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Crop Stress Tolerance and Green Production: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary...
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Crop Stress Tolerance and Green Production: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of Northwest A&F University

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 September 2024 | Viewed by 4348

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xiaoping Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: wheat stripe rust; epidemiology, monitoring and integrated management of crop fungal diseases
Prof. Dr. Mingjun Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: fruit quality; sugar metabolism and accumulation in both source and sink; phloem loading and transport; malate metabolism and accumulation; carbon-nitrogen interaction; nutrient uptake and metabolism; molecular physiology of abiotic and biotic stress tolerance and biotechnology of fruit crops with emphasis on apple and kiwifruit
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Dong Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: plant physiology; plant nutrition; crop sciences; high-yield cultivation; wheat; nitrogen; water use efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Xiaojun Nie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: plant genomics; evolutionary genomics; molecular mechanism underlying abiotic stresses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Dilantha Fernando

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
Interests: canola and wheat pathology; epidemiology of plant pathogens; evolution/genetic variation of fungal pathogens; biological control of plant diseases; breeding for disease resistance microbial; ecology and microbial interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Northwest A&F University (NWAFU) is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2024, originating from National Northwest Junior College of Agriculture and Forestry founded in 1934, which was the earliest institution of higher agriculture and forestry education in northwest China. NWAFU is a key national agricultural university directly under the administration of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and is supported by the national “Project 985” and “Project 211” of China as well as selected as one of the universities listed in the National “World-Class University and First-class Discipline” Project.

Since its establishment, Northwest A&F University has always shouldered the mission of providing theoretical and technical support for the sustainable development of agriculture in arid areas, focusing on the scientific and technical issues of sustainable development of agriculture in arid areas. It owned the significant characteristics and advantages in many research field, including crop genetic breeding and pest control, water and soil conservation and ecological restoration, efficient water use for agriculture in arid areas, breeding and cultivation of economic fruits, breeding and healthy breeding of livestock and poultry, agricultural biotechnology, agricultural engineering, grape and wine, making huge contributions to promoting the social development of arid areas and the modernization of agriculture in China. Now, it has been become agricultural university with the most complete disciplines of agriculture, forestry and hydrology in China. Agricultural science, plant and animal science and material science rank among the top 1‰ all over the world. It has achieved more than 6000 scientific research achievements in total, such as wheat variety “Bima No. 1” with the largest cumulative promotion area in the world, wild-cross hybrid wheat variety “Xiaoyan 6”, which has long dominated the wheat variety replacement in China, and the excellent apple variety “Qinguan”, which has the larges cultivation area in China.

In recognition of these achievements, Plants is planning a dedicated Special Issue entitled “Crop Stress Tolerance and Green Production: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of Northwest A&F University”. This Special Issue is soliciting contributions from people currently engaged in plant science research at the NWAFU, as well as distinguished alumni and anyone participating in collaborations with the NWAFU. Both original research papers and comprehensive literature reviews with unique scientific insights are welcome

Prof. Dr. Xiaoping Hu
Prof. Dr. Mingjun Li
Prof. Dr. Dong Wang
Prof. Dr. Xiaojun Nie
Prof. Dr. Dilantha Fernando
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • stress tolerance
  • green production
  • crop genetic breeding
  • pest control
  • efficient water use
  • yield improvement
  • crop quality

