The Triticeae provides the important cereal crops, such as wheat, barley, and rye, which produces approximately 9×10⁸ t annually, accounting for about 30% of the total global cereal production. However, Triticeae genomes are relatively difficult to be de novo sequenced and assembled due to their large genome size, a high proportion of repeat sequences, and different ploidy levels. With the rapid development of third-generation long read sequencing technologies and assembly algorithms designed for complex genomes, and also the falling cost of genome sequencing in recent years, more and more Triticeae species have been successfully sequenced. In this study, we reviewed the advances on the whole genome sequencing of 17 Triticeae species (including subspecies), including Triticum, Hordeum, Secale, Elytrigia, and Aegilops, in aspects of sequencing technology, assembly strategy and quality, and the major research contents associated with genomes and gene functions. This review may provide the references for sequencing strategies and genomic studies of other more complex plant genomes.

The growth and development of plants require 14 essential mineral nutrient elements, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, iron, etc. Nevertheless, the bioavailability of these elements varies greatly in the different types of soils. In order to adapt to nutrient-deficient environment, plants must sense the changes of external and internal mineral nutrient concentrations, and generate physiological and morphological responses via a series of signal transduction events, to facilitate the nutrient uptake and utilization. Ethylene is an essential gaseous plant hormone, and plays pivotal roles in many aspects of the plant life cycle. In recent years, accumulating studies have shown that ethylene also plays an important part in regulating plant responses to various nutrient deficiency stresses. Here, we comprehensively summarized the molecular mechanisms of ethylene regulating different nutritional stress responses directly or synergistically with other plant hormones/chemical signaling molecules, and gave an outlook for the future research.

In order to explore whether heat shock transcription factor (HSF) known to be involved in plant adaptation to extreme heat stress is also involved in plant thermomorphogenesis at warm temperatures, the result of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, physiological and biochemical, genetic experiments, and effector-reporter assay demonstrated that the heat shock transcription factor HSFB2b was induced by the warm temperature and played an important role in the process of plant thermomorphogenesis. Under the warm temperature (29 ℃), the Arabidopsis mutant hsfb2b exhibited a longer hypocotyl than the wild type, suggesting that HSFB2b functioned as a negative regulator in thermomorphogenesis. Subcellular localization results showed that the HSFB2b protein was localized in the nucleus. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that the heat shock proteins (HSPs) gene, the heat shock transcription factor HSFA2, and the jasmonic acid degradation gene ST2A were up-regulated in the wild type under the warm temperature relative to the normal temperature (22 ℃), but these genes were more up-regulated by the warm temperature in the hsfb2b mutant than that in the wild type. Furthermore, effector-reporter assay demonstrated that HSFB2b could inhibit ST2A expression by binding to the heat shock element (HSE). In conclusion, the heat shock transcription factor HSFB2b induced by the warm temperature played a negative regulatory role in the hypocotyl elongation and negatively regulated the expression of gene ST2A by recognizing the HSE in molecular mechanism, thusnegatively regulated the plant thermomorphogenesis.

Screening of stable reference genes was significant when the real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to study gene expression. To identify the most stable reference genes in tomato induced by different hormones, the leaves of susceptible tomato ‘Moneymaker’ (MM) and resistant tomato inbred line 62579, which were treated with abscisic acid (ABA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and salicylic acid (SA) for 0, 24, 48, and 120 h, respectively, were used for qRT-PCR amplification. In the current study, the expression stabilities of eight tomato candidate reference genes, including EF1α, L33, Act, Ubi, GAPDH, UK, CAC, and TIP41, were analyzed using geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper softwares. The results revealed that the average C_T values of eight candidate reference genes ranged from 26 to 34. Based on the data from these softwares, L33 and Ubi, L33 and EF1α,as well as EF1α and L33 were considered to be the stably expressed reference genesin tomato induced by ABA, MeJA, and SA, respectively. In conclusion, L33 is the most stably expressed gene among all studied candidate reference genes in tomato induced by different hormones. The most stable reference genes screened in this study will provide a calibration basis for the expression analyses of differential genes and the research on molecular mechanisms in tomato response to exogenous hormone treatments in the future.

