To explore the mechanism of tobacco male sterility and search for the key causes, this paper concludes the present research status of male sterility in tobacco based on phenotype, cytology, physiology & biochemistry, molecular mechanism and so on. Firstly, we summarized that the distinguish characteristics of tobacco sterile lines and their maintainer lines in tapetum and flower organs. Secondly, we analyzed that the effects of free proline, active oxygen, enzyme and endogenous hormones on the tobacco fertility. Finally, we described in detail that the research and analysis of the association of nuclear genes, mitochondrial genes and chloroplast genes with tobacco fertility. Furthermore, it is presented that the follow-up studies combined with the high-throughput data effectively will be benefit for the systematical research of male sterility on tobacco.

Phosphorus in soil directly determines plant growth and crop yields, but phosphorus existing forms in soil are very complex, and those phosphorus forms that can be absorbed and utilized by plants account for only a small part of total phosphorus. Therefore, it is important to study the existing forms and classification methods of phosphorus in soil to improve the phosphorus use efficiency of crops, explore ways to enhance phosphorus availability, and reduce phosphorus loss. In this paper, the existing forms of phosphorus in soil, influencing factors of soil phosphorus availability and phosphorus classification methods were reviewed. The results show that the forms of phosphorus in soil consist of two major categories: inorganic phosphorus and organophosphorus, phosphorus absorbed by plants is mainly water soluble inorganic phosphorus, and other forms of phosphorus are difficult to be absorbed by plants, causing low utilization efficiency of phosphorus in soil. There are many factors that lead to low phosphorus use efficiency, mainly ions like calcium, iron and aluminum, and organic matter, pH, temperature, moisture etc. To study and improve the mechanism of the influencing factors could effectively enhance phosphorus utilization efficiency. At the same time, with the continuous improvement of phosphorus classification methods by domestic and foreign scholars, the effective forms of phosphorus have been studied more in-depth and accurately. Bowman-Cole organophosphorus classification method and Hedley’s phosphorus classification method are the two most widely used methods at present.

Agricultural information technology is formed as the result of integrating information technology and agricultural science, and has further facilitated the rapid development of digital agriculture (DA) and smart agriculture (SA). As one of the core technologies of DA and SA, crop growth model can dynamically simulate crop growth and development processes and their relationships with climate condition, soil characteristics and management strategy, so as to overcome the limitation of the spatial-temporal characteristics of traditional research on agricultural production management. It can provide powerful quantitative tools for crop productivity prediction and early warning and impact evaluation under different conditions. Through over 20-years systematic and profound exploration and practicing in wheat and rice crops, and based on the workflow of “physiological mechanism analysis-model algorithm development-dynamic productivity prediction-quantitative effect assessment-simulation platform development”, our research team has been devoted to the development and application of crop simulation model CropGrow, by integrating the technologies of system analysis, dynamic modeling, virtual reality, scenario simulation, and decision support. Firstly, based on the system analysis method and dynamic modeling technology, the comprehensive and mechanistic crop growth model CropGrow has been developed, including the submodels of phasic development and phenology, organ development and population establishment, photosynthetic production and biomass accumulation, assimilate partitioning and yield/quality formation, nutrient dynamics, and water balance, along with three-dimensional morphological and visual submodels, which could digitalize and visualize the processes of crop growth and productivity formation under different conditions. Further, by coupling geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS), the model-based regional crop productivity prediction technology has been established. Then, based on the scenario analysis, the contributions of climate change, soil improvement, variety updating, and strategy optimization to regional crop production have been quantified, and applications extended to generation of suitable management plan, design of ideal cultivar, assessment of climate impact, evaluation of land use and decision-making of agricultural policy. Finally, based on the component-based programming technology, a model-based digital and visual crop growth simulation system and decision support platform has been developed by integrating the crop production database and crop model components, further realizing the comprehensive functions of data management, parameter optimization, growth simulation, remote sensing coupling, regional prediction, management strategy design, effect evaluation, safety early warning and product release. In the future, based on the improvement of agro-information database, additional efforts in crop modeling will be made toward enhancing prediction ability, quantifying gene effects, developing intelligent decision-making, and coupling multiple models, which will provide digital support for the prediction and early warning of food production, quantitative evaluation of scenario effects, decision-making on management strategy, and optimal design of new crop cultivars, thus facilitating the security of national food and development of digital agriculture.

Low temperature is an abiotic stress that could affect plant growth and vegetation distribution. Once the environmental temperature is continuously lower than the optimal temperature for plant growth, the plant would suffer low temperature stress, including chilling injury and freezing injury. Chilling injury refers to the damage on plant caused by low temperature of zero degree or above. The cells do not freeze at this temperature, but the cold will have physiological obstacles for thermophilic plants, causing injury or death. Freezing damage refers to the phenomenon that plants are damaged or die because of the low temperature below the freezing point. Previous studies mainly focused on the regulation mechanism of low temperature stress on plants, including the process in plants from the perception of low temperature signal to the expression of functional genes, and to the resistance to low temperature stress. This article reviews the research on cold stress on plants in recent years, analyzes the research status from the aspects of signal perception, signal transduction, functional gene expression, cold-induced physiological and cellular regulatory mechanism, and discusses the prospect of the research on plant cold resistance. It will provide a theoretical basis for cultivating new cold-resistant plant germplasms.

Agricultural and forestry waste is a valuable biomass resource. If the resource cannot be used efficiently, it will cause serious environmental pollution and even great harm to human health. Therefore, the resource utilization of agricultural and forestry wastes is the important content of controlling agricultural non-point source pollution, saving biomass resources, energy conservation and emission reduction, protecting the ecological environment, achieving the goal of peaking carbon emissions and carbon neutralization, and social and economic sustainable development. In order to promote the resource utilization of agricultural and forestry wastes, this paper summarized the progress achieved in this field at home and abroad in recent years.

