Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the invertase gene family in common wheat

Background: The degradation of sucrose plays an important role in the process of crop biomass allocation and yield formation. Invertase (INV) irreversibly catalyzes the conversion of sucrose into glucose and fructose, which doomed its' important role in plant development and stress tolerance. However, the functions of INV genes in wheat, one of the most important crops, were less studied due to the polyploidy. Results: Here, we systematically analyzed the INV gene family based on the latest published wheat reference genomic information. A total of 126 TaINV genes were identified and classified into three classes based on the phylogenetic relationship and their gene structure. Of which, 11 and 83 gene pairs were identified as tandem and segmental duplication genes respectively, while the Ka/Ks ratios of tandem and segmental duplication TaINV genes were less than 1. Expression profile analysis shows that 18 TaINV genes have tissue-specific expression, and 54 TaINV genes were involved in stress response. Furthermore, RNA-seq showed that 35 genes are differentially expressed in grain weight NILs N0910-81L/N0910-81S, in which 9 TaINVs were stably detected by qRT-PCR at three time-points, 4, 7 and 10 DPA. Four of them (TaCWI47, TaCWI48, TaCWI50 and TaVI27) different expressed between the NILs resided in 4 QTL segments (QTGW.nwafu-5DL.1, QTGW.nwafu-5DL.2, QTGW.nwafu-7AS.1 and QTGW.nwafu-7AS.2). These findings facilitate function investigations of the wheat INV gene family and provide new insights into the grain development mechanism in wheat. Conclusions: Our results showed that allopolyploid events were the main reason for the expansion of the TaINV gene family in hexaploid wheat, and duplication genes might undergo purifying selection. The expression profiling of TaINV genes implied that they are likely to play an important role in wheat growth and development and adaption to stressful environments. And TaCWI47, TaCWI48, TaCWI50 and TaVI27 may have more important roles in grain developments. Our study lay a base for further dissecting the functional characterization of TaINV family members.

Effect of Magnesium Fertilization Systems on Grain Yield Formation by Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) during the Grain-Filling Period

The application of magnesium significantly affects the components of the wheat yield and the dry matter partitioning in the grain-filling period (GFP). This hypothesis was tested in 2013, 2014, and 2015. A two-factorial experiment with three rates of magnesium (0, 25, 50 kg ha−1) and four stages of Mg foliar fertilization (without, BBCH 30, 49/50, two-stage) was carried out. Plant material collected at BBCH: 58, 79, 89 was divided into leaves, stems, ears, chaff, and grain. The wheat yield increased by 0.5 and 0.7 t ha−1 in response to the soil and foliar Mg application. The interaction of both systems gave + 0.9 t ha−1. The Mg application affected the grain yield by increasing grain density (GD), wheat biomass at the onset of wheat flowering, durability of leaves in GFP, and share of remobilized dry matter (REQ) in the grain yield. The current photosynthesis accounted for 66% and the REQ for 34%. The soil-applied Mg increased the REQ share in the grain yield to over 50% in 2014 and 2015. The highest yield is possible, but provided a sufficiently high GD, and a balanced share of both assimilate sources in the grain yield during the maturation phase of wheat growth.

Oilseed Rape Yield Performance in the Clearfield® System under Varying Management Intensities

Oilseed rape production is under pressure due to a limited availability of herbicides. Therefore, the performance in terms of management intensity (MI) and herbicide strategy (HS) and the involved yield formation was evaluated in a two-year Clearfield® oilseed rape field experiment. Furthermore, weed density and weed composition were also investigated. The variants of MI were standard sowing density (StS; seed rate: 50 seeds m−2, primary tillage: plow, row width: 12 cm), reduced sowing density (RD; seed rate: 25 seeds m−2, primary tillage: plow, row width: 50 cm), and strip-till (ST; seed rate: 25 seeds m−2, primary tillage: strip tillage, row width: 50 cm). The variants of HS were preemergence strategy (PES; application of dimethachlor, napropamide, clomazone in preemergence and application of prapaquizafop in postemergence) and Clearfield® strategy (CLS; application of imazamox, quinmerac in preemergence, no postemergence herbicide application). In the first year of the trial, there were no interactions between the factors in terms of grain yield. Grain yield in StS was 3.85 t and 5.2% significantly lower than in ST, and the value of RD was not significantly different from StS and ST. Grain yield in CLS was 3.7 t and 2.7% lower than in PES. In the second year of the trial, the grain yield in ST CLS was significantly lower, and there were no significant differences between the other variants. Higher weed emergence was observed in CLS RD (2.7 to 4 times higher weed density compared to PES RD) and CLS ST (2.8 to 4.5 times higher weed density compared to PES ST). No significant differences existed between StS PES and StS CLS in both trial years. The Clearfield® system offers significant advantages in the control of cruciferous weeds. Although these did not occur on the trial fields, the Clearfield® system in this study showed to be an alternative to the more common pre-emergence system, especially with regard to the parameter grain yield.

