Odorant receptor (OR) is crucial for insects to detect and recognize external chemical cues closely related to their survival.  The insect OR forms a heteromeric complex composed of a ligand-specific receptor and a ubiquitously odorant receptor coreceptor (Orco).  This study used the CRISPR/Cas9 technique to knock out (KO) Orco and reveal its essential role in acting on OR-meditated olfactory behavior in a critical invasive agricultural pest, the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda.  Electroantennogram (EAG) results suggested that the Orco mutants of both male and female moths severely reduced their electrophysiological responses to the eight tested plant volatiles and two sex pheromones.  However, the Orco gene played distinct roles in mating behavior between sexes: the mating behavior was fully disrupted in mutated males but not in mutated females.  The oviposition result indicated that the Orco KO females displayed reduced egg laying by 24.1% compared with the mated wild type (WT) females.  Overall, these results strongly suggest that Orco is an excellent target for disrupting FAW’s normal behavior and provides a feasible pest control approach.

The frequent occurrence of hailstorm in Xinjiang affects cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production and causes enormous economic loss.  The indeterminate growth habit of cotton allows for varying degrees of recovery and yield when different hail damage levels occur at different stages, which brings inconvenience to agricultural insurance claims and post-damage management.  Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate cotton recovery and yield responses to different levels of simulated hail damage at different growth stages.  Four levels of hail damage (0, 30, 60, and 90%) were simulated every 15 d from the five-leaf stage to the boll opening stage in 2018 and 2019, for a total of six times (I, II, III, IV, V, and VI).  The results showed that seed cotton yield decreased as the damage level increased and yield reduction increased when the damage was applied to older plants (for 30, 60 and 90% damage levels, yield reduction was 9–17%, 22–37% and 48–71%, respectively).  One possible reason was that the leaf area index and leaf area duration of plant canopy decreased after hail damage, resulting in a reduction in the accumulation of above-ground biomass.  However, when hail damage occurred before bloom, due to the indeterminate growth habit of cotton, the vegetative organs produced a strong compensation ability that promoted the bud development.  The compensation ability of vegetative organs decreased when hail damage occurred after bloom and the recovery time was too short to promote new boll maturity.  As the first study to understand the recovery of cotton after hail damage, it analyzed the leaf area index, leaf area duration, above-ground biomass accumulation and yield, rather than the yield alone.  The findings are of great importance for cotton production as they inform decisions about post-damage management practices, yield forecasts and insurance compensation.

Deep-sowing is an important method for avoiding drought stress in crop species, including maize.  Identifying candidate genes is the groundwork for investigating the molecular mechanism underlying maize deep-sowing tolerance.  This study evaluated four traits (mesocotyl length at 10 and 20 cm planting depths and seedling emergence rate on days 6 and 12) related to deep-sowing tolerance using a large maize population containing 386 inbred lines genotyped with 0.5 million high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).  The genome-wide association study detected that 273 SNPs were in linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the genetic basis of maize deep-sowing tolerance.  The RNA-sequencing analysis identified 1 944 and 2 098 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in two comparisons, which shared 281 DEGs.  By comparing the genomic locations of the 273 SNPs with those of the 281 DEGs, we identified seven candidate genes, of which GRMZM2G119769 encoded a sucrose non-fermenting 1 kinase interactor-like protein.  GRMZM2G119769 was selected as the candidate gene because its homologs in other plants were related to organ length, auxin, or light response.  Candidate gene association mapping revealed that natural variations in GRMZM2G119769 were related to phenotypic variations in maize mesocotyl length.  Gene expression of GRMZM2G119769 was higher in deep-sowing tolerant inbred lines.  These results suggest that GRMZM2G119769 is the most likely candidate gene.  This study provides information on the deep-sowing tolerance of maize germplasms and identifies candidate genes, which would be useful for further research on maize deep-sowing tolerance.

