Consensus linkage map construction and QTL mapping for eight yield-related traits in wheat using the BAAFS Wheat 90K SNP array

Identifying stable quantitative trait loci(QTLs)for yield-related traits across populations and environments is crucial for wheat breeding and genetic studies.Consensus maps also play important roles in wheat genetic and genomic research.In the present study,a wheat consensus map was constructed using a doubled haploid(DH)population derived from Jinghua 1×Xiaobaidongmai(JX),an F_(2)population derived from L43×Shanxibaimai(LS)and the BAAFS Wheat 90K SNP array single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)array.A total of 44,503 SNP markers were mapped on the constructed consensus map,and they covered 5,437.92 cM across 21 chromosomes.The consensus map showed high collinearity with the individual maps and the wheat reference genome IWGSC RefSeq v2.1.Phenotypic data on eight yield-related traits were collected in the JX population,as well as the F_(2:3)and F_(2:4)populations of LS,in six,two and two environments,respectively,and those data were used for QTL analysis.Inclusive composite interval mapping(ICIM)identified 32 environmentally stable QTLs for the eight yield-related traits.Among them,four QTLs(QPH.baafs-4B,QKNS.baafs-4B,QTGW.baafs-4B,and QSL.baafs-5A.3)were detected across mapping populations and environments,and nine stable QTLs(qKL.baafs-1D,QPH.baafs-2B,QKNS.baafs-3D,QSL.baafs-3D,QKW.baafs-4B,QPH.baafs-5D,QPH.baafs-6A.1,QSL.baafs-6A,and QSL.baafs-6D)are likely to be new.The physical region of 17.25–44.91 Mb on chromosome 4B was associated with six yield-related traits,so it is an important region for wheat yield.The physical region around the dwarfing gene Rht24 contained QTLs for kernel length(KL),kernel width(KW),spike length(SL),and thousand-grain weight(TGW),which are either from a pleiotropic effect of Rht24 or closely linked loci.For the stable QTLs,254 promising candidate genes were identified.Among them,TraesCS5A03G1264300,TraesCS1B03G0624000 and TraesCS6A03G0697000 are particularly noteworthy since their homologous genes have similar functions for the corresponding traits.The constructed consensus map and the identified QTLs along with their candidate genes will facilitate the genetic dissection of wheat yield-related traits and accelerate the development of wheat cultivars with desirable plant morphology and high yield.

RITSD Analysis of the Agronomic Traits of Somaclonal in Rice

[Objective]The aim was to study the sensitive response characteristics of the main agronomic traits of somaclonal and the variation of sensitive response of the lines of somaclonal to sowing date. [Method]The RITSD changing of agronomic traits was studied by using 24 rice somaclonal and its donor parent under two sowing dates. [Result]The average values of RITSD were higher （over one） for the traits of pant height （PH）,density of spikelets （DS）,filled spikelets per panicle （FSP）,spikelets per panicle （SP） and grain weight per plant （GWP）,but lower for days of sowing to heading （DSH）,effective panicles （EP）,panicle length （PL）,seed setting rate （SS） and 1 000-grain weight （1 000-GW）. These showed that PH,DS,FSP,SP and GWP were easily affected by sowing date and tended to higher with the later sowing; the RITSD of somaclonal changed with the agronomic traits. The frequency of RITSD＇ variation of DSH and PH was higher than that of PL. The RITSD＇ value of EP,PL,DS,FSP,SP and SS became higher,and higher or lower for DSH and GWP in different somaclonal; compared with the donor,20 of 24 was significantly different,and the frequency of RITSD variation was over 83. 3%,however,RITSD of the most lines （75%） changed only for 1-2 characters; cluster analysis showed that the RITSD of agronomic traits belonged to different combinations of somaclonal in rice. [Conclusion]the study had provided a theoretical basis for the screening and using of the somaclonal.

