Introgression and incomplete lineage sorting blurred phylogenetic relationships across the genomes of sclerophyllous oaks from southwest China.

Resolving evolutionary relationships among closely related species with interspecific gene flow is challenging. Genome-scale data provide opportunities to clarify complex evolutionary relationships in closely related species and to observe variations in species relationships across the genomes of such species. The Himalayan-Hengduan subalpine oaks have a nearly completely sympatric distribution in southwest China and probably constitute a syngameon. In this study, we mapped resequencing data from different species in this group to the Quercus aquifolioides reference genome to obtain a high-quality filtered single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset. We also assembled their plastomes. We reconstructed their phylogenetic relationships, explored the level and pattern of introgression among these species and investigated gene tree variation in the genomes of these species using sliding windows. The same or closely related plastomes were found to be shared extensively among different species within a specific geographical area. Phylogenomic analyses of genome-wide SNP data found that most oaks in the Himalayan-Hengduan subalpine clade showed genetic coherence, but several species were found to be connected by introgression. The gene trees obtained using sliding windows showed that the phylogenetic relationships in the genomes of oaks are highly heterogeneous and therefore highly obscured. Our study found that all the oaks of the Himalayan-Hengduan subalpine clade from southwest China form a syngameon. The obscured phylogenetic relationships observed empirically across the genome are best explained by interspecific gene flow in conjunction with incomplete lineage sorting.

Synergistic solidification and mechanism research of electrolytic manganese residue and coal fly ash based on C-A-S-H gel material.

Electrolytic manganese residue (EMR) is known for high concentrations of Mn2+, NH4+, and heavy metals. Failure to undergo benign treatment and landfill disposal would undeniably lead to negative impacts on the quality of the surrounding ecological environment. This study sought to mitigate the latent environmental risks associated with EMR using a cooperative solidification/stabilization (S/S) method involving coal fly ash (CFA). Leveraging leaching toxicity tests, the leaching behavior of pollutants in electrolytic manganese residue-based geopolymer materials (EMRGM) was determined. At the same time, mechanistic insights into S/S processes were explored utilizing characterization techniques such as XRF, XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, and XPS. Those results confirmed significant reductions in the leaching toxicities of Mn2+ and NH4+ to 4.64 µg/L and 0.99 mg/L, respectively, with all other heavy metal ions falling within the permissible limits set by relevant standards. Further analysis shows that most of NH4+ volatilizes into the air as NH3, and a small part is fixed in the EMRGM in the form of struvite; in addition to being oxidized to MnOOH and MnO2, Mn2+ will also be adsorbed and wrapped by silicon-aluminum gel together with other heavy metal elements in the form of ions or precipitation. This research undeniably provides a solid theoretical foundation for the benign treatment and resourceful utilization of EMR and CFA, two prominent industrial solid wastes.

Integrating mRNA transcripts and genomic information into genomic prediction.

Genomic prediction has emerged as a pivotal technology for the genetic evaluation of livestock, crops, and for predicting human disease risks. However, classical genomic prediction methods face challenges in incorporating biological prior information such as the genetic regulation mechanisms of traits. This study introduces a novel approach that integrates mRNA transcript information to predict complex trait phenotypes. To evaluate the accuracy of the new method, we utilized a Drosophila population that is widely employed in quantitative genetics researches globally. Results indicate that integrating mRNA transcript data can significantly enhance the genomic prediction accuracy for certain traits, though it does not improve phenotype prediction accuracy for all traits. Compared with GBLUP, the prediction accuracy for olfactory response to dCarvone in male Drosophila increased from 0.256 to 0.274. Similarly, the accuracy for cafe in male Drosophila rose from 0.355 to 0.401. The prediction accuracy for survival_paraquat in male Drosophila is improved from 0.101 to 0.138. In female Drosophila, the accuracy of olfactory response to 1hexanol increased from 0.147 to 0.210. In conclusion, integrating mRNA transcripts can substantially improve genomic prediction accuracy of certain traits by up to 43%, with range of 7% to 43%. Furthermore, for some traits, considering interaction effects along with mRNA transcript integration can lead to even higher prediction accuracy.

