Abstract:Soybean is not only an important oil crop， but also the main source of plant protein for human consumption and feed protein for animal husbandry， which plays an important role in the national food structure and food security. By using a simple and efficient genetic mapping method， the related genes of the main agronomic characters of soybean are mined and closely linked molecular markers are developed， which is helpful to speed up the process of molecular marker-assisted selection and molecular design breeding of soybean. Bulked Segregant Analysis （BSA） is a method to identify the gene loci through using the DNA pools with extreme traits. Due to its characteristics of fast， accurate， economical and practical， BSA has become a widely-applied method in genetic mapping. Taking advantage of high-throughput sequencing technology， BSA based on whole-genome resequencing has been widely applied in isolation of many genes underlying agronomic traits in grain and oil crops， vegetables， flowers and other species. This study briefly introduced the methods and procedures of BSA， summarized the research progress in genetic mapping of agronomic traits， stress resistance traits and male sterility traits in soybean， and further discussed the opportunities and challenges of BSA under the background of NGS， as well as the development trend of BSA in soybean molecular marker assisted selection （MAS） breeding. This study will provide theoretical basis for the cultivation of high quality soybean varieties.

Abstract:Rice is one of the most important food crops in China， and rice production is an important guarantee for national food security. The traditional transplanting model has played an important role in increasing rice production， farmers' income， and agricultural development. With the development of social economy and changes in industrial factors， the significant reduction of rural labor forces urgently requires simplified cultivation methods. Direct seeding of rice flooding can save labor， resources， and effectively reduce weed damage， which is an efficient and economical cultivation mode with high popularization value at present. The decreased germination rate caused by hypoxia stress under submerged condition is the primary factor that hinders the application of direct seeding of rice flooding. In the abundant rice germplasm resources， there are excellent resources and genes tolerant to hypoxic stress. Exploring these excellent resources and genes tolerant to hypoxic stress and their application in developing submergence tolerant varieties suitable for direct seeding rice is the key to break through the bottleneck of popularization and application of direct seeding rice. This article reviewed the physiological characteristics， phenotyping methods， elite germplasm identification， genetic analysis， mechanism characterization of rice germinability under submerged condition and breeding application of functional genes. We expected to provide theoretical reference for deciphering the molecular mechanism of hypoxia-tolerant germination and selecting direct seeding rice varieties.

Abstract:QTL mapping of germinability under submergence condition and pyramided effect analysis of stable sites were carried out， thus laying a foundation for fine mapping of QTL for germinability under submergence condition and marker-assisted breeding. Using an F_2：3 population with 144 individuals derived from a cross between WR-4 （a weedy rice with strong germinability under submergence condition） and Guangbaixiangzhan （a susceptible indica variety， GBXZ）， a high density genetic map containing 825 bin markers was produced based on 1K mGPS SNP chip. Ten QTL conferring tolerance to hypoxia were identified by complete interval mapping （ICIM）. These QTL were found on chromosomes 3， 4， 7， 8， 9， and 10， with LOD values ranging from 3.6 to 21.3， explaining phenotypic variation of 3.0%-21.1%. Two major QTL （qGS4-1 and qGS7-1） with high LOD value and high phenotypic variance were repeatedly detected， and both loci could be the candidate for future gene cloning studies. According to the genotyping of bin markers in each QTL interval， different progenies were classified into WR type and GBXZ type. By further data processing and analysis of QTL stacking， it was found that individuals with more pyramided synergistic alleles showed longer coleoptile under submergence condition. Thus， these lines hosting multiple synergistic alleles might provide innovative resources for breeding rice cultivars with high germinability under submergence condition.

