Epistasis-aware genome-wide association studies provide insights into the efficient breeding of high-yield and high-quality rice

Marker-assisted selection(MAS)and genomic selection(GS)breeding have greatly improved the efficiency of rice breeding.Due to the influences of epistasis and gene pleiotropy,ensuring the actual breeding effect of MAS and GS is still a difficult challenge to overcome.In this study,113 indica rice varieties(V)and their 565 testcross hybrids(TC)were used as the materials to investigate the genetic basis of 12 quality traits and nine agronomic traits.The original traits and general combining ability of the parents,as well as the original traits and midparent heterosis of TC,were subjected to genome-wide association analysis.In total,381 primary significantly associated loci(SAL)and 1,759 secondary SALs that had epistatic interactions with these primary SALs were detected.Among these loci,322 candidate genes located within or nearby the SALs were screened,204 of which were cloned genes.A total of 39 MAS molecular modules that are beneficial for trait improvement were identified by pyramiding the superior haplotypes of candidate genes and desirable epistatic alleles of the secondary SALs.All the SALs were used to construct genetic networks,in which 91 pleiotropic loci were investigated.Additionally,we estimated the accuracy of genomic prediction in the parent V and TC by incorporating either no SALs,primary SALs,secondary SALs or epistatic effect SALs as covariates.Although the prediction accuracies of the four models were generally not significantly different in the TC dataset,the incorporation of primary SALs,secondary SALs,and epistatic effect SALs significantly improved the prediction accuracies of 5(26%),3(16%),and 11(58%)traits in the V dataset,respectively.These results suggested that SALs and epistatic effect SALs identified based on an additive genotype can provide considerable predictive power for the parental lines.They also provide insights into the genetic basis of complex traits and valuable information for molecular breeding in rice.

Spatial Differentiation and Convergence Trend of High-quality Development Level of China’s Tourism Economy

This paper aims to interpret the connotation of high-quality development of tourism economy(HQTE)from the perspective of the new development concepts of innovation,coordination,green,openness and sharing,and then to evaluate the spatial differenti-ation of China’s HQTE based on provincial panel data from 2009 to 2018.Specifically,we employ the spatial convergence model to ex-plore the absolute and conditionalβconvergence trends of HQTE in the whole country and the eastern,central and western regions of China.Our empirical results reveal that:1)within the decade,from 2009 to 2018,regions of China with the highest HQTE index is its eastern region followed by the central region and then the western region,but the fastest growing one is the western region of China fol-lowed by the central region and then the eastern region.2)Whether or not the spatial effect is included,there are absolute and condition-alβconvergence in HQTE in the whole country and aforementioned three regions.3)The degree of government attention as well as the level of economic development and location accessibility are the positive driving factors for the convergence of HQTE in the whole country and the three regions.The degree of marketization and human capital have not passed the significance test either in the whole country or in the three regions.The above conclusions could deepen the understanding of the regional imbalance and spatial conver-gence characteristics of HQTE,clarify the primary development objects,and accomplish the goal of China’s HQTE.

Exploring Paths for the High-Quality Development of Forest-Based Wel ness Industry:A Case Study of Sichuan Province

The forest-based wellness industry,as a rapidly growing sector that integrates various business forms with extensive coverage and an extended industrial chain,is undergoing rapid development due to the increasing aging population and people's suboptimal health conditions.As a forerunner in developing the forest-based wellness industry,Sichuan province is known for its early development,proactive efforts,diverse models,and significant impact in this industry.It has achieved certain milestones in terms of top-level design,pilot demonstration,standardized guidance,and public awareness campaigns to promote the development of this industry.Therefore,this paper utilizes Sichuan as a case study to systematically summarize and analyze the key practices made by the province in promoting the rapid development of the industry by investigating the development trajectory of the forest-based wellness industry.Additionally,it examines the development trends of this industry from the perspectives of supply,demand,and consumption.Finally,this paper proposes several measures to facilitate the high-quality development of the forest-based wellness industry.These measures encompass nurturing specialized talent in forest-based wellness,enhancing market players'capabilities in this domain,conducting extensive research on technologies that promote this industry,actively seeking support from relevant policies,and promoting integrated development across diverse sectors.

