The sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii, is a major parasite of sugar beet which has been recognized and listed as a quarantine nematode in China and more than 20 countries and regions worldwide.  A survey for important nematodes was undertaken in the sugar beet planting area of China during 2015–2018, and numerous cysts were collected from sugar beet fields in Xinyuan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China.  The observations of morphological and morphometric characteristics revealed that cysts, vulval cones and second-stage juveniles of the Xinjiang population were in the same range of each other and within those of other reported H. schachtii populations.  Molecular analysis of rDNA-ITS, 28S-D2/D3 and mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene sequences suggested that the Xinjiang population clustered in a branch with those foreign populations, and the sequence similarity was as high as 99.81–100%.  Moreover, this result was confirmed by PCR assay with species-specific primer SHF6 and rDNA2 of H. schachtii, and the pathogenicity test confirmed successful Xinjiang population reproduction in both plant hosts.  In conclusion, based on morphological and molecular characterization, this study confirmed that the cyst nematode population collected from sugar beet fields in Xinjiang is H. schachtii.  As far as we know, this is the first report of H. schachtii on sugar beets in Xinjiang, China.

Excessive or insufficient application of fertilizer has raised broader concerns regarding soil and environmental degradation. One-time application of slow release fertilizer (SF) has been widely used to reduce yield gap with potential maize yield and improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). A 2-year field experiment (2018–2019) was conducted to evaluate the effects of SF rates from 0 to 405 kg N ha^–1 (named F0, SF225, SF270, SF315, SF360, and SF405) and 405 kg N ha^–1 of common fertilizer (CF405) on the grain yield, biomass and N accumulation, enzymatic activities related with carbon–nitrogen metabolism, NUE and economic analysis. Results indicated that the highest grain yields, NUEs and economic returns were achieved at SF360 in both varieties. The enzymatic activities related with carbon–nitrogen metabolism, pre- and post-silking accumulation of biomass and N increased with increasing SF rate, and they were the highest at SF360 and SF405. The grain yield at SF360 had no significant difference with that at SF405. However, the N partial factor productivity, N agronomic efficiency and N recovery efficiency at SF360 were 9.8, 6.6 and 8.9% higher than that at SF405. The results also indicated that the average grain yields, NUE and economic benefit at SF405 were 5.2, 12.3 and 18.1% higher than that at CF405. In conclusion, decreasing N rate from 405 kg ha^–1 (CF) to 360 kg ha^–1 (SF) could effectively reduce the yield gap between realized and potential maize yields. The N decreased by 11.1%, but the yield, NUE and economic benefit increased by 3.2, 22.2 and 17.5%, which created a simple, efficient and business-friendly system for spring maize production in Jiangsu Province, China.

   Male germline stem cells (mGSCs) are unique adult germ cells with self-renewal potential and spermatogenesis function in the testis.  However, further studies are needed to establish a long-term cultural system of mGSCs in vitro, especially for large animals such as bovine mGSCs.  In this study, we first established a stable immortalized bovine male germline stem cell line by transducing Simian virus 40 (SV40) large T antigen.  The proliferation of these cells was improved significantly.  These cells could express spermatogonial stem cell (SSC)-specific markers, such as PLZF, PGP9.5, VASA, LIN28A, and CD49F, both in the mRNA and protein levels.  Additionally, these cells could be differentiated into three germ layer cells to enter meiosis, form colonies, and proliferate in the seminiferous tubules of busulfan-induced infertile mice.  The immortalized bovine mGSCs maintain the criteria of mGSCs.  

