The first generation of the oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata (Walker), arrives every year in northern Japan in mainly late May to early June.  Analyses of weather maps suggested that this moth’s immigration source could be eastern China, but the accuracy of those analyses was very limited due to the lack of a current standard trajectory analysis.  The management of migratory insect pests such as M. separata benefits from the identification of the migration source(s) and pathway(s) of the pests.  The present study provides a trajectory analysis for M. separata.  Backward trajectories from trap sites in northern Japan were calculated with the HYSPLIT System developed by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taking the flight speed of M. separata and the limitation of low ambient temperature at flight height into account.  The ending times of the moth’s short and long trajectories were set at dusk on the day before and two days before the possible arrival date, respectively.  The results suggested two types of possible migration pathway: a multi-step pathway from Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula, and eastern Russia, which are destination areas of the first-generation’s migration, and a direct pathway from seasonal main emigration areas in eastern China such as Jiangsu and Shandong provinces.  These findings contribute to our understanding of the migration ecology of M. separata and can be used for the development of methods to predict the migration of this insect.

地球磁场影响着地球上所有的生物。本研究以正常地磁场（约50 μT）为对照条件，在近零磁场（<500 nT）下饲养粘虫，观察近零磁场对粘虫的行为效应。近零磁场由亥姆霍兹线圈系统产生。结果表明：近零磁场显著延长了粘虫幼虫和蛹的发育历期，增加了雄蛾的寿命，减少了蛹重，雌性产卵量和卵黄蛋白原蛋白基因（Vg）的表达水平；而且，近零磁场对粘虫成虫交配率产生负面影响。此外，近零磁场下粘虫在黑夜的自主飞行活动减少，表明近零磁场可能影响粘虫的飞行节律。磁场强度的降低可能对粘虫的生长发育、繁殖和飞行等活动产生负面影响，进而影响粘虫的迁飞活动。

The oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a major migrant pest of grain in China and other Asian countries, causing huge crop production and economic losses nationwide annually.  Much of the uniquely difficult aspects of managing M. separata arises from its long-distance migratory behavior.  For example, direction and timing of winds from its overwintering regions in the south largely determine where and when large influxes of migrants arrive in the north to oviposit, making prediction of infestations difficult.  Since the 1960s, the migration routes and infestation patterns of M. separata in China have been resolved (Li et al. 1964; Jiang et al. 2011), allowing development of effective forecasting and early warning technology to help manage this insect.  Over the past two decades, large-scale outbreaks of M. separata have rarely occurred.  However, in 2012, M. separata infested much of northern and northeastern China.
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We hope that the readers will find the articles in this special focus informative and useful for oriental armyworm pest management.  We are grateful to the authors and anonymous reviewers.  We thank Editorial Board and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Integrative Agriculture for accepting our proposal to publish these papers.  We also thank the special fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of China (201403031) for support of this special focus.

Seed storability (SS) is an important trait for agronomic production and germplasm preservation in rice (Oryza sativa L.).  Quantitative trait locus (QTL) for seed storability in three storage periods was identified using two sets of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the crosses with a common female parent Shennong 265 (SN265).  Ten QTLs for seed storability were detected on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 12 in SL-RILs (SN265/Lijiangxingtuanheigui (LTH)), and a total of 12 QTLs were identified on chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, and 10 in SH-RILs (SN265/Luhui 99 (LH99)) in different storage periods.  Among these QTLs, five major QTLs were identified in more than one storage period.  The qSS3-1, qSS3-2, qSS12-1, and qSS12-2 were detected in SL-RILs.  Similarly, qSS2-2, qSS2-3, qSS6-2, qSS6-3, qSS6-4, qSS9-1, and qSS9-2 were detected in SH-RILs.  In addition, the maximum phenotypic variation was derived from the qSS6-1 and qSS9-2, explaining 53.58 and 29.09%, respectively, while qSS6-1 was a new stable QTL for seed storability.  These results provide an opportunity for pyramiding and map-based cloning major QTLs for seed storability in rice.

The symbiotic matching for nodulation of Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains is a synergy of multi-proteins and plays a key role in symbiotic nitrogen fixation in nature. Studies on mechanism of symbiotic matching are significant in both theory and practice. In this paper, B. japonicum USDA110-A with high symbiotic matching with high-oil content soybean cultivar Suinong 20 and B. japonicum 2178 with low symbiotic matching were selected for proteomic to reveal mechanism of different symbiotic nodulation. The results showed that the amount and categories of proteins identified in this test were different when the two strains were treated by symbiotic nodulation. There were 10 up-regulated proteins and 5 down-regulated proteins with significant difference for B. japonicum USDA110-A. Proteins associated with nodulation and metabolism of energy and material, which were propitious to symbiotic nodulation, were all up-regulated, such as PHDPS synthase, metal-dependent phosphohydrolase, glycosyl transferase family. In contrast, only 5 up-regulated and 7 down-regulated differential proteins were detected in B. japonicum 2178. Molecular chaperones and defensive proteins, which influence the folding of nascent polypeptide chains and the active of azotase were down-regulated. To a certain extent, the different responses of B. japonicum to daidzein were one of the most important reasons that cause varieties in symbiotic matching ability.

Competitiveness for nodulation of Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains plays a key role in symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Inorder to reveal the difference in competitiveness, B. japonicum 4534 with high competitiveness and B. japonicum 4222with low competitiveness for nodulation were analyzed by proteomic technique. The results showed that differentialproteins were fewer when two strains were treated with just daidzein. Only 24 and 10 differential proteins were detectedwith an up-regulated rate of 58 and 40% in B. japonicum 4534 and B. japonicum 4222, respectively. However, moredifferential proteins were detected upon treatment with daidzein and mutual extracellular materials simultaneously. Therewere 78 differential proteins detected in B. japonicum 4534 with 43 being up-regulated and 35 being down-regulated.These differential proteins, such as metabolism-related proteins, transporters, transcription-related proteins, translationrelatedproteins, and flagellin, were found to be associated with nodulation process. 25 up-regulated and 22 down-regulatedproteins were detected in B. japonicum 4222. Some of these proteins were not related to nodulation. More differentialproteins associated with nodulation in B. japonicum 4534 may be the reason for its high competitiveness. The results canprovide a guide to the selection and inoculation of effective strains and are significant to biological nitrogen fixation.