Heterogeneous population distribution enhances resistance to wheat lodging by optimizing the light environment

Lodging is still the key factor that limits continuous increases in wheat yields today,because the mechanical strength of culms is reduced due to low-light stress in populations under high-yield cultivation.The mechanical properties of the culm are mainly determined by lignin,which is affected by the light environment.However,little is known about whether the light environment can be sufficiently improved by changing the population distribution to inhibit culm lodging.Therefore,in this study,we used the wheat cultivar“Xinong 979”to establish a low-density homogeneous distribution treatment(LD),high-density homogeneous distribution treatment(HD),and high-density heterogeneous distribution treatment(HD-h)to study the regulatory effects and mechanism responsible for differences in the lodging resistance of wheat culms under different population distributions.Compared with LD,HD significantly reduced the light transmittance in the middle and basal layers of the canopy,the net photosynthetic rate in the middle and lower leaves of plants,the accumulation of lignin in the culm,and the breaking resistance of the culm,and thus the lodging index values increased significantly,with lodging rates of 67.5%in 2020–2021 and 59.3%in 2021–2022.Under HD-h,the light transmittance and other indicators in the middle and basal canopy layers were significantly higher than those under HD,and the lodging index decreased to the point that no lodging occurred.Compared with LD,the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-Lyase(PAL),4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase(4CL),catechol-O-methyltransferase(COMT),and cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase(CAD)in the lignin synthesis pathway were significantly reduced in the culms under HD during the critical period for culm formation,and the relative expression levels of TaPAL,Ta4CL,TaCOMT,and TaCAD were significantly downregulated.However,the activities of lignin synthesis-related enzymes and their gene expression levels were significantly increased under HD-h compared with HD.A partial least squares path modeling analysis found significant positive effects between the canopy light environment,the photosynthetic capacity of the middle and lower leaves of plants,lignin synthesis and accumulation,and lodging resistance in the culms.Thus,under conventional high-density planting,the risk of wheat lodging was significantly higher.Accordingly,the canopy light environment can be optimized by changing the heterogeneity of the population distribution to improve the photosynthetic capacity of the middle and lower leaves of plants,promote lignin accumulation in the culm,and enhance lodging resistance in wheat.These findings provide a basis for understanding the mechanism responsible for the lower mechanical strength of the culm under high-yield wheat cultivation,and a theoretical basis and for developing technical measures to enhance lodging resistance.

Can soil organic carbon sequestration and the carbon management index be improved by changing the film mulching methods in the semiarid region?

Plastic film mulching has been widely used to increase maize yield in the semiarid area of China.However, whether long-term plastic film mulching is conducive to agricultural sustainability in this region remains controversial.A field experiment was initiated in 2013 with five different film mulching methods:(i) control method, flat planting without mulching (CK),(ii) flat planting with half film mulching (P),(iii) film mulching on ridges and planting in narrow furrows(S),(iv) full film mulching on double ridges (D), and (v) film mulching on ridges and planting in wide furrows (R).The effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) content, storage, and fractions, and on the carbon management index (CMI)were evaluated after nine consecutive years of plastic film mulching.The results showed that long-term plastic film mulching generally maintained the initial SOC level.Compared with no mulching, plastic film mulching increased the average crop yield, biomass yield, and root biomass by 48.38, 35.06, and 37.32%, respectively, which led to the improvement of SOC sequestration.Specifically, plastic film mulching significantly improved CMI, and increased the SOC content by 13.59%, SOC storage by 7.47%and easily oxidizable organic carbon (EOC) by 13.78%on average,but it reduced the other labile fractions.SOC sequestration and CMI were improved by refining the plastic film mulching methods.The S treatment had the best effect among the four mulching methods, so it can be used as a reasonable film mulching method for sustainable agricultural development in the semiarid area.

