BMC Biology最新文献

{"title":"Potential risk of dipterocarps in the marginal Asian rainforests: low population size and high genomic erosion.","authors":"Xian-Liang Zhu, Wen-Ji Luo, Sheng-Feng Chai, Jian-Min Tang, Xiao Wei, Alison K S Wee, Ming Kang","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02275-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02275-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Vatica guangxiensis, one of the northernmost dipterocarp tree species in Asian tropical rainforests and among the most critically endangered members of the Dipterocarpaceae, faces severe genetic risks due to its extremely small population size.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We present a chromosome-scale genome assembly of V. guangxiensis, totaling 454.89 Mb, comprising 54 scaffolds (contig N50 = 38.11 Mb). To inform conservation strategies, we conducted a population genomic analysis involving 148 individuals from three natural populations of V. guangxiensis sensu lato and two of V. mangachapoi, a widely distributed tropical rainforest species in Asia. Our results clarified the population structure, interspecific differentiation, and species delimitation of V. guangxiensis sensu lato, resolving longstanding taxonomic ambiguities and supporting the reinstatement of the two Yunnan populations as V. xishuangbannaensis. Compared with V. xishuangbannaensis and V. mangachapoi, V. guangxiensis exhibits significantly lower genetic diversity, higher inbreeding, and an elevated mutation load. Additionally, we revealed a near-complete absence of gene flow with related species and documented historically low effective population sizes, underscoring its vulnerability to genome erosion. Notably, genomic comparisons between mature and regenerating individuals revealed a 26.45% decrease in genetic diversity and a 10.70% increase in mutation load in smaller trees of V. guangxiensis, reflecting accelerated genomic erosion during natural regeneration.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings underscore the urgent need to monitor genomic health and implement effective conservation measures to safeguard V. guangxiensis. This study highlights the critical role of genomic data in assessing population health and informing strategies for the preservation of endangered species in marginal tropical rainforests.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"161"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12147322/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ovarian transcriptome analyses indicate that weak juvenile hormone signaling underlies the molecular basis of oogenesis deficiencies in mosquitoes.","authors":"Monika M Wiśniewska, Martin Kolísko, Petra Berková, Martin Moos, Houda O Maaroufi, Fernando G Noriega, Marcela Nouzova","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02266-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02266-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Juvenile hormone (JH) is synthesized by the corpora allata (CA) and controls development and reproduction in insects. We recently used CRISPR/Cas9 to establish a line lacking the enzyme that catalyzes the final step of JH biosynthesis in mosquitoes, a P450 epoxidase. The CA of the epox^-/- mutants do not synthesize epoxidized JH III but methyl farneosate (MF), a weak agonist of the JH receptor. Female epox^-/- mosquitoes have reduced JH signaling and show a substantial loss of reproductive fitness. To understand the molecular basis of this loss of fitness, we constructed ovarian mRNA libraries of Ae. aegypti of the Orlando strain wild-type (WT) and epoxidase null mutants (epox^-/-) and investigated differential expression of reproductive genes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We performed triplicate RNA-seq analyses of female WT and epox^-/- ovaries dissected at four critical stages of oogenesis: Ovaries from newly eclosed females (0h), sugar-fed females at 4 days post-eclosion (4d SF), females 16h (16h BF), and 48 h after a blood meal (48h BF). Silencing of epoxidase resulted in a drastic change in the expression of thousands of genes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results suggest that epoxidase deficiency leads to a reduction in JH signaling that has significant effects on Ae. aegypti ovarian transcriptome profiles. Ecdysteroid titers are dysregulated in the mutants, leading to a significant delay in the expression of vitelline membrane genes and other transcripts. We discovered changes in the expression of 230 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that may play an important role in the regulation of ovarian genes.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"160"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12147312/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deciphering alternative splicing patterns during cell fate transition of fast chemical reprogramming.","authors":"Yunkun Lu, Kainan Lin, Yeling Ruan, Junjie Li, Huizhen Zhang, Tianyuan Pan, Qianqian Wang, Lianyu Lin, Sijie Feng","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02264-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02264-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Alternative splicing (AS) is a substantial contributor to the high complexity of transcriptomes in multicellular eukaryotes. Fast chemical reprogramming (FCR) system is an innovative approach that facilitates the rapid transition of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this study, we used the FCR system to delve into the dynamics of AS during cell fate transition. The trajectory of FCR, as characterized by gene expression profiles, consistently aligned with that observed in AS patterns, revealing a complex interplay between AS and gene expression regulation. Additionally, we discovered that the exon exclusion events were more prevalent than the exon inclusion events, indicating a predominant mode of splicing regulation during FCR. Compared to transcription factor-induced reprogramming (TFR), FCR showed a distinct AS pattern, underscoring the unique regulatory mechanisms governing AS in each reprogramming system. Further investigation uncovered polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 3 (Ptbp3) as an important splicing factor, possibly participating in epigenetic regulation in late stage of FCR by affecting AS of epigenetic regulators. Moreover, we found an abundance of intron retention events caused by decrease in spliceosome activity, potentially contributing to the downregulation of key diapause-related genes in the middle and late stages of FCR.