不同氮（N）水平下玉米的生理和代谢差异是田间合理氮素营养管理的基础，对提高氮肥利用率和减少环境污染具有重要作用。本文在明确长期不同氮肥处理下玉米氮效率和产量响应的前提下，利用非靶代谢组学方法分析了相应的差异代谢物及其代谢途径的差异。结果表明，氮胁迫（包括缺乏和过量），通过调节碳代谢产物（包括糖醇和TCA循环中间体）和氮代谢产物（包含各种氨基酸及其衍生物）影响碳氮代谢的平衡。缺氮胁迫时，L-丙氨酸、L-苯丙氨酸、L-组氨酸和L-谷氨酰胺显著下调，而过量氮时，L-缬氨酸、脯氨酸和L-组氨酸显著上调。除了上述碳氮代谢中的糖醇和氨基酸外，在该实验条件下，一些次生代谢物如黄酮类化合物（包括山奈酚、木犀草素、芸香素和香叶木素）和激素类（包括吲哚乙酸、反式玉米素和茉莉酸）可以初步被筛选作为氮胁迫诊断的指标。本研究还表明，N2处理（120 kg·ha^-1 N）和N3处理（180 kg·ha^-1 N）的叶片代谢水平相似，这与12年试验中两处理之间生理指标和产量的变化趋势一致。本研究在代谢水平上验证了氮肥减施即施用量从180 kg·ha^-1（当地推荐）减少到120 kg·ha^-1的可行性，为不降低产量条件下减少氮肥施用，进而提高氮肥利用率和保护生态环境提供了理论基础。

紫云英-稻秸联合利用作为一种高效的耕作模式，在我国南方稻区已有广泛应用，然而其对稻田土壤团聚体和土壤有机碳稳定性的影响尚缺乏研究。本文基于田间定位试验，研究了紫云英、稻秸及其联合利用对土壤团聚体分布和有机碳组分的影响。田间定位试验设6个处理，分别为冬闲稻秸不还田（Crtl）、冬闲稻秸半量还田（1/2RS）、冬闲稻秸全量还田（RS）、冬种紫云英稻秸不还田（GM）、冬种紫云英稻秸半量还田（GM1/2RS）、冬种紫云英稻秸全量还田（GMRS）。结果表明，GMRS相比RS处理，土壤细大团聚体（0.25-2 mm）含量和团聚体平均质量直径（MWD）分别增加18.9%和3.41%，粉粘粒（<0.053 mm）含量降低14.4%。GMRS相比GM和RS，提高了微团聚体（0.053-0.25 mm）和粉粘粒中的SOC含量。GMRS处理相比RS显著增加了各粒径团聚体和全土中的轻组有机碳（fLOC）含量及其在碳组分中的占比，降低了细大团聚体、微团聚体和全土中矿质结合态有机碳（MOC）的含量及其在碳组分中的占比。GMRS相比GM提高了颗粒态有机碳（iPOC）在有机碳组分中的占比。GMRS对细大团聚体中的iPOC有强烈的正影响，说明联合利用能够促进fLOC转移到iPOC。综上，紫云英-稻秸联合利用能够通过提高fLOC含量培育土壤有机碳库，并促进有机碳转化为iPOC以物理保护的形式固存而提高其稳定性。

磷（P）是一种不可再生资源，也是植物生长的关键营养元素，对作物产量的提高起着重要作用。磷肥的过量施用在农业生产中很普遍，这不仅浪费了磷肥资源，还造成了磷的积累和地下水污染。为了获得较高的产量和磷素利用效率（PUE），我们假设农业系统的表观磷平衡可以作为确定磷投入阈值的关键指标。因此，我们进行了长达12年的定位田间试验，包括6个施磷处理，施磷量分别为0、45、90、135、180和225 kg P₂O₅ ha^–1，以明确作物产量、PUE和土壤Olsen-P对磷平衡的反应并优化磷投入。结果表明，当磷肥施用量超过某一水平时，周年产量不再增加，当周年磷肥施用量为90–135 kg P₂O₅ ha^–1时可以实现较高的产量和PUE。当磷平衡阈值为2.15–4.45 kg P ha^–1时可以实现最佳产量和最小的环境风险。基于磷平衡阈值估算的磷投入为95.7–101 kg P₂O₅ ha^–1，施磷量在此阈值内时可以协同提高产量与PUE（90.0–94.9%）。此外，本研究发现磷投入-产出平衡框架的建立有助于评估土壤Olsen-P在未来的变化，其中土壤磷平衡每增加100 kg P ha^–1，有效磷含量上升4.07 mg kg^–1。总之，磷平衡可以作为农业生产中磷管理的一个重要指标，为限制磷过剩和制定更高产、高效和环保的磷肥管理策略提供有力参考。