Effectiveness and safety of REBACIN as a non-invasive intervention for persistent high-risk human papillomavirus infection: A real-world prospective multicenter cohort study.

BACKGROUND: We previously reported that REBACIN effectively eliminates persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection. Here, we conducted a prospective multicenter cohort study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of REBACIN, taking into account factors such as specific hrHPV subtype and patient's age. METHODS: According to inclusion/exclusion criteria and participant willingness, 3252 patients were divided into REBACIN group while 249 patients into control group. Patients in REBACIN group received one course treatment of intravaginal administration of REBACIN while no treatment in control group. After drug withdrawal, participants in both groups were followed up. RESULTS: The clearance rate of persistent hrHPV infection in REBACIN group was 60.64%, compared to 20.08% in control group. Specifically, the clearance rates for single-type infection of HPV16 or HPV18 were 70.62% and 69.23%, respectively, which was higher than that of HPV52 (59.04%) or HPV58 (62.64%). In addition, the single, double, and triple/triple+ infections had a clearance rate of 65.70%, 53.31%, and 38.30%, respectively. Moreover, 1635 patients under 40 years old had a clearance rate of 65.14%, while it was 55.08% for 1447 patients over 40 years old. No serious adverse effects were found. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that REBACIN can effectively and safely eliminate persistent hrHPV infection, which the clearance rate of HPV16/18 is higher than that of HPV52/58, the clearance rate of single-type infection is higher than that of multiple-type infections, and the clearance rate in young patients is higher than that in elder patients, providing a guidance for REBACIN application in clearing hrHPV persistent infection in real-world settings. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Registration Number: ChiCTR1800015617 http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=26529 Date of Registration: 2018-04-11.

[Significance of anti-Jo-1 antibody's clinical stratification in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy and disease spectrum].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance of anti-histidyl tRNA synthetase (Jo-1) antibody in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and its diseases spectrum. METHODS: We enrolled all the patients who were tested positive for anti-Jo-1 antibody by immunoblotting in Peking University People's Hospital between 2016 and 2022. And the patients diagnosed with anti-synthetase antibody syndrome (ASS) with negative serum anti-Jo-1 antibody were enrolled as controls. We analyzed the basic information, clinical characteristics, and various inflammatory and immunological indicators of the patients at the onset of illness. RESULTS: A total of 165 patients with positive anti-Jo-1 antibody were enrolled in this study. Among them, 80.5% were diagnosed with connective tissue disease. And 57.6% (95/165) were diagnosed with IIM, including ASS (84/165, 50.9%), immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (7/165, 4.2%) and dermatomyositis (4/165, 2.4%). There were 23.0% (38/165) diagnosed with other connective tissue disease, mainly including rheumatoid arthritis (11/165, 6.7%), undifferentiated connective tissue disease (5/165, 3.0%), interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (5/165, 3.0%), undifferentiated arthritis (4/165, 2.4%), Sjögren's syndrome (3/165, 1.8%), systemic lupus erythematosus (3/165, 1.8%), systemic vasculitis (3/165, 1.8%), and so on. Other cases included 3 (1.8%) malignant tumor patients, 4 (2.4%) infectious cases and so on. The diagnoses were not clear in 9.1% (15 /165) of the cohort. In the analysis of ASS subgroups, the group with positive serum anti-Jo-1 antibody had a younger age of onset than those with negative serum anti-Jo-1 antibody (49.9 years vs. 55.0 years, P=0.026). Clinical manifestations of arthritis (60.7% vs. 33.3%, P=0.002) and myalgia (47.1% vs. 22.2%, P=0.004) were more common in the ASS patients with positive anti-Jo-1 antibody. With the increase of anti-Jo-1 antibody titer, the incidence of the manifestations of arthritis, mechanic hands, Gottron sign and Raynaud phenomenon increased, and the proportion of abnormal creatine kinase and α-hydroxybutyric dehydrogenase index increased in the ASS patients. The incidence of myalgia and myasthenia were significantly more common in this cohort when anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive ASS patients were positive for one and more myositis specific antibodies/myositis associated autoantibodies (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The disease spectrum in patients with positive serum anti-Jo-1 antibody includes a variety of diseases, mainly ASS. And anti-Jo-1 antibody can also be found in many connective tissue diseases, malignant tumor, infection and so on.