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This research provided a comprehensive characterization of AS during FCR, highlighting the pivotal roles of AS in regulating cell fate transitions. Our findings advanced the understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing cell fate decisions and offered new insights into the potential of FCR for regenerative medicine and therapeutic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"164"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12150459/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144257345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"iHofman: a predictive model integrating high-order and low-order features with weighted attention mechanisms for circRNA-miRNA interactions.","authors":"Chang-Qing Yu, Chen Jiang, Lei Wang, Zhu-Hong You, Xin-Fei Wang, Meng-Meng Wei, Tai-Long Shi, Si-Zhe Liang","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02260-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02260-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Increasing research indicates that the complex interactions between circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are critical for diagnosing and treating various human diseases. Consequently, accurately predicting potential circRNA-miRNA interactions (CMIs) has become increasingly important and urgent. Traditional biological experiments, however, are often labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to external influences.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>To tackle this challenge, we present a novel model, iHofman, designed to predict CMIs by integrating high-order and low-order features with weighted attention mechanisms. Specifically, we first extract sequence and structural information representations using FastText and GraRep, respectively, and capture high-order and low-order features from sequence information representations using stacked autoencoders. Subsequently, weighted attention mechanisms are applied for feature fusion, focusing on the most relevant information. Finally, multi-layer perceptron is employed to accurately infer potential CMIs. In the fivefold cross-validation (CV) experiment on the baseline dataset, iHofman achieved an accuracy of 82.49% with an AUC of 0.9092. iHofman also demonstrates solid performance on other CMI datasets. In case studies, 26 of the top 30 CMIs with the highest iHofman predictive scores were confirmed in relevant literature.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The above experimental results indicate that iHofman can effectively predict potential CMIs and has achieved outstanding performance compared with existing methods. It provides a reliable supplementary approach for subsequent biological wet experiments.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"162"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12147305/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ferroptosis-related LncRNAs in diseases.","authors":"Wu Zhou, Jean Paul Thiery","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02268-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02268-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death (RCD) caused by the accumulation of intracellular iron and lipids and is involved in many pathological processes, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), RNA molecules exceeding 200 nt in length that do not possess protein coding function can interfere with ferroptosis by binding ferroptosis-related miRNAs or proteins. Recently, ferroptosis-related lncRNAs (FRlncRNAs) have been identified in cancer and non-malignant disease models, including inprediction of drug resistance, intra-tumoral immune infiltration, metabolic reprogramming and mutation landscape. Here, we review FRlncRNAs in cancer and non-malignant diseases, from prognosis to treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"158"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12143037/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shrub encroachment enhances AMF network stability and complexity, while cropland destabilizes AMF communities in a subtropical alpine grassland.","authors":"Junqin Li, Yujun Zhang, Yang Gao, Xiangtao Wang, Yuting Yang, Denghui Wang, Lili Zhao, Puchang Wang","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02267-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02267-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Ecosystem conversion, primarily driven by agricultural expansion, has profoundly altered ecosystem structure and function. Grasslands, characterized by deep, nutrient-rich soils that support high soil carbon content, are particularly vulnerable to conversion for agricultural purposes. This transformation significantly impacts soil microbial communities, yet the effects of such changes on the stability and complexity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) networks remain poorly understood, particularly in subtropical alpine grasslands.