Malus prunifolia Borkh. ‘Fupingqiuzi’ has significant ecological and economic value and plays a key role in germplasm development and resistance research.  However, its long juvenile phase and high heterozygosity are barriers to the identification of ‘Fupingqiuzi’ progeny with excellent traits.  In-vitro regeneration techniques and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation systems can efficiently produce complete plants and thus enable studies of gene function.  However, optimal regeneration and genetic transformation systems for ‘Fupingqiuzi’ have not yet been developed.  Here, we evaluated the factors that affect the in-vitro regeneration and transformation of ‘Fupingqiuzi’.  The best results were obtained when transverse leaf sections were used as explants, and they were grown in dark culture for three weeks with their adaxial sides contacting the culture medium (MS basal salts, 30 g L⁻¹ sucrose, 8 g L⁻¹ agar, 5 mg L⁻¹  6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), 2 mg L⁻¹ thidiazuron (TDZ), and 1 mg L⁻¹ 1-naphthlcetic acid (NAA), pH 5.8).  A genetic transformation system based on this regeneration system was optimized: after inoculation with A. tumefaciens solution for 8 min, 4 days of co-culture, and 3 days of delayed culture, the cultures were screened with cefotaxime (150 mg L⁻¹) and kanamycin (15 mg L⁻¹).  We thus established an efficient regeneration and genetic transformation system for ‘Fupingqiuzi’, enabling the rapid production of transgenic material.  These findings make a significant contribution to apple biology research

The source–sink ratio during grain filling is a critical factor that affects crop yield in wheat, and the main objective of this study was to determine the source–sink relations at both the canopy scale and the individual culm level under two nitrogen (N) levels at the post-jointing stage.  Nine widely-used cultivars were chosen for analyzing source–sink relations in southwestern China; and three typical cultivars of different plant types were subjected to artificial manipulation of the grain-filling source–sink ratio to supplement crop growth measurements.  A field experiment was conducted over two consecutive seasons under two N rates (N+, 150 kg ha^–1; N–, 60 kg ha^–1), and three manipulations were imposed after anthesis: control (Ct), removal of flag and penultimate leaves (Lr) and removal of spikelets on one side of each spike (Sr).  The results showed that the single grain weights in the three cultivars were significantly decreased by Lr and increased by Sr, which demonstrated that wheat grain yield potential seems more source-limited than sink-limited during grain filling, but the source–sink balance was obviously changed by climatic variations and N deficient environments.  Grain yield was highly associated with sink capacity (SICA), grain number, biomass, SPAD values, and leaf area index during grain filling, indicating a higher degree of source limitation with an increase in sink capacity.  Therefore, source limitation should be taken into account by breeders when SICA is increased, especially under non-limiting conditions.  Chuanmai 104, a half-compact type with a mid-sized spike and a long narrow upper leaf, showed relatively better performance in source–sink relations.  Since this cultivar showed the characteristics of a lower reduction in grain weight after Lr, a larger increase after Sr, and a lower reduction in post-anthesis dry matter accumulation, then the greater current photosynthesis during grain filling contributed to the grain after source and sink manipulation. 

The pre-mRNA processing factor Prp6 is an essential component of the U4/U6.U5 tri-small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP).  In a previous study, mutations were identified in the PRP6 ortholog in four suppressors of Fgprp4 that was deleted of the only kinase FgPrp4 among the spliceosome components in the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum.  In this study, we identified additional suppressor mutations in FgPrp6 and determined the suppressive effects of selected mutations.  In total, 12 mutations of FgPRP6 were identified in 20 suppressors of Fgprp4 by sequencing analysis.  Whereas three mutation sites are in the linker region of FgPrp6, seven are in the first two HAT repeats.  RNA-seq analysis showed that suppressor mutations on different sites caused different splicing efficiency recovery.  The suppressive effects of E308K and R230H were verified.  Similar to human and fission yeast, the FgPrp6 was phosphorylated by the FgPrp4 kinase.  Interestingly, the conserved Prp4-phosphorylation sites T261, T219&T221, and predicted phosphorylation sites T199&T200 on FgPrp6 were dispensable for the function of FgPrp6 in hyphal growth and sexual reproduction but important in plant infection.  They are required for the infectious growth of F. graminearum in wheat lemma.  RNA-seq analysis of the wheat lemma infected with Fgprp6/FgPRP6^Δ199–221-GFP or Fgprp6/FgPRP6^Δ250–262-GFP showed that 28 and 35% introns had splicing defects, respectively, which may be responsible for their defects in plant infection.    