Analysis of Correlation between Yield and Quality Traits of Quality Hybrid Rapeseed

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the correlation between yield and quality traits of rape. [Method] Taking ＂Sanbei 98＂ and ＂Youyan 599＂ as ex- periment materials, correlation between yield and quality traits of Brassica napus L. cultivars was explored by orthogonal rotation method. [Result] The results showed that： 1 In both the two varieties-Sanbei98 and Youyan599, erucic acid content had the largest coefficient of variation, but its average content was lower than 2% in both the two varieties （0.90% in Sanbei98 and 1.24% in Youyan599）, and the palmitic acid content had the smallest coefficient of variation. 2 In terms of the dif- ferences in quality traits at different yield levels, only the mean of eicosenoic acid content revealed significant difference in Sanbei98, and only the mean of seed-pro- tein content revealed significant difference in Youyan599, and there was no signifi- cant difference in any combined quality traits in both the two varieties. 3 The yield was negatively correlated with the erucic acid content or oil content, and posi- tively correlated with the content of seed-protein, linoleic acid, or linolenic acid, and the coefficient of correlation between the yield and either of the contents of glucosi- nolates, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and eicosenoic acid was smaller. ~, when the yield of a variety increased considerably, there was a certain decreasing trend in erucic acid content, oil content, the total amount of erucic chain fatty acids （El ＆ Er）, while there was an increasing trend in seed-protein content, linoleic acid content, linolenic acid content, saturated fatty acids （SFA）, the total amount of fat and protein （P ＆ F）, unsaturation index （IUFA）, unsaturated fatty acids （UFA）, the total amount of 18 carbon fatty acids （18-C FA）, unsaturated fatty acids [UFA/（Ei ＆ Er） ], and the sum of oleic acid and linoleic acid （OI ＆ Li）. 5 When the seed-pro- tein content is increased, the quality of rape oil cake is also improved; when the unsaturated index is increased, the oil stability is decreased. The increase in the total amount of unsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid and linoleic acid helps to increase in the total amount of fatty acids absorbed by human bodies. [Conclusion] This study provides a theoretical foundation for the cultivation of high-yielding and top- quality hybrid rape cultivars.

Identification of Faba Bean(Vicia faba L.)Germplasm Resources in Hubei Province and Evaluation on Their Main Agronomic Traits

Through field observation and lab analysis, 13 agronomic traits, including plant height and effective branching number per plant, etc., of 207 faba bean （Vicia faba L.） germplasms saved in Crop Middle-term Genebank of Hubei Province were evaluated, moreover, the identification on the disease resistance and the quality was carried out on parts of germplasm resources. The results showed that the faba beangermplasm resources in Hubei Province were abundant, the variation range of agronomic traits like the growth period, plant height and 100-bean weight, etc., was great, and the range of choice was wide. In the aspect of quality, there were 9 germplasms withthe content of crude protein higher than 30%, and the variation range of amylose content in total starch was large, which provided excellent sources of parents for breedinq hi.qh-quality faba bean varieties in Hubei Province.

Effects of Aphelenchoides besseyi Infection on Yield Traits of Different Rice Varieties (Lines)

[Objective] This study aimed to reveal the effects of Aphelenchoides besseyi infection on different rice varieties（lines）.[Method] By field observation and indoor phenotypic investigation,four conventional japonica rice varieties（lines） and japonica rice restorer line R161 under natural onset conditions were observed and analyzed.[Result] After being infected by A.besseyi,different rice varieties（lines）exhibited various symptoms.Specifically,Ning 1707,Ning 1818,Zhendao 88 and Nanjing 9108 had withered leaf tips and exhibited the symptoms of ＂small grains and erect panicles＂;japonica rice restorer line R161 only had withered leaf tips without symptoms of ＂small grains and erect panicles＂,and the withering symptoms occurred in flag leaf tip,whole flag leaf and top second leaf,respectively.After being infected by A.besseyi,all the experimental materials could sprout normally,but their plant height,panicle length,seed-setting rate and 1 000-grain weight were affected to varying degrees.In addition,after being infected by A.besseyi,various symptomatic tissues of R161 exerted different effects on rice yield.Especially,panicles with withered and twisted whole flag leaf were most affected.[Conclusion] This study provided the basis for further exploration of the damages of A.besseyi infection to rice and development of corresponding control measures.

