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The aim of current study was to prepared zinc oxide nanofertilzers by ecofriendly friendly, economically feasible, free of chemical contamination and safe for biological use. The study focused on crude extract of Withania coagulans as reducing agent for the green synthesis of ZnO nano-particles. Biosynthesized ZnO NPs were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR and GC–MS analysis. However, zinc oxide as green Nano fertilizer was used to analyze responses induced by different doses of ZnO NPs [0, 25, 50,100, 200 mg/l and Zn acetate (100 mg/l)] in Triticum aestivum (wheat). The stimulatory and inhibitory effects of foliar application of ZnO NPs were studied on wheat (Triticum aestivum) with aspect of biomass accumulation, morphological attributes, biochemical parameters and anatomical modifications. Wheat plant showed significant (p < 0.01) enhancement of growth parameters upon exposure to ZnO NPs at specific concentrations. In addition, wheat plant showed significant increase in biochemical attributes, chlorophyll content, carotenoids, carbohydrate and protein contents. Antioxidant enzyme (POD, SOD, CAT) and total flavonoid content also confirmed nurturing impact on wheat plant. Increased stem, leaf and root anatomical parameters, all showed ZnO NPs mitigating capacity when applied to wheat. According to the current research, ZnO NPs application on wheat might be used to increase growth, yield, and Zn biofortification in wheat plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bread wheat, a literature search gave 228 QTLs for six traits, including resistance against spot blotch and the following five other related traits: (i) stay green; (ii) flag leaf senescence; (iii) green leaf area duration; (iv) green leaf area of the main stem; and (v) black point resistance. These QTLs were used for metaQTL (MQTL) analysis. For this purpose, a consensus map with 72,788 markers was prepared; 69 of the above 228 QTLs, which were suitable for MQTL analysis, were projected on the consensus map. This exercise resulted in the identification of 16 meta-QTLs (MQTLs) located on 11 chromosomes, with the PVE ranging from 5.4% (MQTL7) to 21.8% (MQTL5), and the confidence intervals ranging from 1.5 to 20.7 cM (except five MQTLs with a range of 36.1–57.8 cM). The number of QTLs associated with individual MQTLs ranged from a maximum of 17 in MQTL3 to 8 each in MQTL5 and MQTL8 and 5 each in MQTL7 and MQTL14. The 16 MQTLs, included 12 multi-trait MQTLs; one of the MQTL also overlapped a genomic region carrying the major spot blotch resistance gene Sb1. Of the total 16 MQTLs, 12 MQTLs were also validated through marker-trait associations that were available from earlier genome-wide association studies. The genomic regions associated with MQTLs were also used for the identification of candidate genes (CGs) and led to the identification of 516 CGs encoding 508 proteins; 411 of these proteins are known to be associated with resistance against several biotic stresses. In silico expression analysis of CGs using transcriptome data allowed the identification of 71 differentially expressed CGs, which were examined for further possible studies. The findings of the present study should facilitate fine-mapping and cloning of genes, enabling Marker Assisted Selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family is one of the largest protein families in plants and plays an essential role in addressing biotic and abiotic stresses. Wheat, a vital global grain crop, faces multifaceted safety challenges, primarily from fungal diseases like stripe rust and powdery mildew. In the present study, we identified the whole genome of the wheat ABC family, and 463 nonredundant ABC genes were identified. The ABC family can be divided into nine evolutionary branches and eight subfamilies based on phylogenetic tree analysis. This paper delved deeper into characterizing the gene structure, promoter region, and gene expression within the TaABC family. Segmental duplication was the main reason for the expansion of the TaABC genes. Ka/Ks analysis suggested that most TaABC genes were intensely purified and selected. The collinear analysis of TaABC and other species showed that the ABC genes were conserved in evolution. RNA-seq data and qPCR data from wheat infected with powdery mildew or stripe rust showed that most TaABC genes were induced to change expression. The candidate genes TaABCB15-3B and TaABCG38 exhibited responsiveness to powdery mildew in resistant/susceptible wheat, while remaining unresponsive to stripe rust. Our findings serve as a valuable reference for gaining a deeper understanding of the function and evolution of TaABCs, aiding in the identification of enduring disease resistance genes within the TaABCs of wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed priming is beneficial in improving the germination and subsequent growth performance of seeds under normal as well as stressed conditions. Mostly, natural and chemical substances have been used for priming. Microbes are also used in priming to counter the negative effects of stress and to improve productivity. In this context, the potential of cyanobacteria to secrete growth-promoting substances makes them ideal candidates for seed priming. Therefore, in the present study, seed priming was carried out using cyanobacteria to investigate its role in imparting drought stress tolerance during post-germination stages in the drought-sensitive cultivar (HD-2967) of wheat. For this, the wheat seeds were subjected to priming with cyanobacteria and the plants germinated were subjected to drought stress during tillering stage. Plants exposed to drought stress showed significant reduction in growth, pigment content and photosynthetic activity. However, plants developed from seeds primed with cyanobacteria, upon drought stress maintained better growth rate, relative water content, chlorophyll, carotenoid and photosynthetic activity. Furthermore, the plants developed from primed seeds showed less accumulation of superoxides, peroxides and lipid peroxidation products and higher activity of ascorbate peroxidise, catalase and glutathione reductase. On the other hand, plants exposed to stress without priming showed enhanced accumulation of free radicals and lipid peroxidation products and lower activity of antioxidant enzymes. The results show that seed priming with cyanobacteria improved growth during post germination stages in wheat plants exposed to drought stress through modulation of physiological and biochemical responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to compare the baking value of wholegrain flours obtained from common wheat grain, spelt wheat grain and purple wheat grain, and to select the optimum method for dough fermentation from the examined wheat flour. The overall study of both flours and doughs showed the need to adjust the dough fermentation method to the variety of wheat grain from which the flour was made. A comparison of the baking value of purple wheat grain flour with common wheat and spelt grain flour indicated that it could be used for bread production, however, due to the poorer gluten quality of the dough, a double phase method with leaven is recommended for dough fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main ingredient of flour is processed wheat. Wheat is an agricultural product that is harvested once a year. It may be necessary to choose the variety of wheat for growing wheat and efficient harvesting. The variety of wheat is important for its economic value, taste, and crop yield. Although there are many varieties of wheat, they are very similar in colour, size, and shape, and it requires expertise to distinguish them by eye. This is very time consuming and can lead to human error. Using computer vision and artificial intelligence, such problems can be solved more quickly and objectively. In this study, an attempt was made to classify five bread wheat varieties belonging to different cultivars using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models. Three approaches have been proposed for classification. First, pre-trained CNN models (ResNet18, ResNet50, and ResNet101) were trained for bread wheat cultivars. Second, the features extracted from the fc1000 layer of the pre-trained CNN models ResNet18, ResNet50, and ResNet101 were classified using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier with different kernel features from machine learning techniques for classification with different variants. Finally, SVM methods were used in the second stage to classify the features obtained from the fc1000 layer of the pre-trained CNN models with an optimal set of features that can represent all features using the minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR) feature selection algorithm.The accuracies obtained in the first, second, and last phases are as follows. In the first phase, the most successful method in classifying wheat grains was the ResNet18 model with 97.57%. In the second phase, the ResNet18 + ResNet50 + ResNet101 + Quadratic SVM model was the most successful model in classification using the features obtained from the ResNet CNN models with 94.08%.The accuracy for classification with the 1000 most effective features selected by the feature selection algorithm was 94.51%. Although the classification with features is slightly lower than deep learning, the classification time is much shorter and is 93%. This result confirms the great effectiveness of CNN models for wheat grain classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the wheat response under late sowing (LS) and salinity stress (SS) are available, however, in rice-wheat and cotton-wheat cropping systems, wheat planting is often delayed resulting in co-occurrence of LS and SS in salt affected soils. This two-year field study was conducted to evaluate the influence of foliar application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) [thiourea (TU), salicylic acid (SA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2); water and no application were taken as control] on the productivity, grain quality and economic returns of timely-sown (TS) and LS wheat under normal (NC) and natural saline conditions (SS; EC 11.27 dS m− 1). Delay in sowing and planting in naturally saline soils caused a significant decrease in plant growth, grain yield, grain quality and net economic returns