Background: Stigma exsertion rate (SER) is a key determinant for the outcrossing ability of male sterility lines (MSLs) in hybrid rice seed production. In the process of domestication, the outcrossing ability of cultivated rice varieties decreased, while that of wild Oryza species kept strong. Here, we detected the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling SER using a set of single-segment substitution lines (SSSLs) derived from O. glumaepatula , a wild Oryza species. Results: Seven QTLs for SER were located on 5 chromosomes. qSER-1a and qSER-1b were located on chromosome 1. qSER-3a and qSER-3b were mapped on chromosome 3, and qSER-3b was further located at an estimated interval of 898.8kb by secondary substitution mapping. qSER-5 , qSER-9 and qSER-10 were identified on chromosomes 5, 9 and 10, respectively, and qSER-9 was delimited to an estimated region of 551.9kb by secondary substitution mapping. The additive effects of the 7 QTLs ranged from 10.6% to 14.8%, which were higher than those of most loci for SER reported previously. Conclusions: qSER-1a and qSER-1b are novel loci for SER on chromosome 1. All of the 7 QTLs have major effects on SER. The major QTLs of SER will help to develop MSLs with strong outcrossing ability.

Facing the increasing demand for batteries worldwide, recycling waste lithium batteries has become one of the important ways to address the problem. However, this process generates a large amount of wastewater which contains high concentration of heavy metals and acids. Deploying lithium battery recycling would cause severe environmental hazards, would pose risks to human health, and would also be a waste of resources. In this paper, a combined process of diffusion dialysis (DD) and electrodialysis (ED) is proposed to separate, recover, and utilize Ni2+ and H2SO4 in the wastewater. In the DD process, the acid recovery rate and Ni2+ rejection rate could reach 75.96% and 97.31%, respectively, with a flow rate of 300 L/h and a W/A flow rate ratio of 1:1. In the ED process, the recovered acid from DD is concentrated from 43.1 g/L to 150.2 g/L H2SO4 by the two-stage ED, which could be used in the front-end procedure of battery recycling process. In conclusion, a promising method for the treatment of battery wastewater which achieved the recycling and utilization of Ni2+ and H2SO4 was proposed and proved to have industrial application prospects.

Grain size and grain number play extremely important roles in rice grain yield. Here, we identify GW10 , which encodes a P450 subfamily protein and controlls grain size and grain number by using Lemont ( tropical japonica ) as donor parent and HJX74 ( indica ) as recipient parent. The GW10 locus was mapped into a 20.1 kb region on the long arm of Chromosome 10. Lower expression of the gw10 in panicle is contributed to the shorter and narrower rice grain, and the increased number of grains per panicle. Furthermore, the higher expression levels of some of the brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis and response genes are associated with the NIL- GW10 , which strongly suggests that the GW10 is a key node in the brassinosteroid-mediated regulation of rice grain shape and grain number.

Background: Stigma exsertion rate (SER) is a key determinant for outcrossing ability of male sterility lines (MSLs) in hybrid rice seed production. Outcrossing ability in cultivated rice varieties has diminished during the process of domestication, while wild Oryza species keep strong outcrossing ability. Here, we detected the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling SER using a set of singlesegment substitution lines (SSSLs) derived from O. glumaepatula, a wild Oryza species.Results: Seven QTLs for SER, and qSER-10, were located on 5 chromosomes. qSER-1a and qSER-1b were located on chromosome 1. qSER-3a and qSER-3b were mapped on chromosome 3, and qSER-3b was further located at an interval of 931.0kb by secondary substitution mapping. qSER-5, qSER-9 and qSER-10 were identified on chromosomes 5, 9 and 10, respectively, and qSER-9 was delimited to a region of 608.2kb by secondary substitution mapping. The additive effects of the 7 QTLs ranged from 10.6% to 14.8%, and the additive contribution variances explained by each of the QTLs were from 36.3% to 50.6%, which were higher than those of most loci for SER reported previously.Conclusions: qSER-1a and qSER-1b were novel loci for SER on chromosome 1. All of the 7 QTLs had major effects on SER. The major QTLs of SER will help to develop MSLs with strong outcrossing ability.