Psychophysiological Effects of Bamboo Plants on Adults.

The present study was conducted to clarify the psychophysiological relaxation effects of viewing bamboo on university students. Forty healthy Chinese participants enrolled in this study to clarify the psychophysiological relaxation effects of viewing bamboo. The effects of visual stimulation using a pot both with and without a bamboo were recorded by measuring the student's blood pressure, EEG and STAI. We observed that viewing bamboo plants resulted in significantly lower systolic (female, P < 0.001; male, P < 0.001; P < 0.05) and diastolic (female, P < 0.001; male, P < 0.001; P < 0.05) blood pressures, but no changes in the pulse rate (female, P = 0.09; male, P = 0.07; P > 0.05) were observed. The results of the EEG analysis indicated brainwave variation (all P < 0.05) and lower anxiety scores (P < 0.01) after 3 min of viewing bamboo compared with the control. These findings indicate that visual stimulation with bamboo plants induced psychophysiological relaxation effects on adults.

Effects of aqueous extracts of Paeonia decomposita seeds on germination and some metabolic activities associated with growth of wheat seedlings.

Paeonia decomposita is a perennial deciduous shrub with great ornamental and medicinal values. Unfortunately, the distribution region, population size and individual numbers of P. decomposita rapidly decrease in the wild. It is a particularly rare, highly endangered, protective plant endemic to Southwest China. To understand the causes of seed dormancy of P. decomposita, the effects of aqueous extracts of the seed coat, endosperm of P. decomposita on germination, seedling growth and amylases activities of wheat seeds were examined in this paper. The results showed that the seed, especially the endosperm tissue of P. decomposita contained substances that strongly suppressed seed germination. The crude extract of endosperm of P. decomposita, which significantly reduced the activities of α and ß-amylase, showed a more significant inhibition than that of seed coat at the same dose. It was concluded that the presence of inhibitory substances in seed, especially in endosperm tissue, seem to be responsible for P. decomposita seed dormancy.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of TIFY family genes in Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) and expression profiling analysis under dehydration and cold stresses.

The proteins containing the TIFY domain belong to a plant-specific family of putative transcription factors and could be divided into four subfamilies: ZML, TIFY, PPD and JAZ. They not only function as key regulators of jasmonate hormonal response, but are also involved in responding to abiotic stress. In this study, we identified 24 TIFY genes (PeTIFYs) in Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) of Poaceae by analyzing the whole genome sequence. One PeTIFY belongs to TIFY subfamily, 18 and five belong to JAZ and ZML subfamilies, respectively. Two equivocal gene models were re-predicted and a putative retrotransposition event was found in a ZML protein. The distribution and conservation of domain or motif, and gene structure were also analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis with TIFY proteins of Arabidopsis and Oryza sativa indicated that JAZ subfamily could be further divided to four groups. Evolutionary analysis revealed intragenomic duplication and orthologous relationship between P. edulis, O. sativa, and B. distachyon. Calculation of the non-synonymous (Ka) and synonymous (Ks) substitution rates and their ratios indicated that the duplication of PeTIFY may have occurred around 16.7 million years ago (MYA), the divergence time of TIFY family among the P. edulis-O. sativa, P. edulis-B. distachyon, and O. sativa-B. distachyon was approximately 39 MYA, 39 MYA, and 45 MYA, respectively. They appear to have undergone extensive purifying selection during evolution. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that more than 50% of PeTIFY genes could be up-regulated by cold and dehydration stresses, and some PeTIFYs also share homology to know TIFYs involved in abiotic stress tolerance. Our results made insights into TIFY family of Moso bamboo, an economically important non-timber forest resource, and provided candidates for further identification of genes involved in regulating responses to abiotic stress.

Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization, and Stress-Responsive Expression Profiling of Genes Encoding LEA (Late Embryogenesis Abundant) Proteins in Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis).

