Ame-miR-980-3p participates in autophagy-mediated midgut remodelling in Apis mellifera via targeting Atg2B.

Autophagy is a process that serves to degrade damaged proteins and organelles, thereby promoting cell homeostasis, differentiation, development and survival. Many miRNAs have been found to have regulatory roles in autophagy. In insects, it has been shown that autophagy is involved in hormone-regulated programmed cell death during metamorphic midgut remodelling. However, whether this is also true during the remodelling of the honey bee midgut is unclear. In the present study, we explored the relationship between autophagy and midgut remodelling and sought to identify miRNAs involved in this physiological process. We found that autophagy occurred during midgut remodelling and that the inhibition of autophagy resulted in midgut dysplasia in prepupae. Differentially expressed miRNAs enriched in the autophagy signalling pathway during midgut remodelling were identified by small RNA-seq. Ame-miR-980-3p, which targets the autophagy-related gene Atg2B, was screened out. Furthermore, abnormal expression of ame-miR-980-3p in the pupal stage led to the thinning of the midgut wall of newly emerged bees (NE). When ame-miR-980-3p expression was inhibited, the intestinal villi of NE bees became significantly shorter and sparse, and the lipid signal in the peritrophic matrix of Pb almost disappeared, indicating that the adult midgut was underdeveloped and the lipid absorption ability was weakened. Taken together, ame-miR-980-3p targeted Atg2B to participate in the regulation of midgut autophagy in the pupae, and the abnormal expression of ame-miR-980-3p would interfere with cell proliferation and death in the process of midgut remodelling, hinder the formation of adult midgut and eventually lead to adult midgut dysplasia and affect the lipid absorption function of the midgut in Apis mellifera.

Honey bee larval culture in vitro: gut emptying determines the transition from larva to prepupa and recombinant AccApidaecin improves antibacterial activity.

In vitro rearing of honey bee larvae is ideal for bioassay studies; no honey bee stable cell lines are available. Inconsistency of internal development staging of reared larvae and a susceptibility to contamination are common problems encountered. Standardized protocols on rearing larvae in vitro to make the larvae growth and development more similar to that of natural colonies are necessary to ensure the accuracy of experimental results and promote honey bee research as a model organism. Here, we concluded that when larval fasting weight was >160 mg, the time point of gut emptying can be defined as the critical point separating the larval and prepupal stages. In this way, we can conduct precise studies on the prepupal stage, such as organ remodeling during metamorphosis. Simultaneously, we further verified that recombinant AccApidaecin in genetic engineered bacteria added to the larval diet upregulated antibacterial peptide gene expression, and did not stimulate the stress response in larvae, nor did it affect the pupation rate or eclosion rate. This demonstrated that feeding recombinant AccApidaecin can enhance the individual antibacterial ability at the molecular level.

AmAtg2B-Mediated Lipophagy Regulates Lipolysis of Pupae in Apis mellifera.

Lipophagy plays an important role in regulating lipid metabolism in mammals. The exact function of autophagy-related protein 2 (Atg2) has been investigated in mammals, but research on the existence and functions of Atg2 in Apis mellifera (AmAtg2) is still limited. Here, autophagy occurred in honeybee pupae, which targeted lipid droplets (LDs) in fat body, namely lipophagy, which was verified by co-localization of LDs with microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3 beta (LC3). Moreover, AmAtg2 homolog B (AmAtg2B) was expressed specifically in pupal fat body, which indicated that AmAtg2B might have special function in fat body. Further, AmAtg2B antibody neutralization and AmAtg2B knock-down were undertaken to verify the functions in pupae. Results showed that low expression of AmAtg2B at the protein and transcriptional levels led to lipophagy inhibition, which down-regulated the expression levels of proteins and genes related to lipolysis. Altogether, results in this study systematically revealed that AmAtg2B interfered with lipophagy and then caused abnormal lipolysis in the pupal stage.

