In or der to under stand the difference of agronomic traits among different wheat varieties (lines) in Huang-Huai wheat region, this study analyzed 626 wheat varieties (lines) participated in the national wheat regional trials in the Huang-Huai wheat region from 2015 to 2023, focusing on seven traits: heading date, spikelet number, spike length, average length of rachis node, kernels per spike, plant height, and thousand-kernel weight. The results showed that in the southern zone of the Huang-Huai Wheat Region, heading date was positively correlated with kernels per spike and spikelet number; plant height was positively correlated with spike length and spikelet number; whereas no such correlations were observed in the northern zone. This indicates that dwarf plants with large spikes coordinated the reduction in plant height with a moderate delay in heading date, possibly achieving stable spike length and increased kernels per spike in the southern zone, ultimately leading to shorter average length of rachis node. There was no significant correlation between kernels per spike and thousand-kernel weight, suggesting possible synergistic improvement of both traits. In contrast, there is a significant negative correlation between the two traits in the northern zone, indicating a trade-off between two traits. Significant differences were observed between the southern and northern zones in spike and plant-related agronomic traits. Longer spikes and average rachis node length, more spikelets, greater thousand-kernel weights, earlier heading dates, and shorter plant heights were observed in the varieties (lines) from southern zone compared to those in northern zone. Phenotypic differences were also varied across provinces. Varieties (lines) bred by Henan breeding institutions exhibited the highest thousand-kernel weights and more spikelet numbers, with spike lengths only shorter than those from Jiangsu. Varieties bred by Shaanxi breeding institutions showed highest kernels per spike. Shandong varieties exhibited the shortest spikes and latest heading dates but were shorter in plant height than those from Jiangsu, Hebei, and Anhui province. Jiangsu varieties (lines) showed the longest spikes but the fewest spikelets and longest average rachis nodes. Based on the seven agronomic traits, the 626 varieties (lines) were classified into two major groups, which were further divided into four subgroups. Subgroup classification was associated with breeding provinces and agronomic traits. Varieties (lines) in subgroup 1-2 had more spikelet and kernels per spike, and great thousand-kernel weight. These advantages were mostly inherited from Zhoumai series varieties (lines), which can be used for genetic improvement of wheat spike traits.

In order to determine the optimum nitrogen topdressing amount and planting density for improving the starch quality and yield of weak gluten wheat, a weak gluten wheat variety Yangmai 15 was used as material, with four nitrogen topdressing levels (37.8, 43.2, 48.6, and 54.0 kg·hm^-2, namely N1, N2, N3, and N4) and three density levels (1.8×10⁶, 2.4×10⁶, and 3.0×10⁶ plants·hm^-2, namely D1, D2, and D3). The effects of different nitrogen topdressing amounts and planting density on starch particle size distribution, gelatinization characteristics, protein components, grain enzyme activity and yield of wheat were characterized. The results showed that with the decreasing nitrogen topdressing, the volume and surface area percentage of B-type (≤10 μm) starch granules in wheat grains increased first and then decreased, the volume and surface area percentage of A-type (>10 μm) starch granules decreased first and then increased. After reducing the amount of topdressing nitrogen, the contents of wet gluten and protein, sedimentation value, albumin, globulin, glutenin, and gliadin content of wheat showed a downward trend, and the starch content showed an overall upward trend. The viscosity parameters such as SS activity, ADGPase activity, grain yield, starch peak viscosity and final viscosity of wheat increased first and then decreased, and the viscosity parameters such as SS activity, ADGPase activity, grain yield, and peak viscosity at N3 level were the highest. With the increase of planting density, the volume and surface area percentage of B-type starch granules showed an upward trend, and the volume and surface area percentage of A-type starch granules showed a downward trend. After increasing the planting density, the contents of albumin, globulin, glutenin, and gliadin initially decreased and then increased, and the highest content of each protein component was at D3 level. The viscosity parameters such as peak viscosity, trough viscosity, and final viscosity of wheat starch increased with the increase of density. Increasing planting density reduced wet gluten content, protein content, and sedimentation value, but increased grain starch content, SS activity, and ADGPase activity, thereby promoting grain yield. Under the conditions of this experiment, proper nitrgen supplementation and densification could improve grain yield and processing quality of wheat gluten wheat by increasing the proportion of B-type starch gains, starch viscosity parametes, SS activity and ADGPase activity.