during both years of study. Late planting and SS caused a significant reduction in grain yield reduction by 40.58% and 34.72% (LS) and 40.66% and 42.89% (SS) compared with respective controls during 2021 and 2022, respectively. However, the influence of co-occurrence of LS and SS was more devastating than the individual stress causing 62.17% and 60.18% reduction in grain yield than the respective control during 2021 and 2022, respectively. However, the application of all PGRs improved the grain yield, grain quality and economic turnover under SS and LS stress. The order of improvement in grain yield by the application of PGRs treatments was TU > SA > H2O2. In conclusion, the application of different plant growth regulators improved economic returns, grain yield and quality attributes of late-sown wheat under saline conditions. In this regard, TU application was the most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice residue burning poses a significant challenge in the rice-wheat cropping system of India, leading to environmental pollution, health issues, and substantial nutrient loss. To combat this menace, a three-year study (2020-21 to 2022-23) was conducted, investigating the effects of rice residue retention (RRR) and rice residue incorporation (RRI) at graded N levels (0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 kg/ha) alongside farmers' practices. The primary objective was to enhance wheat productivity, profitability, and soil fertility within this system. Pooled analysis revealed that RRR outperformed RRI at lower nitrogen doses, while RRI excelled with 7.5%, 7.4%, and 10.0% higher biological yields at higher nitrogen doses (100, 150, and 200 kg/ha). The success of RRR and RRI was attributed to 10.5% and 5.0% higher effective tiller/m2, respectively, compared to farmers' practices at 150 kg N/ha. Notably, RRR exhibited superior NDVI values at the flag leaf stage (0.76) over farmers' practices (0.73). At the 150 kg N/ha, RRR displayed a 9.6% lower cost of cultivation compared to farmers' practices, with 19.6% higher net returns at lower N levels (50 kg/ha), suggesting its greater benefits under low-input conditions. Furthermore, RRR showed the highest benefit-cost ratio (2.75) at 150 kg N/ha, followed by RRI (2.59) and farmers' practices (2.55). Over the three-year period, RRR significantly increased organic carbon content (0.49–0.54%) compared to the initial value (0.38%), affirming its long-term benefits. Consequently, the adoption of RRR by farmers is a preferable eco-friendly option over RRI and present practices for enhancing wheat productivity within the rice-wheat system. Due to 60–65% saving of fuel with the practice of zero tillage along with rice residue retention, it can reduce CO2 emission by 120 kg/ha, therefore, its implementation can reduce CO2 release by 1.62 MT in South Asia per year. Ultimately, it can meet the target of Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and reaching net-zero CO2 emissions globally by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: This study precisely mapped and validated a quantitative trait locus (QTL) located on chromosome 4B for flag leaf angle in wheat. Flag leaf angle (FLANG) is closely related to crop architecture and yield. We previously identified the quantitative trait locus (QTL) QFLANG-4B for FLANG on chromosome 4B, located within a 14-cM interval flanked by the markers Xbarc20 and Xzyh357, using a mapping population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between Nongda3331 (ND3331) and Zang1817. In this study, we fine-mapped QFLANG-4B and validated its associated genetic effect. We developed a BC3F3 population using ND3331 as the recurrent parent through marker-assisted selection, as well as near-isogenic lines (NILs) by selfing BC3F3 plants carrying different heterozygous segments for the QFLANG-4B region. We obtained eight recombinant types for QFLANG-4B, narrowing its location down to a 5.3-Mb region. This region contained 76 predicted genes, 7 of which we considered to be likely candidate genes for QFLANG-4B. Marker and phenotypic analyses of individual plants from the secondary mapping populations and their progeny revealed that the FLANG of the ND3331 allele is significantly higher than that of the Zang1817 allele in multiple environments. These results not only provide a basis for the map-based cloning of QFLANG-4B, but also indicate that QFLANG-4B has great potential for marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding programs designed to improve plant architecture and yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A candidate gene TaSP1 related to spike shape was cloned, and the gene-specific marker was developed to efficiently track the superior haplotype in common wheat. Spike shape, an important factor that affects wheat grain yield, is mainly defined by spike length (SPL), spikelet number (SPN), and compactness. Zhoumai32 mutant 1160 (ZM1160), a mutant obtained from ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) treatment of hexaploid wheat variety Zhoumai32, was used to identify and clone the candidate gene that conditioned the spike shape. Genetic analysis of an F2 population derived from a cross of ZM1160 and Bainong207 suggested that the compact spike shape in ZM1160 was controlled by a single recessive gene, and therefore, the mutated gene was designated as Tasp1. With polymorphic markers identified through bulked segregant analysis (BSA), the gene was mapped to a 2.65-cM interval flanked by markers YZU0852 and MIS46239 on chromosome 7D, corresponding to a 0.42-Mb physical interval of Chinese spring (CS) reference sequences (RefSeq v1.0). To fine map TaSP1, 15 and seven recombinants were, respectively, screened from 1599 and 1903 F3 plants derived from the heterozygous F2 plants. Finally, TaSP1 was delimited to a 21.9 Kb (4,870,562 to 4,892,493 bp) Xmis48123-Xmis48104 interval. Only one high-confidence gene TraesCS7D02G010200 was annotated in this region, which encodes an unknown protein with a putative vWA domain. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that TraesCS7D02G010200 was mainly expressed in the spike. Haplotype analysis of 655 wheat cultivars using the candidate gene-specific marker Xg010200p2 identified a superior haplotype TaSP1b with longer spike and more spikelet number. TaSP1 is beneficial to the improvement in wheat spike shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: There is variation in stay-green within barley breeding germplasm, influenced by multiple haplotypes and environmental conditions. The positive genetic correlation between stay-green and yield across multiple environments highlights the potential as a future breeding target. Barley is considered one of the most naturally resilient crops making it an excellent candidate to dissect the genetics of drought adaptive component traits. Stay-green, is thought to contribute to drought adaptation, in which the photosynthetic machinery is maintained for a longer period post-anthesis increasing the photosynthetic duration of the plant. In other cereal crops, including wheat, stay-green has been linked to increased yield under water-limited conditions. Utilizing a panel of diverse barley breeding lines from a commercial breeding program we aimed to characterize stay-green in four environments across two years. Spatiotemporal modeling was used to accurately model senescence patterns from flowering to maturity characterizing the variation for stay-green in barley for the first time. Environmental effects were identified, and multi-environment trait analysis was performed for stay-green characteristics during grain filling. A consistently positive genetic correlation was found between yield and stay-green. Twenty-two chromosomal regions with large effect haplotypes were identified across and within environment types, with ten being identified in multiple environments. In silico stacking of multiple desirable haplotypes showed an opportunity to improve the stay-green phenotype through targeted breeding. This study is the first of its kind to model barley stay-green in a large breeding panel and has detected novel, stable and environment specific haplotypes. This provides a platform for breeders to develop Australian barley with custom senescence profiles for improved drought adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The intercropping has great advantages in production gain, resources use and soil quality improvement. However, the effects of perennial forage legumes intercropped with annual grain crop on soil alkali-salinity was not well revealed. This study aimed to propose a spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)/alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) intercropping and reveal whether this cropping system could ameliorate soil salinity. Methods: A two-year field experiment was conducted under 3 cropping systems at 3 irrigation amounts in the inland arid area of northwestern China. The cropping systems were sole spring wheat cropping (W), 12 rows spring wheat/4 rows alfalfa intercropping (W12A4) and 8 rows spring wheat/4 rows alfalfa intercropping (W8A4), and irrigation amounts included 450 (full irrigation amount, If), 360 (moderate irrigation amount, Im) and 180 mm (low irrigation amount, Il). Results: The intercropping system, especially W8A4, could more decrease soil salinity, pH and topsoil bulk density, and increase soil water content, topsoil porosity, and Ca2+ and Mg2+ contents, compared to W. Soil electrical conductivity was positively correlated with topsoil bulk density and negatively correlated with topsoil porosity, which were enhanced by intercropping and irrigation. There was weak correlation between soil electrical conductivity and soil water content. W12A4 and W8A4 led to reduction in contents of Na+, K+, Cl−, and SO42−, while Ca2+ and Mg2+ accumulated in the soil. Conclusion: Intercropped alfalfa and spring wheat could reduce soil salinity, improve soil structure and ions balance. It was recommended that W8A4 with 360 mm irrigation could be extensively used in the arid area of northwestern China, gaining grain and forage production, and helping reduce salt accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Assessing water consumption in intercropping systems relative to sole crop systems is important for planting system planning. Methods: This study focused on wheat/maize (Triticum aestivum L./Zea mays L.) relay