类胡萝卜素是人类饮食的重要组成部分，水果是类胡萝卜素的主要来源。水果中类胡萝卜素的合成和调节对水果品质的形成非常重要。在中国，草莓是冬季种植的主要时令水果之一。先前的研究表明，光对草莓中花青素、糖和多酚的代谢有很大影响。然而，我们对光如何调节草莓中类胡萝卜素代谢的机理还知之甚少。在本研究中，我们研究了蓝光、红光、黄绿光和白光对草莓中类胡萝卜素代谢的影响。我们的研究表明蓝光处理促进了草莓中叶黄素等多种类胡萝卜素的合成。转录组测序数据显示，蓝光处理促进了草莓中番茄红素ε-环化酶（FaLCYE）编码基因的表达。在草莓果实中瞬时过量表达FaLCYE可促进叶黄素在草莓中的积累。综上，我们的研究结果表明蓝光可以通过诱导FaLCYE的表达从而促进草莓中叶黄素的合成。

建立一种同时鉴别诊断猪瘟病毒（classical swine fever virus, CSFV)、非洲猪瘟病毒（African swine fever virus, ASF）和猪非典型瘟病毒（atypical porcine pestivirus, APPV）的快速、灵敏、有效的检测方法。依据GenBank中登录的CSFV (5¢ UTR)、ASFV (B646L) 和 APPV (5¢ UTR) 的高度保守基因序列分别设计和优化了多对特异性引物和Taq-man探针，以保守区基因序列分别制备三种阳性质粒，用矩阵法优化单重/多重荧光PCR的反应体系和条件，为避免荧光通道的交叉干扰多重荧光PCR扩增，结合所标记的荧光报告基团做颜色补偿试验，构建标准曲线的扩增图和对应的线性方程，并进行特异性、敏感性、重复性、符合性以及临床样本的检测等试验。三种病毒的标准曲线相关系数均达到0.995以上，具有良好的线性关系；与其它常见猪病无交叉扩增反应，具有很好的特异性；多重荧光PCR的最低检测量均为1 copy/mL，具有较高的敏感性；组内和组间的变异系数均小于1%，具有很好的重复性。该方法与CSF的国标(GB/T 27540-2011), ASF的国标 (GB/T 18648-2020)，APPV的发明专利 (CN108611442A)检测样本盘的22个毒株样本符合率为100%。本研究建立的多重荧光PCR检测方法具有快速、高效、通量高、特异性好、灵敏度高等特点，可以对CSFV、ASFV和APPV病毒进行鉴别检测，为动物疫病的流行病学调查、疫情的检测提供一种新型的检测手段。本研究结合荧光PCR仪不同荧光通道设计CSFV、ASFV和APPV探针荧光信号强度较高且干扰较小的FAM、CY5和HEX报告基团，建立多重荧光PCR检测方法，用于同时鉴别诊断3种主要猪病毒的检测方法，在临床诊断中具有重要的应用价值。

剪接因子Prp6是剪接三聚体U4/U6.U5中的关键蛋白，在人类细胞和裂殖酵母中，它也是调控前体mRNA剪接的激酶Prp4的底物。前期研究发现引起小麦赤霉病的禾谷镰孢菌FgPrp6蛋白序列的自发突变（角突变）可以部分恢复Fgprp4突变体的表型。禾谷镰孢菌FgPrp4激酶调控剪接效率，其敲除突变体生长缓慢且丧失产孢、有性生殖和致病能力。为了进一步探索FgPrp6与激酶FgPrp4的关系，本研究通过对随机收集的240株Fgprp4角突变子的FgPRP6基因进行PCR产物测序，鉴定了20个角变子中的12个突变。其中3个突变位点在FgPrp6蛋白的N端结构域和HAT重复结构域的连接处，7个突变位点位于前两个HAT重复区域。对角变子的转录组数据分析结果表明FgPrp6上不同位置的角突变对Fgprp4突变体前体mRNA剪接缺陷的恢复程度不同。通过在野生型菌株中转入FgPrp6^E308K-GFP载体或在内源FgPrp6上原位引入R230H突变，同时敲除FgPRP4的方法证实FgPrp6上的E308K或R230H都可以抑制Fgprp4。本研究利用co-IP和BiFc的方法证明禾谷镰孢菌的FgPrp6和激酶FgPrp4可以在体内互作，并进一步利用磷酸化抗体检测体内FgPrp6磷酸化水平的方法实验证明FgPrp6为FgPrp4的底物。通过将FgPrp6上保守的Prp4磷酸化位点和预测的磷酸化位点突变为A的方法验证这些位点的功能，结果表明T261，T219&T221和T199&T200对FgPrp6在菌落生长和有性生殖中的功能无关紧要，但是对其在侵染植物阶段的功能至关重要。扫描电镜和共聚焦显微镜观察发现它们主要在禾谷镰孢菌侵染生长，如侵染垫的形成和在植物细胞间的扩展中发挥作用。通过对野生型禾谷镰孢菌、Fgprp6/FgPRP6^Δ199-221-GFP或Fgprp6/FgPRP6^Δ250-262-GFP侵染三天的小麦麸片的转录组数据分析禾谷镰孢菌的前体mRNA剪接缺陷发现Fgprp6/FgPRP6^Δ199-221-GFP和Fgprp6/FgPRP6^Δ250-262-GFP菌株中各有28%和35%的内含子剪接具有缺陷，推测这种剪接缺陷是突变体侵染生长缺陷的原因。该研究为将来进一步解析禾谷镰孢菌前体mRNA剪接调控及剪接与致病性的关系奠定了基础。