[Clinical features of mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion in children].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features of mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion (MERS) in children. METHODS: The clinical data of 8 children with MERS were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of onset was 5 years and 2 months (range 10 months to 12 years). The major clinical features included a history of prodromal infection, and among these children, 5 had pyrexia and 4 had vomiting. Of all the children, 6 were manifested as convulsion and 3 each were manifested as disturbance of consciousness and paroxysmal paropsia. Cranial diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed high signals in the splenium of the corpus callosum. Among these children, one child had symmetric and multiple long T1 and long T2 signals in the bilateral centrum semiovale and part of the temporal white matter. MRI reexamination performed after 5-30 days showed the disappearance of abnormal signals in all the children. The children were followed up for 3 months to 2 years, and no child experienced abnormal neurodevelopment. CONCLUSIONS: The development of MERS in children is closely associated with infection. MERS is characterized by high signals in the splenium of the corpus callosum on cranial diffusion-weighted MRI. Most children have good prognosis.

Multiple glacial refugia for cool-temperate deciduous trees in northern East Asia: the Mongolian oak as a case study.

In East Asia, temperate forests are predicted to have retracted southward to c. 30° N during the last glacial maximum (LGM) based on fossil pollen data, whereas phylogeographic studies have often suggested glacial in situ survival of cool-temperate deciduous trees in their modern northern ranges. Here we report a study of the genetic diversity and structure of 29 natural Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica) populations using 19 nuclear simple sequence repeat (nSSR) loci and four chloroplast DNA fragments. Bayesian clustering analysis with nSSRs revealed five groups, which were inferred by approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) to have diverged in multiple refugia through multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. Analysis of chloroplast DNA variation revealed four lineages that were largely but incompletely geographically disjunct. Ecological niche modelling (ENMs) indicated a southward range shift of the oak's distribution at the LGM, although high suitability scores were also evident in the Changbai Mts. (Northeast China), the Korean Peninsula, areas surrounding the Bohai Sea, and along the coast of the Russian Far East. In addition, endemic chloroplast DNA haplotypes and nuclear lineages occurred in high-latitude northern areas where the ENM predicted no suitable habitat. The combined evidence from nuclear and chloroplast DNA, and the results of the ENM clearly demonstrate that multiple northern refugia, including cryptic ones, were maintained across the current distributional range of the Mongolian oak during the LGM or earlier glacial periods. Though spatially limited, postglacial expansions from these refugia have led to a pattern of decreased genetic diversity with increasing latitude.

The prognostic significance of ubiquitination-related genes in multiple myeloma by bioinformatics analysis.

BACKGROUND: Immunoregulatory drugs regulate the ubiquitin-proteasome system, which is the main treatment for multiple myeloma (MM) at present. In this study, bioinformatics analysis was used to construct the risk model and evaluate the prognostic value of ubiquitination-related genes in MM. METHODS AND RESULTS: The data on ubiquitination-related genes and MM samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. The consistent cluster analysis and ESTIMATE algorithm were used to create distinct clusters. The MM prognostic risk model was constructed through single-factor and multiple-factor analysis. The ROC curve was plotted to compare the survival difference between high- and low-risk groups. The nomogram was used to validate the predictive capability of the risk model. A total of 87 ubiquitination-related genes were obtained, with 47 genes showing high expression in the MM group. According to the consistent cluster analysis, 4 clusters were determined. The immune infiltration, survival, and prognosis differed significantly among the 4 clusters. The tumor purity was higher in clusters 1 and 3 than in clusters 2 and 4, while the immune score and stromal score were lower in clusters 1 and 3. The proportion of B cells memory, plasma cells, and T cells CD4 naïve was the lowest in cluster 4. The model genes KLHL24, HERC6, USP3, TNIP1, and CISH were highly expressed in the high-risk group. AICAr and BMS.754,807 exhibited higher drug sensitivity in the low-risk group, whereas Bleomycin showed higher drug sensitivity in the high-risk group. The nomogram of the risk model demonstrated good efficacy in predicting the survival of MM patients using TCGA and GEO datasets. CONCLUSIONS: The risk model constructed by ubiquitination-related genes can be effectively used to predict the prognosis of MM patients. KLHL24, HERC6, USP3, TNIP1, and CISH genes in MM warrant further investigation as therapeutic targets and to combat drug resistance.