The Impact of Digital Finance on High-Quality Development of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle

This paper developed a comprehensive evaluation system that was able to quantify the levels of high-quality development across the cities within the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle,and investigate the impact that digital finance had on the cities’high-quality development and the underlying mechanisms through which it achieved this.This comprehensive evaluation system was constructed using statistical data from these cities for the period 2014 to 2020 while also taking China’s high-quality development philosophy into account.The key findings revealed that:(a)Digital finance was able to significantly promote high-quality development in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle;(b)Digital finance had a significant positive effect in promoting innovative,coordinated,green,open,and shared development;(c)Digital finance was able to stimulate the high-quality development in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle by boosting entrepreneurial dynamism;(d)Digital finance had a significant impact on the high-quality development of the axis areas,while its impact was less discernible in non-axis areas.The insights from this research offer a deeper understanding of the factors that drive high-quality development,the role digital finance plays,and the mechanisms through which digital finance is able to propel high-quality development at the city cluster scale.

Data-Empowered High-Quality Economic Development: Mechanisms and Pathways

To achieve high-quality economic development,it is imperative to prioritize the real economy and foster new factors for economic growth.Data,as a new factor of production,plays a pivotal role in facilitating the seamless integration between digital technology and the real economy.It possesses inherent attributes and techno-economic characteristics that enable the extraction of value across various processes,including production,transaction,consumption,and regulatory supervision.The integration with digital technology enhances the productivity and efficiency of the real economy by facilitating service sector digitalization,accelerating the growth of the new real economy,and supporting the virtual economy in its role of serving the real economy.At present,unleashing the value of data is hindered by inadequate fundamental systems for the data,a lack of activity in the transaction market,and the underutilization of the data as a factor of production by enterprises in the real economy.Therefore,it is advised that data be fully utilized to develop the real economy through the four-pronged approach of“enhancing support for the high-quality provision of the data,expediting the integration of the data into the real economy,promoting the high-quality development of the real economy,and enhancing public service and governance systems”.

Thoughts on Pairing Assistance to Tibet for Promoting Agricultural High-quality Development in Southern Tibet from the Perspective of Agricultural Power

In the new era,there is an urgent need to further promote pairing assistance to Tibet,promote the simultaneous construction of a strong agriculture in Tibet and the China's Mainland,and compose a Chinese-style modernization.Southern Tibet,located in the southeastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region,includes Shannan City and Nyingchi City,is a region assisted by four provincial partners including Hubei Province.This paper introduces the agricultural environment in southern Tibet,studies its agricultural characteristics,and analyzes the main issues of its pairing assistance.Taking forging the strong consciousness of the Chinese national community as the main line,the paper explores strategies for promoting agricultural high-quality development in southern Tibet through pairing assistance to Tibet from the perspective of agricultural power,and proposes some strategies,such as inheriting agricultural cultural heritage,promoting the upgrading of modern seed industry,enhancing the characteristic advantages of highland barley(naked barley)and animal husbandry industries,and developing edible fungi and cold water fish industries.

Rice3K56 is a high-quality SNP array for genome-based genetic studies and breeding in rice(Oryza sativa L.)

Single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)genotyping arrays provide an optimal high-throughput platform for genetic research and molecular breeding programs in both animals and plants.In this study,a highquality and custom-designed Rice3K56 SNP array was developed with the resequencing data of 3024 rice accessions worldwide,which was then tested extensively in 192 representative rice samples.Printed on the Gene Titan chips of Affymetrix Axiom each containing 56,606 SNP markers,the Rice3K56 array has a high genotyping reliability(99.6%),high and uniform genome coverage(an average of 6.7-kb between adjacent SNPs),abundant polymorphic information and easy automation,compared with previously developed rice SNP arrays.When applied in rice varietal differentiation,population diversity analysis,gene mapping of 13 complex traits by a genome-wide association study analysis(GWAS),and genome selection experiments in a recombinant inbred line and a multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross populations,these properties of the Rice3K56 array were well demonstrated for its power and great potential to be a highly efficient tool for rice genetic research and genomic breeding.

