Development of colchicine‐induced tetraploid St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) lines

St. Augustinegrass is well suited for lawns and commercial landscapes. While many genotypes are cross‐fertile, all cultivars are propagated vegetatively in sod production. To ensure varietal purity, development of sterile triploid hybrids by crossing tetraploid and diploid genotypes has been successfully used in other warm‐season turfgrasses. Applying this model in St. Augustinegrass would be beneficial to sod producers and turf managers who require purity for certification and uniformity for performance, respectively. This study was conducted to develop colchicine‐induced tetraploid lines of St. Augustinegrass. Seeds of cultivar ‘Raleigh’ were treated with four colchicine concentrations at four exposure times. A non‐treated control was included among the treatments. Seedlings that germinated were screened for genome size changes using flow cytometry. Line DSA 13005 and two progeny lines derived through selfing, DSA 16001 and DSA 16016, were corroborated as tetraploids (2n = 4x = 36) through chromosome counts. These lines will be used in future breeding efforts to attempt development of sterile triploid cultivars of St. Augustinegrass.     

夏季养猪企业关切的繁殖问题调查

当前养猪业进入困难时期，企业运营成本高企。炎热的夏季，种猪繁殖问题较为突出，再加上非洲猪瘟直接或者间接的原因，行业内母猪整体繁殖水平低下。团队近期对53家不同区域、不同规模、不同生产模式的养猪企业进行了调研，发现公猪问题、后备猪问题和哺乳期管理是当前猪场最为关心的3个问题。     

苗后除草剂喷施时期对杂草防治及冬油菜产量和品质的影响

为了探究苗后除草剂不同施用时期对北方冬油菜田间杂草的防控效果及其对冬油菜生长、产量和品质的影响,以当地主栽甘蓝型冬油菜天油2266和白菜型冬油菜天油H614为试验材料,选用对冬油菜安全的苗后除草剂高效氟吡甲禾灵,设置4个喷施时期处理,于2018-2019年开展大田试验。结果表明,越冬后不同时期喷施苗后除草剂,甘蓝型冬油菜田间杂草总数较对照减少57.54%~92.56%,杂草总鲜重较对照降低75.40%~97.48%,第2时期（3月25日）处理产量较对照增加354.50kg/hm²;白菜型冬油菜田间杂草株防效和鲜重防效分别为55.91%~92.02%和37.17%~97.46%,产量较对照增加2.29%~16.77%。因此,在冬油菜大量返青但未封行前施用苗后除草剂,可显著防控田间杂草并增加冬油菜籽粒产量。     

The efficiency of nitrogen in cattle manures when applied to a double‐annual forage cropping system

The use of cattle manure (CM) for fertilization presents challenges for optimizing nitrogen (N) use. Our work aimed to assess N efficiencies, in a 6‐year experiment with three biennial rotations of four crops: oat–sorghum (first year) and ryegrass–maize (second year) in a rainfed humid Mediterranean area of Spain. Fertilization treatments included the following: control (no N), 250 kg mineral N ha^?1 year^?1 (250MN), three CM rates (supplying 170, 250 and 500 kg N ha^?1 year^?1) and four treatments where the two lowest CM rates were complemented with either 80 or 160 kg mineral N ha^?1 year^?1. Treatments were distributed randomly in each of three blocks. Maximum dry‐matter yield (~44–49 t ha^?1 rotation^?1) was achieved in the third rotation, and only the control and the 170CM yielded significantly less. Within the limitations of the EU Nitrate Directive, the N steady state supply of 170CM always requires a complement of mineral N (80 kg N ha^?1) to maximize N agronomic efficiency. The maximum N‐fertilizer replacement value (250CM vs. 250MN) was 0·67, without significant differences between the two treatments in other N‐related efficiency indexes, which indicates that plants took advantage of residual‐N effects. Nitrogen losses by leaching in the 250CM treatment were around 5–7% of the N applied. This reinforces the sustainability of manure recycling in long cropping seasons.     

Spatio-temporal pattern evolution and spatial spillover effect of green development efficiency: Evidence from Shandong Province,China

Improving green development efficiency is urgently required, yet challenging, since it comprehensively reflects the bidirectional evolutionary relationship between regional development and resource and environmental consumption. The issue of regional green development efficiency has become a key topic; however, where the increase in efficiency originates and its spatial spillover effect remains unclear to date. Therefore, the spatial spillover effect of the green development efficiency of Shandong Province was quantified through the slack variable (SBM)-Undesirable and Spatial Durbin model. The green development efficiency showed clear spatial differentiation in Shandong Province. This was more obvious than the polarized development trend of the provincial capital circle that has Jinan at its core and the eastern coastal region with Qingdao at its core. Green development efficiency has a significant spatial spillover effect. The regression coefficient of the direct effect of the economic development level is positive. The regression coefficient of the indirect effect of the marketization level and government financial support level is negative. Science and technology played a positive role in the promotion of the green development efficiency of local and neighboring cities. This study contributes empirical evidence to the green development efficiency associated with regional development and resource and environment consumption of Shandong Province.     

Getting cosy in freshwater: Assumed to be brackish pike are not so brackish after all

Pike (Esox lucius) occupy coastal streams and rivers of the Baltic Sea, where they attain large sizes (>5 kg). These large sizes are perhaps due to the fact that they can tolerate relatively high salinities and can thus forage in the nearby more productive brackish environments. In an attempt to quantify the extent to which pike utilise brackish environments, and to provide some insight into the underlying causes for brackish water migrations, we tagged 30 pike from a western Baltic river with acoustic transmitters and were able to track 21 individuals for 1 year. Based on experienced from local anglers, this population was assumed to be brackish in nature, where individuals underwent freshwater migrations to spawn. Our findings however suggest that the smallest and most active individuals make short exits into brackish waters and do so on rare occasions. Our results further indicate that neither sex nor size is related to activity level. We suggest that these patterns reflect two distinct behaviours—active and passive—and that large pike can be supported by the food availability in the river, without the need to venture into coastal zones, thus defying the conventional view that Baltic pike are all brackish in nature.     

Whitened kernel surface: A fast and reliable method for assessing Fusarium severity on cereal grains by digital picture analysis

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a cereal disease of major importance responsible for yield losses and mycotoxin contaminations in grains. Here, we introduce a new measurement approach to quantify FHB severity on grains based on the evaluation of the whitened kernel surface (WKS) using digital image analysis. The applicability of WKS was assessed on two bread wheat and one triticale grain sample sets (265 samples). Pearson correlation coefficients between Fusarium‐damaged kernels (FDK) and WKS range from r = 0.77 to r = 0.81 and from r = 0.61 to r = 0.86 for the correlation between deoxynivalenol (DON) content and WKS. This new scoring method facilitates fast and reliable assessment of the resistance to kernel infection and shows significant correlation with mycotoxin content. WKS can be automated and does not suffer from the “human factor” inherent to visual scorings. As a low‐cost and fast approach, this method appears particularly attractive for breeding and genetic analysis of FHB resistance where typically large numbers of experimental lines need to be evaluated, and for which WKS is suggested as an alternative to visual FDK scorings.     

浅谈陆地棉杂种二代利用

棉花杂种优势利用是提高棉花产量主要途径之一。研究表明，一些陆地棉F₂仍具有明显的产量杂种优势，种子成本低廉的F2具有潜在的应用前景。本文综述了陆地棉F₂杂种优势遗传基础、优势表现以及目前生产上出现的问题，并从育种层面提出了有针对性的解决对策。