Rye (Secale cereale L., 2n=2x=14, RR) is a significant genetic resource for improving common wheat because of its resistance to multiple diseases and abiotic-stress tolerant traits.  The 1RS chromosome from the German cultivated rye variety Petkus is critical in wheat breeding.  However, its weakened disease resistance highlights the need to identify new resources.  In the present study, a novel derived line called D27 was developed from common wheat and Mexico Rye.  Cytological observations characterized the karyotype of D27 as 2n=42=21 II.  Genomic in situ hybridization indicated that a pair of whole-arm translocated Mexico Rye chromosomes were inherited typically in the mitotic and meiosis stages of D27.  Experiments using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and gliadin electrophoresis showed that D27 lacked wheat 1DS chromosomes.  They were replaced by 1RS chromosomes of Mexico Rye, supported by wheat simple-sequence repeat markers, rye sequence characterized amplified region markers, and wheat 40K SNP array analysis.  The wheat 1DS chromosomes could not be detected by molecular markers and wheat SNP array, but the presence of rye 1RS chromosomes was confirmed.  Agronomic trait assessments indicated that D27 had a higher tiller number and enhanced stripe rust and powdery mildew resistance.  In addition, dough properties analysis showed that replacing 1DS led to higher viscosity and lower dough elasticity in D27, which was beneficial for cake making.  In conclusion, the novel cytogenetically stable common wheat–Mexico Rye T1DL·1RS translocation line D27 offers excellent potential as outstanding germplasm in wheat breeding programs focusing on disease resistance and yield improvement.  Additionally, it can be valuable for researching the rye 1RS chromosome’s genetic diversity. 

The traditional soil-based rice seedling production methods for mechanical transplanting are resource-intensive, time consuming and laborious. The improvement and optimization of nutrient management in soil-less nursery raising methods like tandem long-mat seedlings (TLMS) are necessary for the resource-efficient cultivation of rice. In the present study, a controlled-release fertilizer (CRF)-polymer-coated compound fertilizer with 3 months release period (PCCF-3M) was applied as seedling fertilizer (SF), and five different dosages of SF (SF-0, SF-10, SF-20, SF-30, and SF-40) were compared with an organic substrate as the control (CK). Among all SF treatments, the best results were obtained with the application of 20 g/tray of SF (SF-20), as the seedling quality and machine transplanting quality were comparable to those of CK. In contrast, the lower dosages (SF-0 and SF-10) resulted in low nitrogen content and reduced shoot growth, while the higher dosages (SF-30 and SF-40) resulted in toxicity (increased malondialdehyde accumulation) and inhibited the root growth. Similarly, SF-20 increased panicle number (5.6–7.0%) and yield (4.3–5.3%) compared with CK, which might be related to the remaining SF entangled in the roots supporting the tiller growth of rice seedlings in the field. Moreover, SF-20 reduced the seedling block weight (53.1%) and cost of seedling production (23.5%) but increased the gross margin, indicating that it was easy to handle and economical. Taken together, our results indicate that SF-20 is a cost-effective way to promote the growth and transplanting efficiency of rice seedlings. To our knowledge, this study is the first to determine the optimum dosage of CRF for the soil-less production of rice seedlings.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are unique stem cells in adult body that can transmit genetic information to the next generation. They have self-renewal potential and can continuously support spermatogenesis throughout life of a male animal. However, the SSC population is extremely small, isolation and purification of the SSCs is challenging, especially for livestock animals. It has been confirmed that CDH1 (cadherin-1, also known as E-cadherin) can be expressed in undifferentiated SSCs of mouse and rats, but it has not been verified in sheep. Here, CDH1 was found as a novel surface marker for sheep SSCs. In this paper, sheep anti- CDH1 polyclonal antibodies were prepared and its activity was checked. Using the obtained antibodies and immunohistochemistry analysis, we confirmed that CDH1 can be expressed by SSCs in sheep testis.