High-quality Development of the Pearl River Night Tour in the Context of Deep Integration of Culture and Tourism

Urban night tourism is a new form of urban tourism development and an important driving force for the prosperity of urban night economy.As the most prestigious business card among many night tour projects in Guangzhou,the Pearl River water night tour has contributed to the development of Guangzhou s night economy,which cannot be underestimated.However,in the process of rapid development,there are also problems such as diversified operators,insufficient integration of intangible cultural elements,excessive commercial attributes,issues of tourism facilities and service facilities.Under the new stage of integrated development of culture and tourism,how to use mutual promotion of culture and tourism in the Pearl River night tour to seek innovative paths for high-quality development in the future is the main problem expected to be solved in this paper.Therefore,based on the perspective of culture and tourism integration,this paper analyzes the general situation and development status of the Pearl River night tour,and proposes five development strategies:the overall planning of culture and tourism integration,the deep integration of intangible cultural elements,the balance of commercial attributes and tourism attributes,the high integration of culture,business,tourism and education,and the creation of tourism atmosphere,in order to provide inspiration for the healthy,orderly and high-quality development of the Pearl River night tour.

Exploration of the Curriculum Reform Path in the Period of High-Quality Development of University Educational Psychology

The theoretical and applied characteristics of educational psychology courses in colleges and universities are prominent,and actively promoting curriculum reform is more conducive to promoting the implementation of talent training goals,which is in line with the practical needs of social development for high-quality talents.However,curriculum reform is a systematic project,which involves the innovation of curriculum content systems,teaching methods,teaching evaluations,and so on.This paper mainly expounds on the curriculum reform path in the period of high-quality development of educational psychology in colleges and universities,hoping to play a reference role in improving the level of education management.

Path Analysis of High-Quality Development of Regional Economy The Role and Impact of Industrial Policies

With China’s economic development entering a new normal,high-quality regional economic development has become an important goal of current economic development.As one of the important means to promote high-quality development of the regional economy,industrial policies are increasingly receiving attention in terms of their role and impact.This article mainly conducts an in-depth analysis of the mechanism and impact path of industrial policies,exploring the role and impact of industrial policies in promoting high-quality regional economic development.Firstly,industrial policies play an important role in promoting high-quality regional economic development.Secondly,the impact path of industrial policies on the high-quality development of the regional economy mainly includes promoting industrial structure upgrading,promoting technological innovation,guiding resource allocation,and enhancing enterprise competitiveness.Therefore,it is necessary to increase research and practice on industrial policies,continuously optimize policy measures,and promote high-quality development of the regional economy.

Green Finance Promotes High-Quality Development of Regional Economy

With the rapid development of the social economy,the role of green finance in promoting the high-quality development of regional economies is increasing day by day.The advancement of green finance not only aids in fostering the green transformation and upgrading of regional economies but also helps mitigate the risks of environmental damage stemming from traditional economic activities.In this new era,it is imperative to embrace the concept of green finance development and innovate green finance practices to further drive high-quality regional economic development.This paper will analyze the significance of green finance in regional economic development,assess the current state of green finance development,and propose optimization strategies for green finance to facilitate high-quality economic development.

A Probe into the High-Quality Development Path of China’s Financial Industry

Under the new economic normal,the financial industry plays an important role in the high-quality development of the national economy,which is conducive to promoting the development of a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics,improving the financial system,laying a good foundation for the“Internet+”economic development,and promoting the stability and prosperity of the market economy.China’s financial industry should be based on the new economic normal,strengthen the risk control of the financial industry,and ensure the stability of the financial market;Further improve the inclusive finance business,alleviate the capital problems of small and medium-sized enterprises,and activate the vitality of the financial industry;Promote fintech innovation,adapt to market changes and technological progress of The Times,and improve the comprehensive competitiveness of China’s financial industry;Improve the financial supervision system,strengthen the supervision of the financial industry,standardize the development of the financial industry,and promote the high-quality development of the financial industry.