Circ-Bptf Ameliorates Learning and Memory Impairments via the miR-138-5p/p62 Axis in APP/PS1 Mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common age-associated progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is implicated in the aberrant regulation of numerous circular RNAs (circRNAs). Here, we reported that circ-Bptf, a conserved circRNA derived from the Bptf gene, showed an age-dependent decrease in the hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice. Overexpression of circ-Bptf significantly reversed dendritic spine loss and learning and memory impairment in APP/PS1 mice. Moreover, we found that circ-Bptf was predominantly localized to the cytoplasm and upregulated p62 expression by binding to miR-138-5p. Furthermore, the miR-138-5p mimics reversed the decreased expression of p62 induced by the silencing of circ-Bptf. Together, our findings suggested that circ-Bptf ameliorated learning and memory impairments via the miR-138-5p/p62 axis in APP/PS1 mice. It may act as a potential player in AD pathogenesis and therapy.

Role of c-Jun NH2 -terminal kinase-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in response to pesticides in Apis cerana cerana.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade pathway plays an important role in regulating stress responses. The function of the c-Jun NH2 -terminal kinase (JNK), a component of the MAPK cascade pathway, in Apis cerana cerana (Acc) remains unclear. Here, JNK was isolated and identified from Acc. Bioinformatics analyses revealed there is a typical serine/threonine protein kinase catalytic domain in the AccJNK protein. An expression profile analysis showed that AccJNK was significantly induced by pesticide treatments. To further explore the functional mechanisms of AccJNK, a yeast 2-hybrid screen was performed, activator protein-1 (AP-1) was screened as the interaction partner of AccJNK, and the interaction relationship was further verified by pull-down assay. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction showed the expression pattern of AccAP-1 was similar to that of AccJNK. After a knockdown of AccJNK or AccAP-1 by RNA interference, the survival rate of Acc after pesticide treatments increased. Additionally, the expression levels of antioxidant-related genes and the activities of antioxidant enzymes increased, suggesting that the knockdown of AccJNK or AccAP-1 increased the antioxidant capacity of bees. Our study revealed that the JNK-mediated MAPK pathway responds to pesticide stress by altering the antioxidant capacity of Acc.

Genetic structure and trait variation within a maple hybrid zone underscore North China as an overlooked diversity hotspot.

Tertiary relict flora in East Asia can be divided into northern and southern regions. North China is a diversity hotspot because it can be the secondary contact zone of ancient lineages from the two regions. To test the extent of ancient lineages hybridization and distinguish between the putative species pair Acer pictum subsp. mono and Acer truncatum, we conducted genetic and ecological studies within a maple hybrid zone in North China. Our results suggest that the two lineages of Acer coexist in the hybrid zone and that adult and offspring populations show typical bimodal genetic patterns. Hybrid individuals are established at intermediate altitudes between the two parental lineages. Flowering phenology is divergent between lineages, whereas the complex sexual system of Acer may ensure pollination among lineages. Leaf and fruit morphologies are different between the northern and southern origin lineages, corresponding to A. pictum subsp. mono and A. truncatum, respectively. Reduced gene flow between lineages suggests that they should be considered as two species. However, large morphological variations within each species and the existence of hybrids offer low reliability of species identification based solely on morphological traits. Our study underscores North China as an overlooked diversity hotspot that requires further study in the future.

Methionine as a methyl donor regulates caste differentiation in the European honey bee (Apis mellifera).

Nutrition contributes to honey bee caste differentiation, but the role of individual nutrients is still unclear. Most essential amino acid contents, except that of methionine (Met), are greater in royal jelly than worker jelly. After ∼3.5 d, the Met content in the latter was slightly greater than in the former. Met is the major raw material used in the synthesis of S-adenosyl-L-methionine, an active methyl donor for DNA methylation, which is an epigenetic driver of caste differentiation. Here, we tested whether Met regulates caste differentiation in honey bees by determining its effects on the caste development of bees receiving four diets: the basic, basic + 0.2% Met, basic + 0.2% Met + 20 mg/kg 5-azacytidine, and basic + 20 mg/kg 5-azacytidine. The presence of Met decreased the adult bee body length and the numbers of ovarioles, indicating that Met may direct the development of female larvae toward worker bees. The upregulated expression of SAMS, Dnmt1, and Dnmt3 caused by Met exposure in 4-d-old larvae indicated that the worker-inductive effects of Met may occur through the promotion of DNA methylation. We investigated the co-effects of Met and glucose on bee development, and found that the effects of an increased glucose level on the number of ovarioles and body length did not strengthen the worker-inductive effects caused by Met. Our results contribute to caste development theory and suggest that Met-as a methyl donor-plays a regulatory, but not decisive, role in caste differentiation.

