蔗糖磷酸合成酶（SPS）是蔗糖合成途径中的限速酶，与磷酸蔗糖磷酸酶（SPP）形成复合体共同催化合成蔗糖，在植物生长发育过程中提供能量并在果实品质提升方面发挥着重要作用。目前，关于苹果SPS基因家族的进化模式及系统性分析的研究较少。本研究从苹果基因组GDDH13 v1.1中鉴定了7个MdSPS基因和4个MdSPP基因，并分析了其基因结构、基因启动子顺式元件、蛋白保守基序、亚细胞定位和生理生化特性。染色体定位和基因组复制分析表明，全基因组复制（WGD）和片段复制是MdSPS基因家族进化的主要方式，MdSPS基因对的Ka/Ks比值分析指出该家族成员在驯化过程中经历了较强的纯化选择。根据系统发育关系将SPS基因划分为3个亚家族，并观察到基因亚家族间古老的基因复制事件和差异显著的进化速率。此外，根据‘金冠’、‘富士’、‘秦冠’和‘蜜脆’四个苹果品种果实发育过程中可溶性糖含量与SPS家族基因表达水平的相关性，鉴定了一个蔗糖积累相关的关键基因MdSPSA2.3。随后通过病毒诱导MdSPSA2.3基因沉默证实了该基因在苹果果实蔗糖积累中的重要功能。本研究为更好地阐明MdSPS基因在苹果果实发育过程中的生物学功能奠定了理论基础。

生长素（吲哚-3-乙酸，IAA）对调节植物碳水化合物水平和生长具有较大的影响，但是它调节植物体内糖分水平的机制却很少受到关注。本研究中，我们发现外源IAA主要通过调节MdSUSY1、MdFRK2、MdHxK1和MdSDH2的转录水平进而改变茎尖中果糖（Fru）、葡萄糖（Glc）和蔗糖（Suc）浓度。此外，我们利用五年生的“Royal Gala”苹果树进一步验证这些基因在调控库强方面的主要作用。结果表明，MdSUSY1、MdFRK2、MdHxK1/3和MdSDH2可能是库强调节的主要贡献基因。综上所述，这些结果为碳水化合物代谢机制的调控提供了新的视角，这将有助于调节库强和产量。

打顶是棉花栽培广泛应用的农艺措施由于其无限生长的习性。在不同的打顶方法中，人工打顶似然费时费力，但在黄河流域应用较为普遍。本研究旨在研究不同打顶处理对棉花发育、产量和品质的影响。本研究为两年（2015-2016）大田实验，设置三种打顶方式：人工打顶（MT），化学打顶（CT）（缩节铵），不打顶（NT）处理。我们发现CT处理的株高、果枝数及上部果枝长度要显著低于NT处理。CT处理的叶绿素含量与NT处理相比无显著差异，在生育后期要高于MT处理。CT处理通过降低赤霉素和脱落酸含量来促进棉株发育，并且抑制了主茎的顶端发育。和MT处理相比，CT处理显著增加了营养器官的生物量。最重要的是，CT和MT处理间的产量和品质并无显著差异。上述结果表明，化学打顶是一种简便、有效的打顶方法，可在我国黄河流域代替人工打顶。

己糖激酶（HXK）是糖酵解途径中第一个不可逆的催化酶，不仅为植物的生长和发育提供能量，而且还作为响应环境变化的信号分子。但是，HXK基因家族在苹果中的进化模式仍然未知。本研究中，在苹果（Malus×domestica）基因组GDDH13 v1.1中共鉴定出9个HXKs基因，分析了MdHXKs基因的生理和生化特性，外显子-内含子结构，保守基序和顺式元件，亚细胞定位预测结果表明MdHXKs基因主要分布在线粒体、细胞质和细胞核中。基因复制结果显示，全基因组复制（WGD）和片段复制在MdHXKs基因家族扩展中起着至关重要的作用。成对MdHXKs基因的ω值表明，该家族在苹果驯化过程中经历了强烈的纯化选择。此外，对五个亚家族进行了分类，并根据系统进化树分析确定了最近和最老的重复事件，并评估了不同HXKs亚家族之间的进化速率。此外，MdHXKs基因在四个源/库组织和五个苹果果实发育不同阶段的表达模式表明，MdHXKs基因在苹果果实发育和糖积累中起着至关重要的作用。本研究为今后阐明苹果果实发育过程中MdHXKs基因的生物学功能提供了理论基础。

重组病毒活载体疫苗是一种能够有效激活特异性和非特异性免疫、可多联多价、安全性好的新型疫苗。动物α疱疹病毒拥有较大的基因组，含有多个不影响病毒复制的非必需区，能够插入接受外源基因并表达相应抗原蛋白；同时具有较广泛的宿主谱，能够在宿主体内复制并持续刺激动物产生对抗相应病原的免疫力，是作为重组病毒活载体疫苗的理想载体。随着基因编辑技术的发展，可通过多种方法构建能够表达外源基因的重组病毒。目前以动物α疱疹病毒为载体的重组病毒活载体疫苗研究已经涉及禽类、猪、牛、羊、伴侣动物等，目前成功构建的多株重组动物α疱疹病毒能免疫后可使动物同时获得对多种疾病的免疫。本文总结了重组动物α疱疹病毒构建方法、外源基因的引入和表达以及动物α疱疹病毒活载体疫苗免疫作用三个方面的内容，包括了最新的基因编辑技术、不同的构建策略及其优缺点、外源基因的选择、插入形式和位点等，并介绍了各种动物α疱疹病毒活载体疫苗的最新研究进展，旨在为新型动物α疱疹病毒活载体疫苗的研究和开发提供一定的参考。