Abstract:Soil salinization has a significant negative impact on the yield and quality of soybean. It is one of the effective ways to improve the yield and quality of soybeans under salt stress by breeding salt-tolerant soybean varieties. Plant ERF transcription factors play important roles in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses， whereas there are few relevant studies in soybean. Based on RNA-Seq datasets under salt stress treatment， 549 soybean resequencing data and salt tolerance index data， as well as the soybean tissue expression data in the Soybean Expression Atlas database， the soybean ERF genes responding to salt stress and their elite alleles were identified. Three ERF genes were identified with natural variations， among which ERF158^H1， ERF166^H2 and ERF170^H1 haplotypes were elite alleles showing significantly higher salt tolerance. Nucleotide polymorphism analysis of the elite alleles showed that ERF170^H1 was detected with weakly artificially selection signals during soybean domestication， while ERF158^H1 and ERF166^H2 were gradually reduced or lost during domestication process. Therefore， eight ERF genes were identified likely being involved in the response of soybean to salt stress， and three of them were found to have elite alleles that can significantly promote soybean salt tolerance. Our findings provide a great significance to enrich and improve the molecular mechanism of soybean response to salt stress and breeding programs for salt tolerant soybean varieties.

Abstract:In order to comprehensively evaluate and analyze the resistance of Hainan common wild rice to leaf blast and ear neck blast， 2002 accessions collected from 11 different cities/counties in Hainan province were artificially inoculated with leaf blast at the seedling stage in the field for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023. In addition， 995 accessions that had been pumped were artificially inoculated for ear neck blast resistance. 494 （24.68%） were identified to be resistant to leaf blast， among which 7 were immune and 17 were highly resistant. In the field， 1160 （57.94%） were resistant to leaf blast， of which 24 were immune and 233 were highly resistant. Out of 995 accessions that were tested for ear neck plague， 506 were resistant accounting for 50.85%， among which 23 were immune and 136 were highly resistant. The results showed that common wild rice accessions in Hainan were generally resistant to leaf blast or ear neck blast. The plant architecture in most of resistant germplasms was semi-erect or inclined， and a few showed upright or creeping. Accessions with high leaf distemper resistance were generally resistant to ear neck distemper after heading， and accessions with high immune or ear neck distemper resistance were generally resistant to leaf distemper. A total of 128 common wild rice materials with resistance to both leaf blast and ear neck blast were identified and evaluated. Collectively， this study provided a reference for the academic research and breeding utilization of rice blast resistance in Hainan wild rice.

Abstract:In order to explore the fruit traits that associate to the fruit cracking in pitaya （Hylocereus spp.）， 279 pitaya accessions were used as experimental materials in this study. Genetic variation analysis， correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were performed at 13 fruit traits including individual fruit weight， fruit longitudinal diameter， fruit transversal diameter， fruit shape index， fruit navel diameter， fruit navel depth， fruit navel shape index， skin thickness， fruit bract length in fruit navel， number of fruit bracts， fruit edible rate， soluble solid content （SSC） of central pulp， and pulp margin SSC with fruit cracking rate. The results reveled abundant genetic variations at 13 fruit traits and fruit cracking rate. By the correlation analysis， the correlation coefficient between fruit cracking rate and fruit navel shape index was the largest， showing a highly significant negative correlation. Fruit cracking rate was negatively correlated with fruit shape index and skin thickness， but positively correlated with edible rate and pulp margin SSC. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that fruit navel diameter and navel depth were the two most important factors affecting fruit cracking rate， accounting for 39.30% of the variation. No significance was detected at other fruit traits to fruit cracking rate. Collectively， the morphological structure of the fruit navel is of importance to the fruit cracking of pitaya， and the fruit navel shape index can be used as a reference index in breeding of cracking tolerance varieties.