本研究旨在评估生物炭控制番茄枯萎病的有效性，并探讨生物炭引起的根际化合物组成变化、病原菌和番茄生长之间的相互作用。设置了小麦秸秆生物炭添加（CK：不添加生物炭，BC：添加4%的生物炭）与青枯雷尔氏菌（Ralstonia solanacearum）接种（NI：不接种青枯菌，I：接种青枯菌）对番茄根际有机酸和氨基酸组分、微生物活性、养分有效性和番茄发病率影响的盆栽试验；同时研究了纯培养条件下，不同处理的番茄根际提取物对青枯菌生长的影响。盆栽试验结果表明，生物炭添加使番茄青枯病发病率降低了61%到78%，同时促进了番茄植株的生长。培养试验的结果进一步证实，添加生物炭的番茄根际提取物可显著抑制青枯菌的生长，其最终青枯菌密度显著低于未添加生物炭的根际提取物。这种正向的“生物炭效应”可能与根际微生物活性的增强和根际有机酸、氨基酸组分的改变有关。具体而言，生物炭诱导了番茄根际柠檬酸和赖氨酸含量升高，但水杨酸含量降低，从而增强了微生物活性，使番茄根际不适合青枯菌的发育。此外，微生物活性增强活化的土壤养分和/或生物炭输入的养分促进了植株生长，进一步强化了番茄对青枯病的抗性。综合以上结果，本文提出生物炭控制番茄枯萎病的能力与其诱导的番茄根际有机酸、氨基酸组成的变化有关，相关结论仍需田间长期试验的进一步验证。

Maize is one of the most important crops worldwide, but it suffers from salt stress when grown in saline-alkaline soil. There is therefore an urgent need to improve maize salt tolerance and crop yield. In this study, the SsNHX1 gene of Suaeda salsa, which encodes a vacuolar membrane Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter, was transformed into the maize inbred line 18-599 by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transgenic maize plants overexpressing the SsNHX1 gene showed less growth retardation when treated with an increasing NaCl gradient of up to 1%, indicating enhanced salt tolerance. The improved salt tolerance of transgenic plants was also demonstrated by a significantly elevated seed germination rate (79%) and a reduction in seminal root length inhibition. Moreover, transgenic plants under salt stress exhibited less physiological damage. SsNHX1-overexpressing transgenic maize accumulated more Na⁺ and K⁺ than wild-type (WT) plants particularly in the leaves, resulting in a higher ratio of K+/Na+ in the leaves under salt stress. This result revealed that the improved salt tolerance of SsNHX1-overexpressing transgenic maize plants was likely attributed to SsNHX1-mediated localization of Na⁺ to vacuoles and subsequent maintenance of the cytosolic ionic balance. In addition, SsNHX1 overexpression also improved the drought tolerance of the transgenic maize plants, as rehydrated transgenic plants were restored to normal growth while WT plants did not grow normally after dehydration treatment. Therefore, based on our engineering approach, SsNHX1 represents a promising candidate gene for improving the salt and drought tolerance of maize and other crops.

Ecological engineering involves the use of plants to promote establishment, survival and efficiency of natural enemies in agricultural systems.  Some plant species may be hosts or provide resources to some pest species.  We assessed the risks and benefits of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), as a nectar source for seven economically important Lepidopteran pest and four parasitoid species in a range of vegetable crop systems.  Our results showed that the mean longevities of arthropod parasitoids Pteromalus puparum (L.), Encarsia sophia (Girault & Dodd) and male Microplitis tuberculifer (Wesmael) were significantly extended when fed on sesame flowers compared to the water control.  Sesame flowers had no effect on adult longevities and fecundities of six out of the seven Lepidoptera pest species tested except Plutella xyllostella (L.) females laid more eggs when fed on sesame flowers.  It is likely that the increased fecundity is due to accessibility to nectar at the bottom of corolla because of their smaller body sizes.  Our findings provide a first step towards better understanding of the risks and benefits of using sesame to implement ecological engineering for the management of vegetable pests.

Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) was previously found to effectively attract female adults of Chilo suppressalis (Walker), an important pest of rice.  To determine the volatile compounds involved in this attraction, electroantennography (EAG) responses to seven synthetic volatiles released from vetiver plants were examined.  Our results indicated that the responses of C. suppressalis adult antennae to the different compounds varied widely.  The compounds elicited strong EAG responses in female antennae were subsequently selected for further EAG response tests, namely, caryophyllene, β-ocimene, linalool and α-pinene.   EAG responses to a combination of these four compounds did not differ significantly from the individual compounds.  However, pair combination tests indicated that 0.01 μg μL^–1 linalool and 50 μg μL^–1 α-pinene, 50 μg μL^–1 caryophyllene and 0.01 μg μL^–1 linalool, 0.01 μg μL^–1 β-ocimene and 0.01 μg μL^–1 linalool, and 0.01 μg μL^–1 β-ocimene and 50 μg μL^–1 caryophyllene elicited significantly greater EAG responses in 3-day female moths compared to the 1-day female.  These compound combinations and the corresponding ratios are probably playing an important role in attracting female adults of C. suppressalis to the vetiver grass.  

   Zea nicaraguensis, a wild relative of cultivated maize (Zea mays subsp. mays), is considered to be a valuable germplasm to improve the waterlogging tolerance of cultivated maize. Use of reverse genetic-based gene cloning and function verification to discover waterlogging tolerance genes in Z. nicaraguensis is currently impractical, because little gene sequence information for Z. nicaraguensis is available in public databases. In this study, Z. nicaraguensis seedlings were subjected to simulated waterlogging stress and total RNAs were isolated from roots stressed and non-stressed controls. In total, 80 mol L^–1 Illumina 100-bp paired-end reads were generated. De novo assembly of the reads generated 81 002 final non-redundant contigs, from which 5 261 full-length transcripts were identified. Among these full-length transcripts, 3 169 had at least one Gene Ontology (GO) annotation, 2 354 received cluster of orthologous groups (COG) terms, and 1 992 were assigned a Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) Orthology number. These sequence data represent a valuable resource for identification of Z. nicaraguensis genes involved in waterlogging response.

The physical and chemical heterogeneities of soils make the soil spectral different and complicated, and it is valuable to increase the accuracy of prediction models for soil organic matter (SOM) based on pre-classification. This experiment was conducted under a controllable environment, and different soil samples from northeast of China were measured using ASD2500 hyperspectral instrument. The results showed that there are different reflectances in different soil types. There are statistically significant correlation between SOM and reflectence at 0.05 and 0.01 levels in 550–850 nm, and all soil types get significant at 0.01 level in 650–750 nm. The results indicated that soil types of the northeast can be divided into three categories: The first category shows relatively flat and low reflectance in the entire band; the second shows that the spectral reflectance curve raises fastest in 460–610 nm band, the sharp increase in the slope, but uneven slope changes; the third category slowly uplifts in the visible band, and its slope in the visible band is obviously higher than the first category. Except for the classification by curve shapes of reflectance, principal component analysis is one more effective method to classify soil types. The first principal component includes 62.13–97.19% of spectral information and it mainly relates to the information in 560–600, 630–690 and 690–760 nm. The second mainly represents spectral information in 1 640–1 740, 2 050–2 120 and 2 200–2 300 nm. The samples with high OM are often in the left, and the others with low OM are in the right of the scatter plot (the first principal component is the horizontal axis and the second is the longitudinal axis). Soil types in northeast of China can be classified effectively by those two principles; it is also a valuable reference to other soil in other areas.