Sucrose synthases (SUS) are a family of enzymes that play pivotal roles in carbon partitioning, sink strength and plant development.  A total of 11 SUS genes have been identified in the genome of Malus domestica (MdSUSs), and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the MdSUS genes were divided into three groups, named as SUS I, SUS II and SUS III, respectively.  The SUS I and SUS III groups included four homologs each, whereas the SUS II group contained three homologs.  SUS genes in the same group showed similar structural characteristics, such as exon number, size and length distribution.  After assessing four different tissues, MdSUS1s and MdSUS2.1 showed the highest expression in fruit, whereas MdSUS2.2/2.3 and MdSUS3s exhibit the highest expression in shoot tips.  Most MdSUSs showed decreased expression during fruit development, similar to SUS enzyme activity, but both MdSUS2.1 and MdSUS1.4 displayed opposite expression profiles.  These results suggest that different MdSUS genes might play distinct roles in the sink-source sugar cycle and sugar utilization in apple sink tissues.

The Chinese wheat line Yu 356-9 exhibits a high level of resistance to leaf rust. In order to decipher the genetic base of resistance in Yu 356-9, gene postulation, inheritance analyses, and chromosome linkage mapping were carried out. Gene postulation completed using 15 leaf rust pathotypes and 36 isogenic lines indicated that Yu 356-9 was resistant to all pathotypes tested. F1 and F2 plants from the cross Yu 356-9 (resistant)/Zhengzhou 5389 (susceptible) were tested with leaf rust pathotype “FHNQ” in the greenhouse. Results indicated a 3:1 segregation ratio, indicative of the presence of a single dominant leaf rust resistance gene in Yu 356-9 which was temporarily designated as LrYu. Bulk segregant analysis and molecular marker assays were used to map LrYu. Five simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers on chromosome 2BS were found closely linked to LrYu. Among these markers, Xwmc770 is the most closely linked, with a genetic distance of 5.7 cM.

Temporally irregular rainfall distribution and inefficient rainwater management create severe constraints on crop production in rainfed semiarid areas. Gravel and plastic film mulching are effective methods for improving agricultural productivity and water utilization. However, the effects of these mulching practices on soil water supply and plant water use associated with crop yield are not well understood. A 3-yr study was conducted to analyze the occurrence and distribution of dry spells in a semiarid region of Northwest China and to evaluate the effects of non-mulching (CK), gravel mulching (GM) and plastic film mulching (FM) on the soil water supply, plant water use and maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield. Rainfall analysis showed that dry spells of ≥5 days occurred frequently in each of 3 yr, accounting for 59.9–69.2% of the maize growing periods. The >15-d dry spells during the jointing stage would expose maize plants to particularly severe water stress. Compared with the CK treatment, both the GM and FM treatments markedly increased soil water storage during the early growing season. In general, the total evapotranspiration (ET) was not significantly different among the three treatments, but the mulched treatments significantly increased the ratio of pre- to post-silking ET, which was closely associated with yield improvement. As a result, the grain yield significantly increased by 17.1, 70.3 and 16.7% for the GM treatment and by 28.3, 87.6 and 38.2% for the FM treatment in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively, compared with the CK treatment. It’s concluded that both GM and FM are effective strategies for mitigating the impacts of water deficit and improving maize production in semiarid areas. However, FM is more effective than GM.

How to overcome yield stagnation is a big challenge to rice breeders. An effective method for quickly developing new cultivars is to further improve an outstanding cultivar. In this study, three advanced backcross populations under yield selection that consist of 123 BC2F2:4 introgression lines (ILs) were developed by crossing Minghui 86 (recurrent parent, RP) with three high-yielding varieties (donors), namely, ZDZ057, Fuhui 838, and Teqing, respectively. The progeny testing allowed the identification of 12 promising ILs that had significantly higher mean grain yields than Minghui 86 in two environments. A total of 55 QTLs that affect grain yield and its related traits were identified, which included 50 QTLs that were detected using the likelihood ratio test based on stepwise regression (RSTEP-LRT) method, and eight grain yield per plant (GY) QTLs were detected using chi-squared (c2) test. Among these QTLs, five QTLs were simultaneously detected in different populations and 22 QTLs were detected in both environments. The beneficial donor alleles for increased GY and its related traits were identified in 63.6% (35 out of 55) of the QTLs. These promising ILs and QTLs identified will provide the elite breeding materials and genetic information for further improvement of the grain yield for Minghui 86 through pyramiding breeding.

A set of 240 introgression lines derived from the advanced backcross population of a cross between a japonica cultivar,Xiushui 09, and an indica breeding line, IR2061, was developed to dissect QTLs affecting cold tolerance (CT) at seedlingstage and heat tolerance (HT) at anthesis. Survival rate of seedlings (SRS) and spikelet fertility (SF), the index traits of CTand HT, showed significant differences between the two parents under stresses. A total of four QTLs (qSRS1, qSRS7,qSRS11a and qSRS11b) for CT were identified on chromosomes 1, 7, 11, and the Xiushui 09 alleles increased SRS at all lociexcept qSRS7. Four QTLs for SF were identified on chromosomes 4, 5, 6, and 11. These QTLs could be classified into twomajor types based on their behaviors under normal and stress conditions. The first was QTL expressed only under normalcondition; and the second QTL was apparently stress induced and only expressed under stress. Among them, two QTLs(qSF4 and qSF6) which reduced the trait difference between heat stress and normal conditions must have contributed toHT because of their obvious contribution to trait stability, and the IR2061 allele at the qSF6 and the Xiushui 09 allele at the qSF4improved HT, respectively. No similar QTL was found between CT at seedling stage and HT at anthesis. Therefore, it ispossible to breed a new variety with CT and HT by pyramiding the favorable CT- and HT-improved alleles at above locifrom Xiushui 09 and IR2061, respectively, through marker-assisted selection (MAS).