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    The role of MAPK in plant response to abiotic stress
    Xin-miao ZHANG, Guo-qiang WU, Ming WEI
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (1): 182-197.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023090
    Abstract1534)   HTML96)    PDF (1316KB)(1441)       Save

    Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is a highly conserved serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) protein kinase, occurring widely in eukaryotic intermediate reaction pathways. Plant MAPK has 11 relatively conserved sub-domains, which are all essential elements for Ser/Thr protein kinase to play its catalytic role, and its expression is regulated by reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide and hormones. MAPK phosphorylates a variety of substrates including transcription factors, protein kinases and cytoskeleton related proteins, and plays an important role in regulating plant response to abiotic stresses (salt, drought, extreme temperature, and heavy metals). In this review, we summarize the results of research on the discovery of plant MAPK family members, their structure and classification, regulatory mechanisms, and their roles in response to various abiotic stresses. We also propose directions for future research. The information in this review provides a theoretical basis and identifies genetic resources for the genetic improvement of crops to produce new, stress-resistant varieties.

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    The use of the tRNA-sgRNA/Cas9 system for gene editing in perennial ryegrass protoplasts
    Jia-ming YAO, Huan-huan HAO, Jing ZHANG, Bin XU
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 129-141.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022180
    Abstract811)   HTML47)    PDF (3944KB)(721)       Save

    Transfer RNA (tRNA) can link multiple sgRNAs (single-guide RNAs) to form a polycistronic gene, which then combines with a CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated gene 9) expression vector to form a polycistronic tRNA-sgRNA/Cas9 (PTG/Cas9) system for multiple gene editing. The PTG/Cas9 system has been used to alter sgRNAs transcript levels and improve multi-target editing efficiency in rice (Oryza sativa). To efficiently edit target genes in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), we generated two CRISPR intermediate vectors with tRNAs to provide a fast and flexible PTG/Cas9 vector construction method. To verify whether the PTG/Cas9 system effectively edits genes in the perennial ryegrass genome, we introduced the PTG/Cas9 plasmid into perennial ryegrass protoplasts by PEG 4000-mediated transformation. Then, we extracted DNA from protoplasts and amplified the target sequences to determine whether they had been edited successfully. The gene editing efficiency was about 6.7%. These results show that the PTG/Cas9 system can be used for gene editing in the ryegrass genome, and provide the basis for further genetic research on, and breeding of perennial ryegrass.

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    Progress of research on hormone regulation of branching or tillering in plants
    Fen-qi CHEN, Jin-qing ZHANG, Hui-ling MA
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (2): 212-225.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023118
    Abstract776)   HTML66)    PDF (1243KB)(1791)       Save

    Branching (or tillering in grasses and related taxa) is an important trait of plant architecture and the result of axillary bud initiation and growth, which plays a crucial role in determining the seed yield of crops and forage yield. Multiple hormones and their interactions play key regulatory roles in the occurrence, growth and development of plant branching or tillering. In addition, environmental factors also regulate branching or tillering by changing the hormone contents and their balances within the plant. This study reviews multiple aspects of the mechanisms by which plant branching or tillering is regulated various hormones, including auxin, cytokinin, strigolactones, brassinosteroids, abscisic acid and gibberellins, ethylene, jasmonic acid, and complex regulatory networks formed by the interaction of different hormone signals. The aim is to establish a foundation for using hormone regulation mechanisms to cultivate new high-yielding crop plant growth forms with ideal plant architecture. The current issues with hormone regulation mechanisms controlling plant branching or tillering are also analyzed, and future research directions for hormone regulation mechanisms controlling plant branching or tillering are discussed, with the aim of providing a theoretical basis for using hormones to cultivate good varieties.

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    Advances in research on the interactions among arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, rhizobia, and plants
    Hai-xia DUAN, Qian SHI, Sheng-ping KANG, Hai-qing GOU, Chong-liang LUO, You-cai XIONG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (5): 166-182.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023225
    Abstract709)   HTML57)    PDF (1282KB)(784)       Save

    Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia play crucial roles in plant productivity, microbial community structure, and soil quality. As such, they are key organisms for achieving sustainable ecosystem development. Over time, a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship develops between AMF and rhizobia, and this relationship is essential for effective biological nitrogen fixation and nutrient absorption. Such effective symbioses reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers, thereby facilitating sustainable agricultural practices. However, studies have shown that various environmental factors can hinder the formation of symbiotic relationships between AMF and rhizobia. Therefore, it is necessary to systematically explore the mechanism of the AMF-rhizobia interaction and the factors that affect it. On the basis of a literature review and qualitative comparative analysis, we described the process and mechanism by which plant roots released exudates to stimulate rhizobia and AMF to produce nodulation factors and mycorrhizal factors, thereby activating signaling pathways involved in the establishment of symbiotic relationships between rhizobia-AMF and plants. This review summarized the results of research on the synergism and interaction between AMF-rhizobia and plants, and the biological and abiotic factors affecting the AMF-rhizobia symbiosis and interactions. We highlighted the current gaps in knowledge related to the mechanisms of the symbiotic relationships among AMF, rhizobia, and plants, and discussed the reasons for the slow development of microbial fertilizers. Finally, we discussed future research directions at the theoretical, technical, and application levels. Further research will provide novel ideas and methods for using AMF and rhizobia to promote sustainable agricultural development.

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    Function of high-affinity potassium transporters in maintaining ion homeostasis and other plant responses to abiotic stresses
    Xiao-han YANG, Guo-qiang WU, Ming WEI, Bei-chen WANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (5): 190-202.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022207
    Abstract704)   HTML40)    PDF (1917KB)(445)       Save

    Potassium ions (K+play an important role in plant growth and development as well as in resistance to various abiotic stresses. High-affinity K+ transporters (HKT) are one of the most important cation transporter families, and the members of this family are extensively involved in the absorption and transport of K+ and sodium ions (Na+) in plants. Many studies have shown that the expression of HKT family genes is regulated by several factors, such as calcium ions (Ca2+), humic acid, and cytosine methylation. The HKT proteins mediate long-distance Na+ transport, maintain homeostasis of K+ and magnesium ions (Mg2+), and play a key role in abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this review, we summarize the results of research on the discovery of HKT family members, their structure and classification, biological function, gene expression patterns, regulatory mechanisms, and their roles in responses to abiotic stresses. We also propose directions for further research. The information in this review provides a theoretical basis and identifies genetic resources for the genetic improvement of crops to produce new, stress-resistant varieties.

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    An evaluation of a remote sensing method based on optimized triangular vegetation index (TVI) for aboveground shrub biomass estimation in shrub-encroached grassland
    Zheng-yong XU, Bin SUN, Wang-fei ZHANG, Yi-fu LI, Zi-yu YAN, Wei YUE, Si-han TENG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (10): 1-14.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022488
    Abstract635)   HTML78)    PDF (2836KB)(955)       Save

    Shrub-encroachment onto grassland is becoming an important ecological problem in grassland ecosystems, and accurate estimation of the shrub above-ground biomass (AGB) in shrub-encroached grassland vegetation plays a significant role in research into regional ecosystem carbon cycles. Due to the dual effects of soil background noise and differences in vegetation growth structure characteristics, the traditional vegetation indices are extremely unstable for model-building involving shrub-encroached grassland AGB estimation. To solve this problem, in this study we developed a novel way by optimizing the triangular vegetation index (TVI) using Sentinel-2 remote sensing data for shrub-encroached grassland AGB estimation. The results showed that: 1) In the area dominated by herbaceous vegetation, TVI calculated using a combination of green, red-edge and near-infrared ( R 560 R 705 and R 865 ) performed best with an R2 of 0.684; in the area dominated by shrub vegetation, the TVI again performed best with R2= 0.368. 2) When analyzing the sensitivity of the 12 commonly used vegetation indexes to soil noise, the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) was the most sensitive to soil noise in the area dominated by herbaceous vegetation; in the area dominated by shrub vegetation, the modified soil adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI) was the most sensitive. 3) In the area dominated by herbaceous vegetation, the optimized vegetation index grassland triangular vegetation index (GTVI) performed better than TVI with the value of R C V 2 (coefficient of determination cross validation) increased by 0.153 and the value of R M S E C V decreased by 12.222 g·m-2; in the area dominated by shrub vegetation, GTVI performed better than TVI and the R C V 2 value increased 0.029, while the R M S E C V (root mean square error cross validation) decreased 1.684 g·m-2. 4) The estimation results acquired by GTVI showed the highest accuracy when compared with the results estimated by the commonly used 12 vegetation indices. The results of this study are expected to provide a scientific basis and reference AGB estimation in shrub-encroached grassland using vegetation indices extracted from remote sensing data.

