Drought stress represents one of the most significant abiotic constraints on plant growth, development, and productivity. Fodder soybean (Glycine max), a high-nutritional-value forage crop, experiences substantial reductions in both yield and quality under soil water deficit conditions. Strigolactones (SLs), a novel class of plant hormones, play crucial regulatory roles in various plant developmental processes. However, the mechanisms underlying SLs-mediated drought stress alleviation in fodder soybean remain poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that exogenous SLs application not only enhanced photosynthetic parameters and chlorophyll content but also improved drought tolerance through multiple mechanisms: regulating stomatal closure, accumulating osmoregulatory substances, and enhancing antioxidant capacity. Integrated transcriptomic analysis and subsequent validation revealed that SLs augment drought tolerance by modulating phytohormone signaling pathways, particularly the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway. Furthermore, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified GmPP2C56 as a key candidate gene, whose pivotal role in drought tolerance was functionally validated. Our results demonstrate that GmPP2C56 significantly enhances drought tolerance by negatively regulating ABA signaling. This investigation provides a theoretical foundation for improving plant drought tolerance through exogenous hormone application and proposes innovative strategies for fodder soybeans breeding and cultivation under arid conditions.

Dehydrin (DHN) enhances plant resistance to environmental stress by regulating the synthesis of osmotic adjustment substances and scavenging reactive oxygen species. However, the role of PbDHN3 under salt stress remains unclear. In this study, salt stress induced high expression of PbDHN3, and the overexpression of PbDHN3 (OE-PbDHN3) enhanced plant growth under salt stress compared to wild-type (WT) plants. OE-PbDHN3 plants exhibited higher chlorophyll content and root growth capacity than WT plants under salt stress. Transcriptome analysis revealed that PbDHN3 expression is associated with ethylene signaling pathways. OE-PbDHN3 transgenic plants substantially influenced ethylene content and the expression of related genes. Following treatment with exogenous ethephon, the transgenic lines notably inhibited the processes of ethylene synthesis and signaling transduction. OE-PbDHN3 transgenic lines treated with exogenous ethylene and the ethylene inhibitor 1-MCP demonstrated significant inhibition of ethylene synthesis and signaling transduction, while promoting root development and chlorophyll content. Under salt stress, OE-PbDHN3 downregulated the expression of ethylene biosynthesis genes PbACO1-like and PbACO2, and signal transduction genes PbEIN3-like during the initial stress phase. This early regulation mitigated the adverse effects of salt stress on the plants. These findings demonstrate that PbDHN3 ameliorates the ethylene-mediated plant growth phenotype under salt stress through regulation of ethylene synthesis and signal transduction.

Maize-soybean strip intercropping is an important planting model for increasing high-protein forage resources, and efficient processing strategy of whole plant maize-soybean are critical for sustainable livestock development. This study aimed to evaluate the fermentation profile, microbial community and quorum sensing of whole plant maize-soybean silage under strip intercropping systems, and investigate the effect of clove (Syzygium aromaticum L.) in modulating ensiling quality through interactions between microbial community succession and quorum sensing communication. The whole plant maize-soybean silage demonstrated adequate fermentation quality during 60 days of anaerobic fermentation, whereas Nakascomycos and Pichia became the dominant microorganisms after 3 days of aerobic exposure, resulting in higher pH and ammonia nitrogen content, and lower aerobic stability (<34 h). The application of clove improved fermentation quality of whole plant maize-soybean silage during anaerobic and aerobic stability during aerobic periods, indicating in lower pH, ammonia nitrogen content, dry matter loss and higher aerobic stability (>168 h). During 7 days of aerobic exposure, adding clove retained microbial diversity and stabilized community structure, making Lactiplantibacillus the dominant species while inhibiting Nakascomycos and Pichia growth. Notably, clove-treated silage showed higher enrichment of enzymes associated with carbon metabolism (including triose-phosphate isomerase, L-lactate dehydrogenase, and acetate kinase) and quorum sensing (including LuxI and LuxS). The structural equation model revealed that clove primarily regulated microbial community and metabolism via quorum sensing to enhance the fermentation quality. This research provides new insights for the high-quality development of whole plant maize-soybean silage under strip intercropping systems.

镉（Cd）作为Ⅰ类致癌物，大米是亚洲人群Cd摄入的主要途径，尤其在中国南方稻田Cd污染高风险区。本研究发现，水稻钙/氢离子交换蛋白基因OsCAX2在根中的表达受Cd胁迫诱导上调。亚细胞定位证实OsCAX2蛋白定位于液泡膜。水培实验表明，OsCAX2过表达株系根系Cd积累显著增加，而地上部Cd积累显著减少，根向地上部的Cd转运率降低43.7%，且植株生长未受影响；在Cd污染土壤（1 mg kg⁻⊃1; Cd）下种植发现，过表达株系糙米和剑叶中Cd含量分别较野生型显著降低49.1%和39.7%，且关键农艺性状及产量无显著变化。这些结果表明，过表达OsCAX2可能通过增强根细胞液泡对Cd的区隔化存储，有效阻遏Cd向地上部及籽粒转运，为培育适用于中国南方Cd污染区的低Cd积累高产籼稻品种提供了重要的理论基础和基因资源。

Colletotrichum higginsianum, a plant pathogenic fungus threatening cruciferous crops, necessitates advanced genetic tools to study its pathogenesis and host interactions. However, selection markers available for fungal genome editing are often limited by scarcity and variable efficacy across species. Acetolactate synthase (ALS), a key enzyme in branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) biosynthesis, is the target of the herbicide chlorimuron ethyl (CE). Here, we utilized AlphaFold3-guided structural prediction to engineer ALS in C. higginsianum into a dual-functional endogenous selection marker. AlphaFold3-predicted ChALS structures revealed conserved catalytic regions and identified hydrophobic residues (V191, A200, F201) potentially critical for CE binding. Notably, introducing a single A200D substitution conferred the resistance of C. higginsianum to CE without impairing fungal growth, conidiation, or pathogenicity. Molecular docking simulations confirmed that the introduced aspartate side chain causes steric clashes that destabilize CE binding. Leveraging this mutation, we developed a homology-directed integration system enabling precise genetic tagging at the endogenous ChALS locus using the A200D allele for selection. C. higginsianum strains expressing fluorescent proteins targeted to the nucleus, mitochondria, peroxisomes, or cytoplasm exhibited stable expression and unaltered infection dynamics in Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica parachinensis). This work presents a dual-functional marker that addresses limitations in fungal genome editing tools. Moreover, the facility with which the A200D mutation confers resistance serves as a cautionary note on the potential evolutionary instability of single-target enzyme inhibitors in pathogen management.

‘Zaosu’ pear fruit, a climacteric fruit, is susceptible to rapid softening diminished quality and marketability during the climacteric phase. Ethyl-N^α-lauroyl-L-arginate hydrochloride (LAE), a cationic surfactant, exhibits high safety and broad-spectrum antimicrobial capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of LAE dipping on the senescence and storage quality of ‘Zaosu’ pears, as well as its influences on cell wall, carbohydrate, and phospholipid metabolisms. Results showed that LAE treatment delayed exocarp surface yellowing and the increase of mass loss, while maintaining higher levels of soluble solids, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, and flavonoid in pears. LAE also restrained respiration rate and ethylene production, as well as the expressions of 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (ACC) synthetase and ACC oxidase genes. Furthermore, LAE enhanced soluble sugar content by modulating gene expressions and enzymatic activities involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Meanwhile, LAE reduced the degradation of cell wall polysaccharide and phospholipid by down-regulating the gene expressions and enzymatic activities of enzymes in cell wall and phospholipid degradation. Collectively, LAE treatment regulated ethylene synthesis, inhibited cell wall degradation, regulated carbohydrate and phospholipid metabolism, thereby effectively maintaining the postharvest storage quality and delaying senescence of ‘Zaosu’ pears. 