The effect of long-term straw return on crop yield, soil potassium (K) content, soil organic matter, and crop response to K from both straw and chemical K fertilizer (K2SO4) were investigated in a fixed site field experiment for winter wheat-summer maize rotation in 6 years for 12 seasons. The field experiment was located in northern part of North China Plain with a sandy soil in relatively low yield potential. Two factors, straw return and chemical K fertilizer, were studied with two levels in each factor. Field split design was employed, with two straw treatments, full straw return of previous crop (St) and no straw return, in main plots, and two chemical K fertilizer treatments, 0 and 60 kg K2O ha–1, as sub-plots. The results showed that straw return significantly increased yields of winter wheat and summer maize by 16.5 and 13.2% in average, respectively, and the positive effect of straw return to crop yield showed more effective in lower yield season. Straw return significantly increased K absorption by the crops, with significant increase in straw part. In treatment with straw return, the K content in crop straw increased by 15.9 and 21.8% in wheat and maize, respectively, compared with no straw return treatment. But, straw return had little effect on K content in grain of the crops. Straw return had significant influences on total K uptake by wheat and maize plants, with an increase of 32.7 and 30.9%, respectively. There was a significant correlation between crop yield and K uptake by the plant. To produce 100 kg grain, the wheat and maize plants absorbed 3.26 and 2.24 kg K2O, respectively. The contents of soil available K and soil organic matter were significantly affected by the straw return with an increase of 6.07 and 23.0%, respectively, compared to no straw return treatment. K2SO4 application in rate of 60 kg K2O ha–1 showed no significant effect on wheat and maize yield, K content in crop straw, total K uptake by the crops, soil available K content, and soil organic matter. The apparent K utilization rate (percentage of applied K absorbed by the crop in the season) showed difference for wheat and maize with different K sources. In wheat season, the K utilization rate from K2SO4 was higher than that from straw, while in maize season, the K utilization rate from straw was higher than that from chemical fertilizer. In the whole wheat-maize rotation system, the K absorption efficiency by the two crops from straw was higher than that from K2SO4.

The genus Adelphocoris (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a group of key insect pests in cotton fields in China that includes three dominant species: A. suturalis (Jakovlev), A. lineolatus (Goeze) and A. fasciaticollis (Reuter). Previous field surveys have found that adults of these Adelphocoris species usually move onto specific host plants when the plants enter the flowering stage. To determine the potential trade-offs for this host-plant preference behavior, the performance of these three Adelphocoris spp. on flowering and non-flowering cotton and alfalfa were compared in the laboratory. The results showed that Adelphocoris spp. had significantly higher nymphal developmental and survival rates, along with increased adult longevity and fecundity on flowering cotton and alfalfa than on non-flowering plants of either species. In addition, compared with cotton plants, alfalfa generally promoted better performance of these three Adelphocoris species, especially for A. lineolatus. Simple correlation analysis indicated that female adult longevity was positively correlated to male adult longevity and female fecundity, and female fecundity was positively correlated to nymphal development and survival rates. This study demonstrated a positive correlation between adult preference and offspring/adult performance for all three Adelphocoris species, with no evidence of any trade-offs for this preference for flowering host plants. These findings support the hypothesis that hemimetabolous insects such as mirid bugs have positive adult preference-adult/nymphal performance relationships, which is likely due to the similar feeding habits and nutritional requirements of adults and nymphs.

Phosphorus (P) is one of the three primary macronutrients that are required in large amounts for plant growth and development. To better understand molecular mechanism of maize and identify relevant genes in response to phosphorus deficiency, we used Solexa/Illumina’s digital gene expression (DGE) technology to investigate six genome-wide expression profiles of seedling roots of the low-P tolerant maize inbred line 178. DGE studies were conducted at 6, 24 and 72 h under both phosphorus deficient and sufficient conditions. Approximately 3.93 million raw reads for each sample were sequenced and 6 816 genes exhibited significant levels of differential expressions in at least one of three time points in response to P starvation. The number of genes with increased expression increased over time from 6 to 24 h, whereas genes with decreased expression were more abundant at 72 h, suggesting a gradual response process for P deficiency at different stages. Gene annotations illustrated that most of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are involved in different cellular and molecular processes such as environmental adaptation and carbohydrate metabolism. The expression of some known genes identified in other plants, such as those involved in root architecture, P metabolism and transport were found to be altered at least two folds, indicating that the mechanisms of molecular and morphological adaptation to P starvation are conserved in plants. This study provides insight into the general molecular mechanisms underlying plant adaptation to low-P stress and thus may facilitate molecular breeding for improving P utilization in maize.