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    Remote sensing retrieval of nature grassland biomass in Menyuan County, Qinghai Province experimental area based on Sentinel-2 data
    Rui GUO, Shuai FU, Meng-jing HOU, Jie LIU, Chun-li MIAO, Xin-yue MENG, Qi-sheng FENG, Jin-sheng HE, Da-wen QIAN, Tian-gang LIANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 15-29.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022147
    Abstract616)   HTML31)    PDF (3464KB)(522)       Save

    Above-ground biomass (AGB) is an important indicator for evaluating grassland productivity. Accurate inversion of AGB of natural grassland is of great significance for monitoring grassland growth and evaluating the feed balance of forage-livestock. As commonly used remote sensing data (such as Landsat and MODIS) suffer from by many problems caused by low temporal and spatial resolution, it is extremely important to explore Sentinel-2 satellite data with higher temporal and spatial resolution and more spectral bands in monitoring grassland vegetation at county scale. In this study, we used Sentinel-2 satellite remote sensing imagery and the AGB data of Menyuan County, Qinghai Province to construct a grassland biological monitoring system based on random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods, to study the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of natural grassland biomass in Menyuan County from 2019 to 2021. It was found that: 1) The three original bands(B2,B6,B11)and two vegetation indices, inverted red edge chlorophyll index(IRECI),and pigment specific simple ratio chlorophyll index(PSSRa),were the important variables for AGB quantification in natural grassland. Among these,red-edge bands(B5,B6,B7)play an important role in remote sensing inversion of natural grassland AGB. 2) The AGB estimation model based on the RF algorithm was the optimal model(validation set R2 0.72, RMSE 622.616 kg·ha-1)for natural grassland biomass estimation in Menyuan County, which was superior to the SVM model(validation set R2 0.66,RMSE 698.271 kg·ha-1)and the ANN model(validation set R2 0.63,RMSE 730.676 kg·ha-1). 3) The average value of AGB of natural grassland in Menyuan County from 2019 to 2021 ranged from 3360.26-3544.00 kg·ha-1. In general, the AGB of grassland in Menyuan County from 2019 to 2021 showed a trend of initially increasing and then decreasing, with a spatial distribution pattern of gradual decrease from the periphery to the middle.

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    Spatio-temporal changes in grassland fractional vegetation cover in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2020 and a future forecast
    Hui-long ZHANG, Xiu-chun YANG, Dong YANG, Ang CHEN, Min ZHANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (8): 1-13.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022370
    Abstract607)   HTML234)    PDF (5420KB)(537)       Save

    Inner Mongolia is an important green ecological barrier in northern China, and grassland degradation in this region is of great concern. Fractional vegetation cover (FVC) is one of the most direct indicators of grassland ecological status. At present, it is still a challenge to build an accurate FVC estimation model for dynamic analysis of a large region over a long period of time. In this study, we used a large ground survey dataset, MODIS remote sensing data, and meteorological data from 2000 to 2020, and applied the random forest model for FVC partition modeling and prediction. The Sen+Mann-Kendall trend analysis method and Hurst index method were used to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in the FVC and its future trends. The main results were as follows: 1) The precision of each partition of the random forest model was better than that of the whole region, which effectively reduced the impact of spatial heterogeneity. 2) In Inner Mongolia, the grassland FVC generally showed a spatial pattern of being high in the east and low in the west, with obvious spatial differences. 3) In the past 21 years, the FVC of grassland in Inner Mongolia showed a fluctuating upward trend overall, the area of increased FVC was larger than the area of decreased FVC, and the magnitude of the extremely significant increase and significant increase was greater than that of the extremely significant decrease and significant decrease. 4) In the future, the grassland FVC in Inner Mongolia will generally improve. The area of FVC growth is larger than the area of FVC decrease, and the area with extremely significant growth and significant growth accounts for a high proportion (25.9%) of the total area. It is predicted that vegetation growth will develop well in the future.

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    The diversity-Godron stability relationship of alpine grassland and its environmental drivers
    Shi-long LEI, Li-rong LIAO, Jie WANG, Lu ZHANG, Zhen-cheng YE, Guo-bin LIU, Chao ZHANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (3): 1-12.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022125
    Abstract603)   HTML105)    PDF (5414KB)(655)       Save

    The diversity and stability of plant communities is of great significance to the function of ecosystems and their ability to provide services. Drawing on field investigation and analysis of data from 480 sample plots, the present study explored the relationship between plant diversity and stability of alpine wetland meadow, alpine meadow, alpine steppe and alpine desert steppe, and also elucidated their environmental drivers using significance analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modeling. It was found that the alpine steppe had higher plant diversity than the other three grassland types, and alpine meadow had the highest community stability. The relationship between species diversity and community stability was different in the four alpine grassland types. The community evenness was negatively correlated with community stability. Plant Shannon-Wiener diversity was negatively correlated with community stability in alpine meadow and alpine desert steppe, but in contrast plant richness was positively correlated with community stability in alpine wetland meadow and alpine steppe. Precipitation is the main factor affecting plant diversity and community stability in alpine grassland. Soil organic carbon, pH and ammonium nitrogen content also affected community stability through altering plant diversity. Taken together, climate and soil factors should be considered in the management of alpine grassland ecosystems, and different management measures should be formulated for different types of grassland.

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    The mechanism of PGPR regulating plant response to abiotic stress
    Guo-qiang WU, Zu-long YU, Ming WEI
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (6): 203-218.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023276
    Abstract557)   HTML32)    PDF (927KB)(869)       Save

    Salt alkali, drought and other abiotic stresses are important environmental factors that limit plant growth and yield. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), as beneficial microorganisms colonizing plant roots, have been shown to have a capacity for use as biological agents, thereby harnessing their functions for human benefit. This methodology has advantages compared to traditional agricultural chemicals, including low cost, high efficiency, and environmental protection. PGPR have been documented to not only promote plant growth and crop yield, but also to significantly improve the tolerance of plants to abiotic stress. In this study, the definition and types of PGPR, their biological functions and their role in plant response to abiotic stress such as salinity, drought, high and low temperature, and heavy metals were reviewed, and future research directions were also explored. The results from this study provide a foundation for further research on PGPR mediated plant stress resistance and the development and application of these biological agents.

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    Accumulation and functions of polyamines in plants under drought stress
    Wen-juan WANG, Shang-li SHI, Long HE, Bei WU, Chan-chan LIU
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (6): 186-202.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022303
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    Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that causes reductions in crop yields. Polyamines are a class of low molecular weight aliphatic nitrogenous bases in plants. They have strong biological activity and are involved in a range of physiological processes such as plant organogenesis, embryogenesis, bud differentiation, leaf senescence, pollen tube growth, and fruit development and ripening. They also play important roles in plants under drought stress. In this paper, we review research on the anabolism and catabolism of polyamines, their functions under abiotic stress, and differences in their accumulation among species/varieties of plants under drought stress. We also discuss studies on the effects of exogenous polyamines and those using transgenic approaches to elucidate the roles of polyamines at the physiological level. The body of research on polyamines has shown that they enhance drought resistance by improving plant growth and development, photosynthetic capacity, accumulation of osmoregulatory substances, and antioxidant capacity, and that they participate in signal transduction at the molecular level in plants under drought stress.

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    The grassland agriculture of Mongolia and its capacity to inform development in China
    Zhi-peng HUANG, Yi HUANG, Quan-jun YANG, Chao XIA, Yan ZHANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (6): 1-15.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022265
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    Mongolia borders on northern China, has abundant grassland resources and grassland-based livestock husbandry is the pillar industry there. Based on the literature and statistical data, this study surveys the development status of grassland agriculture in Mongolia from three aspects: reform of the pastoral institutional system, the grassland resources, and the development of a grazing-based livestock industry. Our study also analyzes the differences between Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Grassland agriculture in Mongolia has undergone three stages of institutional reforms, the post-transformation period began at 1990 and is ongoing till now. The grassland itself is collectively owned and the livestock is privately owned. Under the influences of climate change, over exploitation of grassland, expansion of cultivated land and urban areas, and mining pollution, the grassland area has decreased and the ecological status of the grassland is gradually deteriorating. The proportions for each of Mongolia’s five categories of livestock remain stable but with regional variability and differences. The growth in total livestock numbers is much higher in Mongolia than in Inner Mongolia, China. In recent years, the grazing-based livestock husbandry has faced a problem of an aging population. As a result, the proportion of animal husbandry output value within the national economy has gradually declined and the industrial chain urgently needs to be improved. Finally, this study proposes implications for Mongolia and offers information relevant to the development of grassland agriculture in China.

