Japanese foxtail (Alopecurus japonicus) has developed resistance to the acetolactate synthase (ALS) herbicide mesosulfuronmethyl, which has been used continuously for several years in winter wheat fields in eastern China. To ascertain the resistance degree of A. japonicus to mesosulfuron-methyl, whole-plant bioassays and in vitro inhibition assays were conducted. The results of the whole-plant bioassays showed that the resistance index of the resistant population, JS-5, to mesosulfuron-methyl was 100-fold higher than that of the susceptible population, JS-7, and the in vitro activity assays confirmed that the ALS sensitivity of the JS-5 to mesosulfuron-methyl was reduced. To further investigate the molecular basis of the resistance, the ALS genes of the JS-5 and JS-7 populations were cloned, sequenced, and compared. Gene sequence analysis revealed a proline-to-threonine substitution at amino acid position 197 of ALS in Domain A that potentially confers the resistance of A. japonicus to mesosulfuronmethyl in the JS-5 population.

Intrauterine hypoxia (IUH) affects the growth and development of offspring. It remains unclear that how long the impact of IUH on cognitive function lasts and whether sexual differences exist. Spermidine (SPD) has shown to improve cognition, but its effect on the cognitive function of IUH offspring remains unknown. In the present study we investigated the influence of IUH on body weight and neurological, motor and cognitive function and the expression of APP, BACE1 and Tau5 proteins in brain tissues in 2-and 4-month-old IUH rat offspring, as well as the effects of SPD intervention on these parameters. IUH rat model was established by treating pregnant rats with intermittent hypoxia on gestational days 15-21, meanwhile pregnant rats were administered SPD (5 mg•kg −1 •d −1 ;ip) for 7 days. Neurological deficits were assessed in the Longa scoring test; motor and cognitive functions were evaluated in coat hanger test and active avoidance test, respectively. We found that IUH decreased the body weight of rats in both sexes but merely impaired motor and cognitive function in female rats without changing neurological function in the rat offspring of either sex at 2 months of age. For 4-month-old offspring, IUH decreased body weight in males and impaired neurological function and increased cognitive function in both sexes. IUH did not affect APP, BACE1 or Tau5 protein expression in either the hippocampus or cortex of all offspring; however, it increased the cortical Tau5 level in 2-month-old female offspring. Surprisingly, SPD intervention prevented weight loss. SPD intervention reversed the motor and cognitive decline caused by IUH in 2-month-old female rat offspring. Taken together, IUH-induced cognitive decline in rat offspring is sex-dependent during puberty and can be recovered in adult rats. SPD intervention improves IUH-induced cognitive and neural function decline.

Keng stiffgrass is a grass weed that affects wheat-rice cropping systems in China. The extensive reliance on acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase)-inhibiting herbicides has resulted in keng stiffgrass developing resistance to these herbicides. The objective of this research was to evaluate the resistance level of the putative resistant keng stiffgrass populations to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides and to identify their molecular resistance mechanism. Whole-plant dose-response experiments demonstrated that SD-4 (R), SD-11 (R), and JS-25 (R) populations were highly resistant to fenoxaprop, clodinafop, and fluazifop, moderately resistant to diclofop, had low resistance to sethoxydim and pinoxaden, but were sensitive to clethodim. Partial chloroplastic ACCase sequences showed that there were two copies of ACCase gene in keng stiffgrass, and all homoeologous genes were expressed. The results of sequence analyses of the ACCase CT domain revealed an isoleucine-to-asparagine substitution at position 2041 in SD-4 (R) and SD-11 (R) populations, and a tryptophan-to-cysteine substitution at position 2027 in the JS-25 (R) population. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Ile-2041-Asn and Trp-2027-Cys mutations in ACCase-resistant keng stiffgrass. In addition, three robust (derived) cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence ((d)CAPS) markers have been developed to rapidly identify these mutations in the ACCase gene of keng stiffgrass.

Large amounts of fly ash and sewage sludge are produced annually in China. The treatment and disposal of such byproducts have become urgent problems that need to be solved. In order to achieve the possibility of realizing land applications for sewage sludge, fly ash and trimercapto-s-triazine trisodium salt (TMT) were used as immobilizing agents, and their passivation effects on four kinds of heavy metals (Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were evaluated. The results showed that the resulting sewage sludge met Chinese standard GB/T23486-2009. When the addition was 10–20% fly ash or 0.4–0.6% TMT, the optimum immobilization effect was obtained. The synergistic passivation of 20% fly ash +0.5% TMT was superior to that of either fly ash or TMT alone. The addition of sewage sludge during the ryegrass growth process significantly increased the plant height, the number of tillers, the chlorophyll content, and the biomass of the ryegrass over the brown soil. The adverse effect of the heavy metals on the ryegrass growth could be alleviated by the passivation effect of fly ash and TMT. The immobilization performance of the fly ash was mainly due to the formation of precipitation and the ion exchange, while that of TMT was due to chelate precipitation.