Yield formation by winter wheat as affected by sowing time

Исследование выполнено в 2019 и 2020 годах в зоне неустойчивого увлажнения Ставропольского края. Цель работы — изучить влияние сроков посева на рост, развитие, формирование урожайности и качества зерна озимой пшеницы (сорт Безостая 100). Схема опыта включала следующие варианты: 1) посев в III декаде сентября; 2) посев в I декаде октября; 3) посев во II декаде октября; 4) посев в III декаде октября. Изменение климата достаточно сильно сказывается на сроках посева. В условиях зоны неустойчивого увлажнения оптимальным сроком является III декада сентября. Высокий температурный режим при посеве в III декаде сентября способствовал быстрому прохождению фазы кущения, и к моменту ухода в зиму у 70% посевов наблюдалось перерастание, отдельные экземпляры растений озимой пшеницы перешли в фазу выхода в трубку, что повлияло на процесс протекания стадии закалки растений и зимостойкость в целом. В варианте с поздним сроком сева (в III декаде октября) растения не успели раскуститься и в зиму ушли в фазе двух-трёх листьев, что также повлияло на устойчивость растений к неблагоприятным факторам в период перезимовки. Растения озимой пшеницы, посеянные в I и II декадах октября, раскустились и ушли в зиму в фазе одного-трёх побегов, что обеспечило хороший процент перезимовавших растений. Проведённые исследования показали, что в среднем за 2 года наибольшая урожайность получена в вариантах с посевом в I и II декадах октября, при этом прибавка относительно оптимального срока посева составила 1,3–1,91 т/га. Разница между оптимальным сроком и посевом в III декаде октября составила 0,37 т/га. При этом наблюдалось снижение количества белка на 2,1%. При ранних сроках посева получено зерно III класса, тогда как при поздних сроках качество соответствовало IV классу. The investigation was conducted in the dry zone of the Stavropol region in 2019 and 2020. The aim was to analyze the effect of sowing time on winter wheat growth, development, productivity and grain quality (variety “Bezostaya 100“). The experiment included the following variants: 1) sowing in late September; 2) in early October; 3) in II decade of October; 4) in late October. Climate change significantly affects sowing time. Late September is considered to be an optimal sowing time under dry weather. High temperature in late September ensured active tillering stage. By winter 70% of plants grew too much, some of them were at shooting stage which influenced winter hardiness in general. Sown in late October plants did not reach their tillering stage which also affected their resistance to unfavorable conditions. Plants seeded in I and II decades of October were able to reach the tillering stage and effectively overwintered at the phase of 1–3 shoots. The highest productivity occured when seeding in I and II decades of October, yield increase amounted to 1.3–1.91 t ha-1. The difference in yield amounted to 0.37 t ha-1 between the optimal time and seeding in late October. Protein content dropped by 2.1%. Early sowing resulted in grain of III grade, while late seeding — IV grade.

Boll characteristics and yield of cotton in relation to the canopy microclimate under varying plant densities in an arid area

Planting density affects crop microclimate and intra-plant competition, playing an important role on yield formation and resource use, especially in areas where the cotton is grown at relatively high plant densities in Xinjiang, China. However, more studies are needed to examine how the change in planting density affects the microclimate factors such as the fraction of light intercepted (FLI), air temperature(T) and relative humidity (RH) within different canopy layers, which in turn affect the boll number per plant (BNF), boll number per unit area (BNA), boll weight (BW), and boll-setting rate (BSR) at fruiting branch (FB) positions FB1–3, FB4–6, and FB≥7 in cotton. To quantify the relationships between boll characteristics, yield, and microclimate factors, we conducted a 2-year field experiment in 2019–2020 in Xinjiang with six plant densities: 9 (P1), 12 (P2), 15 (P3), 18 (P4), 21 (P5), and 24 (P6) plants m−2. With each three plants m−2 increase in density, the average FLI and RH across different canopy layers increased by 0.37 and 2.04%, respectively, whereas T decreased by 0.64 °C. The BNF at FB≥ 7, FB4–6, and FB1–3 decreased by 0.82, 0.33, and 0.5, respectively. The highest BNA was observed in the upper and middle layers in the P4 treatment and in the lowest canopy layer with the P5. The highest BW was measured in the middle canopy layer for P3, and the highest BSR was measured in the lower layer for P3. Plant density exhibited linear or quadratic relationships with FLI, T, and RH. Microclimate factors mainly affected the boll number in each layer, but had no significant effects on the BW in any layer or the BSR in the middle and lower layers. Cotton yield was non-linearly related to plant density. The 2-year maximum yield was achieved at a plant density of 21 plants m−2, but the yield increase compared to the yield with a density of 18 plants m−2was only 0.28%. Thus, we suggest that the optimal plant density for drip-irrigated cotton in Xinjiang is 18 plants m−2, which could help farmers grow machine-harvested cotton.