The additions of straw and biochar have been suggested to increase soil fertility, carbon sequestration, and crop productivity of agricultural lands.  To our knowledge, there is little information on the effects of straw and biochar addition on soil nitrogen form, carbon storage, and super rice yield in cold waterlogged paddy soils.  We performed field trials with four treatments including conventional fertilization system (CK), straw amendment 6 t ha^–1 (S), biochar amendment 2 t ha^–1 (C1), and biochar amendment 40 t ha^–1 (C2).  The super japonica rice variety, Shennong 265, was selected as the test crop.  The results showed that the straw and biochar amendments improved total nitrogen and organic carbon content of the soil, reduced N₂O emissions, and had little influence on nitrogen retention, nitrogen density, and CO₂ emissions.  The S and C1 increased NH₄⁺-N content, and C2 increased NO₃^–-N content.  Both S and C1 had little influence on soil organic carbon density (SOCD) and C/N ratio.  However, C2 greatly increased SOCD and C/N ratio.  C1 and C2 significantly improved the soil carbon sequestration (SCS) by 62.9 and 214.0% (P<0.05), respectively, while S had no influence on SCS.  C1 and C2 maintained the stability of super rice yield, and significantly reduced CH₄ emissions, global warming potential (GWP), and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI), whereas S had the opposite and negative effects.  In summary, the biochar amendments in cold waterlogged paddy soils of North China increased soil nitrogen and carbon content, improved soil carbon sequestration, and reduced GHG emission without affecting the yield of super rice.

Effect of salicylic acid (SA) on chilling injury (CI) of sponge gourd during storage (9 days, 9°C) plus shelf life (2 days, 20°C) was evaluated in this study.  SA treatment at the concentration of 1.5 mmol L^–1 significantly reduced postharvest CI of sponge gourds.  Besides, the application of SA could effectively decrease the electrolyte leakage, reduce the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total phenolics, enhance the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and inhibit the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO).  The beneficial effects of SA could be attributed to preserved membrane integrity, inhibited membrane peroxidation, enhanced antioxidant system and suppressed activities of browning related enzymes.  In a sense, SA as a postharvest tool may be commercially used in alleviating CI of sponge gourd.

    Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily, is a dominant inhibitor that acts to limit skeletal muscle growth and development. In this study, we generated transgenic mice that express porcine myostatin containg mutations at its cleavage site (RSRR) to evaluate its effect on muscle mass. Results showed that the weight of four skeletal muscles including gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, and pectoralis increased by 17.83 and 28.39%, 21.76 and 28.70%, 34.31 and 41.62%, 53.21 and 27.54% in transgenic male and female mice, respectively, compared to their corresponding non-transgenic control mice. Measurement of muscle fiber size and number indicated that the mean myofiber size increased by 50.73 and 61.30% in transgenic male and female mice respectively compared to the non-transgenic controls. However, there was no difference in the number of myofiber between transgenic and non-transgenic male mice. These results clearly demonstrated that the increase in skeletal muscle mass in transgenic mice is caused by hypertrophy instead of hyperplasia.

The antifungal activity of chitosan on a common fungal phytopathogen, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and the control effect on sclerotinia rot of carrot were investigated. Mycelial growth and fungal biomass were strongly inhibited by chitosan. Using propidium iodide stain combined with fluorescent microscopy, the plasma membrane of chitosan-treated S. sclerotiorum mycelia was observed to be markedly damaged. Concomitantly, protein leakage and lipid peroxidation was also found to be significantly higher in chitosan-treated mycelia compared to the control. Chitosan provided an effective control of sclerotinia rot of carrot, with induction of activity of defense-related enzymes including polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase. These data suggest that the effects of chitosan on sclerotinia rot of carrot may be associated with the direct damage to the plasma membrane and lipid peroxidation of S. sclerotiorum, and the elicitation of defense response in carrot.

