Phragmites australis is a cosmopolitan grass and often the dominant species in the ecosystems it inhabits. Due to high intraspecific diversity and phenotypic plasticity, P. australis has an extensive ecological amplitude and a great capacity to acclimate to adverse environmental conditions; it can therefore offer valuable insights into plant responses to global change. Here we review the ecology and ecophysiology of prominent P. australis lineages and their responses to multiple forms of global change. Key findings of our review are that: (1) P. australis lineages are well-adapted to regions of their phylogeographic origin and therefore respond differently to changes in climatic conditions such as temperature or atmospheric CO₂; (2) each lineage consists of populations that may occur in geographically different habitats and contain multiple genotypes; (3) the phenotypic plasticity of functional and fitness-related traits of a genotype determine the responses to global change factors; (4) genotypes with high plasticity to environmental drivers may acclimate or even vastly expand their ranges, genotypes of medium plasticity must acclimate or experience range-shifts, and those with low plasticity may face local extinction; (5) responses to ancillary types of global change, like shifting levels of soil salinity, flooding, and drought, are not consistent within lineages and depend on adaptation of individual genotypes. These patterns suggest that the diverse lineages of P. australis will undergo intense selective pressure in the face of global change such that the distributions and interactions of co-occurring lineages, as well as those of genotypes within-lineages, are very likely to be altered. We propose that the strong latitudinal clines within and between P. australis lineages can be a useful tool for predicting plant responses to climate change in general and present a conceptual framework for using P. australis lineages to predict plant responses to global change and its consequences.

Camellia is an economically, ecologically and phylogenetically valuable genus in the family Theaceae. The frequent interspecific hybridization and polyploidization makes this genus phylogenetically and taxonomically under controversial and require detailed investigation. Chloroplast (cp) genome sequences have been used for cpDNA marker development and genetic diversity evaluation. Our research newly sequenced the chloroplast genome of Camellia japonica using Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform, and retrieved five other chloroplast genomes of Camellia previously published for comparative analyses, thereby shedding lights on a deeper understanding of the applicability of chloroplast information. The chloroplast genome sizes ranged in length from 156,607 to 157,166 bp, and their gene structure resembled those of other higher plants. There were four categories of SSRs detected in six Camellia cpDNA sequences, with the lengths ranging from 10 to 17bp. The Camellia species exhibited different evolutionary routes that lhbA and orf188, followed by orf42 and psbZ, were readily lost during evolution. Obvious codon preferences were also shown in almost all protein-coding cpDNA and amino acid sequences. Selection pressure analysis revealed the influence of different environmental pressures on different Camellia chloroplast genomes during long-term evolution. All Camellia species, except C. crapnelliana, presented the identical rate of amplification in the IR region. The datasets obtained from the chloroplast genomes are highly supportive in inferring the phylogenetic relationships of the Camellia taxa, indicating that chloroplast genome can be used for classifying interspecific relationships in this genus.

Late blight caused by the oomycete fungus Phytophthora infestans (Pi) is the most serious obstacle to potato (Solanum tuberosum) production in the world. A super race isolate, CN152, which was identified from Sichuan Province, China, could overcome nearly all known late blight resistance genes and caused serious damage in China. The potato genotype SD20 was verified to be highly resistant to CN152; however, the molecular regulation network underlying late blight resistance pathway remains unclear in SD20. Here, we performed a time-course experiment to systematically profile the late blight resistance response genes using RNA-sequencing in SD20. We identified 3354 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which mainly encoded transcription factors and protein kinases, and also included four NBS-LRR genes. The late blight responsive genes showed time-point-specific induction/repression. Multi-signaling pathways of salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and ethylene signaling pathways involved in resistance and defense against Pi in SD20. Gene Ontology and KEGG analyses indicated that the DEGs were significantly enriched in metabolic process, protein serine/threonine kinase activity, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Forty-three DEGs were involved in immune response, of which 19 were enriched in hypersensitive response reaction, which could play an important role in broad-spectrum resistance to Pi infection. Experimental verification confirmed the induced expression of the responsive genes in the late blight resistance signaling pathway, such as WRKY, ERF, MAPK, and NBS-LRR family genes. Our results provided valuable information for understanding late blight resistance mechanism of potato.