The importance of species richness to ecosystem functioning and services is a central tenet of biological conservation. However, most of our theory and mechanistic understanding is based on diversity found aboveground. Our study sought to better understand the relationship between diversity and belowground function by studying root biomass across a plant diversity gradient. We collected soil cores from 91 plots with between 1 and 12 aboveground tree species in three natural secondary forests to measure fine root (≤ 2 mm in diameter) biomass. Molecular methods were used to identify the tree species of fine roots and to estimate fine root biomass for each species. This study tested whether the spatial root partitioning (species differ by belowground territory) and symmetric growth (the capacity to colonize nutrient-rich hotspots) underpin the relationship between aboveground species richness and fine root biomass. All species preferred to grow in nutrient-rich areas and symmetric growth could explain the positive relationship between aboveground species richness and fine root biomass. However, symmetric growth only appeared in the nutrient-rich upper soil layer (0-10 cm). Structural equation modelling indicated that aboveground species richness and stand density significantly affected fine root biomass. Specifically, fine root biomass depended on the interaction between aboveground species richness and stand density, with fine root biomass increasing with species richness at lower stand density, but not at higher stand density. Overall, evidence for spatial (i.e. vertical) root partitioning was inconsistent; assumingly any roots growing into deeper unexplored soil layers were not sufficient contributors to the positive diversity-function relationship. Alternatively, density-dependent biotic interactions affecting tree recruitment are an important driver affecting productivity in diverse subtropical forests but the usual root distribution patterns in line with the spatial root partitioning hypothesis are unrealistic in contexts where soil nutrients are heterogeneously distributed.

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Understanding of belowground interactions among tree species and the fine root (≤2 mm in diameter) contribution of a species to forest ecosystem production are mostly restricted by experimental difficulties in the quantification of the species composition. The available approaches have various defects. By contrast, DNA-based methods can avoid these drawbacks. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an advanced molecular technology, but it is difficult to develop specific primer sets. The method of next-generation sequencing has several limitations, such as inaccurate sequencing of homopolymer regions, as well as being time-consuming, and requiring special knowledge for data analysis. This study evaluated the potential of the DNA-sequence-based method to identify tree species and to quantify the relative proportion of each species in mixed fine root samples. We discriminated the species by isolating DNA from individual fine roots and amplifying the plastid trnL(UAA; i.e., tRNA-Leu-UAA) intron using the PCR. To estimate relative proportions, we extracted DNA from fine root mixtures. After the plastid trnL(UAA) intron amplification and TA-cloning, we sequenced the positive clones from each mixture. Our results indicated that the plastid trnL(UAA) intron spacer successfully distinguished tree species of fine roots in subtropical forests. In addition, the DNA-sequence-based approach could reliably estimate the relative proportion of each species in mixed fine root samples. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the DNA-sequence-based method has been used to quantify tree species proportions in mixed fine root samples in Chinese subtropical forests. As the cost of DNA-sequencing declines and DNA-sequence-based methods improve, the molecular method will be more widely used to determine fine root species and abundance.

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Rapid response of uni- and multicellular organisms to environmental changes and their own growth is achieved through a series of molecular mechanisms, often involving modification of macromolecules, including nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. The ADP-ribosylation process has ability to modify these different macromolecules in cells, and is closely related to the biological processes, such as DNA replication, transcription, signal transduction, cell division, stress, microbial aging and pathogenesis. In addition, tRNA plays an essential role in the regulation of gene expression, as effector molecules, no-load tRNA affects the overall gene expression level of cells under some nutritional stress. KptA/Tpt1 is an essential phosphotransferase in the process of pre-tRNA splicing, releasing mature tRNA and participating in ADP-ribose. The objective of this review is concluding the gene structure, the evolution history and the function of KptA/Tpt1 from prokaryote to eukaryote organisms. At the same time, the results of promoter elements analysis were also shown in the present study. Moreover, the problems in the function of KptA/Tpt1 that have not been clarified at the present time are summarised, and some suggestions to solve those problems are given. This review presents no only a summary of clear function of KptA/Tpt1 in the process of tRNA splicing and ADP-ribosylation of organisms, but also gives some proposals to clarify unclear problems of it in the future.

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Abstract. Even though the National Forest Resource Inventory (NFRI) does not provide detailed forest biomass information directly, the NFRI data are useful for estimating forest biomass and carbon stocks by using conversion parameters. However, the accuracy and errors of this approach for estimating the stand biomass of subtropical forests remain unclear. In this study, we selected four typical subtropical forests (Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation, Pinus massoniana evergreen coniferous forest, Choerospondias axillaris deciduous broadleaved forest, and Lithocarpus glaber-Cyclobalanopsis glauca evergreen broadleaved forest) in Dashanchong Forest Park to calculate the biomass expansion factor (BEF) and the root:shoot ratio (R). Our results showed that the average BEF values for the four forests were 1.144, 1.301, 1.592 and 1.396, respectively, while the average R values were 0.197, 0.192, 0.226 and 0.221, respectively. These results may be important for estimating forest biomass in the subtropical zone of southern China.