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    Economic cost assessment of global invasive plants
    Guang-hua ZHAO, Ming-long GAO, Duo WANG, Shi-qi FAN, Jian TANG, Kuo SUN, Xuan-ye WEN
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (5): 16-24.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023220
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    Among invasive species, plants comprise the most diverse and numerous biological groups. Assessing the economic cost of invasive plants is an important part of risk management and is essential for the development of policies for control or eradication. In this study, based on the InvaCost database, we assessed the economic costs of global invasive plants from 1970 to 2017. The main results were as follows: 1) The conservative economic cost of invasive plants from 1970 to 2017 was 194.365 billion U.S. dollars (USD), 4.049 billion USD per year on average, of which the direct economic loss amounted to 100.468 billion USD, accounting for 51.69% of the total. 2) Among 64 countries and regions, the United States has borne the highest economic costs, followed by Australia, and China ranks third with costs of 20.831 billion USD (equivalent to 140.707 billion RMB). Notably, Eichhornia crassipes has been the most expensive invasive plant species globally, with the costs of its damage exceeding the combined costs of invasive plants ranking 5th to 10th. 3) Over the past five decades, the economic cost of invasive plants has shown an upward trend. Model estimates suggest that the possible cost of invasive plants in 2017 ranged from 3.438 billion to 10.452 billion USD, with the highest confidence value being 7.725 billion USD. The results of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the severity of invasive plant threats and provide a scientific basis for more proactive invasive plant management in China.

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    Monitoring of rodent damage areas in grassland using unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing technology
    Rui HUA, Daerhan BAO, Rui DONG, Zhuang-sheng TANG, Bin CHU, Yuan-yuan HAO, Li-min HUA
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (5): 71-82.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022234
    Abstract494)   HTML24)    PDF (3311KB)(382)       Save

    Rodent pests are the greatest and most widespread biological problem affecting pastoral land in China and their impact can reach ‘disaster’ level. Obtaining accurate data for rodent-damaged areas in grassland is a priority for evaluating the degree of pest damage and for devising pest management strategies. At present, survey grid and mapping methods are the main methods used to identify rodent-damaged areas in grassland. However, both of those methods have problems in terms of low efficiency and poor accuracy, so they do not meet the requirements for precise management of grassland pests. According to the principles of ecology and statistics, we used unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing technology and a stratified sampling method to detect damage areas from plateau pika, a dominant rodent pest on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. These trials were conducted at four townships in Maqu County in Gansu Province. First, we selected the primary investigation area according to its suitability for rodents. Then, the first survey area was divided according to different habitat types into secondary survey plots, and each plot was divided into a grid. A certain number of quadrats in the secondary sample plots was randomly sampled, each as a three-level sample with a UAV survey. According to the average area of rodent pest damage across multiple quadrats, the damaged area in each secondary plot was calculated. The areas of damage in all the secondary plots were added to obtain the total pest-damaged area in the primary investigation area. The total area of grassland in the test area was 4.6×105 ha, the area suitable for plateau pika was 2.5×105 ha, and the area of plateau pika damage in the test area was 1.05×104 ha. There were 50 sampling sites in total, and each site had an area of 1 ha. Taking one site as a sample, it takes one person 20 min to complete the work in terms of UAV flying and image interpretation. Compared with the grid survey method and mapping method, this new method can detect areas of rodent damage in grassland on a larger scale because it is more efficient, accurate, and cost-effective.

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    Adaption to the Plateau climate in Qinghai of 39 silage maize varieties cultivated in different ecological regions of China
    Li-li ZHU, Ye-meng ZHANG, Wan-cai LI, Ya-li ZHAO, Xiang LI, Zhi-guo CHEN
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 68-78.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022148
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    The objective of this research was to identify silage maize varieties adapted to the Plateau climate in Qinghai from among 39 maize varieties cultivated in different ecological regions in China. We planted these varieties in experimental field plots. Principal component analysis and grey correlation analysis were used to provide a multivariate ranking based on agronomic traits, yields and nutritional analysis of the 39 maize varieties. The 39 varieties were sourced from 10 ecological regions recognized in the national maize variety system. It was found that the agronomic characters, biological yields and nutritional ingredients of eight varieties, including Jindan No.73, Jingjiu silage 16 and Keda 101 of the middle and late mature spring maize type region in North East China; Yu silage 23 of the middle-mature spring maize type region in North East China, Qinyu 58 and Qingqing 300 of the tropical and subtropical maize type region, Tunyu 168 of the northwest spring maize type region, and Zhongyu 335 of the southwest spring maize type region, ranked in the top 10 based on the two analysis methods, indicating that the overall performance of these varieties was better than the others. Hence these 8 varieties can be recommended as suitable for planting in Qinghai.

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    Effect of the metabolites in rhizosphere soil on microbial communities of crop intercropping system
    Dai-xiang XU, Jian-feng YANG, Hang SU, Jian-rong ZHAI, Cai QI, Long-gang ZHAO, Yan-jun GUO
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (11): 65-80.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023005
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    In order to explore the reasons why interspecific interactions affects crop yield, we comprehensively analyzed the crop yield, the soil physicochemical properties, the rhizosphere soil microbial communities and the root exudates in maize (Zea mays)-soybean (Glycine max) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)-soybean intercropping systems in different years, combining the Eco-Biolog microplate method and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Crop yield was significantly increased in the intercropping systems, and the increase of yield in 2020 was more significant than it in 2019. Compared with monoculture, intercropping increased the accumulation and absorption of available nutrients. The contents of available nutrients in the crop rhizosphere soil of the intercropping system were significantly increased. Compared with monoculture, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen contents in maize, sorghum and soybean in intercropping systems were increased significantly; microorganism activities were also higher, and microbial community composition was more diverse in the rhizosphere soil of intercropped crops. Based on the metabolomic analysis, five key differential metabolites that might cause changes in microbial communities in maize rhizosphere soil were tentatively identified. Four of these appear to enrich the microorganism populations in maize rhizosphere soil, and one appears to be inhibitory. Three metabolites in sorghum rhizosphere soil were identified, two of which appear to enrich presence of microorganisms in sorghum rhizosphere soil, while the third appears to be inhibitory. Two bioactive metabolites in soybean rhizosphere soil were identified, one apparently faciliatory and one inhibitory towards microorganisms. Multivariate analysis showed that maize-soybean and sorghum-soybean intercropping systems changed the soil micro-environment and reshaped the soil microbial community structure through interspecific root interactions in rhizosphere soil, which accelerated the deposition of available nutrients, promoted the absorption of crop nutrients, and ultimately increased crop yield.

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    Progress in research on the effects of grazing on grassland litter decomposition
    Ao JIANG, Lu-huai JING, Tserang-donko MIPAM, Li-ming TIAN
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 208-220.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022160
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    Grazing, as one of the major land-use types in grassland ecosystems, regulates litter decomposition through altering the soil environment, biotic and abiotic factors, and litter quantity and quality, thus affecting nutrient cycling and energy flow. However, there is still much to learn about how grazing affects litter decomposition in grasslands and the microbial mechanisms related to this process. In this study, we conducted a bibliometric analysis and literature review to provide an overview of research on grazing and its effects on litter decomposition. The progress and deficiencies of research on the effects of grazing on litter decomposition in grasslands were clarified from three aspects, i.e., the soil environment (e.g., soil moisture, soil temperature, bulk density, light, and pH), microbial activity (e.g., community structure, nutrients, and home-field advantage), and litter quality (plant community structure, plant diversity, and litter quality). We summarized the results of studies on the effects of grazing-induced changes in litter decomposition on nutrient cycling. On the basis of our findings, we propose several future research directions: 1) Construct a network of long-term experiments in which grazing intensity is manipulated; 2) Explore the mechanisms by which grazing affects the litter decomposition of roots with varying diameters; 3) Determine the effects of grazing on mixed-species litter decomposition; 4) Identify the key processes and mechanisms by which grazing affects litter decomposition from a systematic perspective that integrates plant-litter-soil and environment-microorganisms; and 5) Determine the synergistic effects of grazing and global change on litter decomposition. This study provides a scientific basis for understanding how global change will affect litter decomposition and the mechanisms underlying the maintenance and sustainable development of ecosystem services in grasslands.