【Objective】Long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs) are a group of RNA molecules longer than 200 bp with no protein coding capacity, which are involved in various biological regulatory processes. In this study, we aim to analyze the RNA-sequencing data of two Gossypium arboreum isogenic lines, a fuzzless mutant (GA0149) and its wildtype (GA0146), to identify the lncRNA involved in early fuzz fiber development, providing a foundation for investigation the mechanism of fiber development. 【Method】We collected 0 DPA, 3 DPA and 5 DPA ovule and 8 DPA ovule and fiber from the G. arboreum fuzzless mutant GA0149 and its isogenic line GA0146 with normal fuzz and lint fibers, were used for RNA-seq to identify lncRNA and predict their target genes. Differentially expressed mRNA (DE-mRNA) and lncRNA(DE-lncRNAs) between the samples were identified. The KOBAS software was used to predict the KEGG enrichment pathways which DE-lncRNAs targets were involved in. To ensure the quality of high-through sequencing, 25 DE-lncRNAs were selected for RT-qPCR detection. 【Result】We identified 15 339 lncRNA-encoding transcripts that 11 595 lncRNAs were located to intergenic regions, 2 428 lncRNAs were classified as antisense lncRNAs, 350 were categorized as intronic lncRNAs and 966 belonged to sense lncRNAs. Compared to mRNAs, lncRNAs in Asian cotton showed shorter exons and lower GC content. Most of lncRNAs had cis-regulatory effects on their neighboring mRNAs. We identified 1 932 differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs, with 8 134 predicted DE-lncRNA target genes. Further analysis showed that 788 genes (mRNA) were differentially expressed (DE-genes) during four fiber development stages. KEGG enrichment pathways analysis showed that DE-target-mRNAs were mainly enriched in plant hormone signal transduction and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum. Co-expression network analysis revealed that lncRNA (MSTRG.454250.3) and its associated target genes showed identical expression trends during four fuzz fiber development stages, while lncRNAs (MSTRG.454261.4) and its associated target genes showed contrary expression tendency, exhibiting dramatic higher expression in fuzzless GA0149 compared to wildtype GA0146. The results of RT-qPCR analysis confirmed the authenticity of our RNA-seq data.【Conclusion】A total of 26 specifically expressed lncRNAs were identified which related to cotton fuzz fiber development process. We further confirmed that these lncRNAs affected the fuzz fiber development by regulating the expression of indole-3-acetic acid-amido synthetase (Ga03G2421) and Auxin-responsive protein (Ga05G1344) in the plant hormone signal transduction pathway.

In order to further study the role of endotransglucosylase/hydrolases (XTHs) in the regulation of plant growth and development, this review summarized the structures and mechanism of XTH, the functions of XTH in plant leaves, roots, stems, flowers and fruits, and the XTH expression in response to plant hormone and environmental factors. Meanwhile, the authors recognized XTH as a key enzyme in cell wall remodeling, which could loosen and strengthen cell wall, and participated in cell wall degradation and synthesis. At last, several potential problems in XTH gene research field were put forward, and the future research directions were suggested.

As the byproduct of agricultural production, crop straw is an important renewable resource. Previous studies have shown that the main component of crop straw is lignocellulose. Some microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi can produce certain enzymes that are capable to degrade lignocellulose. The present study summarized the types and degradation mechanisms of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes, and reviewed the reported microbial species which could degrade rice, wheat and corn straw. In addition, this study analyzed the shortcomings of the identified single microorganism strain and microbial complex for commercial application, and discussed the perspectives and directions of future research. The review will provide reference for screening novel high-quality lignocellulose degradation microorganisms and developing cellulose-degrading microorganisms for resource utilization of crop straw.

‘Yongyou 988’ is a new maize variety bred by Hebi Academy of Agricultural Sciences with T1932 from European flint line as the female parent and ‘Xun 856’ as the male parent, and it was approved by the nation for Huang-Huai-Hai summer maize region in 2021. In this study, the breeding process, parent source and characteristics, yield performance, stress resistance, disease resistance and quality analysis of the variety were analyzed. The study proposed that in variety breeding, we should highlight the exploration and utilization of excellent germplasm resources, strengthen adversity selection and improve ecological adaptability of the varieties, so as to breed a new maize variety with high yield and quality, wide adaptability, density tolerance and strong stress resistance.

In order to remove the inherent complex resistance structure of lignocellulose and achieve efficient utilization of lignocellulose, new lignocellulosic pretreatment technologies have been improved continuously. As green solvents, Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) have the advantages of low cost, simple preparation, thermal stability, and designability. They have great application potential in promoting the pretreatment of lignocellulose and enzymatic hydrolysis, and have received widespread attention. Based on the analysis and summary of the research status and achievements at home and abroad, the research progress of synthesis and properties of DESs, pretreatment mechanism, enzymatic hydrolysis, and bioethanol conversion were discussed. It was pointed out that different hydrogen bond donors and different pre-treatment conditions had a significant impact on the lignin removal rate and glucose yield. It was believed that pretreatment of lignocellulose with DESs could greatly improve the saccharification rate. Prospects for DESs pretreatment mechanism, recycling, and process parameter optimization were proposed.

Genome-wide association study (GWAS) is an effective method to locate genomic loci that are significantly associated with traits. With the accumulated phenotypic data, the continuous development of high-throughput genotyping technology, and the improved statistical methods, it promotes the wide application of GWAS in area of human disease and animal and plant genetics. False positives are one of the important concerns that impair the reliability of genome-wide association results. To control the false positives, in addition to correcting the P-values, GWAS models have been continuously improved from the naive methods like ANOVA (for quantitative trait) or Chi-square test (for quality trait), to general linear model (GLM), which incorporates fixed-effect covariates, to the mixed linear model (MLM), which incorporates random effects. Fitting individual genetic effects into random effects defined by the genomic relationships matrix (GRM) is commonly adapted currently. Since the parameter estimation of MLM consumes a lot of computational resources, researchers have tried to optimize solving models and constructing GRM (which also improves computing efficiency), and the time complexity gradually decreased from O(MN³) to O(MN) for MLM-based methods, achieving a great leap in computational speed and statistical efficacy. For inflations caused by unbalanced case-control data, researchers further correct the generalized mixed linear model (GLMM). This paper comprehensively introduces the basic principles and development of GWAS, with specific emphasis on the model improvement and optimization details. We also list the applications of MLM in GWAS in agriculture, including progress on animals, plants and microbes, as well as the application of haplotype in GWAS. Finally, we give prospects on the future developments of GWAS from the viewpoints of further model optimization and experimental design.

