载脂蛋白受体相关蛋白2（Lipophorin receptor-related protein，LRP2）是一类广泛分布于上皮细胞的多功能内吞性受体。哺乳动物中，LRP2通过介导细胞对载脂蛋白的摄取来维持脂质稳态，然而，关于LRP2在昆虫体内脂质稳态中的作用研究尚未见报道。本文系统研究了飞蝗载脂蛋白受体相关基因2 （LmLRP2）的生物学功能。利用RT-qPCR技术分析LmLRP2在虫体不同组织部位和不同发育时期的表达特性，发现其在多种组织中均有较高的表达，包括体壁、翅芽、前肠、后肠、马氏管和脂肪体，蜕皮后表达量先降低，到下次蜕皮前升高。免疫组织化学结果显示，LmLRP2蛋白主要定位于中肠和后肠的细胞膜上。进一步利用RNAi技术沉默LmLRP2的表达后，若虫出现蜕皮困难和蜕皮后短时间内死亡的表型，总致死率达到60%以上。Bodipy染色结果显示，LmLRP2的沉默导致表皮和中肠细胞中性脂含量显著增加，而脂肪体中性脂含量显著减少。进一步利用脂质组学技术分析得到5种甘油二酯（Diglyceride，DG）和3种甘油三酯（Triglyceride，TG），其在中肠累积，而在脂肪体和血淋巴中显著降低。此外，利用甘油三酯测定试剂盒对总TG含量进行测定，发现中肠中总TG含量显著增多，而脂肪体和血淋巴中总TG含量显著减少。本文研究结果表明，主要位于中肠细胞膜上的受体LmLRP2参与中肠脂质到血淋巴和脂肪体的转运，对飞蝗的生长发育至关重要。

【目的】甘蔗鞭黑粉菌引起的甘蔗黑穗病是甘蔗上最严重的系统性真菌病害，对全球甘蔗生产造成严重的损失。然而，该病原菌的致病机制在很大程度上仍然未知，对甘蔗鞭黑粉菌致病性调控机制的研究将有助于开发新的病害防治策略。【方法】利用农杆菌T-DNA介导的CRISPR-Cas9基因插入突变及回补系统分别在甘蔗鞭黑粉菌两个不同的交配型担孢子中构建水杨酸感知调节因子SsRss1的敲除株和回补株。通过对细胞表型观察、生长速度、压力应激、水杨酸耐受性、有性配合以及致病的检测，明确SsRSS1基因在甘蔗鞭黑粉菌重要生物过程中的功能。【结果】SsRss1是一个具有保守锌簇DNA结合结构域的GAL4样转录因子，受水杨酸诱导表达；敲除SsRss1编码基因SsRSS1不影响甘蔗鞭黑粉菌单倍体担孢子的细胞形态、体外生长速率及有性配合能力，但降低了单倍体担孢子对水杨酸的耐受力；SsRSS1缺失突变体对甘蔗的侵染率下降约40%，受侵染植株的黑鞭症状形成时间延迟或植未能形成黑鞭；SsRSS1基因缺失不影响植株体内菌丝的形态及冬孢子的形成与萌发。【结论】甘蔗鞭黑粉菌SsRss1参与病原菌对水杨酸的响应并对水杨酸的耐受性和致病性有明显贡献。【创新性】本研究首次报道了甘蔗鞭黑粉菌转录因子SsRss1在致病性调控方面的作用及机制，加深了该病原菌与甘蔗互作机理的认识。

葡萄根结线虫（Meloidogyne vitis）是在云南省葡萄根部发现的一种新的根结线虫种类，该线虫在侵染地高密度存在，已对葡萄造成严重损害。葡萄根结线虫病的发生可能对我国葡萄产业发展构成威胁，为了建立一种快速、可靠的葡萄根结线虫特异性分子检测方法，本研究以葡萄根结线虫核糖体DNA内转录间隔区(ribosomal DNA-internal transcribed spacer，rDNA-ITS)基因片段为靶标，设计筛选葡萄根结线虫种特异性检测引物，通过优化反应体系，并对所设计引物的可靠性、特异性及灵敏性进行检测验证，建立了葡萄根结线虫PCR快速分子检测技术体系。结果表明，优化后的引物最佳退火温度为53℃，该引物能够对不同龄期葡萄根结线虫进行检测；特异性检测结果表明，本研究建立的PCR分子检测技术能够从葡萄根结线虫中扩增获得长度为174 bp的特异性片段，选用的5种非靶标根结线虫则无任何扩增条带，从而将葡萄根结线虫和其他5种非靶标根结线虫有效区分开；灵敏度检测结果表明，该PCR分子检测技术能够有效的检测单头2龄幼虫和10^-4头雌虫的DNA；此外，该PCR分子检测技术能够从混合线虫种群中特异性地检测出葡萄根结线虫，并能够有效检测出土壤中的葡萄根结线虫，检测灵敏度为0.5 g土壤中可检测出2头2龄幼虫或一头雄虫。本研究建立的快速、灵敏、特异的PCR分子检测技术可用于葡萄根结线虫单头2龄幼虫的直接鉴定、混合线虫群体中葡萄根结线虫的检测及0.5 g土壤中2头2龄幼虫或一头雄虫的直接检测。本研究建立的PCR分子检测技术能够准确、快速地检测出葡萄根结线虫，将为葡萄根结线虫的发生危害调查和高效绿色防控策略的制定提供技术支撑。

