Agronomy, Volume 14, Issue 5 (May 2024) – 185 articles

To ascertain the effect of low-light stress (80 μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹) on cucumbers, we report on improving and breeding low-light-tolerant varieties by mining genes related to low-light tolerance. In this study, the quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of cucumber plant height and internode length under low-light stress was conducted using the F₂ population, employing specific-length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) and phenotypic analysis. A genetic map with a total length of 1114.29 c M was constructed from 1,076,599 SNPs, and 2233 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were distributed on seven linked groups, with an average map distance of 0.50 c M. Two QTLs related to plant height, CsPlH5.1 and CsPlH6.1, were detected on Chr.5 and Chr.6, with a cumulative contribution rate of 16.33%. The contribution rate (PVE), max LOD value, additive effect (ADD), and dominant effect (DOM) of CsPlH5.1 were 9.446%, 4.013, 1.005, and 0.563, respectively. CsPlH5.1 was located between 4,812,907 and 5,159,042 in the Gy14_V2.0 genome of cucumber, with a genetic distance of 0.32 Mb; the interval contained 41 candidate genes, and CsPlH6.1 was found to be located between Marker537985 (171.10 c M) and Marker 537984 (171.55 c M), a range containing only one candidate gene. A total of 42 candidate genes related to photosynthesis, chloroplast development, abiotic stress, and plant growth were found in the location range associated with plant height. Simultaneously, a QTL (Csnd2_NdL6.1) for the second internode length was detected, and the max LOD, ADD, and DOM values were 5.689, 0.384, and −0.19, respectively. Csnd2_NdL6.1 was located between 29,572,188 and 29,604,215, with 0.03 Mb on Chr. 6 including seven candidate genes. The molecular function of the CsGy6G032300 gene is involved with the binding of calcium ions, which may be related to the elongation and growth of plants; however, the population needs to be further expanded for acceptable localization verification. The results of this study provide a preliminary basis for the mining of essential genes of cucumber’s low-light tolerance and identifying low-light-tolerance genes. Full article

To clarify the migration and accumulation of nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and potassium (K) in soil profiles of plastic-greenhouse vegetable fields with cultivation years, soil samples from the 0–7 m soil profiles were collected from 10 pepper greenhouses with 10 and 20 years planting history, and parallel soil samples were taken from adjacent wheat-maize fields as controls. The results showed that: (1) Compared with wheat-maize fields, the total N amount in the 0–7 m soil layers from the greenhouses increased by 6.19 ± 1.16 and 9.11 ± 3.43 t ha⁻¹ at 10 and 20 years, respectively, accounting for about 30.4% and 17.5% of the N input. (2) The N amount that entered the environment outside the 0–7 m soil layers were 6.95 t ± 2.76 and 29.10 ± 10.14 t ha⁻¹ after 10 and 20 years of continuous planting, accounting for approximately 34.2% and 55.9% of the N input, respectively. (3) The concentration of water-soluble Ca and Mg in the 0–7 m soil layers increased significantly with cultivation years, and correlated positively with mineral N concentration. (4) Moreover, K mainly accumulates in the form of non-exchangeable K in the surface layers (0–50 cm). Our results demonstrated that huge amounts of N migrate to the deep soil with the extension of cultivation years in plastic-greenhouse pepper production systems, accompanied by significant leaching of Ca and Mg, while K mainly accumulates in the surface layers. Full article

Developing biostimulants is a promising approach for sustainable agriculture under a saline environment. Thymol is a plant-derived compound with a potential antioxidative capacity. However, little is known about whether and how the antioxidative property of thymol plays a role in inducing plant tolerance against abiotic stresses. Here, we find that thymol induces saline tolerance in Chinese cabbage seedlings via enhancing the antioxidative capacity. Treatment with NaCl (100 mM) decreased the seedling fresh weight by 59.9% as compared to a control. Thymol at 20 μM showed the greatest effect on promoting seedling growth under saline stress, with the seedling fresh weight being increased by 71.0% as compared to NaCl treatment. Thymol remarkably decreased the overaccumulation of ROS (hydrogen peroxide and a superoxide radical); cell membrane damage (evaluated by lipid oxidation, membrane integrity, and relative conductivity); and cell death in seedlings under saline stress. Thymol induced three antioxidative systems to lower the ROS level in salt-treated seedlings. First, thymol remarkably activated a set of antioxidative enzymes, such as SOD (superoxide dismutase), APX (ascorbate peroxidase), CAT (catalase), and POD (peroxidase). Second, thymol balanced the cellular redox status by increasing the ratio of AsA/DHA (ascorbic acid/dehydroascorbic acid) and GSH/GSSG (glutathione/oxidized glutathione). Third, thymol significantly enhanced the level-two kinds of antioxidants (total phenol and flavonoid). All of these physiological responses were observed in both the shoots and the roots. In sum, thymol deploys multiple antioxidative systems to help Chinese cabbage seedlings against saline stress. Such findings suggest that thymol has great potential to be developed as a novel biostimulant enhancing crop tolerance against saline stress. Full article