Dopamine is a catecholamine and an anti-oxidant which functions in responses to stress and it interacts with plant hormones to mediate plant development.  At present, there are few studies on the functions of dopamine in apple.  This study developed a method for dopamine determination which was used to analyze dopamine in Malus germplasm, in order to clarify the tissue distribution, developmental changes, diurnal variations, and stress responses in apple trees.  First, the proposed method was verified.  The linear range of quantification was robust from 0.1 to 20 ng mL^–1.  The instrumental, inter-day precision, and sample repeatability relative standard deviations were 1.024, 5.607, and 7.237%, respectively.  The spiked recovery was greater than 100%, indicating the feasibility of the method and its suitability for the rapid analysis of dopamine in Malus.  Next, the dopamine content was measured in 322 Malus tissues.  The results showed that the dopamine level in Malus was low and the average dopamine content in leaf was higher than in peel and flesh.  The dopamine had a skewed distribution that deviated to the right in cultivars and wild accessions.  Finally, the tissue specificity, developmental changes, diurnal changes, and responses to stress were analyzed.  In cultivar ‘Pinova’ (Malus domestica), the dopamine concentration was the highest in leaf buds and lowest in flesh.  The dopamine contents in leaf and flesh decreased with the growth and development of cultivar ‘Liangxiang’ (Malus domestica).  The dopamine content of apple leaves was higher after either drought or salinity stress as compared to the control.  In this study, a dopamine detection method for apple was established based on HPLC-MS and shown to be a robust approach.  This study provides a framework for future research on elucidating the tissue distribution, developmental changes, diurnal variation, and stress responses of dopamine in apple trees.

In this paper, the influence of drought hardening on the growth, development, resistance physiology, leaf microstructure and stomatal behavior of potato seedlings under drought stress was studied, and the mechanism of drought hardening improvement of potato seedling drought resistance was elucidated.  We found that drought stress had several adverse effects on potato seedlings, yet drought hardening alleviated the decrease in relative water content (RWC), net photosynthetic rate (P_n) and chlorophyll content and inhibited the increase in relative electric conductivity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content.  Compared with contrast seedlings, drought-hardened seedlings also had enhanced root vigor, increased antioxidant enzyme activity and higher levels of abscisic acid (ABA), proline (Pro), soluble sugars and polyamines (PAs) under drought stress.  In addition, the stomatal density of potato seedling leaves increased significantly, while the leaf area, stomatal size and stomatal aperture decreased with drought hardening treatment.  These changes led to reduced leaf transpiration rate (T_r) and improved water utilization efficiency (WUE).  The changes in leaf microstructure also had a positive effect on the drought resistance of the drought-hardened potato seedlings. So it can be concluded that through increasing the content of some endogenous hormones, osmotic regulatory substances and the activities of antioxidant enzymes, the resistance physiology of drought-hardened potato seedlings was enhanced. 

