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The experiment was to study the allelopathic effect of alfalfa extract on seed germination of perennial ryegrass. The effect of five extracts (0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 g/L) from roots, stems and leaves of alfalfa wl-963-HQ on seed germination and seedling growth of perennial ryegrass were determined by Petri dish filter paper method. The results showed that the germination rate, germination potential, germination index and vigor index of the seeds decreased obviously with the increase of the concentration of the extracts from the roots, stems and leaves of alfalfa. The root and leaf extracts of alfalfa had a stronger inhibitory effect on the germination of perennial ryegrass seeds. When the concentration was 20.0 g/L, perennial ryegrass seeds could not germinate normally. Alfalfa extract had no inhibitory effect on root length and seedling height of perennial ryegrass seedlings, but had significant effect on seedling weight. The extracts from the roots, stems and leaves of alfalfa significantly decreased the chlorophyll content of perennial ryegrass seedlings (P<0.05), and the POD activity was significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, CAT activity of perennial ryegrass seedlings was significantly increased when the stem extract of alfalfa was 10.0 and 20.0 g/L (P<0.05). The study indicates that alfalfa extract has obvious allelopathy on perennial ryegrass, and reasonable row spacing was needed to reduce allelopathy when the two herbage are mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-coding RNAs play an important role in alfalfa growth and development, resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, and alfalfa miRNAs can also cross-kingdom regulate the development of cancer in animals. Over-expression of miR-156 can delay the flowering time of alfalfa by 3~5 d or more than 45 d in different genotypes, which could also reduce the fiber content of alfalfa. miR-169, miR-172, enod40, lncRNA PDIL1, etc. could be involved in regulating the root formation of alfalfa roots, besides, miR-395 and lncRNA TCONS_00020253 improve the salt tolerance of alfalfa. Alfalfa miR-5754 (mtr-miR-5754) could directly target MALAT1 to regulate cancer development and more. Therefore, studying the function of alfalfa non-coding RNAs could provide molecular basis for improving alfalfa bioproduction and cultivating new varieties. The paper reviews the formation, action modes and regulatory mechanisms of miRNA, lncRNA and circRNA in non-coding RNA on alfalfa growth and development (flowers, leaves, roots and seeds), biotic stress, abiotic stress (salt, drought, low temperature and metal ions), etc, which provides strategies for further research on related molecular mechanisms and lays a foundation for improving alfalfa quality and yield by using non-coding RNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alfalfa is a perennial herb with high yield and high quality. It is a common feed for livestock and poultry. In the paper, the evaluation methods of forage value of alfalfa hay were reviewed by physical evaluation, wet analysis, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and cornell net carbohydrate and protein system (CNCPS), and the problems existing in the application and evaluation of alfalfa hay in ruminant production are summarized, to provide a reference for the rational application of alfalfa hay in ruminant production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment studied the effect of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) function in the grasses and legumes mixture. A mixed sowing experiment of Medicago varia Martin. cv. Caoyuan No.3 and Agropyron mongolicum Keng. cv. Mengnong No. 1 was carried out on four years grassland. The paper researched AMF infection, soil nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients situation. The results showed that the total yield of mixed sowing was 24.3% higher than that of monoculture alfalfa and 46.9% higher than that of monoculture ice grass, and the plant height of mixed sowing ice grass was higher than that of monoculture ice grass. The pH value of rhizosphere soil of mixed grassland was significantly lower than that of non-rhizosphere soil. The vesicle infection rate of mixed sowing ice grass was significantly higher than that of monoculture ice grass. The total nitrogen of mixed sowing soil was higher than that of alfalfa monoculture or ice grass monoculture. The available P content in rhizosphere soil was higher than that in non-rhizosphere soil. The experiment indicates that the soil yield can be increased with the increase of Arbuscular fungi infection rate, the increase of nitrogen and phosphorus content in rhizosphere soil, and the decrease of soil pH value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]