Abstract:Sugars and acids are important components that contribute to the flavor of fruit. To identify the sugar-acid flavor indexes and analyze the compositional difference in sugar-acid flavor among jujube varieties， as well as establish the evaluation system for sugar-acid flavor are of great significance. By taking use of 210 jujube varieties， here we measured and analyzed the contents of soluble solids， titrable acids， and sugar components in fruit at the crisp ripening stage. The results were as follows： （1） The coefficient of variation ranged from 9.81% - 34.70% for the 10 indexes， including soluble solids， sweetness value， and total sugar that show smaller coefficient. The range of sucrose content varied the most， with the maximum being 84.54 times that of the minimum. Except soluble solid and sweet-acid ratio，eight indexes， including fructose， glucose， sucrose， total sugar， titrable acid， sweetness value， solid-acid ratio and sugar-acid ratio， were observed with the normal distribution. （2） The fructose， glucose and sucrose significantly positively correlated with total sugar content. A significant positive correlation between fructose and glucose content， as well as the significant positive correlation among total sugar， soluble solid and sweet value were observed. Titrable acid significantly negatively correlated with solid-acid ratio， sugar-acid ratio and sweet-acid ratio. The significant correlations among the solid-acid ratio， sugar-acid ratio and sweet-acid ratio were observed. （3） Factor analysis extracted three main factors with a cumulative contribution rate of 91.781%. Combined with the cluster analysis of various indexes， five indexes， including fructose， sucrose， soluble solid， titrable acid and solid-acid ratio， were selected to evaluate the sugar-acid flavor of jujube fruit. （4） Based on the five evaluation indexes， cluster analysis suggested five groups in 210 jujube varieties. These groups were defined as low sucrose type， high acid type， fructose dominant type， intermediate type and sucrose dominant type， where the sucrose dominant type contained the largest number of varieties. Collectively， the evaluation of sugar-acid flavor in jujube fruit can be performed using the five indexes， and the application of jujube varieties by considering the sugar and acid indexes could be desirable in production.

Abstract:The aim of this study was to evaluate the fruit color traits of hawthorn （Crataegus pinnatifida Bge.var. major N.E.Br.） germplasm resources via measuring the chromatism index and anthocyanin content. Fifty-one hawthorn cultivars that preserved at the national hawthorn germplasm resource repository （Shenyang） were used. The peel and flesh of these hawthorn resources were initially determined using a colorimeter to identify their chromatism index （L^*， a^*， and b^*）， followed by the calculation of the h^°， C^*， and CIRG （color index of red grape） values. The anthocyanin content in the hawthorn peel and flesh was measured using a microplate reader. The relationship between fruit color traits and anthocyanin content was established using correlation analysis， principal component analysis， and cluster analysis. The anthocyanin content of hawthorn peel was considerably correlated with the CIRG value of the peel and the anthocyanin content of the flesh. The a^*， C^*， and CIRG values of the flesh as well as the CIRG value of the peel were largely influenced by the anthocyanin content of the hawthorn flesh. 51 hawthorn resources could be divided into four groups based on fruit chromatism index and anthocyanin content. The a^* value and anthocyanin content of the flesh were both highest in the first group， while the peel has the lowest a^* value and the highest anthocyanin content. The a^* value and anthocyanin content of the peel were highest and lowest in the second group， respectively， while both were lowest in the flesh. The peel of the third group's fruit has a medium a^* value and a high anthocyanin level， whereas the flesh has a higher a^* value and a higher anthocyanin content. The higher a^* value and medium anthocyanin content of the peel， and medium a^* value and anthocyanin content of the flesh were found in the fourth group. The fourth group contained both the peel's higher a^* value and medium anthocyanin levels as well as the flesh's medium a^* value and anthocyanin content. Collectively， this study assigned fruit color trait using digital scores and assessed the relationship between fruit color traits and its anthocyanin concentration， thus providing a reference basis for enhancing the evaluation of hawthorn germplasm resources.

Abstract:In this study， 134 maize inbred lines were used as experimental materials to identify phenotypic variations at nine root traits at seedling stage， followed by the genome-wide association study （GWAS） using FarmCPU model based on 44935 SNP markers. The results showed that the phenotypic variations at nine root traits ranged from 10.86% to 55.96%， and the correlation between most phenotypes reached a highly significant level （P<0.001）. The correlation coefficient between lateral root length and total root length was the highest （0.996）， followed by that between the number of lateral roots and total roots （0.993）. A total of 32 significantly associated SNPs were identified （P value arranged from 1.01e^-11 to 9.74e^-5）， with phenotypic contribution rates ranging from 0.54% to 22.34%. Four， eight， three and nine significant SNPs were detected for main root length， total root length， maximum root length and lateral root length， respectively. Ten， seven and one significant SNPs were detected for total root number， lateral root number and adventitious root number， respectively. Fourteen SNPs were identified associating with multiple root traits. Twelve significant association sites were located within the intervals where root-related QTL （Quantitative trait locus） were reported. Forty-nine root-associated candidate genes were annotated， including formerly-identified GRMZM2G028386 （ABI4）， GRMZM2G135713 （PUB23）， GRMZM5G870592 （MYB98）， GRMZM2G156861 （LOX1）， GRMZM2G160005 （AUX16）， GRMZM2G126936 （NAC2） and other important root candidate genes. Thus， this study provided reference for future cloning genes related to root development and analyzing the molecular mechanisms of root development in maize.