The control of irrigation volume is of significant importance in arid regions of northwest China. Particularly, it has a crucial impact on the salinization of shallow groundwater areas. In 2022 and 2023, field experiments were conducted to test three distinct under-membrane irrigation treatments. These treatments were assigned water quotas of HW (27 mm), MW (22.5 mm), and LW (18 mm). The HYDRUS-2D model was integrated with a field experiment to accurately simulate the dynamic fluctuations of soil water and salt in the sunflower root zone. The model’s performance was assessed and verified using real-field data from 2022 and 2023, and the simulation results closely matched the measured values. This research also used stable hydroxide isotopes to assess the water supply from various soil layers at different time intervals in sunflower plants. The results indicated that the three different levels of irrigation applied under the membrane had a significant impact on soil water content. Specifically, there was a significant difference in soil water content at a depth of 0–40 cm (p < 0.05), while there was little effect on the water content at a depth of 40–60 cm (p > 0.05). After irrigation, the average salt content in the top 0–20 cm of soil decreased by 7.0% compared to the medium and low irrigation levels, and by 10.8% compared to the medium irrigation level. Additionally, the medium irrigation level resulted in a 10.8% decrease in salt content compared to the low irrigation level, and a 4.1% decrease compared to the medium irrigation level. During the same period, the soil salinity levels at depths of 0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, 40–60 cm, and 60–100 cm in the area outside the membrane were measured to be 2.7~4.8 g·kg⁻¹, 2.8~4.0 g·kg⁻¹, 2.7~3.4 g·kg⁻¹, and 1.7~2.6 g·kg⁻¹, respectively. These levels decreased by 13.1~55.5%, 0.7~42.8%, −0.4~16.2%, and −72.7~7.5%, respectively. Following irrigation, the HW treatment mostly absorbed water in the 0–40 cm soil layer, while the MW and LW treatments absorbed water in both the 0–40 cm and 60–80 cm soil levels. The results indicated that the most optimal drip irrigation method beneath the membrane in this location was achieved when the amount of water applied was between 25–30 mm. This method demonstrated a combination of water conservation, high crop yield, and effective salt suppression. Full article

In the realm of commercial trade, the appearance quality of wheat is a crucial metric for assessing its value and grading. Traditionally, evaluating wheat appearance quality is a manual process conducted by inspectors, which is time-consuming, laborious, and error-prone. In this research, we developed an intelligent detection system for wheat appearance quality, leveraging state-of-the-art neural network technology for the efficient and standardized assessment of wheat appearance quality. Our system was meticulously crafted, integrating high-performance hardware components and sophisticated software solutions. Central to its functionality is a detection model built upon multi-grained convolutional neural networks. This innovative setup allows for the swift and precise evaluation and categorization of wheat quality. Remarkably, our system achieved an exceptional overall recognition accuracy rate of 99.45% for wheat grain categories, boasting a recognition efficiency that was approximately five times faster than manual recognition processes. This groundbreaking system serves as a valuable tool for assisting inspectors, offering technical support for customs quarantine, grain reserves, and food safety. Full article

Soil pH significantly impacts microbial activity and community assembly, which in turn determines the temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) of soil respiration. Due to the high soil acidification in China, it is necessary to understand how soil acidification impacts Q₁₀. Here, the Q₁₀ of soil respiration was examined in a long-term field experiment (1982–present) with different soil pH caused by fertilization management. In this experiment, we selected treatments with neutral pH: (1) no crops and fertilization (CK); (2) crops without fertilization (NF); low pH with (3) crops with chemical fertilization (NPK); and (4) crops with chemical fertilization combined with wheat straw incorporation (WS). Under natural soil temperature changes, we observed that soil acidification lowered the Q₁₀ value of soil respiration. Considering only temperature changes, the Q₁₀ of soil respiration was strongly associated with microbial community composition, alpha diversity, and soil ammonium nitrogen. Considering the interaction between soil pH and temperature, warming strengthened the negative effect of soil pH on the Q₁₀ of soil respiration, and the pathway through which soil pH mediated Q₁₀ included not only microbial community composition, alpha diversity, and biomass but also the soil’s available phosphorus. This work enhanced our insights into the relationships between Q₁₀, temperature, and soil pH by identifying important microbial properties and key soil environmental factors. Full article

Red clover (Trifolium pretense) is widely cultivated as an excellent forage and green manure crop. In 2021, a leaf spot disease was discovered in a red clover field in Min County, Gansu Province, China. Symptoms on T. pratense manifested as small white spots that gradually expanded into nearly oval or irregularly shaped gray-white lesions. The causal agent of this new disease was identified as Leptosphaeria weimeri (=Longiseptatispora meliloti) based on morphological identification, pathogenicity tests, and the phylogenetic identification of ITS, LSU, and SSU sequence. The optimal growth temperature was found to be 20 °C under different culture conditions, while the optimal spore-producing temperature was 25 °C. The pH for optimal growth and spore production was seven. The fungus grew and produced spores successfully on both PDA and PSA media. Additionally, the pathogen was efficiently inhibited using 450 g/L of prochloraz fungicide in vitro. To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf spot disease on red clover caused by L. meliloti in China. Full article