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins have been identified in a wide range of organisms and are believed to play a role in the adaptation of plants to stress conditions. In this study, we performed genome-wide identification of LEA proteins and their coding genes in Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) of Poaceae. A total of 23 genes encoding LEA proteins (PeLEAs) were found in P. edulis that could be classified to six groups based on Pfam protein family and homologous analysis. Further in silico analyses of the structures, gene amount, and biochemical characteristics were conducted and compared with those of O. sativa (OsLEAs), B. distachyon (BdLEAs), Z. mays (ZmLEAs), S. bicolor (SbLEAs), Arabidopsis, and Populus trichocarpa. The less number of PeLEAs was found. Evolutionary analysis revealed orthologous relationship and colinearity between P. edulis, O. sativa, B. distachyon, Z. mays, and S. bicolor. Analyses of the non-synonymous (Ka) and synonymous (Ks)substitution rates and their ratios indicated that the duplication of PeLEAs may have occurred around 18.8 million years ago (MYA), and divergence time of LEA family among the P. edulis-O. sativa and P. edulis-B. distachyon, P. edulis-S. bicolor, and P. edulis-Z. mays was approximately 30 MYA, 36 MYA, 48 MYA, and 53 MYA, respectively. Almost all PeLEAs contain ABA- and (or) stress-responsive regulatory elements. Further RNA-seq analysis revealed approximately 78% of PeLEAs could be up-regulated by dehydration and cold stresses. The present study makes insights into the LEA family in P. edulis and provides inventory of stress-responsive genes for further functional validation and transgenic research aiming to plant genetic improvement of abiotic stress tolerance.

The evolution and utility of ribosomal ITS sequences in Bambusinae and related species: divergence, pseudogenes, and implications for phylogeny.

Ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences are commonly used for phylogenetic reconstruction because they are highly reiterated as components of rDNA repeats, and hence are often subject to rapid homogenization through concerted evolution. Concerted evolution leads to intragenomic uniformity of repeats even between loci on nonhomologous chromosomes. However, a number of studies have shown that the ITS polymorphism within individuals is quite common. The molecular systematics of Bambusinae and related species were recently assessed by different teams using independently generated ITS sequences, and the results disagreed in some remarkable features. Here we compared the ITS sequences of the members of Bambusa s. l., the genera Dendrocalamus, Dinochloa, Gigantochloa, Guadua, Melocalamus, Monocladus, Oxytenanthera, Thyrsostachys, Pleioblastus, Pseudosasa and Schizostachyum.We have reanalysed the ITS sequences used by different research teams to reveal the underlying patterns of their different results. After excluding the sequences suspected to represent paralogous loci, a phylogenetic analysis of the subtribe Bambusinae species were performed using maximum parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods. The implications of the findings are discussed. The risk of incorporating ITS paralogues in plant evolutionary studies that can distort the phylogenetic signal should caution molecular systematists.

[Point pattern analysis of Phyllostachys bissetti ramet population in West China Rainy Area].

In this paper, point pattern analysis was conducted to study the spatial distribution of Phyllostachys bissetii ramet population and the spatial association between different age-class P. bissetii ramet populations in West China Rainy Area. The ramet population had a clumped distribution at the scale 0-0.32 m, a regular distribution at the scale 0.64-4.48 m, and a random distribution at the scale > 4.48 m. Different age-class ramet populations mainly had a random distribution at the scale 0-8.00 m, though a slight difference was observed among different age-classes. The spatial association between age-class I and age-classes II and III at the scale 1.76 - 4.16 m and 0.32-4.16 m approached to or reached to negative, respectively, while the spatial association between age-classes I and IV at the scale 0.32-3.04 m was significantly negative, indicating that the spatial negative association between younger and elder ramet populations increased with enlarged age-class difference. The spatial pattern of P. bissetii ramet population and the spatial association between different age-class ramet populations were depended on spatial scale, ramet age, and environmental factors.