Seed germination, which initiates the plant life cycle, exhibits high sensitivity to salt stress, a significant environmental factor limiting rice production.  Brassinosteroid (BR), a growth-promoting phytohormone, mitigates various stresses including salt, drought, and extreme temperatures in rice.  However, the mechanisms by which BR alleviates salt stress during seed germination remain inadequately characterized.  This study demonstrates that seed-specific overexpression of OsDWF4, a rate-limiting gene in BR biosynthesis, enhances rice germination.  The DWF4-OX lines, which increase endogenous BR content in seeds, promote germination under salt stress, corroborating results obtained through exogenous BR application.  Antioxidant enzyme analyses demonstrate that BR enhances the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT).  Metabolomic analysis reveals that BR mitigates salt stress primarily through the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids and secondary metabolites.  Transcriptomic analysis indicates that both endogenous and exogenous BR share five co-regulated target genes and utilize a common biosynthetic pathway for stilbenoids, diarylheptanoids, and gingerols.  These findings confirm BR's capacity to enhance seed germination under salt stress and identify several BR-mediated targets for developing salt-tolerant rice varieties suitable for direct seeding cultivation.

No tillage and stubble retention have emerged as effective measures for restoring land degraded and enhancing ecosystem productivity. However, the underlying mechanism driving productivity improvements is not well understood, particularly in ecological fragile region such as the Loess Plateau of China. To address this knowledge gap, a 22-year long-term field experiment was performed to investigate the changes in soil nutrients, crop and forage productivity, and their driving factors following the implementation of conventional tillage (T), conventional tillage combined with stubble retention (TS), no tillage (NT), and no tillage combined with stubble retention (NTS) within a forage-crop rotation system on the Loess Plateau. The results indicated that TS and NTS treatments significantly increased system productivity by 19 and 32%, respectively, with NTS demonstrating the most pronounced benefits. The NTS increased maize yield, wheat yield and soybean biomass by 19, 14 and 52%, compared to T, respectively. Moreover, the NTS treatment resulted in the highest soil carbon and nitrogen accumulation, enzymes activity and overall soil conditions. Soil carbon and nitrogen storage with NTS was increased by 41 and 53% compared to T in the 0-10 cm soil depth, respectively. The activities of βG (β-glucosidase), CBH (cellobiohydrolase), βX (β-xylosidase), LAP (leucine-aminopeptidase), NAG (β-N-acetylglucosaminidase) in NTS increased by 45, 98, 39, 50 and 53%, respectively. Overall, results demonstrated that no tillage combined with stubble retention increased crop productivity by improving soil carbon and nitrogen fractions, enzymes activity and soil moisture. Soil moisture was the key driver affecting forage biomass, whereas organic carbon input primarily influenced grain production. In conclusion, NTS represents the most appropriate land management practice for optimizing agricultural productivity on the Loess Plateau, while facilitating green and sustainable agricultural development.

目的：甲型流感病毒（IAV）可感染多种动物，包括犬类。犬流感病毒（CIV）主要有H3N8和H3N2亚型，其中H3N2在中国犬群中流行率较高（5.63%）。犬与人类接触密切，可能导致人流感病毒与犬流感病毒交叉感染及基因重组，从而引发公共卫生风险。辽宁省作为中国重要的宠物犬交易集散地，需加强犬类病原体流行情况的监测与防控。本研究对辽宁省某动物收容所CIV与犬瘟热病毒（CDV）的共感染情况展开调查，分析其流行病学特征，并探讨共感染对CIV传播风险的影响。

方法：2018—2024年期间，本研究对辽宁省某动物收容所开展系统性监测，采用RT-PCR方法检测CIV、CDV及犬副流感病毒（CPIV）等常见犬呼吸道病原体。对PCR阳性样本进一步进行病毒分离培养及全基因组测序，并通过系统发育分析与中国其他地区流行毒株进行遗传进化比对。基于监测数据，采用多元线性回归模型分析CIV流行率与CDV、CPIV共感染之间的流行病学关联。

结果：

1. 监测数据显示，2018-2022年间CIV总体阳性率为6.18%，主要检出H3N2、H3N6和H9N2三种亚型。值得注意的是，2023年4-10月期间出现显著流行高峰，CIV感染率急剧上升至26.67%-70.83%。同期CDV暴发流行，阳性率达16.67%-79.17%，两种病毒的共感染率最高达到66.67%，呈现明显的协同流行趋势。

2. 遗传进化分析：从共感染样品中分离的16株CIV毒株HA基因与辽宁地区其他分离株的核苷酸同源性为97.8%~100%。全基因组分析表明，其代表毒株未携带PB2-E627K、HA-Q226L等已知传播力增强相关突变位点。此外，分离的CDV毒株H基因与当地流行株同源性达98.0%~100%，均属于Asia-1基因型。

3. 共感染相关性：CIV与CDV的感染显著正相关（p<0.001），提示两种病毒可能存在协同传播机制；而CIV与CPIV的感染未发现统计学关联（p=0.628）。

结论：本研究首次证实CIV与CDV存在协同流行现象，揭示CDV暴发可显著提升CIV传播风险，其机制可能与CDV引起的免疫抑制效应相关。值得注意的是，尽管共感染未导致病毒关键遗传特征改变，但显著提高了CIV的流行强度。建议加强犬类疫苗接种和共感染监测，以降低公共卫生威胁。

创新性：

1. 首次揭示CIV与CDV之间存在流行病学关联；

2. 提出CDV通过免疫抑制机制促进CIV传播的假说。

Reducing aerobic spoilage and rumen greenhouse gas emissions from anaerobically fermented feeds remains critical challenges in energy saving and environmental protection of animal husbandry. This study investigated the effects of dandelions, both alone and combinated with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Lentilactobacillus buchneri (LAB) on fermentation quality, bacteriome and mycobiome after 180 d of anaerobic and 4 d of aerobic fermentation of whole-plant corn. In vitro dry matter digestion (IVDMD) and gas production from anaerobically fermented whole-plant corn were also assessed. The results demonstrated that dandelions, either alone or combinated with LAB, effectively improved fermentation quality by reducing NH₃-N concentrations (22.72-25.99%) after anaerobic fermentation, decreasing the proliferation of yeast and molds to enhance the aerobic stability. Notably, the changes in the bacteriome were more pronounced than those in the mycobiome after aerobic exposure. The addition of dandelions or the combination reduced Acetobacter fabarum abundance, a member of the Acetobacter that was spoilage-induced microbe indicated by correlation analysis. Besides, these treatments facilitated competition relations of microbiome which contributed to the enhanced aerobic stability. Furthermore, dandelions reduced CH₄ and CO₂ emissions by 14.88 and 13.73%, respectively, and also positively influencing IVDMD by 4.46%. Collectively, dandelion alone or combined with LAB are promising strategies to improve the aerobic stability of anaerobically fermented whole-plant corn, a process linked to the interactions between the bacteriome and mycobiome, and to contribute to clean production by reducing rumen CH₄ and CO₂ emissions. 