Different processes shape the patterns of divergence in the nuclear and chloroplast genomes of a relict tree species in East Asia.

Isolation by spatial distance (IBD), environment (IBE), and historical climatic instability (IBI) are three common processes assessed in phylogeographic and/or landscape genetic studies. However, the relative contributions of these three processes with respect to spatial genetic patterns have seldom been compared. Moreover, whether the relative contribution differs in different regions or when assessed using different genetic markers has rarely been reported. Lindera obtusiloba has been found to have two sister genetic clades of chloroplast (cpDNA) and nuclear microsatellite (nSSR), both of which show discontinuous distribution in northern and southern East Asia. In this study, we used the Mantel test and multiple matrix regression with randomization (MMRR) to determine the relative contributions of IBD, IBE, and IBI with respect to L. obtusiloba populations. Independent Mantel tests and MMRR calculations were conducted for two genetic data sets (cpDNA and nSSR) and for different regions (the overall species range, and northern and southern subregions of the range). We found a significant IBI pattern in nSSR divergence for all assessed regions, whereas no clear IBI pattern was detected with respect to cpDNA. In contrast, significant (or marginal) divergent IBD patterns were detected for cpDNA in all regions, whereas although a significant IBE was apparent with respect to the overall range, the effect was not detected in the two subregions. The differences identified in nSSR and cpDNA population divergence may be related to differences in the heredity and ploidy of the markers. Compared with the southern region, the northern region showed less significant correlation patterns, which may be related to the shorter population history and restricted population range. The findings of this study serve to illustrate that comparing between markers or regions can contribute to gaining a better understanding the population histories of different genomes or within different regions of a species' range.

Phylogeography of Schisandra chinensis (Magnoliaceae) Reveal Multiple Refugia With Ample Gene Flow in Northeast China.

Temperate conifers and broadleaved mixed forests in northeast China are ideal to investigate the genetic consequences of climate changes during the last glacial maximum (LGM), 29 - 16 kya. As previous studies were focused on tree species with long generation time; here, the evolutionary history of Schisandra chinensis, a climber species with a generation time of five years, was investigated using chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), nuclear single copy gene (nSCG), and nuclear single sequence repeats (nSSRs, i.e., microsatellite) markers, along with ecological niche modeling (ENM), which predicted a suitable habitat in Korea Peninsula (KP) during the LGM. Private haplotypes and high genetic diversity of both cpDNA and nSCG were mainly found in KP and Changbai Mt. (CB). Although no significant phylogeographic structure was detected in the cpDNA and nSCG, three nSSRs clusters roughly distributed in west (CB and KP), east (north China), and north (Xiaoxing'an Range, XR) regions were found in Structure analysis. The approximate Bayesian computation analysis showed the west cluster diverged at 35.45 kya, and the other two clusters at 19.85 kya. The genetic diversity calculated for each of the three markers showed no significant correlation with latitude. Genetic differentiation of nSSRs was also not correlated with geographic distance. Migrate analysis estimated extensive gene flow between almost all genetic cluster pairs and BOTTLENECK analysis showed that few populations experienced severe bottlenecks. Overall, results indicate that S. chinensis survived the LGM in situ in multiple refugia, which likely include two macrorefugia (KP and CB) and two microrefugia (XR and north China). Extensive postglacial gene flow among the three nSSRs clusters led to uniformly distributed genetic diversity and low genetic differentiation.

