How to enhance agricultural plastic waste management in China?Insights from public participation

Agricultural plastics play a pivotal role in agricultural production.However,due to expensive costs,agricultural plastic waste management(APWM)encounters a vast funding gap.As one of the crucial stakeholders,the public deserves to make appropriate efforts for APWM.Accordingly,identifying whether the public is willing to pay for APWM and clarifying the decisions’driving pathways to explore initiatives for promoting their payment intentions are essential to address the dilemma confronting APWM.To this end,by applying the extended theory of planned behavior(TPB),the study conducted an empirical analysis based on 1,288 residents from four provinces(autonomous regions)of northern China.Results illustrate that:1)respondents hold generally positive and relatively strong payment willingness towards APWM;2)respondents’attitude(AT),subjective norm(SN),and perceived behavioral control(PBC)are positively correlated with their payment intentions(INT);3)environmental cognition(EC)and environmental emotion(EE)positively moderate the relationships between AT and INT,and between SN and INT,posing significant indirect impacts on INT.The study’s implications extend to informing government policies,suggesting that multi-entity cooperation,specifically public payment for APWM,can enhance agricultural non-point waste management.

The wheat sucrose synthase gene TaSus1 is a determinant of grain number per spike

Some haplotypes of the sucrose synthase gene TaSus1 are associated with thousand-grain weight(TGW)in wheat(Triticum aestivum L.).However,no mutations have been identified within the gene to test this association.The effects of TaSus1 on grain number per spike(GNS)also are largely unknown.Our previous genome-wide association study identified TaSus-A1 as a candidate gene controlling fertile spikelet number per spike(FSN).In the present study,we generated two independent mutants for the three TaSus1 homoeologs by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing.The triple mutants displayed lower FSN,GNS,grain number per spikelet(GNST),and TGW than wild-type plants.In 306 hexaploid wheat accessions,two single-nucleotide polymorphisms in TaSus-A1 contributed differently to GNS.Introgression of the two alleles into a wheat genetic background confirmed their effects.The alleles differed in geographical distribution among the accessions.

Genetic basis of geographical differentiation,breeding selection,domestication effects,and breeding application for TaJAZ1 in wheat

Common wheat(Triticum aestivum L.,2n=6x=42,AABBDD)is one of the most widely grown crops worldwide,providing about 20%of the daily calories and protein consumed by humans(Shiferaw et al.,2013).The world population is projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050(https://www.un.org/en/desa/world-population-projectedreach-98-billion-2050-and-112-billion-2100);thus,to meet the challenges of global food and nutritional security,wheat yields must continue to be increased through breeding programs and improved agricultural techniques(Hunter et al.,2017).

Wheat speciation and adaptation:perspectives from reticulate evolution

Reticulate evolution through the interchanging of genetic components across organisms can impact significantly on the fitness and adaptation of species.Bread wheat(Triticum aestivum subsp.aestivum)is one of the most important crops in the world.Allopolyploid speci ation,frequent hybridization,extensive introgression,and occasional horizontal gene transfer(HGT)have been shaping a typical paradigm of reticulate evolution in bread wheat and its wild relatives,which is likely to have a sub-stantial influence on phenotypic traits and environmental adaptability of bread wheat.In this review,we outlined the evolutionary history of bread wheat and its wild relatives with a highlight on the interspecific hybridization events,demonstrating the reticulate relationship between species/sub-species in the genera Triticum and Aegilops.Furthermore,we discussed the genetic mechanisms and evolutionary significance underlying the introgression of bread wheat and its wild relatives.An in-depth understanding of the evolutionary process of Triticum species should be beneficial to future genetic study and breeding of bread wheat.

Genetic dissection of top three leaf traits in rice using progenies from a japonica × indica cross

The size of the top three leaves of rice plants is strongly associated with yield; thus, it is important to consider quantitative traits representing leaf size （e.g., length and width） when breeding novel rice varieties. It is challenging to measure such traits on a large scale in the field, and little is known about the genetic factors that determine the size of the top three leaves. In the present study, a population of recombinant inbred lines （RILs） and reciprocal single chromosomal segment substitution lines （SSSLs） derived from the progeny of a japonica Asominori x indica IR24 cross were grown under four diverse environmental conditions. Six morphological traits associated with leaf size were measured,namely length and width of the flag, second and third leaves. In the RIL population, 49 QTLs were identified that clustered in 30 genomic region. Twenty-three of these QTLs were confirmed in the SSSL population. A comparison with previously reported genes/QTLs revealed eight novel genomic regions that contained uncharacterized ORFs associated with leaf size. The QTLs identified in this study can be used for marker- assisted breeding and for fine mapping of novel genetic elements controlling leaf size in rice.