Fusarium head blight (FHB), mainly caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum, is one of the most destructive wheat diseases.  Besides directly affecting the yield, the mycotoxin residing in the kernel greatly threatens the health of humans and livestock.  Xinong 979 (XN979) is a widely cultivated wheat elite with high yield and FHB resistance.  However, its resistance mechanism remains unclear.  In this study, we studied the expression of genes involved in plant defense in XN979 by comparative transcriptomics.  We found that the FHB resistance in XN979 consists of two lines of defense.  The first line of defense, which is constitutive, is knitted via the enhanced basal expression of lignin and jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis genes.  The second line of defense, which is induced upon F. graminearum infection, is contributed by the limited suppression of photosynthesis and the struggle of biotic stress-responding genes.  Meanwhile, the effective defense in XN979 leads to an inhibition of fungal gene expression, especially in the early infection stage.  The formation of the FHB resistance in XN979 may coincide with the breeding strategies, such as selecting high grain yield and lodging resistance traits.  This study will facilitate our understanding of wheat–F. graminearum interaction and is insightful for breeding FHB-resistant wheat.

Silage serves as the indispensable diet of ruminants, the increasing mechanism of α-tocopherol during silage making is unclear.  Rice straw lacks chlorophyll after harvesting the grain, this can eliminate the impact of tocopherols formed by the breakdown of chlorophyll.  Here, we explored the α-tocopherol source, its influencing factor, and its relationship with dominant lactic acid bacteria in rice straw silage treated without or with different additives (sodium benzoate, Lactobacillus plantarum, cell wall degrading enzymes, the combination of L. plantarum and cell wall degrading enzymes) and vacuum times (5, 8, 11, and 14 s) after ensiling for 42 d.  We found that the pathogenic Klebsiella was traced as the source of increased α-tocopherol in rice straw silage.  The residue air in the silo, pH value, and additive variety had impacts on Klebsiella activity, which was strongly active at levels of residue air in the silo and pH that were high.  As an acidic niche creator, L. plantarum was more effective than sodium benzoate in restraining Klebsiella.  Despite having a low acidity tolerance, Klebsiella was still present in rice straw silage treated with L. plantarum.  The relationship between Klebsiella and L. plantarum was that Klebsiella could afford α-tocopherol to the multiplication of L. plantarum and residue capsular polysaccharide protected Klebsiella from escaping the extinction in rice straw silage.

In higher plants, the shoot apical meristem produces lateral organs in a regular spacing (phyllotaxy) and timing (plastochron).  The molecular analysis of mutants associated with phyllotaxy and plastochron would increase our understanding of the mechanism of shoot architecture formation.  In this study, we identified mutant mnd8^ynp5 that shows an increased rate of leaf emergence and a larger number of nodes in combination with a dwarfed growth habit from an EMS-treated population of the elite barley cultivar Yangnongpi 5.  Using a map-based cloning strategy, the mnd8 gene was narrowed down to a 6.7-kb genomic interval on the long arm of chromosome 5H.  Sequence analysis revealed that a C to T single-nucleotide mutation occurred at the first exon (position 953) of HORVU5Hr1G118820, leading to an alanine (Ala) to valine (Val) substitution at the 318th amino acid site.  Next, HORVU5Hr1G118820 was defined as the candidate gene of MND8 encoding 514 amino acids and containing two multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) domains.  It is highly homologous to maize Bige1 and has a conserved function in the regulation of plant development by controlling the leaf initiation rate.  Examination of modern barely varieties showed that Hap-1 was the dominant haplotype and was selected in barley breeding around the world.  Collectively, our results indicated that mnd8^ynp5 is a novel allele of the HORVU5Hr1G118820 gene that is possibly responsible for the shortened plastochron and many noded dwarf phenotype in barley.