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    Progress in studies of molecular mechanisms and applications of somatic cell regeneration during genetic transformation
    Yu-zhu LI, Jiang-di YU, Fei-fei DING, Jia-min MIAO, Xiao-ming BAI, Shang-li SHI
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (2): 198-211.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023147
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    Plant genetic transformation is the key of transgenic technology, genome editing, functional genomics research and molecular breeding. Species and genotype differences are often the main bottlenecks limiting the efficiency of genetic transformation and the wide application of gene editing technology. With the molecular mechanism of de novo shoot organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis being gradually explored, the growth and developmental regulatory genes involved in the synthesis, response and signal transduction of auxin and cytokinin in callus formation, proliferation and regeneration are used to improve genetic transformation efficiency. In this study, we first review the different ways and means of achieving somatic cell regeneration after genetic transformation, and the molecular mechanisms of regeneration for the transformed cells through indirect organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. Then, the application of regeneration-promoting genes related to auxin and cytokinin in improving regeneration efficiency, shortening transformation time, and realizing genetic transformation of recalcitrant species and genotypes was discussed. Finally, the potential for application of regeneration-promoting genes when working with transgenic and gene-edited cells were summarized and current research directions were discussed.

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    Spatiotemporal dynamic variation of temperate grassland classes in Inner Mongolia in the last 20 years
    Zhi-gui YANG, Jian-guo ZHANG, Jin-rong LI, Hong-yan YU, Li CHANG, Shu-hua YI, Yan-yan LYU, Yu-zhuo ZHANG, Bao-ping MENG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (9): 1-16.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022405
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    Grassland classification is essential for rational utilization and effective protection of grassland resources and also crucial for maintaining sustainable development of grassland ecosystems. There has been considerable achievement in documenting spatio-temporal changes in land use types, but few reports on the spatio-temporal dynamic variation of grassland classes at the regional scale. Hence, this study explored the spatio-temporal variation of temperate grassland classes in Inner Mongolia. Several grassland class identification methods were constructed based on remote sensing vegetation index, meteorology, soil, topography, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data and machine learning algorithms. Then the spatio-temporal variation was analyzed based on the optimal classification method. It was found that: 1) Among all the remote sensing classification characteristics and indexes evaluated, the importance values of precipitation and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for grassland classification were higher than those of other indexes in the study area, and the cumulative contribution of the importance values of first 18 classification characteristics and indexes was more than 85%; 2) The random forest (RF) model gave the highest classification accuracy and was superior to other methods in grassland class identification in Inner Mongolia, with an overall accuracy of 82.16% and Kappa coefficient of 0.76; 3) In the past 20 years, the transition between grassland classes in Inner Mongolia has been intense, and has mainly occurred through transition among the classes typical steppe, desert steppe and desert. Compared with the grassland types in the 1980s, the grassland types in 2000-2009 changed from wet to dry, while the grassland types in 2010-2019 changed from dry to wet. The results of this study provide a scientific evaluation of the changes in grassland type in Inner Mongolia under global climate change and as a result of human activities, and provide a theoretical basis and technical support for planning sustainable grassland development in Inner Mongolia.

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    Research progress on remote sensing discrimination techniques for grassland botanical species
    Meng-ge HUANG, Xin-hong WANG, Ling-ling MA, Xue-hua YE, Xiao-hua ZHU, Wei-ping KONG, Ning WANG, Qi WANG, Guang-zhou OUYANG, Qing-chuan ZHENG, Xiao-xin HOU, Ling-li TANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (6): 167-185.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022278
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    Grassland is an important resource bank for regional economic development and a crucial ecological reservoir for the security of China’s land-based ecological environment. Remote sensing technology is rapid, efficient, and low-cost, and therefore provides the mainstream technical means for large-scale grassland monitoring. The use of remote sensing technology to discriminate grassland species is an important way to monitor the population dynamics and botanical community succession in grassland. Such information is conducive to the timely and accurate detection of changes in the grassland ecological environment and provides an important reference for the scientific management of grassland ecosystems and the construction of an ecologically aware civilization. This study focuses on the problem of remote sensing discrimination of grassland species, clarifies the technical process of grassland species discrimination and introduces the latest research progress. Technical difficulties are covered from three perspectives: The characteristics of the main remote sensing data sources for grassland species discrimination and their acquisition techniques, important grassland species discrimination features and their mining techniques and the current commonly used grassland species discrimination methods and models. This study concludes that hyperspectral and LiDAR remote sensing and their fusion technologies have application prospects in the remote sensing discrimination of grassland species, and that the deep mining of multidimensional features and the effective combination of complementary features can improve the accuracy of grassland species discrimination. This study identifies the main problems of the current remote sensing discrimination technology for grassland species, and opens the prospect of the future precise discrimination of grassland species through remote sensing technology and thereby provides a theoretical reference for a thorough understanding of the field of remote sensing identification of grassland species and in-depth research on grassland species discrimination.

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    Effects of litter decomposition with different qualities on soil organic carbon content and its stability in grassland on the Loess Plateau
    Xin GUO, Huan LUO, Xue-mei XU, Ai-xia MA, Zhen-yan SHANG, Tian-hu HAN, De-cao NIU, Hai-yan WEN, Xu-dong LI
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (5): 83-93.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022349
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    Plant litter is the most important source of soil organic carbon (SOC), and the quality of litter may affect the amount and stability of newly formed SOC. In this study, we evaluated the effects of decomposition of litters of different quality (AS: Artemisia sacrorum stem, SR: Stipa bungeana root, SL: S. bungeana leaf, SAL: Sophora alopecuroides leaf), which were selected from the typical grassland of the Loess Plateau in the middle of Gansu Province, on SOC and its stability. According to their chemical composition, litters were divided into high-quality litters (higher soluble components content and lower lignin content) and low-quality litters (lower soluble components content and higher lignin content). The litters were co-incubated with soil to study the decomposition process and determine how it affected SOC content and stability. Compared with low-quality litters (AS and SR), high-quality litters (SAL and SL) had a relatively higher decomposition rate due to their higher content of labile components and lower carbon/nitrogen (C/N). After decomposition for 2 years, the SOC content had increased in each treatment. The increases in SOC and the formation efficiency of new carbon (C) were significantly higher in the high-quality litter treatments than in the low-quality litter treatments. These results indicated that, compared with low-quality litters, high-quality litters made a greater contribution to SOC sequestration after decomposition. The amounts of all soil aggregate components did not vary significantly among treatments. After decomposition for 2 years, the SOC content in <0.053 mm soil aggregates was significantly increased in all the treatments. The SOC content and efficiency of new C formation in <0.053 mm soil aggregates were significantly higher in the high-quality litter treatments than in the low-quality litter treatments. Overall, these results show that, compared with low-quality litter, high-quality litter more readily forms stable mineral-associated organic matter after decomposition.

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    Spatial distribution of ecosystem services in the desert steppe, Inner Mongolia based on ecosystem service bundles
    Yu-xia HU, Ji-rui GONG, Chen-chen ZHU, Jia-yu SHI, Zi-he ZHANG, Liang-yuan SONG, Wei-yuan ZHANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 1-14.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022142
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    Ecosystem services play an important role in maintaining ecological security, sustainable development and human well-being. In this rresearch, the study area was the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia and a quantitative assessment of water conservation, soil conservation, habitat quality, and recreational potential in 2000 and 2017 was carried out. Their spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and the trade-offs and synergies between services are analyzed and discussed; the dominant service types and spatial patterns of different service bundles are identified. It was found that: from 2000 to 2017, the spatial heterogeneity of various ecosystem services was significant. The high-value areas of water conservation services are mainly concentrated in the southeast and southwest; the high value soil conservation is located in the southwest; the distribution of habitat quality and recreational potential is more random. Various ecosystem services show a mainly decreasing trend; most service pairs show a synergistic relationship, while soil conservation and habitat quality service pairs show a trade-off relationship, and the degree of correlation between service pairs decreases. Ecosystem service bundles are divided into three functional areas of soil conservation, living environment and water conservation and have obvious spatial heterogeneity. In the soil conservation area, the main land use type is unused land, and future management should limit the amount of grazing and seek to influence soil erodibility by changing the surface vegetation cover. The human settlement area, with high grassland cover provides excellent scope for human activities and the coordinated development of multiple industries such as eco-tourism. In the water conservation area, the land use types are mainly grassland with medium cover and grassland with low cover. Future management should focus on water storage and water conservation, adhere to ecological priorities, and pursue ecologically sustainable development in this area.