Dual-ion hybrid supercapacitor:Integration of Li-ion hybrid supercapacitor and dual-ion battery realized by porous graphitic carbon

Lithium-ion hybrid supercapacitors(Li-HSCs) and dual-ion batteries(DIBs) are two types of energy storage devices that have attracted extensive research interest in recent years. Li-HSCs and DIBs have similarities in device structure, tendency for ion migration, and energy storage mechanisms at the negative electrode. However, these devices have differences in energy storage mechanisms and working potentials at the positive electrode. Here, we first realize the integration of a Li-HSC and a DIB to form a dual-ion hybrid supercapacitor(DIHSC), by employing mesocarbon microbead(MCMB)-based porous graphitic carbon(PGC) with a partially graphitized structure and porous structure as a positive electrode material. The MCMB-PGC-based DIHSC exhibits a novel dual-ion battery-capacitor hybrid mechanism: it exhibits excellent electronic double-layer capacitor(EDLC) behavior like a Li-HSC in the low-middle wide potential range and anion intercalation/de-intercalation behavior like a DIB in the high-potential range. Two types of mechanisms are observed in the electrochemical characterization process, and the energy density of the new DIHSC is significantly increased.

The de novo genome assembly of Tapiscia sinensis and the transcriptomic and developmental bases of androdioecy

Tapiscia sinensis(Tapisciaceae)possesses an unusual androdioecious breeding system that has attracted considerable interest from evolutionary biologists.Key aspects of T.sinensis biology,including its biogeography,genomics,and sexlinked genes,are unknown.Here,we report the first de novo assembly of the genome of T.sinensis.The genome size was 410 Mb,with 22,251 predicted genes.Based on whole-genome resequencing of 55 trees from 10 locations,an analysis of population genetic structure indicated that T.sinensis has fragmented into five lineages,with low intrapopulation genetic diversity and little gene flow among populations.By comparing whole-genome scans of male versus hermaphroditic pools,we identified 303 candidate sex-linked genes,79 of which(25.9%)were located on scaffold 25.A 24-kb region was absent in hermaphroditic individuals,and five genes in that region,TsF-box4,TsF-box10,TsF-box13,TsSUT1,and TsSUT4,showed expression differences between mature male and hermaphroditic flowers.The results of this study shed light on the breeding system evolution and conservation genetics of the Tapisciaceae.

Single-atomic Zn-(C/N/O)lithiophilic sites induced stable lithium plating/stripping in anode-free lithium metal battery

For anode-free lithium metal battery,lithiophilic surface modification on the current collector can effectively reduce the lithium nucleation barrier,so as to regulate the electrodeposition of lithium.Here,atomically dispersed Zn-(C/N/O)lithiophilic sites in the amorphous carbon medium were introduced onto Cu by an in-situ induced ion coordination chemistry strategy to get the modified Zn@NC@RGO@Cu current collector.X-ray absorption spectroscopy(XAS)combined with scanning transmission electron microscopy in high angle annular dark field(STEM-HAADF)analysis proved the single atomic state of the zinc sites surrounded by C,N,and O with a coordination number of~3.According to the electrochemical tests and first principle calculations,the ultra-uniformly dispersed Zn-(C/N/O)sites at the atomic level can effectively improve the lithium affinity,reduce the energy barrier for lithium nucleation,homogenize the lithium nucleation,and enhance an inorganic lithium compounds rich solid electrolyte interphase layer.As a result,the nucleation overpotential of lithium on the modified current collector was reduced to 7.7 mV,which was 5.4 times lower than that on bare Cu.Uniform lithium nucleation and deposition enabled stable Li plating/stripping and elevated Coulombic efficiency of 98.95%in Li||Cu cell after>850 cycles.Capacity retention of 89.7%was successfully achieved in the anode-free lithium metal battery after 100 cycles.

Sparse Representation for Face Recognition Based on Constraint Sampling and Face Alignment

Sparse Representation based Classification （SRC） has emerged as a new paradigm for solving recognition problems. This paper presents a constraint sampling feature extraction method that improves the SRC recognition rate. The method combines texture and shape features to significantly improve the recognition rate. Tests show that the combined constraint sampling and facial alignment achieves very high recognition accuracy on both the AR face database （99.52%） and the CAS-PEAL face database （99.54%）.