To investigate the species and pathogenicity of wheat root rot pathogens, diseased plants with symptoms of wheat root rot were collected from 16 sampling sites in six prefecture-level cities in Heilongjiang Province during 2022-2023. A total of 432 fungal isolates were obtained using the tissue isolation method. By combining morphological identification and molecular identification based on 5.8S rDNA-ITS or β-tubulin gene sequence analyses, the pathogens were identified as four species: Bipolaris sorokiniana, Fusarium avenaceum, Fusarium equiseti, and Fusarium proliferatum. The number of isolates for each species was 334, 24, 12, and 3, respectively, with B. sorokiniana being the most frequent, accounting for 77.31% of the total. Verification of Koch’s postulates demonstrated significant differences in pathogenicity among the four species, with both the disease index and disease incidence of B. sorokiniana being higher than those of the three Fusarium species. In summary, B. sorokiniana is the dominant pathogen of wheat root rot in Heilongjiang Province, with the three Fusarium species acting as secondary pathogens.

The influence of potato transcription factors on anthocyanin accumulation is primarily reflected in their regulation of genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. In this study, the StMYB3 gene was cloned by RT-PCR from three potato cultivars: Shepody (white flesh), Wanziqianhong (light purple flesh), and 2013-89-61 (dark purple flesh). Bioinformatics characterization and differential expression analysis were performed. The results showed that the target fragment of StMYB3 genes was 710 bp in length, encoding a protein with a molecular weight of 20.71 kDa and an isoelectric point of 9.14, which was identified as a hydrophilic protein. StMYB3 genes contains R2R3-MYB domain and bHLH interaction motif but lacks a transmembrane domain. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that StMYB3 genes shares the highest sequence similarity with the ScMYB gene from pepper. Semi-quantitative PCR results showed that the expression level of potato StMYB3 gene in different tissues is: tender leaf > old leaf > stem > tuber > root, and the cultivar 2013-89-61 exhibited consistently high expression across all tissues.

To address the issues of unreasonable chemical fertilizer management, low fertilizer use efficiency, and escalating environmental risks in the maize production areas of Inner Mongolia, field plot experiments were conducted in two typical production areas, namely the black soil region of Northeast China and the Tumochuan Plain. Six treatments were established: no nitrogen control (CK), 100% chemical fertilizer (M0), and organic fertilizer replacing 25% (M25), 50% (M50), 75% (M75), and 100% (M100) of chemical nitrogen, to clarify the effects of different substitution ratios on maize yield, dry matter accumulation, fertilizer use efficiency, and nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) nutrient uptake. The results showed that the M25 treatment significantly increased maize yield, with an increase of 4.69%-36.80% compared with other treatments. The M0 treatment exhibited the highest dry matter accumulation of various organs during the early growth stages of maize; however, the M25 treatment showed a distinct advantage from the large bell-mouth stage to maturity. The M25 treatment promoted the uptake of N, P, and K nutrients and enhanced their utilization efficiency; the partial productivity of fertilizer in M25 was 2.77%-50.51% higher than those of other treatments. In conclusion, the response of maize to organic fertilizer substitution in the Tumochuan Plain was superior to that in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China, and replacing 25% of chemical nitrogen with organic fertilizer can achieve a synergistic improvement in maize yield and fertilizer use efficiency.

To understand the effects of different fertilization rates and planting densities on yield and economic benefit of Zhuangtang 6, and to determine the optimal fertilization level and planting density, field experiments were carried out in Longʼan cane area of Nanning and Jiangzhou cane area of Chongzuo. A two-factor split-block design was conducted, with the main treatment (A) of fertilization. Three levels of 42% compound fertilizer 3750 (high fertilizer, A1), 2250 (medium fertilizer, A2) and 1125 kg/ha (low fertilizer, A3) were set. For secondary treatment (B), five planting densities were set: low density B1 (60 000 buds/ha), medium- low density B2 (75 000 buds/ha), medium density B3 (90 000 buds/ha), medium-high density B4 (105 000 buds/ha), and high density B5 (120 000 buds/ha). The results showed that the yield of Zhuangtang 6 sugarcane increased with the increasing planting density; however, there was no significant difference between yield and fertilization level. The correlation analysis showed that the yield and tillering rate were negatively correlated in the two cane areas (significantly in Longʼan and extremely significantly in Jiangzhou), and yield was significantly positively correlated with the number of productive stalks. The economic benefit of A3B5 treatment was the highest. The yield of A3B5 treatment in Longʼan area of Nanning was 91.44 t/ha, with an economic benefit of 35 419.5 yuan/ha, which was 6.75% higher than that of A2B4 treatment with the highest yield of 92.32 t/ha. The yield of A3B5 treatment in Jiangzhou area of Chongzuo was 74.88 t/ha, with an economic benefit of 27 190.2 yuan/ha, which was 27.15% higher than that of A1B4 treatment with the highest yield of 77.40 t/ha. Considering the different water and fertilizer conditions and management levels of the two sugarcane areas, the suitable fertilizer application rate for high-yield and high efficiency planting of Zhuangtang 6 is 1125-2250 kg/ha, and the reasonable planting density is 10 500-12 000 buds/ha.

