Current Situation of Introduction and Use of African Crop Germplasm Resources and Recommendations

Africa is the origin center of many crops. It is rich in original ecological resources, especially special resources which are excellent materials for breeding research. With acceleration of commercial seeds in agriculture of African countries, some original ecological resources are disappearing. Through experience of introduction of African varieties in recent years, it analyzed current situation of introduction and use of African crop germplasm resources. Finally, it came up with recommendations for rescuing and taking full advantage of excellent African resources, solving difficult problem restricting crop breeding, enriching China’s crop germplasm bank, and improving China’s and African crop breeding level and innovation ability

An Analysis on the Heat Resistance of Rice Germplasm Resources during Flowering Period

56 Chinese rice core germplasm resources, 18 foreign rice germplasm resources and 6 restorer lines are subjected to high temperature stress during flowering period. Based on relative spikelet fertility rate, rice heat resistance is evaluated. The results show that different resistance to high temperature exists in different varieties, and 6 new rice varieties present high heat resistance

Survey and Analysis of Vegetable Germplasm Resources in Hubei Province

Based on the general survey of crop germplasm resources in Hubei Province, the third survey and collection of crop germplasm resources was conducted in 199 villages of 19 counties (cities/districts) of Hubei Province during 2015-2017. A total of 1 072 accessions of vegetables were collected. The taxonomy, distribution, agronomic traits and preservation of the vegetable germplasm resources, as well as the main vegetable resources and characteristic resources in the 19 counties (cities/districts) were analyzed. The results showed that the local vegetable landraces cover 26 families. Hong'an County, Zhongxiang City, Gucheng County, Nanzhang County and Yuan'an County have more vegetable landraces than other counties (cities/districts). The local landraces are characterized by good quality, strong resistance and tolerance to barrenness, but most of them are distributed in remote areas with low purity, low yield and serious threat of degradation. The local vegetable landraces are mostly preserved by some well-educated elder farmers. The vegetable cultivars of Cruciferae, Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Liliaceae and Leguminosae account for 71.46% of the total vegetable resources. The characteristic vegetable resources such as pearl flower (Staghylea bumalda DC.), scallion (Allium paepalanthoides) and elephant-foot yam (Amorphophallus spp.) are scattered in the mountainous areas of Hubei Province. This study can provide reference for the protection and utilization of local resources of vegetables in Hubei Province

MFI zeolite coating with intrazeolitic aluminum (acidic) gradient supported on SiC foams to improve the methanol-to-propylene (MTP) reaction

To hinder the deactivation and improve the propylene selectivity in the methanol-to-propylene (MTP) reaction, MFI coating with the intrazeolitic aluminum (acidic) gradient supported on SiC foam support (G-MFI/SiC foam) was proposed. The solid polycrystalline silicon was used in the synthesis of G-MFI/SiC foam catalyst provided a prolonged release of silica nutrient in the liquid phase and suppressed the precipitation phenomena. The resulting MFI coating showed the aluminum gradient along the surface normal direction of SiC foams with ZSM-5 layer (about 20 μm) near the SiC surface followed by the silicalite-1 layer (about 10 μm). The alumina (acidic) gradient in the MFI coating renders a passive outer layer of silicalite-1 with fairly large amount of weak and medium acid sites prevented the coke formation as well as promoted the selectivity to propylene in the MTP reaction. Compared to the conventional ZSM-5/SiC foam catalyst, the G-MFI/SiC foam catalyst showed excellent performance in the MTP reaction with good catalytic longevity (8 h vs. 76 h for >95% methanol conversion) and low coke deposition (6.7 × 10−3 wt.% h−1vs. 0.26 wt.% h−1), as well as high propylene selectivity (ca. 36% vs. 46%)

Isobaric Tags for Relative and Absolute Quantitation-Based Proteomics Analysis Revealed Proteins Involved in Drought Response during the Germination Stage in Faba Bean

