柑橘类水果富含酚类化合物，对人体具有多种健康益处。然而，很少有研究关注这类水果在采后贮藏过程中酚类化合物的变化。本研究对低温贮藏和留树保鲜12周的Tarocco血橙的酚类含量、成分和抗氧化活性进行了动态监测，并通过评估苯丙烷途径相关酶活性和基因表达探讨了血橙酚类化合物变化机制。结果表明，黄烷酮是血橙中主要酚类化合物，两种贮藏方式主要通过促进酚酸的积累从而提高总酚含量，并在第12周达到最大值。留树保鲜血橙的酚类含量和抗氧化性要高于低温贮藏血橙。此外，苯丙烷途径相关酶活性和基因表达结果显示，贮藏期间血橙中酚类物质的积累与苯丙烷途径的激活具有高度相关性。以上结果表明，从酚类化合物的角度来看，留树保鲜储存是延长血橙供应期的一种潜在有效方式。

In this study, the characteristic of three transformants named as B1C106-1, B1C106-2, and B1C106-3 were studied that carried three innate resistant genes Bph14, Bph15, and Xa23, and two enthetic resistant genes Cry1Ca^# and Bar.  The five resistant genes were all verified by PCR and the two enthetic genes were identified in single copy insertion by Southern blot.  At tillering stage, the Cry1C and PAT (phosphinothricin acetyl transferase) protein contents in leaf, sheath, and stem of T₂ generation were in the similar pattern: leaf>stem>sheath, and showed significant difference (P<0.01) among three organs. The average contents of Cry1C protein in plant of B1C106-1, B1C106-2, and B1C106-3 were 12.95, 6.57, and 11.30 μg g^–1, respectively, and showed significant difference (P<0.01) among them.  However, the average contents of PAT in plant of B1C106-1, B1C106-2, and B1C106-3 were 28.54, 27.66, and 28.02 μg g^–1, respectively, and there were no significant difference among three transformants.  The glufosinate tolerable concentration of three transformants of T₃ generation reached at least 6 g L^–1, and the mortality of rice leaf rollers were above 97.4% in 5 days after being fed with fresh transformants’ leaves.  The Cry1C protein toxicity was also assessed by silkworms, and the mortality of silkworms feeding mulberry leaves smeared with Cry1C protein extracts of leaves of B1C106-1, B1C106-2, and B1C106-3 were 90, 67.8, and 87.8%, respectively, that were positive correlation (r=0.993) with Cry1C protein contents in plant of three transformants.  The three transformants also maintained high resistance to brown planthopper and bacterial blight as the original version.  The above results indicate the tetra-resistant rice germplasm was well-developed by pyramiding innate and enthetic resistant genes in an elite line to provide with resistances of glufosinate, rice leaf roller, brown planthopper, and bacterial blight.  

    Kernel color is an important trait for assessing the commercial and nutritional quality of foxtail millet.  Yellow pigment content (YPC) and carotenoid components (lutein and zeaxanthin) of 270 foxtail millet accessions, including 50 landraces and 220 improved cultivars, from four different eco-regions in China were surveyed using spectrophotometry and high performance liquid chromatography methods.  Results indicated that YPC had rich variance, ranging from 1.91 to 28.54 mg kg^–1, with an average value of 17.80 mg kg^–1.  The average YPC of improved cultivars (18.31 mg kg^–1) was significantly higher than that of landraces (15.51 mg kg^–1).  The YPC in cultivars from the Loess Plateau spring sowing region (LPSSR) was the highest (20.59 mg kg^–1), followed by the North China summer sowing region (NCSSR, 18.25 mg kg^–1), the northeast spring sowing region (NSSR, 17.25 mg kg^–1), and the Inner Mongolia Plateau spring sowing region (IMPSSR, 13.92 mg kg^–1).  The variation coefficients of YPC in cultivars from NSSR, LPSSR, and IMPSSR were higher than that from NCSSR.  A similar carotenoid profile was also obtained for 270 foxtail millet cultivars.  Lutein and zeaxanthin accounted for approximately 55–65% of YPC in accessions.  The lutein content was higher than zeaxanthin content in all cultivars.  The ratio of lutein to zeaxanthin ranged from 1.51 to 6.06 with an average of 3.34.  YPC was positively correlated with lutein (r=0.935, P<0.01), zeaxanthin (r=0.808, P<0.01), and growth duration (r=0.488, P<0.01), whereas it was negatively correlated with grain protein (r=−0.332, P<0.01) and 1 000-kernel weight (r=−0.153, P<0.05).  Our study is useful for screening and selecting cultivars with high levels of yellow pigment and for enhancing phytochemical concentrations in breeding programs.