intercropping to evaluate water use advantage of relay intercropping system based on the same period. Field experiments were conducted from 2014 to 2016, and three cropping patterns were designed: sole wheat, sole maize, wheat/maize intercrops. Method for evaluating water use advantage in intercropping was revised by considering water consumption of sole crops during the fallow period (periods where no plants are grown). Results: Intercropping grain yield was higher than sole cropping yield. Based on the existing method, the intercropping system had 20.4% greater water use than the sole cropping system and the water equivalent ratio (WER) was lower than 1; after revision, intercropping had 7.7% less water use than sole cropping, and the WER was greater than 1. Before revision, intercropped wheat used 3.1% more water than sole wheat, and the intercropped maize used 38.8% more water than sole maize; after revision, intercropped wheat used 24.4% less water than sole wheat, and intercropped maize used 11.0% more water than sole maize. Conclusion: These results indicated that the revised method can be better used to evaluate water use advantage of relay intercropping system. This study implied that wheat/maize intercropping increased both yield and water use based on revised method, and relay intercropping can be a suitable production practice employed in fallow policy, especially in areas with limited water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Straw incorporation is an important management practice in global agriculture. However, present straw returning usually focus on returning straw into the topsoil, while neglecting the amendment of subsoil. The study aims to investigate the effect of different straw returning strategies on soil quality and wheat productivity, and to develop recommendations regarding sustainable agriculture. Methods: A 2-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of five straw returning strategies on the soil quality and wheat yield in a winter wheat-summer maize cropping system in the North China Plain. Soil quality is defined as an index approach, including soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. The five treatments were straw removal (SR), straw mulching (SM), straw incorporation into topsoil (SI), deep-ploughing straw incorporation (DP-SI) and deep-injected straw incorporation (DI-SI). Results: Our results showed that straw returning improved soil quality across 0–40 cm depth relative to SR. The DP-SI and DI-SIa (above straw cluster) significantly increased topsoil quality by 20.5–26.2% and 13.6–19.0% compared with SI and SM. The DI-SIa also enhanced the subsoil quality, which was characterized by a significant increase in soil nutrients, compared to other straw returning strategies. The soil quality of 0–40 cm layer under DP-SI and DI-SI was significantly higher than that of other treatments. In addition, a positive correlation between soil quality and wheat yield was observed. Thus, the higher soil quality under DP-SI and DI-SI improved the average wheat yield by 9.6% and 10.7% compared with SI, respectively. Conclusion: These results indicates that DI-SI may improve subsoil properties and wheat yields and is likely an effective measure for sustainable development of a wheat-maize rotation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MOCA1 encodes the last key glucuronosyltransferase for ionic stress sensor glycosyl inositol phosphoryl-ceramide (GIPCs) biosynthesis in Arabidopsis, which indicates that the MOCA gene family play important role in plant tolerance to salt stress. However, the isolation and function of MOCAs in staple crops have not been reported and the downstream targets of MOCAs in salt stress tolerance signalling pathway are not clear. In this study, we identified 110 MOCA genes in wheat which were classified into five clades and they differed in gene structure, protein length, conserved motifs and expression profiles in different tissues and under salt stress. TaMOCA1 was selected for further functional study in response to salt stress. TaMOCA1 was rapidly induced by NaCl treatment. The 35S::TaMOCA1-GFP construction showed the cell nucleus and cytoplasm location in wheat protoplast. TaMOCA1 over-expressing Arabidopsis seedlings formed longer primary roots and more lateral roots than the wild type ones under 50 mM NaCl treatment. The over-expressing Arabidopsis had higher expression levels of HKT1, but lower expression levels of NHX1 and SOS genes than the wild type. Also, the transgenic plants had higher SOD activity and lower MDA content than the wild Arabidopsis seedling under salt stress. These results may indicate that TaMOCA1 increases salt stress tolerance through decreasing Na+ loading from the xylem parenchyma cells to the xylem via SOS1 and HKT1, hence lowering root-to-shoot delivery of Na+ and superior antioxidant ability. All these results lay a foundation for further functional study of MOCAs in wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to prepare wheat gluten-based films activated by free and encapsulated L. majorana Origanum essential oil (MEO). Tween 80 and whey protein isolate were utilized to prepare MEO-loaded nanoemulsion (NE) and Pickering emulsion (PE), respectively. PE and NE had particle sizes of 186.7 nm and 149.5 nm, respectively. The NE had lower zeta potential and higher encapsulation efficiency. After incorporation of the obtained nanocapsules and free MEO into the gluten films at three levels (1, 3 and 5 wt%), the morphological, physical, antioxidant and antibacterial characteristics of the active films were assessed. According to the FE-SEM analysis, the surface roughness of films increased by adding free MEO and nanocapsules. XRD test revealed that the free MEO causes a decrease in the crystallinity of the film, but its encapsulated forms had no adverse effect. Improving the thermal properties of gluten films after the incorporation of PE-MEO nanocarriers was approved by TGA analysis. Adding free and encapsulated MEO led to an increase in the water solubility of films and a decrease in the WVP. The weakening effect of MEO on the mechanical characteristics of gluten films was the lowest when the PE nanocapsules were incorporated. The antioxidant activity of the films increased significantly (p < 0.05) with the addition of free and encapsulated MEO. However, the encapsulation slightly decreased the antibacterial potential of MEO against E. coli and S. aureus. To conclude, the produced active gluten film with encapsulated MEO, especially the PE one, presented considerable potential for use as active food packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Bio stimulants are substances and/or microorganisms that are used to improve plant growth and crop yields by modulating physiological processes and metabolism of plants. While research has primarily focused on the broad effects of bio stimulants in crops, understanding their cellular and molecular influences in plants, using metabolomic analysis, could elucidate their effectiveness and offer possibilities for fine-tuning their application. One such bio stimulant containing galacturonic acid as elicitor is used in agriculture to improve wheat vigor and strengthen resistance to lodging. Objective: However, whether a metabolic response is evolved by plants treated with this bio stimulant and the manner in which the latter might regulate plant metabolism have not been studied. Method: Therefore, the present study used 1H-NMR and LC–MS to assess changes in primary and secondary metabolites in the roots, stems, and leaves of wheat (Triticum aestivum) treated with the bio stimulant. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis effectively distinguished between treated and control samples, confirming a metabolic response to treatment in the roots, stems, and leaves of wheat. Results: Fold-change analysis indicated that treatment with the bio stimulation solution appeared to increase the levels of hydroxycinnamic acid amides, lignin, and flavonoid metabolism in different plant parts, potentially promoting root growth, implantation, and developmental cell wall maturation and lignification. Conclusion: These results demonstrate how non-targeted metabolomic approaches can be utilized to investigate and monitor the effects of new agroecological solutions based on systemic responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological variables are essential inputs for agricultural simulation models and the lack of measured data is a big challenge for the application of these models in many agricultural zones. Studies indicated that gridded meteorological datasets can be proper replacements for measured data. This paper aimed to examine a new gridded meteorological dataset namely CRU-JRA for crop modeling intents. The CRU-JRA is a 6-hourly dataset with a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° that was primarily constructed for modeling purposes. The CERES-Wheat model in the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) was used for the simulation of irrigated and rainfed wheat production systems in Iran. Results showed that the CRU-JRA maximum and minimum temperature values had a relatively fine accuracy with a normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) of 14% for the simulated grain yield. The performance of the CRU-JRA solar radiation values for the simulation of grain yield was similar with a NRMSE of 14.4%. The weakest performance was found for the CRU-JRA precipitation values with a NRMSE of 18.9%. Overall, the CRU-JRA dataset performed comparatively acceptable and similar to existing gridded meteorological datasets for crop modeling purposes in the study area, however further calibrations can improve the accuracy of the next versions of this dataset. More research is necessary for the investigation of the CRU-JRA dataset for agricultural modeling purposes across diverse climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Growing wheat under climate change scenarios challenges, scientists to develop drought and heat-tolerant genotypes. The adaptive traits should therefore be explored and engineered for this purpose. Thus, this study aimed to dissect surface traits and optimizing the leaf architecture to enhance water use efficiency (WUE) and grain yield. Twenty-six wheat genotypes were assessed for five novel leaf traits (NLTs: leaf prickle hairs, groove type, rolling, angle and