Improving grain yield (GY) and reducing grain moisture (GM) are urgent demands for directly harvesting kernels with combine harvesters in maize production.  GY and GM are both related to leaf, stem and root characteristics, but the relationships are not fully understood.  To better understand these relationships, we conducted a field trial involving 12 maize hybrids with two sowing dates in 2017 and 10 maize hybrids with one sowing date in 2019.  GY ranged from 6.5–14.6 t ha^–1 in early-sown varieties and 9.3–12.7 t ha^–1 in late-sown varieties in 2017, and 5.9–7.4 t ha^–1 in 2019, respectively, with corresponding GM variations of 29.8–34.9%, 29.4–34.5% and 31.9–37.1% at harvest.  A large maximum leaf area contributed to a high yield, a fast leaf senescence rate accelerated grain dehydration in the late growth period, and a compact root structure resulted in both of high-yield and fast-grain dehydration.  A strong stem improved lodging resistance but maintained a high GM at harvest, and it is challenging to combine high GY and low GM in maize.  High GY co-existed with low GM in some varieties that should have a rapid grain filling, a relatively long grain-filling duration, and a rapid grain dehydration in the late growth period.  A high daily temperature in the late growth period also improved GY and reduced GM by influencing grain filling and dehydration, suggesting that adjusting the sowing date should be an alternative strategy to combine high GY and low GM in kernel harvesting. 

Water is a key limiting factor in agriculture.  Water resource shortages have become a serious threat to global food security.  The development of water-saving irrigation techniques based on crop requirements is an important strategy to resolve water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions.  In this study, field experiments with winter wheat were performed at Wuqiao Experiment Station, China Agricultural University in two growing seasons in 2013–2015 to help develop such techniques.  Three irrigation treatments were tested: no-irrigation (i.e., no water applied after sowing), limited-irrigation (i.e., 60 mm of water applied at jointing), and sufficient-irrigation (i.e., a total of 180 mm of water applied with 60 mm at turning green, jointing and anthesis stages, respectively).  Leaf area index (LAI), light transmittance (LT), leaf angle (LA), transpiration rate (T_r), specific leaf weight, water use efficiency (WUE), and grain yield of winter wheat were measured.  The highest WUE of wheat in the irrigated treatments was found under limited-irrigation and grain yield was only reduced by a small amount in this treatment compared to the sufficient irrigation treatment.  The LAI and LA of wheat plants was lower under limited irrigation than sufficient irrigation, but canopy LT was greater.  Moreover, the specific leaf weight of winter wheat was significantly lower under sufficient than limited irrigation conditions, while the leaf T_r was significantly higher.  Correlation analysis showed that the increased LAI was associated with an increase in the leaf T_r, but the specific leaf weight had the opposite relationship with transpiration.  Optimum WUE occurred over a reasonable range in leaf T_r.  In conclusion, reduced irrigation can optimize wheat canopies and regulate water consumption, with only small reductions in final yield, ultimately leading to higher wheat WUE and water saving in arid and semi-arid regions.

An agglutination test based on colored silica nanoparticles (colored SiNps) was established to detect serotypes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Monodisperse colored SiNps were used as agglutination test carriers.  The colored SiNps were prepared through reverse microemulsion with reactive dyes, sensitized with 11 kinds of mono-specific antibodies against P. aeruginosa, and denoted as IgG-colored SiNps.  Eleven kinds of IgG-colored SiNps were individually mixed with P. aeruginosa on a glass slide.  Different serotypes of P. aeruginosa could be identified by agglutination test with evident agglutination.  The P. aeruginosa could be detected in a range from 3.6×1⁰⁵ to 3.6×10¹² cfu mL^–1.  This new agglutination test was confirmed to be a speci?c, sensitive, fast, easy-to-perform, and cost-ef?cient tool for the routine diagnosis of P. aeruginosa.

Field experiments were conducted in oil and edible sunflower to study the effects of potassium (K) fertilization on achene yield and quality, and to estimate the nutrient internal efficiency (IE) and nutrient requirement in sunflower production.  All trials in edible sunflower and 75% trials in oil sunflower showed positive yield responses to K fertilization.  Compared with control without K fertilization, the application of K increased achene yield by an average of 406 kg ha–1 for oil sunflower and 294 kg ha^–1 for edible sunflower.  K application also increased 1 000-achene weight and kernel rate of both oil and edible sunflower.  K fertilization improved the contents of oil, oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid in achenes of oil sunflower, and increased contents of oil, total unsaturated fatty acid and protein in achenes of edible sunflower.  The average agronomic efficiency of K fertilizer was 4.0 for oil sunflower and 3.0 kg achene kg^–1 K₂O for edible sunflower.  The average IE of N, P and K under balanced NPK fertilization was 22.9, 82.8, and 9.9 kg kg^–1 for oil sunflower, and 27.3, 138.9, and 14.3 kg kg^–1 for edible sunflower.  These values were equivalent to 45.5, 14.1, and 108.1 kg, and 39.0, 8.0, and 71.7 kg of N, P and K, respectively, in above-ground dry matter required for production per ton of achenes.  The average harvest index of N, P and K was 0.47, 0.56 and 0.05 kg kg^–1 in oil sunflower, and 0.58, 0.58 and 0.14 kg kg^–1 in edible sunflower.   

Maize growth and development is affected by low temperature (LT) especially at the early stages of development.  To describe the response of different varieties to LT stress and determine an effective method to cope with LT stress, maize hybrids
Zhengdan 958 (ZD 958) and Danyu 39 (DY 39) were planted and grown at 10 and 25°C, respectively.  Effects of the chemicals potassium chloride (KCl), gibberellin (GA₃), 2-diethylaminoethyl-3,4-dichlorophenylether (DCPTA), and all three combined chemicals (KGD) on coping with LT stress were tested by seed priming.  The varieties performed significantly different at 10°C.  Compared to leaf, root growth was more severely affected by LT stress.  Root/leaf ratio is likely a more reliable parameter to evaluate cold tolerance based on its close correlation with leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) content (R=–0.8).  GA₃ advanced seed germination by about 2 days compared with control treatment of water.  GA₃ and DCPTA both resulted in lower leaf MDA content and higher leaf and root area, and root/leaf ratio.  KCl resulted in the highest evenness of plant height.  KGD performed the best in increasing cold tolerance of maize morphologically and physiologically.  Strategies to increase maize tolerance of cold stress, such as variety breeding or chemical selection, would increase maize yield especially at high-latitude regions and have great implications for food security.