The need to import phosphorus raw materials for fertilizer purposes in Europe as well as the need to manage increasing amounts of waste contributed to the search for alternative sources of phosphorus. One of these is waste sodium–potassium phosphate from the production of polyols. Additionally, a current problem is providing an adequate amount of food, where fertilizers play the main role. Due to the increase in meat consumption, the attractiveness of growing corn for feed is increasing due to its high yield potential and rich composition. The article presents the impact of suspension fertilizers based on waste from the production of polyols on the yield of corn intended for green fodder. In a 3-year field study, the effects of a waste phosphorus source were compared with a commercial granulated phosphorus fertilizer—fosdar. In addition, the suspension fertilizers were assessed according to their composition by testing fertilizers containing only basic nutrients (NPK) and ones enriched with secondary ingredients (S and Mg) and microelements (Zn, Mn and B). The research confirmed the effectiveness of the tested suspension fertilizers. Although the yield obtained was lower than in the case of fosdar fertilization, it still remained at a high level of over 70 t∙ha⁻¹ of fresh yield. Full article

Maize/peanut intercropping may improve soil health through reducing nitrogen (N) fertilization. However, the effects of maize/peanut intercropping combined with reduced N fertilization on the soil fungal community structure have not been well reported. Using a long-term localized micro-zone experiment, we investigated the combined effects of intercropping and N fertilizer application on soil fungal community diversity and composition. Three cropping patterns (maize/peanut intercropping, maize monoculture, and peanut monoculture) and three N application levels (0 kg·hm⁻², 150 kg·hm^−2, and 300 kg·hm⁻²) were assessed. The results showed that the total numbers of fungal species and unique species (operational taxonomic units, OTUs) in both maize and peanut soils tended to first increase and then decrease with increasing N application. Compared with monoculture, the numbers of total OTUs and unique OTUs in intercropped maize soil decreased by 4.14% and 12.79%, respectively, but the total numbers of OTUs and unique OTUs in peanut soil increased by 1.08% and 3.78%, respectively. With increasing N application, the soil fungal Ace and Chao indices of maize soil first increased and then decreased, while the fungal Shannon, Ace, and Chao indices of peanut soil decreased. Compared with the monoculture system, intercropping significantly reduced the maize soil fungal Ace and Chao indices but increased the peanut soil fungal Shannon, Ace, and Chao indices. Nitrogen application and intercropping significantly altered the fungal community structure of maize soil, while N application had no significant effect on the fungal community structure of peanut soil, though intercropping significantly changed the fungal community structure of peanut soil. At the phylum level, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, unclassified_k_Fungi, and Chytridiomycota were the dominant taxa. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that soil nitrate (NO₃⁻) content was the main environmental factor shaping the soil fungal community. In conclusion, excessive N fertilization (300 kg·hm⁻²) can reduce soil fungal community diversity; maize/peanut intercropping reversed the negative effect of N application on fungal community of peanut soil, but not that of maize soil. Soil NO₃⁻ content is the primary environmental driver of soil fungal communities. Full article

Leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC) is a primary indicator of crop nitrogen status, closely related to the growth and development dynamics of crops. Accurate and efficient monitoring of LNC is significant for precision field crop management and enhancing crop productivity. However, the biochemical properties and canopy structure of wheat change across different growth stages, leading to variations in spectral responses that significantly impact the estimation of wheat LNC. This study aims to investigate the construction of feature combination indices (FCIs) sensitive to LNC across multiple wheat growth stages, using remote sensing data to develop an LNC estimation model that is suitable for multiple growth stages. The research employs UAV multispectral remote sensing technology to acquire canopy imagery of wheat during the early (Jointing stage and Booting stage) and late (Early filling and Late filling stages) in 2021 and 2022, extracting spectral band reflectance and texture metrics. Initially, twelve sensitive spectral feature combination indices (SFCIs) were constructed using spectral band information. Subsequently, sensitive texture feature combination indices (TFCIs) were created using texture metrics as an alternative to spectral bands. Machine learning algorithms, including partial least squares regression (PLSR), random forest regression (RFR), support vector regression (SVR), and Gaussian process regression (GPR), were used to integrate spectral and texture information, enhancing the estimation performance of wheat LNC across growth stages. Results show that the combination of Red, Red edge, and Near-infrared bands, along with texture metrics such as Mean, Correlation, Contrast, and Dissimilarity, has significant potential for LNC estimation. The constructed SFCIs and TFCIs both enhanced the responsiveness to LNC across multiple growth stages. Additionally, a sensitive index, the Modified Vegetation Index (MVI), demonstrated significant improvement over NDVI, correcting the over-saturation concerns of NDVI in time-series analysis and displaying outstanding potential for LNC estimation. Spectral information outperforms texture information in estimation capability, and their integration, particularly with SVR, achieves the highest precision (coefficient of determination (R²) = 0.786, root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.589%, and relative prediction deviation (RPD) = 2.162). In conclusion, the sensitive FCIs developed in this study improve LNC estimation performance across multiple growth stages, enabling precise monitoring of wheat LNC. This research provides insights and technical support for the construction of sensitive indices and the precise management of nitrogen nutrition status in field crops. Full article