Organic management practices and spontaneous fermentations have become focal points in wine research due to increasing consumer interest in healthy foods and sustainable agriculture. In this study, ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ grapes sourced from organic and conventional management vineyard (OMV/CMV) in the Ningxia region were subjected to spontaneous fermentation. The microbial, oenological, and aroma profiles of grape must and resulting wines were assessed using high-throughput sequencing (HTS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and sensory evaluations. Network analysis was applied to explore relationships among microorganisms, volatile compounds, and aroma attributes. Results showed that organic management significantly increased microbial species richness, α-diversity, and the variety and concentration of aroma compounds, favoring the production of natural wines with complex aroma profiles. Relative abundance of Saccharomyces in OMV reduced, promoting the prevalence of other yeast species during fermentation. Bacterial succession in wines from OMV remained stable, with Pantoea as the dominant genus. Among oenological parameters, OMV wines significantly induced glycerol content, while reduced total acidity, tartaric acid, and citric acid content. These wines exhibited significantly higher levels of fermentative (+16%) and varietal (+72%) volatiles, as well as enhanced floral and sweet fruity aromas, along with distinct nail polish and vegetal notes. Additionally, Saccharomyces, Hanseniaspora, Metschnikowia, and Pantoea were strongly correlated with specific volatile compounds and aroma characteristics. This study provides valuable data that can inform spontaneous fermentation practices and guide vineyard management for natural wine production.

The explosive increase of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sprayers put forward new requirements for pesticide formulations, and there is an imperative necessity to develop targeted, precise, and efficient pesticide formulations based on the surface characteristics of targets to meet the demand for low-volume spraying by UAV. Herein, the performance-matched oxaziclomefone nanosuspension (NS) was constructed based on the hydrophobic surface characteristics of barnyardgrass for UAV sprayers. The results showed that the solid surface free energy of the adaxial and abaxial surfaces of barnyardgrass at different growth stages ranged from 23.73 mJ m^-2 to 28.00 mJ m^-2, and was dominated by dispersive components. The average sizes of micro-nanostructures on the barnyardgrass surfaces ranged from 251.7 nm to 266.8 nm, and the oxaziclomefone nanoparticles in NS can suitably be embedded into the micro-nanostructures of barnyardgrass surface. The atomization test showed that NS can significantly decrease the percentage of spray droplet size < 100 μm, thereby reducing the potential of droplet drift. Due to the precise regulation of the formulation components, NS exhibited superior wetting, spreading, and adhesion performance on the barnyardgrass surface. Moreover, the NS remarkably enhanced the uptake and translocation of oxaziclomefone in barnyardgrass. Field trials showed that compared to commercial formulation, NS could significantly improve the control efficacy against barnyardgrass in direct-seeded rice fields while demonstrating acceptable safety for rice. Our research provides a novel, promising, and feasible strategy for the development of pesticide formulation based on target surface characteristics and improving the physicochemical properties of dilutions, which is valuable for enhancing the dosage delivery efficiency and improving the control efficiency against pests of UAV sprayers.

Aging leads to diminished gut function, manifesting as gut dysbiosis, chronic inflammation, and increased intestinal permeability at both the organ and cellular levels. However, few studies have focused on the systematic changes in the intestinal mucosal barrier function of laying hens during aging process. Samples were collected from the laying hens at the 40th, 70th, and 100th weeks of age to assess related indexes. As laying hens age, their feed intake gradually decreases, and both egg quality and production performance decline. Notably, expression levels of intestinal cellular senescence markers increased as the age of laying hens increased. Aging is related to changes in intestinal mucosal barrier function, such as shortened ileal villi, reduced goblet cell numbers, heightened intestinal permeability, and disrupted immune homeostasis. Further studies showed that regulatory T (Treg) cell-derived interleukin (IL)-10 decreases. Moreover, macrophage-derived tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α was elevated and promoted senescence in intestinal epithelial cells of chicken organoids. Critically, declining feed intake likely exacerbates intestinal dysfunction by limiting nutrient availability for barrier maintenance and immune regulation. This study elucidates age-related alterations in intestinal mucosal barrier function and highlights the role of Treg cell and macrophage homeostasis in intestinal inflammaging in laying hens. 

猪德尔塔冠状病毒（PDCoV）感染可引起仔猪严重腹泻、脱水甚至死亡，威胁养猪业发展，且PDCoV具备跨种传播的潜能，存在不容忽视的人兽共患病风险。因此，开发PDCoV现场快速检测工具对其防控至关重要。本研究针对 PDCoV 高度保守的核衣壳（N）蛋白，建立了胶体金和荧光微球两种免疫层析试纸条。首先，原核表达系统表达并纯化获得N蛋白，免疫小鼠后采用杂交瘤技术筛选出 4 株高亲和力单克隆抗体。经配对优化，选择最优组合制备胶体金与荧光微球标记试纸，均可在 5 分钟内完成检测。胶体金试纸条对病毒感染细胞培养物的检测下限为 10^2.3 TCID₅₀/0.1 mL，荧光试纸条灵敏度更高，达10^1.7 TCID₅₀/0.1 mL。两种试纸条均高度特异，与猪血凝性脑脊髓炎病毒（PHEV）、伪狂犬病病毒（PRV）、猪圆环病毒 2 型（PCV2）、猪圆环病毒 3 型（PCV3）、塞内卡病毒（SVA）及牛疱疹病毒4型（BoHV-4）等均无交叉反应。两种试纸条在室温下可稳定保存 6 个月，有较好的稳定性。临床测试腹泻仔猪样本显示：胶体金试纸条与 qRT-PCR 的符合率为 90.32%（28/31），荧光试纸条与 qRT-PCR 的符合率为 96.77%（30/31）。结果表明，本研究建立的两种试纸条操作简便、快速，无需专业设备，肉眼或便携紫外灯即可判读结果，具有良好的临床应用潜力，为 PDCoV 现场筛查、疫情溯源及跨物种传播监测提供了重要技术支持。

Proper anther dehiscence is critical for successful reproduction in flowering plants, with auxin serving as a key regulatory factor.  This study describes the characterization of rice sterility 7 (rs7), a rice (Oryza sativa L.) mutant displaying conditional sterility.  Through map-based cloning, RS7 was identified as OsMCS, which encodes a malonyl-CoA synthetase.  A G-to-A nucleotide substitution in OsMCS resulted in an intron retention, leading to reduced pollen viability and conditional anther dehiscence defects.  Cytological analysis revealed abnormal anther structures in the osmcs mutant anthers, characterized by reduced thickness in both the anther epidermis and baculum layer of the pollen exine compared to wild type (WT).  These structural defects correlate with decreased cutin monomer content and alterations in cuticular wax composition in the osmcs mutant.  Furthermore, malonic acid accumulation in osmcs redirected metabolic flow toward tryptophan biosynthesis, subsequently elevating indole-3-acetic acid levels.  Reduced endothecium thickening was observed in osmcs anthers at stage 12, coinciding with locule wall rupture in WT anthers.  This study elucidates the role of OsMCS in rice reproductive development and offers a potential target for improving two-line hybrid rice breeding.

Wheat is a vital global staple crop, and the condition of its seedlings before overwintering significantly influences its yield potential.  Accurate and timely assessment of pre-winter seedling conditions is essential for effective wheat field management.  Currently, agricultural departments rely on traditional methods to classify seedlings based on indicators like leaf age, tiller count, and root number, but these methods are labor-intensive and lack high-throughput capabilities.  This study proposes a novel approach to improve seedling condition classification by integrating soil pixel removal and canopy cover with vegetation indices.  Additionally, a local optimized features (LOFs) method is introduced to enhance classification by quantifying local spectral differences in the ratio vegetation index (RVI), overcoming the limitations of traditional mean vegetation indices.  A series of sowing date treatments from 2022 to 2024 established wheat populations with varied seedling conditions.  High-resolution multispectral UAV imagery was used to derive remote sensing parameters, such as vegetation indices (VIs), pure vegetation indices (PVIs), and canopy cover (cc).  Through evaluation of various classification models, we identified PVIs combined with cc as the optimal feature set.  Among these, RVI was found to be the most significant index, as determined by SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP).  Building upon the optimal feature set, a Quadratic Discriminant Analysis model integrating PVIs, cc, and LOFs was ultimately developed to achieve accurate classification of seedling conditions, improving the accuracy from 0.86 (with PVIs and cc) to 0.99.  This research provides an efficient high-throughput method for pre-winter seedling classification and offers insights into estimating other agronomic parameters.