Twenty-seven low-copy nuclear primers for Lindera obtusiloba (Lauraceae): A Tertiary relict species in East Asia.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: To investigate a more detailed evolutionary history of Lindera obtusiloba (Lauraceae) and other Lindera species, polymorphic low-copy nuclear primers were developed. METHODS AND RESULTS: Unigenes of the L. obtusiloba transcriptome greater than 800 bp in length were randomly chosen for initial design of 168 primers. Agarose gel electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing were used to select low-copy nuclear genes. Twenty-seven primers were obtained and were used to investigate genetic diversity in 90 individuals from 24 populations. The nucleotide diversity ranged from 2.11 × 10-3 to 8.99 × 10-3, and haplotype diversity ranged from 0.57 to 0.97. These primers were also cross-amplified in L. aggregata, L. chunii, L. erythrocarpa, and L. glauca; up to 15 primers were successfully amplified in these related species. CONCLUSIONS: This methodology is effective for development of low-copy nuclear primers. The 27 primers developed here will be useful for evolutionary studies of L. obtusiloba and other Lindera species.

Contrasting genetic patterns between two coexisting Eleutherococcus species in northern China.

Climate oscillations are the key factors to understand the patterns in modern biodiversity. East Asia harbors the most diverse temperate flora, largely because an extensive terrestrial ice cap was absent during repeated Pleistocene glaciation-interglacial cycles. Comparing the demographic histories of species that are codistributed and are close relatives may provide insight into how the process of climate change influences species ranges. In this study, we compared the spatial genetic structure and demographic histories of two coexisting Eleutherococcus species, Eleutherococcus senticosus and E. sessiliflorus. Both species are distributed in northern China, regions that are generally considered to be sensitive to climatic fluctuations. These regions once hosted temperate forest, but this temperate forest was replaced by tundra and taiga forest during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), according to pollen records. Using three chloroplast DNA fragments, we assessed the genetic structure of 20 and 9 natural populations of E. senticosus and E. sessiliflorus, respectively. Extremely contrasting genetic patterns were found between the two species; E. sessiliflorus had little genetic variation, whereas E. senticosus had considerably higher levels of genetic variation (15 haplotypes). We speculated that a recent severe bottleneck may have resulted in the extremely low genetic diversity in E. sessiliflorus. In E. senticosus, populations in Northeast China (NEC) harbored all of the haplotypes found in this species and included private haplotypes. The populations in NEC had higher levels of genetic diversity than did those from North China (NC). Therefore, we suggest that both the NC and NEC regions can sustain LGM refugia and that lineage admixture from multiple refugia took place after the LGM elevated the local genetic diversity in NEC. In NEC, multiple genetic hot spots were found in the Changbai Mountains and the Xiaoxing'an Range, which implied that multiple locations in NEC may sustain LGM refugia, even in the Xiaoxing'an Range.

Evolutionary history of a widespread tree species Acer mono in East Asia.

East Asia has the most diverse temperate flora in the world primarily due to the lack of Pleistocene glaciation and the geographic heterogeneity. Although increasing phylogeography studies in this region provided more proofs in this issue, discrepancies and uncertainty still exist, especially in northern temperate deciduous broad-leaved and coniferous mixed forest region (II). And a widespread plant species could reduce the complexity to infer the relationship between diversity and physiographical pattern. Hence, we studied the evolution history of a widespread temperate tree, Acer mono, populations in region II and the influence of physiographic patterns on intraspecific genetic diversity. Analyses of chloroplast sequences and nuclear microsatellites indicated high levels of genetic diversity. The diversity distribution was spatially heterogeneous and a latitudinal cline existed in both markers. The spatial distribution pattern between genetic diversity within A. mono and the diversity at species level was generally consistent. Western subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest subregion (IVb) had a unique ancient chloroplast clade (CP3) and a nuclear gene pool (GP5) with dominance indicating the critical role of this area in species diversification. Genetic data and ecological niche model results both suggested that populations in region II disappeared during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and recovered from south of Changbai Mt. and the Korean Peninsula. Two distribution centers were likely during the LGM, one in the north edge of warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest region (III) and another in the south edge of region III. This was reflected by the genetic pattern with two spatially independent genetic groups. This study highlights the key role of region III in sustaining genetic diversity in the northern range and connecting diversity between southern and northern range. We elucidated the diversity relationship between vegetation regions which could facilitate the understanding of biodiversity origin and maintenance in East Asia.

The investigation of inclusion behavior of Solvent Violet 9 with 4-sulfonatocalix[n]arenes and its recognition to DNA.