To clarify the regulatory effects of a polyaspartic acid (PASP) combined with chitosan (CTS) on soil moisture content, tobacco plant and root growth and development, and tobacco leaf quality in the arid tobacco area of Bijie, field experiments were conducted using Yunyan 87. Different concentrations of PASP and CTS (CK: same amount of water; T1: 3.0 kg/ha PASP+0.3 kg/ha CTS; T2: 3.0 kg/ha PASP+0.6 kg/ha CTS; T3: 6.0 kg/ha PASP+0.3 kg/ha CTS; T4: 6.0 kg/ha PASP+0.6 kg/ha CTS) were applied. Soil and root indexes, growth and development parameters and quality indexes of flue-cured tobacco leaves were measured at different growth stages. The results showed that compared with other treatments, T3 treatment significantly increased soil moisture content. At the rosette stage, the moisture content of the shallow soil layer increased by 15.01% and that of deep soil layer increased by 10.16% compared with CK. T4 treatment significantly increased the number of lateral roots and adventitious roots, as well as root volume and root activity, by 34.07%, 29.12%, 25.70% and 29.56% respectively compared with the CK. The combined application of PASP and CTS significantly promoted growth, development, and dry matter accumulation of flue-cured tobacco, with higher concentrations leading to more obvious effects. Compared with CK, the leaf area and stem circumference of T4 treatment increased by 18.3% and 12.3% respectively, and the dry matter accumulation increased by 26.04%. The chemical composition, sensory and appearance quality of tobacco leaves were improved to varying degrees. The improvement effect of T2 treatment was the most significant, with increases of 10.36%, 7.76% and 7.30% respectively, compared with the CK. The quality evaluation of tobacco leaves was 7.57% higher than that of CK. The combined application of PASP and CTS can effectively increase the soil moisture content, promote the root development of flue-cured tobacco, and improve leaf quality. The optimal treatment (3.0 kg/ha PASP+0.6 kg/ha CTS) alleviated the decline in yield and quality of flue-cured tobacco caused by drought in Bijie.

To understand the quality and breeding strategies of nationally approved strong and medium-strong gluten wheat varieties in the Huang-Huai Wheat Region in recent years (2020-2024), cluster analysis based on the coefficient of parentage was performed, combined with a comprehensive analysis of pedigree information and quality traits. The results showed that the number of approved strong and medium-strong gluten wheat varieties in the Huang-Huai Wheat Region showed a yearly increasing trend from 2020 to 2024. The breeding capabilities of companies and research institutes were comparable, with their developed varieties accounting for 43.3% and 45.0% of the total number of varieties, respectively. The overall coefficient of parentage among varieties was low, with an average of 0.0640; however, parental utilization was relatively concentrated, with varieties primarily derived from ten core strong-gluten parents. Different parents exhibited varying focuses on the improvement of quality indicators. The breeding of strong-gluten wheat varieties mainly adopted the single-cross design of “high-quality variety/high-quality variety”. Breeding of strong-gluten wheat should emphasize the utilization of exotic high-quality varieties and wild relatives of wheat to create elite germplasm in the future. In the short term, newly developed elite strong-gluten germplasms such as Zhongmai 578 and Jimai 44 should be more extensively utilized to broaden the genetic base.