Erhualian (E), Meishan (MS) and Mi (MI) pigs are excellent indigenous pig breeds in Chinese Taihu Basin, which have made great contributions to the genetic improvement of commercial pigs.  Investigation of the genetic structure and inbreeding level of the 3 pig breeds is of great significance for the sustainable breeding of commercial pigs.  The length and number of runs of homozygosity (ROH) as well as the frequency of genomes covered by ROH can be used as indicators to evaluate the level of inbreeding and the origin of the population.  In this study, the ROH characteristics of E, MS, MI and Landrace (L) pigs were analyzed by SLAF-seq data, and the inbreeding coefficient based on ROH (FROH) was calculated.  In addition, we have identified candidate genes in the genomic regions associated with ROH.  A total of 10 568 ROH were detected in 116 individuals of 4 pig breeds.  The analysis showed that there were significant differences in genetic structure between 3 Taihu Basin pig breeds and L, and the genetic structure of E and MI was similar.  The results of FROH showed that the inbreeding level of MS was the highest (0.25±0.07), while E and MI were lower than L.  Compared with the other 3 pig populations, MS showed a higher frequency of long ROH (>5 Mb), indicating higher inbreeding in MS in recent generations.  A large number of candidate genes related to reproductive traits are located in the genomic regions with a high frequency of ROH, and these genes are expected to be used as candidate genes in marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding programs.  Our findings can provide theoretical support for genetic conservation and genetic improvement of 3 pig breeds in Chinese Taihu Basin.

Available irrigation resources are becoming increasingly scarce in the North China Plain (NCP), and nitrogen-use efficiency of crop production is also relatively low. Thus, it is imperative to improve the water-use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen fertilizer productivity on the NCP. Here, we conducted a two-year field experiment to explore the effects of different irrigation amounts (S60, 60 mm; S90, 90 mm; S120, 120 mm; S150, 150 mm) and nitrogen application rates (150, 195 and 240 kg ha^–1; denoted as N1, N2 and N3, respectively) under micro-sprinkling with water and nitrogen combined on the grain yield (GY), yield components, leaf area index (LAI), flag leaf chlorophyll content, dry matter accumulation (DM), WUE, and nitrogen partial factor productivity (NPFP). The results indicated that the GY and NPFP increased significantly with increasing irrigation amount, but there was no significant difference between S120 and S150; WUE significantly increased first but then decreased with increasing irrigation and S120 achieved the highest WUE. The increase in nitrogen was beneficial to improving the GY and WUE in S60 and S90, while the excessive nitrogen application (N3) significantly reduced the GY and WUE in S120 and S150 compared with those in the N2 treatment. The NPFP significantly decreased with increasing nitrogen rate under the same irrigation treatments. The synchronous increase in spike number (SN) and 1 000-grain weight (TWG) was the main reason for the large increase in GY by micro-sprinkling with increasing irrigation, and the differences in SN and TGW between S120 and S150 were small. Under S60 and S90, the TGW increased with increasing nitrogen application, which enhanced the GY, while N2 achieved the highest TWG in S120 and S150. At the filling stage, the LAI increased with increasing irrigation, and greater amounts of irrigation significantly increased the chlorophyll content in the flag leaf, which was instrumental in increasing DM after anthesis and increasing the TGW. Micro-sprinkling with increased amounts of irrigation or excessive nitrogen application decreased the WUE mainly due to the increase in total water consumption (ET) and the small increase or decrease in GY. Moreover, the increase in irrigation increased the total nitrogen accumulation or contents (TNC) of plants at maturity and reduced the residual nitrate-nitrogen in the soil (SNC), which was conducive to the increase in NPFP, but there was no significant difference in TNC between S120 and S150. Under the same irrigation treatments, an increase in nitrogen application significantly increased the residual SNC and decreased the NPFP. Overall, micro-sprinkling with 120 mm of irrigation and a total nitrogen application of 195 kg ha–1 can lead to increases in GY, WUE and NPFP on the NCP.

In past 30 years, the wheat yield per unit area of China has increased by 79%. The super-high-yield (SH) cultivation played an important role in improving the wheat photosynthesis and yield. In order to find the ecophysiological mechanism underneath the high photosynthesis of SH cultivation, in situ diurnal changes in the photosynthetic gas exchange and chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence of field-grown wheat plants during the grain-filling stage and environmental factors were investigated. During the late grain-filling stage at 24 days after anthesis (DAA), the diurnal changes in net CO₂ assimilation rate were higher under SH treatment than under high-yield (H) treatment. From 8 to 24 DAA, the actual quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) electron transport in the light-adapted state (ΦPSII) in the flag leaves at noon under SH treatment were significantly higher than those under H treatment. The leaf temperature, soil temperature and soil moisture were better suited for higher rates of leaf photosynthesis under SH treatment than those under H treatment at noon. Such diurnal changes in environmental factors in wheat fields could be one of the mechanisms for the higher biomass and yield under SH cultivation than those under H cultivation. ΦPSII and CO₂ exchange rate in wheat flag leaves under SH and H treatments had a linear correlation which could provide new insight to evaluate the wheat photosynthesis performance under different conditions.