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer Management on Biological Traits and Physiological Indexes at Seedling Stage and Yield of Directly-sown Rapeseed(Brassica napus L.)

Field experiments were carried out to study the effects of different nitroge- napplication rates and application times on biological traits and physiological indexes of directly-sown rapeseed （Brassica napus L.） at the seedling stage and investigate the relationship between these biological traits or physiological indexes at the seedling stage and yield, so as to provide scientific theoretical support for high yield and efficient fertilization management in production of winter rapeseed. Field trials were conducted in Chengdu plain of Sichuan Province under rice-rapeseed rotation system during the period of 2011-2012. The nitrogen application rate trial consisted of five nitrogen levels （0, 90, 180, 270 and 360 kg/hm2） and the nitrogen application time trial included NTl（single application as base fertilized）, NT2 （bottom application ＋one time of topdressing at seedling stage） and NT3 （bottom application＋two times of topdressing at seedling stage） under the same nitrogen rate （225 kg/hm2）. The results indicated that compared with no nitrogen application （NO） treatment, the in- crease of nitrogen fertilizer is beneficial to the increase of biological traits including plant height, green leaf number, leaf area index and dry weight of rapeseed at the seedling stage, the improvement of physiological indexes including total nitrogen content, chlorophyll content and soluble protein content of functional leaves, and the reduction of soluble sugar content. Nitrogen rate was linearly correlated with various biological traits at the seedling stage and physiological indexes including total nitro- gen content, chlorophyll content and soluble sugar content in functional leaves over- a/I, but in parabolic correlation with soluble protein content. Under the same nitrogen rate, NT2 treatment exhibited biological traits remarkably or significantly higher than NT1 treatment and NT3 treatment. The nitrogen application times were linearly cor- related with the physiological indexes of functional leaves at the seedling stage. The various biological traits and physiological index of functional leaves at the seedlings stage were in quadratic function parabolic correlation with seed yield, and the corre- lation was significant （P〈0.05）. Therefore, under the rice-rapeseed rotation system in Chengdu plain, the economic rational nitrogen rate is 180-225 kg/hm2, and the mode of bottom application ＋ one time of topdressing （NT2） is suitable.

Combining Ability Analysis of Panicle Traits in Six CIMMYT Maize Inbred Lines

In this study, six CIMMYT maize inbred lines and five representative do- mestic maize inbred lines were used as parental lines. By using incomplete diallel cross design, 30 hybrid combinations were developed to analyze the general com- bining ability （GCA）, specific combining ability （SCA） and total combining ability （TCA） of seven panicle traits in six CIMMYT maize inbred lines. The results showed that CIMBL98 and GEMS13 were excellent inbred lines with good compre- hensive performance; CIMBL98 × 340 and GEMS13×Chang 7-2 were superior combinations.

Analyse briève du trait de l'opérateur dans la structure des questions-wh entre l'anglais et le chinois

Dans cet article,nous parlerons du trait de l’opérateur-Q.Le mouvement du syntagme adverbial-wh est bloquépar le principe de Procrastination,et donc il reste in-situ.Puisque la Sous-jacence s’applique aussi en FL,le mouvement du syntagme adverbial-wh montre les effets d’lot.

甘蓝型黄籽油菜粒色基因候选区间的QTL-Seq定位及连锁标记开发

甘蓝型油菜黄籽性状遗传来源较为复杂且易受环境条件影响,基因定位和分子标记开发难度大.相比于传统QTL定位,结合二代深度测序等生信方法直接对甘蓝型油菜黄籽基因进行染色体定位、基因挖掘和标记开发,将有助于黄籽遗传机理的研究.利用甘蓝型油菜黄籽临保系63-2和黑籽67-1配制杂交组合,构建F 2粒色分离群体.遗传分析表明:该群体中黄籽性状受1对隐性主效基因控制;以法国甘蓝型油菜Darmor-bzh基因组为参考,利用集团分离分析法和全基因组重测序将黄籽性状基因定位于C03染色体6.1~9.0 Mb置信区间内,同时基于基因组变异和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳验证获得与粒色基因紧密连锁的SSR标记4个和InDel标记5个.