猪德尔塔冠状病毒（PDCoV）感染可引发仔猪严重腹泻、脱水和死亡，是一种急性、高度接触性传染病，严重威胁养猪业的可持续发展。此外，PDCoV 还具有跨物种传播潜力，带来重大公共卫生安全风险。因此，建立快速、准确的诊断方法对于有效防控该病至关重要。本研究开发了一种将逆转录重组酶辅助扩增（RT-RAA）与 CRISPR/Cas12a 系统相结合的单管封闭式可视化检测方法。该方法全程在封闭系统内进行，可有效避免开盖操作导致的气溶胶污染及假阳性风险。该方法灵敏度高，在40分钟内可检测低至 3.9 拷贝/μL的阳性质粒及低至 10^0.8 TCID₅₀/0.1 mL 的PDCoV。此外，该方法特异性良好，与猪血凝性脑脊髓炎病毒（PHEV）、伪狂犬病病毒（PRV）、猪圆环病毒 2 型（PCV2）和猪圆环病毒 3 型（PCV3）均无交叉反应。在临床样本检测中，其检测结果与 RT-qPCR 检测结果符合率为100%。综上所述，该方法具有高灵敏度、高特异性和快速简便的特点，有望成为 PDCoV 感染早期诊断的可靠手段，为 PDCoV 疫情的有效防控提供技术支持。

The Huang-Huai-Hai (HHH) region, China’s second-largest soybean production area, uses high-intensity farming and tailored densification strategies to maximize yields.  Although the average yield of soybean in HHH region is the highest in China, there is still a yield-gap with the world average yield.  Ensuring adequate soybean plant population is a prerequisite for high yield.  Seed size is vital in germination, seedling emergence, and population establishment, especially for soybean crops that rely on cotyledons to break through the soil.  In the present study, the differences of germination, emergence, growth and yield formation of soybean seeds with different particle sizes were analyzed through three years of experiments.  The seeds of Zhonghuang 13 (ZH13) and Zhonghuang 301 (ZH301) were divided into three different particle sizes (i.e., 6.5–7.0, 7.0–7.5, and 7.5–8.0 mm), respectively.  Seeds sized 6.5–7.0 mm achieved the highest yields: ZH13 yielded 3,908.7 kg ha^-1, 4.1–12.0% higher than other sizes, and ZH301 yielded 4,193.9 kg ha^-1, 5.2–12.7% higher.  The two soybean varieties' highest harvest densities were both found in the 6.5–7.0 mm seed size treatment, followed by 7.0–7.5 and 7.5–8.0 mm.  The main reason is that the seedling emergence rates of the seeds with 6.5–7.0 mm size were significantly higher than other sizes. In the process of seed imbibition, compared to the large-size seeds (7.5–8.0 mm), the water absorption of small- and medium-size seeds was less, while the speed was faster.  The smaller particle-sized seeds exhibited superior puncture resistance when breaking through the soil.  In addition, significantly negatively relationship was found between emergence rate and seed weight under the insufficient water condition.  This study showed that selecting small to medium-sized seeds can enhances germination, population density, and yield under arid and semi-arid conditions, providing a practical strategy for boosting the HHH region’s soybean productivity. 

Neonatal calves exhibit heightened susceptibility to infections caused by various gut microbiota, primarily due to their immature gastrointestinal barrier functions and underdeveloped immune systems during the pre-weaning period. Calf diarrhea poses a significant risk to the health of juvenile ruminants and can result in substantial financial losses within the livestock sector. Therefore, diarrhea is a significant disease that requires improved management practices and preventive measures in cattle rearing. Antibiotics are commonly administered to combat diarrhea and promote calf growth. However, their misuse has led to increased bacterial resistance and higher levels of antibiotic residues in meat. Consequently, finding advanced and alternative ways to treat newborn calf diarrhea for enhanced livestock production and public health is a significant challenge. Probiotic administration can offer significant advantages such as improving the internal microenvironment of the gut and enhancing the host’s immune response, thereby reducing the likelihood of gastrointestinal diseases. Additionally, probiotic supplements have been formulated as alternatives to antibiotic treatment to upgrade animal health and productivity, and are essential for maintaining the balance of the gut microbiota. The treatment of calves with probiotic supplementation has emerged as a significant area of research. This review highlights the research progress on the pathogenesis of neonatal calf diarrhea and the mechanism of action of probiotics to provide new insights into the prevention and treatment of diarrhea in calves.

Rapidly improving infertile croplands and enhancing their soil organic carbon (SOC) pool necessitate substantial organic materials incorporation. Converting loose crop straw into granulated form facilitates uniform incorporation within the plough soil layer. As an innovative soil amelioration approach, the efficiency and patterns of SOC accumulation remain unclear. Two field experiments were conducted in infertile subtropical upland and paddy soils with 0, 30, 60, and 90 Mg ha⁻¹ granulated straw incorporation. After one year, SOC accumulation efficiency from straw input remained stable in upland (30.8–37.5%) with increasing amounts of straw incorporation, while declined from 60.0 to 38.3% in paddy. In both croplands, the contributions of lignin phenols to SOC increased with increasing straw incorporation, while the contributions from amino sugars remained constant at higher straw input levels. Subsequently, the ratios of lignin phenols to amino sugars increased with increasing straw incorporation, indicating faster plant residue accumulation compared to microbial necromass, as the granulation approach limited microbial involvement in straw transformation. Thus, single-time incorporation of substantial granulated straw presents an effective agricultural strategy for rapid amelioration of infertile croplands.

This study investigated the role of jasmonates (JAs) in mitigating high temperature (HT) stress-induced spikelet opening impairment in photo-thermosensitive genetic male-sterile (PTGMS) rice under controlled moderate soil drying (MD).  Two PTGMS rice varieties were grown under normal temperature (NT) and HT conditions, using paired well-watered (WW) and MD strategies during anthesis, in both controlled-climate pot and open-air field conditions over multiple years.  Compared to the conventional WW regime under HT stress, which significantly reduced JAs levels in lodicules and worsened spikelet opening impairment and hybrid seed yield loss, the MD treatment demonstrated significant protective effects.  The MD regime enhanced JAs accumulation in lodicules, effectively alleviating HT-induced spikelet opening impairment and hybrid seed yield reduction.  This protective mechanism operates through multiple pathways: (1) promoting starch hydrolysis into soluble sugars, (2) upregulating the expression of aquaporin genes, and (3) enhancing antioxidant capacity, thereby maintaining cellular osmotic and redox homeostasis in lodicules.  The crucial role of JAs in this mechanism was confirmed using JA-deficient mutants, transgenic rice lines with varying JA biosynthesis capacities, and exogenous JAs applications.  These findings indicate that MD is a more effective cultivation strategy than traditional WW in protecting PTGMS rice from HT stress, achieved by modulating JAs levels to maintain osmotic and redox homeostasis in lodicules, thus improving spikelet opening and hybrid seed yield under HT stress during anthesis.

