The whiteness (WI) of wheat flour and its products is a key indicator influencing the commercial quality of wheat. Using 94 wheat varieties as experimental materials, the differences in flour WI and its products among different varieties and their influencing factors were investigated. The results showed significant differences in WI among wheat varieties, while the correlation analysis of flour and fresh noodle sheet color from the same material showed the same performance. Flour WI was highly significantly negatively correlated with grain hardness, grain protein content, wet gluten content, dough development time, and stability time; significantly negatively correlated with trough viscosity, final viscosity, and setback value; and positively correlated with gluten index, breakdown, and pasting temperature. Grain hardness, grain protein content, sedimentation value, pasting temperature, and breakdown accounted for 80.9% of the variation in flour WI. Gluten index, sedimentation value, pasting temperature, and breakdown had significant positive effects on flour WI, while grain protein content and grain hardness exerted significant negative effects. The negative correlation between flour WI and hardness was the strongest (r = -0.83), indicating that hardness is the key factor affecting wheat WI and color. The WI and color of flour and fresh noodle sheets from soft wheat were generally higher than those from hard wheat. The distribution frequencies of variation loci of quality-related genes, namely Pinb-D1b, Pina-D1b, Ppo-A1b, Ppo-D1a, TaPod-A1b, Lox-B1a, Psy-A1b, Psy-B1a/b, Psy-D1a, TaPds-B1b, TaZds-A1a, and TaLyc-B1b, were 54.7%, 2.2%, 21.3%, 3.9%, 8.0%, 0.0%, 0.0%, 98.9%, 96.6%, 78.5%, 5.3%, and 53.8%, respectively. Thirteen high-WI soft wheat varieties, such as Yangmai 15, Yangmai 25, Chuanmai 93, Mianmai 902, and Yangmai 45, and high-WI hard wheat varieties, such as Zhoumai 36, Huaimai 33, Yangfumai 15, and Ningmaizi 218, were screened. The WI of high-WI soft wheat varieties was higher than that of hard wheat, and the ratio of superior color gene allelic variations in these varieties was higher than that of the overall materials. By strengthening the utilization of elite parents while emphasizing the pyramiding of superior color genes and the screening of related phenotypes, the WI and color of wheat varieties can be gradually improved.

Fertilizer management, especially the precise application of panicle fertilizer, has a significant impact on rice yield, quality, and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). To determine a reasonable panicle fertilizer ratio and application leaf-age stage for the rice-growing region along the Yellow River in Henan Province, this study used rice variety Bianjing 5 as the experimental material. At a nitrogen application rate of 277.5 kg/ha, the effects of two nitrogen fertilizer management modes—the conventional mode (with panicle fertilizer applied at the 2nd and 1st leaf stages from the top) and the precise delayed mode (with panicle fertilizer applied at the 4th and 3rd leaf stages from the top)—combined with silicon and zinc fertilizer on the yield, grain quality, and NUE of japonica rice were investigated. The results showed that both the precise delayed nitrogen mode and the application of silicon and zinc fertilizers had significant yield-increasing effects, with increments ranging from 3.9% to 13.2%. The precise delayed nitrogen mode improved yield by increasing the effective panicle number, improving the panicle-forming rate and grain number per panicle, while silicon and zinc supplementation improved yield by increasing grain number per panicle and 1000-grain weight. The precise delayed nitrogen mode combined with silicon and zinc application significantly increased the milled rice rate and head rice rate, reduced the chalky grain rate and chalkiness, and effectively improved the appearance and processing quality of the rice. Furthermore, the precise delayed nitrogen mode significantly improved nitrogen uptake efficiency, physiological nitrogen efficiency, nitrogen agronomic efficiency, and nitrogen partial productivity, while silicon and zinc application significantly enhanced nitrogen agronomic efficiency and nitrogen partial factor productivity. In conclusion, the precise delayed nitrogen mode combined with silicon and zinc fertilization contributes to the construction of a healthy population of japonica rice in the rice-growing region along the Yellow River in Henan Province, achieving synergistic improvement in yield, grain quality, and nitrogen use efficiency.