wettability) under normal, drought and heat conditions following triplicated factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD). The data for NLTs, physiological traits (stomatal conductance, WUE, transpiration, and photosynthesis), and standard morphological and yield traits were recorded. Leaves were sampled at the stem elongation stage (Zadoks 34) to measure the leaf water content (%), contact angle, and to obtain pictures through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The air moisture harvesting efficiency was evaluated for five selected genotypes. The ideotype concept was applied to evaluate the best-performing genotypes. Results: The correlation analysis indicated that long leaf prickle hairs (> 100 μm), short stomatal aperture and density (40–60 mm− 2), inward to spiral leaf rolling, medium leaf indentation, low contact angle hysteresis (< 10°), and cuticular wax were positively associated with WUE. This, in turn, was significantly correlated to grain yield. Thus, the genotypes (E-1) with these traits and alternate leaf wettability had maximum grain yield (502 g m− 2) and WUE supported with high photosynthesis rate, and relative water content (94 and 75% under normal and stress conditions, respectively). However, the genotype (1-hooded) with dense leaf hairs on edges but droopy leaves, spiral leaf rolling, and lighter groove, also performed better in terms of grain yield (450 g m− 2) under heat stress conditions by maintaining high photosynthesis and WUE with low stomatal conductance and transpiration rate. Conclusion: The SEM analysis verified that the density of hairs on the leaf surface and epicuticular wax contributes towards alternate wettability patterns thereby increasing the water-use efficiency and yield of the wheat plant. This study paves a way towards screening and and developing heat and drought-tolerant cultivars that are water-saving and climate-resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) is a crucial macronutrient for plant growth and development. Basic metabolic processes regulate growth; however, the molecular detail of these pathways under low phosphorous (LP) in wheat is still unclear. This study aims to elucidate the varied regulatory pathways responses to LP stress in wheat genotypes. Phenotypic, physiological, and transcriptome analyses were conducted on Fielder (P efficient) and Ardito (P inefficient) wheat genotypes after four days of normal phosphorous (NP) and LP stress. In response to LP, Fielder outperformed Ardito, displaying higher chlorophyll content-SPAD values (13%), plant height (45%), stem diameter (12%), shoot dry weight (42%), and root biomass (75%). Root structure analysis revealed that Fielder had greater total root length (50%), surface area (56%), volume (15%), and diameter (4%) than Ardito under LP. These findings highlight Fielder's superior performance and adaptation to LP stress. Transcriptome analysis of wheat genotype roots identified 3029 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in Fielder and 1430 in Ardito, highlighting LP-induced changes. Key DEGs include acid phosphatases (PAPs), phosphate transporters (PHT1 and PHO1), SPX, and transcription factors (MYB, bHLH, and WRKY). KEGG enrichment analysis revealed key pathways like plant hormones signal transduction, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and carbohydrate biosynthesis metabolism. This study unveils crucial genes and the intricate regulatory process in wheat's response to LP stress, offering genetic insights for enhancing plant P utilization efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of incompatibility alleles in primary amphidiploids constitutes a reproductive barrier in newly synthesized wheat-rye hybrids. To overcome this barrier, the genome stabilization process includes large-scale chromosome rearrangements. In incompatible crosses resulting in fertile amphidiploids, the elimination of one of the incompatible alleles Eml-A1 or Eml-R1b can occur already in the somatic tissue of the wheat × rye hybrid embryo. We observed that the interaction of incompatible loci Eml-A1 of wheat and Eml-R1b of rye after overcoming embryo lethality leads to hybrid sterility in primary triticale. During subsequent seed reproductions (R1, R2 or R3) most of the chromosomes of A, B, D and R subgenomes undergo rearrangement or eliminations to increase the fertility of the amphidiploid by natural selection. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) coverage analysis showed that improved fertility is associated with the elimination of entire and partial chromosomes carrying factors that either cause the disruption of plant development in hybrid plants or lead to the restoration of the euploid number of chromosomes (2n = 56) in the absence of one of the incompatible alleles. Highly fertile offspring obtained in compatible and incompatible crosses can be successfully adapted for the production of triticale pre-breeding stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) is member of one of the most important signalling cascades operating inside the plant system due to its peculiar role as thermo-sensor. Here, we identified 28 full length putative CDPKs from wheat designated as TaCDPK (1-28). Based on digital gene expression, we cloned full length TaCPK-1 gene of 1691 nucleotides with open reading frame (ORF) of 548 amino acids (accession number OP125853). The expression of TaCPK-1 was observed maximum (3.1-fold) in leaf of wheat cv. HD2985 (thermotolerant) under T2 (38 ± 3 °C, 2 h), as compared to control. A positive correlation was observed between the expression of TaCPK-1 and other stress-associated genes (MAPK6, CDPK4, HSFA6e, HSF3, HSP17, HSP70, SOD and CAT) involved in thermotolerance. Global protein kinase assay showed maximum activity in leaves, as compared to root, stem and spike under heat stress. Immunoblot analysis showed abundance of CDPK protein in wheat cv. HD2985 (thermotolerant) in response to T2 (38 ± 3 °C, 2 h), as compared to HD2329 (thermosusceptible). Calcium ion (Ca2+), being inducer of CDPK, showed strong Ca-signature in the leaf tissue (Ca—622 ppm) of thermotolerant wheat cv. under heat stress, whereas it was minimum (Ca—201 ppm) in spike tissue. We observed significant variations in the ionome of wheat under HS. To conclude, TaCPK-1 plays important role in triggering signaling network and in modulation of HS-tolerance in wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Salt stress and molecular level stresses, pose unprecedented threats to global agriculture, jeopardizing the pursuit of sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to food and nutritional security for the ever-increasing world population. These circumstances underscore the need to understand how plants respond to and interact with environmental stresses. Thus, our study focused on elucidating the role of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in mitigating salt and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in wheat plants. Methods: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants were exposed to salt stress [100 mM sodium chloride (NaCl)] and ER stress [5 µg mL–1 tunicamycin] applied through nutrient solution at 15 days after sowing (DAS), while 2.0 mM GABA solution was applied to leaves using a hand sprayer at 30 DAS. Growth and physiological traits measured at 45 DAS, with yield trait measurements taken at approximately 135 DAS. Results: Our findings demonstrate that GABA application reduced oxidative stress indicators by activating the ascorbate–glutathione pathway and the glyoxalase system. Moreover, GABA promoted proline metabolism, mineral nutrient accumulation, photosynthetic-affiliated source–sink traits, stomatal dynamics, nitric oxide biosynthesis, and defense- metabolites production in wheat plants under salt and ER stress. Conclusion: Overall, GABA application helped safeguard growth and yield responses in stressed plants, reversing the growth, physiological, and yield inhibition caused by salt and ER stresses. Thus, GABA may emerge as a pivotal strategy for mitigating the adverse impacts of salt and ER stress and developing tolerant genotypes in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change affects the established crop production practices by altering rainfall, temperature, and solar radiation—leading to reduced resource use and economic efficiencies. Pertaining to this, we analysed the optimum fertiliser-Nitrogen (N) recommendation of rice and wheat crops for Kharagpur station, West Bengal, India under projected climate change conditions by using six mathematical models, namely, quadratic, square root, linear plateau, quadratic plateau, square root plateau, and the Mitscherlich model. Models were parameterised using field experiment observations at Kharagpur and tested for historical crop yield. The historical (1976–2005) and future (2006–2100) yield responses of rice and wheat to the different N doses are simulated by using a calibrated and validated process-based crop simulation model—Crop Environment and Resource Synthesis (CERES). Eight bias-corrected Global Climate Model (GCM) outputs for the four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5) were used to simulate the yield of both crops for the period of 1976 to 2100. Results revealed that the quadratic plateau model represents crop yield response to fertiliser-N application better than other mathematical models. The estimated optimum N dose (OND) increased from an average historical 121 kg N/ha to 138, 143, and 146 kg N/ha for rice, and from an average historical 98 kg N/ha to 119, 124, and 127 kg N/ha for wheat in three future times, respectively, 2006–2035, 2036–2065, and 2066–2095 under all RCPs scenarios. On the other hand, the yield of both crops is expected to decrease in the future due to an increase in N losses, leading to reduced N use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat plant is one of the most basic food sources for the whole world. There are many species of wheat that differ according to the conditions of the region where they are grown. In this context, wheat species can exhibit different characteristics. Issues such as resistance to geographical conditions and productivity are at the forefront in this plant as in all other plants. The wheat species should be correctly distinguished for correct agricultural practice. In this study, a hybrid model based on the Vision Transformer (VT) approach and the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model was developed to classify wheat species. For this purpose, ResMLP architecture was modified and the EfficientNetV2b0 model was fine-tuned and improved. A hybrid transformer model has been developed by combining these two methods. As a result of the experiments, the overall accuracy performance has been determined as 98.33%. The potential power of the proposed method for computer-aided agricultural analysis systems is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a significantly important disease in cereals primarily caused by Fusarium species. FHB control is largely executed through chemical strategies, which are costlier to sustainable wheat production, resulting in leaning towards sustainable sources such as resistance breeding and biological control methods for FHB. The present investigation was aimed at evaluating newly identified bacterial consortium (BCM) as biocontrol agents for FHB and understanding the morpho-physiological traits associated with the disease resistance of spring wheat. Preliminary evaluation through antagonistic plate assay and in vivo assessment indicated that BCM effectively inhibited Fusarium growth in spring wheat, reducing area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) and deoxynivalenol (DON), potentially causing type II and V resistance, and improving single spike yield (SSPY). Endurance to FHB infection with the application of BCM is associated with better sustenance of spike photosynthetic performance by improving the light energy harvesting and its utilization. Correlation and path-coefficient analysis indicated that maximum quantum yield (QY_max) is directly influencing the improvement of SSPY and reduction of grain DON accumulation, which is corroborated by principal component analysis. The chlorophyll fluorescence traits identified in the present investigation might be applied as a phenotyping tool for the large-scale identification of wheat sensitivity to FHB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The F-box proteins in fungi perform diverse functions including regulation of cell cycle, circadian clock, development, signal transduction and nutrient sensing. Genome-wide analysis revealed 10 F-box genes in Puccinia triticina, the causal organism for the leaf rust disease in wheat and were characterized using in silico approaches for revealing phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, gene ontology, protein properties, sequence analysis and gene expression studies. Domain analysis predicted functional domains like WD40 and LRR at C-terminus along with the obvious presence of F-box motif in N-terminus. MSA showed amino acid replacements, which might be due to nucleotide substitution during replication. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the F-box proteins with similar domains to be clustered together while some sequences were spread out in different clades, which might be due to functional diversity. The clustering of Puccinia triticina GG705409 with Triticum aestivum TaAFB4/TaAFB5 in a single clade suggested the possibilities of horizontal gene transfer during the coevolution of P. triticina and wheat. Gene ontological annotation categorized them into three classes and were functionally involved in protein degradation through the protein ubiquitination pathway. Protein–protein interaction network revealed F-box proteins to interact with other components of the SCF complex involved in protein ubiquitination. Relative expression analysis of five F-box genes in a time course experiment denoted their involvement in leaf rust susceptible wheat plants. This study provides information on structure elucidation of F-box proteins of a basidiomycetes plant pathogenic fungi and their role during pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant structure type (PT) is an important complex and quantitative trait to regulating yield potential and stress tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In this study, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population genotyped by wheat 50 K SNP chip was employed to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling plant structure type and seed-related eight traits in seven environments. A total of 13 QTL were detected in multiple environments. By comparing previous studies, QKw-5D-2-2 (kernel width) and QSnl-6B (spike neck length), on chromosomes 5D and 6B, respectively, were regarded as two new multi-environmental stable QTLs explaining 5.01–11.51% and 9.79–15.01% of the phenotypic variation, correspondingly. In addition, we predicted two genes associated with grain width in the interval QKw-5D-2-2, and seven multi-environmentally stable QTLs on chromosome 4D were found to be distributed in clusters; significant correlations were found between plant height (PH) and, PT, spike neck length (SNL), basal two internode length (BL), kernel width (KW) and thousand kernel weights (TKW) by genetic and correlation analyses. In summary, our results will provide help to understand the genetic relationship between plant structure type and yield potential. And the newly identified QTLs and QTL clusters lay the genetic foundation for fine localization of plant structure type related traits and molecular marker-assisted breeding in wheat genetic improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The yield and production of several crops, including wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), which is the most significant crop in the world, have been significantly affected by drought occurrences in various parts of the world. By Using the randomized complete block design, which is based on three replications, a set of 100 wheat accessions were examined under normal and drought stress condition. The analysis of variance revealed that the genotypes significantly varied in all of the qualities in both condition under normal and drought stress, which demonstrating the wide range of genotypes that can be used in breeding strategies for improvement. The study revealed significant differences among genotypes under both normal and drought conditions, highlighting the varying responses to stress. According to the results of the correlation study, in normal conditions, the grain yield per plant exhibits a significant and favorable link with every trait that was studied. Under drought conditions, grain yield per plant has a negative association with plant height, which has an impact on grain production and results in a significant decrease in the wheat crop's output. The genotypes G27, G28, G71, G72, and G89 performed best under drought conditions and were termed drought resistant genotypes, according to the mean variability, whereas the genotypes G50, G53, G54, G80, and G88 performed poorly and were considered as drought sensitive. Highest broad-sense heritability (84–96%) and genetic advance exceeded 20% that emphasized the role of genetic factors in influencing studied traits which exhibited significant potential for improvement through selective breeding, particularly in drought-stress. Results obtained from principal component analysis, only 4 PCs showed the significant variability due to having eigenvalues > 1. These 4 PCs cumulatively accounted for 66.1% and 63.8% of the total variability under normal and drought conditions. Eigenvalues, proportions, and cumulative values of principal components were analyzed, indicating that the first few principal components captured the majority of the variance in the dataset. Loading factor analysis further revealed the correlation between original variables and principal components, aiding in understanding the contribution of each trait to overall variance. The identification of drought-tolerant genotypes and the delineation of trait relationships provide crucial information for future breeding endeavors, aiming at enhancing wheat resilience and ensuring sustainable wheat production in the face of environmental challenges. This study will also enhance the understanding of genetic basis of wheat traits and their responses to drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Salt tolerance, selenium accumulation and expression of the responsive genes were analyzed in the wheat high selenium mutants. Selenium is an essential trace element for the human body, and its deficiency can lead to various diseases such as Keshan disease and large bone disease. Wheat, being a major staple crop, plays a crucial role in providing dietary selenium supplementation to combat this deficiency. Despite progress in understanding the molecular regulation of selenium accumulation in certain crops, the molecular mechanisms governing selenium accumulation-related gene expression in wheat plants remain poorly understood. In this study, three mutant wheat lines with elevated selenium content were identified. Under the treatment of Na2SeO3 or NaCl, the selenium-rich wheat mutants exhibited decreased sensitivity to both selenium and NaCl compared to the wild type. Additionally, there was an increase in the activities of SOD and POD, while the content of MDA decreased. Through qRT-PCR analysis, the expression of selenium-related genes was affected, revealing that some of these genes not only regulate the response of wheat to salt stress, but also play a role in the process of selenium accumulation. The transcriptome results revealed that the important genes encoding glutathione S-transferases, peroxidases, superoxide dismutases, and UDP-glucosyltransferases may function in the regulation of salt tolerance and selenium accumulation in wheat. These findings significantly contribute to the current understanding of the molecular regulation of selenium accumulation in wheat crops, while also offering novel germplasm resources for cultivating selenium-rich and salt-tolerant wheat lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Mutants lacking functional HYD2 homoeologs showed improved seedling growth, but comparable or increased susceptibility to salt stress in tillering plants, suggesting a developmentally restricted role of HYD2 in salt response. Salinity stress threatens global food security by reducing the yield of staple crops such as wheat (Triticum ssp.). Understanding how wheat responds to salinity stress is crucial for developing climate resilient varieties. In this study, we examined the interplay between carotenoid metabolism and the response to salt (NaCl) stress, a specific form of salinity stress, in tetraploid wheat plants with mutations in carotenoid β-hydroxylase 1 (HYD1) and HYD2. Our investigation encompassed both the vulnerable seedling stage and the more developed tillering stage of wheat plant growth. Mutant combinations lacking functional HYD2 homoeologs, including hyd-A2 hyd-B2, hyd-A1 hyd-A2 hyd-B2, hyd-B1 hyd-A2 hyd-B2, and hyd-A1 hyd-B1 hyd-A2 hyd-B2, had longer first true leaves and slightly enhanced root growth during germination under salt stress compared to the segregate wild-type (control) plants. Interestingly, these mutant seedlings also showed decreased levels of neoxanthin and violaxanthin (xanthophylls derived from β-carotene) and an increase in β-carotene in roots. However, tillering hyd mutant and segregate wild-type plants generally did not differ in their height, tiller count, and biomass production under acute or prolonged salt stress, except for decreases in these parameters observed in the hyd-A1 hyd-B1 hyd-A2 hyd-B2 mutant that indicate its heightened susceptibility to salt stress. Taken together, these findings suggest a significant, yet developmentally restricted role of HYD2 homoeologs in salt-stress response in tetraploid wheat. They also show that hyd-A2 hyd-B2 mutant plants, previously demonstrated for possessing enriched nutritional (β-carotene) content, maintain an unimpaired ability to withstand salt stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, a new approach that uses ultrasound-assisted extraction clean-up combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction has been developed for the preconcentration of trace amounts of clodinafop-propargyl herbicide in wheat samples. The clodinafop-propargyl was then determined using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. In this technique, wheat samples were extracted by ultrasound-assisted extraction followed by a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) step for further purification and enrichment of clodinafop-propargyl. By using a Pasteur pipette as an extraction device, a low-density extraction solvent like water is possible to use in the DLLME method. The effects of various parameters on the extraction efficiency of the proposed technique were investigated and optimized. Good linearity was obtained from 20 to 1000 µg/kg. The limit of detection was 10 µg/kg (S/N = 3). The relative recoveries at the three spiked levels ranged from 88 to 96% with an RSD less than 13% (n = 3). The technique has been successfully applied to the determination of clodinafop-propargyl herbicide in wheat samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat head detection and counting using deep learning techniques has gained considerable attention in precision agriculture applications such as wheat growth monitoring, yield estimation, and resource allocation. However, the accurate detection of small and dense wheat heads remains challenging due to the inherent variations in their size, orientation, appearance, aspect ratios, density, and the complexity of imaging conditions. To address these challenges, we propose a novel approach called the Oriented Feature Pyramid Network (OFPN) that focuses on detecting rotated wheat heads by utilizing oriented bounding boxes. In order to facilitate the development and evaluation of our proposed method, we introduce a novel dataset named the Rotated Global Wheat Head Dataset (RGWHD). This dataset is constructed by manually annotating images from the Global Wheat Head Detection (GWHD) dataset with oriented bounding boxes. Furthermore, we incorporate a Path-aggregation and Balanced Feature Pyramid Network into our architecture to effectively extract both semantic and positional information from the input images. This is achieved by leveraging feature fusion techniques at multiple scales, enhancing the detection capabilities for small wheat heads. To improve the localization and detection accuracy of dense and overlapping wheat heads, we employ the Soft-NMS algorithm to filter the proposed bounding boxes. Experimental results indicate the superior performance of the OFPN model, achieving a remarkable mean average precision of 85.77% in oriented wheat head detection, surpassing six other state-of-the-art models. Moreover, we observe a substantial improvement in the accuracy of wheat head counting, with an accuracy of 93.97%. This represents an increase of 3.12% compared to the Faster R-CNN method. Both qualitative and quantitative results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed OFPN model in accurately localizing and counting wheat heads within various challenging scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversification of agricultural practices, including changes in crop rotation, intercropping or cover cropping, influence the soil microbiome. Here the impact of tillage and crop diversification on the soil microbiome is reported, being one of the few boreal studies. The field experiment consisted of four treatments with four replications all having a short cereal rotation practice namely an oat (Avena sativa) – spring barley (Hordeum vulgare) – wheat (Triticum aestivum) rotation for the past 10 years until spring 2018. During that period two of the treatments were conventionally tilled with moldboard ploughing whereas the other two were no-tillage treatments. From the growing season 2018 until fall 2020 the main crop in all treatments was spring barley. The first conventional tillage treatment was diversified with English ryegrass (Lolium perenne) as an undersown cover crop for the next three growing seasons. The first no-tillage treatment continued with spring barley only. The second conventional tillage and no-tillage treatment had winter rapeseed in rotation in 2019. Bulk soils were sampled in May 2018 before diversification and then in October 2018, 2019, and 2020. The results showed a clear effect of tillage on the beta-diversity of the soil microbiome and an increase in fungal richness. Barley monoculture interrupted with winter rapeseed resulted in a minor change of the fungal and bacterial community composition. Other fungal and bacterial alpha diversity measures did not react to tillage or diversification nor did the gene copy abundances involved in the N cycle. In conclusion tillage had a profound effect on the soil microbiome hindering impact of the diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat diseases seriously restrict the safety of wheat production and food quality. For farmers and agriculture technicians, diagnosing the disease with the naked eye is not suitable for modern precision agriculture. Deep learning has shown promise in crop disease diagnosis, but accuracy and speed remain a significant challenge in natural field conditions. In this study, a novel DAE-Mask method based on diversification-augmented features and edge features was proposed for intelligent wheat disease detection. DAE-Mask used Densely Connected Convolutional Networks (DenseNet) for preliminary feature extraction, and a backbone feature extraction network combining Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) and attention mechanism was designed to extract diversification-augmented features. To accelerate DAE-Mask, an Edge Agreement Head module based on Sobel filters was designed to compare edge features during training, which improved the model's mask generation efficiency. We also built a multi-scene wheat disease dataset, MSWDD2022, containing images of wheat stripe rust, wheat powdery mildew, wheat yellow dwarf, and wheat scab. Our model achieved detection speed of 0.08s/pic. On MSWDD2022, our model with mean average precision (mAP) of 96.02% outperformed YOLOv5s, YOLOv8x, SSD, EfficientDet, CenterNet, and RefineDet by 7.79, 1.32, 3.54, 4.79, 9.77, and 5.29 percentage points, respectively. On the public dataset PlantDoc, our model with mAP of 57.68% outperformed YOLOv5s, YOLOv8x, SSD, EfficientDet, CenterNet, and RefineDet by 27.76, 6.48, 14.43, 11.79, 19.40, and 13.40 percentage points, respectively. Finally, the DAE-Mask was deployed on WeChat Mini Program to realize the real-time detection of in-field wheat diseases. The mAP reached 92.78%, and the average return delay of each image was 1.43s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hailstorms pose a direct threat to agriculture, often causing yield losses and worsening farmers' agricultural activity. Traditional methods of hail damage estimation, conducted by insurance field inspectors, have been questioned due to their complexity, partial subjectivity, and lack of accounting for spatial variability. Therefore, remote sensing integration in the estimation process could provide a valuable aid. The focus of this study was on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its response to damage in the near-infrared (NIR) spectral region, with a particular emphasis on the study of brown pigments as a proxy for yield damage estimation and mapping. An experiment was conducted during two cropping seasons (2020–2021 and 2021–2022) at two sites, simulating hail damage at critical flowering and milky stages using a specifically designed prototype machinery with low, medium, and high damage gradients compared to undamaged conditions in plots with a minimum of 400 m2 area. After the damage simulation, hyperspectral visible-NIR reflectance was measured with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flights, and measurements of chlorophyll and of leaf area index (LAI) were contextually taken. Final yield per treatment was recorded using a combine. An increase in absorbance in the NIR region (780–950 nm) was observed and evaluated using a spectral mixture analysis (SMA) after selecting representative damaged and undamaged vegetation spectra to map the damage. The abundance of damaged endmember pixels per treatment resulted in a good relationship with the final yield (R2 = 0.73), identifying the most damaged areas. The absorbance feature was further analysed with a newly designed multispectral index (TAI), which was tested against a selection of indices and resulted in the highest relationship with the final yield (R2 = 0.64). Both approaches were effective in highlighting the absorbance feature over different dates and development stages, defining an effective mean for hailstorm damage mapping in winter wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant nitrogen (N) is one of the key factors for its growth and