Sesame is a traditional high-quality oil crop in China, and it is also one of the sixth largest oil crop widely planted in the world. With the release of the physical map of sesame genome, there are more and more biological studies on sesame, but its origin and domestication are still controversial. This paper summarizes the change and current status of the global distribution of cultivated sesame, the progress of research related to the origin and domestication of cultivated sesame and its wild relatives. From the perspective of historical documents, the reasons for the confusion between the Chinese names of “Zhima” and "Huma" is discussed, and the Chinese translation of the family name and genus name in the taxonomy of sesame is recommended. The review will provide theoretical reference for the in-depth and scientific understanding, research and utilization of sesame and its relative species.

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) is a unique oil plant that has attracted worldwide attention due to its high content of liquid wax esters in its seeds. The oil content of jojoba seeds accounts for approximately 60% of the dry weight of the seeds, with liquid wax esters accounting for over 95% of the total oil content. Liquid wax esters have excellent properties such as oxidation resistance, high temperature resistance, and high insulation, making them widely applicable in fields such as cosmetics, pharmaceutical industry, and lubricants. In the early stage, our research showed that fatty acyl CoA reductase (FAR) and wax synthase (WS) in jojoba seeds are key enzymes for liquid wax ester synthesis, while the high expression of WS and extremely low expression of diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) in jojoba seeds cotyledon are the main reasons why jojoba seeds can accumulate a large amount of liquid wax esters. The WS in jojoba seeds mainly synthesizes liquid wax esters of C42- C44 using C20:1-C22:1 fatty alcohols and fatty acids as substrates. High erucic acid rapeseed contains abundant C22:1, making it an excellent receptor material for heterologous biosynthesis of jojoba oil. This article systematically describes the research progress and application prospects of jojoba oil. Combining the biosynthetic pathway of jojoba oil and the substrate preference of WS, it proposes the idea of using biotechnology to synthesize jojoba oil in high erucic acid rapeseed, providing reference for the industrial development of jojoba oil.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) was one of the major sources for edible vegetable oil in China, which also has various uses for feeding, adoption, honey, sightseeing, soil improvement and industry. With rapid development and wide application of new techniques in genome sequencing, genotyping, and phenotyping, major achievements in functional genomics have been achieved in B. napus in recent years, including identification and cloning of genes related to agronomically important traits. Here we summarized the research progress of rapeseed functional genomics, listed the key genes and their functions controling agronomically traits such as seed yield, seed quality, flowering time, plant architecture and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, and discussed the application potential and strategies of these key genes in breeding by molecular design in B. napus. This review might provide a valuable reference for cultivating excellent rapeseed cultivars and would be of great significance to ensuring the safety of oil supply in terms to key germplasms in China.

Oilseed rape is the most widely cultivated oil crop in China. A systematic review of the production and utilization of oilseed rape straw resources in China is vital for extending the oilseed rape industry chain. Based on the crop straw resource ledger data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and publications, we have conducted a systematic analysis of the base number and utilization status of oilseed rape straw resources in China. Moreover, suggestions for future development have been proposed. The results showed that in 2021, the production of oilseed rape straw in China was 29.147 million tons (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Province of China), and the collectable amount was 23.684 million tons, following to the three major grain crops of maize, rice, and wheat. The fertilizer utilization of oilseed rape straw accounts for an absolute proportion of 63.9%, especially for directly return to the field of 51.4%. The potential of utilization for feed and energy was enormous, while the proportion of base material or raw material utilization was relatively low. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen the support of key technologies and equipment for returning to the field and feed utilization, and pay attention to the construction of policy systems to enhance the level of industrial development.

Soybean rust caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is a significant disease of soybean in tropical and subtropical regions, and results in serious soybean yield reduction. To futher understand the pathogen infection process, safranin fast green, DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole), calcofluorescent White (CFW) and WGA488 (wheat germ agglutinin, Alexa FluorTM 488 conjugate) staining were used to observe the rust pathogen infection process. The results indicated that safranin-fast green staining facilitated the distinct visualization of the layout of mesophyll tissue, spore pile, and newly-formed urediospores; DAPI staining can be employed to visualize the status of nuclei; CFW could distinguish the hyphae from plant tissue, facilitating the observation of spore invasion and hyphal distribution in mesophyll tissue; WGA488 dye is exclusively applicable for staining fungi and is suitable for assessing the integrity and coherence of hyphae formation in mesophyll tissue. Choosing appropriate staining methods is crucial for accurately understanding the microscopic structure and infection process of soybean rust in accordance with research needs.