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2976 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Drought Tolerant Quantitative Trait Loci in Spring Wheat
by Zhong Wang, Xiangjun Lai, Chunsheng Wang, Hongmei Yang, Zihui Liu, Zheru Fan, Jianfeng Li, Hongzhi Zhang, Manshuang Liu and Yueqiang Zhang
Plants 2024, 13(6), 898; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13060898 - 21 Mar 2024
Viewed by 612
Abstract
Drought-induced stress poses a significant challenge to wheat throughout its growth, underscoring the importance of identifying drought-stable quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for enhancing grain yield. Here, we evaluated 18 yield-related agronomic and physiological traits, along with their drought tolerance indices, in a recombinant [...] Read more.
Drought-induced stress poses a significant challenge to wheat throughout its growth, underscoring the importance of identifying drought-stable quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for enhancing grain yield. Here, we evaluated 18 yield-related agronomic and physiological traits, along with their drought tolerance indices, in a recombinant inbred line population derived from the XC7 × XC21 cross. These evaluations were conducted under both non-stress and drought-stress conditions. Drought stress significantly reduced grain weight per spike and grain yield per plot. Genotyping the recombinant inbred line population using the wheat 90K single nucleotide polymorphism array resulted in the identification of 131 QTLs associated with the 18 traits. Drought stress also exerted negative impacts on grain formation and filling, directly leading to reductions in grain weight per spike and grain yield per plot. Among the identified QTLs, 43 were specifically associated with drought tolerance across the 18 traits, with 6 showing direct linkages to drought tolerance in wheat. These results provide valuable insights into the genetic mechanisms governing wheat growth and development, as well as the traits contributing to the drought tolerance index. Moreover, they serve as a theoretical foundation for the development of new wheat cultivars having exceptional drought tolerance and high yield potentials under both drought-prone and drought-free conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Stress Tolerance and Green Production: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of Northwest A&F University)
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14 pages, 3480 KiB  
Article
Comparative Transcriptomics Uncovers Upstream Factors Regulating BnFAD3 Expression and Affecting Linolenic Acid Biosynthesis in Yellow-Seeded Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)
by Xiao-Yu Chen, Hao-Xue Wu, Xiao-Han Zhang, Rong-Hao Guo, Kang Li, Yong-Li Fu, Zhen Huang, Ai-Xia Xu, Jun-Gang Dong and Cheng-Yu Yu
Plants 2024, 13(6), 760; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13060760 - 07 Mar 2024
Viewed by 676
Abstract
α-Linolenic acid (ALA) is an important nutrient component in rapeseed oil, and rapeseed breeders want to either restrain or enhance the function of fatty acid desaturases (FADs) in the ALA biosynthesis pathway. To determine the reason for the upregulation of rapeseed BnFAD genes [...] Read more.
α-Linolenic acid (ALA) is an important nutrient component in rapeseed oil, and rapeseed breeders want to either restrain or enhance the function of fatty acid desaturases (FADs) in the ALA biosynthesis pathway. To determine the reason for the upregulation of rapeseed BnFAD genes in two high-ALA accessions, R8Q10 and YH25005, we compared their transcriptome profiles in the seed at 24 days after pollination (DAP) with those of two low-ALA lines, A28 and SW. The expression levels of twenty-eight important genes in the seed samples at 20, 27, and 34 DAP were also investigated using an RT-qPCR. The expression levels of genes involved in flavonoid and proanthocyanidin synthesis, including BnCHS, BnCHI, BnDFR, BnFLS1, BnLDOX, BnBAN, BnTT10, and BnTT12 and genes encoding the transcription factors BnTT1, BnTT2, BnTT8, and BnTT16 were lower in R8Q10 and YH25005 than in A28 and SW. The expression levels of genes encoding master transcription factors in embryo development, such as BnLEC1, BnABI3, BnFUS3, BnL1L, BnAREB3, and BnbZIP67, were elevated significantly in the two high-ALA accessions. Combined with previous results in the Arabidopsis and rapeseed literature, we speculated that the yellow-seededness genes could elevate the activity of BnLEC1, BnABI3, BnFUS3, and BnbZIP67, etc., by reducing the expression levels of several transparent testa homologs, resulting in BnFAD3 and BnFAD7 upregulation and the acceleration of ALA synthesis. Yellow-seededness is a favorable factor to promote ALA synthesis in the two high-ALA accessions with the yellow-seeded trait. These findings provide initial insights into the transcriptomic differences between high-/low-ALA germplasms and a theoretic basis for seed quality breeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Stress Tolerance and Green Production: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of Northwest A&F University)
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17 pages, 3048 KiB  
Article
Multivariate Analysis Compares and Evaluates Heat Tolerance of Potato Germplasm
by Sujie Zhang, Han Ye, Lingshuang Kong, Xiaoyu Li, Yeqing Chen, Shipeng Wang and Bailin Liu
Plants 2024, 13(1), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010142 - 04 Jan 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1313
Abstract