Isoprenoids are a functionally and structurally diverse class of natural organic chemicals. The universal precursors of all isoprenoids, isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate are synthesized through the mevalonate and 2C-methyl- D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathways, respectively. Many isoprenoids produced through the MEP pathway play an important role in plant acclimation to different light environments. Eupatorium adenophorum, an invasive weed in China, presents a remarkable capacity to acclimate to various light environments, which constitutes its solid foundation of being a successful invasive species. Thus we aimed at gaining a deeper insight into the regulation of MEP pathway in E. adenophorum to further understand the invasive mechanism. 2C-Methyl-D-erythritol 2,4-cyclodiphosphate synthase (IspF or MCS) is an essential enzyme in the MEP pathway. In this paper, a novel IspF gene was cloned and characterized from E. adenophorum. Tissue-specific expression assays revealed a higher expression of EaIspF1 in leaves than in stems and roots. The expression of EaIspF1 was responsive to different light conditions. Some up-regulation of EaIspF1 expression was also found after the treatments with signal compounds and after wounding stress. Interestingly, the over-expression of EaIspF1 in Arabidopsis led to increase carotenoids contents, resulting in an enhanced tolerance to high light. Taken together, these results indicate that the EaIspF1-derived enzyme participates in isoprenoid metabolism and among others, the expression of this gene in E. adenophorum is involved in the regulation of plastidial isoprenoids, which play an important role in acclimation to various light environments.

Erect milkvetch (Astragalus adsurgens Pall.), a leguminous grass, is a major source of fuel and forage, and has an important role in the restoration of the degraded ecosystems in central and northeastern China. The objective of this work was to investigate how erect milkvetch planting would affect the physical and chemical properties of soil in degraded arable lands. Soil samples at the depths of 0-20 and 20-40 cm were collected from erect milkvetch planting fileds at ages of 0, 1, 2 and 3 yr. Changes in soil bulk density, soil porosity, total N and P, organic matter content, available P, hydrolysable N and available K were measured. The results showed that root biomass and above-ground plant biomass were both significantly increased with plantation age. The significant increase in root nodule biomass was not observed in the first two years. However, it was significantly increased after three years. Root growth of erect milkvetch improved soil structure, and hence, decreased soil bulk density and increased soil porosity. Furthermore, the nitrogen fixation by erect milkvetch and return of erect milkvetch plant to soil increased the soil total N, hydrolysable N and organic matter content of the soil. Low concentrations of P in the soil with erect milkvetch planting could be ascribed to high plant uptakes and possibly to high sequestrations of P in plant biomass. Concentrations of K significantly increased during the first two years of erect milkvetch planting. The high accumulation of K under erect milkvetch cultivation in the first two years could partly be attributed to low plant uptake, and partly to relatively quick recycling within plant-soil systems. Three years after erect milkvetch plantingr, K accumulation at 0-20 cm soil layer was significantly lower than that from non-vegetated field sites, which could be attributed to high plant uptake. These parameters, except for soil bulk density, were all decreased with increasing soil depth. Soil total N, organic matter, porosity and available K in the 20-40 cm layer all showed linear increase trends, and soil bulk density, total P and available P in the depth 0-20 cm layer soil were decreased with increasing planting age. Erect milkvetch establishment could be an effective and applicable measure to improve soil nutrients, and prevent further soil degradation and erosion.

The dominant genic male sterility (DGMS) gene CDMs399-3 derived from a spontaneous mutation in the line 79-399-3 of spring cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.), has been successfully applied in hybrid seed production of several cabbage cultivars in China. During the development of dominant male sterility lines in cabbage, the conventional identification of homozygous male-sterile plants (CDMs399-3/CDMs399-3) is a laborious and time-consuming process. For marker-assisted selection (MAS) of the gene CDMs399-3 transferred into key spring cabbage line 397, expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSR) and SSR technology were used to identify markers that were linked to CDMs399-3 based on method of bulked segregant analysis (BSA). By screening a set of 978 EST-SSRs and 395 SSRs, a marker BoE332 linked to the CDMs399-3 at a distance of 3.6 cM in the genetic background of cabbage line 397 were identified. 7 homozygous male-sterile plants in population P1170 with 20 plants were obtained finally via MAS of BoE332. Thus, BoE332 will greatly facilitate the transferring of the gene CDMs399-3 into the key spring cabbage line 397 and improve the application of DGMS in cabbage hybrid breeding.