To ensure the safety of Chinese "vegetalbe oil bottle", the foremost is to increase oilseeds production capacity. Under the projects of China's vigorous implementation of soybean and oilseeds production capacity increase in recent years, this article focuses on 3 major oilseed crops of soybean, rape and peanut based on 2001-2022 provincial data. It uses the growth accounting analysis framework to reveal the sources of production capacity increase of China's 3 oilseed crops. Results shows that total factor productivity growth is the most important source of soybean and rapeseed productivity increase, whose contribution rate reaches 73.94% and 90.67% respectively, which driving the productivity increase of 1.12% and 1.03% respectively; for peanuts, fertilizer is the main source of increase, with contribution rate of 62.14%, which boosting production capacity by 0.45%. Further analysis reveals that there are obvious dynamic changes in the sources of productivity increase of the 3 major oilseed crops. Total factor productivity growth has become the top priority of productivity increase of the 3 major oilseeds crops. And, the contribution of land and fertilizer to the 3 major oilseeds production capacity increase cannot be ignored. The above results are expected to provide important reference for optimization of oilseeds crop variety structure and continuous increase of oilseed crop productivity in China.

To understand the biological characteristics of teliospores and aeciospores of P. helianthi, this study investigated the optimal germination conditions for these two types of spores. The results revealed that the collected fresh teliospore could only germinate after being stored at room temperature for more than 180 days. Storage at -20℃ had a better germination effect, with a germination rate of 39.45% after 180 days, however by 420 days, the activity of teliospores was basically lost. Teliospores could germinate on water agar medium at 15℃ for 12 hours, reaching a peak germination rate of 31.89% after 48 hours. Aeciospores began to germinate on water agar medium at 20℃ within 2 hours, and reached the highest (54.33%) after 24 hours. The concentration of water agar medium had no effect on the germination of teliospores, but 0.50% agar medium was most suitable for the germination of aeciospores. The conditions of 15℃ and pH 6 were favorable for the germination of teliospores; 20℃ and pH 7 were the most suitable for the germination of aeciospores. Light had no effect on the germination of teliospores but promoted the germination of aeciospores. A low concentration (10 g/L) of leaf extract could promote the germination of both types of spores, while a high concentration inhibited them.

Rapeseed production is severely restricted by Sclerotinia disease. Elongator complex protein (ELP) is a 6-subunit complex that interacts with RNA polymerase II, involved in plant defense response. To deeply understand its gene function, we constructed vectors on overexpressed-BnA06.ELP2 and knockout-BnA06.ELP2 (by gene editing) using homologous recombination method, and then investigated their transgenic plants. Disease resistance experiments showed that BnA06.ELP2 overexpression plants exhibited better resistance compared to wild-type, while gene edited BnA06.ELP2 plants led to a decrease of resistance. Further RT-qPCR analysis indicated that BnA06.ELP2 could regulate transcription of catalase BnCAT1 and BnCAT2 (marker genes of JA/ET pathway), jasmonate synthesis related genes BnLOX2 and BnOPR1, and BnPDF1. These results indicated that BnA06. ELP2 function in rapeseed is involved in defense response against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum infection.

Our previous study revealed that BnaC3.CCD4 encodes carotenoid cleavage dioxygenas whose mutations altered flower color from white to yellow in rapeseed. Interestingly, we observed that the white flowers of functional BnaC3.CCD4 transgenic lines showed pale yellow in the morning and still became pure white in the afternoon during the daytime. In order to explore whether environmental signals such as light and temperature have a regulatory effect on carotenoid biosynthesis and metabolism, RNA-seq was performed for transcriptomic analysis on them at two different timepoints in the present research. The analysis results of gene ontology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) revealed that a number of differential expression genes were significantly enriched in pathways related to light signal, circadian rhythm, stimulus response and carotenoid biosynthesis et al. Through further analyzing the top 50 differentially expressed genes, it was revealed that the light signal might be the key factor for the flower color change of BnaC3.CCD4 transgenic lines. Therefore, it was inferred that the light signal factors potentially regulate the expressions of the genes in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway by binding to their photoresponsive elements to control the carotenoid contents in the petals and then cause their color change.