Analysis of transcriptome differences between subcutaneous and intramuscular adipose tissue of Ningxiang pigs.

To compare and analyze the molecular mechanisms of adipose deposition in subcutaneous fat (SAF)and intramuscular fat (IMF) tissues in Ningxiang pigs, differential gene expression profiles in SAF and IMF tissues of Ningxiang pigs were identified and analysed using RNA-seq technology. Six healthy 250-day-old male Ningxiang pigs with similar body weights (approximately 85 kg) of intraspecific individuals were selected as experimental material and samples of SAF and IMF tissues were collected. Differential genes associated with fat deposition and lipid metabolism were obtained by sequencing two adipose tissue transcriptomes and performing GO (Gene Ontology) functional annotation and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway enrichment analysis. To verify the reliability of the sequencing results, six differential genes were randomly selected to validate using qRT-PCR. The results showed that we identified 2406 DEGs, with 1422 up-regulated and 984 down-regulated genes in two tissues. GO functional annotation analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in lipid metabolism related pathways, such as steroid biosynthesis, unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism and autophagy pathway. KEGG pathway enrichment showed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in the biological processes related to lipid binding, fatty acid metabolism, glycol ester metabolism, lipid biosynthesis and other biological processes related to lipid metabolism. Genes related to lipid metabolism, such as TCAP, NR4A1, ACACA, LPL, ELOVL6, DGAT1, PRKAA1, ATG101, TP53INP2, FDFT1, ACOX1 and SCD were identified by bioinformatic analyses and verified by qRT-PCR. Our results indicated that these genes may play important roles in the regulation of fat deposition and metabolism in the SAF and IMF tissue, providing the further mechanistic investigation of fat deposition in Ningxiang pigs.

Ectopic expression of a combination of 5 genes detects high risk forms of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

BACKGROUND: T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) defines a group of hematological malignancies with heterogeneous aggressiveness and highly variable outcome, making therapeutic decisions a challenging task. We tried to discover new predictive model for T-ALL before treatment by using a specific pipeline designed to discover aberrantly active gene. RESULTS: The expression of 18 genes was significantly associated with shorter survival, including ACTRT2, GOT1L1, SPATA45, TOPAZ1 and ZPBP (5-GEC), which were used as a basis to design a prognostic classifier for T-ALL patients. The molecular characterization of the 5-GEC positive T-ALL unveiled specific characteristics inherent to the most aggressive T leukemic cells, including a drastic shut-down of genes located on the mitochondrial genome and an upregulation of histone genes, the latter characterizing high risk forms in adult patients. These cases fail to respond to the induction treatment, since 5-GEC either predicted positive minimal residual disease (MRD) or a short-term relapse in MRD negative patients. CONCLUSION: Overall, our investigations led to the discovery of a homogenous group of leukemic cells with profound alterations of their biology. It also resulted in an accurate predictive tool that could significantly improve the management of T-ALL patients.