Pepper (Capsicum annuum. L.) is a widely cultivated vegetable crop worldwide and has the second largest planting area and the first largest vegetable output and value in China.  Pepper root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.) is one of the most serious pests of pepper, which caused huge losses every year.  Previous studies showed that the Me3 gene is resistant to a wide range of Meloidogyne species, including M. arenaria, M. javanica, and M. incognita.  HDA149, a double haploid pepper genotype, harboring the root-knot nematode resistance gene Me3, was used to construct bacterial artificial chromosome library (BAC) via the vector of CopyControl^TM pCC1 in this study.  The library consists of 210 200 BAC clones and is equivalent to 5.3 pepper genomes.  The average insert size is 95 kb, and most of them are 90–120 kb; but the empty clones are less than 3%.  In order to screen the BAC library easily, 550 super pools with 384 BAC clones of each pool were further developed in this study.  Specific primers from Me3 gene locus were used for BAC library screening, and more than 20 positive BAC clones were obtained.  Then the selected positive BAC clones were analyzed by restriction enzyme digestion, BAC-end sequencing, marker development, and new positive BAC clones exploration, respectively.  Finally, the contig with total length of about 300 kb linked to the Me3 locus was constructed based on chromosome walking strategy, which made a solid foundation for the cloning of the important root-knot nematode resistance gene Me3.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) binds to TrkA and forms a NGF/TrkA complex at the cell surface, which is then internalized into signaling endosomes and promotes neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth. The small GTPase Rab5 is reported to localize on the plasma membrane and early endosomes, regulating endosome fusion. It was reported that endogenous Rab5 function may need to be suppressed during NGF-induced neurite outgrowth and cell differentiation. Two Rab5 homologs (MoRab5A: MGG_06241 and MoRab5B:MGG_01185) were characterized from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, and MoRab5B was identified as the Rab5 ortholog promoting early endosomal fusion, while MoRab5A specialized to perform a non-redundant function in endosomal sorting. In this study, we examined whether MoRab5A and MoRab5B play different roles in NGF-induced neurite outgrowth and cell differentiation in PC12 cells (a rat pheochromocytoma cell line). Our data showed that MoRab5B is a negative regulator of NGF signaling and neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells, similar to human Rab5 (hRab5). MoRab5B:WT inhibits NGF signaling-dependent neurite outgrowth while the dominant-negative MoRab5B mutant (MoRab5B:DN) enhances NGF signaling and neurite outgrowth. In contrast, MoRab5A:WT and MoRab5A:DN both significantly promote NGF-induced neurite outgrowth, indicating that MoRab5B is more similar to hRab5 than MoRab5A in the regulation of NGF signal transduction.

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.

Heading date of rice is a key agronomic trait determining cultivated areas and seasons and affecting yield. In the present study, five primary single segment substitution lines with the same genetic background were used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for heading date in rice. Two QTLs, qHD3 and qHD6 on the short arm of chromosome 3 and the short arm of chromosome 6, respectively, were identified under natural long-day (NLD). Nineteen secondary single segment substitution lines (SSSLs) and seven double segments pyramiding lines were designed to map the two QTLs and to evaluate their epistatic interaction between them. By overlapping mapping, qHD3 was mapped in a 791-kb interval between SSR markers RM3894 and RM569 and qHD6 in a 1 125-kb interval between RM587 and RM225. Results revealed the existence of epistatic interaction between qHD3 and qHD6 under natural long-day (NLD). It was also found that qHD3 and qHD6 had significant effects on plant height and yield traits, indicating that both of the QTLs have pleiotropic effects.

China is one of the most important rapeseed producing countries in the world. Effective mechanical harvesting time for decreasing harvesting loss of winter oilseed rape has been becoming a critical factor. An elite cultivar Zhongshuang 11 (Brassica napus L.) was employed in two rounds of field experiments from 2009 to 2011. Seeds were sown with machine, three combine harvesting times namely combine harvesting A, B, and C (CHA, CHB, and CHC) were designed and manual harvesting (MH) as control was performed at maturity. The harvesting treatments were determined according to color of pod and seed in the field. Seed yield loss and quality in different treatments were evaluated. Results showed that both seed yields and harvesting losses in 2009-2010 were higher than that in 2010-2011, whereas seed oil contents in 2010-2011 were higher than that in 2009-2010. The highest yield appeared in CHB, which was significantly higher than that in MH. Furthermore, harvesting loss in CHB were 50% that in MH. Seed oil content and chlorophyll exhibited no obvious difference between CHB and MH. Economic profit analysis demonstrated that mechanical sowing/combine harvesting (MS/CH) showed an input/output ratio of 1:1.6, and it was 1:1.2 in mechanical sowing/manual harvesting (MS/MH). Labor-cost accounted for more than 70% of the total cost in MS/MH, which led to low profitability to a great extent. Our results suggested that CHB was the optimum harvesting time for winter oilseed rape along the Yangtze River.