communities. To investigate the infective status of helminth parasites in Pelophylax nigromaculatus from Shanghai, 90 frogs were collected from July 2013 to July 2014 and examined for the presence of internal parasites. Of these, 86.67% (78/90) of frogs were infected with parasites, the total helminth intensity within infected frogs ranged from 1 to 367, and the mean intensity was 28.49. The infection rates and intensities were 78.89% and 22.89 for trematodes, 50.00% and 5.24 for nematodes, 13.33% and 3.92 for cestodes, and 41.11% and 8.49 for acanthocephalas, respectively. The majority (60.04%) of parasites were parasitic in the intestine, followed by urinary bladder (24.8%) and lungs (7.38%). Based on morphological features, 13 different species of helminth, including 9 undetermined species, were identified. The infective status of different species was significantly different. The most prevalent species were Diplodiscus nigromaculati (64.44%), Diplodiscus sp. (37.78%), Pomphorhynchus sp. (35.56%), Strongyloides sp. (33.33%). The mean infection intensity of Diplorchis nigromaculatus (139.25) was higher than the others' species ranged from 3.57-14.63. This is the first reported discovery of Pomphorhynchus sp. (Pomphorhynchidae Yamaguti, 1939) in frogs from China. These data provide the foundation for further analyses of parasites in this and other species of amphibians.