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this study, we investigated how the conversion of natural grasslands into shrublands, artificial woodlands, and croplands affects AMF communities in a subtropical alpine region of China. Our results demonstrate that shrub encroachment increased AMF diversity by up to 25%, and enhanced network modularity and robustness by approximately 20% and 25%, respectively, compared with natural grasslands. This phenomenon may be partially attributed to deep root-mediated niche diversification and the alleviation of soil disturbance in shrubland. In contrast, conversion to cropland decreased AMF diversity by nearly 40%, destabilizing microbial networks due to increased nutrient enrichment and mechanical disturbance. Although the dominant genera Glomus and Paraglomus persisted across all systems, their relative abundance shifted (e.g., a 10-15% reduction of Glomus in croplands). Soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus collectively explained up to 89.7% of the variation in AMF network complexity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings address the critical knowledge gap identified in the background regarding AMF responses to land-use changes in subtropical alpine grasslands. By demonstrating that shrub encroachment enhances soil fertility and AMF network stability-contrasting sharply with cropland conversion-our results highlight the importance of preserving natural succession processes to maintain microbial-driven ecosystem functions. This aligns with global efforts to mitigate grassland degradation and supports sustainable management practices in vulnerable alpine regions.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"157"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12143042/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative macrogenomics reveal plateau adaptation of gut microbiome in cervids.","authors":"Bin Li, Yuangang Yang, Bo Xu, Pengfei Song, Feng Jiang, Hongmei Gao, Zhenyuan Cai, Haifeng Gu, Tongzuo Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02269-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02269-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Diverse gut microbiota in animals significantly influences host physiology, ecological adaptation, and evolution. However, the specific functional roles of gut microbiota in facilitating host adaptation, as well as the coevolutionary dynamics between microbiota and their hosts, remain largely understudied.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 41,847 metagenome-assembled genomes and 3193 high-quality species-level genome bins were generated, establishing a comprehensive gut microbiome catalog for cervids in this study. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a coevolutionary relationship between cervids and their gut microbiota. Comparative metagenomic analyses further indicated that the gut microbiota of plateau cervids have undergone genome-level adaptations related to energy metabolism. At the genus level, species-level genome bins from the genera Alistipes and Faecousia in plateau cervids exhibit enhanced energy metabolism capabilities. Structural variations analysis revealed that the insertion and duplications structural variations in the gut microbiota of plateau cervids were significantly enriched in energy metabolism pathways. In contrast, the deletions and contractions in structural variations were predominantly enriched with metabolic pathways involved in the biosynthesis of diverse biochemical molecules.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study provides a comprehensive gut microbiome catalog of the cervid gut microbiota, revealing the coevolutionary relationship between cervid gut microbiota and hosts. These findings highlight the adaptive genomic evolution of the gut microbiota in contributing to the plateau adaptability of cervids and offer new insights into the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota help hosts adapt to extreme environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"154"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12139185/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144224390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The origin and evolution of cultivated rice and genomic signatures of heterosis for yield traits in super-hybrid rice.","authors":"Yiyong Zhao, Tao Li, Daliang Liu, Hao Yin, Liang Wang, Song Lu, Houlin Yu, Xinhao Sun, Taikui Zhang, Quanzhi Zhao","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02255-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02255-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Understanding the evolutionary history of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) and the genomic basis of heterosis is crucial for advancing rice productivity and ensuring global food security. The origins of the two main subspecies, indica and japonica, remain contentious, with debates over single versus multiple domestication events. Additionally, the genetic mechanisms underlying heterosis in elite super-hybrid rice varieties are not fully elucidated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We performed a comprehensive genome-scale phylogenomic analysis using 33 high-quality Oryzeae genomes, integrating 39,984 gene trees. Our findings support the independent origins of indica and japonica subspecies, with molecular dating and synonymous substitution rates indicating nearly synchronous evolutionary trajectories. Analysis of 1383 gene duplications in the common ancestor of O. sativa revealed their involvement in vital biological processes and environmental adaptability. Phylogenomic analyses revealed no significant genomic signatures indicative of extensive hybridization events between the progenitors of indica and japonica. Newly generated 71.67 Gb of whole-genome sequencing data of five elite super-hybrid rice varieties and their progenitors uncovered differential positive selection and genetic exchanges between subspecies, contributing to heterosis formation. Transcriptome analyses highlighted the predominance of non-additive gene expression in heterosis, especially in genes related to DNA repair and recombination. Furthermore, expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) and de novo mutation analyses identified key developmental and stress response genes, offering potential targets for enhancing heterosis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study provides robust evidence for the independent domestication of indica and japonica rice subspecies and elucidates the genomic features associated with heterosis in super-hybrid rice. By identifying key genes linked to adaptability and heterosis, we offer valuable insights and genetic resources for breeding programs aimed at improving rice yield and resilience. These findings enhance our understanding of rice evolution and the complex genetic factors driving heterosis, contributing to future strategies for agricultural productivity enhancement.