To identify suitable plant growth regulators in flax production, enhance lodging resistance and increase yield, different levels of paclobutrazol [975 (D1), 1125 (D2), 1275 g/ha (D3)], uniconazole [750 (X1), 900 (X2), 1050 g/ha (X3)] and chlormequat [1200 (A1), 1800 (A2), 2400 mL/ha (A3)] were applied. The changes of plant growth and development, lodging resistance, seed yield and related traits of flax at different levels were studied with clear water as control (CK). The results showed that spraying three plant growth regulators affected the main agronomic traits of flax. Compared with CK, the number of effective branches of D1 treatment decreased, and the number of effective branches and the number of effective capsules per plant of A1 treatment were lower than those of CK. There was no significant difference in root length among the treatments. The root diameter of A2 treatment was significantly higher than that of CK, and the number of seeds per capsule of each treatment was lower than that of CK. The yield per plant of X2 and A2 treatments was significantly higher than that of CK, and the 1000-grain weight of D1 treatment was significantly lower than that of CK. The plant height and center of gravity height of X3 treatment decreased the most, which were 13.63% and 10.34%, respectively. The stem diameter of each treatment was increased compared with CK, and the D2 treatment increased the most, which was 17.5%. There was no significant difference in yield between any treatment and CK. The stem breaking resistance of A2 treatment was significantly higher than that of CK, and there was no significant difference between the other treatments and the control. The lodging index of each treatment was lower than that of CK, except for D1 and D2 treatments, the other treatments were significantly different.The correlation analysis showed that the effective number of capsules per plant, effective branch number, breaking resistance and root diameter were significantly correlated with the yield per plant, and the fresh weight and crown weight were significantly correlated with the lodging index. Through comprehensive analysis, uniconazole was better than chlormequat, chlormequat was better than paclobutrazol, and uniconazole 900 g/ha had better effect in flax production.

Using 19 quinoa varieties from Hebei and Xinjiang as experimental materials, the total polyphenol and total flavonoid contents of quinoa sprouts during 21-49 d were analyzed, and their antioxidant activities were evaluated by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS [2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] methods. The results showed that with the change of growth period, plant height and fresh weight of quinoa sprouts increased significantly; the total polyphenol and total flavonoid contents showed an overall downward trend; and the antioxidant activity also changed accordingly and was significantly positively correlated with the total polyphenol and total flavonoid contents. Combined with the results of cluster analysis, it was found that when the quinoa varieties Y1-Y10 from Hebei Province grew to 35 d, the total polyphenol (10.38-12.71 mg GAE/g DW) and total flavonoid (21.92-26.28 mg RE/g DW) contents were relatively high, and they exhibited certain antioxidant activities (DPPH scavenging activity: 11.65-15.64 mg TE/g DW; ABTS scavenging activity: 24.56-33.98 mg TE/g DW). Furthermore, these varieties showed high biological yields (plant height: 27.97-33.93 cm; fresh weight: 8.81-29.17 g/plant) and relatively tender quality.

To investigate the resistance levels to currently prevalent races and new isolates, as well as the distribution of stripe rust resistance genes in released and candidate wheat varieties from Longnan, Gansu, 73 wheat varieties (lines) were evaluated for seedling resistance against the prevalent races CYR32, CYR34, and ZS asexual isolate and ZS sexual isolate. Meanwhile, molecular markers linked to all-stage resistance genes Yr5, Yr9, Yr10, Yr15, Yr26, and the adult-plant resistance gene Yr18 were utilized for molecular detection. The results indicated that among the 73 tested wheat varieties (lines), 11 (15.07%), 11 (15.07%), 13 (17.81%), and nine (12.33%) exhibited seedling resistance to CYR32, CYR34, and the asexual and sexual isolates of ZS, respectively. Among all tested materials, only Zhongliang 14 exhibited seedling resistance to all the provided isolates of stripe rust. Molecular detection results revealed that the number of wheat varieties (lines) carrying Yr5, Yr9, Yr10, Yr18, and Yr26 was 1, 27, 3, 3, and 16, respectively, accounting for 1.37%, 36.99%, 4.11%, 4.11%, and 21.92% of the total tested materials. Three materials carried two resistance genes, and Zhongliang 14 carried three resistance genes. The Yr15 gene was not detected in any of the tested varieties (lines), and 28 materials carried none of the six tested resistance genes.

Progesterone is a steroid hormone found in plants, which is closely related to plant growth and development and plays a positive role in stress resistance. The growth status of wheat roots directly affects yield and stress resistance. This study investigated the effects of exogenous progesterone on the elongation growth of wheat roots and preliminarily analyzed their regulatory pathways. The results showed that different concentrations of exogenous progesterone exerted varying regulatory effects on wheat root growth: low concentrations (0.001 and 0.01 μmol/L) promoted root elongation, whereas high concentrations (0.1 and 1.0 μmol/L) inhibited growth. Exogenous progesterone treatment significantly affected the glucose content and phosphofructokinase (PFK) activity in the roots of wheat seedlings. With increasing progesterone concentration, the root glucose content first decreased and then increased, while the trend of PFK activity was opposite. Further research found that under 10 μmol/L glucose treatment, the root glucose content decreased and PFK activity increased; under 10 000 μmol/L glucose treatment, the root glucose content increased and PFK activity was inhibited. In addition, the application of 0.1 μmol/L progesterone significantly promoted root glucose accumulation under low-concentration glucose treatment and inhibited the induction effect of glucose on PFK activity. Conversely, the application of 0.001 μmol/L progesterone significantly inhibited root glucose accumulation under high-concentration glucose treatment and alleviated the inhibitory effect of glucose on PFK activity. These findings suggest that exogenous progesterone may affect the glycolysis process by acting on PFK, a key rate-limiting enzyme in the glycolytic pathway, thereby regulating the glucose content in roots and regulating wheat root elongation growth.