Understanding the characteristics of rice productivity is of great importance for achieving high yield formation.  However, such traits have not yet been studied for different ages of hydroponically grown long-mat rice seedlings (HLMS), which constitutes a new method of seedling cultivation.  Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of seedling age on the growth stage, photosynthesis characteristics, dry matter production, and yield of HLMS.  A conventional japonica rice cultivar (Wuyunjing 24) and an indica hybrid rice cultivar (6 Liangyou 9368) were used as test materials.  The results showed that the whole phase was shortened by 13–15 days for young seedlings (13-day-old) compared with old seedlings (27-day-old), which occurred because the growth process accelerated with the transplantation of young seedlings.  As seedling age increased, the dry matter weight of stems of individual plants and of the population increased at the transplanting stage but decreased at the maturity stage (MS).  Compared with that of 27-day-old seedlings, the average ratio of panicle weight to total plant dry weight of 13-day-old seedlings during a 2-year period increased by 3.71% for Wuyunjing 24 and by 3.78% for 6 Liangyou 9368 at the MS.  Moreover, as seedling age increased, the leaf area index and photosynthetic potential decreased for both cultivars, and the photosynthetic rate markedly decreased at the heading stage (HS).  With the exception of that of Wuyunjing 24 from the jointing stage to the HS in 2014, the crop growth rate was higher for young seedlings than for old seedlings.  Grain yield significantly decreased with seedling age, but no significant difference was detected between the 13- and 20-day-old seedlings for either cultivar.  Therefore, equilibrious and high biological yield formation, vigorous growth in the late stages, and high photosynthetic production capacity are important characteristics and causes of the efficient and sustainable output of photosynthetic systems and for achieving high yield formation in young transplanted seedlings (13–20-day-old).

Drip-irrigation is increasingly applied in maize (Zea mays L.) production in sub-humid region.  It is critical to quantify irrigation requirements during different growth stages under diverse climatic conditions.  In this study, the Hybrid-Maize model was calibrated and applied in a sub-humid Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China to estimate irrigation requirements for drip-irrigated maize during different crop physiological development stages and under diverse agro-climatic conditions.  Using dimensionless scales, the whole growing season of maize was divided into diverse development stages from planting to maturity.  Drip-irrigation dates and irrigation amounts in each irrigation event were simulated and summarized in 30-year simulation from 1981 to 2010.  The maize harvest area of Heilongjiang Province was divided into 10 agro-climatic zones  based on growing degree days, arid index, and temperature seasonality.  The simulated results indicated that seasonal irrigation requirements and water stress during different growth stages were highly related to initial soil water content and distribution of seasonal precipitation.  In the experimental site, the average irrigation amounts and times ranged from 48 to 150 mm with initial soil water content decreasing from 100 to 20% of the maximum soil available water.  Additionally, the earliest drip-irrigation event might occur during 3- to 8-leaf stage.  The water stress could occur at any growth stages of maize, even in wet years with abundant total seasonal rainfall but poor distribution.  And over 50% of grain yield loss could be caused by extended water stress during the kernel setting window and grain filling period.  It is estimated that more than 94% of the maize harvested area in Heilongjiang Province needs to be irrigated although the yield increase varied (0 to 109%) in diverse agro-climatic zones.  Consequently, at least 14% of more maize production could be achieved through drip-irrigation systems in Heilongjiang Province compared to rainfed conditions.

Patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 5 (PNPLA5) is a neotype neutral lipase with dual activity of anabolism and catabolism in vitro and in vivo, which has a low mRNA expression level in humans and mice.  PNPLA5, which is localized to lipid droplets and required for efficient autophagy by optimal initiation, has been speculated to possess triglyceride hydrolase activity, and has been associated with low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).  Above all, PNPLA5 is a relatively new gene, which is reported less about its biological function research, especially the function research in the rats is still blank.  In this study, we examined the spatiotemporal expression profile of PNPLA5 and found that it was expressed at low levels in most organs of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, but was present at very high levels in the skin and testes.  To further determine the biological function of PNPLA5 in mammals, we generated PNPLA5-knockout SD rats using the clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system.  PNPLA5-null rats were viable, but showed a variety of phenotypic abnormalities, such as abnormal bleeding, and varied hematobiochemical parameters including increased serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level, and reduced LDL-C level, compared with wild-type control rats.  These data are consistent with an important role for PNPLA5 in lipid metabolism, providing a new target gene and animal model for treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the future.

Strategies for insect population control are currently targeting chemical communication at the molecular level. The diamondback moth Plutella xylostella represents one of the most serious pests in agriculture, however detailed information on the proteins mediating olfaction in this species is still poor. This species is endowed with a repertoire of a large number of olfactory receptors and odorant binding proteins (OBPs). As a contribution to map the specificities of these chemical sensors in the moth and eventually unravel the complexity of chemodetection, we have measured the affinities of three selected OBPs to a series of potential odorants. Three proteins are highly divergent in their amino acid sequences and show markedly different expression profiles. In fact, PxylOBP3 is exclusively expressed in the antennae of both sexes, PxylOBP9 is male specific and present only in antennae and reproductive organs, while PxylOBP19, an unusual OBP with nine cysteines, is ubiquitously present in all the organs examined. Such expression pattern suggests that the last two proteins may be involved in non-chemosensory functions. Despite such differences, the three OBPs exhibit similar binding spectra, together with high selectivity. Among the 26 natural compounds tested, only two proved to be good ligands, retinol and coniferyl aldehyde. This second compound is particularly interesting being part of the chemical pathway leading to regeneration of lignin, one of the defense strategies of the plant against insect attack, and might find applications as a repellent for P. xylostella and other pests.

    Drought is a multifaceted stress condition that inhibits crop growth. Seed germination is one of the critical and sensitive stages of plants, and its process is inhibited or even entirely prevented by drought. Polyamines (PAs) are closely associated with plant resistance to drought stress and seed germination. However, little is known about the effect of PA on the seed germination of wheat under drought stress. This study investigated the involvement of PAs in regulating wheat seed germination under drought stress. Six wheat genotypes differing in drought resistance were used, and endogenous PA levels were measured during seed germination under different water treatments. In addition, external PA was used for seed soaking and the variation of hormones, total soluble sugar and starch were measured during the seed germination under different water treatments. These results indicated that the free spermidine (Spd) accumulation in seeds during the seed germination period favored wheat seed germination under drought stress; however, the free putrescine (Put) accumulation in seeds during the seed germination period may work against wheat seed germination under drought stress. In addition, seed soaking in Spd and spermine (Spm) significantly relieved the inhibition of seed germination by drought stress; however, soaking seeds in Put had no significant effect on seed germination under drought. External Spd and Spm significantly increased the endogenous indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), zeatin (Z)+zeatin riboside (ZR), abscisic acid (ABA), and gibberellins (GA) contents in seeds and accelerated the seed starch degradation and increased the concentration of soluble sugars in seeds during seed germination. This may promote wheat seed germination under drought stress. In conclusion, free Spd and Put are key factors for regulating wheat seed germination under drought stress and the effects of Spd and Put on seed germination under drought notably related to hormones and starch metabolism.

    The experiments were conducted for three consecutive years across 14 locations using 9 non-waxy proso millet genotypes and 16 locations using 7 waxy proso millet genotypes in China. The objectives of this study were to analyze yield stability and adaptability of proso millets and to evaluate the discrimination and representativeness of locations by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and genotype and genotype by environment interaction (GGE) biplot methods. Grain yields of proso millet genotypes were significantly influenced by environment (E), genotype (G) and their interaction (G×E) (P<0.1%). G×E interaction effect was six times higher than G effect in non-waxy group and seven times in waxy group. N04-339 in non-waxy and Neimi 6 (NM6) in waxy showed higher grain yields and stability compared with other genotypes. Also, Neimi 9 (NM9, a non-waxy cultivar) and 90322-2-33 (a waxy cultivar) showed higher adaptability in 7 and in 11 locations, respectively. For non-waxy, Dalat, Inner Mongolia (E2) and Wuzhai, Shanxi (E5) were the best sites among all the locations for maximizing the variance among candidate cultivars, and Yanchi, Ningxia (E10) had the best representativeness. Wuzhai, Shanxi (e9) and Yanchi, Ningxia (e14) were the best representative locations, and Baicheng, Jilin (e2) was better discriminating location than others for waxy genotypes. Based on our results, E10 and e14 have enhanced efficiency and accuracy for non-waxy genotypes and waxy genotypes selection, respectively in national regional test of proso millet varieties.

