Morphological and Molecular Data Revealed One New Species of the Short-legged Toads Brachytarsophrys Tian and Hu,1983(Anura,Megophryidae)from Yunnan,China

A new species of the genus Brachytarsophrys,named Brachytarsophrys wenshanensis sp.nov.,has been identified in southeastern Yunnan,China.This new species can be readily distinguished from other known congeners by both morphological criterion and molecular analysis of three mitochondrial gene segments:16S,COI,and Cytb.This classification is based on the following morphological characters:(1)medium body size(SVL 83.8–85.1 mm in two adult males);(2)enormous head,with head width nearly 1.2 times the length;(3)tongue pyriform,feebly notched;(4)non-meeting heels;(5)male lacking nuptial pad;(6)tibiotarsal articulation reaching angle of mouth when hindlimbs are extended forward alongside the body;(7)absence of outer metatarsal tubercle,inner metatarsal tubercle elliptic and approximately equal to first toe;(8)rudimentary toe webbing,webbing formula:Ⅰ(2–)–(2^(++))Ⅱ(2^(–))–(3^(++))Ⅲ(2^(½))–(4)Ⅳ(4^(+))–(2^(⅔))V;(9)lateral fringes narrow;(10)dermal ridge or glandular fold on dorsum absent;(11)pectoral glands distinct and irregular,femoral gland small.Our work increases the number of species within the genus Brachytarsophrys to 9.

First Record of the Genus Wijayarana (Anura, Ranidae) from Yunnan, China

Dear Editor,e family Ranidae is one of the largest and most families of amphibians(Che et al.,2007),with 64 recognized genera and429 species(Frost,2022).However,the systematics and natural history of some ranid groups have not been well-studied.One such example is the taxonomic relationship between Sylvirana,H ylarana and other closely-related taxa(Che et al.,2007;Pyron and Wiens,2011;Oliver et al.,2015).China has a large diversity of ranid frogs,with 146 speciesbelonging to 7 genera,and48 species belonging to 7 genera in the southern province of Yunnan(AmphibiaChina,2022).

On Feasible Region of Droop-based Fast Frequency Response Controller Parameters of Wind Turbines

Droop-based fast frequency response(FFR)control of wind turbines can improve the frequency performance of power systems with high penetration of wind power.Explicitly formulating the feasible region of the droop-based FFR controller parameters can allow system operators to conveniently assess the feasibility of FFR controller parameter settings to comply with system frequency security,and efficiently tune and optimize FFR controller parameters to meet frequency security requirements.However,the feasible region of FFR controller parameters is inherently nonlinear and implicit because the power point tracking controllers of wind turbine would counteract the effect of FFR controllers.To address this issue,this letter proposes a linear feasible region formulation method,where frequency regulation characteristics of wind turbines,the dead band,and reserve limits of generators are all considered.The effectiveness of the proposed method and its application is demonstrated on a 10-machine power system.

Description of a New Species of Rana(Anura: Ranidae) from Zhejiang,China Based on Morphological and Molecular Data

We described a new species of Rana(Anura: Ranidae) from Zhejiang, China, based on morphological and molecular analyses. The new species, Rana minuscula sp. nov. clusters with R.ulma, R. kobai and R. tsushimensis and can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: body size small, snoutvent length less than 40 mm in adults;dorsolateral fold narrow and slightly curved, extending from above temporal fold to groin, not connecting to posterior corner of eye;vocal sac absent;tibiotarsal articulation extends forward to anterior corner of eye;lateroventral grooves absent;nuptial pad present and divided into two groups: the larger part is nearly rectangular and close to the tip of finger I and the basal part is smaller and round.

Genome re-sequencing analysis uncovers pathogenecity-related genes undergoing positive selection in Magnaporthe oryzae

Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae （M. oryzae） is one of the most destructive diseases, which causes significant rice yield losses and affects global food security. To better understand genetic variations among different isolates of M. oryzae in nature, we re-sequenced the genomes of two field isolates, CH43 and Zhong-10-8-14, which showed distinct pathogenecity on most of the rice cultivars. Genome-wide genetic variation analysis reveals that ZHONG-10-8-14 exhibits higher sequence variations than CH43. Structural variations （SVs） detection shows that the sequence variations primarily occur in exons and intergenic regions. Bioinformatics analysis for gene variations reveals that many pathogenecity-related pathways are enriched. In addition, 193 candidate effectors with various DNA polymorphisms were identified, including two known effectors AVR-Pik and AVR-Pital. Comparative polymorphism analysis of thirteen randomly selected effectors suggests that the genetic variations of effectors are under positive selection. The expression pattern analysis of several pathogenecity-related variant genes indicates that these genes are differentially regulated in two isolates, with much higher expression levels in Zhong-10-8-14 than CH43. Our data demonstrate that the genetic variations of effectors and pathogenecity-related genes are under positive selection, resulting in the distinct pathogeuicities of CH43 and Zhong- 10-8-14 on rice.