The variation characteristics of winter wheat quality among different types and different areas can be a hint to guide the study on high quality planting and zoning of different wheat varieties. Based on the quality data of winter wheat in five main wheat producing provinces from 2006 to 2015, we used correlation analysis to explore the spatial distribution characteristics of 10 quality traits and the relationship between wheat quality and longitude and latitude. The results showed that the sedimentation value, wet gluten content, stability time, maximum tensile resistance, stretch area and extensibility of strong gluten and medium-strong gluten wheat were higher in Henan, Hebei or Shandong, while those of medium gluten and weak gluten wheat were higher in Anhui or Jiangsu. Most quality indicators of the four types of gluten wheat were significantly correlated with longitude and latitude (P<0.05), with test weight and protein content significantly positively correlated with latitude (P<0.05) and significantly negatively correlated with longitude (P<0.01). With increasing latitude, the wet gluten content, extensibility and score of strong gluten and medium-strong gluten wheat increased significantly, while the sedimentation value, maximum tensile resistance and stretch area of medium gluten and weak gluten wheat decreased significantly. With the increase of longitude, the wet gluten content, water absorption, stability time, maximum tensile resistance, stretch area, extensibility and score of strong gluten wheat were significantly decreased, while the sedimentation value, maximum tensile resistance and stretch area of medium-strong gluten, medium gluten and weak gluten wheat were significantly increased. Therefore, it is suitable to plant strong gluten and medium-strong gluten wheat in Hebei, Henan and Shandong, and medium gluten or weak gluten wheat in Anhui and Jiangsu.

In order to clarify the high and stable capacity of yield, and quality stability of semi-winter wheat varieties (lines) with high yield potential in Anhui Province, a randomized block design was adopted in this study from 2022 to 2023 in six test sites: Taihe, Sixian, Suixi, Wuyang, Yingshang, and Yingzhou. The test materials were the varieties (lines) with significantly higher yield than the control varieties in the regional and production experiments in Anhui Province from 2018 to 2022, and the yield, yield components, and quality of the tested materials were analyzed. The results showed that location, variety (line) and their interaction effects had a significant impact on yield, yield components (except spike number) and quality, the location and its interaction effect with varieties were the main sources of variation of yield and yield components. The yield and spike in Taihe were significantly higher than those in other sites, reaching 10 210 kg·hm^-2 and 7.74×10⁶ per hm², respectively, and the spike weight in Yingzhou was the highest (1.52 g). Among the tested materials, Annong 188 and Anke 1803 had high yield, with average yield of 9 572 kg·hm^-2 and 9 407 kg·hm^-2. Anke 1803 and Wanke 1838 exhibited higher yield stability, and Anong 188 had the widest adaptation range. When the yield was lower than 10 500 kg·hm^-2, it was significantly positively correlated with the number of spikes and spike weight, as yield increased further, the higher yield was mainly attributed to the increase of spike number. The stable yield of wheat mainly depended on the stability of panicle grains. Location was a major factor for quality variation. The quality of wheat in Yingshang was significantly higher than that in other locations, and the lowest in Sixian. Wansu 21 showed the best quality, and Anke 1803 showed the best quality stability. In summary, the synergy of high yield, stable yield and high quality of semi-winter wheat varieties (lines) in Anhui Province was weak, and targeted cultivation technologies should be formulated according to local ecological conditions in the future to achieve the synergistic improvement of wheat yield, quality and stability.