The olive fruit fly, known as Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is causing substantial economic losses in olive crops worldwide. Studying the activity patterns of the insect may expand our knowledge to eventually adopt more sustainable and effective pest control approaches. In the present study, we investigated the impact of food and water deprivation on the mobility of olive fruit flies using a modified version of the LAM25 system (locomotor activity monitor)—Trikinetics, an automated locomotor activity electronic device. Both male and female flies at four different age groups, reared on olives in the laboratory, were individually placed in glass tubes. Their locomotor activity was recorded every minute by three monitors within the digital device over a three-day period. Our observations revealed that adults exhibited significantly reduced movement during nighttime compared to daytime. The greatest mobility was observed during the period of 15:00 to 20:59. Additionally, younger flies demonstrated higher levels of mobility compared to older ones. Flies subjected to both food and water deprivation exhibited higher mobility compared to the control group. These insights offer valuable insights for enhancing pest management strategies aimed at controlling olive fruit flies adopting a more sustainable approach. Full article

Abiotic stimuli severely restrict the growth and development of plants, resulting in massive losses in the quality and yield of crops. Exploring genes that can improve crop tolerance to abiotic stress is important. In a previous study, we found that overexpression of the Arabidopsis nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) gene AtRPM1(D505V) increased disease resistance in rice. In this research, we found that AtRPM1(D505V) transgenic plants were more sensitive to abscisic acid (ABA) than wild type (WT) plants. Abiotic-stress resistance in AtRPM1(D505V) transgenic plants was investigated. We found that AtRPM1(D505V) transgenic plants exhibited improved resistance to drought and salt stress; the phonotype and survival rates of transgenic rice were better than WT plants. The expression of stress responsive genes including OsDREB2A, OsDREB2B, OsRD22, and OsRD29A were significantly upregulated in AtRPM1(D505V) overexpressed plants than in WT plants. Moreover, the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (POD) were significantly increased in AtRPM1(D505V) overexpressed plants than in WT plants under drought and salt stress. Under cold stress, the expression of stress responsive genes and the activities of antioxidant enzymes in AtRPM1(D505V) transgenic plants were significantly lower than in WT plants. Our research demonstrated that AtRPM1(D505V) confers drought and salt resistance to transgenic rice. Therefore, AtRPM1(D505V) could act as a potential candidate gene to cultivate drought- and salt-tolerant plants. Full article

Intercropping presents an opportunity to optimise land use and resource efficiency in cotton cultivation, particularly for small and marginal farmers facing climate-related challenges and rising input costs. This study explores the potential of intercropping short-duration vegetables with cotton to transform this production system into a more economically viable and sustainable one. The study was conducted in the Cotton Department of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore during the winter irrigated season, from August to January, in both 2020 and 2021. The growth, yield parameters, equivalent yield (3645 and 4234 kg ha⁻¹), and net return (Rs. 123,434 ha⁻¹ and Rs. 154,034 ha⁻¹) were higher in the intercropping system with the paired row planting of Bt cotton with two rows of cluster bean. Upon comparing sole cropping and the paired row method of planting, it was found that adopting the paired row system of planting Bt cotton with two rows of cluster bean was highly profitable in all aspects of crop production. Therefore, the adoption of paired row cropping systems with compatible intercrops that promote synergistic effects on the main crop should be considered for enhancing overall productivity, as well as sustainability. Full article

This study evaluated the salt tolerance in 40 celery germplasm resources to clarify the different salt tolerances of celery germplasm. A gradient treatment with different concentrations of NaCl solutions (100, 200, and 300 mmol·L⁻¹) was used to simulate salt stress. After 15 days of salt treatment, 14 indicators related to plant growth, physiology, and biochemistry were determined. The results showed that different celery varieties responded differently to salt stress. Notably, there were significant variations in below-ground dry weight, root–crown ratio, antioxidant enzyme activity, and soluble protein content among the accessions under salt stress. Principal component analysis was used to identify important indices for evaluating salt tolerance, including plant height, spread, content of soluble protein, and so on. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted utilizing the salt damage index, principal component analysis, affiliation function analysis, and cluster analysis. The 40 celery germplasms were classified into five highly salt-tolerant, seven salt-tolerant, fifteen moderately salt-tolerant, nine salt-sensitive, and four highly salt-sensitive germplasms. SHHXQ, MXKQ, XBQC, XQ, and TGCXBQ were highly salt-tolerant germplasms, and BFMSGQ, HNXQ, ZQ, and MGXQW were highly salt-sensitive germplasms. The results of this study provide a reference for the variety of celery cultivation in saline areas and lay a foundation for the selection and breeding of salt-tolerant varieties of celery. Full article