Waterlogging stress is an important factor that affects the distribution, growth and development of plants. The research on plant waterlogging tolerance is critical to improving plant tolerance in order to cope with the increasingly severe extreme weather and the large-scale production management. In order to carry out researches on plant waterlogging tolerance and explore the regulation mechanism of different plants in response to waterlogging stress, we summarized the effects of waterlogging stress on plant growth, the regulation mechanism of plant in response to waterlogging stress, and analyzed the effects of waterlogging stress on plant phenotypic traits, biomass, photosynthesis, reactive oxygen species accumulation, sugar content as well as biological membrane in detail. In addition, the regulation mechanism of ethylene signal molecule, reactive oxygen species scavenging mechanism, osmotic regulation, morphological regulation, molecular and metabolic regulation of plant in response to waterlogging stress were also analyzed. Finally, it is proposed that further in-depth study should be focus on the development of exogenous regulatory substances to improve plant waterlogging tolerance.

Under the background of cultivated land resource shortage and an increasing contradiction between human and land in east China, it is urgent to increase cultivated land to ensure a ‘balance of occupation and compensation’. Coastal saline-alkali land, as a potential land reserve resource, has strategic and practical significance by its rational development and utilization to alleviate the pressure of land resource shortage, improve agricultural water resource utilization efficiency and ecosystem stability. This paper introduced the current situation and main characteristics of coastal saline-alkali land resources, and summarized the recent research progress and existing problems of coastal saline-alkali land improvement and utilization from the physical, chemical, hydraulic engineering and biological aspects, and put forward the research prospect of coastal saline-alkali land in the future from biophysical process, obstacle reduction, soil fertility improvement and nutrient expansion, development and application of new materials, soil carbon sequestration, and comprehensive management and remediation, aiming to provide new ideas, new technologies and theoretical support for coastal saline-alkali soil improvement under the background of ecological civilization in the new era.

Genotyping technology, via molecular markers, has been playing a key role in many biological fields including genetic improvement. Genotyping has been widely applied in multi-national seed companies due to their high-throughput, automatic, large-scale and shared genotyping platforms. Genotyping has moved from its third generation (G3), dominated by expensive DNA chips and random genotyping by sequencing (GBS), to the fourth generation (G4), characterized by low-cost, less facility-demanding and performed via genotyping by target sequencing (GBTS). In this article, we first introduced two GBTS protocols, GenoPlexs, based on multiplexing PCR, and GenoBaits, based on sequence capture in-solution (also called liquid chip). For both protocols, multiple single-nucleotide-polymorphisms (mSNP) or multiple dispersed nucleotide polymorphisms (MNP) can be generated to reveal the genetic variation hidden within each amplified locus (amplicon). Compared to DNA chips and GBS, GBTS has several advantages, including wide applicability to genotyping facilities, very flexible marker types, highly efficient genotyping, sharable and accumulative marker data, less required information management and support, and wide suitability in biological applications. With the same marker panel (for example, 40K maize mSNPs), three types of genotyping (40K mSNPs, 260K SNPs, and 754K haplotypes) can be achieved, and multiple panels with various marker densities (1K to 40K mSNPs) can be generated by sequencing at different depths. Applications of GenoPlexs and GenoBaits in biology were then reviewed, including biological evolution, germplasm evaluation, genetic map construction, gene mapping and cloning, marker-trait association (genome-wide association study and bulked sample analysis, BSA), progeny testing, gene introgression, gene pyramiding, variety right protection, variety quality monitoring, transgenic event and gene editing detection, and bioassay. More 50 marker panels have been developed so far for more than 20 plant, animal and microorganism species and applied in some of the fields described above. Lastly, we prospected for future GBTS by looking insights into carry-on, automatic, high-throughput and intelligent genotyping platforms, multi-functional marker panels with various marker densities designed to meet specific requirements, integration with other technologies such as KASP, high-density DNA chips and BSA strategies, and open-source breeding by sharing germplasm and breeding materials and information. The development in these fields will greatly facilitate the applications of GBTS in genetic improvement and other fields of animals, plants and microorganisms.

To elaborate the mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis in plants and understand the various factors affecting anthocyanin synthesis as well as their interaction, we summarize the internal and external regulatory factors and concluded the environmental factors such as light, temperature, carbohydrate and hormone. Around the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, the structural genes in the pathway and its upstream transcription factors are described and analyzed. This study concludes that in plants, all kinds of external and internal factors regulate structural genes through the main transcription factors, affect the biosynthesis and accumulation of anthocyanins in plants, and maintain the dynamic balance of anthocyanins in plants. This regulation includes both positive and negative regulation. In summary, metabolic pathway of anthocyanins is gradually improved, at the same time, novel structural genes and transcription factors will be evaluated and used in genetic engineering improving the characteristics of ornamental plants.

Improving the rural habitat environment is one of the most important tasks in the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy. This paper mainly summarized the related research on the habitat environment improvement in China, including the rural habitat environment improvement and rural revitalization strategy, the rural habitat environment construction and beautiful rural construction, the key task of habitat environment improvement, the regional differences and existing problems of rural habitat environment, etc. This paper put forward the direction of future research, that is, to deepen the renovation practice research, to carry out theoretical research on the rural habitat environment improvement, to attach importance to village planning management, to improve construction and management mechanisms, and to study on effect, influencing factors and evaluation methods of the rural habitat environment improvement.