In order to clarify the utilization of stripe rust resistance level and resistance genes of 90 wheat varieties (lines) in Yili River Valley, stripe rust physiological races CYR23, CYR29, CYR31, CYR32, CYR33 and CYR34 were used to identify stripe rust resistance in these wheat materials at seedling stage, combined with seven previously reported molecular markers closely linked to stripe rust resistance genes Yr5, Yr9, Yr10, Yr15, Yr18, Yr26, and Yr80 for detecting the genotype of the test materials. The results showed that 27 materials were resistant to stripe rust at seedling stage, 19 of which were immune or near-immune. There were 11, 7, 8, 8, 1, and 34 materials carrying resistance genes Yr9, Yr10, Yr15, Yr18, Yr26, and Yr80, respectively. Eleven materials carry two resistance genes, and only one material carries 3 resistance genes. Yr5 was not detected from the test materials. All the above resistance genes were not detected in 21 germplasms, 5 of which showed high resistance to stripe rust at seedling stage. The selected varieties (lines)(Xindong 21, Ningchun 26, Kuidong 4, Kuihua 1, 2016-138-2 and 2016-119-12) aggregated multiple resistance genes and had great resistance at seedling stage, which have great application potential in wheat rust resistance breeding and safe production.

Agropyron is an important relative plant for genetic improvement of stress resistance in wheat. The development of molecular markers is of great significance to accelerate the efficiency of genetic breeding and innovative utilization of wheatgrass. In this study, based on transcriptome sequencing technology, the young roots, stems, leaves, spikes at grain-filling stage, and seeds of two wheatgrass accessions have been bioinformatics analyzed, and highly polymorphic EST-SSR markers were developed and verified. The results showed that a total of 23 491 793 high-quality sequences were obtained, with a base length of 7.03 Gb, the GC content of 56.44%, and the Q30 content of 93.04%. 33 993 Unigenes were obtained, with a total length of 29 309 958 bp. A total of 25 614 Unigene annotations were obtained by comparing Unigene with nine functional databases, including 24 557 annotations in the Nr database and 66 193 annotations in the GO database, which were divided into 3 categories and 42 subcategories according to their functions. A total of 14 412 Unigene pathways were annotated into 136 metabolic pathways in the KEGG database. A total of 11 321 Unigenes were annotated in the KOG database, categorized into 25 functional categories. A total of 7 288 CDSs with 2 443 SSR sites greater than 100 bp were predicted, of which 1 439 were tribase repeats, accounting for 58.90% of the total. A total of 42 pairs of primers with EST-SSR polymorphisms were obtained, and 10 pairs were randomly selected for validation using 30 F₂ individuals. The average polymorphism ratio was 48.33%. The results indicated that the EST-SSR primers, which were developed in large quantities by RNA-seq technology, can be efficiently applied to the development of markers related to yield and quality traits of tetraploid wheatgrass, the construction of excellent new germplasm fingerprints, and precise molecular marker-assisted breeding.

The cultivation of wheat materials with high nitrogen use efficiency is an effective way to improve nitrogen use efficiency and reduce production cost. SPX gene family plays a key regulatory role in plant response to nitrogen and stress. In this experiment, 20 different varieties of wheat were used as test materials, and hydroponics experiments were carried out at seedling stage under three nitrogen concentration treatments: low nitrogen (0.05 mmol·L^-1), normal nitrogen (5 mmol·L^-1) and high nitrogen (25 mmol·L^-1). The morphological and physiological indices of wheat at seedling stage were determined under different nitrogen concentration treatments. Wheat varieties with high nitrogen use efficiency and low nitrogen use efficiency were selected by comprehensive evaluation, and the relative expression of TaSPX1 gene in wheat with different nitrogen use efficiency was analyzed. The results showed that, compared with normal nitrogen treatment, the maximum root length, root dry weight and root shoot ratio of different wheat varieties largely increased under low nitrogen treatment. Six indices, including plant height, above ground dry weight, and chlorophyll content, all decreased, among which chlorophyll content, plant height and above ground dry weight decreased significantly. The variation coefficients of each index ranged from 3.16% to 38.71%. Under high nitrogen treatment, the maximum root length, plant height, and root dry weight of different wheat varieties decreased, and the chlorophyll content, maximum root length, and root dry weight decreased significantly. Root surface area, root volume, and soluble sugar all increased, among which root volume increased the most. Coefficients of variation of all indices ranged from 2.51% to 36.53%. The principal component analysis of 13 indicators showed that the contribution rates of the three principal components extracted under low nitrogen treatment were 54%, 26%, and 12%, respectively, and the cumulative contribution rate was 91%. The contribution rates of the three principal components extracted under high nitrogen treatment were 64%, 16%, and 9%, respectively, and the cumulative contribution rate reached 88%. Using the membership function value to make comprehensive evaluation and cluster analysis, the tested materials were divided into four categories: double efficient type, low nitrogen efficient type, high nitrogen efficient type, and double inefficient type. qRT-PCR analysis showed that under low nitrogen stress, the relative expression of TaSPX1 increased in double efficient and low efficient materials, while the relative expression of TaSPX1 in high efficient and double inefficient materials increased first and then decreased. Under high nitrogen stress, the relative expression of TaSPX1 gene decreased in the double and high nitrogen efficient materials, while the relative expression of TaSPX1 gene in the low nitrogen efficient materials and double low efficiency materials increased with the increase of treatment time.

