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Abstract: Adenine phosphoribosyl transferase (APRT) is the key enzyme that converts adenine to adenosine monophosphate (AMP) in the purine salvage pathway. A novel form of APRT gene from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was cloned through a combination of bioinformatic, RT-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) strategies. The total length of the cDNA sequence is 1097 nucleotides, in which an open reading frame (ORF) was found that encodes 221 amino acid residues. Alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence and that of the other plant APRT genes indicates that the novel cDNA in full-length is the form 2 of wheat APRT gene, which was named as TaAPT2. Twelve Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) sites were identified in the TaAPT2 gene from BNY-S, one wheat temperature-sensitive genic male sterile (TGMS) mutant line derived from the wild type of BNY-F, among which a single base substitution in the purine-binding domain resulted in the Asn to Thr transition. The protein secondary structure prediction revealed that this SNP mutation subsequently resulted in many changes in the quantity and the positions of the helix, extended strand and the loop, which perhaps affect the combining efficiency of the APRT. Northern analysis indicated that the abundance of TaAPT2 gene transcript in the young spikelets reduced obviously in BNY-S under low temperature stress (lower than 10°C) at the early stage of pollen fertility alternation, however, the transcript of TaAPT2 gene in BNY-F was not affected, indicating that wheat TaAPT2 gene may be related to the fertility alternation and abortion of pollen development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Lodging is a major limiting factor on wheat production worldwide but due to experimental restrictions, there is little accurate information on wheat single-stalk lodging resistance strength, particularly at the population level. The single-stalk and population lodging resistance strength of 10 winter wheat varieties (Triticum aestivum L.) were measured in the field between 2010 and 2012 using a crop lodging resistance electronic measuring device and, based on the population lodging resistance strength, wind speed and wind pressure theory, the population stem lodging wind speed for each wheat variety was estimated. The single-stalk lodging resistance strength was 2.50–10.79g-force stalk−1; the population lodging resistance strength was 20.35–65.06Nm−1 and the population stem lodging wind speed was 11.93–24.69ms−1 depending on variety and the growth stage. These results were consistent with general observations taken in the field and suggest that the method used in this study for population lodging resistance measurement and lodging wind speed evaluation may be suitable for the rapid identification of wheat variety lodging resistance in the field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Soil moisture affects the yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by regulating the spatial distribution of roots. Therefore, appropriate supplemental irrigation (SI) schemes are essential to achieve high yield and high WUE of wheat by constructing a reasonable root structure. In this study, field experiments were conducted the North China Plain (NCP) from 2018 to 2020. Based on the soil moisture management at sowing on a consistent basis, four SI regimes were set up: no irrigation after seedling emergence (W0), SI at jointing (W1), SI at jointing and anthesis (W2), and SI at regreening, jointing, and anthesis (W3). The results showed that although the grain yield of wheat increased with the SI frequency, the WUE decreased with increasing SI amount. SI at jointing and anthesis significantly increased WUE without reducing or slightly reducing the grain yield. The grain yield and WUE in 2018–2019 were significantly higher than those of the corresponding treatments in 2019–2020, and the yield of Bainong 4199 was higher than that of Zhoumai 18. The grain yield and WUE in 2018–2019 were significantly higher than those of the corresponding treatments in 2019–2020. The root length density (RLD) in the 0–20-cm soil layer increased with increasing SI frequency, but the proportion of RLD in the 40–60-cm soil layer decreased. The average RLD in the 0–60-cm soil layer and grain yield of Bainong 4199 were significantly greater than that of Zhoumai 18. Correlation analysis showed that the grain yield and WUE was positively correlated with the RLD in the 0–20-cm soil layer, and reached a very significant level with RLD in the 0–20-cm soil layer between rows. W2 and W3 in terms of root vigor and the grain filling rate 30 days after anthesis were significantly higher than W1 and W0 and also increased the contribution of post-anthesis dry matter to grain, resulting in an increase in grain weight. These results demonstrated that SI at jointing and anthesis could optimize the spatial distribution of roots, maintain higher root activity and filling rate at the late stage, increase accumulation and translocation of post-anthesis dry matter, and finally improve the yield and WUE. Therefore, we propose that Bainong 4199 was the preferred cultivars for this experiment，under sufficient soil moisture conditions before sowing, SI at jointing and anthesis is the optimal irrigation scheme for wheat on the NCP. • Increasing RLD in the 0–20-cm soil layer is beneficial to improve yield and WUE. • Reasonable root spatial distribution is very important to improve yield and WUE. • Selecting wheat varieties with higher yield is more conducive to the improvement of water use efficiency. • High WUE was achieved by SI at joining and anthesis without reducing or with slight reduction grain yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]