A Comparative Analysis of the Chloroplast Genomes of Four Salvia Medicinal Plants

Herbgenomics is an emerging field of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)research and development.By combining TCM research with genomics,herbgenomics can help to establish the scientific validity of TCM and bring it into wider usage within the field of medicine.Salvia Linn.(S.Linn.)is a large genus of Labiatae that includes important medicinal plants.In this herbgenomics study,the complete chloroplast(cp)genomes of two Salvia spp.—namely,S.przewalskii and S.bulleyana,which are used as a surrogate for S.miltiorrhiza—were sequenced and compared with those of two other reported Salvia spp.—namely,S.miltiorrhiza and S.japonica.The genome organization,gene number,type,and repeat sequences were compared.The annotation results showed that both Salvia plants contain 114 unique genes,including 80 protein-coding,30 transfer RNA(tRNA),and four ribosomal RNA(rRNA)genes.Repeat sequence analysis revealed 21 forward and 22 palindromic sequences in both Salvia cp genomes,and 17 and 21 tandem repeats in S.przewalskii and S.bulleyana,respectively.A synteny comparison of the Salvia spp.cp genomes showed a high degree of sequence similarity in the coding regions and a relatively high divergence of the intergenic spacers.Pairwise alignment and single-nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)analyses found some candidate fragments to identify Salvia spp.,such as the intergenic region of the trnV–ndhC,trnQ–rps16,atpI–atpH,psbA–ycf3,ycf1,rpoC2,ndhF,matK,rpoB,rpoA,and accD genes.All of the results—including the repeat sequences and SNP sites,the inverted repeat(IR)region border,and the phylogenetic analysis—showed that S.przewalskii and S.bulleyana are extremely similar from a genetic standpoint.The cp genome sequences of the two Salvia spp.reported here will pave the way for breeding,species identification,phylogenetic evolution,and cp genetic engineering studies of Salvia medicinal plants.

Evaluation of the compatibility between rubber and asphalt based on molecular dynamics simulation

Using of rubber asphalt can both promote the recycling of waste tires and improve the performance of asphalt pavement.However,the segregation of rubber asphalt caused by the poor storage stability always appears during its application.Storage stability of asphalt and rubber is related to the compatibility and also influenced by rubber content.In this study,molecular models of different rubbers and chemical fractions of asphalt were built to perform the molecular dynamics simulation.The solubility parameter and binding energy between rubber and asphalt were obtained to evaluate the compatibility between rubber and asphalt as well as the influence of rubber content on compatibility.Results show that all three kinds of rubber are commendably compatible with asphalt,where the compatibility between asphalt and cis-polybutadiene rubber(BR)is the best,followed by styrene-butadiene rubber(SBR),and natural rubber(NR)is the worst.The optimum rubber contents for BR asphalt,SBR asphalt,and NR asphalt were determined as 15%,15%,and 20%,respectively.In addition,the upper limits of rubber contents were found as between 25%and 30%,between 20%and 25%,and between 25%and 30%,respectively.

Determination of large diameter bored pile's effective length based on Mindlin's solution

The calculation equation of large diameter bored pile＇s effective length is connected with its distribution of pile shaft resistance. Thus, there is a great difference between the calculation results under the different distributions of pile shaft resistance. Primarily, this paper summarizes the conceptualized mode of pile shaft resistance under the circum- stance that the soil surrounding the piles presents different layer distributions. Secondly, based on Mindlin＇s displacement solution and in consideration of the effect of pile diam- eter, the calculation equation is optimized with the assumption that the pile shaft resis- tance has a parabolic distribution. The influencing factors are analyzed according to the calculation result of effective pile length. Finally, combined with an engineering example, the calculation equation deduced in this paper is analyzed and verified. The result shows that both the Poisson ratio of soil and pile diameter have impacted the effective pile length. Compared with the Poisson ratio of soil, the effect of pile diameter is more significant. If the pile diameter remains the same, the effect of the Poisson ratio of soil to the effective pile length decreases as the ratio of pile elastic modulus and soil share modulus increases. If the Poisson ratio of soil remains the same, the effect of the pile diameter to the effective pile length increases as the ratio of pile elastic modulus and soil share modulus increases. Thus the optimized calculation result of pile effective length under the consideration of pile diameter effect is more close to the actual situation of engineering and reasonably practicable.