In order to explore the characteristics in photosynthetic performance and yield of dryland winter wheat under different straw mulching methods, three mulching methods were set up in the northwest arid region from 2022 to 2023: four rows of straw strip mulching sowing (SSM4), five rows of straw strip mulching sowing (SSM5), and full crushed-straw mulching (SCM), with bare ground as the control (CK). The differences of soil moisture, dry matter accumulation, flag leaf photosynthetic characteristics, chlorophyll content, grain yield and its components of winter wheat under different straw mulching methods were analyzed. The results showed that the soil moisture content in wheat fields under straw mulching increased by 0.1-1.9 percentage points compared to CK, with SSM4 and SCM showing the largest increase during the grain filling stage, and SSM5 showing the largest increase during the maturity stage. Compared with CK, straw mulching increased the average net photosynthetic rate (P_n), stomatal conductance (G_s), and transpiration rate (T_r) of wheat flag leaves from 0 to 28 days after flowering by 12.8% to 18.7%, 24.2% to 38.0%, and 21.2% to 33.8%, respectively. It also reduced the average intercellular CO₂ concentration (C_i) by 7.9% to 10.3%. The net photosynthetic rate (P_n) and transpiration rate (T_r) of both SSM4 and SSM5 showed the greatest increase at 21 days after flowering, while SCM showed the greatest increase at 28 and 14 days after flowering, respectively. The stomatal conductance (G_s increase) and intercellular CO₂ concentration (C_i decrease) of SSM4, SSM5, and SCM reached their maximum variation at 28 days after flowering. The chlorophyll content (SPAD value) significantly increased, with an increase rate of 3.9% to 7.0%. Among them, the maximum increase in SSM4 and SSM5 occurred at 0 day after flowering, while the maximum increase in SCM occurred at 21 days after flowering. The average dry matter accumulation during the entire growth period under straw mulching increased by 0.7% to 30.5% compared to CK. Among them, SSM4, SSM5, and SCM showed the largest increase during the grain filling stage; SSM5 showed the largest increase during the jointing stage, and SCM showed the largest increase during the booting stage. Straw mulching significantly increased the grain yield of winter wheat, with an increase rate of 7.9%, 18.6%, and 9.9% for SSM4, SSM5, and SCM, respectively. The main reason for the increase in yield was the increase in the number of spikes per unit area and thousand-grain weight. Thus, it can be seen that straw mulching can effectively increase soil moisture in dryland winter wheat, promote dry matter accumulation, improve flag leaf photosynthetic capacity, and facilitate yield formation. Ultimately, wheat yield can be improved by increasing the number of spikes and thousand-grain weight, and the best effect was achieved by sowing in 5 rows with straw strip mulching.

In order to explore the effects of long-term straw returning in different seasons on the quality of wheat seedlings in lime concretion black soil area of Huaibei Plain in Anhui Province, based on the long-term positioning test of wheat-maize in the Crop Cultivation Scientific Observation Station of East China of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the differences in agronomic traits and dry matter accumulation of winter wheat seedlings under four different straw returning modes for 15 years were compared and analyzed, including no straw returning (CK), total crushing and mulching of wheat straw (T1), total crushing and mulching of wheat straw+total crushing and burying of corn straw (T2) and total crushing and burying of corn straw (T3). The results showed that compared with no straw returning, straw returning reduced the number of secondary roots, root volume and average root diameter of wheat from three-leaf stage to five-leaf stage, but promoted root growth from six-leaf stage to over-wintering stage. At the over-wintering stage, the number of secondary roots of T1, T2, and T3 treatments was significantly increased by 18.64%, 16.95%, and 11.86%, respectively, compared with CK. The root volume and average root diameter were significantly increased by 16.89%, 29.63%, 20.63% and 19.26%, 12.73%, 14.42%, respectively, compared with CK. Straw returning increased the seedling height, leaf area index, stem per plant and dry matter weight of wheat seedlings from three-leaf stage to over-wintering stage. From six-leaf stage to over-wintering period, the photosynthetic potential of T1, T2, and T3 treatments increased by 11.77%, 9.45% and 3.54%, respectively, compared with CK. Two independent comprehensive indices were extracted by principal component analysis of the 10 indices at over-wintering stage, and their contribution rates were 68.428% and 26.961%, respectively, representing 95.389% of the contribution of all data. The comprehensive score of evaluation index of wheat seedling quality in each treatment ranked as T1>T2>T3>CK. In summary, long-term straw returning can improve the quality of seedlings by promoting the growth and development of wheat roots and aboveground plants. Among them, the full crushing and mulching of wheat straw in single season has the best effect on improving the quality of seedlings.