草地贪夜蛾又名秋行军虫，严重危害玉米和水稻等农作物，目前已经入侵我国。昆虫病毒作为生物农药，在控制害虫过程中具有重要的作用。昆虫浓核病毒具有环境友好和高效杀虫等优点，是一种潜在的生物杀虫剂。我们采用多种昆虫细胞系和鳞翅目昆虫幼虫从鹿眼蛱蝶浓核病毒全基因组感染性克隆成功拯救了病毒粒子。采用感染性克隆质粒转染的昆虫细胞系的匀浆物饲喂二龄草地贪夜蛾幼虫，具有致死效应。该浓核病毒感染致死的斜纹夜蛾的匀浆物对二龄草地贪夜蛾的半致死剂量是1.76×10⁸ 病毒基因组拷贝， 高于斜纹夜蛾（7.39×10⁷ 病毒基因组拷贝）和棉铃虫（9.71×10⁷ 病毒基因组拷贝）。这种匀浆物对草地贪夜蛾的半致死时间是6.96 d， 高于斜纹夜蛾（6.18）和棉铃虫（5.94 d）。该病毒能够感染棉铃虫的脂肪体，但是不能感染草地贪夜蛾和斜纹夜蛾的脂肪体。虽然这三种昆虫都对该病毒敏感，但是毒力大小具有差异。鹿眼蛱蝶浓核病毒可以作为控制草地贪夜蛾的潜在的生物杀虫剂。

叶绿体对植物光合作用和生长是必要的。许多基因被鉴定参与调控植物叶绿体发育。然而，在分子水平上这些基因如何调控叶绿体生物合成是未知的。在本研究中，我们分离了一个色素缺乏的突变体ygl2。YGL2编码一个牻牛儿基牻牛儿基还原酶。YGL2的第三外显子有一个碱基突变（T1361G），导致编码产物发生错义突变（L454R）。透射电镜显示，突变体ygl2的叶绿体发育受损。在突变体ygl2中，质体编码基因的表达水平发生显著变化。此外，通过酵母双杂交分析我们发现YGL2与RNA编辑因子MORF8互作。

Machine harvesting increases the foreign matter content of seed cotton.  Excessive cleaning causes fiber damage and economic loss.  Most trading companies in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China have indicated reluctance to use machine-harvested cotton.  The first objective was to determine how the fiber quality was affected by the ginning and lint cleaning and how the fiber damage during levels of lint cleaning changed. The second objective was to determine the optimum number of lint cleaners for machine-harvested cotton based on fiber damage.  Cotton samples were collected from 13 fields and processed in seven ginneries between 2013 and 2015.  The results indicated that ginning and lint cleaning didn’t have significant effect on fiber strength and significantly affected both fiber length and short fiber index.  Fiber length was reduced by more than 1.00 mm from six of 13 fields after lint cleaning, then the damage rate on short fiber index from 11 of 13 fields was more than 20%.  The third lint cleaning caused great fiber damage, reducing fiber length by 0.35 mm and increasing short fiber index by 0.65%.  So, the lint should be cleaned by one lint cleaner in the Xinjiang, however, the stage of lint cleaning was sometimes omitted when the foreign matter content of lint was little.