The wide application of advanced information technologies such as big data, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence in agriculture has promoted the modernization of agriculture in rural areas and the development of smart agriculture. This trend has also led to the boost of demands for technology and knowledge from a large amount of agricultural business entities. Faced with problems such as dispersiveness of knowledges, hysteric knowledge update, inadequate agricultural information service and prominent contradiction between supply and demand of knowledge, the agricultural knowledge service has become an important engine for the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of agriculture. To better facilitate the agriculture modernization in China, the research and application perspectives of agricultural knowledge services were summarized and analyzed. According to the whole life cycle of agricultural data, based on the whole agricultural industry chain, a systematic framework for the construction of agricultural intelligent knowledge service systems towards the requirement of agricultural business entities was proposed. Three layers of techniques in necessity were designed, ranging from AIoT-based agricultural situation perception to big data aggregation and governance, and from agricultural knowledge organization to computation/mining based on knowledge graph and then to multi-scenario-based agricultural intelligent knowledge service. A wide range of key technologies with comprehensive discussion on their applications in agricultural intelligent knowledge service were summarized, including the aerial and ground integrated Artificial Intelligence & Internet-of-Things (AIoT) full-dimensional of agricultural condition perception, multi-source heterogeneous agricultural big data aggregation/governance, knowledge modeling, knowledge extraction, knowledge fusion, knowledge reasoning, cross-media retrieval, intelligent question answering, personalized recommendation, decision support. At the end, the future development trends and countermeasures were discussed, from the aspects of agricultural data acquisition, model construction, knowledge organization, intelligent knowledge service technology and application promotion. It can be concluded that the agricultural intelligent knowledge service is the key to resolve the contradiction between supply and demand of agricultural knowledge service, can provide support in the realization of the advance from agricultural cross-media data analytics to knowledge reasoning, and promote the upgrade of agricultural knowledge service to be more personalized, more precise and more intelligent. Agricultural knowledge service is also an important support for agricultural science and technologies to be more self-reliance, modernized, and facilitates substantial development and upgrading of them in a more effective manner.

Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses affecting the growth and yield of crops. The risk of crops suffering from drought stress is increasing under climate change. In order to cope with drought, crops show a series of resistance mechanisms, including the changes of morphological characteristics, and physiological and biochemical characteristics (antioxidant enzyme, osmotic regulation substances, and endogenous hormone), which play an important role in improving the resistance of crops under drought conditions. This paper summarized the response mechanism of crops to drought stress and introduced the measures to improve the drought resistance ability of crops, including: (1) selecting drought-resistance cultivars to promote the absorption of deep soil water; (2) soil mulching, which could reduce soil evaporation and increase soil water content; (3) water-saving irrigation techniques, such as micro-sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation, which could precisely control the irrigation application and increase irrigation frequency; in addition, partial root-zone irrigation could reduce luxurious transpiration and soil evaporation by regulating stomatal closure; (4) anti-transpirants, which could inhibit excessive transpiration of water by forming ultrathin transparent protective film on the surface of crop branches and leaves; (5) plant growth regulators, which could enhance crop drought resistance by regulating plant physiological metabolism; (6) nano-fertilizers, which could promote plant growth and development by changing physiological and biochemical reactions of crops and enhance drought resistance of crops; (7) biochar, which is beneficial to soil aeration and water retention, and could improve soil physical properties and soil water retention capacity. In order to provide a theoretical basis and technical reference for coping with drought stress, this paper systematically discussed the action mechanism, application prospect and existing problems of the above 7 measures.

The paper aims to explore the reuse of tea residues. We reviewed the researches on the reuse of tea residues in recent years at home and abroad, found that the reuse of tea residues tended to be saturated in industrial and agricultural fields, but there was little research in the field of animal husbandry, and the research direction could be adjusted to animal husbandry in the future. We briefly summarized the sources and compositions of tea residues, and then elaborated the applications of tea residues in 3 fields of industry, agriculture and animal husbandry, focusing on the researches of tea residues as animal feed in animal husbandry; finally, based on the existing researches on tea residues, we put forward the prospects of applying Wanglaoji tea residues as ruminant animal feed to provide a reference for the development and utilization of Wanglaoji tea residues in the future.

The substitution of chemical fertilizers by organic fertilizers is an effective strategy to reduce the amount and increase the efficiency of chemical fertilizer. It also significantly stimulates crop yield and soil fertility. However, it is worth noting that the substitution of chemical fertilizers by organic fertilizers could contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution loading in soil environment. This paper reviewed the effects of organic fertilizer application on crop quality, soil amelioration, greenhouse gas emissions and agricultural non-point source pollution. Besides, we summarized current research of organic fertilizer application and put forward proposals for further studying the organic fertilizer application. Firstly, constantly optimizing the fermentation process to improve the quality of organic fertilizer is of overarching importance. Secondly, it is suggested to strengthen the quality trait evaluation in assessing the application effect of organic fertilizer, and take full advantage of long-term positioning observation and modern monitoring means to improve the soil fertility monitoring level and accomplish the comprehensive environmental effect evaluation. These suggestions aim at providing guidance for rational and efficient application of organic fertilizers, and for sustainable utilization of soil and water resources.

Abiotic stress is one of the main factors causing global grain yield reduction. It is of great significance to study the function and response mechanisms of plant stress-related proteins to improve crop stress resistance. Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins, belong to the largest family of nuclear coding proteins in higher plants and are named because they contain highly specific PPR motifs. Depending on motif type and arrangement, PPR proteins can be classified as P and PLS, and PLS proteins can be further classified as PLS, E, E+, DYW, and other subclasses based on their carboxyl-terminal domains. PPR proteins are widely distributed in terrestrial plants, mainly in chloroplasts and mitochondria, and a few in the nucleus. As sequence-specific RNA binding proteins, PPR proteins are involved in multiple aspects of plant RNA processing, including RNA editing, splicing, stabilization, and translation. PPR protein plays a variety of important roles in the whole life process of plants, but the mechanism of its action in plant stress resistance is not well understood. Based on the localization and function of PPR proteins related to abiotic stress reported, the mechanism of PPR proteins involved in regulation of abiotic stress, including post-transcriptional regulation and retrograde signaling, was reviewed and discussed in this paper. Post-transcriptional regulation is related to the role of PPR proteins in the modification of RNA after transcription. It is generally believed that PPR affects stress resistance in plants by regulating the expression of stress-related genes via binding RNA and by regulating the metabolism of organelle RNA. In terms of retrograde signaling, damage to PPR proteins can lead to impaired mitochondrial or chloroplast function, and then produce various retrograde signals (such as ROS), thereby regulating the expression of related genes and resisting adversity. However, since plastid signaling is affected by many environmental factors, some of which are still unclear, the mechanism of the PPR protein in retrograde signaling remains to be clarified. In addition, PPR proteins are pleiotropic and some have important effects on plant growth and reproduction while acting on stress resistance. Finally, this paper further analyzed the current research status of PPR protein as an RNA editing tool, discussed the remaining problems and research prospects of PPR protein in the direction of abiotic stress, and pointed out the key points and difficulties that need to be paid attention to in future research, to provide references for further research on PPR protein and crop abiotic stress resistance breeding.