Mycotoxin contamination in agro-food systems has been a serious concern globally during the last few decades. Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi when they grow in agro-food products and feedstuff. Several detection techniques have been developed in recent years to detect mycotoxins in the food and feed effectively. HPLC based techniques are very common in usage in the laboratories for the testing of mycotoxins. In recent years, immuno-based assays is widely used and have been reported at large due to its sensitivity and limited detection time. Immuno assay-based kits were developed effectively to be used in the fields and in storage systems to detect the mycotoxin levels. Microarray-based immunoassays developed in the recent years could simultaneously detect aflatoxin, ochratoxin, and zearalenone with the higher sensitivity. Aptamer-based assays could target the detection of ochratoxin and aflatoxins and fumonisins at high specificity in food products. In recent years, several assays reported for the simultaneous multiple detection of different mycotoxin was based on HPLC and LC-MS/MS. There is a need for the use of these advanced technologies in the commercial scale.

Eight compounds were isolated from the fermentation cultures of rice sheath blight pathogen Rhizoctonia solani Kühn. They were identified as ergosterol (1), 6β-hydroxysitostenone (2), sitostenone (3), m-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (4), methyl m-hydroxyphenylacetate (5), m-hydroxymethylphenyl pentanoate (6), (Z)-3-methylpent-2-en-1,5-dioic acid (7) and 3-methoxyfuran-2-carboxylic acid (8) by means of physicochemical and spectroscopic analysis. Among them, 2, 3, 5–8 were isolated from R. solani for the first time. All the compounds were evaluated for their biological activities. 4–6 and 8 showed their inhibitory activities on the radical and germ elongation of rice seeds. 1, 4 and 7 showed moderate antibacterial activity to some bacteria. 4, 7 and 8 exhibited weak inhibitory activities on spore germination of Magnaporthe oryzae. 8 showed moderate antioxidant activity with the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene-linoleic acid assays. This is the first time to reveal compounds 5, 6 and 8 from rice sheath blight pathogen R. solani to have in vitro phytotoxic activity.

To determine the potential effects of climate change on crop phenological development and productivity, an integrated analysis was conducted based on the observed climatic and phenological records of Northeast China from 1992 to 2012. A set of quality assurance procedures, including repeated record checks, agro-meteorological station selection, internal consistency checks, temporal outlier checks, spatial outlier checks, and interpolation of missing data, were designed and applied to the phenology datasets of spring maize and paddy rice. Our results indicated that almost all phenological dates of spring maize and paddy rice became increasingly delayed from 1992 to 2012. The duration of the growing season was prolonged, particularly for the grain-filling stage (GS3). The prolonged growing season was beneficial to productivity. For spring maize, the average precipitation during GS3 decreased at a rate of 27.46 mm/decade, and the annual accumulated temperature over 10°C increased at a rate of 31.07°C/ decade. Farmers initiatively adjusted crop cultivars and selected drought-resistant crops to cope with the challenges of drought.

Segregation analysis of the mixed genetic model of major gene plus polygene was used to identify the major genes for cotton yield-related traits using six generations P1, P2, F1, B1, B2, and F2 generated from the cross of Baimian 1 × TM-1. In addition to boll size and seed index, the major genes for the other five traits were detected: one each for seed yield, lint percentage, boll number, lint index; and two for lint yield. Quantitative trait locus/loci (QTL) mapping was performed in the F2 and F2:3 populations of above cross through molecular marker technology, and a total of 50 QTL (26 suggestive and 24 significant) for yield-related traits were detected. Four common QTL were discovered: qLP-3b(F2)/qLP-3(F2:3) and qLP-19b (F2)/qLP-19(F2:3) for lint percentage, qBN-17(F2)/qBN-17(F2:3) for boll number, and qBS-26b(F2)/qBS-26(F2:3) for boll size. Especially, qLP- 3b(F2)/qLP-3(F2:3), not only had LOD scores >3 but also exceeded the permutation threshold (5.13 and 5.29, respectively), correspondingly explaining 23.47 and 29.55% of phenotypic variation. This QTL should be considered preferentially in marker assisted selection (MAS). Segregation analysis and QTL mapping could mutually complement and verify, which provides a theoretical basis for genetic improvement of cotton yield-related traits by using major genes (QTL).