Multiple cropping is a widely adopted land management strategy to improve agricultural productivity.  However, the environmental costs and agricultural sustainability of various rice cropping system remains unclear, particularly in tropical regions.  Here, we evaluated the productivity, economic benefits, and environmental sustainability of contrasting rotations including pepper-rice-rice, cowpea-rice-rice, and bitter gourd-rice-rice as triple cropping, and pepper-single rice , cowpea-single rice, bitter gourd-single rice, and fallow-rice-rice as double cropping.  The economic benefits of bitter gourd-single rice, and cowpea-single rice was higher than bitter gourd-rice-rice, and cowpea-rice-rice by 34.2%and 4.6%, respectively.  The environmental footprint indexes of the bitter gourd-rice-rice based on unit farmland area and economic benefit was 17.1-40.7% lower than bitter gourd-single rice. Similarly, the environmental footprint index of per area and per economic of cowpea-single rice decreased compared to cowpea-rice-rice by 25.6 and 21.3%, respectively.  These results indicate that reducing cropping intensity leads to lower environmental costs and higher economic benefits.  In addition, nitrogen and phosphorus footprints were found to be the dominant contributors to the overall environmental costs.  Meanwhile, optimizing fertilization and strategically arranging crop growth period are the key factors in improving the sustainability and productivity of the rotation systems.  In conclusion, bitter gourd-single rice and cowpea-single rice rotations are recommended as optimal cropping systems in tropical regions to reduce environmental impacts while maintaining high yields and economic benefits.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have similar biological characteristics and functions to embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The efficient generation of sheep iPSCs (siPSCs) remains challenging. In this study, we first constructed an optimized induction system, termed S10F—sOSKM (sheep OCT4-SOX2-KLF4-MYC)+sNL (sheep NANOG-LIN28)+hRL (human RARG-LRH1)+hTERT+SV40 LT—based on sheep-derived reprogramming factors and the piggyBac transposon system. Using this system, we successfully established siPSCs with high expression levels of pluripotency genes. These siPSCs could form embryoid bodies in vitro and further differentiate into the three germ layers, expressing the markers of endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. Additionally, they could be directionally induced toward osteogenic differentiation. Then, based on RNA-seq analysis, the functions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between sheep fetal fibroblasts (SFFs) and the five siPSC groups were predicted by GO and KEGG enrichment analyses to gain a preliminary understanding of the overall transcriptome profile of siPSCs. MAPK, PI3K-AKT, TGF-β, WNT, and regulating pluripotency of stem cells — signaling pathways related to the pluripotency maintenance — were enriched, particularly obvious in siPSC 180 and 185 groups. It was found that the inhibition of some hub genes related to oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) could serve as indicators of siPSC pluripotency. A total of 17 potential sheep reprogramming factors were identified based on the expression levels of DEGs, including 7 new functional genes possibly associated with pluripotency. This study lays a foundation for further exploration of reprogramming mechanisms and enhancement of reprogramming efficiency in sheep, and holds promise for improving sheep performance through genetic modification breeding based on siPSCs.

The lateral transport of labile organic carbon represents a critical pathway for soil organic carbon (SOC) loss, reducing organic carbon sequestration and increasing the risk of waterbody pollution. Livestock manure application on croplands serves as a common fertilizer reduction practice to sustain crop yields, enhance SOC sequestration, and reduce water erosion. However, limited quantitative assessments have examined the effects of livestock manure substitution on labile organic carbon lateral loss and fluxes in long-term experiments. This study conducted a three-year field investigation on subtropical sloping croplands to assess the impact of livestock manure substitution on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) loss via surface runoff, interflow and eroded sediments. There are four treatments: no fertilization (CK); chemical nitrogen fertilizer (SF), 40% nitrogen substitution with pig manure (PMF), and 100% nitrogen substitution from pig manure (PM). Compared to SF treatment, long-term livestock manure substitution in PMF and PM treatments significantly (P<0.05) reduced annual cumulative surface runoff fluxes by 13.5 and 21.6%, respectively. Manure applications decreased annual sediment fluxes by 12.9 and 19.1%, respectively. Soil water stable aggregates for mean weight diameter (MWD) increased significantly by 37.7 and 73.6%. Annual cumulative POC loss flux via eroded sediment under PMF and PM treatments increased significantly (P<0.05) by 61.1 and 47.9%, respectively. The labile organic carbon loss fluxes, including DOC and POC losses, under PMF and PM treatments increased significantly (P<0.05) by 11.9 and 31.4%, respectively. These results demonstrate that while water erosion intensity decreases due to enhanced soil aggregate stability, the risk of labile organic carbon loss increases after long-term livestock manure substitution in subtropical sloping croplands. Future research should examine labile organic carbon lateral migration under various soil types and slope gradients for livestock manure application in subtropical agricultural ecosystem croplands to better understand extreme rainfall effects.

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) is an important stone fruit in the world’s temperate zone. Molecular breeding has advanced considerably since the release of the first sweet cherry genome. However, genome assemblies for sweet cherry contained unresolved gaps and consisted of consensus chimeric sequences that did not distinguish haplotype alleles, greatly limited the study of inheritance of some important agronomic traits. In this study, we present a phased-resolved telomere-to-telomere reference genome of sweet cherry Tieton. A total of 653.03 Mb of sequence was anchored onto 16 pseudochromosomes representing the two haplotypes and 67,012 coding genes were identified, with 33,777 in hapA and 33,235 in hapB. It boasts a consensus accuracy surpassing a quality value of 44, a contig N50 exceeding 17.94 Mb, Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs completeness of 98.7%, and an long terminal repeat assembly index of over 20. This genome offers phased and annotated chromosome pairs, allowing a complete picture of sweet cherry's diploid genome organization. Using this reference genome, we characterized a large fragment deletion associated with yellow-skinned fruit in sweet cherry 13–33. This resource promises to be invaluable for breeding efforts and advancing genetic research in sweet cherries.

Understanding the spatial distribution, temporal dynamics, and driving factors of soybean cultivation is critical for yield estimation, agricultural planning, and national food security. However, high-resolution, long-term, and nationwide datasets of soybean cultivation in China remain scarce. This study developed a 30-m resolution dataset of soybean in China from 2000–2022 using multi-source data (ChinaSoyA30m), and analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving forces of soybean cultivation. The phenological characteristics of major crops across China were evaluated to generate training samples for supervised classification. Gap statistics, K-means clustering, and spectral angle mapping were employed to enhance classification reliability. A supervised classification approach was implemented on Google Earth Engine (GEE) using dense Landsat data to produce annual soybean maps. ChinaSoyA30m demonstrates competitive performance compared to six existed soybean datasets, with strong correlations with provincial, prefectural, and county statistics (R²=0.95, 0.89, and 0.80), and the F1 scores validated against ground truth data were 70.16, 80.40, and 78.38%. Since 2000, the soybean planting area has exhibited a fluctuating upward trend with distinct regional characteristics. Northern China emerged as the primary production area, characterized by a stable planting centroid and small spatial variation. The primary driver of soybean area dynamics was the value added of primary industry, while agricultural machinery power was a significant factor in North China, highlighting regional differences in driving mechanisms. This study provides the first long-term, high-resolution soybean planting dataset for China and offers valuable insights into the sustainable development of soybean cultivation.