Research on the Status Quo and High-Quality Development of Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education in China

Faced with unprecedented changes in the world,China has chosen to continue expanding its opening-up and actively cooperate with other countries.Internationalization of education is one of the important directions for the future development of universities.Since the reform and opening-up,a series of Sino-foreign cooperative education policies have been successively released,forming a relatively systematic and complete policy system.Under the promotion of policies,Chinese universities actively engage in Sino-foreign cooperative education,with increasingly frequent educational exchanges and a clear trend towards internationalization.The scale of Sino-foreign cooperative education is also constantly expanding.It is worthy to explore how to draw on advanced teaching experience from overseas,continue to promote Sino-foreign cooperative education,and improve the quality of Sino-foreign cooperative education.

Intellectual Property Protection and High-quality Development of Grape Industrial Clusters in Xinjiang

This paper introduced the grape industry in Xinjiang and its agricultural intellectual property resources,and analyzed six major problems such as the ineffective leading role of intellectual property rights in high-quality development.Finally,it proposed eight strategies to build a national-level regional fine-grain breeding base for grapes and develop“agricultural chips”in the context of the strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property and innovation-driven development strategy.

The underlying mechanism of variety–water–nitrogen–stubble damage interactions on yield formation in ratoon rice with low stubble height under mechanized harvesting

Agronomic measures are the key to promote the sustainable development of ratoon rice by reducing the damage from mechanical crushing to the residual stubble of the main crop, thereby mitigating the impact on axillary bud sprouting and yield formation in ratoon rice. This study used widely recommended conventional rice Jiafuzhan and hybrid rice Yongyou 2640 as the test materials to conduct a four-factor block design field experiment in a greenhouse of the experimental farm of Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, China from 2018 to 2019.The treatments included fertilization and no fertilization, alternate wetting and drying irrigation and continuous water flooding irrigation, and plots with and without artificial crushing damage on the rice stubble. At the same time, a 13C stable isotope in-situ detection technology was used to fertilize the pot experiment. The results showed significant interactions among varieties, water management, nitrogen application and stubble status.Relative to the long-term water flooding treatment, the treatment with sequential application of nitrogen fertilizer coupled with moderate field drought for root-vigor and tiller promotion before and after harvesting of the main crop, significantly improved the effective tillers from low position nodes. This in turn increased the effective panicles per plant and grains per panicle by reducing the influence of artificial crushing damage on rice stubble and achieving a high yield of the regenerated rice. Furthermore, the partitioning of 13C assimilates to the residual stubble and its axillary buds were significantly improved at the mature stage of the main crop, while the translocation rate to roots and rhizosphere soil was reduced at the later growth stage of ratooning season rice. This was triggered by the metabolism of hormones and polyamines at the stem base regulated by the interaction of water and fertilizer at this time. We therefore suggest that to achieve a high yield of ratoon rice with low stubble height under mechanized harvesting, the timely application of nitrogen fertilizer is fundamental,coupled with moderate field drying for root-vigor preservation and tiller promotion before and after the mechanical harvesting of the main crop.

Regulation of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline and grain quality in early-season indica fragrant rice by nitrogen and silicon fertilization under different plantation methods