Plant-pathogenic Xanthomonas infects a wide variety of host plants and causes many devastating diseases on crops.  Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are delivered by a type III secretion system (T3SS) of Xanthomonas into plant nuclei to directly bind specific DNA sequences (TAL effector-binding elements, EBEs) on either strand of host target genes with an unique modular DNA-binding domain and to bidirectionally drive host gene transcription.  The target genes in plants consist of host susceptibility (S) genes promoting disease (ETS) and resistance (R) genes triggering defense (ETI).  Here we generally summarized the discovery of TALEs in Xanthomonas species, their functions in bacterial pathogenicity in plants and their target genes in different host plants, and then focused on the newly revealed modes of protein action in triggering or suppressing plant defense.

   Paclobutrazol was sprayed at 0, 150, and 300 mg L⁻¹ during the closed canopy stage and the early bud stage with two high-yielding cultivars of rapeseed, Yangguang 2009 and Fengyou 520.  The impact of paclobutrazol on the accumulation and distribution of biomass and its relationship with yield, resistance to lodging and pod shattering were determined.  All the treatments increased the resistance as well as yield.  The maximum yield was obtained when paclobutrazol was applied during the closed canopy stage at 150 mg L^–1.  The plant’s resistance to both lodging and pod shattering was the maximum when paclobutrazol was applied during the early bud stage at 300 mg L^–1.  Paclobutrazol also delayed senescence, with the higher concentration or later spraying leading to more obvious effects; improved the net assimilation rate before the early bud stage; and promoted the relative growth rate of the main growth organ at each stage of growth and maximized the rate and quantities of biomass accumulation.  However, at the higher concentration and later spraying, the increments were smaller.  The spraying also increased the rates of biomass allocation to roots, leaves, and pods, but the rate of allocation to stems decreased as the plants grew shorter.  The higher allocation to roots and the lower allocation to stems favoured resistance to both lodging and pod shattering whereas higher allocation to leaves and pods favoured yield.  The higher concentration or late spraying led to excessive biomass being allocated to roots, which decreased leaf biomass during the bud stage, leading to greater resistance but lower yields. 

    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.

    The structural characteristics of protein body accumulation in different endosperm regions of hard wheat cultivar (XM33) and soft wheat cultivar (NM13) under drought stress were investigated. Drought stress treatment was implemented from plant regreening to the caryopsis mature stage. Microscope images of endosperm cells were obtained using resin semi-thin slice technology to observe the distribution and relative area of protein body (PB). Compared with NM13, relative PB area of XM33 was significantly higher in sub-aleurone endosperm region. The amount of accumulation, including the size and relative area of PB, in two wheat cultivars was higher in sub-aleurone region than that in central region at 18 days post anthesis (DPA). Drought stress significantly enhanced the sizes and relative areas of PBs in the dorsal and abdominal endosperms in two wheat cultivars. Particularly for dorsal endosperm, drought stress enhanced the relative PB area at 18 DPA and NM13 (5.0% vs. 6.73%) showed less enhancement than XM33 (5.49% vs. 8.96%). However, NM13 (9.58% vs. 12.02%) showed greater enhancement than XM33 (10.25% vs. 11.7%) at 28 DPA. The protein content in the dorsal and abdominal endosperms of the two wheat cultivars decreased at 12 DPA and then increased until 38 DPA. Drought stress significantly increased the protein contents in the two main regions. From 12 to 38 DPA, the amount of PB accumulation and the protein content were higher in XM33 than those in NM13. The results revealed that PB distribution varied in different endosperm tissues and that the amount of PB accumulation was remarkably augmented by drought stress.

  The West Liaohe Plain is located in the eastern Inner Mongolia, known as the golden maize belt in China, where maize acreage has continued to rise in recent years. Water is the main limiting factor for maize production in the region, therefore, this study calculated the effect of maize sowing area changes on agricultural water consumption in the West Liaohe Plain in 2000, 2005 and 2010, based on remote sensing and meteorological data. Maize remote sensing classification was constructed based on moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer, normalized difference vegatation index (MODIS NDVI) data. Then the maize sown area and water requirement and irrigation water resources were investigated. Finally, the effect of the maize sowing area changes on agricultural water consumption in the West Liaohe Plain was systematically analyzed in 2000, 2005, and 2010. The results showed that maize sown areas rose from 2000 to 2010 and were concentrated in the center of the West Liaohe Plain. Average per unit maize water deficit amount also increased in an uneven distribution, increasing from the south, east and north to the center and west of the West Liaohe Plain. The per unit area maize water deficit increased from 2000 to 2010, and reached 266 mm in 2000, 272 mm in 2005 and 273 mm in 2010, respectively. And the study concluded that water deficit during the whole growth period of maize in the West Liaohe Plain was defined by a single peak curve. The maize water requirements increased with maize sowing area changes from 2000 to 2010, and the maize water requirements increased from 0.89 billion m³ in 2000 to 1.19 billion m³ in 2005, and 1.21 billion m³ in 2010.  