Starch branching enzyme is one of the key enzymes involved in plant starch biosynthesis and metabolism. In order to explore the function of starch branching enzyme in wild emmer wheat, nine starch branching enzyme genes (TdSBEs) were identified based on the genome data of wild emmer wheat by bioinformatics methods, and their physical and chemical properties, phylogeny, cis-acting elements, collinearity, and expression pattern were analyzed. The results showed that the molecular weight of the protein for the nine TdSBEs was between 65 518.04 and 151 934.4 Da, with isoelectric point ranging from 5.37 to 6.64. The subcellular localization for all TdSBEs were in the chloroplast. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the nine TdSBEs were classified into 3 subfamilies. Majority of the gene within the same subfamily were conserved in gene structure and motif, except for TdSBE1-7A1. The TdSBEs contained the cis-elements related to plant hormones, plant growth and development, and abiotic stress response. In addition, endosperm and root specific-expression elements were also found in TdSBE2s. Chromosomal localization and collinearity analysis showed that the members of the TdSBEs were located in the group-2 and-7 homologous chromosomes, and a pair of tandem replication genes were identified. The TdSBEs were highly expressed in spike and grain, showing spatial-temporally specific expression. The above results indicate that there are multiple TdSBEs genes in wild emmer wheat, which are mainly expressed in spikes and grains. There are a large number of cis-acting elements related to plant growth and development, plant hormones, and stress response in the promoter region.

The heat shock transcription factor (HSF) family is closely associated with plant growth, development and stress responses. To explore the function of the barley HSF gene family, this study used bioinformatics methods to identify HvHSF genes at the whole genome level and analyze the physicochemical properties, subcellular localization, evolutionary relationships, and collinearity relationships of the HvHSF proteins, as well as the gene structure, promoter cis-acting elements, and protein interaction networks of HvHSF. The results showed that the molecular weight of 29 HvHSF proteins ranges from 10.24 kDa to 56.59 kDa, classified as relatively unstable hydrophilic proteins, with a predicted localization in the nucleus. Evolutionary analysis showed that barley HvHSF genes can be divided into A, B and C groups and are more closely related to rice. Collinearity analysis revealed that HvHSF5d and HvHSF7b are collinear gene pairs. Domain and gene structure analyses revealed that closely related HvHSF genes have similar domain structures and gene structures. Promoter cis-acting element analysis showed that the HvHSF promoter contains various cis-acting elements related to growth and development, as well as stress responses. Protein interaction network predictions indicated that HvHSF may be involved in plant stress response regulation and H₂O₂ scavenging. Through analysis of the barley stress transcriptome combined with qRT-PCR validation, it was found that HvHSF exhibited differential expression under salt and alkali stresses. The expression levels of HvHSF1a, HvHSF1b, HvHSF2a, HvHSF3c and HvHSF5b were increased under salt and alkali stresses. However, HvHSF6 performed increased expression level under salt stress, but decreased expression level under alkali stress. This study confirmed that the HSF gene family responds to salt and alkali stresses and may contribute to the regulation of salt-alkali tolerance.