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    Studies on the regulation of seed aging by reactive oxygen species and telomeres
    Shou-jiang SUN, Pei-sheng MAO, Li-ru DOU, Zhi-cheng JIA, Ming SUN, Wen MA, Cheng-ming OU, Juan WANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (8): 202-213.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022417
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    Seeds enable plants to survive in harsh environmental conditions and can transmit genetic information from their parents to the next generation. Seed vigor is an important character in agriculture, which directly affects the field emergence rate and crop yield. However, due to seed aging, seed vigor decreased during storage. In order to effectively protect genetic resources and reduce the huge economic losses caused by seed aging to agricultural production, it is necessary to explore the mechanism of seed aging in order to understand the causes of seed aging and a series of important events that occur in the aging process. During seed storage, high temperature and humidity are the two main factors to accelerate seed aging. The oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the main reason. ROS can interact with any biological macromolecule, leading to protein damage, lipid peroxidation, chromosomal telomere structure abnormality and various cell components damage caused by DNA damage. In addition, ROS may also induce programmed cell death, leading to seed aging. At the initial stage of imbibition, the seeds will repair some damage, but if they cause great damage to key structures, they will fail to repair, and the seeds will lose their vitality permanently, so they cannot germinate normally in a relatively short time. The exact mechanism of seed aging has not been fully studied. Based on this, this study mainly reviewed the generation and elimination of ROS during seed aging, the influence of ROS on biological macromolecules, the response of chromosome telomere system to seed aging, and the research progress of genes related to seed aging, which is of great significance for understanding the causes of seed aging and analyzing the mechanism of seed aging.

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    Progress in research on breeding methods to produce new, high-quality forage varieties
    Wen-wen QI, Hong-yuan MA, Ya-xiao LI, Yan DU, Meng-dan SUN, Hai-tao WU
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (6): 187-202.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023259
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    Forage is the best natural feed for herbivorous livestock. Therefore, it the basis and guarantee for the development of the herbivorous animal husbandry industry, and an important food resource as part of an all-encompassing approach to food. The breeding of new forage varieties is essential for the sustainable development of grass and animal husbandry industries. Forage plays important roles in promoting the stable production and supply of animal products. With the increasing demand for new high-quality forage varieties and the improvement of breeding techniques, forage breeding technology has entered the molecular era, and great breakthroughs have been made in the cultivation of new high-quality forage varieties. In this review, we systematically summarize the forage breeding techniques used in China and abroad in the past 100 years, including conventional breeding techniques (domestication breeding, cross breeding, mutation breeding, and ploidy breeding) and genetic engineering breeding techniques (transgenic and molecular design breeding). We also discuss the gene editing methods developed in recent years. We describe the achievements made using various breeding techniques, as well as their problems. We also outline the following prospects for future research: 1) In-depth exploration of natural forage resources and strengthening of the collection and utilization of germplasm resources. 2) Advancing the objectives for the breeding of forage species to meet the demands of farmers and livestock producers, paying attention to the improvement of forage quality, the production of disease-resistant and stress-tolerant varieties, and the development of the “productional-living-ecological” function of forage. 3) Combining conventional and modern breeding methods to move past the bottleneck of forage breeding and strengthen the breeding of high-quality forage species, especially Leymus chinensis and Medicago sativa. The aims of this review are to promote the new era of biological breeding in China and to provide a basis for the innovation of forage germplasm resources and the selection of new, high-quality forage varieties. The overall aims in this field of research are to provide new technologies for the establishment of high-quality and high-productive cultivated grassland, and to meet the growing demand for forage to feed farmed animals in China.

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    Theoretical basis, technical principles and realization of grassland multifunctional objective management
    Chun-hui ZHANG, Liang ZHAO, Xin-quan ZHAO
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (3): 212-223.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022159
    Abstract389)   HTML25)    PDF (1679KB)(489)       Save

    There are diverse grassland types, including protected grassland, grazed rangeland grassland and artificially sown grassland. Similarly, there is a diversity of biological resources linked to grassland use, such as animals, plants and microorganisms, and a diversity of ecosystem services and functions including regulating, provisioning, supporting and cultural functions. Drawing on the concept of ecosystem multifunctionality, this study summarizes the development process of grassland management, and puts forward the framework of grassland multifunctional objective management in the new era. This framework sets out the basic theory of maintaining the diversity of grassland types, biological resources and ecosystem services and functions and informs the transformational development of grassland utilization technologies relating to grassland animal, plant and microbial resources, the precise measurement of surface information and remote sensing inversion technology systems, the technical systems for accurate measurement of grassland herbivore utilization and grassland carrying capacity, the production technology systems to achieve feed supply and demand balance in grassland and animal husbandry, and the technical systems to simultaneously achieve improvement in grassland ecological function and the realization of ecological product value. In addition, this study explores the management path for multifunctional optimization of ecology, production and livelihood in grasslands while maintaining the multifunctional attributes of grassland, protecting the health and sustainable use of grassland, and realizing the goals of regional protection of nature, providing services to human populations and achieving sustainable development.

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    Ecological value and its spatiotemporal dynamic patterns of grassland in China
    Jia-hui LI, Lin HUANG, Jiang-wen FAN
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (12): 1-13.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023058
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    As China’s largest terrestrial ecosystem and one of the important natural resources, grasslands provide a series of ecosystem services which contribute to human well-being. However, there are still wide expanses of grassland suffering from various degrees of degradation, and requiring urgent conservation and restoration action to improve their quality, function and stability. Accounting of grassland ecological value provides an effective means to monitor the changes in and assess the combined importance of multiple grassland ecosystem functions. This study analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of grassland ecological value in China from 2000 to 2020. It then assessed the spatiotemporal dynamics of the value of key ecological services of grasslands, including windbreak and sand fixation, water conservation, forage supply and carbon sequestration. Next, adaptation strategies for optimizing and enhancing the grassland ecological value in China were proposed. It was found that in 2020, the ecological value of China’s grassland was 2.47×104 billion CNY, and the value was 7.6 million CNY·km-2, among which the value per unit area of windbreak and sand fixation and species richness maintenance were relatively high, accounting for 27.3% and 25.8% of the total, respectively. In the past 20 years, more than 90% of China’s grassland area has shown an increasing trend in ecological value. This applies especially to grassland located on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the northern Loess Plateau, and the eastern and central parts of Inner Mongolia indicate a rapid growth. Moreover, the sum of grassland ecological values of Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan and Xinjiang accounted for about 67.4% of China’s total ecological value. In the past 20 years, Shaanxi, Beijing, Ningxia, Tianjin, and Shanxi showed a relatively high growth rate in grassland ecological value (>65%). Finally, China’s grasslands were divided into three categories and twelve subcategories, based on grassland protection and restoration strategies focusing on different key ecological services. Our study offers significant insights for assigning various protection and restoration priorities to achieve sustainable growth in grassland ecological value.

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    Climate sensitivity of the start of the growing season in spring and the end of the growing season in autumn for vegetation in Inner Mongolia
    Kai-feng WANG, Gang BAO, Zhi-hui YUAN, Si-qin TONG, Zhi-gang YE, Xiao-jun HUANG, Yu-hai BAO
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 30-41.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022274
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    The start of growing season (SOS) in spring and the end of growing season (EOS) in autumn are regarded as two important phenological indicators of vegetation growth. However, the sensitivity of these indicators to changes in climate, especially temperature, as well as their differences remain unclear. In this study, MODIS NDVI and meteorological data from 2001 to 2019 were used to calculate the SOS in spring and the EOS in autumn of vegetation in Inner Mongolia at meteorological station- and pixel-scales. In these analyses, the numbers of growing degree-days (GDD) and cooling degree-days (CDD; i.e. DD with mean temperature below the base temperature) were used as temperature indicators that affect the SOS and EOS. These analyses revealed spatial patterns of SOS and EOS and their sensitivity to climate change. It was found that, from 2001 to 2019, the SOS for vegetation in Inner Mongolia usually occurred around d 110-135 (where Jan 1st=d 1), and was progressively earlier with time (2.6 d·10 a-1). The EOS usually occurred around d 260-280, and showed a weak trend towards later occurrence (0.7 d·10 a-1). In 68.1% of the study area the SOS was advanced by GDD accumulation in the period immediately prior and similarly in 56% of the study area EOS was advanced by CDD accumulation in the period immediately prior. Both SOS and EOS were sensitive to precipitation, and the response was mainly positive (i.e. a delay of SOS or EOS). The results at the meteorological station-scale were basically consistent with those at the pixel-scale. At the meteorological station-scale, the temperature sensitivity of 65% stations was greater at the EOS than at the SOS, and the precipitation sensitivity of 94% stations was greater at the SOS than at the EOS. In the context of climate change, the results of studies on sensitivity are useful for devising sustainable ecosystem management strategies, and have important reference value for phenological simulations and ecosystem climate assessments.