Pasteurella multocida, a Gram-negative nonmotile coccobacillus, is the causative agent of fowl cholera, bovine hemorrhagic septicemia, enzoonotic pneumonia and swine atropic rhinitis. Two filamentous hemagglutinin genes, fhaB1 and fhaB2, are the potential virulence factors. In this study, an inactivation fhaB1 mutant of P. multocida in avian strain C48-102 was constructed by a kanamycin-resistance cassette. The virulence of the fhaB1 mutant and the wild type strain was assessed in chickens by intranasal and intramuscular challenge. The inactivation of fhaB1 resulted in a high degree of attenuation when the chickens were challenged intranasally and a lesser degree when challenged intramuscularly. The fhaB1 mutant and the wild type strain were investigated their sensitivity to the antibody-dependent classical complement-mediated killing pathway in 90% convalescent chicken serum. The fhaB1 mutant was serum sensitive as the viability has reduced between untreated serum and heat inactivated chicken serum (P<0.007). These results confirmed that FhaB1 played the critical roles in the bacterial pathogenesis and further studies were needed to investigate the mechanism which caused reduced virulence of the fhaB1 mutant.

Increasing K+ adsorption can be an effective alternative in building an available K pool in soils to optimize crop recovery and minimize losses into the environment. We hypothesized that long-term fertilization might change K+ adsorption because of changes in the chemical and mineralogical properties of a rice (Oryza sativa L.). The aims of this study were (i) to determine clay minerals in paddy soil clay size fractions using X-ray diffraction methods and a numerical diagramdecomposition method; (ii) to measure K+ adsorption isotherms before and after H2O2 oxidation of organic matter, and (iii) to investigate whether K+ adsorption is correlated with changes in soil chemical and mineral properties. The 30-yr longterm fertilization treatments caused little change in soil organic C (SOC) but a large variation in soil mineral composition. The whole-clay fraction (<5 μm) corresponded more to the fertilization treatment than the fine-clay fraction (<1 μm) in terms of percentage of illite peak area. The total percentage of vermiculite-chlorite peak area was significantly negatively correlated with the total percentage of illite peak area in the <5 μm soil particles (R=-0.946, P<0.0006). Different fertilization treatments gave significantly different results in K+ adsorption. The SOC oxidation test showed positive effects of SOC on K+ adsorption at lower K+ concentration ( 120 mg L-1) and negative effects at higher K+ concentration (240 mg L-1). The K+ adsorption by soil clay minerals after SOC oxidization accounted for 60-158% of that by unoxidized soils, suggesting a more important role of soil minerals than SOC on K+ adsorption. The K+ adsorption potential was significantly correlated to the amount of poorly crystallized illite present (R=0.879, P=0.012). The availability of adsorbed K+ for plant growth needs further study.

In this study, the effect of icariin, a flavonoid from the Chinese traditional medicine epimedium, on miRNA-21 of mouse developmental blastocysts in vitro and the development of preimplantation embryos were studied. The possible effective targets of icariin promoting preimplantation embryo development in vitro and anti-apoptosis were determined. The embryos were cultured in modified CZB medium (mCZB) as control group. The experimental group (Ica group) was supplemented with 0.6 μg mL-1 icariin. Mouse pronuclear embryos were cultured in vitro until blastocysts. The development rates of preimplantation embryos were observed. The total cell number, apoptotic cell number and the rate of apoptotic cells in blastocysts were analysed by the staining of Hoechst33342 and labeling of TUNEL and detected under a laser confocal scanning microscope. The miRNA-21 expression, the mRNA levels of pro-apoptotic Caspase3, and the target genes of miRNA-21: pro-apoptotic PTEN, anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 were detected by real-time RT-PCR. The results showed that percentages of morulaes and blastocysts in Ica group were both extremely higher than control group ((85.14±6.57)% vs. (72.04±11.58)%; (82.50±7.11)% vs. (66.80±11.70)%, respectively, P<0.01). The total cell number of blastocysts had extreme difference between Ica group and control group ((61.40±9.64) vs. (46.23±4.50), P<0.01). The apoptotic cell number and rate of apoptotic cells of blastocysts were both reduced in Ica group ((1.47±0.51) vs. (2.94±0.66); (2.40±0.27)% vs. (6.25±0.62)%, respectively, P<0.01). Compared to control group, addition of icariin into mCZB extremely increased the expression of anti-apoptotic miRNA-21 (P<0.01), down-regulated pro-apoptotic Caspase3 (P<0.05) and PTEN (P<0.01), up-regulated anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 (P<0.01). In conclusion, icariin could reduce the apoptosis, promote the embryo development in vitro by enhancing miRNA-21 expression to up-regulated anti-apoptotic genes and down-regulated proapoptotic genes. These apoptosis-related genes were regulated by miRNA-21.