Wheat plant height is an important agronomic trait affecting wheat yield, harvest index and lodging resistance of the plants, and cultivating wheat with proper plant height for production needs is one of the important goals of breeders. In order to explore more QTLs related to wheat plant height and suitable for marker-assisted breeding, the recombinant inbred line population was developed by Yangmai 158 and Xifeng, the backbone parents of the wheat area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The population genotype was analyzed by 55K SNP array and the genetic linkage map was constructed by JoinMap software. Combining the phenotypic data of plant height in four years, the QTLs associated with wheat plant height were mapped in the chromosomes. The result showed that the genetic linkage map containing 3 830 SNPs distributed in 2 784.9 cM of the wheat genome and the average distance between markers was 0.7 cM. A total of 39 repeatable plant height-related QTLs were detected on 21 chromosomes of wheat, of which 18 QTLs were only revealed in 2 years; 8 QTLs were found in 3-year data analysis, and 13 QTLs were mapped in 4 years. A single QTL explained 3.2%-13.6% of the plant height phenotypic variation. The stable QTLs mapped in the four years were individually derived from chromosomes 1B, 1D, 4A, 4B, 4D, 5A, 5B, and 7A of Xifeng and chromosomes 3A, 3D, 6A, 7B, and 7D of Yangmai 158. The QPh·jaas-3A.3 and QPh·jaas-7B.1 contributed by Yangmai 158 could explain 8.4%-13.4% and 9.1%-13.1% of the plant height phenotypic variation, which are helpful for molecular marker-assisted breeding of wheat in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Nulli-tetrasomic materials are the important chromosomal genetic wheat materials, which have been used for target gene localization. However, fewer studies reported on the agronomic and quality traits of nulli-tetrasomic materials. In order to analyze the effects of chromosome deletions and duplications on major agronomic and quality traits of wheat, the agronomic, grain and flour processing quality traits of 38 nulli-tetrasomic materials were investigated. The results showed that coefficients of variation of agronomic traits showed grain number per spike>tiller number>spike length>spikelet number>plant height. Compared with the control（Chinese spring）, the number of spikelets of N7D-T7A increased significantly; the number of grains per spike of N2A-T2B and N6B-T6A decreased significantly; the plant height of N4B-T4A and N7D-T7A increased significantly; the plant height of N6D-T6B decreased significantly; the spike length of N4A-T4B and N7A-T7B decreased significantly; yet there was no significant difference in the number of tillers between all nulli-tetrasomic materials and the control. The coefficients of variation of grain traits of the nulli-tetrasomic materials ranked as 1 000-grain weight>grain area>length-width ratio>grain width>grain length>perimeter; compared with the control, the grain area of N3B-T3D, N3D-T3A, N3D-T3B, N6A-T6B, and N6B-T6A increased significantly; the grain width of N3B-T3A, N3B-T3D, N3D-T3B, N6A-T6B, and N6B-T6A increased significantly, and the length-width ratio of N1B-T1A, N1B-T1D, N3A-T3D, N4A-T4B, N4A-T4D, N5B-T5A, N5B-T5D, N6A-T6D, N7A-T7B, and N7A-T7D decreased significantly. The 1 000-grain weight of N2A-T2B was significantly reduced, and there was no significant difference in circumference and grain length between all nulli-tetrasomic materials and the control. The variation coefficients of flour quality traits of the nulli-tetrasomic materials ranked as Zeleny>wet gluten content>protein content>moisture content>starch content; compared with the control, the nulli-tetrasomic materials had differences in flour quality traits, which are not significant. The coefficients of variation of nulli-tetrasomic materials ranked as stability time>development time>farinograph quality number>weakening value>water absorption; compared with the control, only the first homologous group nulli-tetrasomic materials showed significant differences in dough development time and stability time. Among them, the stability time of N1A-T1B dough reached significant differences, the dough development time and the stability time of N1A-T1D reached extremely significant differences, while there was no significant difference in other indices between the nulli-tetrasomic materials and the control. The results of this study lay a foundation for further analysis of the genetic effects of nulli-tetrasomic materials.

