Heliopora (subclass Octocorallia, order Scleralcyonacea, family Helioporidae), commonly known as the “blue coral”, represents the only reef-building lineage within Octocorallia. The genus shows diverse growth forms of branching, encrusting, and laminar types, which leads to ambiguities in traditional morphology-based taxonomy. Here, we investigated the diversity of Heliopora species in the South China Sea (SCS) and their phylogenetic relationships across the Indo-Pacific using integrated morphological and phylogenomic approaches. Whole-genome resequencing of 52 colonies from the SCS islands, combined with published data from 244 samples worldwide, revealed three distinct clades: H. coerulea, H. hiberniana, and a previously undescribed lineage. Morphological analyses characterized the new lineage with blue skeleton, short columnar to encrusting growth form, large autopores with 12–15 pseudosepta, absence of worm tubes, and elaborated coenchymal echinulations. These features contrast with the long-branching to lobate H. coerulea and the white-skeletoned H. hiberniana. Based on its unique morphology and distinct phylogenetic position, we describe this lineage as a new species, Heliopora chinensis sp. nov. It is distributed mainly in the SCS islands, Taiwan Island, and the Ryukyu Islands. Meanwhile, global research and citizen science records suggest that H. hiberniana is restricted to the lower latitudes of Indo-Pacific Ocean, whereas H. coerulea occurs broadly across the Indo-Pacific. Our findings highlight the effectiveness of integrating phylogenomics and morphology to resolve coral systematics, uncover cryptic species diversity, and provide new insights into speciation, diversification, and conservation of corals, thus providing a critical taxonomic basis for informing future conservation strategies for coral reef ecosystems.

The distribution patterns of plants in the Northern Hemisphere are closely linked to their evolutionary history. The genus Lonicera, commonly referred to as honeysuckle, is widely distributed across the northern temperate zone, making it an ideal model for exploring the distribution patterns and driving factors of plants in the Northern Hemisphere. This study, based on 108 globally distributed Lonicera samples (57 species) covered 22 of the 25 subsections of Lonicera recognized by Rehder (1903) and Nakai (1938), analyzed 485 orthologous loci and plastid genomes to investigate phylogenetic relationships and observed phylogenetic incongruence. QuIBL and f-branch analyses revealed that incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) is the primary driver of phylogenetic discordance, accompanied by widespread but weak introgression, with only a small proportion of triplets showing strong support for introgression with relatively high mixture weights. Biogeographic and diversity distribution analyses suggest that Lonicera originated in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau (QXP) and/or East Asia, spread to North America and Europe, and established diversity centers in East Asia, Central Europe, and western North America. Our results support the hypothesis that the uplift of the QXP and global climate shift of the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) were both evolutionary drivers, with varied ecological adaptability among various Lonicera lineages. This study provides new insights into the phylogeny and biogeographic evolution of Lonicera, while also serving as a reference for studies on the evolutionary history of plant and animal lineages.

Glaciers in High Asia, despite their vast extent, harbour poorly understood biodiversity compared to other mountain ranges. This study describes a new species of springtail, Desoria passui sp. n., and reports chironomid found as larva from the Passu Glacier in the Pakistani Karakoram. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that D. passui sp. n. is genetically distinct from known cryophilic springtails in European mountain ranges, indicating a local evolutionary lineage. Similarly, the chironomid larvae represent a potentially undescribed species within Metriocnemus that does not form a sister group but is instead affiliated with other barcoded Eurasian species known to be associated with glacial habitats. These findings suggest that the cryophilic arthropod diversity of the Karakoram remains largely undocumented and their evolutionary history is independent from other known mountain cryophilic species. Given the ongoing glacier retreat, documenting and understanding this hidden biodiversity is critical for informing conservation strategies and assessing ecosystem responses to climate change.

Sexual dimorphism in dioecious plants is common in reproductive tissues. Genes expressed in these tissues often exhibit sex-bias and differ between sexes in their protein evolutionary rates. At the same time, sex-linked genes often balance their expression levels between sexes through dosage compensation. We compared gene expression between males and females in floral and leaf tissues of eight dioecious Salicaceae species whose sex chromosomes are young to understand the level of conservation and diversity of genes with sex-biased expression. Our results revealed that sexually dimorphic gene expression showed large numbers of differences among these species, with only 6% of the genes remaining conserved, exhibiting a consistent sex-biased direction in at least seven species. Protein evolutionary rates depended on their degree of conservation and the direction of sex bias in expression. Non-core sex-biased genes exhibited elevated evolutionary rates, and core male-biased genes showed higher nonsynonymous and synonymous substitutions than unbiased genes. Detailed studies in three willow species revealed that the expression dosage of most sex-linked genes was partially (0.5 < Xmale/XXfemale < 1) or excessively (Zfemale/ZZmale > 1) compensated through reducing gene expression in the homogametic sex. Our results provide novel insights into how sexually dimorphic gene expression evolves during repeated turnovers of sex chromosomes in plants and confirmed that dosage compensation mechanisms evolve relatively early in the development of sex chromosomes.