Abstract:Protein Disulfide Isomerase （PDI）， a member of the thioredoxin superfamily， is an oxidoreductase widely exists in animals， plants and microorganisms. In plants， the formation and isomerization of protein disulfide bonds， which are mainly catalyzed by disulfide bond proteins， are crucial in the correct assembly and folding of proteins. In this study， based on the sequence similarity to the PDI gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana， 21 PDI genes were identified and found on nine chromosomes of maize. The phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the maize PDI gene family members were divided into four evolutionary branches and 11 developmental groups， and within each group the gene structure and conserved motifs were similar. The analysis of cis-acting elements in the promoters identified cis-acting elements associating to stress， plant hormones and endosperm specific expression. By quantifying the transcriptional profiles， the high expression was detected in embryo， endosperm and grain. In endosperm， a downward trend followed by upward from 10 to 20 days after pollination was observed. Biodiversity analysis revealed that was diversity of ZmPDIL1-1 gene. The result of subcellular localization showed that ZmPDIL1-1 was located to the endoplasmic reticulum. Collectively， this study provided reference for the functional analysis of PDI gene family in maize.

Abstract:Biomass is an important trait in forage sorghum， and positively correlates with plant height. In this study， two functional SNPs of the plant height associated gene SbPH11 were screened from 237 sorghum inbred lines. Three haplotypes， named SbPH11-Hap1， SbPH11-Hap2 and SbPH11-Hap3， at the SbPH11 locus with different combination of the two SNPs have been identified. The plant height of SbPH11-Hap2 materials was extremely significantly higher than that of SbPH11-Hap1 and SbPH11-Hap3 materials， and that of SbPH11-Hap1 materials was extremely significantly higher than that of SbPH11-Hap3 materials. The KASP marker that associates to plant height was developed based on two functional SNPs of the gene SbPH11. The marker was used to genotype and phenotype of 30 sorghum germplasms resources. The KASP marker was confirmed to accurately identify two functional SNPs of SbPH11. These results suggested that the newly-developed KASP marker can efficiently and accurately predict the plant height in sorghum germplasm resources， and can be applied in early screening and molecular marker-assisted selection in breeding for sorghum with higher plant height.

Abstract:Whirly is a class of plant specific transcription factors that can bind to single-stranded DNA molecules and play a wide and complex role in both nucleus and organelles. In order to explore the functional and evolutionary relationships of Whirly genes in eggplant， we applied the bioinformatics approach to identify Whirly genes， including the phylogenetic relationships， gene structure， conservative motifs and cis-acting elements in promoters. Their transcriptional profiles were also analyzed in different tissues， or under treatments of exogenous hormone， low temperature and pathogen infection. The results showed that the Whirly gene family of eggplant contained two members， named SmWHY1 and SmWHY2， which were closely related to the Whirly genes in tomato. Both SmWHY1 and SmWHY2 expressed in different tissues， and the transcripts of SmWHY1 in leaves were higher than that of SmWHY2 in other tissues. The induction at two genes was detected under treatments （abscisic acid， methyl jasmonate， salicylic acid， low temperture and pathogen）， whereas the responses were variable in gene and/or by treatments. In G114， a Phytophthora capsici resistant germplasm， two genes showed relatively high expression. Collectively， these results indicated that SmWHY1 and SmWHY2 may play an important role in the regulation of growth， development， and response to stress.