In order to determine the effects of different nitrogen (N) application amount and plant density on canopy light interception characteristics and grain yield of strong gluten wheat, Zhongmai 578, a strong gluten wheat cultivar, was used as material. Four nitrogen application levels (0, 180, 240, and 300 kg·hm^-2, represented by N0, N1, N2, and N3, respectively) and three planting densities (3.0×10⁶, 4.5×10⁶ and 6.0×10⁶ plants·hm^-2, represented by D1, D2, and D3, respectively) were set up in the field. The differences of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) interception rate and penetration rate, dry matter accumulation and transport, grain yield and quality of strong gluten wheat under different treatments were analyzed. The results showed that the yield and its components of wheat were affected more by N application amount than plant density. There weret more spike number, grain number per spike and grain yield under N2 and N3 conditions, among which the yield of N2D2 treatment was the highest, reaching 9 957.73 kg·hm^-2. Except for N3 treatment, canopy PAR interception rate increased gradually and penetration rate decreased significantly with the increase of N application amount or plant density. N application amount, plant density and their interaction significantly affected dry matter accumulation and transport of the strong gluten wheat. Under the same N application conditions, moderately increasing plant density increased dry matter accumulation amount and contribution rate to grain yield after anthesis, which were the highest under N2D2 treatment. The sedimentation and gluten index increased with the increase of nitrogen fertilizer application amount, and gluten index reached the optimum under N2D2 treatment. Synthetically considering the utilization of photosynthetic active radiation, accumulation and transportation of dry matter, grain yield and quality of the strong gluten wheat canopy, N application amount of 240 kg N·hm^-2 and plant density of 4.5×10⁶ plants·hm^-2 were the optimum combination for strong gluten wheat production under this experimental conditions.

In order to provide abundant materials for genetic improvement and breeding of new wheat varieties, the agronomic traits, stripe rust resistance and quality traits of 161 F₆ lines derived from a crossing between durum wheat and common wheat were determined; the correlation analysis and principal component analysis of the main traits were carried out, and 0.1K gene array was used for the functional gene analysis. The results showed that the top three lines were the number of 137, 98 and 155, respectively. The Q-type cluster analysis of the tested traits showed that the 161 lines were divided into five groups, among which group Ⅲ showed the best comprehensive performance, including 60 lines, with high resistance to stripe rust, tight spikelet arrangement, high protein content and good quality, and the number 10 line was the most representative. The distribution of population functional genes was analyzed by 0.1K array, and it was found that the offspring of F₆ population contained TaCwi-A1, Qpht-2D and Yr17 genes, which had positive effects on increasing 1 000-grain weight, reducing plant height, and resisting to stripe rust. The agronomic and quality traits of the 161 lines varied greatly, and the genetic diversity was rich. The top three lines that the number of 137, 98 and 155, and the third group from Q-type can be used for genetic improvement of wheat agronomic and quality traits in Shaanxi.

In order to explore the correlation between the available contents of Zn (zinc), Fe (iron), Ca (calcium) and B (boron) in oat grains and their available contents in soil, 332 sites of 240 villages were selected in three districts and counties with large oat planting area in Shanxi Province (Pinglu District and Youyu County of Shuozhou City, and Zuoyun County of Datong City). The topsoil was collected and the oat grain samples were harvested. The available contents of the four elements in the soil and their contents in oat grains were determined, and the correlation between the two was analyzed. The results showed that: the available contents of the four elements in the soil of the three production areas ranked as Ca>Fe>Zn>B, where the content of Ca was high, and the contents of Fe, Zn, and B were medium or low. Comparing the available contents of the four elements in the soil of different sampling points under the same district and county, the variation of available Zn content was large, the variation of available Ca content was small, and the differences of the available Fe or B contents falled into the middle. The average accumulation of the four elements in oat grain ranked as Ca>Fe>B>Zn. Compared with the results of other studies, the average content of Fe and Zn was relatively low, while the average contents of Ca was relatively high. Compared the accumulation of the four elements in oat grains in the different sampling sites under the same district and county, the variation of B accumulation was large, the variation of Zn accumulation was small. and the variations of Ca or Fe accumulation were in the middle.Correlation analysis showed that there was significantly positive correlation between the contents of available Zn, Fe and B in soil, and there were regional differences in the correlation between the contents of these three elements and Ca content. The contents of Zn, Fe and B in oat grains were positively correlated with the accumulation of Ca. The correlation between the original accumulation of the four elements in oat grains and their available contents in soil was different in the three counties. Among them, in Youyu County, where the available content of soil, especially Ca content, was relatively high, there was significantly positive correlation between grain Zn and soil available Zn, Ca and B. The correlation between grain Zn and soil available Zn, Ca and B was significantly positive. In summary, the contents of available Fe, Zn and B in soil and the content of Fe, Zn and B in oat grains in the oat production area of this experiment could be improved. Appropriate reduction of soil available Ca content in calcareous soil area is helpful to promote Ca accumulation in oat grains.