Effects of the Fhb1 gene on Fusarium head blight resistance and agronomic traits of winter wheat

The gene Fhb1 has been used in many countries to improve wheat Fusarium head blight(FHB) resistance. To make better use of this gene in the Yellow-Huai River Valleys Winter Wheat Zone(YHWZ), the most important wheat-producing region of China, it is desirable to elucidate its effects on FHB resistance and agronomic traits in different genetic backgrounds. Based on a diagnostic marker for Fhb1, six BC2 populations were developed by crossing dwarf-male-sterile(DMS)-Zhoumai 16 to three Fhb1 donors(Ningmai 9, Ningmai 13, and Jianyang 84) and backcrossing to Zhoumai 16 and Zhoumai16’s derivative cultivars(Lunxuan 136 and Lunxuan 13) using marker-assisted backcross breeding. The progenies were assessed for FHB resistance and major agronomic traits.The Fhb1 alleles were identified using the gene-specific molecular marker. The plants with the Fhb1-resistant genotype(Fhb1-R) in these populations showed significantly fewer infected spikelets than those with the Fhb1-susceptible genotype(Fhb1-S). When Lunxuan 136 was used as the recurrent parent, Fhb1-R plants showed significantly fewer infected spikelets per spike than Fhb1-R plants produced using Lunxuan 13 as the recurrent parent, indicating that the genetic backgrounds of Fhb1 influence the expression of FHB resistance. Fhb1-R plants from the DMS-Zhoumai 16/Ningmai 9//Zhoumai 16/3/Lunxuan 136 population showed the highest FHB resistance among the six populations and a significantly higher level of FHB resistance than the moderately susceptible control Huaimai 20. No significant phenotypic differences between Fhb1-R and Fhb1-S plants were observed for the eight agronomic traits investigated. These results suggest that it is feasible to improve FHB resistance of winter wheat withoutreducing yield potential by introgressing Fhb1 resistance allele into FHB-susceptible cultivars in the YHWZ.

Validation of qGSIO, a quantitative trait locus for grain size on the long arm of chromosome 10 in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Grain size is a major determinant of grain weight and a trait having important impact on grain quality in rice. The objective of this study is to detect QTLs for grain size in rice and identify important QTLs that have not been well characterized before. The QTL mapping was first performed using three recombinant inbred line populations derived from indica rice crosses Teqing/IRBB lines, Zhenshan 97/Milyang 46, Xieqingzao/Milyang 46. Fourteen QTLs for grain length and 10 QTLs for grain width were detected, including seven shared by two populations and 17 found in one population. Three of the seven com- mon QTLs were found to coincide in position with those that have been cloned and the four others remained to be clarified. One of them, qGSIO located in the interval RM6100-RM228 on the long arm of chromosome 10, was validated using F2：3 populations and near isogenic lines derived from residual heterozygotes for the interval RM6100-RM228. The QTL was found to have a considerable effect on grain size and grain weight, and a small effect on grain number. This region was also previously detected for quality traits in rice in a number of studies, providing a good candidate for functional analysis and breeding utilization.

Dissection of QTLs for Yield Traits on the Short Arm of Rice Chromosome 6

This study was undertaken to dissect quantitative trait loci （QTLs） controlling yield traits on the short arm of rice chromosome 6. A residual heterozygous line that carries a heterozygous segment extending from RM587 to RM19784 on the short arm of rice chromosome 6 was selected from an F7 population of the indica rice cross Zhenshan 97B/Milyang 46. An F2：3 population consisting of 221 lines was derived and grown in two trial sites. Six yield traits including number of panicles per plant, number of filled grains per panicle, total number of spikelets per panicle, spikelet fertility, 1 000-grain weight, and grain yield per plant were measured. An SSR marker linkage map was constructed and employed to determine QTLs for yield traits with Windows QTL Cartographer 2.5. QTLs were detected in the target interval for all the traits analyzed except NP, with phenotypic variance explained by a single QTL ranging between 6.3% and 35.2%. Most of the QTLs for yield components acted as additive QTLs, while the three QTLs for grain yield had dominance degrees of 1.65, 0.84, and -0.42, respectively. It was indicated that three or more QTLs for yield traits were located in the target region. The genetic action mode, the direction of the QTL effect, and the magnitude of the QTL effect varied among different QTLs for a given trait, and among QTLs for different traits that were located in the same interval.