Wogonin protects glomerular podocytes by targeting Bcl-2-mediated autophagy and apoptosis in diabetic kidney disease.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus and a major cause of end-stage renal disease with limited treatment options. Wogonin is a flavonoid derived from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, which has shown a potent renoprotective effect. But the mechanisms of action in DKD are not fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effects of wogonin on glomerular podocytes in DKD using mouse podocyte clone 5 (MPC5) cells and diabetic mice model. MPC5 cells were treated with high glucose (30 mM). We showed that wogonin (4, 8, 16 µM) dose-dependently alleviated high glucose (HG)-induced MPC5 cell damage, accompanied by increased expression of WT-1, nephrin, and podocin proteins, and decreased expression of TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-1ß as well as phosphorylated p65. Furthermore, wogonin treatment significantly inhibited HG-induced apoptosis in MPC5 cells. Wogonin reversed HG-suppressed autophagy in MPC5 cells, evidenced by increased ATG7, LC3-II, and Beclin-1 protein, and decreased p62 protein. We demonstrated that wogonin directly bound to Bcl-2 in MPC5 cells. In HG-treated MPC5 cells, knockdown of Bcl-2 abolished the beneficial effects of wogonin, whereas overexpression of Bcl-2 mimicked the protective effects of wogonin. Interestingly, we found that the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased in biopsy renal tissue of diabetic nephropathy patients. In vivo experiments were conducted in STZ-induced diabetic mice, which were administered wogonin (10, 20, 40 mg · kg-1 · d-1, i.g.) every other day for 12 weeks. We showed that wogonin administration significantly alleviated albuminuria, histopathological lesions, and p65 NF-κB-mediated renal inflammatory response. Wogonin administration dose-dependently inhibited podocyte apoptosis and promoted podocyte autophagy in STZ-induced diabetic mice. This study for the first time demonstrates a novel action of wogonin in mitigating glomerulopathy and podocytes injury by regulating Bcl-2-mediated crosstalk between autophagy and apoptosis. Wogonin may be a potential therapeutic drug against DKD.

Metabolomic profiles of breath odor compounds for prognostic prediction in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure: A pilot study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to use a metabonomics approach to identify potential biomarkers of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) for predicting the prognosis of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). METHODS: Using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, EBC metabolites of ACLF patients surviving without liver transplantation (n = 57) and those with worse outcomes (n = 45), and controls (n = 15) were profiled from a specialized liver disease center in Beijing. The metabolites were used to identify candidate biomarkers, and the predicted performance of potential biomarkers was tested. RESULTS: Forty-one metabolites, involving glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism, as candidate biomarkers for discriminating the different outcomes of ACLF were selected. A prognostic model was constructed by a panel of four metabolites including phosphatidylinositol [20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/13:0], phosphatidyl ethanolamine (12:0/22:0), L-metanephrine and ethylbenzene, which could predict the worse prognosis in ACLF patients with sensitivity (84.4%) and specificity (89.5%) (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.859, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.787-0.931). Compared with Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (AUC = 0.639, 95% CI = 0.526-0.753) and MELD-sodium (MELD-Na) score (AUC = 0.692, 95% CI = 0.582-0.803), EBC-associated metabolite signature model could better predict worse outcomes in patients with ACLF (p < 0.05). Using the MELD-Na score and EBC metabolite signatures, a decision tree model was built for predicting the prognosis of ACLF identified on logistic regression analyses (AUC = 0.906, 95% CI = 0.846-0.965). CONCLUSION: EBC metabolic signatures show promise as potential biomarkers for predicting worse prognosis of ACLF.

Cu-supported nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers with hierarchical three-dimensional net structure as binder-free anodes for enhanced lithium-ion batteries.

Cu-supported nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (NCNFs) were fabricated via electrospinning and subsequent activation treatment with poly vinylpyrrolidone as both carbon and nitrogen sources. The NCNFs are firmly adhered to Cu foil without any additional binder and form a hierarchical three-dimensional net structure, which could effectively shorten the diffusion paths for electrons and lithium ions, thus resulting in lower impedance and superior electrochemical properties. Additionally, NCNFs feature a amorphous carbon structure, N-rich carbon lattice and wide pore distribution, not only ensuring fast ions/electrons transport, but also giving rise to the higher energy density. When directly used as a binder-free electrode, NCNFs deliver a high reversible capacity of 617.8 mAh g-1 at 200 mA g-1 after 100 cycles and maintain a superior capacity of 274.1 mAh g-1 at 1.44 A g-1 even after 500 cycles. Besides, the reversible capacity up to 216.5 mAh g-1 can be still obtained at a high current density of 6 A g-1, demonstrating the excellent high-rate cyclability. The facile synthesis approach and superior electrochemical properties make NCNFs electrodes an alternative anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries.

Common Atopic Dermatitis Rating Scales: A Practical Approach and Brief Review [Formula: see text].