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    Root distribution characteristics of typical herbaceous plants and their effects on soil physicochemical properties on the Loess Plateau
    Fang LIU, Pei-pei WANG, Yu-ying CAO, Jun-e LIU, Zheng-chao ZHOU
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (10): 1-13.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023446
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    Extensive vegetation restoration has been implemented to control serious soil erosion on the Loess Plateau, China, and the ecological environment has improved. Understanding the beneficial effects of plant roots on soil properties will be helpful for further systematic research aimed at optimizing vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau, and will provide a scientific reference for subsequent ecological restoration in this area. In this study, we focused on Stipa bungeana and Artemisia gmelinii growing naturally on the Loess Plateau. Land that had been abandoned for 1 year served as the control. The root characteristics of the two plant species and soil physicochemical properties were determined, the distribution of roots in different size classes and its relationship with the soil physicochemical properties were analyzed. The results showed that: 1) There were significant differences in root characteristics between S. bungeana and A. gmelinii. Compared with A. gmeliniiS. bungeana had higher root length density (RLD) and root surface area density (RSAD). In addition, the proportion of very fine roots (diameter, D<0.5 mm) was higher in S. bungeana (94.73%) than in A. gmelinii (90.20%). Compared with S. bungeanaA. gmelinii had an obvious taproot advantage, with a higher root mass density, mean diameter, and root volume density. The proportions of coarse roots RLD (16.28%) and RSAD (32.85%) were significantly higher in A. gmelinii than in S. bungeana. 2) Compared with bare land, the plots with S. bungeana and A. gmelinii showed significantly better soil structure and stability. The roots of S. bungeana and A. gmelinii were concentrated in the 0-20 cm soil horizon, which had the greatest influence on the physicochemical properties of the topsoil. The soil aggregate stability and soil water retention were highest in the plots containing A. gmelinii, and the mean weight diameter (MWD) (2.04 mm), capillary water capacity (24.69%), and saturated water content (34.93%) of soil in those plots were 4.33-times, 1.36-times, and 1.31-times higher than their respective values in soil in bare land. The soil organic matter (SOM) content (7.23 g·kg-1) was highest in the plots containing S. bungeana. 3) The plant root characteristics significantly affected soil properties. The RLD and RSAD of fine roots had the most significant effect on soil physicochemical properties, and were significantly negatively correlated (P<0.05) with soil bulk density and positively correlated with soil porosity (P<0.05). The proportion of very fine roots (D<0.5 mm) was significantly positively correlated (P<0.01) with SOM content. The results of principal component analysis showed that the MWD, SOM content, and soil water content were the soil properties showing the largest differences between plots containing S. bungeana and those containing A. gmelinii.

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    Analysis of metabolic pathways and differentially expressed genes of Trifolium pratense responding to waterlogging stress
    Pan-pan SHANG, Bing ZENG, Ming-hao QU, Ming-yang LI, Xing-yun YANG, Yu-qian ZHENG, Bing-na SHEN, Lei BI, Cheng YANG, Bing ZENG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 112-128.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022139
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    Waterlogging stress is an important abiotic stress that affects plant growth, development and distribution, and research on plant waterlogging stress is key to addressing plant production management under extreme heavy rainfall in recent years. Trifolium pratense is a high-quality legume forage, but is poorly tolerant to waterlogging, and long-term waterlogging can lead to root rot and death. In order to investigate the molecular response mechanism of T. pratense under waterlogging stress, the transcriptome was sequenced from seedling leaves of the waterlogging-tolerant variety “Hong Long” at 0, 8 and 24 h using an Illumina high-throughput sequencing platform, and the sequenced data were compared with the reference genome for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and functional annotation. The results showed that, compared with the control 0 h, “Hong Long” had 5065 DEGs after 8 h of waterlogging stress, among which 2442 genes were up-regulated and 2623 genes were down-regulated; After 24 h of waterlogging stress, there were 9022 DEGs, among which 4279 genes were up-regulated and 4743 genes were down-regulated. The gene ontology (GO) enrichment results showed that DEGs were mainly enriched in terms of metabolic process, cellular process, biological regulation, cell and catalytic activity; The kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment results showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways such as plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, carbon metabolism and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, in which antioxidant enzymes such as peroxidase and formic dehydrogenase were highly expressed in the glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism pathways. This study also found that the differentially expressed AP2/ERF, WRKY, bHLH, NAC, bZIP and other important transcription factors also played important roles in the response of T. pratense to waterlogging stress. Finally, the expression pattern of DEGs was verified by qRT-PCR and found to be consistent with the RNA-Seq results, confirming the accuracy of the sequencing results. In this study, functional annotation, metabolic pathways and transcription factors of DEGs were analyzed based on the transcriptome information, which provided a preliminary understanding of the molecular response mechanisms of T. pratense to waterlogging stress and provided basic data and theoretical direction for the subsequent functional mining of candidate genes.

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    Retrieval of grassland aboveground biomass based on airborne LiDAR and SuperView-1 data
    Kai-hong XU, Zhao SHI, Lei-chao MA, Ping WANG, Ang CHEN, Xing WANG, Ming CHENG, Yue-xin XIAO, Rong-tan WANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (5): 40-49.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022199
    Abstract369)   HTML27)    PDF (5196KB)(319)       Save

    Grassland aboveground biomass (AGB) is an important indicator in grassland monitoring. It is an important index when designing strategies for the ecological protection and rational utilization of grassland resources. In addition, it is of great significance for the sustainable development and scientific management of grassland. In this study, shrub grassland in Xing’an County, Guangxi was the subject of the research, and data were obtained from airborne LiDAR data and high-resolution multispectral satellite images. The retrieval of grassland AGB was investigated using data collected from 89 field quadrats in 2021 and five basic regression models. The accuracy of different indicators and models was evaluated by root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and R-square values. It was found that grass height metrics were very important information for grassland AGB retrieval. We calculated correlation coefficients between pairs of indexes. In terms of vegetation indexes, the highest correlation coefficient was between the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and AGB (0.666). In terms of vegetation height indexes, the highest correlation coefficient was between average grass height (CHMmean) and AGB (0.686). In terms of combined indexes, the highest correlation coefficient was between the ratio vegetation index (RVI)×CHMmean and AGB (0.735). The accuracy and verification results showed that the minimum RMSE of the EVI models was 292.047 g·m-2, the minimum RMSE of CHMmean models was 245.084 g·m-2, and the minimum RMSE of RVI×CHMmean models was 225.872 g·m-2. Our results show that grass height information can be effectively extracted from airborne LiDAR data, and although there is an obvious underestimation, it still has great application potential in research on grassland AGB.

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    Characteristics of plant diversity and aboveground productivity and their relationship driven by subshrub expansion
    Mei-hui LI, Yu-hua LI, Xin-hui YAN, Hang-hang TUO, Meng-ru YANG, Zi-lin WANG, Wei LI
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (5): 27-39.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022367
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    Shrub/subshrub expansion can significantly change the original vegetation landscape and its ecological processes. However, there is still a lack of systematic research on the characteristics of grassland plant diversity, aboveground productivity, and their relationship driven by subshrub expansion. In this study, the typical grassland of Yunwu Mountain in Ningxia on the Loess Plateau was selected as the study site. Grasslands with subshrub expansion at three levels of intensity (light, moderate, and heavy) were selected, and natural grassland without subshrub expansion served as the control. We analyzed species diversity, community level plant functional traits, functional diversity, and aboveground productivity and their intrinsic relationships. The results showed that: 1) The composition and structure of the grassland community changed significantly under the driver of subshrub expansion. The subshrub species Artemisia sacrorum replaced the original herb as the new dominant grassland species, which resulted in a significant decrease in species diversity. 2) Compared with the control, sites with subshrub expansion showed significantly decreased community-level leaf dry matter content, but increased community-level specific leaf area, and leaf carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents. There was no significant difference in functional richness, while functional dispersion and functional evenness had significant differences under different expansion intensities. 3) Subshrub expansion significantly increased the aboveground biomass and litter biomass of the community, which was manifested as a significant increase in the biomass of weeds and a significant decrease in the biomass of legumes. However, grass biomass increased significantly under severe subshrub expansion. 4) The aboveground productivity of the grassland community was negatively correlated with species diversity, community-level leaf dry matter content, and functional dispersion, while positively correlated with leaf carbon, leaf nitrogen and leaf phosphorus contents at community level. The results of a random forest model and ANOVA further showed that community-level functional traits explained 68.28% of the variation in aboveground productivity, and that the community-level leaf nitrogen content and leaf dry matter content were the most important explanatory factors. The species diversity index was able to explain 64.38% of variation, while the interpretability of the functional diversity index was 11.16%. Our results showed that, with increasing subshrub expansion, species shifted to a strategy of rapid growth and resource acquisition, and the degree of species niche differentiation increased. Compared with functional diversity, plant functional traits and species diversity explained higher proportions of variation in the above-ground productivity of the community. The results of this study provide a foundation for further studies on the regime shift theory of natural grasslands on the Loess Plateau. These findings will also be useful for designing adaptability and sustainable management strategies for grasslands under shrub/subshrub expansion.