In order to clarify the current resistance status of Lolium multiflorum to the herbicides of acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACCase) and acetolactate synthase (ALS), a total of 50 populations were collected in the severe area of L. multiflorum in Zhumadian City, Henan Province and the resistance levels to pinoxaden, clodinafop-propargyl and pyroxsulam were determined by the whole-plant bioassay method. In addition, isoproturon, diflufenican, flufenacet, pyroxasulfone, diflufenican+isoproturon, and pyroxsulam were selected for bioactivity determination, and field efficacy evaluation were conducted with pyroxasulfone, flufenacet, and pyroxsulam mixed with diflufenican+isoproturon. The results showed that eight populations of L. multiflorum had high resistance to pinoxaden. The GR₅₀ (herbicide dose causing growth reduction of fresh weight by 50%) values ranged from 146.67 g (a.i.)·hm^-2 456.15 g (a.i.)·hm^-2, and the resistance index (RI) ranged from 10.68 to 33.20, accounting for 16% of the tested populations. Thirty-one populations showed high level resistance to clodinafop-propargyl, with GR₅₀ ranging from 101.82 g (a.i.)·hm^-2 446.40 g (a.i.)·hm^-2, and RI ranging from 10.36 to 45.41; sixteen populations had high level resistance to pyroxsulam, accounting for 32% of the total. In the bioactivity assays, except for diflufenican and pyroxsulam, the other herbicides (isoproturon, flufenacet, pyroxasulfone, diflufenican+isoproturon) showed high activity against the SC-3 population (the highest level of resistance population), with GR₉₀ values of 1 089.36, 144.43, 51.42 and 568.69 g (a.i.)·hm^-2, respectively. Field efficacy results indicated that the mixture of pyroxasulfone and diflufenican+isoproturon provided good control of L. multiflorum at the supplied dose, with fresh weight control efficacy ranging from 94.27% to 100%, and safe to wheat. Therefore, the mixture of pyroxasulfone and diflufenican+isoproturon can be used to control the serious occurrence of L. multiflorum in wheat fields.

Wheat stamen pistillody refers to the phenomenon of homologous transformation of wheat stamens into pistils or pistil-like structures. The stamens can be normally seeded after complete pistillody, which increases the number of grains per spike and yield of wheat. Incomplete pistillody of stamens leads to male sterility. In this paper, the flower development process of wheat, wheat floral organ development model and homeotic mutantion, as well as the four kinds of wheat stamen pistillody materials obtained at present were briefly introduced, the regulatory mechanism leading to stamen pistillody of wheat and the effect of ethylene on stamen pistillody of wheat were analyzed, which provides a reference for the study of wheat flower development, and also provides a theoretical basis for genetic improvement and molecular design breeding of wheat.

Fusarium head blight and Fusarium crown rot caused by Fusarium graminearum occurs severely in China, posing a threat to national food security. The NuA4 histone acetyltransferase complex regulates various developmental processes in fungi, but the functions of multiple subunits within the NuA4 complex in plant pathogenic fungi are currently unclear. To elucidate the function of Eaf7 subunit in plant pathogenic fungi, this study used F. graminearum as a model organism. Through knocking out the FgEAF7 gene, it was found that the growth rate of the Fgeaf7 mutant was significantly lower than that of the wild-type strain. However, the deletion of FgEAF7 gene did not affect conidiation, pathogenicity to wheat, and DON biosynthesis. Additionally, we found that the Fgeaf7 mutant showed decreased sensitivity to Congo red and SDS, indicating that the deletion of FgEAF7 gene affects cell wall development. Analysis of the FgEaf7 domain revealed a conserved Eaf7 domain within FgEaf7. Upon deletion of the Eaf7 domain, the FgEAF7^△Eaf7 mutant exhibited similar defects to the Fgeaf7 mutant, suggesting that the Eaf7 domain is essential for the full function of FgEaf7. Transcriptomic analysis showed that over 1 800 genes were differentially expressed in the Fgeaf7 mutant, compared to the wild type, with several genes important for growth and development being downregulated. These findings indicate that FgEaf7 regulates various processes, such as vegetative growth and cell wall development in F.graminearum.