Triticum aestivum-Hayaldia villosa translocation line V3 has shown effective all-stage resistance to the seven dominant pathotypes of Puccinia striiforms f. sp. tritici prevalent in China. To elucidate the genetic basis of the resistance, the segregating populations were developed from the cross between V3 and susceptible genotype Mingxian 169, seedlings of the parents and F2 progeny were tested with six prevalent pathotypes, including CYR29, CYR31, CYR32-6, CYR33, Sun11-4, and Sun11-11, F1 plants and F3 lines were also inoculated with Sun11-11 to confirm the result further. The genetic studied results showed that the resistance of V3 against CYR29 was conferred by two dominant genes, independently, one dominant gene and one recessive gene conferring independently or a single dominant gene to confer resistance to CYR31, two complementary dominant genes conferring resistance to both CYR32-6 and Sun11-4, two independently dominant genes or three dominant genes (two of the genes show cumulative effect) conferring resistance to CYR33, a single dominant gene for resistance to Sun11-11. Resistance gene analog polymorphism (RGAP) and simple-sequence repeat (SSR) techniques were used to identify molecular markers linked to the single dominant gene (temporarily designated as YrV3) for resistance to Sun11-11. A linkage map of 2 RGAP and 7 SSR markers was constructed for the dominant gene using data from 221 F2 plants and their derived F2:3 lines tested with Sun11-11 in the greenhouse. Amplification of the complete set of nulli-tetrasomic lines of Chinese Spring with a RGAP marker RG1 mapped the gene on the chromosome 1B, and then the linked 7 SSR markers located this gene on the long arm of chromosome 1B. The linkage map spanned a genetic distance of 25.0 cM, the SSR markers Xgwm124 and Xcfa2147 closely linked to YrV3 with genetic distances of 3.0 and 3.8 cM, respectively. Based on the linkage map, it concluded that the resistance gene YrV3 was located on chromosome arm 1BL. Given chromosomal location, the reaction patterns and pedigree analysis, YrV3 should be a novel gene for resistance to stripe rust in wheat. These closely linked markers should be useful in stacking genes from different sources for wheat breeding and diversification of resistance genes against stripe rust.

Vitamin A deficiency has become a worldwide problem. Biofortified foods can potentially be an inexpensive, locally adaptable, and long-term solution to dietary-nutrient deficiency. In order to improve the b-carotene content in maize grain by breeding and minimize vitamin A deficiency, a complete diallel cross was designed with eight inbred lines of maize, and 64 combinations were obtained in this study. The experimental combinations were planted in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, respectively, with a random complete block design. The b-carotene contents in the grains of the experimental materials were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Among the tested materials, the effect difference of general combining ability of the b-carotene content was significant; however, the effect difference of the special combining ability and the reciprocal effect were not significant. The b-carotene content of maize grain was not influenced significantly by the cross and the reciprocal cross. There was a significant correlation about the b-carotene content in the maize grains between the F1 and their parents. The combinations with high b-carotene content were obviously influenced by the environment, and the mean value of b-carotene content for the experimental materials planted in Ya’an of Sichuan was higher than that planted in Yuanjiang of Yunnan, with the results being significant at the 0.01 level.

Cry toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are effective biological insecticides against certain insect species. In this study, bioassay results indicated that Cry1B and Cry1C were toxic to Spodoptera exigua. We also identified a cadherin-like gene in S. exigua that could enhance the toxicity of Cry1B and Cry1C. The cadherin-like gene identified from the larvae midgut tissue was cloned by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA of the gene consisted of 5 220 bp encoding 1 740 amino acid with a predicted molecular mass of 196 kD. BLAST search analysis showed that the predicted amino acid sequence had a high sequence identity to the published sequences of cadherin-like proteins from other Lepidoptera insects. Spatial expression of the cadherin-like gene detected by qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the cadherin-like gene was mainly present in the gut of 4th instar larvae and during different life stages. The results suggested that the commercial development of this synergist has the potential to enhance Cry1B and Cry1C toxicity against Lepidoptera insects.