In order to screen out maize inbred lines with excellent combining ability from 80 declassified inbred lines of the United States, analyze their utilization potential and provide the basis for rational utilization, we used PH6WC and PH4CV as test varieties to explore the combining ability and comparative advantages of the 80 maize inbred lines by NCII genetic design. The results showed that the genetic basis of the 80 American inbred lines was rich and there were real differences. The materials could be divided into 33 female parent groups and 47 male parent groups. Among the 80 test materials, LH206, PHN66, NL001, 2FACC, 6M502A, 29MIBZ2, 1538, LH128, LH181, Lp215D, PHR30, LH214 and LH213 had excellent GCA effect value for yield. The TCA effect values of PH6WC×6M502A, PHW51×PH4CV, NL001×PH4CV and LH128×PH4CV in the cross combination were excellent, and their comparative advantages were relatively strong, so further test could be carried out. The NL001, 2FACC, 29MIBZ2 and 1538 were suitable for mechanized harvesting, and the GCA showed excellent performance. Also, 6M502A, NL001 and LH128 had relatively high general combining ability, and they could be used as key inbred lines.

Cadmium pollution not only affects plant growth, but also threats to human health, which has been the study hotspot of domestic and foreign. This paper reviewed the effect on Cadmium to plant growth, the mechanism of uptake, transport and resistance of plant to Cadmium. And some new ideas for future research directions are put forward.

Crop modelling can simulate crop growth in a variety of the simulation scenarios based on the present research experiments, predict some unknown risks, optimize the management measures of agricultural resources and provide scientific guidance for management of agricultural production. APSIM model is just typical representative of crop model. In order to study structure characteristics of APSIM model and its application in China, in the paper we expounded development history, the operational framework and module structure of APSIM model firstly, then we summarized the application of assessment under climate change in China and farmland management of APSIM model and its applications in climate zone of China. At last, some problems existing in the application of APSIM model in China are pointed out and we provided some suggestions for the application of APSIM model such as APSIM model combined with RS and GIS technology.

Iron (Fe) is the earliest discovered and most abundant essential microelement in plants, which is involved in many physiological processes and metabolic pathways, Fe deficiency will seriously affect the growth, development, yield and quality of plants. Fe in plant-derived food is the main source for animal and human to obtain Fe, and insufficient Fe uptake can damage their health. In order to fully understand the metabolic physiology of Fe in plants, and promote the cultivation of iron-rich plants and the development of iron-rich food, in this review, the contents, forms and proportions of Fe in soil and plants were summarized, the distribution and function of Fe in plants were concluded, the different efficient absorption strategies of plants in small amount of soluble Fe environment were compared, and the regulation mechanisms of Fe transport in cells and long-distance in plants were analyzed. Based on the above, some research prospects were discussed in view of the previous research, it is suggested that more attention should be paid to the differences and molecular mechanisms of Fe metabolic pathways among different plant species, the Nramp family genes regulating approach of the docytotic mechanism of Fe deficiency in plants, the oxidation precipitation and reduction release mechanisms of ferritin (Fer) in the plastids, and the biofortification measures for increasing Fe content and bioavailability in plants.

The study of seasonal frozen soil change in Shanxi Province has important application value for revealing the response of seasonal frozen soil thawing to climate change and the direct impact of land degradation caused by frozen soil change on agricultural production, irrigation and water conservancy infrastructure and road construction in the Loess Plateau under the background of climate warming. Based on the frozen soil data from meteorological observation records at 108 stations in Shanxi Province from 1981 to 2018, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of the ground freezing date, thawing date, the number of frozen days and annual maximum depth of frozen soil, and the interannual and interdecadal variation characteristics of the annual maximum frozen soil depth, and the responses of the above factors to climate warming. Results showed that soil freezing in northern Shanxi began in September, and the frozen soil subsided in May at the latest. The depth and area of frozen soil reached the maximum at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The date of ground freezing was postponed and the date of ground thawing was earlier, and the number of frozen days was reduced accordingly to various degrees in most parts of the province from 1981 to 2018. The annual maximum depth of frozen soil gradually decreased from north to south. The annual maximum depth of frozen soil decreased in the middle and southern parts of the province, and increased in the northern part, which might be related to the warming and wetting of winter climate in north Shanxi. Under climate warming, winter precipitation and 0 cm ground temperature had complex response relationship with the annual maximum depth of frozen soil. The annual maximum depth of frozen soil was negatively correlated with 0 cm ground temperature under the background of excessive winter precipitation. The decreasing trend of the maximum frozen soil depth was a direct response to the increase of the annual average temperature, and the response of the maximum frozen soil depth to the annual average temperature was more significant than that to the annual precipitation.