Oxalic acid (OA) is considered as an important pathogenetic factor of some destructive diseases caused by some fungal pathogens such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Oxalate degradation is important for plant health, and plants that contain oxalate oxidase (OXO) enzymes could breakdown oxalate into CO2 and H2O2, which subsequently evokes defense responses. However, some species, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, have no oxalate oxidase activity identified to date. The present study aims to develop transgenic Arabidopsis expressing a wheat oxalate oxidase, to test for the response to OA exposure and fungal infection by S. sclerotiorum. The results showed that the transgenic Arabidopsis lines that expressed the wheat OXO exhibited enhanced resistance to OA exposure and S. sclerotiorum infection in the tolerance assays. In the same manner, it could convert OA to CO2 and H2O2 to a higher extent than the wild-type. Intensive osmotic adjustments were also detected in the transgenic Arabidopsis lines. The higher level of produced H2O2 subsequently induced an elevated activity of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants. The present study indicated that the expression of a gene encoding wheat OXO could induce intensive osmotic adjustments and hydrogen peroxide related defense response, and subsequently increased tolerance to S. sclerotiorum in transgenic A. thaliana.

This study investigated the effects of three contrasting soil management regimes and different nutrient treatments on the distribution of water-stable aggregates (>2, 1–2, 0.5–1, 0.25–0.5, and <0.25 mm) and associated soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) content in loess soil. A 21-yr long-term experiment was performed, in which soil management regimes include cropland abandonment (Abandonment), bare fallow (Fallow) and wheat-fallow cropping (Cropping). Under Cropping, the following nutrient treatments were employed: control (CK, no nutrient input), nitrogen only (N), nitrogen and potassium (NK), phosphorus and potassium (PK), NP, NPK, and manure (M) plus NPK (MNPK). Results demonstrated that Abandonment significantly increased the content of soil macro-aggregates (>0.25 mm) and mean weight diameter (MWD) at 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil horizons compared with Cropping, whereas Fallow yielded lower values of above two parameters. Abandonment increased SOC and TN contents in all aggregate sizes by 17–62% and 6–60%, respectively, at 0–10 cm soil layer compared with Cropping. Conversely, Fallow decreased SOC and TN contents in all aggregates by 7–27% and 7–25%, respectively. Nevertheless, the three soil management regimes presented similar SOC contents in all aggregates at 10–20 cm soil horizon. Only Cropping showed higher TN content in >0.5 mm aggregates than the two other regimes. Consequently, Abandonment enhanced the partitioning proportions of SOC and TN in >1 mm macro-aggregates, and Fallow promoted these proportions in micro-aggregates compared with Cropping. Under Cropping, long-term fertilization did not affect the distribution of aggregates and MWD values compared with those under CK, except for NPK treatment. Fertilizer treatments enhanced SOC and TN contents in aggregates at all tested soil depths. However, fertilization did not affect the partitioning proportions of SOC and TN contents in all aggregates compared with CK. Comprehensive results showed that different soil management regimes generated varied patterns of SOC and TN sequestration in loess soil. Abandonment enhanced soil aggregation and sequestered high amounts of SOC and TN in macro-aggregates. Long-term amendment of organic manure integrated with NPK maintained soil aggregate stability and improved SOC and TN sequestration in all aggregates in loess soil subjected to dryland farming.

Ensuring an acceptable level of edible agro-products quality and safety is necessary to provide adequate protection for consumers. It is the first time that we analyzed the edible agro-products quality and safety issues in the supply chain, including production, processing, circulation, and consumption. The results indicate that the agro-products quality and safety levels improves steadily, and the supervision system and standardization system are both enhanced significantly, however, certain challenges still remain in each stage of the supply chain and the entire supervision process. Finally, five recommendations regarding four aspects (production, processing, circulation, and consumption) are concluded.