Combining Ability and Genetic Effects of Germination Traits of Brassica napus L.Under Waterlogging Stress Condition

Cross combinations from six rapeseed cultivars and lines were evaluated under waterlogging stress condition in order to understand the genetic mechanism of waterlogging tolerance of Brassica napus L.and provide reasonable improvement programs.There were six germination traits investigated on combining ability and heritability using complete diallel crossing method designed for 30 combinations from those six cultivars and lines.The traits included relative root length,stem length,fresh weight per plant,survival rate,electrical conductivity,and vigor index.After flooding treatment,the six traits of parents and F1 were analyzed.The general combining ability（GCA） and special combining ability（SCA） of germination traits were analyzed using Griffing I method.Among 30 cross combinations,the GCA was significantly different among six waterlogging resistance traits.The SCA of these traits was significantly different except the SCA of electrical conductivity.As a representative trait of waterlogging tolerance in rapeseed,relative vigor index had the highest narrow heritability and relatively low broad heritability.The cultivars Zhongshuang 9 and P79 had higher tolerance potential to waterlogging stress.It can be concluded that combining ability and genetic effects of relative vigor index during germination stage could be used to identify the waterlogging tolerance of rapeseed in breeding program.

Growth traits and nitrogen assimilation-associated physiological parameters of wheat(Triticum aestivum L.) under low and high N conditions

In this study, 14 wheat cultivars with contrasting yield and N use efficiency （NUE） were used to investigate the agronomic and NUE-related traits, and the N assimilation-associated enzyme activities under low and high N conditions. Under deficient-N, the cultivars with high N uptake efficiency （UpE） and high N utilization efficiency （UtE） exhibited higher plant biomass, yields, and N contents than those with medium and low NUEs. The high UpE cultivars accumulated more N than other NUE type cultivars. Under sufficient-N, the tested cultivars showed similar patterns in biomass, yield, and N content to those under deficient-N, but the varietal variations in above traits were smaller. In addition, the high UpE cultivars displayed much more of root biomass and larger of root length, surface area, and volume than other NUE type cultivars, indicating that the root morphological traits under N deprivation are closely associated with the plant biomass through its improvement of the N acquisition. The high UtE cultivars showed higher activities of nitrate reductase （NR）, nitrite reductase （NIR）, and gluta- mine synthetase （GS） at stages of seediling, heading and filling than other NUE type cultivars under both low and high N conditions. Moreover, the high UpE and UtE cultivars also displayed higher photosynthetic rate under deficient-N than the medium and low NUE cultivars. Together, our results indicated that the tested wheat cultivars possess dramatically genetic variations in biomass, yield, and NUE. The root morphological traits and the N assimilation enzymatic acitivities play critical roles in regulating N accumulation and internal N translocation under the N-starvation stress, respectively. They can be used as morphological and biochemical references for evaluation of UpE and UtE in wheat.

Effect of Preplant Fertilizer on Agronomic and Physiological Traits of Soybean Cultivars from Different Breeding Programs

Understanding the changes in agronomic and physiological traits associated with yield genetic gain is important for soybean production and future breeding strategy. The objective of this study was to compare the older and modern cultivars to learn whether the yield improvements depend on preplant fertilizer or the plant productivity improvement, A set of older cultivars, with their modern counterparts derived from breeding programs in Liaoning and Ohio were evaluated for their agronomic and physiological traits under different fertilizer levels from 2004 to 2006. There was no improvement of response to N and P preplant fertilizer for genotypes. After more than 70 yr breeding, soybean breeders made some improvements in agronomic and physiological traits that contribute to yield increase. When compared to older cultivar, modern Liaoning and Ohio cultivars were shorter and more resistance to lodging, had greater leaf density, higher harvest index, more leaf area per plant, and greater photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance at the beginning of seed development. Ohio cultivars were more resistant to lodging as if selected for easy harvest by combine, even under high N and P preplant fertilizer level, which resulted in Ohio cultivars with higher and stable yield productivity.