Shade net covering is a conventional agronomic practice, which has been widely applied in the production of matcha. The present study used different shade treatments (black, red, blue, and yellow shade net treatments) to alter the light conditions (including light intensity and spectral composition) for the growth of tea plants, and investigated the effects of different shade treatments on the phytohormone levels and transcriptome profiles of the leaves of ‘Fuding white tea’ plants, with taking the tea plants grown under the natural light conditions as the control group (CK). The results showed that blue shade net treatment significantly increased the contents of abscisic acid, gibberellins, auxins, cytokinins, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid in the tea leaves compared with CK, followed by yellow, black, and red shade net treatments. The transcriptome sequencing results showed that the most abundant number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was observed under the black shade net treatment (3 422 up-regulation, and 4 074 down-regulation) compared with CK, subsequently followed by blue shade net treatment (476 up-regulation, and 1 271 down-regulation), and yellow shade net treatment (663 up-regulation, and 994 down-regulation), while the lowest DEGs number was observed under the red shade net treatment (723 up-regulation, and 810 down-regulation). The results of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis indicated that photosynthesis-antenna proteins as well as plant hormone signal transduction were the significantly enriched pathways in the pair of blue shade net treatment and CK. Especially, the expressions of light-harvesting complex and phytohormone biosynthesis-related genes were greatly up-regulated. Thus, shade net treatments could regulate the biosynthesis of phytohormones in tea plants through altering the light condition underneath, and further affect the growth of tea young shoots.

Bacterial leaf blight of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) and bacterial leaf streak of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc) are two important bacterial diseases of rice. Identification of Xoo and Xoc belonging to the same species is critical for quarantine and control the diseases. Here, we found that the gene fhuE encoding ferric-rhodotorulic acid/ferric-coprogen receptor in Xoo and Xoc became pseudogenes after partial deletion during evolution. We designed Xoc-specific primers XocFhuE-F (5\mathrm{\prime }-ATCGAACGATGTCACCAGGG-3\mathrm{\prime }) and XocFhuE-R (5\mathrm{\prime }-AGAAACGTGCGGCCAGATAA-3\mathrm{\prime }) targeting the sequences present in the Xoc fhuE pseudogene but absent in the Xoo fhuE pseudogene. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification produced only a 159 bp DNA fragment from only Xoc strains using the primers XocFhuE-F/XocFhuE-R. Based on the Xoc-specific primers, we developed SYBR Green quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and EvaGreen droplet digital PCR (dPCR) methods to detect and identify Xoc. In a 20 μL reaction system with 1 μL of template, the detection limit of qPCR on Xoc was 1.6×10⁴ CFU/mL in bacterial suspension and 1.2×10³ CFU/seed in rice seeds; the detection limit of dPCR on Xoc was 1.6×10³ CFU/mL in bacterial suspension and 1.2×10² CFU/seed in rice seeds. In conclusion, SYBR Green qPCR and EvaGreen dPCR based on the Xoc-specific primers XocFhuE-F/XocFhuE-R provide effective methods for quarantine of Xoc and monitoring of the bacterial leaf streak disease of rice.

To clarify the pathogen species and their biological characteristics of potato Fusarium wilt in Yinshan area of Inner Mongolia, 463 samples infected with potato wilt were selected as objects from 2018 to 2019. Pathogens were isolated and purified by tissue isolation and the pathogenicity was detected by Koch’s postulate. The types and classification of pathogens were identified by morphology and elongation factor 1α (EF1α) sequencing analysis, and the comparative study of their biological characteristics was conducted. The results showed that 139 strains of Fusarium spp. caused potato Fusarium wilt, which belonging to 10 species, among them, 64 strains of F. oxysporum, 30 strains of F. equiseti, 10 strains of F. verticillioides, 12 strains of F. acuminatum, four strains of F. redolens, six strains of F. solani, seven strains of F. tricinctum, two strains of F. proliferum, three strains of F. sambucinum and one strain of F. chlamydosporum were identified,and theisolation rate of F. oxysporum was 46.0% and it was the dominant isolate. The results of biological characteristic determination showed that the optimum growth pH value of all tested strains on potato dextrose agar (PDA) was 7-9. The optimum growth temperatures of F. acuminatum and F. sambucinum were both 25 ℃, and the other Fusarium species were 30 ℃. Further analysis of pathogenicity showed that there were differences among ten Fusarium wilt pathogens. The disease index caused by F. oxysporum was 60.19, and it was higher than other nine Fusarium species, which was the dominant pathogen of potato Fusarium wilt in Yinshan area of Inner Mongolia.