Yangmai 25 has the potential of late sowing resistance and high yield in production. This experiment aimed to clarify its mechanism of late sowing resistance. The experiment was conducted in Wanfu Base of Lixiahe Institute of Agricultural Science, Jiangsu Province during 2019—2020 and 2020—2021, with Ningmai 13, Yangmai 20, and Yangmai 25 as materials. Four sowing dates were set up (November 5, November 15, November 25, and December 5, marked as Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ, respectively), with different planting density (2.25×10⁶ plants·hm^-2, 3.00×10⁶ plants·hm^-2, 3.75×10⁶ plants·hm^-2, and 4.50×10⁶ plants·hm^-2). The differences of individual tiller occurrence at over-wintering stage, population structure, grain setting characteristics and yield components were studied, to analyze the growth and development mechanism of Yangmai 25 achieving high yield under late sowing conditions. The results showed that when the sowing date was delayed, Yangmai 25 showed higher tiller number per plant compared with Ningmai 13 and Yangmai 20 at over-wintering stage, which had large population biomass at seedling stage. The grain number per spike and 1 000-grain weight of Yangmai25 showed a lowest decreasing trend under late sowing conditions. Compared with sowing date Ⅰ, Yangmai 25 showed the smallest decrease in grain number and thousand grain weight among the Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ sowiing dates, with a decrease rate of 1.80%, 7.62%, and 10.11% in grain number, while that of Ningmai 13 decreased by 3.79%, 11.63%, and 16.18%, and Yangmai 20 decreased by 5.14%, 12.36%, and 20.45%, respectively. Under four sowing periods, the 1 000-grain weight and yield of Yangmai 25 were higher than those of Yangmai 20 and Ningmai 13, with the smallest reduction in yield and good stability. In Summary, under the late sowing conditions, Yangmai 25 maintained high tiller ability per plant and individual developmental at over-wintering stage, and coordinated population structure, which could lay a foundation for high yield. Yangmai 25 had lowest decrease in grain number and stable 1 000-grain yield, which was conducive to realizing stable and high yield under late sowing.

Sowing date, nitrogen rate and plant density are effective cultivation practices to regulate grain yield (GY) and protein content (GPC) in weak gluten wheat. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed on the effects of these main cultivation practices on GY and GPG of weak gluten wheat in the Middle and Lower reaches of Yangtze River using the existing literature data from 2002 to 2022. The control (CK) was selected from 20 October to 6 November for sowing date, from 210 to 240 kg·hm^-2 for nitrogen rate, and from 180×10⁴ to 240×10⁴ plants·hm^-2 for plant density, respectively. The meta-analysis showed that when the sowing date was delayed by 14-21 days, the GY of weak gluten wheat was significantly reduced by 9.73%, while the GPC was increased by 3.87%; when the nitrogen rate was reduced by 30-240 kg·hm^-2, the GY and GPC was significantly simultaneously decreased by 6.42%-51.72% and 6.63%-19.13%, respectively; when the plant density was increased by 30×10⁴-120×10⁴ plants·hm^-2, the GY was significantly improved by 4.39%-7.11%, while the GPC was decreased by 1.16%-3.70%, compared with the CK. Furthermore, the relationship between GY and GPC of weak gluten wheat was analyzed under different cultivation practices mentioned above in this region. The qualified grain quality (GPC<11.5%) while maintaining optimum yield (GY>6 500 kg·hm^-2) could be achieved with the sowing date from October 24 to October 31, the nitrogen rate from 172 to 186 kg·hm^-2, and the plant density from 293×10⁴ to 360×10⁴ plants·hm^-2. Correspondingly, the dry matter accumulation of weak gluten wheat ranged between 9.7 and 11.3 t·hm^-2 at anthesis as well as 17.5 and 20.1 t·hm^-2 at maturity, while the nitrogen content of single stem, stem, leaf, and ear at anthesis is maintained within 11.7, 5.6, 30.7, and 15.8 mg·g^-1.