Quantitative Trait Loci for Grain Chalkiness and Endosperm Transparency Detected in Three Recombinant Inbred Line Populations of Indica Rice

Quantitative trait loci（QTL） for percentage of chalky grain,degree of chalkiness,and endosperm transparency were detected using 3 recombinant inbred line populations derived from crosses between parental lines of commercial three-line hybrids of indica rice.Two of the populations showed great variations on heading date,and the other had a short range of heading date variation.A total of 40 QTLs were detected and fell into 15 regions of 10 chromosomes,of which 5 regions were detected for 1 or more same traits over different populations,2 were detected for different traits in different populations,3 were detected for 2 or all the 3 traits in a single population,and 5 were detected for a single trait in a single population.Most of these QTLs have been reported previously,but a region located on the long arm of chromosome 10 showing significant effects in all the 3 populations has not been reported before.It was shown that a number of gene cloned,including the Wx and Alk for the physiochemical property of rice grain,and GW2,GS3 and GW5 for grain weight and grain size,could have played important roles for the genetic control of grain chalkiness in rice,but there are many more QTLs exerting stable effects for rice chalkiness over different genetic backgrounds.It is worth paying more attentions to these regions which harbor QTL such as the qPCG5.2/qDC5.2/qET5.2 and qPCG10/qDC10/qET10 detected in our study.Our results also showed that the use of segregating populations having high-uniform heading date could greatly increase the efficiency of the identification of QTL responsible for traits that are subjected to great environmental influence.

QTL analysis of flag leaf in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) for morphological traits and chlorophyll content

To understand genetic patterns of the morphological and physiological traits in flag leaf of barley, a double haploid （DH） population derived from the parents Yerong and Franklin was used to determine quantitative trait loci （QTL） controlling length, width, length/width, and chlorophyll content of flag leaves. A total of 9 QTLs showing significantly additive effect were detected in 8 intervals on 5 chromosomes. The variation of individual QTL ranged from 1.9% to 20.2%. For chlorophyll content expressed as SPAD value, 4 QTLs were identified on chromosomes 2H, 3H and 6H; for leaf length and width, 2 QTLs located on chromosomes 5H and 7H, and 2 QTLs located on chromosome 5H were detected; and for length/width, I QTL was detected on chromosome 7H. The identification of these QTLs associated with the properties of flag leaf is useful for barley improvement in breeding programs.

Genetic Parameter Estimation of Reproductive Traits of Litopenaeus vannamei

In this study, the heritability, repeatability, phenotypic correlation, and genetic correlation of the reproductive and growth traits of L. vannamei were investigated and estimated. Eight traits of 385 shrimps from forty-two families, including the number of eggs(EN), number of nauplii(NN), egg diameter(ED), spawning frequency(SF), spawning success(SS), female body weight(BW) and body length(BL) at insemination, and condition factor(K), were measured,. A total of 519 spawning records including multiple spawning and 91 no spawning records were collected. The genetic parameters were estimated using an animal model, a multinomial logit model(for SF), and a sire-dam and probit model(for SS). Because there were repeated records, permanent environmental effects were included in the models. The heritability estimates for BW, BL, EN, NN, ED, SF, SS, and K were 0.49 ± 0.14, 0.51 ± 0.14, 0.12 ± 0.08, 0, 0.01 ± 0.04, 0.06 ± 0.06, 0.18 ± 0.07, and 0.10 ± 0.06, respectively. The genetic correlation was 0.99 ± 0.01 between BW and BL, 0.90 ± 0.19 between BW and EN, 0.22 ± 0.97 between BW and ED,-0.77 ± 1.14 between EN and ED, and-0.27 ± 0.36 between BW and K. The heritability of EN estimated without a covariate was 0.12 ± 0.08, and the genetic correlation was 0.90 ± 0.19 between BW and EN, indicating that improving BW may be used in selection programs to genetically improve the reproductive output of L. vannamei during the breeding. For EN, the data were also analyzed using body weight as a covariate(EN-2). The heritability of EN-2 was 0.03 ± 0.05, indicating that it is difficult to improve the reproductive output by genetic improvement. Furthermore, excessive pursuit of this selection is often at the expense of growth speed. Therefore, the selection of high-performance spawners using BW and SS may be an important strategy to improve nauplii production.

