Little information is published related to seed germination and seedling emergence of Japanese foxtail, a troublesome annual grass weed widely distributed in winter wheat fields in China. Three Japanese foxtail populations were studied under laboratory and greenhouse conditions, to determine the effects of different environmental factors on seed germination or seedling emergence. Chemical control is absolutely necessary in integrated management, and efficacy of POST herbicides against different growth stages of Japanese foxtail was evaluated. Germination rate was 90% or more when temperature ranged from 5 to 25 C, with germination onset shortened as temperature increased. Light was not required for germination to occur. For pH values ranging from 5 to10 there was no effect on seed germination. Japanese foxtail seed germination was sensitive to osmotic stress and completely inhibited at an osmotic potential of -1.1 MPa. The ‘1513’ population of Japanese foxtail demonstrated tolerance to soil salinity, with 98% germination at 80 mM NaCl compared with 25 and 40% germination for populations ‘1532’ and ‘1544’, respectively. High amounts of crop residue (10 t ha−1) suppressed Japanese foxtail emergence 38 to 55%. Germination of seeds placed at 160 C for 5 min was completely inhibited for dry seeds, with a similar effect at 130 C for pre-soaked seeds. Seed burial in the soil from 0 to 4 cm had no effect on seedling emergence, but burial at 7 cm completely inhibited seedling emergence. POST herbicides mesosulfuron-methyl (13.5 g ai ha−1), clodinafop-propargyl (67.5 g ai ha−1), pyroxsulam (13.5 g ai ha−1), pinoxaden (67.5 g ai ha−1) and isoproturon (1125 g ai ha−1) reduced plant dry weight 80% or more when applied at three- to seven-leaf stage, but control declined with application at later growth stages. The information from this study helps to develop an integrated approach to Japanese foxtail management.

No abstract

Insect pollinators provide major pollination services for wild plants and crops. Honeybee viruses can cause serious damage to honeybee colonies. However, viruses of other wild pollinating insects have yet to be fully explored. In the present study, we used RNA sequencing to investigate the viral diversity of 50 species of wild pollinating insects. A total of 3 pathogenic honeybee viruses, 8 previously reported viruses, and 26 novel viruses were identified in sequenced samples. Among these, 7 novel viruses were shown to be closely related to honeybee pathogenic viruses, and 4 were determined to have potential pathogenicity for their hosts. The viruses detected in wild insect pollinators were mainly from the order Picornavirales and the families Orthomyxoviridae, Sinhaliviridae, Rhabdoviridae, and Flaviviridae. Our study expanded the species range of known insect pollinator viruses, contributing to future efforts to protect economic honeybees and wild pollinating insects.

Beckmannia syzigachne is a noxious weed for rice-wheat rotations in China. The B. syzigachne (AH-02) population evolved metabolic resistance to fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and mesosulfuron-methyl. To investigate the function of GT73C1 in this population, the GT73C1 gene was amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and the sequence was 100% consistent with the transcriptome data. Its phylogenetic tree was displayed and annotated using FigTree v1.4.4. The plant overexpression vector of GT73C1 gene was constructed and used to transform Brachypodium distachyon plants. Furthermore, the expression of GT73C1 was significantly induced by fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and mesosulfuron-methyl, which was consistent with the findings from the whole plant bioassay. These results indicate that GT73C1 is closely related to the metabolic resistance of B. distachyon.