    This study aimed to provide a theoretical basis for adopting suitable cultivation measures to tackle calcium (Ca) deficiency in citrus leaves. The Newhall navel orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) canopy was sprayed with 20.0 mmol L^–1 of Ca(NO₃)₂ during physiological fruit drop period, fruit expanding period, and fruit maturing period on 30, 90, and 210 days after full bloom (DAFB), respectively, and its effects on leaf gas exchange parameters and leaf mineral nutrition and fruit quality were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) The photosynthetic rate (ACO₂) at 9:00 a.m. and 16:00 p.m. of fruit expanding period with 30 and 90 DAFB Ca(NO₃)₂ treatments slightly or significantly improved mainly by decreasing stomatal limitation and nonstomatal limitation, respectively. (2) Compared with control (CK), the Ca concentration in leaves with 30, 90, and 240 DAFB Ca(NO₃)₂ treatments increased by 127.16, 97.53, and 33.33%, respectively, and the leaf magnesium concentration also increased by more than 32.26%. However, Ca(NO₃)₂ canopy spraying on 30 DAFB significantly reduced the leaf potassium concentration, by 22.14% compared with CK. (3) Ca(NO₃)₂ canopy spraying on 30 DAFB decreased the second fruit drop rate by 30.55% and increased the weight per fruit by 25.04%, thus resulting in a significant increase in citrus yield. (4) Spraying Ca(NO₃) on 30 DAFB mainly affected the metabolism of titratable acid (TA) to improve the maturity of citrus fruits. Whilst it improved the external quality and the coloring of citrus fruit significantly. Therefore, Ca(NO₃)₂canopy spraying during physiological fruit drop period has a better influence on the tree character and fruit quality of Newhall navel orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck).

The developing trends of livestock production are efficiency, safety and sustainability, which face two major challenges: low availability of phytate phosphorus and abuse of antibiotics.  As a solution phytases and antimicrobial peptides are applied as feed additives.  However, phytases and antimicrobial peptides are susceptible to proteases, costly by fermentation and potential toxic to production hosts.  We transformed an optimized phytase-lactoferricin fusion gene PhyLf driven by an endosperm-specific promoter Gt13aP and Bar (bialaphos resistance) gene as a selection maker into rice.  The Bar and PhyLf genes were integrated into the rice genome, stably inherited and expressed.  Their phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT) protein content of transgenic plants with glufosinate resistance varied between 50.45–93.39 μg g^–1.  Fusion protein expressed especially in the seeds of transgenic rice had a summit phytase activity at 32.30 U g^–1, which increased by 61.71-fold compared to the control/check group (CK) and 7.54-fold compared to un-optimized transgenic plant.  The highest inorganic phosphorus (Pi) content of the transgenic seeds reached 13.15 mg g^–1, increased by 12.77-fold compared to that of CK.  Preliminary antibacterial experiments showed that the enterokinase hydrolysate product of fusion protein could inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli DH5α.  These results indicated that the protein PhyLf has the potential to increase availability of feed phytate phosphorus, improve consumer’s immunity and reduce the use of antibiotics.

    Thirteen kinds of steroid hormones in raw milk (cow, goat and buffalo milk) were analyzed with ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) after extraction and cleanup with the modified QuEChERS method. These steroid hormones included 17β-estradiol, estriol, estrone, diethylstilbestrol, progesterone, melengestrol acetate, megestrol acetate, chlormadinone acetate, 19-nortestosterone, metandienone, boldenone, epitestosterone, and testosterone. The limits of detection for the raw milk basing on 3 times the signal to noise ratios (S/N=3) was in range of 0.07-0.51 µg kg^–1, and the limits of quantification (basing on S/N=10 method) covered the ranges from 0.23 to 1.7 µg kg^–1. With matrix external standard method, the substances presented recoveries over the range 74.2–99.7%. Qualitative analysis was also done in the mass/mass spectrum (MS/MS) mode and each debris structure of 13 kinds of steroid hormones was achieved. The methodology was then applied in real raw milk samples which were collected in several areas of China and the progesterone was detected with high level.

    A fast analytical method for the simultaneous determination of 9 mycotoxins, including aflatoxins (B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂), fumonisins (B1, B2 and B3), zearalenone, and deoxynivalenol in corn using dispersive solid-phase extraction method and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was developed and validated. Samples were extracted with acetonitrile-water (84:16, v:v, containing 1% acetic acid) using ultrasonic extraction. The extracts were purified with a dispersive SPE method using C18 as a cleaning agent. The final clear extracts were dried by nitrogen blowing and subsequently redissolved in methanol-water (5:5, v:v). The samples were then analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS with 0.1% formic acid in ammonium acetate-methanol as mobile phase. The mean recoveries were ranged from 68.0 to 120.0%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged from 0.18 to 6.29%. Limits of detections ranged from 0.05 to 50 μg kg⁻¹, and limits of quantification ranged from 0.1 to 200 μg kg⁻¹, which were below the legal limits set by the European Union for the legislated mycotoxins. The developed method was applied to 130 corn samples. Among the mycotoxins studied, aflatoxins B₁ and fumonisins B₁, B₂ and B₃ were the most predominant mycotoxins, and their concentrations were 0–593.12, 0–2.01×10⁴, 0–6.94×10³ and 0–3.05×10³ µg kg^–1, respectively.

Creating high-efficient and environment-friendly pesticides is very important to produce the pollution free agriculture food and maintain the balance of the survival environmental of the human being. According to reports, camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives are now being explored as a class of botanical insecticide in agriculture due to its novel mode of action. In order to improve the insecticidal activity of CPT, ten novel camptothecin (1) and 10-hydroxycamptothecin (2) derivatives (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e; 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) were designed and synthesized via esterification with analogs of chrysanthemic acid, which have outstanding insecticidal activity. The results showed that compound 2a exhibited potent antifeeding effect and the best contact toxicity among the target compounds against the third-instar larvae of beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua Hübner. Compound 2a was also found to be the most effective cytotoxic compound to the tested insect cell lines, IOZCAS-Spex-II, which were established from the fat bodies of S. exigua. It was proposed that the 10-hydroxyl group in the camptothecin derivatives is a key factor for the antifeeding activity of a compound. The nature of the substituents was considered the major factor in determining the insecticidal activity of these compounds.