Sulfated polysaccharide is an important nutritional component in shellfishes. In this study, a rapid microextraction and purification process for sulfated polysaccharides from marine shellfishes was established and applied to nine different shellfishes. Types of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) from nine species of edible shellfishes were qualitatively analyzed by their basic chemical components, molecular weights and monosaccharide compositions. The results showed that the method could rapidly separate and purify polysaccharides. The purified polysaccharides were single components with molecular weights ranging from 24 to 55 kDa. Analysis of monosaccharide composition and infra-red spectra results showed that sulfated polysaccharides had GAGs-like properties. The polysaccharide samples from Buccinidae and Trichomya exhibited the characteristics of chondroitin sulfate (CS), which were represented by Buccinum pemphigum and Perna viridis. The polysaccharide samples from Argopecten irradians showed heparin (HP) characteristics. This study provides a micro- and rapid pretreatment technology for the structural analysis of sulfated polysaccharides from edible shellfishes.

The high degree of intensive utilization of vegetable field soils is prone to nutrient imbalance and excessive accumulation, which hinders the sustainable development of vegetable production. Based on the analysis of fertility status and main obstacle factors of vegetable field soils under the open land and facility cultivation patterns in the Xitiaoxi watershed, the threshold of soil phosphorus (P) loss was explored in this study. The results indicated that the soil pH value under the open land cultivation pattern was significantly lower (P＜0.05) than that under the facility cultivation pattern. The contents of soil total potassium (K), available K, available P, and water-extractable P under the facility cultivation pattern were significantly higher (P＜0.05) than those under the open land cultivation pattern, as well as the total soluble salt content and electrical conductivity. It was also found that the fertility grades of vegetable field soils under the two cultivation patterns were mostly (95.8%) Grade Ⅱ. The correlation between soil water-extractable P and Mehlich 3-P was well illustrated with the piecewise linear regression equation. The threshold of Mehlich 3-P for controlling P loss from the open land and facility vegetable field soils was estimated to be 102.7 mg/kg and 128.7 mg/kg, respectively. Thus, the soil samples exceeding this threshold accounted for 65.0% and 83.3% of the total number of samples, respectively. In conclusion, the soil acidification and the risk of P loss under the open land and facility cultivation patterns in the Xitiaoxi watershed are serious, and the soil salinization under the facility cultivation pattern is an outstanding issue.

Islands have special geographical landscapes and complex soil forming conditions, where the soil formation is different from that in mainland areas. To understand the genesis characteristics and taxonomic classification of island hilly soils in Zhejiang Province, 80 soil profiles were surveyed combining with historical literature data in this study. The results showed that the geomorphic structures, parent materials, climatic conditions, and vegetation types of the soils were relatively single, but the soils were frequently affected by the island scales, distances from land, tide, and human activities. The terrain slope was large; the lithification was obvious; the clayization was weak; the desilicification-allitization was changeable; the weathering-leaching coefficient was medium; the restoring base cations were obvious; the pH value and base saturation percentage were higher than those in the mainland at the same latitude; and the soil forming environment was affected by both ancient and modern factors. Four soil orders, namely Ferrosols, Argosols, Cambosols, and Primosols, were identified from the islands of Zhejiang Province, including 7 suborders of Ustic Ferrosols, Udic Ferrosols, Ustic Argosols, Udic Argosols, Ustic Cambosols, Udic Cambosols, and Orthic Primosols, as well as 10 soil groups, 11 subgroups and 25 soil families. In conclusion, the direction of soil formation from the islands of Zhejiang Province is basically the same as that of mainland hilly soil at the same latitude, belonging to the traditional ‘red soil zone’.