In order to understand the effect of starch molecular characteristics on the gel structure, which subsequently influence the gel digestion behaviours, three wheat starches, control (conventional wheat starch), two new wheat cultivars with different genetic backgrounds (by knocking out SBE IIb and SBE IIa, respectively) were used in this study. In comparison with control, slight differences in the morphology of the starch granules of new wheat 1 were observed, whereas the starch granules of new wheat 2 had irregular shapes both for A-type granules and B-type granules. Starch molecular weight size was determined by SE-HPLC, and the results indicate that there was a subtle increase in the amylose content in the starch of new wheat 1 compared to that of control. The starch of new wheat 2 had the highest amylose content, and the molecular weight (MW) of its amylopectin was the lowest among the three starches. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to investigate starch gel structure and the results suggest that the molecules of starch gel from new wheat 2 are more likely to re-associate to form an organized conformation. The digestion behaviours of the three starch gels were measured using a mixture of pancreatin α-amylase and amyloglucosidase. The results indicated that the starch gels of control and new wheat 1 had very high digestibility of 91.7 and 91.9%, respectively, whereas the digestibility of wheat 2 starch gel was only 36.2%. In comparison with the digestion curve patterns of control and new wheat 1 starch gels, the new wheat 2 exhibited a much lower initial velocity. These results indicated that the molecules in the starch of new wheat 2 are more readily to re-associate to form an organized structure during gel formation because of its unique molecular characteristics.

Nitrification inhibitors, such as dicyandiamide (DCD), have been shown to decrease leaching from urea- and ammonium- based fertilizers in agricultural soils. The effect of nitrification inhibitors on nitrifier and denitrifier in short- and long-term intensive vegetable cultivation soils was poorly understood. In this study, the pot trial was conducted to investigate the differential responses of nitrifier (amoA-containing bacteria) and denitrifier (nirK-containing bacteria) to DCD in short-(soil S) and long-term (soil L) intensive vegetable cultivation soils. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) were employed to detect the abundance and composition of amoA- and nirK-containing communities. The results indicated that application of DCD led to a consistently higher NH4 +-N concentration during the whole incubation in soil L, while it was quickly decreased in soil S after 21 days. Furthermore, DCD induced more severe decrease of the abundance of amoA-containing bacteria in soil L than in soil S. However, the abundance of the nirKcontaining community was not significantly affected by DCD in both soils. Long-term vegetable cultivation resulted in a super-dominant amoA-containing bacteria group and less divergence in soil L compared with soil S, and DCD did not cause obvious shifts of the composition of ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB). On the contrary, both amoA- and nirK-containing bacterial compositions were influenced by DCD in soil S. The results suggested that long-term intensive vegetable cultivation with heavy nitrogen fertilization resulted in significant shifts of AOB community, and this community was sensitive to DCD, but denitrifiers were not clearly affected by DCD.

Setosphaeria turcica, an essential phytopathogenic fungus, is the primary cause of serious yield losses in corn; however, its pathogenic mechanism is poorly understood. We cloned STK2, a newly discovered mitogen-activated protein kinase gene with a deduced amino acid sequence that is 96% identical to MAK2 from Phaeosphaeria nodorum, 56% identical to KSS1 and 57% identical to FUS3 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To deduce Stk2 function in S. turcica and to identify the genetic relationship between STK2 and KSS1/FUS3 from S. cerevisiae, a restructured vector containing the open reading frame of STK2 was transformed into a fus3/kss1 double deletion mutant of S. cerevisiae. The results show that the STK2 complementary strain clearly formed pseudohyphae and ascospores, and the strain grew on the surface of the medium after rinsing with sterile water and the characteristics of the complementary strain was the same as the wild-type strain. Moreover, STK2 complemented the function of KSS1 in filamentation and invasive growth, as well as the mating behavior of FUS3 in S. cerevisiae, however, its exact functions in S. turcica will be studied in the future research.

Continuous monoculture problems, or replanting diseases, are one of the key factors affecting productivity and quality ofChinese medicinal plants. The underlying mechanism is still being explored. Most of the studies on continuous monocultureof Rehmannia glutinosa L. are focused on plant nutritional physiology, root exudate, and its autotoxicity. However, thechanges in the diversity of microflora in the rhizosphere mediated by the continuous monoculture pattern have beenremained unknown. In this study, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique was used forfingerprinting fungal diversity in the rhizosphere soil sampled from the fields of R. glutinosa monocultured for 1 and 2 yr. Theresults showed that the structure of fungal community in consecutively moncultured rhizosphere soil was different fromthat in control soil (no cropping soil), and varied with the consecutive monoculture years (1 and 2 yr). The comprehensiveevaluation index (D) of fungal community estimated by principal component analysis of fragment number, peak area,Shannon-Weiner index, and Margalef index was higher in 1 yr monoculture soil than that in 2 yr monoculture soil,suggesting that consecutive monoculture of R. glutinosa could be a causative agent to decrease the diversity of fungalcommunity in the rhizosphere soil.