【Objective】Canopy activity is an important indicator of wheat growth and development. Identification the loci for canopy activity related traits and their relationships with grain yield (GY) related traits can provide theoretical support for the dissection of genetic structure of yield trait and assisted wheat breeding.【Method】A total of 166 wheat varieties originating from both domestic and international sources were planted in Anyang of Henan province and Suixi of Anhui province in cropping seasons. With the integrated physical map containing 326 570 SNP markers from the wheat 90K and 660K chips, genome-wide association studies for normalized difference vegetation index at seedling stage (NDVI-S) and 10 days after flowering (NDVI-10), and chlorophyll content in flag leaf at 10 days after flowering (Chl-10) were carried out. The results were compared with the previous study for GY related traits using the same material. 【Result】Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed highly significant effects (P<0.01) of genotypes, environments and genotype×environment interactions on NDVI-S, NDVI-10 and Chl-10, with broad-sense heritabilities (h2 b) of 0.81, 0.81 and 0.91, respectively. Thirteen, 12 and 15 loci were detected to be significantly correlated with NDVI-S, NDVI-10 and Chl-10, respectively, among which 12, 11 and 12 were new, and five loci were associated with two or more traits. The number of favorable alleles for NDVI-S, NDVI-10 and Chl-10 ranged from 4 to 11, 3 to 11 and 4 to 12, respectively, in the 166 wheat varieties, and the phenotypic values increased with the accumulation of favorable alleles. NDVI-S showed significant (P<0.01) and positive correlations with thousand-kernel weight, kernel length and kernel width. Chl-10 was significant positively correlated with GY and flag leaf width (P<0.01), whereas significant negatively correlated with spike number per unit area, plant height and uppermost internode length (P<0.01). Seven pleiotropic loci were detected co-related with both GY and canopy activity related traits.【Conclusion】NDVI-S can be directly used for selection of yield traits. The stable and pleiotropic loci detected in this study can be used for marker-assisted selection.

Leguminosae, as important food and cash crops, have been widely valued. Rhizobia are gram-negative bacilli which are ubiquitous in soil, and can form symbiotic nitrogen fixation system with legume plants. Rhizobium can not only increase the yield of plants, but also have no effect on the surrounding ecological environment. The symbiotic system of Rhizobium and leguminous plants has the highest biological nitrogen fixation efficiency, accounting for more than 65% of the total biological nitrogen fixation. The in-depth study of the symbiotic nitrogen fixation system is beneficial to the sustainable development of China’s agriculture. In recent years, more and more scholars have been involved in the classification, identification and application of Rhizobium. In this paper, the classification, morphological level, physiological and biochemical level, cell components, nucleic acid molecular level identification and application of Rhizobium are reviewed, which could provide references for the practical application of Rhizobium.

The causes, influencing factors and prevention and control technologies of foodstuff browning at home and abroad are summarized. According to different conditions, browning can be divided into enzymatic browning and non-enzymatic browning, while non-enzymatic browning can be further divided into Maillard reaction, caramelization, ascorbic acid oxidative decomposition and polyphenols oxidative dimerization. There are many factors affecting browning. The factors affecting enzymatic browning include substrate type and concentration, enzyme activity, oxygen, temperature and pH, etc. The factors affecting non-enzymatic browning vary with different reactions, among which temperature and pH are the most important factors. Based on the occurrence mechanism and influencing factors of browning, the prevention and control technologies of browning include physical and chemical prevention and control technologies and the combination of both. This paper points out current problems in fruit and vegetable storage and browning prevention and control technology development, such as high energy consumption, high cost and low safety. Moreover, it further suggests that the browning prevention and control technology should be mainly physical one, supplemented by necessary chemical technology treatment, and the focus should be on the excavation of new materials and new inhibitors.

In order to study the genetic basis and genetic relationship of current rice varieties in Heilongjiang Province, 47 pairs of SSR markers published in the agricultural industry standard Protocol for the Identification of Rice Varieties SSR Marker Method (NY/T 1433—2014) were used to analyze the genetic diversity among 231 rice varieties from different accumulated temperature regions in Heilongjiang Province. The results showed that a total of 136 alleles were detected form the 47 pairs of SSR markers, alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 5, the average was 2.92. Genetic diversity ranged from 0.11 to 0.79, with an average of 0.56. The polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.11-0.76, with an average of 0.49. The value of marker index (MI) ranged from 3.18 to 18.39, with an average of 6.52. Cluster analysis divided the 231 rice varieties into 3 categories and 7 groups, and the clustering results were consistent with the results of principal component analysis. Taken together, the genetic diversity of rice varieties in Heilongjiang Province is not rich enough (the average polymorphic information content index is 0.49), and the genetic relationship among the varieties in the same accumulated temperature area is relatively close. In variety breeding, attention should be paid to the hybridization of northern and southern varieties, in order to broaden the genetic background and cultivate new environment-friendly varieties with high-quality and high-yield.

Copper (Cu) is an essential metal for human body, animals and plants, and participates in various morphological, physiological and biochemical processes. Copper is a cofactor of many enzymes and plays an important role in photosynthesis, respiration and electron transport chain. It is also a structural component of defense genes. In order to provide more systematic theoretical reference for the future study of copper stress on plants, based on the adverse effects of excessive copper on physiological processes such as plant germination, growth, photosynthesis and anti-oxidation summarized in previous studies, this paper reviews the biological functions of copper, the toxicity of excessive copper to plant growth and development, the role of copper transporters and chaperone proteins, and the tolerance mechanism of plants to copper stress. The future research direction is prospected, which provides a basis for formulating effective strategies to maintain copper homeostasis.

【Objective】Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), significantly reduced wheat production worldwide. Breeding resistant wheat varieties is currently considered to be one of the most economical and effective ways to control this disease. Understanding the resistance level of Chinese and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) wheat breeding materials and the distribution of known disease resistance genes will greatly helpful for discovering the new resistance resources and improving the utilization efficiency of disease resistance genes.【Method】In the present study, we phenotyped 153 wheat breeding lines derived from China and CIMMYT at both seedling against prevalent Chinese Pst races CYR33 and CYR34. In 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, using the pst races CYR33 and CYR34 to identify the materials at the adult plant stages in Ezhou, Hubei. In addition, we used the gene-based or closely linked molecular markers of known stripe rust resistance genes Yr5, Yr9, Yr10, Yr15, Yr17, Yr18, Yr26, Yr29 and YrSP to genotype the whole set of wheat collections.【Result】We found 10 lines immune against CYR33 at the seedling stage (IT: 0), including seven Chinese cultivars (Shannong 28, Luomai 163, Shimai 13, Zhongyi 6, Tanmai 98-2, Zhongmai 175, Taishan 21) and three CIMMYT lines (CIM-53, CIM-60 and CIM-71). However, only two cultivars, Tanmai 98-1 and Shannong 102, showed immune to CYR34 at the seedling stage. Based on the three years field tests, we found 64 lines showed highly resistance to stripe rust (final disease severity, FDS≤5%), including seven Chinese cultivars and 57 CIMMYT lines. The molecular marker analysis of known stripe rust resistance genes showed that there were 31, 23, 73, 2, 4, 50 and 2 lines carrying resistance genes Yr9, Yr10, Yr17, Yr18, Yr26, Yr29 and YrSP, respectively. None of any lines had Yr5 and Yr15. Based on the phenotype, only CIM-53 showed immune against two races at both seedling and adult plant stages (IT=0, FDS=0) and it might carry the known stripe rust resistance gene combination of Yr17+Yr29 based on the genotype.【Conclusion】A total of 153 wheat collections from China and CIMMYT were showed adult plant resistance to the prevalent pst races. Among these, Chinese wheat varieties mainly carry Yr9, Yr10 and Yr26, while CIMMYT wheat line mainly carry Yr17,Yr18 and Yr29, indicating that near-immunity resistance of CIMMYT wheat lines due to combinations of 1-2 moderate seedling resistance gene and 2-3 adult plant resistance genes resulting in durable resistance. Therefore, it is very urgent to expand the resistance sources and identify new resistance genes for pyramiding more genes biotechnology methods to develop new wheat varieties with durable rusts resistance and good agronomic traits. This plays an important role for controlling stripe rust in China by improving the resistance level of wheat variety overall.