The effects of the combination of sea cucumber peptide and Cistanche deserticola (SCPCD) on the hormone regulation and testicular anti-oxidative damage of acute-exercising mice were preliminarily explored in this study. The mice were randomly divided into five groups, including the blank group, the control group, SCPCD-low dose group (SCPCD-L) (0.3 mg/g), SCPCD-medium dose group (SCPCD-M) (0.6 mg/g), and SCPCD-high dose group (SCPCD-H) (2.0 mg/g), and all the mice received continuously intragastric administration by different doses of SCPCD for 42 d. An acute exhaustive swimming (AES) model was conducted, and a mating test was carried out on the 45th day. The sexual behavior ability parameters, hormone levels, and anti-oxidative related indexes were finally measured. The results showed that the optimal mass ratio of sea cucumber peptide and Cistanche deserticola in combination of them was 2∶1. AES led to the energy expenditure and accumulation of metabolites in mice (P＜0.05), but the acute exhaustive swimming time was prolonged and the contents of lactic acid and blood urea nitrogen were reduced by SCPCD treatments of mice. Besides, AES caused decreases in testosterone and estrogen contents, but they were significantly increased in the SCPCD-M and SCPCD-H (P＜0.05). The levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and irisin were significantly reduced (P＜0.01) in SCPCD-M, while the adrenocorticotropic hormone content was increased (P＜0.05). In addition, the sperm malformation rate decreased in SCPCD treatment, while the sperm motility and total antioxidant capacity of testis were significantly improved (P＜0.05). In summary, the SCPCD presented the physiological activities on delaying fatigue, improving testosterone level, and reducing the oxidative damage of sperm and testicular tissue in AES model. These results provide a scientific basis for the development and application of functional foods related to hormone regulation.

As a perennial foliage plant, the changes of physiological and biochemical indexes of tea plant under lead aerosol stress and the lead accumulation effect need to be studied urgently. In the present study, the lead aerosol was used to simulate atmospheric pollution, and the lead accumulation in roots, stems, and leaves as well as the changes of photosynthetic pigments and antioxidants in leaves of ‘Wuniuzao’ and ‘Yingshuang’ tea plants were evaluated. Then the model for the rapid detection of each index was established based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results showed that the lead content of tea plant leaves in the normal environment was very low, which met the national food safety standards. The lead content of roots was much higher than that of leaves, which proved that the soil-root pathway was the main way for tea plants to accumulate lead in the normal environment. With the increase of stress time, the lead content in the leaves of high concentration lead stress group was significantly higher than that in the stems and roots, which proved that there was an air-leaf absorption pathway, and high concentration lead stress group was up to 14 times that of no lead treatment group. In addition, the photosynthetic pigment and ascorbic acid contents increased initially and then decreased, whereas glutathione content basically increased during the entire 42 days. Support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used to establish quantitative prediction models for monitoring the physiological and biochemical indexes based on the characteristic wave-band of the mid-infrared spectrum, proving that the mid-infrared spectrum could be a potential approach for the rapid detection of physiological and biochemical indexes in tea plants under the lead aerosol stress, and the ANN model showed better effects than the SVM model. The ANN quantitative model of chlorophyll a obtained the best prediction effect, of which the best correlation coefficient of prediction set (r_p) could reach 0.810, and the root-mean-square error of prediction set (RMSE_p) was 0.032 mg/g. The above results indicate that lead aerosol stress could cause the accumulation of lead and result in the significant changes of physiological and biochemical indexes in tea plants, and the FTIR spectroscopy is a reliable method for the rapid detection of physiological and biochemical indexes in tea plants under the lead aerosol stress.

Traditional rice lodging measurements are time-consuming and destructive to rice plants. This study thus developed an easy-to-implement and nondestructive mechanical platform for phenotyping analysis of rice lodging, which can monitor the lodging-resistant characteristics of rice in different growth periods. The lodging measurements were conducted at the jointing stage, booting stage and heading stage from August 15th to September 21st, 2019. The force and displacement were measured from two different directions using the lodging measuring platform with a force sensor, which were used to calculate the dynamic bending stiffness coefficient (K_EI) of rice. Meanwhile, RGB images were collected from the mechanical platform, which were applied to calculate the projected area and the center of force (CoF). The results showed that the K_EI values of lodging-resistant cultivars (Beidao 1 and Shennong 9816) were different from those of lodging cultivars (Yueguang and Qiuguang), which can reflect rice’s lodging resistance in the growth period. In addition, we found that the average distances between CoF and the root of lodging cultivars within the RGB images were larger than those of lodging-resistant cultivars and easily led to rice instability. This study can provide valuable information for rice lodging monitoring and precision breeding.