Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have become the most popular source of genetic markers, which are ubiquitously distributed in many eukaryotic and prokaryotic genomes. This is the first study examining and comparing SSRs in completely sequenced genomes of the Bovidae. We analyzed and compared the number of SSRs, relative abundance, relative density, guanine-cytosine (GC) content and proportion of SSRs in six taxonomically different bovid species: Bos taurus, Bubalus bubalis, Bos mutus, Ovis aries, Capra hircus, and Pantholops hodgsonii. Our analysis revealed that, based on our search criteria, the total number of perfect SSRs found ranged from 663,079 to 806,907 and covered from 0.44% to 0.48% of the bovid genomes. Relative abundance and density of SSRs in these Bovinae genomes were non-significantly correlated with genome size (Pearson, r < 0.420, p > 0.05). Perfect mononucleotide SSRs were the most abundant, followed by the pattern: perfect di- > tri- > penta- > tetra- > hexanucleotide SSRs. Generally, the number of SSRs, relative abundance, and relative density of SSRs decreased as the motif repeat length increased in each species of Bovidae. The most GC-content was in trinucleotide SSRs and the least was in the mononucleotide SSRs in the six bovid genomes. The GC-contents of tri- and pentanucleotide SSRs showed a great deal of similarity among different chromosomes of B. taurus, O. aries, and C. hircus. SSR number of all chromosomes in the B. taurus, O.aries, and C. hircus is closely positively correlated with chromosome sequence size (Pearson, r > 0.980, p < 0.01) and significantly negatively correlated with GC-content (Pearson, r < -0.638, p < 0.01). Relative abundance and density of SSRs in all chromosomes of the three species were significantly negatively correlated with GC-content (Pearson, r < -0.333, P < 0.05) but not significantly correlated with chromosome sequence size (Pearson, r < -0.185, P > 0.05). Relative abundances of the same nucleotide SSR type showed great similarity among different chromosomes of B. taurus, O. aries, and C. hircus.

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are highly toxic and are widespread in agricultural soils, representing risks to plant and human health. In this study, Davidia involucrata was cultivated in soil with different concentrations of Pb and Cd and sampled after 90 days. We used ANOVA to analyse the photosynthesis of D. involucrata and the ability of Pb and Cd to enrich and migrate in roots, stems and leaves. Various results are described here. 1) Under individual and combined Pb and Cd stress, the accumulation factors in the roots were greater than 1, which was significantly greater than those in the stems and leaves (P < 0.05), and the translocation factors both were less than 1. The Pb and Cd enrichment ability of D. involucrata roots was significantly higher than that of stems and leaves, and the migration ability of the two heavy metals in D. involucrata was weak. 2) The Mg-dechelatase activities of chlorophyll degradation products increased under stress due to high concentrations of Pb and Cd. However, chlorophyllase activity was higher at relatively low concentrations of the two heavy metals (P < 0.05). δ-Aminolevulinic acid and porphobilinogen of chlorophyll synthesis products are easily converted to uroporphyrinogen III under low concentrations of Cd, which promotes the synthesis of chlorophyll.3) The effect of Cd stress alone on the chlorophyll concentration was not significant. Under combined stress, concentrations of Pb and Cd in the range of 400~800 mg�kg -1 and 5~20 mg�kg -1 significantly promoted an increase in photosynthetic pigments (P < 0.05). 4) Inhibition of the net photosynthetic rate increased with increasing Pb and Cd concentrations under both individual and combined stress. In addition, the root of D. involucrata had a strong absorption and fixation effect on heavy metals, thereby reducing metal toxicity and improving the tolerance of D. involucrata to heavy metals. , et al. (2020) Response of photosynthesis to different concentrations of heavy metals in Davidia involucrata. PLoS ONE 15(3): e0228563.

Bees are often considered to be effective pollinators in both agricultural and natural ecosystems but could be ineffective pollinators in that they collect large quantities of pollen for food provision but deliver little to stigmas. Male bees do not collect pollen to feed larvae, and their pollination role has been underappreciated. Here we compare pollination effectiveness, visit frequency and pollen foraging behaviour between female and male individuals of a mining bee, Andrena emeishanica , visiting a nectariferous spring flower ( Epimedium pubescens ). Female bees were observed to forage for both pollen and nectar, but male bees foraged only for nectar. Female bees had large hairy hind tibiae with conspicuous scopae, and nearly 90% of the pollen grains they collected went onto the hind legs. Male bees removed less pollen from anthers than female bees but deposited more pollen on stigmas per visit. The higher pollen transfer efficiency of male bees was due to 48.4% of pollen grains remaining ungroomed on the thorax and abdomen, available for stigma contact, but their visitation rate to flowers was much lower. Our results indicate that male solitary bees could transfer more pollen on the stigma per visit but were less important (transferred less pollen in total, because they made fewer visits per unit time) than females.

No abstract

Flower color polymorphism is relatively uncommon in natural flowering plants, suggesting that maintenance of different color morphs within populations is difficult. To address the selective mechanisms shaping pollen-color dimorphism, pollinator preferences and reproductive performance were studied over three years in Epimedium pubescens in which some populations had plants with either green or yellow pollen (and anthers). Visitation rate and pollen removal and receipt by the bee pollinator (Andrena emeishanica) did not differ between the two color morphs. Compared to the green morph, siring success of the yellow morph's pollen was lower, but that of mixtures of pollen from green and yellow morphs was lowest. This difference, corresponding to in vivo and ex vivo experiments on pollen performance, indicated that pollen germination, rather than tube growth, of the green morph was higher than that of the yellow morph and was seriously constrained in both morphs if a pollen competitor was present. A rare green morph may invade a yellow-morph population, but the coexistence of pollen color variants is complicated by the reduced siring success of mixed pollinations. Potential pollen competition between morphs may have discouraged the maintenance of multiple phenotypes within populations, a cryptic mechanism of competitive exclusion.