The inclusion behavior of Solvent Violet 9 (SV9) with 4-sulfonatocalix[n]arenes (SCXn) (n=4,6,8) was investigated at various pH values by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. SV9 is able to form an inclusion complex with calixarenes. Different absorption behaviors were observed for the dye with the various host calixarenes. The molecular binding abilities were affected by the configuration of the calixarene cavities and the solution pH. Various experimental conditions, including calixarenes concentrations, were investigated and the results suggested that the three calixarene were most suitable for inclusion of the dye at pH=3.05. The formation constant could be calculated. The inclusion behavior of the complexes was studied in detail using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Finally, the interactions of SV9 with Salmon testes DNA in SCXn supramolecular system were studied by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The UV-Vis absorption show that the interaction of SV9 with DNA depends on the concentration ratio of SV9 to DNA and the pH values. The binding constants of inclusion complexes with DNA are calculated. It was observed that SCXn can affect the interactive mode of SV9 with DNA.

Conditionally replicating adenovirus combined with gene-targeted radiotherapy induces apoptosis via TRAIL death receptors in MDA-MB-231 cells.

Malignant tumors are usually treated using monotherapies, which are not always effective. Therefore, combination therapies have gained increasing attention. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of conditionally replicating adenovirus (CRAd) in combination with X-ray irradiation on the proliferation and apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells, as well as to determine the molecular mechanisms involved. MDA-MB-231 cells were treated simultaneously with CRAd and X-ray irradiation. Then, cell viability was measured using Cell Counting Kit-8. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry with Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) double-staining. The expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL), death receptor 5 (DR5), caspase-3 and caspase-8 mRNA was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression of TRAIL, DR5, caspase-3 and caspase-8 protein was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blotting, respectively. The results showed that CRAd, in combination with irradiation, inhibited cell proliferation, promoted cell apoptosis and significantly increased the expression of TRAIL, DR5, caspase-3 and caspase-8 mRNA and proteins in MDA-MB-231 cells. Therefore, three aspects, including the targeted killing effect of CRAd, the apoptosis-promoting role of TRAIL and the direct killing effect of ionizing radiation to MDA-MB-231 cells, contribute to the mechanisms of CRAd in combination with irradiation to inhibit the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells. The pro-apoptotic effect may involve the interaction between TRAIL, DR5, caspase-3 and caspase-8.

Efficient bubbles for visual categorization tasks.

Bubbles is a classification image technique that randomly samples visual information from input stimuli to derive the diagnostic features that observers use in visual categorization tasks. To reach statistical significance, Bubbles performs an exhaustive and repetitive search in the stimulus space. To reduce the search trials, we developed an adaptive method that uses reinforcement learning techniques to optimize sampling by exploiting the observer's history of categorization. We compared the performance of the original and the adaptive Bubbles algorithms in a model observer and eight human adults who all resolved the same visual categorization task (i.e., five facial expressions of emotion). We demonstrate the feasibility of a substantial reduction (by a factor of ∼2) in the number of search trials required to locate the same diagnostic features with the adaptive method, but only when the observer reaches a performance threshold of 50% correct for each expression category. When this threshold is not reached, both the original and adaptive algorithms converge in the same number of trials.

[Genetic diversity of Hippophae rhamnoides L. sub-populations on loess plateau under effects of varying meteorologic conditions].

The genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of eight Hippophae rhamnoides L. populations in eastern Gansu Province, as well as the effects of varying meteorologic conditions on them were assessed by using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular marker method. A total of 240 individuals in the populations were sampled. Using eleven primers, 165 bands were generated, ranging in size from 300 to 1500 bp, and 157 (95.76%) were found to be polymorphic. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) demonstrated that there was a relatively high level (76.5%) of genetic variation within the populations, with the gene differentiation coefficient (Gst) and gene flow being 0.2418 and 1.5675, respectively. Therefore, to protect the gene resources of H. rhamnoides, the individuals within the populations should be first considered. Mantel test showed that genetic distance was significantly positively correlated with geographical distance (r = 0.65, p = 0.002), and regression modeling between genetic diversity and meteorologic factors suggested that there was a significant positive correlation between wind speed during blooming and genetic diversity of H. rhamnoides, illustrating that wind speed in blooming period and geographic distance were the vital factors affecting the genetic diversity of H. rhamnoides population.