High temperature is the most important environmental factor limiting potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yield. The tuber yield has been used to evaluate the heat tolerance of some potato cultivars, but potato yield was closely correlated with the maturation period. Therefore, it is [...] Read more.
High temperature is the most important environmental factor limiting potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yield. The tuber yield has been used to evaluate the heat tolerance of some potato cultivars, but potato yield was closely correlated with the maturation period. Therefore, it is necessary to employ different parameters to comprehensively analyze and evaluate potato tolerance to heat stress. This study aimed to investigate physiologic changes during growth and development, and develop accurate heat tolerance evaluation methods of potato cultivars under heat stress. About 93 cultivars (including foreign elite lines, local landraces and cultivars) were screened using an in vitro tuber-inducing system (continuous darkness and 8% sucrose in the culture medium) under heat stress (30 °C) and normal (22 °C) conditions for 30 days. The tuber yield and number decreased significantly under heat stress compared to the control. A total of 42 cultivars were initially selected depending on tuber formation, after in vitro screening, further testing of selected cultivars was conducted in ex vitro conditions. The screened cultivars were further exposed to heat stress (35 °C/28 °C, day/night) for 60 days. Heat stress led to an increase in the plant height growth rate, fourth internode growth rate, and membrane damage, and due to heat-induced damage to chloroplasts, decrease in chlorophyll biosynthesis and photosynthetic efficiency. Three principal components were extracted by principal component analysis. Correlation and regression analysis showed that heat tolerance is positively correlated with the plant height growth rate, fourth internode growth rate, the content of chlorophyll b, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, tuber number, and tuber yield, and negatively correlated with the cell membrane injury level. The nine traits are accurate and representative indicators for evaluating potato tolerance to heat stress and could determine a relatively high mean forecast accuracy of 100.0% for the comprehensive evaluation value. Through cluster analysis and screening, cultivar FA, D73, and C132 had the highest heat comprehensive evaluation value, which could be further selected as heat-resistant varieties. This study provides insights into the different physiological mechanisms and accurate evaluation methods of potato cultivars under heat stress, which could be valuable for further research and breeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Stress Tolerance and Green Production: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of Northwest A&F University)
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17 pages, 4408 KiB  
Article
Identification of the Maize LEA Gene Family and Its Relationship with Kernel Dehydration
by Yaping Zhang, Xiaojun Zhang, Liangjia Zhu, Lexin Wang, Hao Zhang, Xinghua Zhang, Shutu Xu and Jiquan Xue
Plants 2023, 12(21), 3674; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12213674 - 25 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 916
Abstract
Maize, the most widely planted and highest yielding of the three major crops in the world, requires the development and breeding of new varieties to accommodate the shift towards mechanized harvesting. However, the moisture content of kernels during harvest poses a significant challenge [...] Read more.
Maize, the most widely planted and highest yielding of the three major crops in the world, requires the development and breeding of new varieties to accommodate the shift towards mechanized harvesting. However, the moisture content of kernels during harvest poses a significant challenge to mechanized harvesting, leading to seed breakage and increased storage costs. Previous studies highlighted the importance of LEA (Late Embryogenesis Abundant) members in regulating kernel dehydration. In this study, we aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the LEA family and grain dehydration in maize. Through expression pattern analysis of maize, we identified 52 LEA genes (ZmLEAs) distributed across 10 chromosomes, organized into seven subgroups based on phylogenetic analysis, gene structure, and conserved motifs. Evolutionary and selective pressure analysis revealed that the amplification of ZmLEA genes primarily resulted from whole-genome or fragment replication events, with strong purifying selection effects during evolution. Furthermore, the transcriptome data of kernels of two maize inbred lines with varying dehydration rates at different developmental stages showed that 14 ZmLEA genes were expressed differentially in the two inbreds. This suggested that the ZmLEA genes might participate in regulating the kernel dehydration rate (KDR) in maize. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of the ZmLEA family and provides a foundation for further research into its role in regulating genes associated with grain dehydration in maize. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Stress Tolerance and Green Production: Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of Northwest A&F University)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

1. Applying Artificial Intelligence in Canola Pest Management
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