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAchRs) are cholinergic receptors that form ligand-gated ion channels by five subunits in insect and vertebrate nervous systems. The insect nAChR is the molecular target of a class of insecticides, neonicotinoids. Here, we identified and cloned 11 candidate nAChR subunit genes in Acyrthosiphon pisum using genome-based bioinformatics combined modern molecular techniques. Most A. pisum nAChRs including α1, α2, α3, α4, α6, α8, and β1 show highly sequence identities with the counterparts of other insects examined. Expression profiles analysis showed that all subunit genes were expressed in adult head. At least two subunits have alternative splicing that obviously increase A. pisum nicotinic receptor diversity. This study will be invaluable for exploring the molecular mechanisms of neonicotinoid-like insecticides in sucking pests, and for ultimately establishing the screening platform of novel insecticides.

Although plastic-covered ridge and furrow planting (RF) has been reported to produce substantial increases in the grain weight of winter wheat, the underlying mechanism is not yet understood. The present study used two cultivars, Xinong 538 and Zhoumai 18, and RF and traditional flatten planting (TF, control) with the objective of investigating the effect of RF on wheat grain filling and the possible relationship of hormonal changes in the wheat grains under RF to grain filling. The results indicated that RF significantly increased the grain weight, although the effects on grain filling were different: RF significantly increased the grain-filling rate and grain weight of inferior grains, whereas RF had no significant effect on grainfilling rate and grain weight of superior grains. The ?nal grain weight of inferior grains under RF was 39.1 and 50.7 mg for Xinong 538 and Zhoumai 18, respectively, 3.6 and 3.4 mg higher than the values under TF. However, the final grain weight of superior grains under RF was only 0.6 and 0.8 mg higher than under TF for Xinong 538 and Zhoumai 18, respectively. RF significantly decreased the ethylene and gibberellic acid content in the inferior grains and increased the indole-3-acetic acid, abscisic acid and zeatin + zeatin riboside content in the inferior grains; however, no significant difference between RF and TF was observed for the hormonal content in the superior grains. Based on these results, we concluded that RF significantly modulated hormonal changes in the inferior grains and, thus, affected the grain filling and grain weight of the inferior grains; in contrast, RF had no significant effect on grain filling, grain weight and hormonal changes in the superior wheat grains.

In plants, basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors play important roles in regulatory processes, including stress response, pathogenic defense and light response as well as organ and tissue differentiation. Chinese wheat landrace Pingyaoxiaobaimai (PYXBM), an original parent of drought tolerant wheat varieties grown in northern China, is significantly tolerant to abiotic stresses such as drought, cold and nutrient deficiencies. In order to isolate key stress-responsive genes and then improve stress tolerances of conventional varieties, a bZIP transcription factor gene was isolated from a cDNA library of drought-treated PYXBM using the in situ plaque hybridization method, and was designated as Triticum aestivum L. abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive element binding protein 1 (TaABP1). It encodes 372 amino acids, and contains three conserved domains (C1-C3) in the N terminal and a bZIP domain in the C terminal which is a typical protein structure for the group member of bZIP family. Transcriptional activation analysis showed that TaABP1 activated the expression of downstream reporter genes in yeast without ABA application. TaABP1 protein fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP) demonstrated that the localization of TaABP1 protein is in the nucleus. Expression pattern assays indicated that TaABP1 was strongly induced by ABA, high salt, low temperature and drought, and its expression was stronger in stems and leaves than in the roots of wheat. Furthermore, overexpression of TaABP1 in tobacco showed significant improvement of drought tolerance. Data suggested that TaABP1 may be a good candidate gene for improving stress tolerance of wheat by genetic transformation and elucidation of the role of this gene will be useful for understanding the mechanism underlying drought tolerance of Chinese wheat landrace PYXBM.