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    Cloning of MsBBX24 from alfalfa ( Medicago sativa) and determination of its role in salt tolerance
    Yuan WANG, Jing WANG, Shu-xia LI
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (3): 107-117.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022104
    Abstract351)   HTML28)    PDF (5871KB)(255)       Save

    Salt stress is one of the main abiotic stress factors affecting plant growth and development. Members of the BBX family of transcription factors are known to play important regulatory roles in pigment accumulation, photomorphogenesis, seed development, and stress adaptation. To clarify the function of Medicago sativa (alfalfa) BBX genes, we used Primer Premier 5 to design specific primers according to the sequence of MsBBX24 in the NCBI database, and cloned MsBBX24 using the cDNA of alfalfa as the template. Bioinformatics software was used to analyze the sequence and structure of MsBBX24, and to compare MsBBX24 with related BBX24 sequences in other plants. A phylogenetic tree was constructed to analyze the evolutionary relationships among BBX24s. The transcriptional profile of MsBBX24 was analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). An MsBBX24-overexpression vector was constructed by DNA digestion and ligation, and introduced into wild-type Arabidopsis by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The positive transgenic Arabidopsis plants were screened using the herbicide Basta and the presence of the transgene was confirmed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The salt tolerance of wild-type and transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing MsBBX24 was analyzed on the basis of phenotypic characteristics and physiological indexes. The MsBBX24 coding sequence was 723 bp long, encoding a polypeptide of 240 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 30.58 kDa and theoretical isoelectric point of 7.74. MsBBX24 showed high homology with BBX24 of Cicer arietinum and Medicago truncatula. The results of qRT-PCR analyses showed that the transcript levels of MsBBX24 increased in response to salt stress (150 mmol·L-1 NaCl). The transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed increased tolerance to NaCl stress. Compared with the controls, the transgenic plants overexpressing MsBBX24 showed enhanced growth of seedling roots and lateral roots, a higher cotyledon greening rate, significantly reduced ion leakage, malondialdehyde content, and H2O2 content, increased contents of chlorophyll and proline, and higher peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities. These results show that, under salt stress, MsBBX24 improves the antioxidant defense system to remove reactive oxygen species, thereby enhancing the salt tolerance of transgenic plants. Thus, MsBBX24 is an important candidate gene for breeding new salt-tolerant varieties of alfalfa.

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    Genome-wide identification of members of the TCP gene family in Melilotus albus and their expression patterns under drought stress
    Yan-peng LI, Na WEI, Qing-yan ZHAI, Hang LI, Ji-yu ZHANG, Wen-xian LIU
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 101-111.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022167
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    Melilotus is an important forage and green manure legume crop in northern China. It plays an important role in grass husbandry and ecological and economic construction in this region, and in greater China. Drought stress is an important factor affecting the distribution and yield of Melilotus. It is important to screen and characterize genes that regulate the response of Melilotus to drought stress to understand the drought resistance biology of this genus. The TCP (teosinte branches1, cycloidea, proliferating cell factory) family of transcription factors is specific to plants, and its members are known to play important roles in regulating the response to drought stress. The aim of this study was to identify members of this gene family in Melilotus and explore their biological functions in response to drought stress. In this study, the TCP gene family in Melilotusallbus was systematically identified at the whole-genome level using bioinformatics methods. Further analyses revealed details of TCP gene structures, phylogeny, chromosome locations, and expression patterns under drought stress. The genome of M. albus contained 18 MaTCP genes, which were unevenly distributed on six chromosomes. In a phylogenetic analysis, the 18 MaTCP genes were grouped into two subfamilies: TCP-P and TCP-C. The TCP-P subfamily contained only PCF branches, while the TCP-C subfamily contained CYC/TB1 and CIN branches. All of the 18 MaTCP genes contained a highly conserved bHLH domain and had similar conserved motifs and gene structures within the same subfamily, but members of the TCP-P family had four fewer amino acids in their bHLH domain. Analyses of the transcriptome data obtained for M. albus under drought stress revealed two MaTCP genes (MaTCP2 and MaTCP15) that may be related to the drought stress response. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses confirmed that, under drought stress simulated by a polyethylene glycol treatment, the transcript levels of MaTCP2 increased significantly in the root of M. albus, while the transcript levels of both genes in the leaf peaked at 3 h of the simulated drought treatment. These results confirmed that both genes are involved in the drought response in M. albus. The results of this study lay the foundation for further research on the drought response of Melilotus, and will be useful for generating Melilotus varieties with enhanced drought resistance through genetic engineering.

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    Species diversity and phylogenetic diversity in Bayinbrook alpine grasslands: elevation gradient distribution patterns and drivers
    Zi-li LYU, Bin LIU, Feng CHANG, Zi-jing MA, Qiu-mei CAO
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (7): 12-22.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022328
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    Coastal gradient studies of plant community species diversity and phylogenetic diversity can clarify the influence of environmental conditions on community construction and can provide insight into community construction mechanisms. This research studied the trends in plant community species diversity and phylogenetic diversity and their environmental drivers along an altitude gradient from 2200-3000 m. a.s.l. in Bayinbrook alpine meadow, to explore the influence of environmental factors in the processes of species coexistence and diversity maintenance in community construction. It was found that: 1) With increase in altitude, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Simpson diversity index of the community showed a unimodal change trend, with peaks at 2400 and 2600 m, respectively. The community Pielou uniformity index showed a gradual downward trend; the PD index showed a downward trend as a whole, and the phylogenetic structure gradually changed from a dispersed status to an aggregated status. 2) The phylogenetic structure indexes NTI and NRI showed a significant negative correlation with the species diversity index (P<0.05), and the PD index and species diversity index showed a significant positive correlation (P<0.05). 3) The degree of influence of various soil factors on different diversity indices differed; NH4+-N content was the main factor affecting species diversity and phylogenetic indexes, followed by total potassium content. Soil total nitrogen content had significant effects on NTI (P<0.05). NRI was significantly affected by total potassium content (P<0.05), the phylogenetic impact index PD was significantly affected by total phosphorus (P<0.05), and species diversity index was significantly affected by pH (P<0.01). The species diversity and phylogenetic diversity of coastal altitude gradient communities are interrelated, and the two show different response strategies along the altitude gradient due to the influence of environmental factors.

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    Response of the mitochondrial AsA-GSH cycle during alfalfa seed germination under low temperature stress
    Shou-jiang SUN, Yi-han TANG, Wen MA, Man-li LI, Pei-sheng MAO
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (3): 152-162.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022272
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    This study investigated the response to low temperature stress of the ascorbic acid-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle in radicle mitochondria of alfalfa Medicago sativa) seeds. Alfalfa seeds were germinated at two temperatures (10 or 20 ℃) and during imbibition antioxidant mechanisms, including hydrogen peroxide content, AsA-GSH cycle enzyme activity and antioxidant content were measured in radicle mitochondria imbibed for different times (6, 12 and 24 h). It was found that the H2O2 content of radicle mitochondria under low temperature (10 ℃) was higher than that under normal temperature (20 ℃) after 12 and 24 hours imbibition. The glutathione reductase (GR) activity of radicle mitochondria at 10 ℃ was lower than that at 20 ℃ after imbibition for 6, 12 and 24 h. After 12 and 24 h imbibition, the ascorbic acid (AsA) content of radicle mitochondria at 10 ℃ was lower than that at 20 ℃. After 24 h imbibition under low temperature stress, the glutathione (GSH) content of radicle mitochondria decreased significantly (P<0.05) compared with seeds imbibed at normal temperature. During imbibition under low temperature, the normal process of seed germination was inhibited by oxidative damage, mainly through decrease in the activities of GR, monodehydroascorbate reductase, and peroxidase and decreased levels of AsA and GSH in the AsA-GSH cycle, which led to the accumulation of H2O2 in the radicle mitochondria.