Assessing Adaptability of Planted Trees Using Leaf Traits: A Case Study with Robinia pseudoacacia L. in the Loess Plateau, China

Leaf trait patterns and their variations with climate are interpreted as an adaptive adjustment to environment.This study assessed the adaptability of planted black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) based on the analysis of leaf traits and the comparison of its leaf traits with inter-specific ones existing in the same area.We measured some water and N use related leaf traits: leaf dry mass per unit area (LMA) and N,P and K concentrations based on both leaf area (Narea,Parea and Karea) and leaf mass (Nmass,Pmass and Kmass) of R.pseudoacacia at 31 sites along a water stress gradient in North Shaanxi Province,China.The results show that leaves of R.pseudoacacia have high Nmass and low LMA in the study area.High Nmass and low LMA are usually representative of luxurious resource use,and will advance plant resource competitiveness in high-resource conditions.As a whole,LMA-nutrient relationships of R.pseudoacacia display patterns that are fairly similar to the inter-specific relationships in both direction and intensity.The tendency for LMA and Narea to increase with decreasing water availability and the positive correlation between LMA and Narea reflect the trend for R.pseudoacacia to enhance water use efficiency (WUE) at the expense of down-regulated photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE) and high construction cost in dry conditions.However,the positive relationship between LMA and Narea in high mean annual precipitation (MAP) area is either unremarkable or reversed with decreasing water availability.This implies a lower photosynthetic capacity and a higher construction cost for high-LMA leaves.The inter-specific relationship between LMA and Narea is positive and does not change with water availability.This difference between inter-species and intra-species may be due to more diversified anatomies and more specialised structures for inter-species than intra-species.The failure of R.pseudoacacia adaption to dry conditions reflected by LMA-Narea relationship may be partially responsible for the emergence of rampike and dwarf forms found frequently in dry conditions.Incorporating intrinsic characteristics of planted trees into vegetation restoration project will be instructive and meaningful for species selection.

Improvement of Yield and Its Related Traits for Backbone Hybrid Rice Parent Minghui 86 Using Advanced Backcross Breeding Strategies

How to overcome yield stagnation is a big challenge to rice breeders. An effective method for quickly developing new cultivars is to further improve an outstanding cultivar. In this study, three advanced backcross populations under yield selection that consist of 123 BC2F2：4 introgression lines （ILs） were developed by crossing Minghui 86 （recurrent parent, RP） with three high-yielding varieties （donors）, namely, ZDZ057, Fuhui 838, and Teqing, respectively. The progeny testing allowed the identification of 12 promising ILs that had significantly higher mean grain yields than Minghui 86 in two environments. A total of 55 QTLs that affect grain yield and its related traits were identified, which included 50 QTLs that were detected using the likelihood ratio test based on stepwise regression （RSTEP-LRT） method, and eight grain yield per plant （GY） QTLs were detected using ehi-squared （X2） test. Among these QTLs, five QTLs were simultaneously detected in different populations and 22 QTLs were detected in both environments. The beneficial donor alleles for increased GY and its related traits were identified in 63.6% （35 out of 55） of the QTLs. These promising ILs and QTLs identified will provide the elite breeding materials and genetic information for further improvement of the grain yield for Minghui 86 through pyramiding breeding.