The combined effects of straw incorporation (SI) and polymer-coated urea (PCU) application on soil ammonia (NH₃) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural fields have not been comprehensively evaluated in Northwest China.  We conducted a two-year field experiment to assess the effects of combining SI with either uncoated urea (U) or PCU on soil NH₃ emissions, N₂O emissions, winter wheat yields, yield-scaled NH₃ (I_NH3), and yield-scaled N₂O (I_N2O).  Five treatments were investigated, no nitrogen (N) fertilizer (N₀), U application at 150 kg N ha^–1 with and without SI (SI+U and S₀+U), and PCU application at 150 kg N ha^–1 with and without SI (SI+PCU and S₀+PCU).  The results showed that the NH₃ emissions increased by 20.98–34.35% following SI compared to straw removal, mainly due to increases in soil ammonium (NH₄⁺-N) content and water-filled pore space (WFPS).  SI resulted in higher N₂O emissions than under the S₀ scenario by 13.31–49.23% due to increases in soil inorganic N (SIN) contents, WFPS, and soil microbial biomass.  In contrast, the PCU application reduced the SIN contents compared to the U application, reducing the NH₃ and N₂O emissions by 45.99–58.07 and 18.08–53.04%, respectively.  Moreover, no significant positive effects of the SI or PCU applications on the winter wheat yield were observed.  The lowest I_NH3 and I_N2O values were observed under the S₀+PCU and SI+PCU treatments.  Our results suggest that single PCU applications and their combination with straw are the optimal agricultural strategies for mitigating gaseous N emissions and maintaining optimal winter wheat yields in Northwest China.

Evidence showed that N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification plays a pivotal role in influencing RNA fate and is strongly associated with cell growth and developmental processes in many species.  However, no information regarding m⁶A modification in Eimeria tenella is currently available.  In the present study, we surveyed the transcriptome-wide prevalence of m⁶A in sporulated oocysts and unsporulated oocysts of E. tenella.  Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) analysis showed that m⁶A modification was most abundant in the coding sequences, followed by stop codon.  There were 3,903 hypermethylated and 3,178 hypomethylated mRNAs in sporulated oocysts compared with unsporulated oocysts.  Further joint analysis suggested that m⁶A modification of the majority of genes was positively correlated with mRNA expression.  The mRNA relative expression and m⁶A level of the selected genes were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) and MeRIP-qPCR.  GO and KEGG analysis indicated that differentially m⁶A methylated genes (DMMGs) with significant differences in mRNA expression were closely related to processes such as regulation of gene expression, epigenetic, microtubule, autophagy-other and TOR signaling.  Moreover, a total of 96 DMMGs without significant differences in mRNA expression showed significant differences at protein level.  GO and pathway enrichment analysis of the 96 genes showed that RNA methylation may be involved in cell biosynthesis and metabolism of E. tenella.  We firstly present a map of RNA m⁶A modification in E. tenella, which provides significant insights into developmental biology of E. tenella.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops worldwide.  Development of rapeseed varieties with high-quality oil is a long-term breeding goal.  Reducing the contents of palmitic acid, the main saturated fatty acid in rapeseed oil, could greatly improve oil quality.  Here, we performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) and transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) of seed palmitic acid content (SPAC) using 393 diverse B. napus accessions.  Four genes (BnaA08.DAP, BnaA08.PAA1, BnaA08. DUF106, and BnaC03.DAP) were identified by both GWAS and TWAS.  The transcripts per million (TPM) values of these candidate genes at 20 and 40 days after flowering (DAF) were significantly correlated with SPAC in this association panel.  Based on genetic variation in the candidate genes, we identified four low-SPAC haplotypes by combining candidate gene association analysis and haplotype analysis.  Brassica napus accessions carrying low-SPAC haplotypes had lower SPAC than those carrying high-SPAC haplotypes without affecting seed oil content, seed protein content, or seed yield.  Based on the functional single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chrA08_9529850 (C/A) in the promoter of BnaA08.DUF106, we developed a molecular marker (Bn_A8_SPAC_Marker) that could be used to facilitate breeding for low SPAC in B. napus.  Our findings provide valuable information for studying the genetic control of SPAC in B. napus.  Moreover, the candidate genes, favorable haplotypes, and molecular marker identified in this study will be useful for breeding low-SPAC B. napus varieties.

Phytopathogenic fungi can weaken the effectiveness of anti-fungal chemicals from plants and artificial synthesis through xenobiotic detoxification system. Nevertheless, the transcription factors responsible for transcriptional activation of xenobiotic detoxification genes in phytopathogenic fungi are rarely reported. Here, we show that a GATA transcription factor SsGATA1 is regulating the transcription of drug efflux pump genes, thus contributing to the tolerance of various types of chemical fungicides, including propiconazole, caspofungin and azoxystrobin in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Similarly, SsGATA1 also plays the role of tolerance to isothiocyanate and flavonols, two reported as broad-spectrum anti-fungal chemicals, by mediating the transcription of isothiocyanates hydrolase SsSaxA. Importantly, SsGATA1 positively regulates pathogenicity, which is attributed to the up-regulation of hydrolases and SsSaxA during infection. Furthermore, SsGATA1 is responsible for tolerance to several stresses. Our findings demonstrated that SsGATA1 plays roles in multidrug resistance and pathogenicity by activating the transcription of hydrolases and xenobiotic detoxification genes.