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    Review of grass seed pelletizing in ecological restoration
    Yuan MA, Xiao-li WANG, Yan-long WANG, Yu-shou MA, Hai-peng CUI
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (4): 197-207.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022152
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    Ecological environmental management is a strategic direction proposed by China in order to protect and build a healthy ecological environment and achieve sustainable development. Ecological restoration of degraded grassland and historical mine sites is one of the important tasks of ecological environment management in China. At present, the management difficulties in the degraded areas are mainly related to seed germination and seedling growth. Seed pelletizing as a seed management technology plays an important role in promoting seed germination, enhancing seedling emergence and improving seeding establishment capacity. By combining seeds with formulated powder applied through pelletizing machines, different types of pelletized seeds were developed that improved the contact surface between soil and seeds and improved the seed survival environment, so providing improvement in seed establishment to ensure successful ecological restoration outcomes. Based on a large amount of literature and patents related to seed pelletizing, this study reviews seed pelletizing materials, including fillers, binders and active ingredients, that can be used in ecological restoration fields such as alpine grassland degradation management, alpine mine restoration and pastureland rehabilitation. This work provides technical data for the development of high quality seeds and a successful grass seed industry in China.

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    Regulation of telomere DNA binding protein and telomerase activity in plants
    Shou-jiang SUN, Wen MA, Pei-sheng MAO, Li-ru DOU, Zhi-cheng JIA, Ming SUN, Juan WANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2024, 33 (1): 198-206.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023089
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    The investigation of plant senescence and seed deterioration mechanisms has emerged as a prominent and highly significant subject in the field of agricultural science. Plant senescence can exert a profound negative impact on agriculture, while premature senescence of forage grasses can engender diminished grassland productivity and impede the progress of the grass industry. Additionally, seed deterioration leads to an annual loss of viability in approximately 25% of global seeds, resulting in substantial economic losses and significantly hampering the healthy advancement of agriculture. Gaining a comprehensive and profound understanding of plant senescence characteristics and regulatory mechanisms offers immense value not only in unraveling plant ecological adaptations and population stability but also in offering vital practical implications for the selection of senescence retardation techniques and regulatory measures. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, extensive evidence indicates a close and intricate interrelation among chromosomal telomeres, plant senescence, and seed viability. Telomeres, repetitive DNA sequences situated at the chromosomal termini, encompass telomeric DNA and associated binding proteins. Telomere-binding proteins form a pivotal protein ensemble that primarily assumes the role of stabilizing telomere structure and safeguarding telomeres against disturbances originating from the DNA repair system. Moreover, these proteins actively partake in numerous fundamental biological processes, including gene expression, DNA replication, and the modulation of chromosomal architecture. Telomerase, comprising two subunits-telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and telomerase RNA (TER)-exerts its influence on mitochondrial function and the regulation of pertinent gene expression. By exploring the nascent functionalities of telomerase, we can facilitate advances in plant stress resistance, subsequently postponing the onset of plant senescence and creating novel pathways towards enhanced crop yield. Recent investigations conducted on plants have unveiled a compelling correlation between telomere dynamics and plant senescence, yet numerous question remain surrounding the precise mechanisms governing telomere homeostasis in plants. In the light of these findings, this study undertakes a comprehensive review of the roles fulfilled by telomeres and telomere-binding proteins in plant biology, with particular emphasis on the regulatory mechanisms governing telomere length and telomerase activity orchestrated by these pivotal elements. This work serves as a theoretical cornerstone, furnishing a vital reference for subsequent exploration of the intricacies of plant senescence and seed deterioration mechanisms.

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    Codon usage bias analysis of the chloroplast genome of Bothriochloa ischaemum
    Shou-yu GAO, Yu-ying LI, Zhi-qing YANG, Kuan-hu DONG, Fang-shan XIA
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (7): 85-95.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022332
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    The chloroplast genome is highly conserved and has a slow evolutionary rate. The study of chloroplast genome codon bias could clarify the expression efficiency of genes, and could even determine plant phylogeny and species evolution. In order to analyze the phylogenetic relationship between Bothriochloa ischaemum and its related species, we analyzed the codon usage pattern of the chloroplast genome of B. ischaemum using CAIcal and CodonW1.4.2 software, and a cluster map was constructed using relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) of B. ischaemum and its related species. Results showed that the average guanine-cytosine (GC) content was 38.79% in the B. ischaemum chloroplast genome sequences which had been screened, and the content was GC1>GC2>GC3. In these sequences, the third base of the codon was mostly A or U. The number of effective codons (ENC) ranges from 36 to 61 and indicates that the codon bias of B. ischaemum is weak. In addition, a total of 26 codons are used with high frequency, among which 25 codons end in A or U. Combined with the analyses of neutral plot, ENC-plot, ENC ratio and PR2-plot, we found that the codon bias of chloroplast genes of B. ischaemum is affected by both mutation pressure and natural selection, and the effect of mutation pressure is greater. Through the RSCU data analysis, a total of 15 optimal codons were screened from B. ischaemum chloroplast genome, and all of these end in A or U. In the present study, RSCU clustering showed that the codon usage pattern of B. ischaemum is different from that of related species. The present study therefore provides a reference for phylogenetic study of plants of the genus Bothriochloa.

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    Species selection for no-tillage reseeding in grassland restoration based on plant-soil feedback
    Mei-qi GUO, Lin LIU, Jing-ying JING, Gao-wen YANG, Ying-jun ZHANG
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (12): 14-23.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023041
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    As the proportion of more nutritious forage species with good palatability in grassland is reduced or such species become absent due to grassland degradation, reseeding improved forages is an effective way to rapidly restore degraded grasslands. The selection of reseeding species is the primary factor affecting the success of reseeding. In this study, a method for selecting species for no-till reseeding restoration of degraded grassland was tested, using a typical grassland in Inner Mongolia with different degrees of degradation as the experiment site. Soil from degraded grassland patches was also retrieved for a growth test of potential species for reseeding, then the total biomass (Tb) and response to soil factors of each species were measured. Species were then selected for reseeding based on plant-soil feedback (PSF) and Tb, with preference given to species with positive or neutral feedback to the reseeded species and with non-significant differences in Tb between grassland plant patches. It was found that: Lightly degraded grassland with Leymus chinensis as the dominant species was best reseeded with Medicago falcata and Bromus inermis, lightly to moderately degraded grassland with Stipa capillata as the dominant species was best reseeded with L. chinensis, moderately degraded grasslands with Artemisia frigida as the dominant species were best reseeded with Lespedeza bicolor, and heavily degraded grasslands with Potentilla acaulis as the dominant species were best reseeded with Agropyron cristatum, which is not sensitive to changes in soil properties. This study is the first to establish a universal method for selecting species for replanting degraded grasslands, providing theoretical support for no-till reseeding restoration techniques for degraded grasslands both in China, and abroad.

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    Research progress on vigor estimation for forage seeds
    Qi-bo TAO, Xi-hu QIE, Qian ZHANG, Yu-xuan GAO, Ya-qi ZHANG, Rui-zhen ZHANG, Xiao-fei CHEN, Tian-xiu NIU, Xiao-tong SUN, Yu-ting NIE, Ya-ru LIU, Jia-qi HU, Shang-zhi ZHONG, Juan SUN
    Acta Prataculturae Sinica    2023, 32 (10): 200-225.   DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023007
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    High-quality forage seeds are fundamental materials for grass-husbandry industry development and ecological restoration in China. Seed vigor is an important aspect of evaluate seed quality. The efficient vigor estimation of forage seeds is of great importance for selection of high-quality seed lots for cultivated grassland establishment and improvement of natural grassland, and is therefore critical to ensuring food and ecological security. Numerous studies on diverse forage seed vigor estimation methods and their ability to predict field performance have been carried out and published. In this study, the concepts and methodologies for forage seed vigor estimation are summarized, with particular emphasis on the estimation principles and their application in forage seed vigor estimation of some of the more commonly used methods. Coverage of this review includes forage seed physical properties, germination and seedling growth characteristics, stress testing, physiological and biochemical indicators, and advanced technologies. Future prospects in this field are also identified and discussed, to provide necessary direction for the improvement of future research.

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