Classical swine fever caused by Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is a serious problem for swine industries in developing countries, which successful control of the disease have been relying on vaccination. However, classical swine fever still occurs in some immunized swine herds for various reasons. In this study, we conducted animal experiments to examine the influence of single or mixed infection with Porcine parvo virus (PPV), Pseudorabies virus (PRV) and Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) on the protective immunity induced by the Lapinized hog cholera virus (HCLV) vaccine and the pathogenicity of CSFV. In experiment 1, pigs were first inoculated with PPV, PRV or PRRSV, then immunized with HCLV, and finally challenged with a highly virulent CSFV Shimen strain. All of the pigs immunized with HCLV survived after the challenge, while all of the pigs in the non-immunized control group died after the challenge. The pigs in the group immunized with HCLV did not show any clinical symptoms of classical swine fever and were negative with CSFV after the challenge. The pigs infected with the non-CSFV before HCLV immunization did not display any clinical symptoms after the challenge with CSFV Shiman strain, but 11 of the 12 pigs were positive with CSFV. In experiment 2, pre-infections with PPV, PRV, and PRRSV were followed by inoculation with a low-virulence CSFV strain (CSFV 39), and then the pigs were challenged with the CSFV Shimen strain. Infections by either PPV, PRV or PRRSV did not enhance the virulence of CSFV-39, but pigs infected by a mixture of the 3 viruses developed clinical symptoms after inoculation with CSFV-39. The mixed infection also increased mortality caused by the challenge with the CSFV Shimen strain. Together, these results showed PPV, PRV and PRRSV infections in pigs can reduce the efficacy of the HCLV vaccine and enhance the pathogenicity of CSFV, which may partly explain the immunization failure against CSFV in some swine herds.

To understand genetic structure and diversity of parental cultivars involved in China Mainland sugarcane breeding programs, 92 elite parents and 4 wild relatives were genotyped with 18 microsatellite DNA markers. The genetic similarity (GS) values among the cultivars ranged from 0.346 to 0.960 with an average of 0.533. Among the introduced cultivars, India accessions had the closest genetic distance to China Mainland accessions (0.447), while Australia accessions have the furthest distance (0.503). A comparison of allelic diversity among geographical origins showed that there were 22 China Mainland specific alleles, of which 28% were derived from native S. spontaneaum germplasm in China. Model-based genetic structure, clustering, and principal components analyses consistently revealed there were five groups within the 96 accessions. Groups 1, 2, 4, and 5 consisted of all cultivars and group 3 only contained wild germplasm. Group 2 was characterized as the Introduction group with 46 cultivars predominantly introduced from Australia, Taiwan of China, India, and USA. Groups 1, 4, and 5 consisted of cultivars mostly originated from China Mainland, defined as the Complex group, Yacheng lines group, and F134/CP72-1210 group, respectively, upon their pedigree. By understanding the genetic relationships among the parental cultivars, breeders can gain a rational basis for expanding the gene pool and select the best parental accessions for crossing.

The no-till seeders of various soil opener configurations have been shown to produce various soil physical responses in relation to soil and climate conditions, thus affecting crop performance in permanent raised beds (PRB) systems. This is particularly important in arid Northwest China where large volumes of residue are retained on the soil surface after harvest. In Zhangye, Gansu Province, China, a field trial assessed the effects of three typical (powered-chopper, powered-cutter and powered-disc) PRB no-till seeders and one traditional seeder on soil disturbance, residue cover index, bulk density, fuel consumption, plant growth, and subsequent yield. In general, seedbed conditions and crop performance for PRB notill seeders seeded plots were better than for traditional seeded plots. In PRB cropping system, the powered-chopper seeder decreased mean soil disturbance and increased residue cover index compared to powered-disc and -cutter seeders. However, the results indicated that soil bulk density was 2.3-4.8% higher, soil temperature was 0.2-0.6°C lower, and spring wheat emergence was 3.2-4.7% less. This was attributed to greater levels of residue cover and firmer seedbeds. Spring maize and wheat performance in the powered-cutter and -disc treatments was better (non-significant) than poweredchopper treatment. So powered disc no-till seeder, which generally provided the best planting condition and the highest yield, appeared to be the suitable seeder in heavy residue cover conditions. Considering the precision requirements for soil disturbance and residue cover, the powered strip-chopping no-till seeder could be a suitable option for PRB cropping system in Northwest China. Although these results are preliminary, they are still valuable for the design and selection of no-till seeders for PRB cropping systems in arid Northwest China.