Fragrant rice has a high market value,and it is a popular rice type among consumers owing to its pleasant flavor.Plantation methods,nitrogen(N)fertilizers,and silicon(Si)fertilizers can affect the grain yield and fragrance of fragrant rice.However,the core commercial rice production attributes,namely the head rice yield(HRY)and 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline(2-AP)content of fragrant rice,under various nitrogen and silicon(N-Si)fertilization levels and different plantation methods remain unknown.The field experiment in this study was performed in the early seasons of 2018 and 2019 with two popular indica fragrant rice cultivars(Yuxiangyouzhan and Xiangyaxiangzhan).They were grown under six N-Si fertilization treatments(combinations of two levels of Si fertilizer,0 kg Si ha^(−1)(Si0)and 150 kg Si ha^(−1)(Si1),and three levels of N fertilizer,0 kg N ha^(−1)(N0),150 kg N ha^(−1)(N1),and 220 kg N ha^(−1)(N2))and three plantation methods(artificial transplanting(AT),mechanical transplanting(MT),and mechanical direct-seeding(MD)).The results showed that the N-Si fertilization treatments and all the plantation methods significantly affected the HRY and 2-AP content and related parameters of the two different fragrant rice cultivars.Compared with the Si0N0 treatment,the N-Si fertilization treatments resulted in higher HRY and 2-AP contents.The rates of brown rice,milled rice,head rice,and chalky rice of the fragrant rice also improved with the N-Si fertilization treatments.The N-Si fertilization treatments increased the activities of N metabolism enzymes and the accumulation of N and Si in various parts of the fragrant rice,and affected their antioxidant response parameters.The key parameters for the HRY and 2-AP content were assessed by redundancy analysis.Furthermore,the structural equation model revealed that the Si and N accumulation levels indirectly affected the HRY by affecting the N metabolism enzyme activity,N use efficiency,and grain quality of fragrant rice.Moreover,high N and Si accumulation directly promoted the 2-AP content or affected the antioxidant response parameters and indirectly regulated 2-AP synthesis.The interactions of the MT method with the N-Si fertilization treatments varied in the fragrant rice cultivars in terms of the HRY and 2-AP content,whereas the MD method was beneficial to the 2-AP content in both fragrant rice cultivars under the N-Si fertilization treatments.

Fast charge transport motivated by tunable Mo2C/Mo2N high-quality heterointerface for superior pseudocapacitive storage

The development of potential transition-metal carbide/nitride heterojunctions is hindered by overall understanding and precise modulation for heterointerface effects.Herein,we demonstrate that Mo_(2)C/Mo_(2)N heterojunction with the precisely regulated high-quality interface can achieve marvelous rate performance and energy output via enlarging the interface-effect range and maximizing "accelerated charge" amount The heterointerface mechanism improving properties is synergistically revealed from kinetics and thermodynamics perspectives.Kinetics analysis confirms that the self-built electric field affords a robust force to drive rapid interface electrons/ions migration.The small adsorption energy,high density of states and quite low diffusion barrier thermodynamically enhance the electrochemical reaction dynamics on heterointerface.Consequently,the almost optimal performance of ultrahigh capacitance retention(85.6% even at 10 A g^(-1)) and pronounced energy output(96.4 Wh kg^(-1))in hybridsupercapacitors than other Mo_(2)C/Mo_(2)N-based materials is presented.This work gives new insight into the energy storage mechanism of heterojunction and guides the design of advanced electrodes.

A phenology-based vegetation index for improving ratoon rice mapping using harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 data

Ratoon rice,which refers to a second harvest of rice obtained from the regenerated tillers originating from the stubble of the first harvested crop,plays an important role in both food security and agroecology while requiring minimal agricultural inputs.However,accurately identifying ratoon rice crops is challenging due to the similarity of its spectral features with other rice cropping systems(e.g.,double rice).Moreover,images with a high spatiotemporal resolution are essential since ratoon rice is generally cultivated in fragmented croplands within regions that frequently exhibit cloudy and rainy weather.In this study,taking Qichun County in Hubei Province,China as an example,we developed a new phenology-based ratoon rice vegetation index(PRVI)for the purpose of ratoon rice mapping at a 30 m spatial resolution using a robust time series generated from Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2(HLS)images.The PRVI that incorporated the red,near-infrared,and shortwave infrared 1 bands was developed based on the analysis of spectro-phenological separability and feature selection.Based on actual field samples,the performance of the PRVI for ratoon rice mapping was carefully evaluated by comparing it to several vegetation indices,including normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI),enhanced vegetation index(EVI)and land surface water index(LSWI).The results suggested that the PRVI could sufficiently capture the specific characteristics of ratoon rice,leading to a favorable separability between ratoon rice and other land cover types.Furthermore,the PRVI showed the best performance for identifying ratoon rice in the phenological phases characterized by grain filling and harvesting to tillering of the ratoon crop(GHS-TS2),indicating that only several images are required to obtain an accurate ratoon rice map.Finally,the PRVI performed better than NDVI,EVI,LSWI and their combination at the GHS-TS2 stages,with producer's accuracy and user's accuracy of 92.22 and 89.30%,respectively.These results demonstrate that the proposed PRVI based on HLS data can effectively identify ratoon rice in fragmented croplands at crucial phenological stages,which is promising for identifying the earliest timing of ratoon rice planting and can provide a fundamental dataset for crop management activities.