Photosynthetic activity of wheat - wheatgrass hybrids and winter wheat under salinization

Wheat is considered to be one the most important crop on Earth. Wheat-wheatgrass hybrids are the promising gene donors for further breedingprocrss. The parameters of photosynthetic activity are the key factor of crop yield formation. Based on the parameters of photosynthetic activity, the most resistant to salinization hybrids of PPG and wheat were identified. The structure of the photosynthetic apparatus of wheat plants and wheat-wheatgrass hybrids under the salinization is described.

Influence of basic tillage systems on economic efficiency of soybean cultivation

Soybeans have become widespread in the world crop production as a valuable oilseed and high-protein crop with a unique biochemical composition. In the Russia in 2015-2019 annually there is an increase in acreage, yield and gross yield of soybeans. The research purpose is to substantiate the most effective system of basic soil cultivation during the soybeans cultivation in the Samara region. The research tasks included: to study the peculiarities of the soybeans yield formation depending on the main tillage systems, to evaluate the economic efficiency of the main tillage systems. It was found that the basic tillage system provided the best conditions for the formation of the soybean in 2018-2019. Thus, the highest yield was obtained in the variant with plowing by 20-22 cm and amounted to 14.9 cwt/ha, the lowest in the variant without autumn mechanical tillage - 10.1 cwt/ha. The calculation showed that the soybeans cultivation in all variants was effective. Direct costs in the soybeans cultivation varied according to the studied options from 15879.28 rubles/ha to 17767.34 rubles/ha, the cost price - from 1192.4 rubles/cwt to 1572.2 rubles/cwt. The basic tillage system with elements of minimization reduced direct costs, however, due to the lower yield, the highest net income was obtained in the variant with plowing by 20-22 cm and amounted to 19482.7 rubles/ha, with a profitability of 109.7%.

BARLEY YIELDING CAPACITY INDICES BY PRE-SOWING SEED TREATMENT WITH BIOLOGICAL PREPARATIONS

The use of high-quality seeds in the production process of cropgrowing is one of the main criteria for obtaining a good harvest. The research goal is to study the effect of pre-sowing seed treatment with biological preparations on barley yield formation under the conditions of the Altai Re-gion’s Ob River area. The research was carried out in 2019 and 2020 in the Altai Region’s Ob River area. The research target was the Vorsinskiy barley variety and the biological preparations used for pre-sowing seed treatment. The ex-periment included 10 variants; of those 4 variants using biological preparations obtained based on processed agri-cultural and woodworking wastes, and top peat processed by autohydrolysis-explosion. The control consisted in seed treatment with distilled water. The results obtained showed that the use of biological preparations in barley cultivation had a positive effect on the final result -crop yield. The average results over two years of testing showed a wide range of yield variations in the experiment variants. The yield values varied from 2.15 t ha in the Variant no. 8 to 2.82 t ha in the Variant no. 5; the control -2.60 t ha. The yield value in the Variant no. 5 with the use of top peat preparation was the maximum in the experiment. On aver-age, over two years of research, the variability in the vari-ants was from the medium of 10% < Cv < 20% in the Vari-ants no. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 to high Cv > 20% -Variants no. 6, 8, 9, 10. The maximum positive effect on the yield formation of the Vorsinskiy barley variety is exerted by pre-sowing seed treatment with the preparations based of plant residues (sunflower husk, oat chaff -Variants no. 3, 4), woodworking wastes (pine needles -Variant no. 2) and top peat (Variant no. 5) processed by autohydrolysis explosion.