This paper is based on an ethnobotanical investigation that focused on the traditional medicinal plants used by local Maonan people to treat human diseases in Maonan concentration regions. The Maonan people have relied on traditional medicine since ancient times, especially medicinal plants. The aim of this study is to document medicinal plants used by the Maonans and to report the status of medicinal plants and associated traditional knowledge. Ethnobotanical data were collected from June 2012 to September 2014 in Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, northern Guangxi, southwest China. In total, 118 knowledgeable informants were interviewed. Following statistically sampling method, eighteen villages from 5 townships were selected to conduct field investigations. Information was collected through the approache of participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, ranking exercises, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory rural appraisals. A total of 368 medicinal plant species were investigated and documented together with their medicinal uses by the Maonans, most of which were obtained from the wild ecosystems. The plants were used to treat 95 human diseases. Grinding was a widely used method to prepare traditional herbal medicines. There were significant relationships between gender and age, and between gender and informants’ knowledge of medicinal plant use. Deforestation for agricultural purposes was identified as the most destructive factor of medicinal plants, followed by drought and over-harvest. The species diversity of medicinal plants used by the Maonans in the study area was very rich. Medicinal plants played a significant role in healing various human disorders in the Maonan communities. However, the conflicts between traditional inheriting system and recent socio-economic changes (and other factors) resulted in the reduction or loss of both medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge. Thus, conservation efforts and policies, and innovation of inheriting system are necessary for protecting the medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge. Awareness is also needed to be raised among local Maonans focusing on sustainable utilization and management of both medicinal plants and traditional knowledge.

Manila grass (Zoysia matrella), a warm-season turfgrass, usually wilts and browns by late autumn because of low temperature. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms regarding Manila grass responses to cold stress, we performed transcriptome sequencing of leaves exposed to 4°C for 0 (CK), 2h (2h_CT) and 72h (72h_CT) by Illumina technology. Approximately 250 million paired-end reads were obtained and de novo assembled into 82,605 unigenes. A total of 34,879 unigenes were annotated by comparing their sequence to public protein databases. At the 2h- and 72h-cold time points, 324 and 5,851 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) and metabolism pathway (KEGG) enrichment analyses of DEGs indicated that auxin, gibberellins, ethylene and calcium took part in the cold signal transduction in the early period. And in the late cold period, electron transport activities, photosynthetic machinery and activity, carbohydrate and nitrogen metabolism, redox equilibrium and hormone metabolism were disturbed. Low temperature stress triggered high light, drought and oxidative stress. At the physiological level, cold stress induced a decrease in water content, an increase in levels of total soluble sugar, free proline and MDA, and changes in bioactive gibberellins levels, which supported the changes in gene expression. The results provided a large set of sequence data of Manila grass as well as molecular mechanisms of the grass in response to cold stress. This information will be helpful for future study of molecular breeding and turf management.