The contents of calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), and magnesium (Mg) in wheat grains are of great significance for maintaining human health. In order to understand the differences in the content of these five mineral elements among different wheat varieties (lines), the contents of Ca, Fe, Zn, Se, and Mg in 363 domestic and foreign wheat grains were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the differences in their contents in wheat grains from different sources were analyzed. The varieties (lines) with higher content of mineral elements were screened. The results showed that based on residents' eating habits and the “Human Trace Element Intake Standards of China Nutrition Society”, the proportion of wheat with Ca, Fe, Zn, Se and Mg contents meeting the recommended standards was 11.84%, 30.03%, 1.93%, 4.68% and 1.38%, respectively. The five mineral element contents of wheat from different sources vary greatly, with a coefficient of variation from 27.26% to 72.50%. Among them, wheat from Kazakhstan ranks first in Ca, Zn, Se, and Mg contents; wheat from Australia ranks first in Fe content, and wheat from China has higher Fe and Se contents. The coefficient of variation of mineral element content measured in wheat from different sources in China was from 27.95% to 68.00%. The Ca and Fe content of wheat from Yunnan, the Zn content of wheat from Xinjiang, the Se content of wheat from Shanxi, and the Mg content of wheat from Hebei ranked first. Correlation analysis showed that the contents of Ca, Mg, and Zn in wheat were significantly correlated (P<0.01), indicating that the contents of Ca, Mg, and Zn in wheat grains could be increased simultaneously. Based on the content of the five mineral elements, the number of wheat that met the recommended standards for 1, 2, and 3 mineral element content was selected to be 19, 4, and 5, respectively. Based on principal component analysis and comprehensive evaluation values, 10 wheat samples with high mineral element content were selected. The protein content of wheat with high Ca content was significantly higher than that of wheat with low Ca content (P<0.05).

To explore the effect of salicylic acid (SA) on male fertility of thermo-sensitive genic male sterile wheat line BNS366, BNS366 and its near-isogenic line Zhengmai 366 were used as materials, which were sown under conditions of normal sowing in autumn (from October 10 to October 13) and late sowing (on December 1), respectively. In the growth seasons of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) was used to detect the endogenous SA content in young panicles and anthers from the differentiation stage of pistil and stamen primordium to anthesis. In the growth season of 2023-2024, the wheat was sprayed with 6 different concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mmol·L^-1 ) of SA solution. The SA treatments began from the connective stage that the length of the spike was 1.0 cm and stopped just before anthesis. I₂-KI method was used to detect frequency of fertile pollen grains at anthesis stage. National and international methods were used to determine the self-seeding rate. The results showed that in the growth seasons of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, compared with Zhengmai 366 sown on the same date, under the conditions of normal sowing in autumn (in the growth seasons of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023) and late sowing (in the growth season of 2021-2022), the content of SA in young panicles of BNS366 (completely or high level of male sterility) was lower from the differentiation stage of pistil and stamen primordium to the tetrad stage, and higher in anthers at the uninucleate stage with small-vacuole and the trinucleate stage, and for BNS366 (fertility) under the conditions of late sowing (in the growth season of 2022-2023), the SA content was higher in panicles at the connective stage and in anthers at the uninucleate stage with small-vacuole. In the growth season of 2023-2024, under the conditions of normal sowing in autumn and late sowing, under the treatment of 2.0 mmol·L^-1 SA, the international self-seeding rate of Zhengmai 366 was significantly increased by 28.16 and 31.25 percentage points than CK (0 mmol·L^-1), respectively, and under the conditions of normal sowing in autumn, the national and international self-seeding rate of BNS366 was significantly increased by 1.25 and 1.76 percentage points than CK, respectively. However under the conditions of late sowing, under the treatment of 0.5 mmol·L^-1 SA, the frequency of fertile pollen grains of BNS366 was significantly decreased by 37.97 percentage points than CK. Under the two sowing conditions, there were no significant differences in the three indices above mentioned of Zhengmai 366 and BNS366 under others SA treatments compared with CK. It was indicated that the lack of SA from the differentiation stage of pistil and stamen primordium to the tetrad stage might promote the occurrence of male-sterility; furthermore the exogenous SA increased the self-seeding rate of Zhengmai 366 (fertility) and BNS366 (male sterility), and decreased the frequency of fertile pollen grains of BNS366 (fertility).