Goats (Capra hircus) provide a rich source of products, such as meat, milk, and wool, and are important domestic animals in many parts of the world. Goats were one of the first domesticated livestock species during the late Neolithic period, approximately 11,000 years ago, in the Fertile Crescent. In the past decades, genomic studies of goats have provided insight into their domestication and genetic basis of economically important traits. This review outlines the latest advancements that have been made in reference to domestication and genetic improvement of production traits such as meat and carcass quality, reproduction, milk, cashmere, and functional traits such as environmental adaptation and disease-resistance. Genomic research is entering a new era with the availability of graphical pan-genomics and telomere-to-telomere (T2T) gap-free genome assembly, which will extend our understanding of domestication and molecular mechanistic dissection of economic traits in goats. We provide new perspectives and future directions for genomics and suggest how the ever-increasing multi-omics dataset will facilitate future studies and molecular breeding in goat.

The study goal was to determine the effects of sodium propionate (NaPr) during the postpartum on lactation performance, milk fatty acid (FA) profile, blood metabolites, and fat mobilization. This study selected twenty-four cows with the same parity (3 parity), similar due date, and physical condition in the postpartum and randomly allocated into two groups. The constituents of the two treatments were (1) a normal diet for the Control group, and (2) a normal diet containing 246 g d^-1 of NaPr for the NaPr group. This study has demonstrated that the supplementation of NaPr to dairy cows in postpartum had no significant impact on dry matter intake (DMI) and milk compositions. The milk proportions of 4:0, 8:0, 10:0, 13:0, 16:0, cis-10 15:1, cis-13, cis-16 22:2, total odd-chain FA, and de novo FA increased, and those of all remaining individual SFA, and preformed FA decreased in cows fed NaPr versus the Control diet. It was found that supplementing with NaPr significantly increased the concentrations of triglyceride (TG), glucose, and insulin in the plasma of cows. This indicates that supplementing with NaPr in the postpartum can provide energy for cows, which is beneficial for the body's glucose and lipid balance. The adipose tissue (AT) of TG, Perilipin-1 (PLIN1) protein expression, and the orange-red lipid droplet deposition were increased in cows fed NaPr versus the Control diet. The mRNA expression of ACCα and ACSS2 in adipose tissue was up-regulated, and the expression of CPT1A and CPT2 genes was down-regulated. This indicates that supplementing with NaPr in the diet promotes the generation of acetyl CoA, thereby up-regulating the FA synthesis pathway and reducing FA oxidation. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with NaPr promotes cow body energy deposition, improves milk quality, fat accumulation, and alleviates negative energy balance (NEB) during the postpartum dairy cattle.

Chemical defoliation and ripening are a prerequisite for mechanical harvesting of cotton, and the boll opening rate is a critical determinant of timing and rate of defoliates and ripening agents as well as harvest.  Given the low efficiency and poor timeliness of manual determination of boll opening rates, we have developed a rapid method based on digital images.  Field images were collected 7 days before and 7, 14, and 21 days after the application of harvest aids, with the boll opening rates (BOR) varying from 25 to 95%.  We set four shooting heights, five shooting angles and two shooting directions, and a total of 912 original images (each 5,184×3,456 pixels) were obtained.  Actual ground boll opening rates were monitored simultaneously. Each single image was segmented into 500×500 pixels sub-images.  The four deep learning networks were used to identify opened and unopened cotton bolls, and YOLOv5 performed best in balancing recognition time and accuracy.  To address the issue of boundary boll recognition caused by image segmentation, the original images were segmented into 10 different sizes (100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1,000 pixels), and YOLOv5 model was then used to identify bolls in each size of the sub-images.  The bounding boxes marking cotton bolls at the same position of two different sizes of sub-images, were combined to obtain new corrected bounding boxes in merged image.   Based on the true values of BOR, the best combination of sub-images is 400×400 pixels with 700×700 pixels.  This combination was used to examine the recognition results of various shooting parameters, and we found that the optimal shooting height for the digital camera was 20-30 cm above the canopy, with a downward angle of 0-30° (BOR higher than 40%) and 15-30° (BOR lower than 40%) from the horizontal and shooting direction parallel to the planting rows.  The method established in this study can enable a less-destructive and rapid detection of BOR in the range of 25 to 95% boll opening rate, with a model R⊃2; value >92% and a relative root mean square error <10%, suggesting its high precision and stability for field application.

The combined implementation of intercropping systems and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation represents a promising phytoremediation strategy for heavy metal-contaminated farmland, providing both ecological and economic benefits. However, additional research is necessary to understand the influence of AMF and intercropping on Cd bioavailability. This study examines the synergistic effects of maize-soybean intercropping and AMF inoculation on crop growth, cadmium (Cd) allocation patterns, and rhizosphere soil dynamics through comprehensive field and pot experiments. Field trials revealed significant yield advantages in maize-soybean intercropping systems, with land equivalent ratios (LERs) of 1.62 (common maize) and 1.64 (sweet maize). Intercropping decreased soybean Cd accumulation across all tissues, notably in grains (42.8% reduction), while maintaining maize grain Cd concentrations below China's food safety threshold (0.20 mg kg^-1). The metal removal equivalent ratio (MRER) achieved 1.33-1.38 in field conditions, validating intercropping's dual advantage in productivity and Cd phytoextraction. Pot experiments indicated the AMF-inoculated intercropping system (IN+A) increased maize yield by 16.4% while reducing Cd accumulation in both crops, with grain concentrations meeting safety standards. Rhizosphere analysis demonstrated IN+A treatment substantially improved soil health indicators: 34.5% reduction in bioavailable Cd, elevated pH, decreased redox potential (Eh), and enhanced catalase activity. AMF colonization rates were 2.2-4.3 times higher in inoculated treatments (11.5-14.0%) versus controls (3.2-5.3%). These results establish that AMF-enhanced legume-cereal intercropping reduces Cd bioavailability through soil alkalinization (pH increase) coupled with redox potential reduction, and metal allocation plasticity redirecting Cd to root tissues. This interaction between microbial symbiosis and plant community design stabilizes Cd in soils while maintaining crop safety (grain Cd<0.20 mg kg^-1), establishing an ecoengineering approach for contaminated farmland remediation.

The sink-source balance critically regulates leaf abscission dynamics in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), yet its targeted manipulation to optimize defoliation efficiency remains unexplored.  Here, we conducted a two-year field experiment with cultivars ‘Xinluzao 78’ (XLZ78) and ‘Yuanmian 11’ (YM11) under four sink-source treatments: no cutting source and sink treatment (CK), cutting 1/2 leaves per plant (1/2L), cutting 1/2 bolls per plant (1/2B) and cutting all bolls per plant.  Concurrently, XLZ78 received differential irrigation regimes (deficit: 2970 m⊃3; ha^-⊃1;; conventional: 3,420 m⊃3; ha^-⊃1;; supplementary: 4,095 m⊃3; ha^-⊃1;) to probe boll retention effects.  Key findings revealed that sink reduction (1/2B, 0B) delayed defoliation by elevating leaf relative water content (LRWC) and phytohormones (IAA and ZR), while suppressing ABA, and canopy temperature, compared to CK.  This ultimately reduces the activity of cellulase (CEL) and polygalacturonase (PG) in the abscission zone.  Specifically, 1/2B and 0B reduced defoliation rates by 7.3 and 13.4% (XLZ78) and 0.8 and 9.2% (YM11), over the two-year average.  The 1/2L treatment had a similar effect to the cutting boll treatment. Conversely, supplementary irrigation (I₄₀₉₅) enhanced boll retention, sink-source ratios and canopy temperature during the defoliant application period, which increased the leaf abscission rate by 14.0% over deficit irrigation (I₂₉₇₀).  Mechanistically, under sink limitation conditions, the combination of lower canopy temperature and hormonal changes suppresses the activation of abscission zones.  These results demonstrate that managing sink-source equilibrium by minimizing leaf damage while optimizing boll load fine-tunes defoliation efficiency through microenvironment-hormone crosstalk.  Our work advances the physiological framework for precision defoliation strategies in high-density cotton systems, reconciling mechanical harvesting efficiency with yield preservation.