Abstract:High-oil maize is those having more than 50% oil content compared with normal maize， and the oil content in embryo accounts for 85% out of the oil in kernel. In order to analyze the development of kernel， embryonic proteome at 15 d （G15）， 25 d （G25） and 35 d （G35） after pollination of high-oil maize inbred line GY220 was isolated by two-dimensional electrophoresis technology， and the isolated proteins were identified by tandem mass spectrometry， followed by analyzing the functions of differentially expressed proteins （DEPs）. As a result， a total of 41 DEPs were identified in three developmental stages. There are 18 up-regulated DEPs in the comparison of G25 with G15， but the down-regulated DEPs was 19. There are 18 up-regulated DEPs in the comparison of G35 with G15， but the down-regulated DEPs was 25. There are 20 up-regulated DEPs in the comparison of G35 with G15， but the down-regulated DEPs was 22. To reveal the functions of the 41 DEPs， GO annotation analysis and KEGG enrichment analysis was performed. The results showed that DEPs were significantly enriched in small molecule metabolism， REDOX and carbohydrate metabolism. Based on the differential protein expression abundance and functional annotation， Zm00001d041962 encoding a glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and Zm00001d035037 encoding a fructokinase were highly abundant at the stages of 15 d and 25 d， but sharply decreased at the stage of 35 d. Real-time PCR found that the expression of these two genes were accumulated with the embryonic development of GY220， and their orthologs in soybean， peanut and rape shared highly similarity in protein sequences. This study laid a foundation for further improving grain quality and mining functional genes of embryonic development in maize.

Abstract:Mung bean sprout is rich in vitamins， dietary fiber and other nutrients， and developing elite cultivars for sprout could improve the quality and commercial value on sprout production. Thirty-five new lines were gained from the previously-developed new lines evaluated for the sprout characters using the core collection of mung bean. In this study we evaluated the characters for sprout production of 35 new elite lines. The results revealed abundant variations on sprout length （5.56-7.42 cm， coefficient of variation （CV）=13.36%）， and sprout thick （2.41-3.24 mm，CV=13.00%）， while a fairly low variation on production ratio （8.12-10.36， CV=3.60%）. Significant positive correlation was found between production ratio and sprout thick （R=0.817）， while negative correlation was found between production ratio and 100-seed weight （R=-0.583） or sprout length （R=-0.137）. Multiple regression showed that sprout thick had greater a contribution to sprout weight than sprout length and seed size too. Finally， lines 21XJ54-1 and 21BJ yu95， 21XJ54-2 that suitable for slim sprout and lines 21BJ yu96， 21DT46 and Zhonglv27 that suitable for thick sprout were selected. In addition， seeds of Zhonglv27 harvested from diverse eco-regions were observed to have different sprout production ratio. The seeds from Fengning city of Hebei province had the highest production ratio （10.27）， followed by Xinxiang city of Henan province （9.94）. Seeds from Changji city of Xinjiang autonomous region had the highest value on sprout length （6.23 cm）， while Fengning of Hebei province was the highest on sprout thick （3.70 mm）. Collectively， this study provided elite germplasm for breeding of new mung bean varieties for sprout production.

Abstract:Through field survey in conjugation with specimen classification analysis， We found two newly recorded genera viz. Sauropus Blume and Maesa Forssk of angiosperms in Shaanxi province， China. The corresponding newly recorded species are Sauropus garrettii Craib and Maesa hupehensis Rehd. In this paper， the background of the two newly recorded genera is briefly introduced， and the morphological characteristics of the two newly recorded species are described in detail. At the same time， the field photos of the two species and the photos of plants， leaves， flowers， and fruits are provided. The discovery of two newly recorded genera and species is not only of great significance to the study of plant distribution in Shaanxi province but also provides an important reference for the compilation of records of related taxa in this area. The voucher specimens were deposited in the herbarium of Shandong Forest and Grass Germplasm Resource Center （SDFGR） and the herebarium of Xi'an Botanical Garden， Shaanxi Province （XBGH）.