In order to explore the most efficient fertilization method of slow-release fertilizer in naked barley, Suluomai 2 was used as the experimental material, polymer coated urea (PCU) and urea (U) were selected as the nitrogen resources. Eight fertilization modes were designed. They were 100% PCU as basic fertilizer (T₁), 75% PCU and 25% U as basic fertilizer (T₂), 50% PCU and 50% U as basic fertilizer (T₃), 25% PCU and 75% U as basic fertilizer (T₄), 100% U as basic fertilizer (T₅), 60% PCU as basic fertilizer and 40% PCU as re-greening fertilizer (T₆) and 0 N (CK₀), respectively, and 100% U (basal∶seedling∶jointing∶booting as 50∶10∶25∶15) was the control (CK). The effects of different fertilization models on growth period, yield and its components, nitrogen fertilizer agronomic efficiency and quality of naked barley were studied. The results showed that the growth period of the T₃, T₄, T₅ and T₆ models was significantly shorter than that of CK. The yield and nitrogen fertilizer agronomic efficiency of the T₆ model were the highest, which was increased by 2.35% and 2.12% than that of CK, respectively, mainly due to the increase of panicle number and 1 000-grain weight. The yield and nitrogen fertilizer agronomic efficiency of the T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅models which used all nitrogen as basic fertilizer were lower than those of CK. The T₃ model had the lowest amylose content, but the highest amylopectin content and soluble dietary fiber content, which was decreased by 34.11%, but increased by 37.60% and 22.21% than those of CK, respectively. Thus, the T₃ model had the best quality. The correlation analysis of 10 quantitative traits showed that yield was significantly positively correlated with panicle number (P<0.01), spikelet number per panicle (P<0.01), and crude protein content (P<0.05), which indicated that panicle number, spikelet number per panicle, and crude protein content can be used as the main target traits for high yield naked barley varieties breeding. Taken together, the T₆ model (60% PCU as basic fertilizer, 40% PCU as re-greening fertilizer) was recommended, as it was conducive to achieving the purpose of increasing production and nitrogen fertilizer agronomic efficiency; while the T₃ model (50% PCU and 50% U as basic fertilizer) would be a better choice to achieve the naked barley with better quality. These two models could be recommended as fertilization patterns for naked barley.