   Understanding the morphological and physiological traits associated with improved filling efficiency in large-panicle rice varieties is critical to devise strategies for breeding programs and cultivation management practices. Information on such traits, however, remains limited. Two large-panicle varieties with high filled-grain percentage (HF) and two check large-panicle varieties with low filled-grain percentage (LF) were field-grown in 2012 and 2013. The number of spikelets per panicle of HF and LF both exceeded 300, and the filled-grain percentage (%) of HF was approximately 90, while that of LF was approximately 75 over the two years. The results showed that when the values were averaged across two years, HF yielded 12.9 t ha^–1, while LF yielded 11.0 t ha^–1. HF had a greater leaf area duration, biomass accumulation and transport of carbohydrates stored in the culm to the grains from heading to maturity compared with LF. HF exhibited a higher leaf photosynthetic rate, more green leaves on the culm, and higher root activity during filling phase, especially during the middle and late filling phases, in relative to LF. The length of HF for upper three leaves was significantly higher than that of LF, while the angle of upper three leaves on the main culm was less in both years. Meanwhile, specific leaf weight of HF was significantly higher when compared with LF. In addition, the grain filling characteristics of HF and LF were investigated in our study. Our results suggested that a higher leaf photosynthetic rate and root activity during filling phase, greater biomass accumulation and assimilate transport after heading, and longer, thicker and more erect upper three leaves were important morphological and physiological traits of HF, and these traits could be considered as selection criterion to develop large-panicle varieties with high filled-grain percentage.

   Good crop stand establishment and root system development are essential for optimum grain yield of dryland wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). At present, little is known about the effect of tillage and straw mulch on the root system of wheat under dryland areas in southwestern China. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of three tillage treatments (no-till, NT; rotary till, RT; conventional till, CT) and two crop residue management practices (straw mulch, ML; non-straw mulch, NML) on stand establishment, root growth and grain yield of wheat. NT resulted in lower soil cover thickness for the wheat seed, higher number of uncovered seeds, lower percentage of seedling-less ridges and lower tiller density compared to RT and CT; ML resulted in higher tiller density compared to NML. Straw mulching resulted in more soil water content and root length density (RLD) at most of the growth stages and soil depths. The maximum RLD, root surface area density and root dry matter density were obtained under NT. In the topmost 10 cm soil layer, higher RLD values were found under NT than those under RT and CT. There were no significant differences in the yield or yield components of wheat among the tillage treatments in 2011–2012, but NT resulted in a significant higher yield compared to RT and CT in 2012–2013. Grain yield was significantly higher in ML compared to in NML. A strong relationship was observed between the water-use efficiency and the grain yield. Both NT and ML proved beneficial for wheat in term of maintaining higher tiller density, better soil water status and root growth, leading to a higher grain yield and enhanced water-use efficiency, especially in a low rainfall year.

High-temperature stress (HTS) at the grain-filling stage in spring maize (Zea mays L.) is the main obstacle to increasing productivity in the North China Plain (NCP). To solve this problem, the physiological mechanisms of HTS, and its causes and impacts, must be understood. The HTS threshold of the duration and rate in grain filling, photosynthetic characteristics (e.g., the thermal stability of thylakoid membrane, chlorophyll and electron transfer, photosynthetic carbon assimilation), water status (e.g., leaf water potential, turgor and leaf relative water content) and signal transduction in maize are reviewed. The HTS threshold for spring maize is highly desirable to be appraised to prevent damages by unfavorable temperatures during grain filling in this region. HTS has negative impacts on maize photosynthesis by damaging the stability of the thylakoid membrane structure and degrading chlorophyll, which reduces light energy absorption, transfer and photosynthetic carbon assimilation. In addition, photosynthesis can be deleteriously affected due to inhibited root growth under HTS in which plants decrease their water-absorbing capacity, leaf water potential, turgor, leaf relative water content, and stomatal conductance. Inhibited photosynthesis decrease the supply of photosynthates to the grain, leading to falling of kernel weight and even grain yield. However, maize does not respond passively to HTS. The plant transduces the abscisic acid (ABA) signal to express heat shock proteins (HSPs), which are molecular chaperones that participate in protein refolding and degradation caused by HTS. HSPs stabilize target protein configurations and indirectly improve thylakoid membrane structure stability, light energy absorption and passing, electron transport, and fixed carbon assimilation, leading to improved photosynthesis. ABA also induces stomatal closure to maintain a good water status for photosynthesis. Based on understanding of such mechanisms, strategies for alleviating HTS at the grain-filling stage in spring maize are summarized. Eight strategies have the potential to improve the ability of spring maize to avoid or tolerate HTS in this study, e.g., adjusting sowing date to avoid HTS, breeding heat-tolerance varieties, and tillage methods, optimizing irrigation, heat acclimation, regulating chemicals, nutritional management, and planting geometric design to tolerate HTS. Based on the single technology breakthrough, a comprehensive integrated technical system is needed to improve heat tolerance and increase the spring maize yield in the NCP.  