This study aimed to investigate the impact of selenium (Se) treatment on the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the expressions of related genes in broccoli. To achieve this, one group of broccoli heads was treated with a selenite solution of 2 mg L⁻¹, while another group was soaked in distilled water, serving as the control. The effects of these treatments were evaluated by analyzing the browning, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, enzyme activity, and gene expression levels of WARK and RBOH. Our results show that the Se treatment effectively inhibited H₂O₂ accumulation in the broccoli and reduced harmful MDA levels. The inhibition of ROS accumulation following the Se treatment was associated with enhanced activity of the CAT and SOD enzymes, increased expression levels of BoCAT and BoSOD, and decreased expression levels of the WRKY and RBOH transcription factors. Our study provides insights into the mechanism of action of selenium and its potential application in vegetable storage. Full article

This study investigated the impacts of biochar addition on N conversion, humification, and bacterial community during Flammulina velutipes waste composting. The mixture of chicken manure and Flammulina velutipes waste was 4:6 (dry weight basis). The biochar was added into the mixture and mixed thoroughly at ratios of 0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5% (w/w) and labeled as CK, T1, T2, and T3, respectively. The results showed that the biochar treatment significantly improved the compost maturity by increasing humic substances and the conversion of NH₄⁺-N to NO₃⁻-N. With the increase in biochar supplemental level, the abundance, diversity, and uniformity of the microbial community were improved. The dominant taxa were Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, and Gemmatimonadota, especially the Firmicutes and Bacteroidota. Biochar addition facilitated the proliferation of thermophilic bacteria such as Bacillus, Actinobacteriota, Parapedobacter, and Sphingobacterium, leading to enhanced organic decomposition to increase humus. The findings of this study highlighted the positive effects of biochar addition on the composting mixture of chicken manure and Flammulina velutipes waste. These results can help to produce high-quality biochar composting products by balancing organic decomposition and humification based on the bacterial community. Full article

Drought stress is a common abiotic stress, and Lupinus polyphyllus presents strong adaptability, but its drought resistance mechanism has not been explored. This study used PEG-6000 to simulate drought stress, and the H₂O₂ content, O₂⁻ generation rate and MDA content were determined. Transcriptome sequencing and untargeted metabolome analyses were also carried out on an Iceland germplasm and American B germplasm under different drought stress durations. The results showed that the gene regulation range in the American B germplasm was greater, whether genes were upregulated or downregulated. And the number of genes in the American B germplasm was higher than that in the Iceland germplasm. Additionally, the Iceland germplasm produced less peroxide under PEG stress than the Iceland germplasm. The Iceland germplasm was more stable than the American B germplasm under PEG stress, which can be shown in two aspects: peroxide content and gene regulation quantity. Joint transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis showed that genes and metabolites related to secondary and carbon metabolism were mainly involved in the response of Lupinus polyphyllus to PEG-simulated drought stress. The metabolites mainly included phenylalanine, tyrosine, trans-2-hydroxycinnamate, starch synthase, 1,4-alpha glucan branching enzyme and glycogen phosphorylase, and genes mainly included COMT, F5H, REF1, CAD, UGT72E and TPS. These results provided genetic resources and a theoretical basis for further molecular breeding of Lupinus polyphyllus. Full article

This study explores the impact of water and nitrogen management on the dynamics of water, heat, and nitrogen in farmland soil. It also explores the correlations soil factors, enzyme activity, and crop yield. To achieve this, field experiments and HYDRUS model simulations were conducted in the broad furrow irrigation system of the Yinhuang Irrigation Area. The experiment involved three irrigation levels (60%, 70%, and 80% of field water holding capacity, labeled as W1, W2, and W3, respectively) and three nitrogen application rates (120, 220, and 320 kg·ha⁻¹, labeled as N1, N2, and N3). Results indicated that the HYDRUS model, optimized using field trial data, accurately represented soil dynamics. Soil profile water and nitrogen exhibited greater variation in the root zone (0–40 cm) than in the deeper layers (40–100 cm). Water–nitrogen coupling predominantly influenced water and nitrogen content changes in the soil, with minimal effect on soil temperature. Soil enzyme activities at the trumpet, silking, and maturity stages were significantly affected by water–nitrogen coupling, displaying an initial increase and subsequent decrease over the reproductive period. The highest summer maize yield, reaching 10,928.52 kg·ha⁻¹ under the W2N2 treatment, was 46.64% higher than that under the W1N1 treatment. The redundancy analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between soil nitrate nitrogen content and soil enzyme activity (p < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between soil enzyme activity and both maize yields (p < 0.01). This underscores that appropriate water and nitrogen management can effectively enhance yield while improving the soil environment. These findings offer valuable insights for achieving high yields of summer maize in the Yellow River Basin. Full article

