Fusarium sp. strain ZH-H2 is capable to degrade high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HMW-PAHs),  smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) can also degrade 4- to 6-ring PAHs.  Pot experiments were conducted to investigate how bromegrass and different inoculum sizes of ZH-H2 clean up HMW-PAHs in agricultural soil derived from a coal mine area.  The results showed that, compared with control, different sizes of inocula of ZH-H2 effectively degraded HMW-PAHs, with removal rates of 19.01, 34.25 and 29.26% for 4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs in the treatment with 1.0 g kg^–1 ZH-H2 incubation after 90 d.  After 5 mon of cultivation, bromegrass reached degradation rate of these compounds by 12.66, 36.26 and 36.24%, respectively.  By adding strain ZH-H2 to bromegrass, HMW-PAHs degradation was further improved up to 4.24 times greater than bromegrass (W), in addition to the degradation rate of Bbf decrease.  For removal rates of both 5- and 6-ring PAHs, addition of 0.5 g kg^–1 Fusarium ZH-H2 to pots with bromegrass performed better than addition of 0.1 g kg^–1, while the highest concentration of 1.0 g kg^–1 Fusarium ZH-H2 did not further improve degradation.  Degradation of 4-ring PAHs showed no significant difference among different ZH-H2 incubations with bromegrass treatments.  We found that the degradation rates of 4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs in all treatments are significantly correlated in a positive, linear manner with activity of lignin peroxidase (LiP) (r=0.8065, 0.9350 and 0.9165, respectively), while degradation of 5- and 6-ring PAHs is correlated to polyphenoloxidase (PPO) activity (r=0.7577 and 07806).  Our findings suggest that the combination of Fusarium sp. ZH-H2 and bromegrass offers a suitable alternative for phytoremediation of aged PAH-contaminated soil in coal mining areas, with a recommended inoculation size of 0.5 g Fusarium sp. ZH-H2 per kg soil.

The transition of a plant from vegetative to reproductive stage is controlled by a large group of genes, which respond to environmental and endogenous stimuli. Application of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and gibberellins (GA₃) to oilseed plants (Brassica napus L.) interrupts the delicate endogenous balance and results in various floral organ abnormalities. Exogenous MeJA or GA₃ influences the transcriptome at the initial flowering stage in Arabidopsis, but the corresponding changes of transcriptome in floral tissues of oilseed rape remain unknown. In this study, cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) was analyzed to identify genes whose expression was modulated by application of MeJA and GA₃ to flower buds. A total of 2 787 cDNA fragments were counted using 64 primer pair combinations, and bands larger than 50 bp were compared among four treatments, namely, water control, MeJA (50 µmol L^-1), MeJA (100 µmol L^-1), and GA₃ (50 µmol L^-1). Overall, 168 transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) were differentially expressed among the treatments. The expression pattern of some TDFs was confirmed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis, and a group of 106 differentially displayed TDFs was cloned and sequenced. Homologs of Arabidopsis genes were identified and classified into 12 functional categories. A total of 34, 39, and 24 TDFs were responsive to GA_3, MeJA, and both GA₃ and MeJA, respectively. This finding indicated that cross-talk between these two hormones may be involved in regulating flower development. This study provides potential target genes for manipulation in terms of flowering time and floral organ initiation, important agronomic traits of oilseed rape.

Favorable agronomic traits are important to improve productivity of popcorn. In this study, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population consisting of 258 lines was evaluated to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for nine agronomic traits (plant height, ear height, top height (plant height subtracted ear height), top height/plant height, number of leaves above the top ear, leaf area, stalk diameter, number of tassel branches and the length of tassel) under three environments. Meta-analysis was conducted then to integrate QTLs identified across three generations (RIL, F2:3 and BC2F2) developed from the same crosses. In total, 179 QTLs and 36 meta-QTLs (mQTL) were identified. The percentage of phenotypic variation (R2) explained by any single QTL varied from 3.86 to 28.4%, and 24 QTLs with contributions over 15%. Nine common QTLs located in the same or similar chromosome regions were detected across three generations. Five meta-QTLs were identified including QTLs in three independent studies. Seven important mQTLs were composed of 11–26 QTLs for 4–7 traits, respectively. Only 11 mQTLs were commonly identified in the same or similar chromosome regions across agronomic traits, popping characteristics (popping fold, popping volume and popping rate) and grain yield components (ear weight per plant, grain weight per plant, 100-grain weight, ear length, kernel number per row, ear diameter, row number per ear and kernel ratio) by meta-QTL analysis. In conclusion, we identified a list of QTLs, some of which with much higher contributions to agronomic traits should be valuable for further study in improving both popping characteristics and grain yield components in popcorn.