Late-maturity type of Yongyou japonica/indica hybrids series (LMYS) have shown great yield potential, and are being widely planted in the lower reaches of Yangtze River, China. Knowledge about suitable growing zone and evaluation of yield advantage is of practical importance for LMYS in this region. Fifteen LMYS, two high-yielding inbred japonica check varieties (CK-J) and two high-yielding hybrid indica check varieties (CK-I) were grown at Xinghua (119.57°E, 33.05°N) of Lixiahe region, Yangzhou (119.25°E, 32.30°N) of Yanjiang region, Changshu (120.46°E, 31.41°N) of Taihu Lake region, and Ningbo (121.31°E, 29.45°N) of Ningshao Plain in 2013 and 2014. The results showed that maturity dates of the 15 were later than the secure maturity date at Xinghua and 6, 14 and 15 LMYS were mature before the secure maturity date at Yangzhou, Changshu and Ningbo, respectively. One variety was identified as high-yielding variety among LMYS (HYYS) at Yangzhou, 8 HYYS in 2013 and 9 HYYS in 2014 at Changshu, 9 HYYS at Ningbo. HYYS here referred to the variety among LMYS that was mature before the secure maturity date and had at least 8% higher grain yield than both CK-J and CK-I at each experimental site. Grain yield of HYYS at each experimental site was about 12.0 t ha–1 or higher, and was significantly higher than CK varieties. High yield of HYYS was mainly attributed to larger sink size due to more spikelets per panicle. Plant height of HYYS was about 140 cm, and was significantly higher than check varieties. Significant positive correlations were recorded between duration from heading to maturity stage and grain yield, and also between whole growth periods and grain yield. HYYS had obvious advantage over check varieties in biomass accumulation and leaf area duration from heading to maturity stage. Comprehensive consideration about safe maturity and yield performance of LMYS at each experimental site, Taihu Lake region (representative site Changshu) and Ningshao Plain (representative site Ningbo) were thought suitable growing zones for LMYS in the lower reaches of Yangtze River. The main factors underlying high yield of HYYS were larger sink size, higher plant height, longer duration from heading to maturity stage and whole growth periods, and higher biomass accumulation and leaf area duration during grain filling stage.

Plants that grow well while accumulating and transporting less potassium (K) perform better than more-sensitive plants when under deficiency conditions, which makes low-K-input and environmentally friendly agriculture possible. We conducted hydroponics and sand culture experiments to evaluate the efficiency of various apple (Malus domestica Borkh) rootstocks in their K uptake and utilization. Five genotypes were selected which are widely used in China -M. hupehensis Rehd, M. prunifolia Borkh, M. robusta Rehd, M. sieversii Roem, and M. rockii Rehd. Plant heights, root and shoot dry weights, and K concentrations were recorded. These genotypes differed markedly in dry weights, absolute and relative K concentrations, absolute and relative K accumulations, and their K efficiency ratio under deficient K conditions. The last parameter, expressed as relative shoot dry weight, was strongly and positively correlated with the other four parameters in each genotype. Therefore, we suggest that this parameter could serve as an index when selecting K-efficient genotypes. In this study, we have determined that M. sieversii and M. rockii are K-inefficient genotypes; M. prunifolia is K-efficient genotype; M. hupehensis and M. robusta have moderate levels of potassium efficiency.

