The 2017 International Bovine Mastitis Conference & The National Mastitis Council Regional in China was successfully held in Beijing on August 25–27, 2017. Nearly 650 participants from more than eight countries (regions) and international organizations attended this conference. The conference provided an communication platform for international counterparts, and the content was closely related to all aspects of dairy cow health, including dairy mastitis pathogens, diagnose, therapeutics, management, residue, bacterial resistance and milk safety. Here we are pleased to have the opportunity to organize a special focus and provide the most updated knowledge of the given topics.

The first article from De Vliegher et al. (2018) gave an overview of multifactorial approach of mastitis management and prevention with a focus on milking, bedding and data-analysis. Mastitis is a complex, multifactorial disease. Prevention and control of mastitis is based on multiple principles that have been known for a long time. To implement them successfully, they should be put forward by a motivated and motivating advisor that transfers the existing knowledge to the farmer. 

The second article from Kang et al. (2017) investigated the residue elimination of ceftiofur hydrochloride in milk of postpartum cows after intramammary infusing at dry-off. An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/ MS) method was developed and validated to detect ceftiofur hydrochloride residue in milk. The study provided guidance for the clinical applications of ceftiofur hydrochloride intramammary infusion (dry cow). 

The purpose of the third study from Katholm et al. (2017) was to evaluate a new qPCR test to identify the organisms causing high total bacterial count in bulk tank milk. The TBC 4 qPCR detects four target groups, Pseudomonas, Streptococci, Enterobacteriacea/Enterococcus, and Bacillus/ Clostridia. The TBC 4 qPCR test showed to be a strong and fast tool for farmers, advisors and service technicians to address problems with high TBC and ensure the delivery of good quality milk to the dairy. 

At last, Yang et al. (2018) described a study aimed at investigating the prevalence and characterization of extended- spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli isolated from bovine mastitis cases in China. The study noted high prevalence and rates of antimicrobial resistance of ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from bovine mastitis cases in China. 

We genuinely believe that the articles in this special focus could be interested by the readers of the Journal of Integrative Agriculture, and we want to express our deep appreciation to all authors for their high-quality contributions and efforts.

    High yield in rice mainly depends on large grain weight, ideal plant architecture and proper flowering time adapting to various geographic regions. To help achieve higher yield, phenotype variations of heading date (HD), plant architecture and grain shape in a panel of 416 rice accessions were investigated in this study. A total of 143 markers including 100 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 43 gene-tagged markers were employed in association mapping to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for these variations. Among the 7 subpopulations, POP5 in japonica group showed the largest values of HD and grain width (GW), but the smallest values of grain length (GL) and grain length to width ratio (GLW). Among the six indica groups, POP7 had the largest values of HD, GL, GLW, and 1 000-grain weight (TGW). A total of 27 QTLs were detected underlying these phenotypic variations in single year, while 12 of them could be detected in 2006 and 2007. GS3 marker was closely associated with GL, GW and GLW, and widely distributed in different groups. The starch synthesis related gene markers, SSI, SSIIa, SBE1, AGPL4, and ISA1, were linked to plant height (PH), panicle length (PL), flag leaf length (FLL), GW, and GLW. The SSR markers, RM267, RM340 and RM346, were linked to at least two traits. Therefore, these new markers will probably be used to improve rice grain yield or plant architecture when performing marker-assisted selection of proper alleles.

The detection of chemical contaminants is critical to ensure dairy safety. These contaminants include veterinary medicines, antibiotics, pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Immunoassays have recently been used to detect contaminants in milk because of their simple operation, high speed, and low cost. This article describes the latest developments in the most important component of immunoassays — antibodies, and then reviews the four major substrates used for immunoassays (i.e., microplates, membranes, gels, and chips) as well as their use in the detection of milk contaminants. The paper concludes with prospects for further applications of these immunoassays.

The rice blast, caused by fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is a major constraint to the world food security. Hyphal growth is the foundation of fungal development and proliferation of fungi. To investigate genes involved in hyphal growth of this fungus, digital gene expression tag profiling was used to compare a previously generated temperature-sensitive mutant which defect at hyphae growth and reduction on pathogenicity, with its related wildtype strain. 416 genes were detected as differential expression, 178 of which were specifically expressed in Guy-11 but down-regulated expression in the mutant. Functional classification analysis revealed the phenotype mutation may be mainly caused by a defection in translational and vacuolerelated processes. The results and the protocol used will improve our knowledge on morphogenesis and promote the further study on M. oryzae pathogenesis.