【Objective】To explore the structure and evolution characteristics of cotton NLP transcription factors in the whole genome, and further understand their expressions patterns, so as to lay a foundation for the further function research and utilization of NLP genes. 【Method】The NLP transcription factor family members in the whole genomes of four cotton species, Gossypium arboreum (G. arboreum, Ga), Gossypium raimondii (G. raimondii, Gr), Gossypium barbadense (G. barbadense, Gb) and Gossypium hirsutum (G. hirsutum, GH), were identified using two strategies, BLASTP and HMM search. Further bioinformatics analysis was carried out on the confirmed cotton NLP family members. The molecular weights, theoretical isoelectric points and other physical and chemical properties were predicted using online software Expasy; the MEGA 7 software was used to build the phylogenetic tree; protein conservative motifs were analyzed through MEME website; online software GSDS 2.0 was used to analyze gene structures; TBtools was used to view the chromosome localizations; McscanX was used to analyze the replication genes of cotton NLP family members; the PlantCARE website was used to predict the cis-acting elements in the promoters of cotton NLP family genes. The heat maps of cotton NLP genes expression levels of different tissues and under abiotic stresses were drawn through TBtools to analyze the tissue expression characteristics and abiotic stresses response characteristics. The expressions of GHNLPs in cotton under nitrogen starvation and nitrogen resupply treatments were analyzed by RT-qPCR. 【Result】A total of 11, 11, 21 and 22 NLP members were screened from the four cotton protein databases of G. arboreum, G. raimondii, G. barbadense and G. hirsutum, respectively. These NLP family genes encoded 693-996 amino acids. The relative molecular masses ranged from 76.92-110.02 kDa and the theoretical isoelectric points were 5.13-7.77. The subcellular localization prediction results showed that almost all the NLP members located in the nucleus. Promoter analysis found a large number of cis-acting elements related to phytohormone and stress response. Phylogenetic analysis showed cotton NLPs were divided into three groups, I, II and III. Gene replication analysis showed that fragment replication was the main force for NLP members expansion in cotton. All the Ka/Ks values were less than 1, indicating that evolution of NLP family in cotton mainly underwent purification selection. The results of expression analysis also confirmed that GHNLPs responded to nitrogen starvation and nitrogen resupply. 【Conclusion】From the whole genome of G. arboreum, G. raimondii, G. barbadense, and G. hirsutum, 11, 11, 21 and 22 NLP transcription factor members were identified respectively. They had high conservatism and some degree of differences. The expression levels of GHNLPs changed significantly during nitrogen starvation and nitrogen resupply processes, which may play a role in the response of cotton to nitrate.

To reveal the pathways and mechanisms of the interaction between plants and soil microorganisms, the authors reviews the research progress of the promotion of plant growth and development by rhizosphere beneficial microorganisms and the effects of plant rhizosphere secretions on soil microbes, mainly include the promoting effect of rhizosphere-promoting microorganism PGPM on plant growth and development, the promotion of biocontrol microorganism BCA on plant growth and development, the composition of root exudates, the function of root exudates, and the pathway of root exudates affecting soil microbes, etc. The authors point out that the research on the mechanism of interaction between plants and soil microorganisms is not deep enough. The research on the screening and adaptability of PGPM strains, the ecological adaptability of biocontrol microorganisms and the mechanism of action on target pathogens, the separation of root secretion, the optimization of the identification method and the allelopathic approach all need to be further studied. In the future, the application of modern molecular biology technology in related research should be increased, and the interaction between plant and soil microorganisms should be further revealed by combining molecular biology techniques with traditional culture methods.

Wheat is the main food crop ensuring food production safety and boosting high quality development of agriculture in China, and the improvement of wheat quality becomes more and more urgent. The quality traits of wheat are complex. After years of genetic improvement, important progress has been made in the study of wheat quality traits, but the wheat quality improvement in China is still at a low level. In this paper, the research status of several important quality traits of wheat was briefly summarized, with the focus on the genetic improvement of traits that control the nutritional quality and processing quality of wheat. The paper mainly analyzed the genetic characteristics of wheat protein content, gluten content, starch content and sedimentation value, and reviewed the molecular genetic laws of each quality trait and the main genes related to regulation. With the development of molecular biology and biotech nology, the genetic regulation of wheat quality traits is clear, and molecular design breeding can be used as a key research method in the future.

