Spiraea prunifolia f. simpliciflora Nakai is a perennial shrub widely used for horticultural and medicinal purposes. We simultaneously obtained the complete plastid genome (plastome) and nuclear ribosomal gene transcription units, 45S nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) and 5S nrDNA of S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora, using Illumina short-read data. The plastome is 155,984 bp in length with a canonical quadripartite structure consisting of 84,417 bp of a large single-copy region, 18,887 bp of a short single-copy region, and 26,340 bp of two inverted repeat regions. Overall, a total of 113 genes (79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNAs, and four rRNAs) were annotated in the plastome. The 45S nrDNA transcription unit is 5,848 bp in length: 1,809 bp, 161 bp, and 3,397 bp for 18S, 5.8S, and 26S, respectively, and 261 bp and 220 bp for internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 and ITS 2 regions, respectively. The 5S nrDNA unit is 512 bp, including 121 bp of 5S rRNA and 391 bp of intergenic spacer regions. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the genus Spiraea was monophyletic and sister to the clade of Sibiraea angustata, Petrophytum caespitosum and Kelseya uniflora. Within the genus Spiraea, the sections Calospira and Spiraea were monophyletic, but the sect. Glomerati was nested within the sect. Chamaedryon. In the sect. Glomerati, S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora formed a subclade with S. media, and the subclade was sister to S. thunbergii and S. mongolica. The close relationship between S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora and S. media was also supported by the nrDNA phylogeny, indicating that the plastome and nrDNA sequences assembled in this study belong to the genus Spiraea. The newly reported complete plastome and nrDNA transcription unit sequences of S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora provide useful information for further phylogenetic and evolutionary studies of the genus Spiraea, as well as the family Rosaceae.

Grewia tomentosa Juss. is a deciduous shrub that mainly grows in Asia. Despite studies of other Grewia species for treatment of various diseases, Grewia tomentosa Juss. has not been studied as a medicinal herb. This study evaluates the anti-allergic and anti-topic dermatitis activity of Grewia tomentosa Juss. ethanol extract (Gt-EE). The results show that Gt-EE suppressed IgE–antigen-induced β-hexosaminidase release. The mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13, TNF-α, MCP-1, and TSLP, which are involved in allergic responses, was inhibited by Gt-EE in IgE-stimulated RBL-2H3 cells. In addition, the phosphorylation of Syk, PLCγ1, PKCδ, PI3K, AKT, NF-κB p65, NF-κB p50, p38, JNK, and ERK1/2 was decreased by Gt-EE in these cells. Gt-EE also showed anti-inflammatory effects in in vivo mouse models. In passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA), a commonly used mouse model, Gt-EE decreased the allergic response, infiltration of mast cells, and mRNA level of IL-4. Furthermore, Gt-EE ameliorated symptoms of DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis (AD). In DNCB-induced AD, Gt-EE suppressed the increase in mast cells, serum IgE level, expression of allergic mediators (IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, TNF-α), and phosphorylation of proteins (IκBα, NF-κB p65, NF-κB p50, p38, JNK, and ERK1/2) implicated in allergic reactions

As a part of phylogenomic study of graminids, we report the complete plastome sequence of Flagellaria indica L. (Flagellariaceae) (NCBI No. MZ504969). This is the first reported complete plastome sequence from the Flagellariaceae. This plastome shows typical quadripartite structure. The plastome size is 161,643 bp, which consists of 88,714 bp large single copy (LSC), 19,065 bp small single-copy (SSC), and 26,932 bp inverted repeat (IR) regions. However, we detected F. indica plastome has a 288 bp small inversion between ycf3 and trnS-GGA. The palindromic repeats of 10 bp (TTCCAATTTC/GAAATTGGAA) were located on the two break points of inversion. F. indica plastome contains 113 genes, including 79 protein-coding, 30 tRNA, and four rRNA genes. Unlike other families of graminids, the functional ycf1 and ycf2 genes exist. Sixteen genes contain one intron and two genes (clpP and ycf3) have two introns. Sixty-two simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci are scattered in the plastome, respectively. The phylogenetic tree shows that Flagellariaceae are the basal sister lineage of other graminid families.

We determined the complete chloroplast genome sequence of the peatmoss Sphagnum subsecundum Nees from Mt. Halla in Korea. The total size of the chloroplast genome was 140,136 bp, and it consisted of a large single-copy region (LSC) of 98,064 bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 21,388 bp, and two copies of inverted repeat (IRa and IRb) regions of 10,342 bp each. The genome encoded a set of 130 genes, comprising 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. This species formed a monophyletic clade with S. orientale and S. lenese as the result of ML phylogenetic analysis based on whole gemone sequence of 15 species including one outgroup species.