The intelligent control of precision planting can detect and regulate the operation quality of the planter in real time, which plays an important role in improving the operation quality of the planter and the yield of the corn. In this paper, the control system of a corn precision planter is designed to realize the operating quality monitoring and electric driving of the seed-metering device. The planting quality is calculated by the time interval between the neighboring falling seeds, instead of the plant spacing, to improve the operational efficiency of the system. At the same time, the forward speed of the planter is obtained by radar, which is used to accurately match the speed of the seed-metering device with the forward speed of the planter. The velocity error of the radar is analyzed, and the relevant relationship of the radar output frequency and forward speed is established. Comparative test results of this system and the JPS-12 test bench show that the detection performance of the system is reliable, and the maximum detection error of the quality parameters is less than 2.88%. Field experiments were carried out to verify the operational performance of the control system. Two speed sensors, radar and GPS, were chosen to study the effect of speed measuring on the performance of the control system. We found that speed measuring has a significant effect on planting performance. The qualified parameters of radar were significantly higher than those of GPS, at a forward speed of 6–12 km/h. The qualification feeding index (QFI) of radar was 0.51%, 0.67%, and 2.05% higher than that of GPS at speeds of 6, 8, 10, and 12 km/h. The precision index (PREC) of radar was 17.60%, 5.44%, 16.81%, and 17.30% lower than that of GPS. Therefore, the control system based on the radar speed measurement developed in this paper can significantly improve the operating quality of the planter. Full article

Phenotyping of genetic resources is an important prerequisite for the selection of resistant varieties in breeding programs and research. Computer vision techniques have proven to be a useful tool for digital phenotyping of diseases of interest. One pathogen that is increasingly observed in Europe is Diplocarpon coronariae, which causes apple blotch disease. In this study, a high-throughput phenotyping method was established to evaluate genetic apple resources for susceptibility to D. coronariae. For this purpose, inoculation trials with D. coronariae were performed in a laboratory and images of infested leaves were taken 7, 9 and 13 days post inoculation. A pre-trained YOLOv5s model was chosen to establish the model, which was trained with an image dataset of 927 RGB images. The images had a size of 768 × 768 pixels and were divided into 738 annotated training images, 78 validation images and 111 background images without symptoms. The accuracy of symptom prediction with the trained model was 95%. These results indicate that our model can accurately and efficiently detect spots with acervuli on detached apple leaves. Object detection can therefore be used for digital phenotyping of detached leaf assays to assess the susceptibility to D. coronariae in a laboratory. Full article

Many cool-season pastures in the southeastern U.S. are dominated by a competitive cool-season grass, tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus), and lack substantial plant diversity. Planting native warm-season grasses (NWSGs) and wildflowers (WFs) into these pastures could provide summer forage for cattle and more floral resources for pollinators. This paper summarizes field experiments designed to evaluate different spatiotemporal planting arrangements of NWSGs and WFs to improve their establishment success. The study was conducted from April 2021 to October 2023 in central Virginia (USA). Planting treatments included NWSG and WF mixtures planted: (1) together in the same space, (2) spatially separated in space (i.e., side by side), or (3) temporally separated where NWSGs and WFs were planted in difference sequences. Results showed few differences in forage mass, floral production, and botanical composition as well as stand density in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, NWSG abundance was greater where grasses were planted first or mixed with WFs. Similarly, the WF component was favored when they were planted before NWSGs. Overall, planting NWSG and WF mixes separately, either spatially or temporally, favors successful establishment and could offer more flexibility for using selective herbicides to suppress the heavy weed pressure that often accompanies these plantings. Full article

Cotton photosynthetic efficiency and the root–shoot relationship are two important physiological indexes affecting the final yield, but the interactive effects of plastic film mulching and planting density on the cotton photosynthetic efficiency and root–shoot relationship have rarely been reported. We aimed to investigate the optimal plant density with or without plastic film mulching for improved seed cotton yield in southern Xinjiang. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of plastic film mulching (with or without plastic film mulching) and planting density (D1: 9 × 10⁴ plants ha⁻¹; D2: 18 × 10⁴ plants ha⁻¹; D3, 22 × 10⁴ plants ha⁻¹, local conventional planting density; D4, 27 × 10⁴ plants ha⁻¹) on the cotton root–shoot relationship, photosynthetic parameters, and seed cotton yield. Our results showed that the seed cotton yield was improved under plastic film mulching at all planting densities, but economic income was significantly lower in comparison to without plastic film mulching in 2023. Compared with D3, seed cotton yield and economic income at D2 increased by 6.9% and 12.2%, either with or without plastic film mulching, respectively. The highest increase in the seed cotton yield in D2 under plastic film mulching was due to the greatest improvements in the root production capacity and photosynthesis. The boll capacity of the root system (BCR) and boll loading of the root system (BLR) in D2 were the highest among all treatments with film mulching, being 9.0% and 16.9% higher than that in D3 in 2022 and 2023. However, the root–shoot ratio (R/S) was 7.1% and 6.9% lower in D2 than D3, under film mulching, in 2022 and 2023. Moreover, moderate plant density (D2) improved the SPAD value, chlorophyll fluorescence (F_v/F_m and PI_abs), and photosynthetic parameter (Pn, Tr, and Gs) and decreased Ci compared with other planting density treatments in both years. Further analyses with correlation analysis showed that the seed cotton yield was highly positive correlated with BLR, BCR, and the photosynthetic parameter. In summary, suitable planting density (18 × 10⁴ plants ha⁻¹) combined with plastic film mulching has the potential to obtain high yields by enhancing the efficiency of photosynthetic assimilates, improving the capacity of cotton root production, providing a reference for suitable planting density under plastic film mulching. Full article