【Objective】 The objectives of the present study were to synthesize the current information on soil quality assessment method and indicator system, and to present the hot topics and frontiers related to soil quality, so as to, provide references for Chinese scholars and experts in the field of soil quality evaluation research and application. 【Method】 The published articles regarding the selection of soil quality indicators, construction of minimum data set, and selection of soil quality evaluation methods were collected based on Web of Science and CNKI databases using bibliometrics method, and a total of 415 articles and 155 minimum data sets related to soil quality evaluation were screened. Development trend, frontier fields and current problems of global soil quality assessment during the past 30 years were analyzed according to selection frequency of indicators, assessment method and construction of minimum data set. 【Result】 The soil quality evaluation indicator system mainly included 25 physical, 36 chemical, 35 biological and 19 environmental indicators. Soil organic matter, as the core indicator of soil quality, was selected with the highest frequency of 96.6%, followed by pH, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and bulk density, with a frequency more than 50%. The selection frequency of biological indicators such as microbial biomass and soil enzyme activity was less than 25%, while increasing over time. Principal component analysis, minimizing indicator redundancy and reflecting most of the information of original variables, was the most widely used for minimum data set construction method. Soil organic matter, available phosphorus, bulk density, and pH were selected into the minimum data set with a frequency of 67.7%, 43.2%, 34.8%, and 34.2%, respectively, being widely used to characterize soil quality. Nowadays, the most studies on soil quality evaluation focus on the utilization of principal component analysis to select soil quality indicators and establish soil quality index for comprehensive soil quality evaluation, which was suitable for sustainable soil management.【Conclusion】 Soil organic matter, available phosphorus, soil pH, bulk density and soil water content were the main parameters selected for soil quality evaluation. Construction a comprehensive and objective soil quality indicator system and the integration with the information technology would be the focus in future research. The application of evaluation indicators in large-scale soil quality assessment was the trend of future development.

To understand the biological characteristics of 1-year-old Micropterus salmoides, both external morphological traits and internal anatomy are investigated by using traditional methods of morphology and anatomy method. M. salmoides is spindle-shaped and covered with ctenoid scale. Its body shows black back, turquoise body side and white abdomen. There are black stripes on body. The ratio of intestine gut length to body length is 0.833, while the ratio of intestine and viscera weight to body weight is 0.006 and 0.091, respectively. Observed numbers of morphological characteristics of M. salmoides are: dorsal fins Ⅷ-Ⅸ(14-15), caudal fins 22-23, anal fins Ⅱ( 10-12), pelvic fins Ⅰ(5), pectoral fins 12~14, lateral line scales 64-71, the upper scales of lateral line 6-10, the lower scales of lateral line 16-17, the first gill arch raker 7-8, pyloric caecum 16-27, vertebrae 26-32. The correlation equation of total length (T_L) and body weight (B_W) is: B_W=2407-20.711T_L+0.047T_L²(R²=0.942). The correlation equation of body height and body weight is: B_W=0.005B_H^2.591(R²=0.982). Body height, body width and head height are the main traits that affect body weight. The results could provide morphometric tools for species identification, systematic taxonomy, artificial propagation and variety breeding of M. salmoides.

The SWEET gene family of plant sugar transporters is a class of important sugar transporters discovered in recent years, which plays an important role in plant growth and development, physiological metabolism, and resistance to stress by regulating the transport and distribution of sugar in plants. SWEET gene has different biological functions in different species and plays an important role in plant life activities. In this study, we reported the research status of the protein structure, transport mechanism and biological function of the SWEET gene family in plants, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for further study on other structures and functions of SWEET gene family.

To prevent and mitigate the possible adverse effects of heavy snowfall on facility agriculture, production and life, and to improve the level of snow forecast, 19 regional snowstorms in Nantong since 1951 were analyzed from impact systems, atmospheric temperature stratification, dynamic and water vapor conditions by using conventional high altitude and surface data and ECWMF 0.75°×0.75° reanalysis data. The diagnostic analysis and forecasting process were illustrated with the regional snowstorm in 2013 as an example. The results showed that: (1) Nantong belonged to the north subtropical monsoon climate, and the process of rain or sleet to snowstorm accounted for the majority; to judge the snowfall, we should pay attention to the precipitation after snowfall, and the surface temperature for estimating the depth of snow cover, therefore, we must consider the comprehensive influence of strong cold air downward and strong warm and humid air flow northward; (2) the synoptic systems of heavy snowfall mainly included two westerly troughs, one in the north and the other in the south, as well as mid-low level shears, southwest jets and low-level cold cushion, the example was a typical regional snowstorm weather situation; (3) there were at least two strong SW jets at 500- 850 hPa altitudes, and the strong convergence rise mainly occurred at 700 hPa and above, which provided dynamic and water vapor condition for the formation of snowstorm; the cold cushion was below 850 hPa, and there was a temperature inversion between 850 and 700 hPa; when the air temperature of 850 hPa was ≤-4℃ and air temperature of 2 m level was ≤3℃, the precipitation changed to snow, and the snow cover increased obviously after the surface temperature approached zero; (4) the average 24 h SLR (snow to liquid ratio) in Nantong was more than 10 in pure snowfall snowstorm, the process of rain or sleet to snowstorm was less than 10, and that in the southeast was less than 5, and the precipitation phase transition and SLR could be generally prejudged by air temperature of 850 hPa, and temperature of 2 m level and surface; (5) it was also a feasible method to find the similar process of weather situation from the historical heavy snowfall, compare stratification, dynamic and water vapor conditions, and then enlarge or reduce the snowfall and snow depth of similar processes to infer precipitation and snow depth.

As an important part of modern agricultural production development, intelligent agricultural machinery equipment plays an crucial role in improving resource allocation and ecological environment, enhancing economic development, promoting rural revitalization and ensuring food security, while accelerating the development of agricultural modernization. Shandong Province, as a large province of agricultural machinery equipment manufacturing and application, still has problems such as unbalanced development of agricultural machinery equipment industry, low level of intelligent equipment, insufficient integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy, and backward construction of basic conditions for mechanization. This study analyzes the status quo of the intelligent agricultural machinery equipment. In view of the problems of the development of intelligent agricultural machinery industry in Shandong Province, we deeply dissect the domestic and foreign cutting-edge technologies and the industrial developing trends. In combination with the urgent needs of the modern agricultural and rural development, we put forward future research and application targets of intelligent agricultural machinery equipment in Shandong Province, and further clarify the innovation and support fields of government, enterprises and scientific research institutes, and the key technology research direction in line with the national strategic needs and the requirements of agricultural modernization.