A total of 34 taxa, 33 species and one variety, are newly added to the moss checklist of Korea. They were collected on Jejudo Island, Samcheok limestone areas in Gangwon Province, and Socheongdo Island from 2015 to 2018 and organized into 19 families and 26 genera. Additionally, eight genera are new to Korea. This study verifies the distributions of nine species whose distributions and specimens have remained unknown thus far. Finally, two unrecorded taxa, consisting of one species and one variety, are identified by reexamining Korean specimens deposited at the National Museum and Science in Japan (TNS). The specimens were collected in 1942 and 1940 from Mt. Baekdusan and Anbyun in North Korea.

The first study on Korean bryophytes was published by Cardot (1904) based on specimens collected by French Father Faurie. Cardot (1904) reported 98 species from Korea, and 34 of them were new species. Following that and before the Korean War, Japanese researchers were responsible for most bryophyte studies in Korea. From the late 1950s to the 1960s, a study on Korean bryophytes was published by Won Shic Hong. In the 1970s and 1980s, Du-Mun Choe released a study on a flora of bryophytes of Korea. In 1980, Korea’s first illustrated book on bryophytes was published. For approximately 20 years until 2000s, research on bryophytes of Korea has remained dormant. Lee and Choi (2012) summarized the history of research on bryophytes of Korea. Table 1 shows various lists of Korean mosses published since 1980. Korea’s first illustrated book on bryophytes was published by Choe (1980), and Choe and Choi (1980) reported 484 moss species in Korea. A list of Hepaticae of Korea was reported by Hong (1997). In 1991, the Sporic Plants of Joseon, Volume 9 written by Ho-Jun Hwang was published in North Korea. Except these studies, there were no studies concerning lists of bryophytes of the Korea until 2007. Based on the study of Choe and Choi (1980), Park and Choi (2007) reported a “New List of Bryophytes in Korea” by presenting an overview of bryophytes surveyed in Mt. Baekdu by Park (1997). In 2012, the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR) published a “National List of Species of Korea Mosses & Liverworts”. In case of Park and Choi (2007) and NIBR (2012), the lists of bryophytes compiled a lot of literature. However, some literature was not listed, and some species described in the literature were not recognized. And, although many species were newly added to the moss checklist of Korea, references or specimens were not included. Thus, this study has reviewed references for each species and updates the moss checklist of Korea by compiling papers published until September 2020. As the result, there are 775 taxa listed to the list of mosses of Korea, which can be classified into 56 families, 250 genera, 728 species, 7 subspecies, 38 varieties, and 2 forma. Additionally, this study cites specimens collected in Jeju Island, Samcheok, Gangwon Province, and Socheong Island collected from 2015 to 2018. About 1,593 specimens were collected, and identified as 338 species. The specimens newly secured through this study have been preserved at the herbarium of the National Institute of Biological Resources (KB). Some of the duplicate specimens are preserved at the Journal of Species Research 9(4):377-412, 2020

Abstract. Hawaiian mosses identified as members of the genus Glossadelphus by morphological features were examined using two molecular markers (ITS1&2 and trnL-F). Three species of Glossadelphus (G. acutifolius, G. chrysobasilaris, and G. limnobioides) as well as Phyllodon lingulatus and Ectropothecium zollingeri collected from Kauai Island, Hawaii Islands were included in this study. Our analyses showed that all samples of G. acutifolius, G. irroratus and G. limnobioides formed a monophyletic clade with Ectropothecium species. Present results confirmed the synonymy of G. baldwinii with Phyllodon lingulatus. In addition, Glossadelphus chrysobasilaris was revealed to be a member of the genus Symphyodon (Symphyodontaceae) and new combination, S. crhysobasilaris (Broth.) W.Kim & H.Akiyama is therefore proposed.

New localities of Bryocrumia vivicolor (Broth. & Dixon) W.R.Buck, a monotypic species, is first reported from Japan and Taiwan. Some old specimens of B. vivicolor were discovered at the herbarium of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory (NICH). These old specimens were from 4 regions in Japan, which are Oita, Miyazaki, Wakayama and Hyogo Prefecture, and 2 regions in Taiwan , which are Mt. Anma-shan and Mt. Li.

Filibryum, a new genus of the family Hypnaceae, is described to include three species from East Asia. Filibryum ogatae and F. yakoushimae are transferred to it from the genus Glossadelphus, while F. deguchianum is a newly described species. The genus is distinguished by the absence of a central strand in the stem, prorate leaf cells, and heteroblastic and deciduous stem leaves. Molecular data suggest that the genus is closely related to Taxiphyllum and the phylogenetic position of the new genus in the Hypnaceae is supported by an approximately unbiased (AU) test.