We evaluated the effects of neutral detergent soluble fiber (NDSF) and sucrose supplementation on ruminal fermentation, microbial synthesis, and populations of ruminal cellulolytic bacteria using the rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC). The experiment had a 2×2 factorial design with two dosages of sucrose, low (ca. 0.26 g d-1, low-sucrose) and high (ca. 1.01 g d-1, high-sucrose), and two dosages of supplied NDSF, low (1.95 g d-1, low-NDSF) and high (2.70 g d-1, high-NDSF). Interactions between NDSF and sucrose were detected for xylanase activity from solid fraction and apparent disappearance of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and hemicellulose, with the lowest values observed for high-NDSF and high-sucrose treatment. Supplemental NDSF appeared to increase the molar proportion of acetate and reduce that of butyrate; however, the effects of supplemental sucrose on VFA profiles depended upon NDSF amount. There was a NDSF×sucrose interaction for the production of methane. High-NDSF fermenters had lower ammonia-N production, greater daily N flow of solidassociated microbial pellets and total microorganisms, and greater microbial synthesis efficiency compared with low- NDSF fermenters. Supplementation with NDSF resulted in an increase in 16S rDNA copies of Ruminococcus flavefaciens and a reduction in copies of Ruminococcus albus. Supplementation with sucrose tended to increase the 16S rDNA copies of R. albus from liquid fraction, but did not affect daily total microbial N flow and cellulolytic bacterium populations from solid fraction. These data indicate that the effects of the interaction between NDSF and sugars on ruminal fermentation and fiber digestion should be taken into account in diet formulation. Ruminal fermentation and metabolism of sugars warrant further investigation.

High temperature stress (HTS) on spring maize (Zea mays L.) during the filling stage is the key factor that limits the yield increase in the North China Plain (NCP). Subsoiling (SS) and ridge tillage (R) were introduced to enhance the ability of spring maize to resist HTS during the filling stage. The field experiments were conducted during the 2011 and 2012 maize growing seasons at Wuqiao County, Hebei Province, China. Compared with rotary tillage (RT), the net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and chlorophyll relative content (SPAD) of maize leaves was increased by 40.0, 42.6, 12.8, and 29.7% under SS, and increased by 20.4, 20.0, 5.4, and 14.2% under R, repectively. However, the treatments reduce the intercellular CO2 concentration under HTS. The SS and R treatments increased the relative water content (RWC) by 11.9 and 6.2%, and the water use efficiency (WUE) by 24.3 and 14.3%, respectively, compared with RT. The SS treatment increased the root length density and soil moisture in the 0-80 cm soil profile, whereas the R treatment increased the root length density and soil moisture in the 0-40 cm soil profile compared with the RT treatment. Compared with 2011, the number of days with temperatures 33°C was more 2 d and the mean day temperature was higher 0.9°C than that in 2012, whereas the plant yield decreased by 2.5, 8.5 and 10.9%, the net photosynthetic rate reduced by 7.5, 10.5 and 18.0%, the RWC reduced by 3.9, 5.6 and 6.2%, and the WUE at leaf level reduced by 1.8, 5.2 and 13.1% in the SS, R and RT treatments, respectively. Both the root length density and the soil moisture also decreased at different levels. The yield, photosynthetic rate, plant water status, root length density, and soil moisture under the SS and R treatments declined less than that under the RT treatment. The results indicated that SS and R can enhance the HTS resistance of spring maize during the filling stage, and led to higher yield by directly improving soil moisture and root growth and indirectly improving plant water status, photosynthesis and grain filling. The study can provide a theoretical basis for improving yield of maize by adjusting soil tillage in the NCP.

Synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW) represents a valuable source of new resistances to a range of biotic and abiotic stresses. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population with 127 recombinant inbred lines derived from a SHW-derived variety Chuanmai 42 crossing with a Chinese spring wheat variety Chuannong 16 was used to map QTLs for agronomic traits including grain yield, grains per square meter, thousand-kernel weight, spikes per square meter, grain number per spike, grains weight per spike, and biomass yield. The population was genotyped using 184 simple-sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 34 sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. Of 76 QTLs (LOD>2.5) identified, 42 were found to have a positive effect from Chuanmai 42. The QTL QGy.saas-4D.2 associated with grain yield on chromosome 4D was detected in four of the six environments and the combined analysis, and the mean yield, across six environments, of individuals carrying the Chuanmai 42 allele at this locus was 8.9% higher than that of those lines carrying the Chuannong 16 allele. Seven clusters of the yield-coincident QTLs were detected on 1A, 4A, 3B, 5B, 4D, and 7D.