L-carvone, a volatile monoterpene compound, widely present in herbaceous plants, such as Labiatae and Umbelliferae, exhibits excellent antifungal effects against common plant pathogens. To further clarify the fumigation antifungal activity of L-carvone on wheat Fusarium crown rot (FCR) pathogens and investigate its inhibitory mechanism, this experiment employed the mycelial growth rate method to determine the fumigation inhibitory activity of L-carvone against four FCR pathogens. The infection ability and morphological changes of Fusarium pseudograminearum mycelium after fumigation with L-carvone were observed and analyzed to explore its antifungal mechanism. The results showed that L-carvone exhibited strong fumigation inhibitory effects on all the tested FCR pathogens; the EC₅₀ (the concentration of the agent that achieves a 50% inhibition rate against the tested pathogen) for F. asiaticum, Bipolaris sorokiniana, F. pseudograminearum, and F. proliferatum were 2.13, 6.12, 7.20, and 19.05 μL·L^-1, respectively. After fumigation treatment with L-carvone, the hyphae of F. pseudocercosporum exhibited abnormalities, breakage, and leakage of protoplasm, with a significant increase in extracellular relative conductivity, reaching up to 232.07%. Leakage of nucleic acids and proteins increased, with absorbance values at 260 and 280 nm reaching 2.20 and 1.33, respectively. PI staining results indicated that the cell membrane integrity of F. pseudocercosporum was disrupted and permeability was enhanced after fumigation treatment with L-carvone. The study demonstrated that L-carvone had a good control effect on FCR.

The 1N chromosome of Aegilops uniaristata contains superior genes essential for wheat breeding. To rapidly and accurately identify the 1N chromosome of Aegilops uniaristata from a wheat background, this study utilized 212 primer pairs to analyze Aegilops uniaristata, a set of wheat-Aegilops uniaristata addition lines, with a wheat material as control. The results showed that after digestion with Taq Ⅰ enzyme, the amplification products of primers TNAC1006, TNAC1017, TNAC1029, and TANC1031 yielded polymorphic fragments of 900, 1200, 1800, and 400 bp in Aegilops uniaristata and the wheat-Aegilops uniaristata 1N addition lines, respectively. These polymorphic fragments were not observed in other tested materials, and thus they can serve as specific molecular markers for detecting 1N chromosome in a wheat background. Using these established molecular markers, the wheat-Aegilops uniaristata 1N addition lines and the F₂ population of Chinese Spring hybrids were screened. Simultaneously, dual-color FISH with Oligo-pSc119.2-1 and Oligo-pTa535-1 as probes was used to identify the corresponding individual plants. It was found that plants N91 and N350 contain heterozygous 1NS·1NS isochromosomes; N46 contains a heterozygous 1N+1NL·1NL chromosome; and N319 contains a heterozygous 1BS·1NS translocation chromosome. Further molecular marker and FISH analysis of the 207 self-pollinated progeny from these four plants yielded only one homozygous wheat-Aegilops uniaristata 1NS·1NS translocation line. To investigate the reason for the extremely low proportion of homozygous translocation lines obtained, a test cross was conducted using the 1BS·1NS+1B heterozygous line and Jimai 38 as materials. The results confirmed that 1BS·1NS is transmitted only through female gametes.

In order to explore the genetic mechanisms underlying the fertility restoration of T-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) in wheat, the restorer line T16-2-1R was crossed with the sterile lines T9023A and T-Luohan 7A to create hybrid combinations. The parents of the two combinations as well as the F₁ and F₂ generations were investigated for fertility. A mixed genetic model major gene + polygene was employed to analyze the inheritance of fertility restoration in the T-type sterile lines. The results showed that both T9023A/T16-2-1R and T-Luohan 7A/T16-2-1R combinations of restorative inheritance were controlled by two pairs of additive-dominant-superior major genes + additive-dominant polygenes, and both of them had reciprocal effects. The heritability of the major genes in the combination of T9023A/T16-2-1R was 98.6405%, and the heritability of polygenes was 0.2283%; the heritability of the major genes in the combination of T-Luohan 7A/T16-2-1R was 98.1538%, and the heritability of polygenes was 0.1364%. These findings suggest that the heritability of the major genes for fertility restoration in T16-2-1R is very high, enabling effective selection in early generations.