Water-saving rice systems must maintain yield targets while reducing water consumption. Applying biodegradable film to cover the soil surface reduces water loss through evapotranspiration, establishing a warmer, more humid microenvironment for rice growth compared to traditional paddy rice systems. This study examined soil water regimes for rice production in northeast China, comparing rice growth with and without biodegradable mulch film under continuous flooding, drip irrigation, and controlled irrigation conditions. The implementation of biodegradable mulch film elevated soil temperature and sustained soil moisture during early rice development. Continuous flooding with biodegradable mulch film yielded the highest rice production (9.4 Mg ha^-1) and net profit of approximately 11,800 CNY ha^-1. Drip irrigation with biodegradable mulch film achieved maximum water efficiency, demonstrating the highest water productivity (1.25 kg m^-3) and minimum water consumption (235 mm). Root length, weight, and surface area in the 0-40 cm soil layer exhibited positive correlations with water productivity, shoot dry matter, and yield, indicating that root morphological characteristics, particularly during the panicle initiation stage, enhanced rice production and water conservation. The findings demonstrate that biodegradable mulch film created favorable soil conditions for root proliferation, enabling higher yields in water-saving rice systems.

Arthropods serve essential roles in crop production as pollinators, predators, and pests. Understanding arthropod biodiversity is crucial for assessing agroecosystem health, functions, and services. Traditional survey methods are labor-intensive, costly, and rely on diminishing taxonomic expertise, limiting their agricultural applications. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of diverse samples provides comprehensive species composition data through efficient and non-invasive sampling. However, this method remains underutilized in rice field studies. This research examined four sample substrates - RPCF, rice pollen, soil, and water - using various barcoding primers to identify optimal substrates for monitoring rice paddy arthropod diversity. The method was implemented in Bt- (Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner) rice and non-Bt rice fields to evaluate its biomonitoring potential. Results indicate that the COI primer (mlCOIintF/jgHCO2198R) identified the highest number of rice field arthropod species. The eDNA collected from RPCF detected 15% more arthropod species compared to vacuum sampling of whole arthropods. Rice pollen collection during the heading stage also revealed considerable arthropod diversity. Alpha diversity and taxonomic composition remained consistent between Bt- and non-Bt rice fields, aligning with traditional survey findings. These results suggest that eDNA metabarcoding of plant cleaning fluid offers an effective approach for monitoring agricultural arthropod communities, contributing to agricultural production optimization.

The irrigation districts of Northern China face issues such as water scarcity, inability to effectively utilize flood resources, and groundwater overexploitation. In view of these challenges, this study proposes a new concept of deep storage irrigation through flood resources utilization. However, whether deep storage irrigation can recharge deep soil moisture and sustain crop production still requires further study. A two-year field experiment was conducted on summer maize in the Guanzhong Plain with five soil wetting layer depths (T1: 60 cm; T2: 90 cm; T3: 120 cm; T4: 150 cm; T5: 180 cm) and soil saturation moisture content as the irrigation upper limit. The results presented that the ranges of deep soil moisture recharge in the 100–200 cm soil profile (SMS_100–200) was 73.34–267.42 and 0–150.03 mm in 2021 (wet season) and 2022 (normal season). When the effective precipitation and irrigation exceeded 390 mm, the SMS_100–200 began to linearly increase. The highest grain yield (GY) were observed at T2 and T3 treatments in 2021 (11.44 t ha⁻¹) and 2022 (11.25 t ha⁻¹), respectively. The maize GY of T4 in 2021 and T5 in 2022 were only 3.9 and 5.7% lower than the maximize GY, respectively. However, the SMS_100–200 for T4 and T5 were 2.4 and 5.0 times that of T2 and T3 treatments in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Overall, the further increase in irrigation amounts induced only a slight decrease in grain yield, but it significantly increased deep soil moisture recharge. Therefore, the deep storage irrigation breaks through the traditional idea of water-saving irrigation with limited water resources, which can be utilized as an effective alternative to address the issues of water scarcity, low flood resources utilization, and groundwater level declines in the irrigation districts of northern China.

The rice ratooning (RR) pattern is increasingly gaining attention in southern China due to its low carbon emissions and high yield characteristics.  However, the net carbon budget balance and the underlying mechanisms remain unknown.  Three rice planting patterns were established in this trial experiment conducted from 2021 to 2022 in Fuzhou (25°17′N, 119°18′E), Southeast China: the ratooning rice pattern (MC+RSR) for rice ratooning, single-cropping rice (LR₁), and double-cropping rice (ER+LR₂).  The closed static dark box gas collection, dry matter determination, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) etc. approaches were utilized to investigate the mechanism of "high carbon fixation - low emissions" in the rice ratooning system.  This was achieved through a comprehensive evaluation across multiple dimensions, including crop yield, GHG emissions, carbon and nitrogen footprints, resource utilization efficiency, carbon fixation capacity, and carbon budget balance.  The results showed that the average daily yield of the ratooning season rice (RSR) across different RR patterns from 2021 to 2022 was 28.21 to 47.40% higher than that of the main crop (MC) and single-cropping rice (LR₁), and 13.50 to 27.76% higher than that of the double cropping system. This discrepancy was attributed to a 3.32-6.85% increase in the allocation of ¹³C photosynthetic products (including NSC) to panicle organs and a 21.77-43.51% reduction in allocation to underground roots and soil of RSR.  Moreover, the average daily GWP values are 16.44 kg CO₂-eq ha⁻¹ for ratoon rice (MC+RSR), 24.99 kg CO₂-eq ha⁻¹ for single-cropping rice (LR₁), and 21.32 kg CO₂-eq ha⁻¹ for double-cropping rice (ER+LR₂).  Specifically, the average daily GWP of ratoon rice is 34.21% lower than that of single-cropping rice and 22.90% lower than that of double-cropping rice.  Similarly, the average daily GHGI of ratoon rice is 62.28% lower than that of single-cropping rice and 28.96% lower than that of double-cropping rice.  In terms of carbon and nitrogen footprints, the ratoon rice model exhibited average daily values of 34.54 kg CO₂-eq ha^-1 and 22.72 kg N-eq ha^-1, respectively.  In comparison, the single-cropping rice model had average daily values of 45.63 kg CO₂-eq ha^-1 and 24.49 kg N-eq ha^-1, while the double-cropping rice model showed averages of 43.38 kg CO₂-eq ha^-1 and 24.77 kg N-eq ha^-1, indicating the reductions of 24.30 and 7.23% in carbon and nitrogen footprints compared to the single-cropping rice model, as well as reductions of 20.38 and 8.30% relative to the double-cropping rice system.  Furthermore, the average carbon budget surplus across the three cropping systems is as follows: 22,380.01 kg CO₂-eq ha^-1 for ratoon rice (MC+RSR), 11,228.54 kg CO₂-eq ha^-1 for single-cropping rice (LR₁), and 23,772.15 kg CO₂-eq ha^-1 for double-cropping rice (ER+LR₂).  Therefore, the resource utilization efficiency of the ratoon rice model (MC+RSR) was 23.92 and 47.50% higher than that of the single-cropping rice model (LR₁) and the double-cropping rice model (ER+LR₂), respectively.  Furthermore, the average daily economic benefits increased by 32.71 and 80.75%, respectively.  These findings provide a robust theoretical foundation and practical guidance for advancing agricultural carbon neutrality technologies and ensuring food security.