In order to understand the relationship between starch particle size distribution and pasting properties of wheat grains, 44 wheat varieties were used as materials in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 to analyze the characteristics of starch particle size distribution, pasting properties and their relationship in wheat grains along the Huai River. The results showed that the volume of B-type starch granules accounted for 22.45%—45.06%, and the volume of A-type starch granules accounted for 54.94%—77.55% in wheat grains along the Huai River. The surface area of B-type starch granules accounted for 69.18%—84.45%, and the surface area of A-type starch granules accounted for 15.55%—30.82%. The number of B-type starch granules accounted for 99.76%—99.90%, and the number of A-type starch granules accounted for 0.10%—0.24%. The average peak viscosity of wheat in 2020—2021 and 2021—2022 were 888.24 and 985.64 cP, respectively, and the coefficient of variation were 18.11% and 17.98%, respectively. The average trough viscosity were 593.56 and 753.61 cP, respectively, and the coefficient of variation were 17.35% and 18.52%, respectively. The average values of final viscosity were 1 215.37 and 1 486.40 cP, and the variation coefficients were 15.20% and 15.91%, respectively. The coefficient of variation of wheat pasting parameters was greater than 10%, and the coefficient of variation of breakdown was the largest, which was 38.10% and 41.96%, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that the volume proportion of B-type starch granules was significant negatively correlated with peak viscosity (P<0.01). The volume proportion of A-type starch granules was significant positively correlated with peak viscosity, breakdown and trough viscosity (P<0.05). The results of principal component analysis showed that the proportion of A-type starch granule volume and B-type starch granule volume had a higher contribution rate to PC1 and PC2 components of the 44 wheat varieties. The results of cluster analysis showed that the 44 wheat varieties can be divided into three categories. The volume proportion of B-type starch granules in the first category of wheat varieties was the smallest, while the peak viscosity was the highest, and the final viscosity was second to the third category, including Yangmai 13 and Shengxuan 6. The second type of wheat varieties accounted for the largest proportion of B-type starch granule volume, and the peak viscosity and final viscosity were lower than those of the first and third types, including 11 wheat varieties such as Xinong 979 and Luyuan 502. The proportion of B-type starch granule volume in the third type of wheat varieties was between the first and second types, and the peak viscosity and final viscosity were higher, including 31 wheat varieties such as Yangmai 20 and Deyan 8.

To clarify the regulatory effect of nitrogen (N) fertilizer reduction and postponing on the grain yield and quality of wheat in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the N fertilizer experiment of wheat was established under four N application treatments: N fertilizer application 200 kg·hm^-2 of traditional farmer treatment (F₂₀₀, basal fertilizer 130 kg·hm^-2+regreening fertilizer 70 kg·hm^-2), N fertilizer application mode 1 (N₁, basal fertilizer 90 kg·hm^-2 + regreening fertilizer 90 kg·hm^-2), N fertilizer application mode 2 (N₂, regreening fertilizer 60 kg·hm^-2 + heading fertilizer 80 kg·hm^-2) and N fertilizer application mode 3 (N₃, basal fertilizer 40 kg·hm^-2+regreening fertilizer 60 kg·hm^-2 + heading fertilizer 80 kg·hm^-2) from October 2020 to June 2023 at Jiyang Experimental station of the Shangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Jinan. The effects of the four N fertilizer treatments on grain yield and its components, N accumulation characteristics, grain protein and its components, and processing quality of wheat were tested. The results indicated that N fertilizer postponing was beneficial to increase grain yield and its components of wheat under the conditions of N reduction, and the best performance was under N₂ treatment; the average yield across the three years under N₂ was significantly increased by 20.5%, 13.5% and 7.6%, respectively, compared with F₂₀₀, N₁ and N₃. Compared with F₂₀₀ and N₁ treatments, N₂ and N₃ treatments significantly increased the plant N accumulation by 12.6%-20.8%, while the grain N accumulation of N₂ treatment was significantly increased by 16.4 %, 15.0 % and 5.8 %, respectively, compared with F₂₀₀, N₁ and N₃ treatments. Compared with F₂₀₀, N₁ treatment significantly reduced grain protein content, grain rigidity, test weight, flour yield and dough development time due to the lower N fertilizer, but postponing increased amount of N fertilizer under N₂ and N₃ treatments significantly increased the dough stability time, water absorption, wet gluten and sedimentation value. Therefore, although N₂ mode had the least of N application, it can achieve the production purpose of increasing yield and quality by increasing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer postponing, which was a better nitrogen application model to achieve the synergistic improvement of wheat grain yield and processing quality in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain.