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"153"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12139199/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144224350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High resolution of full-length RNA sequencing deciphers massive transcriptome complexity during zebrafish embryogenesis.","authors":"Jing Bo, Wenyu Fang, Jing Wang, Shunping He, Liandong Yang","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02271-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02271-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The zebrafish has significantly advanced our understanding of human disease and development, with nearly 70% of single-copy protein-coding genes conserved between the species. However, research on zebrafish is limited by gaps in existing genome annotations, which are primarily based on computational predictions and short-read sequencing data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>To address this issue, we employed the PacBio Sequel II platform to generate a time-series full-length transcriptome landscape of zebrafish embryogenesis, covering 21 time points from embryo to six days post-fertilization. Our analysis uncovered 2113 previously unannotated genes and 33,018 novel isoforms of previously annotated genes, substantially expanding the current zebrafish gene annotations. We verified these findings using various methods, including domain prediction, homology analysis, conservation analysis, transcript quantification with short-read RNA-seq, and promoter position information with H3K4me3 and CAGE-seq. Furthermore, we analyzed the dynamic expression of transcripts across the 21 developmental stages using next-generation sequencing data, identifying variable splicing events throughout these stages.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Collectively, our study provides a high-resolution and significantly improved transcriptome annotation during zebrafish embryogenesis, offering a valuable resource for the zebrafish research community.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"155"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12139336/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144224349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating conservation gaps of China's national key protected wild plants: insights from county-level distribution data.","authors":"Xiaotian Pan, Zhangjian Shan, Xin Tian, Yanting Niu, Yun Liu, Zhe Li, Yutong Li, Yuxi Huang, Jianfei Ye","doi":"10.1186/s12915-025-02270-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12915-025-02270-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The National Key Protected Wild Plants (NKPWPs) list serves as China's primary legal framework for plant diversity protection, with the species categorized into Level I (critically endangered, strictly protected) and Level II (lower risk but still requiring protection). However, the geographical distribution of these species and gaps in their conservation remain elusive due to the limited availability of data on species distribution. Thus, to address these gaps and support precise conservation, we developed a county-level distribution database for the NKPWP species using information primarily sourced from literature. Using this database, we elucidated the geographical distribution patterns of NKPWPs and identified the gaps in both in situ and ex situ conservation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The NKPWPs analyzed in the study included 1,128 plant species. We compiled a county-level distribution database for these species with 30,397 records. Detailed analysis of this data revealed that these species were concentrated in the mountainous regions of southern China, including the Eastern Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains, south Yunnan, the Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi border, and the Wuling Mountains. Among the 1,118 embryophyte species of the checklist, 1,060 (94.81%) were found conserved in situ, 681 (60.91%) were found conserved ex situ, and 660 (59.03%) through both approaches. Besides, species with a higher threat level and limited distribution range exhibited lower conservation coverage in both ex situ and in situ approaches; 37 species received no conservation (3.31%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The county-level distribution database developed in this study comprehensively depicts the geographical distribution patterns of NKPWP in China, offering valuable data for planning species conservation and providing a foundational framework for addressing the existing gaps in their conservation across China. This database will ultimately support targeted conservation and resource allocation to protect plant diversity effectively. We also suggest adopting an integrated evaluation approach for conservation strategies in other areas, globally, or for other biological groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":9339,"journal":{"name":"BMC Biology","volume":"23 1","pages":"156"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12139105/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144224391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}