Atopic dermatitis (AD) severity measurement scales are important in clinical trials as objective outcome measures and are often required for government and private insurance plans. These scales are sometimes underused by clinicians due to a variety of factors including time constraints and lack familiarity. We conducted a literature review on the most commonly used AD measurement scales and provide succinct user guides and scoring explanations, advantages and disadvantages, and interscale comparisons.

Overexpression of lncRNA snaR is correlated with progression and predicts poor survival of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) snaR is a characterized oncogenic lncRNA in triple negative breast cancer and ovarian cancer, while its role in other human diseases is unknown. In the present study, we found that plasma levels of snaR were upregulated in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) than in healthy controls. Plasma levels of snaR increased with increase in AJCC stages. Follow-up study showed that high plasma levels of snaR were correlated with poor overall survival. Plasma levels of snaR were positively correlated with transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß1) in patients with LSCC but not in healthy controls. Overexpression of snaR resulted in upregulation of TGF-ß1 in cells of human LSCC cell lines, while exogenous TGF-ß1 treatment showed no significant effect on snaR expression. snaR overexpression and exogenous TGF-ß1 treatment promoted LSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In addition, TGF-ß inhibitor partially reduced the enhancing effects of snaR overexpression on LSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Therefore, overexpression of lncRNA snaR is correlated with progression and predicts poor survival of LSCC and the mechanism of its actions is likely related to TGF-ß1.

Regional up-regulation of NOX2 contributes to the differential vulnerability of outer hair cells to neomycin.

In hearing loss induced by aminoglycoside antibiotics, the outer hair cells (OHCs) in the basal turn are always more susceptible than OHCs in the apical turn, while the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we reported that NAPDH oxidase 2 (NOX2) played an important role in the OHCs damage preferentially in the basal turn. Normally, NOX2 was evenly expressed in OHCs among different turns, at a relatively low level. However, after neomycin treatment, NOX2 was dominantly induced in OHCs in the basal turn. In vivo and in vitro studies demonstrated that inhibition of NOX2 significantly alleviated neomycin-induced OHCs damages, as seen from both the cleaved caspase-3 and TUNEL staining. Moreover, gp91 ds-tat delivery and DHE staining results showed that NOX2-derived ROS was responsible for neomycin ototoxicity. Taken together, our study shows that regional up-expression of NOX2 and subsequent increase of ROS in OHCs of the basal turn is an important factor contributing to the vulnerability of OHCs there, which should shed light on the prevention of hearing loss induced by aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Pollution characteristics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in common used mineral oils and their transformation during oil regeneration.

The pollution characteristic of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in common used mineral oils, semi-refined oils, refined oils and solid wastes produced during the used mineral oil regeneration process was analyzed. The results showed that total PAHs content in six common used mineral oils was as follows: used engine oil>used quenching oil>used casting oil>used hydraulic oil>used antirust oil>used industrial lubricating oil. Furthermore, this order was dependent on the source of PAHs and oil working temperatures. Additionally, total PAHs content in regenerated oils was as follows: semi-refined oil>refined oil>crude oil, which was related to the catalytic cracking process of crude oil and adsorption refining process of semi-refined oil. The ranking of total PAHs content in regenerated wastes varied depending on the regeneration technology used as follows: waste adsorption sand>acid sludge>waste clay>precipitation sludge>cracked residue. In all types of used mineral oils and regenerated wastes, the maximum and minimum proportions of the total PAHs content were composed of 2-3 ring-PAHs and 5-6 ring-PAHs, respectively. The majority of PAHs in the used mineral oils entered into regenerated wastes during regeneration process, while a small number remained in the regenerated oil.

Spatio-temporal variation of landfill gas in pilot-scale semi-aerobic and anaerobic landfills over 5years.

Variation of CH4, CO2, and O2 concentrations in layers of different depths in semi-aerobic and anaerobic landfills was analyzed over a period of 5years. The results showed that most of the municipal solid waste became basically stable after 5years of landfill disposal. In the upper and middle layer, the concentration of CH4 in the semi-aerobic landfill was significantly lower than that in the anaerobic landfill in different landfill periods, while in the lower layer, there was little difference in the CH4 concentration between the semi-aerobic and anaerobic landfills. The average concentration of CH4 and CO2 in the anaerobic landfill was always higher than that in the semi-aerobic landfill, while the O2 concentration showed an opposite variation in different landfill periods. This was related to the aerobic reaction of landfill waste around the perforated pipe in the semi-aerobic landfill, which inhibited effective landfill gas generation.