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of giant cactus harvest time and the inclusion of pigeon pea hay in improving the ensiling process and the nutritional composition of cactus silage. In total, 40 polyvinyl chloride-PVC mini-silos (10 × 40 cm) were used. Mini-silos were distributed in a 2 × 5 factorial scheme, referent to 2 harvest times (18 and 24 months) and 5 levels (0, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) of pigeon pea hay inclusion in a randomized design. Effluent losses (p < 0.001) showed a negative linear effect as the inclusion of pigeon pea hay increased. Gas losses (p < 0.001), dry matter (DM) recovery (p < 0.001), and pH (p < 0.001) revealed the interactive effects between the pigeon pea hay inclusion and the harvest time. The DM content was higher in the giant cactus harvested at 24 months. The difference in nutritional composition promoted by the harvest time did not affect the silage quality. The gradual inclusion of pigeon pea hay improved the fermentative and bromatological characteristics of giant cactus silage. It is important to highlight that the inclusion of pigeon pea hay contributed to the increase in pH without affecting the necessary acidity for ideal conservation. Full article

Wheat landraces are traditional varieties that have evolved over generations in response to local environments and farming practices and therefore exhibit remarkable adaptability to challenging climatic conditions and low-input farming systems. While the suitability of Mediterranean landraces to non-optimal climatic conditions during anthesis and grain ripening stage have been previously assessed, the role of photosynthesis efficiency and stomatal control on this resilience remains unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between grain yield and the post-anthesis flag leaf gas exchanges of Sicilian wheat landraces under irrigated and rainfed conditions and to compare these traits to modern durum (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) and bread wheat (T. aestivum) varieties. Results indicate that wheat landraces respond to water availability similarly to modern varieties, reducing stomatal conductance by 26.8% and net photosynthesis by 18.1% under rainfed conditions, resulting in 10.6% lower grain yield compared to irrigated conditions. However, some landraces demonstrate comparable or even higher flag leaf net photosynthesis rates and lower transpiration levels, leading to higher yields in both rainfed and irrigated conditions, confirming their value as a source of gene pool for wheat breeding programs in drought-prone Mediterranean regions. Full article

Epimedium koreanum is a perennial herb of the Berberidaceae family, which is a traditional tonic in Chinese medicine. Seed germination of E. koreanum is difficult. Dormancy is an intrinsic factor that affects seed germination. Elucidating the molecular mechanism of seed dormancy and the lifting process of E. koreanum is of great significance for the breeding, conservation, and utilization of E. koreanum. Previous studies have concluded that E. koreanum seed dormancy breakage requires warm-temperature stratification followed by low-temperature stratification treatments. Therefore, we performed transcriptome sequencing using freshly harvested, untreated seeds (NS), seeds that developed a cotyledonary embryo after 90 d of constant-temperature stratification at 15 °C (CS), and seeds that broke dormancy by 90 d of stratification at 15 °C and 60 d of stratification at 5 °C (ND) in order to find the responsive genes and regulatory genes that regulate dormancy. A total of 92,867 genes with differential expression were identified. GO enrichment analysis highlighted redox processes, as well as structural components of the nucleus and ribosomes. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed a significant enrichment of phytohormone signaling pathways, which play a crucial role in seed dormancy release. Additionally, protein–protein interactions (PPIs) were predicted with starch and sucrose metabolic pathways. This study introduces a novel concept for a more profound comprehension of the molecular regulatory mechanism of E. koreanum and lays a theoretical foundation for the screening of E. koreanum candidate genes. Full article

The cider market has been significantly expanding and gaining momentum in Eastern Europe. As such, the aim of this study was to obtain sparkling cider via the Champenoise method using two Romanian apple varieties (Topaz and Red Topaz) alongside the employment of two fermentations. Four yeast strains were used in the first fermentation, while encapsulated Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used in the second fermentation. The resulting cider was subjected to a comprehensive investigation to quantitatively determine the carbohydrates, organic acids, volatile and phenolic compounds, and amino acids from all the cider samples. A trained panel evaluated the sensory profile of the samples, and a chemometric analysis was used to interpret the data. Secondary fermentation increased the accumulation of malic acid and lactic acid, as well as the volatile profile complexity. The total polyphenol content in the sparkling cider samples increased by almost 20% in the S. cerevisiae sample and over 217% in the P. kluyveri + S. cerevisiae sample compared to the base cider. Additionally, studying the production and consumption trends of sparkling cider offers valuable insights for both producers and consumers. By understanding consumer preferences and refining production techniques, the industry can deliver higher-quality products that better align with market demands. Full article