In order to investigate the influence mechanism of pH level on the growth and development of rice and nutrient uptake under different nitrogen forms, rice cultivar Guanghui 751 was grown with five pH treatments (pH 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, and 7.5) to study the effects on the biomass accumulation, root morphology, and nutrient uptake of rice under ammonium-nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen conditions hydroponically. The results showed that under ammonium-nitrogen conditions, the highest rice biomass accumulation was found at pH 6.5 treatment; compared with the pH 3.5 treatment, the shoot and whole-plant biomass accumulation increased by 146.6% and 142.5%, respectively. Plant height and maximum root length increased significantly; total root length, root surface area, and root volume increased by 612.6%, 317.8%, and 147.1%, respectively. The uptake of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) increased by 159.5%, 114.3%, 181.9%, 241.4%, 124.4%, 74.9%, 173.4%, 366.2%, and 3058.0%, respectively. Under nitrate-nitrogen conditions, the highest rice biomass accumulation was found at pH=4.5 treatment; compared with the pH=3.5 treatment, the shoot, root, and whole-plant biomass accumulation increased by 36.7%, 49.6%, and 38.6%, respectively. Plant height and maximum root length increased significantly; total root length, root surface area, and root volume increased by 129.9%, 83.0%, and 47.5%, respectively. The uptake of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn increased by 40.0%, 27.7%, 51.0%, 78.5%, 71.2%, 53.9%, 292.1%, 1449.5%, and 695.1%, respectively. In conclusion, the optimum pH values for rice under ammonium-nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen conditions were 6.5 and 4.5, respectively. Under their respective optimum pH conditions, ammonium-nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen primarily increased rice biomass accumulation by promoting root growth and development and increasing nutrient uptake.

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.

To clarify the physiological mechanism of graphene oxide (GO) acting as a herbicide safener to alleviate the phytotoxicity of nicosulfuron (NIF) on sweet corn, a pair of sweet corn sister lines, HK301 (NIF-tolerant) and HK320 (NIF-sensitive), were used as experimental materials. Using water treatment as a control, the effects of GO-NIF nanocomposite on key enzymes and non-enzymatic substances involved in sugar-starch metabolism in the leaves of sweet corn seedlings were investigated. The results showed that GO-NIF treatment significantly promoted the conversion of sucrose and starch in sweet corn seedlings compared with GO and NIF treatments alone. In HK320, the root to shoot ratio and the contents of sucrose, soluble sugar, and starch under GO-NIF treatment were significantly higher than those under NIF treatment at seven days after treatment, increasing by 30.19%, 71.80%, 79.29%, and 67.87%, respectively. Furthermore, compared with NIF treatment, GO-NIF treatment significantly increased the activities of sucrose phosphate synthase, sucrose synthase, α-amylase, and β-amylase in HK320. A comprehensive evaluation of the effects of different treatments on physiological indicators revealed that HK301 exhibited moderate responses and minimal fluctuations under both NIF and GO-NIF treatments. In contrast, HK320 showed significant physiological regulatory advantages under GO-NIF treatment, particularly manifesting a synergistic enhancement in key enzyme activities of sugar metabolism and the accumulation of saccharides. In conclusion, GO as a safener for NIF can effectively promote the sugar metabolism process as well as the distribution and transport of saccharides in sensitive sweet corn.

To improve the sowing quality of quinoa and increase the field emergence and seedling retention rates, the optimal pelleting coating formula for quinoa was screened. Using Longli 1 and Longli 5 as materials, various pelleting formulas were developed using different filling materials and different addition amounts of binders. The optimal formula was identified by evaluating the pelleting and germination indexes of pelleted quinoa seeds under different formulations. Furthermore, the agronomic and yield traits of quinoa sown with the optimal formula were measured in field trials. The results showed that the optimal formula consisted of 80% talcum powder and 20% bentonite as filling materials, with the addition of 2.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. For this formula, the average germination rate was 91.33%, the average germination potential was 86.00%, and the physicochemical properties of the pelleted seeds were optimal (seed rate 97.33%, single seed rate 95.00%, disintegration rate 93.33%, compressive strength 317.28 g, and 1000-grain weight 14.27 g). Field production trials indicated that this formula had no significant effect on the agronomic traits of quinoa, but it could promote germination and enhance yield. The quinoa seed pelleting formula screened in this study meets all quality indicators and contains green and safe ingredients. It can regularize seed shape, effectively promote seed germination and yield improvement, and provide a theoretical basis for the research and application of quinoa seed pelleting as well as mechanized precision sowing.