Genome-wide study refines the quantitative trait locus for number of ribs in a Large White × Minzhu intercross pig population and reveals a new candidate gene.

In China, sparerib is one of the most valuable parts of the pork carcass. As a result, candidate gene mining for number of ribs has become an interesting study focus. To examine the genetic basis for this major trait, we genotyped 596 individuals from an F2 Large White × Minzhu intercross pig population using the PorcineSNP60 Genotyping BeadChip. The genome-wide association study identified a locus for number of ribs in a 2.38-Mb region on Sus scrofa chromosome 7 (SSC7 of Sus scrofa genome assembly, Sscrofa10.2). We identified the top significant SNP ASGA0035536, which explained 16.51 % of the phenotypic variance. A previously reported candidate causal mutation (g.19034 A>C) in vertebrae development-associated gene VRTN explained 8.79 % of the phenotypic variation on number of ribs and had a much lower effect than ASGA0035536. Haplotype sharing analysis in F1 boars localized the rib number QTL to a 951-kb interval on SSC7. This interval encompassed 17 annotated genes in Sscrofa10.2, including the previously reported VRTN candidate gene. Of the 17 candidate genes, LTBP2, which encodes a latent transforming growth factor beta binding protein, was previously reported to indirectly regulate the activity of growth differentiation factor Gdf11, which has been shown to increase the number of ribs in knock-out mice. Thus, we propose LTBP2 as a good new candidate gene for number of ribs in the pig population. This finding advances our understanding of the genetic architecture of rib number in pigs.

Joint Prior Learning for Visual Sensor Network Noisy Image Super-Resolution.

The visual sensor network (VSN), a new type of wireless sensor network composed of low-cost wireless camera nodes, is being applied for numerous complex visual analyses in wild environments, such as visual surveillance, object recognition, etc. However, the captured images/videos are often low resolution with noise. Such visual data cannot be directly delivered to the advanced visual analysis. In this paper, we propose a joint-prior image super-resolution (JPISR) method using expectation maximization (EM) algorithm to improve VSN image quality. Unlike conventional methods that only focus on upscaling images, JPISR alternatively solves upscaling mapping and denoising in the E-step and M-step. To meet the requirement of the M-step, we introduce a novel non-local group-sparsity image filtering method to learn the explicit prior and induce the geometric duality between images to learn the implicit prior. The EM algorithm inherently combines the explicit prior and implicit prior by joint learning. Moreover, JPISR does not rely on large external datasets for training, which is much more practical in a VSN. Extensive experiments show that JPISR outperforms five state-of-the-art methods in terms of both PSNR, SSIM and visual perception.

Genetic variation and geographic differentiation among populations of the nonmigratory agricultural pest Oedaleus infernalis (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) in China.

The nonmigratory grasshopper Oedaleus infernalis Saussure (Orthoptera : Acridoidea) is an agricultural pest to crops and forage grasses over a wide natural geographical distribution in China. The genetic diversity and genetic variation among 10 geographically separated populations of O. infernalis was assessed using polymerase chain reaction-based molecular markers, including the intersimple sequence repeat and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase sequences. A high level of genetic diversity was detected among these populations from the intersimple sequence repeat (H: 0.2628, I: 0.4129, Hs: 0.2130) and cytochrome oxidase analyses (Hd: 0.653). There was no obvious geographical structure based on an unweighted pair group method analysis and median-joining network. The values of FST, θ(II), and Gst estimated in this study are low, and the gene flow is high (Nm > 4). Analysis of the molecular variance suggested that most of the genetic variation occurs within populations, whereas only a small variation takes place between populations. No significant correlation was found between the genetic distance and geographical distance. Overall, our results suggest that the geographical distance plays an unimpeded role in the gene flow among O. infernalis populations.