Protein ubiquitination is common and crucial in cellular functions, however, little is known about how deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) reverse regulate the ubiquitination signaling process. PPPDE family proteins are a novel class of deubiquitinating peptidases with demonstrated deubiquitination/deSUMOylating activities. In this study, we identified 10 PPPDE genes from the rice (Oryza sativa L.) genome unevenly distributed on five chromosomes, where most of these members have not been reported to date. Based on the gene structure, the OsPPPDE family consists of three distinct subgroups within the phylogenetic tree. Cis-element analysis identified light/phytohormone-responsive, development, and abiotic stress-related elements in the promoters of OsPPPDE. Furthermore, we conducted and analyzed the transcript abundance of OsPPPDE under various tissues and stresses using the transcriptome data of 352 samples from the Rice Expression Database and GEO datasets. Moreover, OsPPPDE5 showed differential regulation of its transcript abundance during Cd and drought stress. Collinearity and syntenic analysis of 101 PPPDEs and PPPDE-like proteins in 10 plant genomes indicated that this family is evolutionarily conserved. Domestication analysis suggests that OsPPPDEs may contribute to indica–japonica divergence using the data from the 3K Rice Genome Project. Our study provides a foundation for further study on the function and molecular mechanism of the OsPPPDE gene family. Full article

Pest target identification in agricultural production environments is challenging due to the dense distribution, small size, and high density of pests. Additionally, changeable environmental lighting and complex backgrounds further complicate the detection process. This study focuses on enhancing the recognition performance of tea pests by introducing a lightweight pest image recognition model based on the improved YOLOv8 architecture. First, slicing-aided fine-tuning and slicing-aided hyper inference (SAHI) are proposed to partition input images for enhanced model performance on low-resolution images and small-target detection. Then, based on an ELAN, a generalized efficient layer aggregation network (GELAN) is designed to replace the C2f module in the backbone network, enhance its feature extraction ability, and construct a lightweight model. Additionally, the MS structure is integrated into the neck network of YOLOv8 for feature fusion, enhancing the extraction of fine-grained and coarse-grained semantic information. Furthermore, the BiFormer attention mechanism, based on the Transformer architecture, is introduced to amplify target characteristics of tea pests. Finally, the inner-MPDIoU, based on auxiliary borders, is utilized as a replacement for the original loss function to enhance its learning capacity for complex pest samples. Our experimental results demonstrate that the enhanced YOLOv8 model achieves a precision of 96.32% and a recall of 97.95%, surpassing those of the original YOLOv8 model. Moreover, it attains an mAP@50 score of 98.17%. Compared to Faster R-CNN, SSD, YOLOv5, YOLOv7, and YOLOv8, its average accuracy is 17.04, 11.23, 5.78, 3.75, and 2.71 percentage points higher, respectively. The overall performance of YOLOv8 outperforms that of current mainstream detection models, with a detection speed of 95 FPS. This model effectively balances lightweight design with high accuracy and speed in detecting small targets such as tea pests. It can serve as a valuable reference for the identification and classification of various insect pests in tea gardens within complex production environments, effectively addressing practical application needs and offering guidance for the future monitoring and scientific control of tea insect pests. Full article

Despite the large number of existing varieties of Vitis vinifera L., only few occupy a large niche in today’s highly globalized wine market. The increasing consumer demand for diversified products, as well as the changing climatic conditions, make establishing a process of varietal diversification essential to achieve both challenges. It is for this reason that the study of minority varieties, which have a higher level of adaptation to each area of origin, is of particular interest. With the main objective of achieving an in-depth knowledge of minority varieties in Spain, the national research project ‘Valorization of Minority Grapevine Varieties for their Potential for Wine Diversification and Resilience to Climate Change’ (MINORVIN), has been proposed. Within this extensive project, the present study describes the aroma profiles of 60 single-variety wines, corresponding with 44 different varieties, with 12 of these varieties being studied at the same time in several Spanish regions. Volatile compounds were determined through three consecutive vintages using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Compounds were grouped into major compounds, including alcohols, C₆ compounds, esters, acetates, acids, carbonyl compounds, and other type of compounds, and minor compounds, including lactones, terpenes, and C₁₃-norisoprenoids, according to their concentration in the wines being analyzed. Among this last group of compounds, lactones were quantitatively the most abundant, followed by terpenes. This study reflects that minority variety wines show distinctive aromatic profiles, supporting the importance of valuing and promoting the autochthonous minority grapevine varieties for the Spanish winemaking industry. Full article

Deep learning models can enhance the detection efficiency and accuracy of rapid on-site screening for imported grains at customs, satisfying the need for high-throughput, efficient, and intelligent operations. However, the construction of datasets, which is crucial for deep learning models, often involves significant labor and time costs. Addressing the challenges associated with establishing high-resolution instance segmentation datasets for small objects, we integrate two zero-shot models, Grounding DINO and Segment Anything model, into a dataset annotation pipeline. Furthermore, we encapsulate this pipeline into a software tool for manual calibration of mislabeled, missing, and duplicated annotations made by the models. Additionally, we propose preprocessing and postprocessing methods to improve the detection accuracy of the model and reduce the cost of subsequent manual correction. This solution is not only applicable to rapid screening for quarantine weeds, seeds, and insects at customs but can also be extended to other fields where instance segmentation is required. Full article