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. (Wilczek)) is an important food legume crop.  The utilization of heterosis based on male sterile lines can help increase mungbean yields, yet genetic studies on mungbean male sterility are rare.  Therefore, it is of great significance to explore the male sterility genes in mungbean.  In this study, a no-pollen male sterile mutant vrnpms (Vigna radiata no pollen male sterility) was identified in mungbean.  Gene mapping was conducted using F₂ populations derived from the cross between vrnpms and V2709.  The gene controlling the male sterility was mapped to a 426.65 kb region on chromosome 6.  A candidate gene VrMYB80 (EVM0016947), encoding a protein homologous to MYB80 transcription factors, exhibits a 52-kb deletion in vrnpms, resulting in a truncated protein lacking the C’-terminus.  A molecular marker linked to the male sterility phenotype was developed based on the deletion in vrnpms.  Functional complementation in Arabidopsis demonstrated that VrMYB80 could restore fertility in the myb80 mutant.  Subcellular localization showed that VrMYB80 was located in the nucleus. Transcriptional activation assays revealed that the C’-terminus of VrMYB80 was the transcriptional activation domain.  The result of in-situ hybridization indicated that VrMYB80 is expressed in the anther tapetum.  The expression level of downstream VrMS1 was down regulated in vrnpms, indicating that Vrmyb80 with the truncated C’-terminal transcriptional activation domain failed to activate downstream genes, which was the reason of sterility of vrnpms.  The findings of this study contribute to unraveling the molecular genetic mechanism underlying pollen development in legume crops and pave the way for utilizing heterosis in mungbean.

Soil microbial-metabolite interactions influence crop productivity, yet their responses to long-term nutrient management in legume systems warrant further investigation. This study examined how fertilization and Rhizobium inoculation reshape soybean rhizosphere fungal-metabolite networks to improve soil health. Through a decade-long field trial utilizing Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequencing and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics, four treatments were evaluated: control (CK), phosphorus-potassium fertilization (PK), PK with nitrogen fertilization (PK+N), and PK with Bradyrhizobiumjaponicum 5821 inoculation (PK+R). Results indicated that nitrogen fertilization increased fungal diversity at maturity and enhanced co-occurrence network complexity (displaying the highest node and edge counts), while Bradyrhizobium inoculation promoted stochastic assembly. Soil fungi exhibited notable correlations with 3-Hydroxymethylantipyrine, Chrysophanol, 3,7-Dihydroxyflavone and Triethylamine. Metabolite profiling revealed nitrogen suppression of stress-resistance flavonoids (3-Hydroxymethylantipyrine, Chrysophanol, 3,7-Dihydroxyflavone), whereas Bradyrhizobium enhanced these key metabolites. KEGG enrichment identified tryptophan and caffeine metabolism as central during flowering-podding, coordinating nitrogen assimilation and defense responses. Additionally, the key metabolites correlated significantly with soil total nitrogen, organic matter, and available nitrogen. These findings reveal that Bradyrhizobium acts synergistically with fertilization to activate fungal-driven metabolic pathways, offering a microbiome-based approach to enhance nitrogen efficiency and reduce agrochemical dependency in soybean systems.

Selenium (Se) is known for alleviating cadmium (Cd) toxicity in rice (Oryza sativa L.), but algal polysaccharides-selenium nanoparticles (AP-SNPs) mitigating Cd stress by regulating carbon-nitrogen metabolism is unknown.  Herein, we found that AP-SNPs improved root and leaf cell ultrastructure, leaf stomatal and photosynthetic traits and reduced the Cd translocation from roots to shoots via Se absorption, translocation as well as upregulating the transcription factors of Se encoding genes OsPT2, OsNIP 2;1, and OsSULTR1;2 at 7 and 14 days after treatment (DAT).  The findings showed that AP-SNPs promoted the concentrations of metabolites and enzymes of carbon-nitrogen metabolism by upregulating the transcript levels of OsRbcS2, OsCS1, OsAGPL1, OsAMT1, OsNRT2.1, OsNR2, OsGS1, and OsGOGAT1 genes.  Additionally, AP-SNPs addition increased the levels of SOD by 11-13%, POD by 10-8%, and CAT by 8-12%, respectively, at 7 and 14 DAT to counteract the damage of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under Cd stress.  The results revealed that AP-SNPs promoted the carbon and nitrogen metabolism, physiological status, and antioxidant defense system of rice and decreased the Cd content in rice root by 12-23%, rice shoot 30-39%, total Cd content 28-46%, and Cd translocation factor 14-27%, respectively at 7 and 14 DAT.  The significant correlation matrixes of the partial least square model (PLSM) and Mantel test further quantify the above findings and imply that AP-SNPs can be a green and sustainable biological compound that regulates carbon-nitrogen metabolism and the antioxidant defense system of rice to minimize Cd transfer from roots to shoots and the food web.

Excessive nitrogen (N) losses from cropland are serious threats to sustainable agricultural and ecological development.  Recently, straw and biochar (BC) have been widely applied in cropland to reduce soil N losses, but the mechanisms by which their physicochemical properties affect soil N cycling and soil N losses remain unclear.  This study investigated the responses of soil N transformation and crop yield on BC and straw applications through incubation and field experiments.  Density function theory (DFT) calculations were performed to determine the different impacts of straw and BC on soil N losses at the molecular scale.  Our results indicated that BC application at a weight percent of 3 (3.0wt %) exhibited superior performance in promoting soil N transformation.  The superior physicochemical properties of BC over straw contributed to enhanced interaction and adsorption energies with NO₃^--N and NH₄⁺-N, which reduced soil N losses by 20.2% from interflow of field experiment compared to straw.  BC application reduced soil N₂O by 45.0% compared to the field with conventional fertilization by modulating the functional genes of microorganisms and weakening the soil denitrification.  Although BC increased soil NH₃ volatilization by improving urease functional genes (ureC, UreB) compared to straw, it also significantly improved N use efficiency in 25.3% of the crops compared to straw.  Thus, in calcareous purple soils, 3.0 wt% BC content provided superior performance in terms of enhanced N cycling, reduced N losses and improved crop yields compared to straw.  In conclusion, these findings provide insights into optimizing cropland BC application and enhancing soil fertility for sustainable agricultural and ecological developments.

To examine the impact of anthropogenic land reconstruction, particularly the consolidation of small terraces into larger fields, on soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN) dynamics, rice yield, and its components, soil and plant samples were collected from seven newly reconstructed fields in Japanese Andosols in Tochigi, Japan. Samples were obtained from both the former low- and high-elevation sides within each field plot. During harvest season, nine rice plants were randomly selected from each plot (0.675 m², comprising 3 rows and 3 hills per row), collected from a 3-meter stretch along both the east (former low side) and west (former high side) ridges. Soil cores were collected from identical plots at two depths (0–15 and 15–30 cm) and combined into one composite sample per layer. Rice plant samples were air-dried for two weeks until reaching constant moisture content, after which stems and ears were separated and weighed to determine biomass, yield, yield components, and nitrogen uptake. The indicated that land reconstruction significantly affected rice yield and its components between the two sides of all field plots. SOC, TN, and their decomposition following land reconstruction showed notable changes, especially in the 15–30 cm subsurface soil layer. Additionally, grain weight demonstrated significant correlation with SOC, TN, and carbon decomposition in both the 0–15 cm and 15–30 cm layers, indicating that soil fertility to a depth of 30 cm was crucial for rice productivity after land reconstruction.