Peanut oil content is a complex trait, which is easily affected by environmental conditions. It is critically important to detect oil content of peanut kernels in peanut breeding. A total of 150 lines of recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from the cross between Yuhua 18 (high oil) and AT215 (low oil) were selected as materials, the spectral data of single-kernel was collected by Antaris II near infrared spectrometer, and the oil content was determined. A near-infrared (NIR) detection model on oil content for single-kernel oil content was established by partial least squares (PLS). The Root-Mean-Squares Error of Cross-Validation was 1.04 and the correlation coefficient (R²) was 0.9589. Twenty-four peanut samples with obvious difference in oil content were selected for external validation, and the R² was 0.9730. Another F₂ population from the cross between Yuhua 14 (high oil) and Huayu 20 (low oil) was used as the test population, whose oil content was determined by this model and the present single-kernel model. The variation range of predicted values from these two models was from -0.52% to 1.92%, showing a narrow variation range. This model is relatively small, and is reliable for oil content confirmation, which can be used for the oil content selection and quality detection of peanut.

Using ʻHongnuo 16ʼ sorghum as the experimental material and under equivalent nutrient input conditions, six treatments were established: no fertilization (CK), conventional fertilization (HF), and nitrogen organic fertilizer substitution ratios for nitrogen of 25% (NF25), 50% (NF50), 75% (NF75), and 100% (NF100). The results showed that compared with CK treatment, increasing the ratio of organic fertilizer substitution led to varying degrees of improvement in soil organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzed nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium contents. The activities of alkaline phosphatase, urease, and sucrase in soils treated with organic manure substitutions were significantly increased by an average of 40.8%, 13.6%, and 61.6%, respectively. Sorghum yield could be well fitted with a quadratic equation, with the highest yield obtained when applying cow manure at a nitrogen rate of 92.5 kg/ha theoretically. In this experiment, the treatment NF50 not only improved soil physicochemical properties and enhanced soil enzyme activity but also maintained sorghum at high productivity. Considering the responses in terms of sorghum yield and soil fertility as well as soil enzyme activity under different levels of organic manure substitution, it was suggested that an organic nitrogen substitution ratio of 50% was suitable for optimal application rates.

In order to explore the appropriate keeping way of tea plants before closing the garden, using “Baojinghuangjincha 1” as the test material, two autumn management treatments were set up, topping before garden closing (T) and no topping (CK). Samples were collected at germination stage, bud head stage as well as one bud and one leaf stage in spring, and the hormone content was determined. The amino acid components and related gene expression levels at one bud and one leaf stage were determined, and the correlation between hormone content and main amino acid components was analyzed. The results showed that budding density, 100-bud weight, and yield of tea plants in T treatment were extremely significantly increased compared with CK treatment. The determination of endogenous hormones in three periods showed that T treatment mainly affected the contents of auxin and cytokinin, the contents of auxin and cytokinin were positively correlated with the content of major amino acids, and the contents of theanine and aspartic acid were significantly positively correlated with the content of IAA-Ala. T treatment was beneficial to the accumulation of auxin and cytokinin in new shoots of tea plants in spring, promoted the germination and growth of lateral buds of tea plants, increased the yield, and T treatment was also beneficial to the accumulation of major amino acid components, such as theanine, aspartic acid, glutamate, serine, and improved the quality of tea.

To explore the impact of soil moisture variation on the relationship between soil organic carbon (SOC) and color characteristic parameters, and to construct quantitative SOC prediction models based on color parameters, soil sample images under different soil moisture content (SMC) conditions were acquired by simulating continuous changes of farmland soil moisture to extract color characteristic parameters. Various mathematical transformation methods were employed to optimize these parameters. Combined with correlation analysis and regression models, the influence of soil moisture on the relationship between color characteristics and SOC was quantified, and SOC quantitative estimation models under different moisture conditions were established. The results indicated that SOC was significantly and negatively correlated with color characteristic parameters in RGB, HSV, and CIELab color spaces, with R, L, and V components showing the highest correlation. Reciprocal and logarithmic transformations enhanced these correlations. Soil moisture affected color component values; as SMC increased, most color parameter values decreased, and their correlation with SOC gradually weakened. Critical moisture contents were identified as SMC=15%. Color parameters such as 1/b*, lnb*, 1/S, and lnS effectively mitigated the impact of moisture on SOC prediction models. Under different moisture conditions, the BP neural network regression model outperformed the linear regression model, demonstrating superior predictive capability. This study demonstrates that the color characteristic parameters of digital images can be effectively utilized for the quantitative analysis of SOC.