Dynamic changes of rumen microbiota and serum metabolome revealed increases in meat quality and growth performances of sheep fed bio‑fermented rice straw

Background Providing high-quality roughage is crucial for improvement of ruminant production because it is an essential component of their feed.Our previous study showed that feeding bio-fermented rice straw(BF)improved the feed intake and weight gain of sheep.However,it remains unclear why feeding BF to sheep increased their feed intake and weight gain.Therefore,the purposes of this research were to investigate how the rumen micro-biota and serum metabolome are dynamically changing after feeding BF,as well as how their changes influence the feed intake,digestibility,nutrient transport,meat quality and growth performances of sheep.Twelve growing Hu sheep were allocated into 3 groups:alfalfa hay fed group(AH:positive control),rice straw fed group(RS:negative control)and BF fed group(BF:treatment).Samples of rumen content,blood,rumen epithelium,muscle,feed offered and refusals were collected for the subsequent analysis.Results Feeding BF changed the microbial community and rumen fermentation,particularly increasing(P<0.05)relative abundance of Prevotella and propionate production,and decreasing(P<0.05)enteric methane yield.The histomorphology(height,width,area and thickness)of rumen papillae and gene expression for carbohydrate trans-port(MCT1),tight junction(claudin-1,claudin-4),and cell proliferation(CDK4,Cyclin A2,Cyclin E1)were improved(P<0.05)in sheep fed BF.Additionally,serum metabolome was also dynamically changed,which led to up-regulating(P<0.05)the primary bile acid biosynthesis and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acid in sheep fed BF.As a result,the higher(P<0.05)feed intake,digestibility,growth rate,feed efficiency,meat quality and mono-unsaturated fatty acid concentration in muscle,and the lower(P<0.05)feed cost per kg of live weight were achieved by feeding BF.Conclusions Feeding BF improved the growth performances and meat quality of sheep and reduced their feed cost.Therefore,bio-fermentation of rice straw could be an innovative way for improving ruminant production with mini-mizing production costs.

Effects of High-Quality Aromatic Rice Varieties on the Fitness of the Striped Stem Borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker) in Central China

The striped stem borer （SSB）, Chilo suppressalis （Walker） （Lepidoptera： Pyralidae）, is a major pest of rice in China. Variation in host-plant quality may affect the body size of herbivorous insects, which in turn, can determine their life-history parameters such as survival, fecundity and fitness. In this study, we tested the effects of high-quality aromatic rice varieties on the fitness of SSB in China. Results showed that 1st instar larvae had higher penetrating rates and survival rates on the high-quality aromatic rice varieties （EX-1 and WX-988） than that on the non-aromatic rice varieties （EZ-5 and LYP-9）. In addition, shorter developmental periods, greater female pupal weights and higher of other life-history parameters （hatching rate, pupation rate, eclosion rate and increase index） were found on the high-quality aromatic rice varieties, although only female pupal weight showed a significant difference between the two varieties. The highest dead heart rate was found on the aromatic rice variety of EX-1. These results indicate that SSB sustains a lower fitness cost when consuming the high-quality aromatic rice varieties （EX-1 and WX-988） than on the non-aromatic rice varieties （EZ-5 and LYP-9） in Central China.