In order to explore the effects of layered nitrogen application on accumulation and distribution of dry matter, and yield of winter wheat, Weilong 169 was selected as the experimental variety, and controlled-release urea (nitrogen content 44%, controlled-release period of 3 months) was selected to fertilize at one time at the sowing stage. Two nitrogen application methods (N8: 8 cm basal fertilizer single-layer strip application; N121: basal fertilizer was applied to 8, 16, and 24 cm soil layers at a ratio of 1∶2∶1) were conducted with three nitrogen application rates (conventional nitrogen application: 240 kg·hm^-2; nitrogen reduction 20%: 192 kg·hm^-2; nitrogen reduction 40%: 144 kg·hm^-2). The dynamics of winter wheat population and dry matter change, dry matter assimilation and redistribution after flowering, grain yield and its components were studied. The results showed that under the same fertilization method, the dry matter accumulation and grain yield of winter wheat at maturity increased significantly with the increase of nitrogen application rate. When the nitrogen application rate was 192—240 kg·hm^-2, there was no significant difference in the number of stems and dry matter accumulation per unit area before jointing in winter wheat compared with single-layer nitrogen application treatment, the dry matter accumulation and panicle rate after jointing were significantly increased, among which the panicle rate increased by 2.2—2.5 percentage points, the dry matter accumulation at maturity increased by 11.1%—12.3%, and the grain yield increased by 10.0%—12.0%. At the same time, there was no significant difference in panicle number, dry matter accumulation and grain yield at maturity in N121 20% nitrogen reduction treatment compared with N8 conventional nitrogen application treatment. The results showed that even if the nitrogen application rate was reduced by 20%, the grain yield of the conventional nitrogen application rate of N8 treatment could be obtained, and the grain yield of winter wheat could be significantly increased by increasing the nitrogen application rate to 240 kg·hm^-2, and the yield of winter wheat could be significantly increased compared with the N8 conventional nitrogen application rate.

To identify the root characteristics of late-maturity semi-winterness wheat varieties and their relationship with yield formation, nine semi-winterness wheat varieties with different maturity were selected as experimental materials. Through the simultaneous implementation of outdoor pot and field experiments, the root morphology, quantitative and physiological characteristics of different maturity wheat varieties were comprehensively studied. The results showed that the root length, root surface area, root volume and root dry weight of late-maturity varieties were significantly higher than those of early-and medium-maturity varieties from re-greening to late maturity stage. At anthesis stage, the root length, root surface area, root volume, and root dry weight of late-maturity varieties were 43.02%, 39.26%, 48.93 and 31.01% higher than those of early-maturity varieties, and 26.13%, 24.63%, 33.72 and 20.84 higher than those of medium varieties, respectively. The root length density, root surface area density, root volume ratio, and root dry weight density of late-maturity varieties were significantly higher than those of early-and medium-maturity varieties in the 0-100 cm soil layer at anthesis. The number of nodal roots per plant of late-maturity varieties was 48.27 at anthesis, which was 6.92 and 5.07 higher than that of early- and medium-maturity varieties, respectively. The root vigor of late-maturity varieties was significantly higher than that of early- and medium-maturity varieties from wintering to late maturity stage, 36.39% and 15.02% higher than that of early- and medium-maturity varieties at jointing stage, respectively. From anthesis to late maturity stage, antioxidant enzyme activity in roots of late-maturity varieties was significantly higher than that of early- and medium-maturity varieties, while malondialdehyde (MDA) content in roots was significantly lower than that of early- and medium-maturity varieties, and the root length decay rate was significantly lower than that of early- and medium-maturity varieties, with the reduction rate of 16.19% and 10.88%, respectively. In summary, compared with early- and medium-maturity varieties, late-maturity varieties have better root traits, which are reflected in root length, root surface area, root volume, root dry weight, nodal root number, root vigor, and anti-aging ability.

