The majority of the literature on poisonous plant species in China is published in Chinese and not available to the majority of interested researchers and grassland managers in other countries. Therefore, a review of the Chinese literature was conducted to summarize the occurrence of poisonous plant species on temperate grasslands in China. We reviewed the literature to obtain general information on poisonous species but focus on locoweeds (Astragalus and Oxytropis spp.), drunken horse grass [Achnatherum inebrians (Hance) Keng ex Tzvelev] and langdu (Stellera chamaejasme L.) for information on their toxins, distribution and ecology, control methods and alternate uses. Of the almost 1300 poisonous species found on grasslands in China, these species are responsible for an estimated 80% of all livestock losses. This includes loss of performance as well as mortality. The locoweeds are a complex made up of Oxytropis and Astragalus species. The toxic principle in this complex, as well as in drunken horse grass, is the result of an endophyte fungus whereas in langdu it is produced by the plant. All these species are native to the grasslands, which suggest they have been a problem ever since herding began. Over that period of at least several millennia, herders would have learned and adapted to the presence of poisonous species. Strategies were developed and therapies employed to allow the animals to cope before and after poisoning. Nevertheless, grazing management could still be refined that would allow the use of the toxic legumes, while preventing poisonous symptoms, as has been tested elsewhere.

It has been proposed that relative allocation to female function increases with plant size in animalpollinated species. Previous investigations in several monoecious Sagittaria species seem to run contrary to the prediction of size-dependent sex allocation (SDS), throwing doubt on the generalization of SDS. Plant size, phenotypic gender, and flower production were measured in experimental populations of an aquatic, insect-pollinated herb Sagittaria trifolia (Alismataceae) under highly different densities. The comparison of ramets produced clonally can reduce confounding effects from genetic and environmental factors. In the high-density population, 48% of ramets were male without female flowers, but in the low-density population all ramets were monoecious. We observed allometric growth in reproductive allocation with ramet size, as evident in biomass of reproductive structures and number of flowers. However, within both populations female and male flower production were isometric with ramet size, in contrast to an allometric growth in femaleness as predicted by SDS. Phenotypic gender was not related to ramet size in either population. The results indicated that large plants may increase both female and male function even in animal-pollinated plants, pointing towards further studies to test the hypothesis of size-dependent sex allocation using different allocation currencies.

Background AFP is a negative regulator of ABA signaling that promotes ABI5 protein degradation and weakens regulation of ABA signaling by targeting upstream genes of ABI5 , and TaABI5 gene was seed-specific, and accumulated during wheat grain maturation and dormancy acquisition, which played an important role in seed dormancy; TaAFP has a conserved domain with AFP , so TaAFP may also play an important role in seed dormancy in wheat. Results Two allelic variants of TaAFP were identified on chromosome 2BS in common wheat, and designated as TaAFP-B1a and TaAFP-B1b . Sequence analysis showed a 4-bp deletion in the 5’UTR region of TaAFP-B1b compared with TaAFP-B1a . Based on the 4-bp deletion, a co-dominant functional marker of TaAFP-B was developed and designated as AFPB. The genotype generating a 203-bp fragment ( TaAFP-B1b ) was more resistant to pre-harvest sprouting than the genotype producing a 207-bp fragment ( TaAFP-B1a ) in a test of 91 white-grained Chinese wheat cultivars and advanced lines. The average germination index(GI) values of TaAFP-B1a and that of TaAFP-B1b were 45.18 and 30.72%, respectively, indicating a significant difference ( P < 0.001). Moreover, the 4-bp deletion located in the 5’UTR not only affected the transcription level of TaAFP-B but also affected the mRNA decay, reduced the translation level of GUS and tdTomatoER and GUS activity in wheat leaves of transient expression. The transcript expression and the mRNA half-life value of TaAFP-B1a in developing seeds and mature seeds were much higher than those of TaAFP-B1b . Conclusion We identified a 4-bp InDel in the 5’UTR of TaAFP-B , which affected the mRNA transcription level, mRNA decay, translation levels of GUS and tdTomatoER , GUS activity, and was significantly associated with seed dormancy in common wheat. A functional marker was developed and validated based on this InDel. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-019-1950-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In this study, the cold-tolerance capacity of 133 varieties of weedy rice was evaluated based on the comprehensive evaluation index D, with Kongyu 131 used as a cold-tolerant control. A total of 39.8% of the 133 varieties were considered 'strong', indicating that weedy rice populations indeed have relatively strong coldtolerance capacity as a whole, and the robust cold-tolerant varieties WR29 and WR157 were identified. Regression analysis showed that the metrics including the nitrogen recovery index, superoxide dismutase (SOD) content and malondialdehyde (MDA) content correlated significantly (P < 0.05) with cold tolerance and could be used as indicators of cold tolerance. On the basis of a transcriptome analysis of WR157, a robust cold-tolerant variety identified in this study, a total of 4645 putative DEGs were identified in treated groups compared to the control groups, with 2123 upregulated DEGs and 2522 downregulated DEGs. All upregulated DEGs were enriched on 1388 terms, all downregulated DEGs were enriched on 1566 terms; 911 of the 2123 upregulated DEGs fell into 98 KEGG categories and 1103 of the 2522 downregulated DEGs were in 115 categories. Further analysis showed that GO: 0019740 and GO:0006808 are involved in nitrogen utilization; GO:0009269 and GO:0009414 are related to the stress response; and GO:0016491 and GO:0016614 are related to oxidoreductase activity. Background: Weedy rice (Oryza) is a related pest species of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) that has strong abiotic stress resistance; however, the comprehensive mechanism governing its cold tolerance is poorly understood. Conclusion: Our comprehensive evaluation based on five morphological indices and nine physiological indicators revealed outstanding levels of cold-tolerance capacity among weedy rice varieties from different regions and revealed some terms related to cold tolerance via transcriptome analysis. Our results underscored the reliable evaluation methods for additional cold tolerance studies and revealed several genes related to cold tolerance, which will help researchers breed cultivated rice varieties to increase their cold-tolerance capacity. These traits have the ability to increase seedling survival rate and growth, as well as future yields.