yield. Timely assessment of plant N at a spatio-temporal scale enables its precision management in the field scale with better N use efficiency. Airborne imaging spectroscopy is a potential technique for non-invasive near real-time rapid assessment of plant N on a field scale. The present study attempted to assess plant N in a wheat field with three different irrigation levels (I1–I3) along with five nitrogen treatments (N0–N4) using a UAV hyperspectral imager with a spectral range of 400 to 1000 nm. A total of 61 vegetative indices were evaluated to find suitable indices for estimating plant N. A hybrid method of R-Square (R2) and Variable Importance Projection (VIP) followed by Variance Inflation Factor was used to limit the best suitable N-sensitive 13 spectral indices. The selected indices were used as feature vectors in the Artificial Neural Network algorithm to model and generate a spatial map of plant N in the experimental wheat field. The model resulted in R2 values of 0.97, 0.84, and 0.86 for training, validation, and testing respectively for plant N assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is cultivated as a monocotyledonous plant in a large part of the world. The Wheat aphid, Schizaphis graminum Rondani (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is among the most important pests of wheat. One of the most important predators of this pest is Hippodamia variegata Goeze. Considering the use of insecticide spirotetramat in cereal fields, in this study, the lethal and sub-lethal effects of this insecticide were investigated on the biological characteristics and parameters of the life table of S. graminum and predator H. variegata. The experiments were performed at a temperature of 27 ± 1℃, relative humidity of 65 ± 10%, and a photoperiod of 16:8 (light:dark). For this purpose, biometric and life table experiments were performed by immersing wheat leaves in insecticide and placing adult aphids on them, and feeding adonis ladybird larvae from the treated aphids. Insecticide side effects were estimated using the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC) method and a two-sex life table. The LC50 level of spirotetramat insecticide for aphids and predators was 210.93 and 725.86 mg/l, respectively. The results of this study indicate that there is a significant difference between treatments in terms of the intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), mean generation times (T), net reproduction rate (R0), and gross reproduction rate (GRR) parameters in aphids and adonis ladybird. The highest and lowest rates of the reproduction and population growth of the studied insects were related to the control and LC30 spirotetramat treatments, respectively. According to the IOBC classification, the concentration of LC10 in spirotetramat was harmless to the adonis ladybird H. variegata, while the LC30 concentration of this insecticide was slightly harmful to this species. Experiments showed that the sub-lethal concentrations of the insecticide spirotetramat had a significant negative effect on the life table parameters of the Wheat aphid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a major cereal crop of the world and provides 20% of the world's food calories. Pakistan's average wheat production is 24.946 million tons, contributing 1.7% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Aphids are a significant insect pest of wheat, causing crop injury by sucking cell sap, releasing honeydew, interfering with the photosynthetic activities of the crop, and transmitting pathogenic viruses. In the present study identification of wheat, aphid species and assessment of IPM modules for aphid management have been worked out. Aphids can be identified based on body color, cornicle tube (length, shape, orientation etc.) and length of antennae. Coccinella septempunctata, Hover flies, Chrysoperla carnea and spiders play a significant role in the management of wheat aphid as a biocontrol agent. So, it is concluded that natural enemies, seed dressing, botanical extracts and sticky traps were found effective and eco-friendly as compared to synthetic insecticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytotoxic activity of essential oil emulsions (EOEs) of aromatic plants such as Mentha piperita, Pelargonium graveolens, Matricaria chamomilla, Chrysopogon zizanioides, Pogostemon patchouli, Mentha arvensis, and aqueous extracts of Andrographis paniculata were evaluated for problematic weeds like Avena fatua and Phalaris minor, along with wheat (Triticum aestivum) as a test crop through laboratory bioassay studies during 2020–2021. The chemical composition of essential oils was analyzed through GC/GC–MS. Results of the laboratory bioassay revealed that EOEs of M. piperita, C. zizanioides, M. arvensis, and an aqueous extract of A. paniculata as pre-emergence bioherbicides strongly inhibited germination and seedling growth of the tested weed species in a dose dependent manner, with P. minor and A. fatua being selectively more sensitive than T. aestivum. Percent seed germination varied between treatments, ranging from 3.45–48.28%, 3.45–100%, and 4.55–90.91% among T. aestivum, A. fatua, and P. minor, respectively. Based on these results, these four treatments showing the highest phytotoxic activity were further evaluated through a pot culture study. The results showed that treatments with essential oil emulsions and aqueous extracts had a negative impact on seedling Vigor Index I and Vigor Index II. Comparing physiological processes in P. minor, like relative electrolyte leakages, essential oil of M. arvensis at concentration 1% + 8% (pre emergence + early post emergence) had the highest levels of 47.16%, followed by the value of 38.86% which was recorded in C. zizanioides at concentration 1% + 8% (pre emergence + early post emergence) and 22.80% reported in M. piperita at concentration 1% + 8% (pre emergence + early post emergence) treated plants. These levels were higher than those in the untreated control (10.13%). Indeed, at higher concentrations of each treatment, grain yield per plant decreased in the range of 7–29% with respect to the untreated control. The data on phytotoxicity rating showed that visible injury symptoms in T. aestivum plants were less severe as compared to the symptoms recorded in A. fatua and P. minor weeds. This is the first in-depth study to show that emulsions of essential oils from P. graveolens, C. zizanioides, and P. patchouli are phytotoxic. It is also the first time that M. arvensis and C. zizanioides have been shown to be pre-emergence bioherbicides in wheat. Hence, our study presents these EOEs as novel candidates of biological origin that can be used in sustainable weed management, especially in organic farming systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflorescence structure affects final grain yield (GY) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Recent breeding efforts have focused on improving grain number per spike, which is positively correlated with GY. Grain Number Increase 1 (GNI-A1) encodes a homeodomain leucine zipper class I (HD-Zip I) transcription factor that controls the number of grains per spike and GY. However, how this increase in grain number affects grain quality, especially grain protein content (GPC) in wheat, remains elusive. Here we investigated within-spikelet variation in GPC using GNI-A1 near-isogenic lines. Yield trials in two seasons and at two sites demonstrated that lines harboring a reduced-function allele, GNI-A1 (105Y), consistently showed improved GY due to a 27% increase in grain number per spike, along with a 1.7% reduction in GPC compared with lines containing a functional allele, GNI-A1 (105N). We confirmed the positive correlation between GY and grain number and the negative correlation between GY and GPC, but we observed no correlation between GY and thousand-grain weight. The increased grain number conferred by the 105Y allele was due to better floret fertility around the central part of the spike and whole florets. In-depth phenotypic analysis using dissected grain samples revealed that GPC was nearly uniform among spikelets and florets. These results suggest that in plants carrying a mutation in GNI-A1, the increase in the total number of grains is accompanied by a reduction in GPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flag leaf size of wheat is an “ideotypic” morphological trait that plays a critical role in plant architecture and grain yield by providing photosynthetic assimilates in wheat. Although many of the genomics research studies covered the flag leaf traits, including flag leaf length (FLL), width (FLW), area (FLA), thickness (FLT), and volume (FLV), for a better understanding, this research used a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between DH118 and Jinmai 919 to evaluate the genetic regions across six environments, including BLUP under both drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions and analyze their correlation with traits related to grain yield. A total of 40 (QTL) quantitative trait loci controlling the five traits were detected across all environments, with phenotypic variance explaining (PVE) 5.09%-15.26%. Among them, 12 QTL were identified as stable, including two QTL for FLL, two for FLW, three for FLA, two for FLT and three for FLV, in which nine QTL were found to be validated in more than three environments through a double haploid (DH) population Jinchun 7 × Jinmai 919. The Qflw.saw-2A, Qfla.saw-2A, Qflv.saw-2A, Qflt.saw-2B, and Qflt.saw-3B were stated as novel due to not being reported by any of the previous research studies related to flag leaf traits. In addition, traits related to flag-leaf and grain yield were significantly correlated in both water regimes. These results provide a better understanding of the genetic basis underlying flag leaf traits. Also, target regions for fine mapping and marker-assisted selection (MAS) were identified and will be valuable for breeding high-yielding bread wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: The regulatory action of BXs secreted by wheat on the pathogenicity of FOF causing Fusarium wilt in faba bean were analyzed. DIMBOA and MBOA weakened the pathogenicity of FOF. A large number of pathogenic bacteria in continuous cropping soil infect faba bean plants, leading to the occurrence of wilt disease, which restricts their production. Faba bean–wheat intercropping