In order to explore the management strategy of irrigation and seeding time of dryland wheat under the background of future climate change, the Agricultural Production Systems SlMulator (APSIM) was used to analyze the statistical yearbook data of spring wheat in dryland in Longzhong from 2014 to 2022. Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) model for future climate change scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) data, Different irrigation amounts (0, 60, 120, 180, 240 and 360 mm) and sowing dates (March 1, March 11, March 19, March 31) were set to simulate and analyze the difference of yield and biomass of spring wheat in dryland under different irrigation amounts and sowing dates. The results showed that the model could accurately simulate the yield and biomass of spring wheat in the study area after parameter calibration and verification. Under the future climate change scenario, the yield and biomass of spring wheat increased first and then decreased with the increase of irrigation amount, and the yield and biomass were the highest under the irrigation of 120 mm. The yield and biomass of spring wheat were the highest under the sowing date of March 1, and the lowest under the sowing date of March 31. Under the interaction of irrigation amount and sowing date, the yield and biomass of spring wheat treated with the irrigation water of 120 mm and the sowing date of March 1 were the highest overall. In conclusion, the yield and biomass of spring wheat in dryland can be effectively increased by increasing irrigation and sowing in advance under the future climate change scenario.

In the spring of 2022, wheat plants showed suspected viral disease symptoms of chlorosis, yellowing and dwarfing in Nanjing and Huai'an in Jiangsu Province. To verify the virus species, the pathogen molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis were carried out. The results showed a high incidence (53.6% and 86.7%) of barley yellow dwarf virus-PAV (BYDV-PAV) in the samples using the universal primer Lu-1/Lu-4 for Luteoviruses. When the universal Leu-F/Leu-R primer was used, a target fragment (624 bp) was amplified in partial samples. Sequencing analysis suggested that the four amplicons from Nanjing samples shared the highest homology (97.78%) with wheat yellow dwarf virus (WYDV), and the four amplicons from Huai'an samples had the highest homology (97.60%) with panicum distortion mosaic virus (PDMV). In order to further identify virus species, the specific primers against coat proteins (CP) of the two viruses were designed for RT-PCR detection, and the target fragments can be amplified from positive samples. The cloning and sequencing results revealed that CP gene of Nanjing isolate was 612 bp in full-length, with 98.69% homologous to WYDV Henan isolate (OK216142), and CP gene of Huai'an isolate was 615 bp in full-length, sharing 97.89% and 97.72% nucleotide identity to PDMV Hubei isolate (OM514390) and Korean isolate (LC424839), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the two viruses were clustered into the branch of Poleroviruses. These results indicate that the two novel viruses detected in wheat from Nanjing and Huai'an are the isolates of WYDV and PDMV, respectively, which is the first report of the two viruses infected in crops in Jiangsu Province.

Highland barley sheath rot is a panicle disease caused by Dactylobotrys gramincola, which seriously affects the yield and quality of highland barley. In this study, a set of specific primers were designed and screened based on the ITS sequence of D.gramincola based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). By optimizing the reaction temperature, a LAMP detection method with high sensitivity and rapid detection of D. gramincola was established. The specificity and sensitivity of the method were further evaluated, and the stem, flag leaf, and panicle tissues of the suspected diseased plants in the field were detected. The results showed that the LAMP detection system can effectively detect D. graminicola from six highland barley pathogens at 64 ℃ for 70 min. The detection sensitivity was 13.07 fg·μL^-1, which was 100 times higher than that of the conventional PCR. The tissues of the suspected diseased plants in the field were detected. Ten positive samples were detected in the panicle; eight positive samples were detected in the flag leaf; and no positive samples were detected in the stem. The detection rate was 50%.