The faba bean, a significant cool-season edible legume crop, is susceptible to drought during the germination stage. Research regarding the genetic regulation of drought tolerance throughout this stage in the faba bean is limited. The differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in faba beans between the drought-tolerant variety C105 and the drought-sensitive variant E1 during seed germination were identified in this work, accomplished through isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) analysis. A total of 3827 proteins were identified in the two varieties of germinating seeds. Compared to those of variety E1, an increase in 108 DEPs and a decrease in 61 DEPs were observed in variety C105 under drought. Conversely, in the control group, variety C105 showed 108 significantly upregulated DEPs and 55 significantly downregulated DEPs. GO and KEGG analyses showed that the DEPs associated with glutathione metabolism and protein processing demonstrated significant increases in response to drought stress. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis unveiled three closely connected functional modules of protein translation, DNA replication, and post-translational modification, originating from 22 DEPs derived from the germination period of two varieties under drought stress. To verify the proteomic function, we selected three differentially expressed protein coding genes, which were overexpressed or silenced in tobacco, thereby enhancing the drought resistance of tobacco. This was accompanied via altered levels of superoxide dismutase or peroxidase in transgenic plants under drought stress. The possible mechanism for drought tolerance in germinating seeds of faba bean involves increasing protein translation, decreasing DNA replication, and modifying chromatin. These findings offer invaluable insights into the reaction mechanism in response to drought stress in faba beans. The identified DEPs could be utilized in faba bean breeding initiatives to manage drought

Catalytic Decomposition of Nitrogen Oxides by Bimetallic Catalysts Synthesized by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Technology

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a common greenhouse gas and urgent need to be contained. Direct catalytic decomposition of N2O by high activity catalyst into N2 and O2 is a low-cost and harmless method. Bimetallic catalysts show good catalytic activity in many classes of reactions, and plasma technologies, applied to prepare of catalyst, are considered to be a promising method. In our contribution, DBD cold plasma is applied to synthesize Rhodium and Cobalt bimetallic catalysts for catalytic N2O decomposition. The influence of cobalt and rhodium content on N2O decomposition activity shows that the optimal amount of metal is determined as 5wt. % cobalt and 0.5wt. % rhodium loaded on Al2O3. The best working voltage is determined as 18kV. The results indicated that the Rh/Al2O3 catalysts prepared by atmospheric-pressure DBD cold plasma showed smaller size and high dispersion of Rh particles, so that the metal-support interaction and the catalytic activity are enhanced. Atmospheric-pressure DBD cold plasma is proved to be an environmentally friendly and efficient method for preparing high performance Rhodium and Cobalt bimetallic catalysts for catalytic N2O decomposition

Catalytic Decomposition of Nitrogen Oxides by Bimetallic Catalysts Synthesized by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Technology

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a common greenhouse gas and urgent need to be contained. Direct catalytic decomposition of N2O by high activity catalyst into N2 and O2 is a low-cost and harmless method. Bimetallic catalysts show good catalytic activity in many classes of reactions, and plasma technologies, applied to prepare of catalyst, are considered to be a promising method. In our contribution, DBD cold plasma is applied to synthesize Rhodium and Cobalt bimetallic catalysts for catalytic N2O decomposition. The influence of cobalt and rhodium content on N2O decomposition activity shows that the optimal amount of metal is determined as 5wt. % cobalt and 0.5wt. % rhodium loaded on Al2O3. The best working voltage is determined as 18kV. The results indicated that the Rh/Al2O3 catalysts prepared by atmospheric-pressure DBD cold plasma showed smaller size and high dispersion of Rh particles, so that the metal-support interaction and the catalytic activity are enhanced. Atmospheric-pressure DBD cold plasma is proved to be an environmentally friendly and efficient method for preparing high performance Rhodium and Cobalt bimetallic catalysts for catalytic N2O decomposition

Transcriptome analysis reveals defense-related genes and pathways against Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.).

Bacterial spot (BS), incited by Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria (Xcv), is one of the most serious diseases of pepper. For a comparative analysis of defense responses to Xcv infection, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of a susceptible cultivar, ECW, and a resistant cultivar, VI037601, using the HiSeqTM 2500 sequencing platform. Approximately 120.23 G clean bases were generated from 18 libraries. From the libraries generated, a total of 38,269 expressed genes containing 11,714 novel genes and 11,232 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that the most noticeable pathways were plant-pathogen interaction, MAPK signaling pathway-plant, plant hormone signal transduction and secondary metabolisms. 1,599 potentially defense-related genes linked to pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), calcium signaling, and transcription factors may regulate pepper resistance to Xcv. Moreover, after Xcv inoculation, 364 DEGs differentially expressed only in VI037601 and 852 genes in both ECW and VI037601. Many of those genes were classified as NBS-LRR genes, oxidoreductase gene, WRKY and NAC transcription factors, and they were mainly involved in metabolic process, response to stimulus and biological regulation pathways. Quantitative RT-PCR of sixteen selected DEGs further validated the RNA-seq differential gene expression analysis. Our results will provide a valuable resource for understanding the molecular mechanisms of pepper resistance to Xcv infection and improving pepper resistance cultivars against Xcv