is often used to alleviate this disease. This study investigates the effect of benzoxazinoids (BXs) secreted by wheat root on the pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Fabae (FOF) and underlying molecular mechanisms. The effects of DIMBOA(2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazine-4-one) and MBOA(6-methoxybenzoxazolin-2-one) on the activity of cell-wall-degrading enzymes in FOF(cellulase, pectinase, amylase, and protease), FOF Toxin (fusaric acid, FA) content were investigated through indoor culture experiments. The effect of BXs on the metabolic level of FOF was analyzed by metabonomics to explore the ecological function of benzoxazines intercropping control of Fusarium wilt in faba bean. The results show that the Exogenous addition of DIMBOA and MBOA decreased the activity of plant-cell-wall-degrading enzymes and fusaric acid content and significantly weakened the pathogenicity of FOF. DIMBOA and MBOA significantly inhibited the pathogenicity of FOF, and metabolome analysis showed that DIMBOA and MBOA reduced the pathogenicity of FOF by down-regulating related pathways such as nucleotide metabolism and linoleic acid metabolism, thus effectively controlling the occurrence of Fusarium wilt in faba bean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An assessment of the antifungal and immunomodulatory activity of dispersions of chitosan nanoparticles obtained by fractional precipitation at pH 5.0 and pH 7.5 using chitosan of different molecular weights was made. The dispersion of nanoparticles obtained at pH 5 has increased fungistatic activity against C. sativus and A. solani, due to the higher availability of amino groups in looser nanoparticles. This dispersion showed immunostimulating activity, increasing the resistance of wheat to dark brown spot. It was also established that the elicitor activity of dispersions of chitosan nanoparticles is significantly higher than the activity of solutions of the original polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of multifunctional complexes capable of causing a growth-stimulating effect on plants and inhibiting the development of a wide range of diseases on the Leningradka 6 spring soft wheat cultivar (k-64900) was investigated. In the research, it was found that the application of multifunctional complexes based on the Bacillus subtilis bacterial strains and 0.1% chitosan salicylate in wheat cultivation led to a significant decrease in the incidence of plant diseases: yellow and brown rust, powdery mildew, and root rot and caused an increase in morphometric productivity indicators. This tendency was associated with a significant influence of multifunctional complexes on the increase in the number of primary and nodal roots, the length of nodal roots, productive bushiness, the number of spikelets per spike, and the grains weight per spike. However, the effectiveness of protective and stimulating wheat treatments depended on the complex of natural and climatic factors of wheat vegetation seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work was to study the effect of Bacillus subtilis strains VKM B-2604D and VKM B-2605D, which form the basis of the Vitaplan biological product, and their combinations with chitosan salicylate on antioxidant defense enzymes in the process of formation of resistance of wheat plants to infection with the dark brown blotch pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana. In wheat plants treated with B. subtilis strains and their combinations with chitosan salicylate, upon subsequent infection, catalase and peroxidase are activated, which regulate the intensity of oxidative stress induced by the introduction of the pathogen. Taking the data we obtained into account, it can be assumed that the increase in plant resistance to the pathogen is realized through the control of the activity of antioxidant enzymes (in particular, catalase and peroxidase), which maintain the concentration of H2O2 at the level necessary for the neutralization of the phytopathogen in tissues, including the direct destruction of the invading pathogen and/or activation of crosslinking and lignification of the cell wall. These processes strengthen the cell wall and help contain the spread of the pathogen in the plant. At the same time, protective reactions are also switched on, leading to the development of induced resistance in wheat plants to dark brown spotting, which manifests itself in a decrease in the development of the disease by 25–45% relative to the infected control in the treated plants. The results indicate that the combination of active strains of microorganisms-antagonists of plant pathogens and chitosan salicylate is promising for increasing the biological efficiency and expanding the spectrum of action of the developed biological products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of ultrasound (5, 10, and 20 min, intensity 25 kW/m2, frequency 26.1 kHz) on the dynamics of the activity of the main antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, and the expression of the genes encoding them (SOD-1, CAT, POD), was studied in germinating seeds and wheat sprouts. Ultrasound after one hour predominantly suppressed the activity of antioxidant enzymes, with subsequent restoration and increase (after one and six days) of activity. The content of mRNA transcripts of the studied genes predominantly increased one hour after exposure, and subsequently (after one and six days) it was either higher or remained equal to the control. The results obtained apparently indicate that ultrasound triggers eustress mechanisms; i.e., the stimulating effect led to the mobilization of protective processes of cells, hormesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a period of considerable climate and environmental changes, and constant population growth, new effective approaches to wheat breeding are required, in particular, thorough the study of genetic and genomic diversity, as well as the origin and migration routes of species genetically close to bread wheat, which could be donors of genes that control economically important traits. These species include cultivated emmer Triticum dicoccum (Schrank) Schübl. with A and B subgenomes (2n = 28), similar to the corresponding subgenomes of hexaploid bread wheat. The review examines the issues of genetic and genomic diversity of cultivated emmer, its domestication, and distribution routes. The characteristics of some T. dicoccum genes introduced into bread and durum wheat, or promising for further use in breeding programs, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperatures (HT) and drought are two major factors restricting wheat growth in the early growth stages. This study investigated the role of glutathione (GSH) amendment (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mM) to soil in mitigating the adverse effect of HT (33 °C, with 25 °C as a control), water regimes (60% of field capacity and control), and their combinations. HT decreased the length, project area, surface area, volume, and forks of the root, while drought had the reverse effect. Shoot length, leaf area, leaf relative water content, and shoot and root dry matter were significantly decreased by HT and drought, and their combined impact was more noticeable. GSH significantly promoted the root system, shoot growth, and leaf relative water content. The combined treatment reduced chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll. However, 0.5 mM GSH raised chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll by 28.6%, 41.4%, and 32.5%, respectively, relative to 0.0 mM GSH. At combined treatment, 0.5 mM GSH decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) by 29.5% and increased soluble protein content by 24.1%. GSH meaningfully enhanced the activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxide in different treatments. This study suggested that GSH could protect wheat seedlings from the adverse effects of HT and/or drought stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern era, intensive agricultural practices such as agrochemicals are applied in excessive amounts to enhance agricultural production. However, imbalanced adoption of these chemicals has arisen in the dwindling of agriculture factor productivity and soil quality. To maintain soil fertility and production, these chemical fertilizers must be supplemented with organic inputs. Keeping this in the backdrop, a research trail was established during 2018–19 and 2019–20 years at Research Farm of Agriculture University, Kota, India. The treatment setup was comprised of 5 treatment modules viz., conservation tillage + organic management (CAOM), conservation tillage + chemical management (CACM), conventional tillage + chemical management (CTCM), conventional tillage + organic management (CTOM) and the package of practices (PoPs) with four replications. Results indicated that the highest organic carbon (0.68%), bacterial (29.11 × 107 cfu g−1), fungal (4.77 × 104 cfu g−1), actinomycetes populations (5.67 × 104 cfu g−1), acid phosphatase (44.1 µg g−1 h−1), urease (45.3 µg g−1 h−1) and dehydrogenase (23.3 µg triphenylformazan [TPF] g−1 h−1) activity in soil were found in the treatment of conservation organic system during both the years of study at each soil depth. In contrast to other parameters, the highest system productivity was observed with conservation chemical crop management approaches, with a soybean equivalent yield of 4615 kg ha−1 in a soybean–wheat system of production. Furthermore, the soil quality index (SQI) significantly varied from the lowest score (0.30) at 45–60 cm layer of soil in the package of practices to the highest score (0.92) at 0–15 cm layer of soil with regards to the conservation organic which shows, 206.67 percent enhancement through the soil profile of various crop management practices. The SQI variation from 0–15 to 45–60 cm soil depth was 130.0, 81.08, 60.0, 175.0 and 83.33 percent, respectively, for CAOM, CACM, CTCM, CTOM and PoPs. Amongst, different systems, the highest mean performance was noticed under the conservation organic systems for physical and biological properties. Hence, in line with the salient outcome, we may propose that the conservation chemical system needs to be followed to improve crop productivity, whereas, conservation organic seems a good option for soil health with long-term viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]