To explore the effects of different additives on fermentation quality, nutrient quality and vitamin of mixed silage of alfalfa and rape straw, silage was made from a 5:5 mixture of alfalfa (Gannong 6) and locally harvested rapeseed straw at carob maturity. The experiment was set up with four groups of treatments: Control group CK (added distilled water); Enterococcus faecalis lactate Group I (E. feecelis); Lactobacillus plantarum Group II (L. piantarum); Enterococcus faecalis lactate + Lactobacillus plantarum Group Ⅲ. After silage for 60 days, the nutritional quality, fermentation quality and vitamin content were determined. The results showed that the addition of different lactic acid bacteria additives could increase the content of lactic acid (LA) in silage and decrease the pH value, among which the treatment of Group II had the lowest pH, which was significantly lower than that of Group I and CK group (P<0.05), and the lowest ammoniacal nitrogen/total nitrogen (NH₃-N/Total nitrogen, NH₃-N/TN), which was significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05). Water soluble carbohydrate content in Group Ⅱ was higher than that in other groups CK. The content of vitamin E in Group Ⅲ was the highest. Group I had the highest vitamin C content. Grey correlation degree analysis showed that the comprehensive performance of Group Ⅱ was the best. In conclusion, the fermentation quality of silage can be improved by adding lactic acid bacteria additives, among which Lactobacillus plantarum additive has the best comprehensive performance and is suitable for mixing alfalfa and rape straw silage.

In order to facilitate the increase in national Camellia oleifera production, promote the high-quality development of the C. oleifera industry, and ensure national grain and oil security. Using the LMDI model to decompose the yield formula of C. oleifera, quantitatively calculate the contribution of unit yield and planting area to the production increase of C. oleifera during the "11th consecutive increase" period from 2010 to 2021, both at a national and from regional perspectives, and comprehensively explore the regional pattern and contributing factors of C. oleifera production increase in China. The results are as follows: Nationally, the production increase is dominated by the improvement of per unit yield; Regionally, the increase in the core production area is mainly due to the improvement of per unit yield with super-high speed, while the production increase in the active production area and general production area is mainly due to the expansion of plantation area, resulting in "lagging increase" and "synchronized increase" levels respectively. Among them, 6 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities under the State Council) demonstrate higher contribution from increased per unit yield, while 8 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities under the State Council) show higher contribution from expanded planting area. Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi, which have increased production by over 200 000 tons each, constitute the core areas of C. oleifera production, accounting for 75.6% of the total increase nationwide. 6 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities under the State Council), including Anhui, Hunan, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, and Guizhou, have reached the level of super-high speed in terms of production increase. To conclude, the underlying causes of the explicit contributing factors to the production increase of C. oleifera were explored, the factors that constrain the development of the C. oleifera industry were summarized, and targeted suggestions were proposed.

To investigate the impact of synthetic bacterial flora of nodule endophytes on soybean growth and root microorganisms, this experiment used nodule endophytes isolated from soybean root nodules to construct four synthetic bacterial flora by complementation of strain functions, increase in diversity and superposition of growth-promoting effects. In the study, the bacterial groups Q1 and Q4 exhibited the best growth-promoting effects. Q1 significantly enhanced the stem length, stem fresh weight, root fresh weight and nodule number of soybean plants, increasing by 19.2%, 44.0%, 51.7% and 140.0% respectively. Q4 significantly increased the total root length, root surface area, root fresh weight and number of nodules of soybean plants, increasing by 24.3%, 34.0%, 40.0% and 200.0% respectively. The 16S rRNA sequencing results in the roots revealed that Bacillus and Klebsiella among the root nodule endophytes invaded soybean roots, increased the positive correlation among bacterial communities and the abundance of genes encoding genes related to ecological functions. Metagenomic sequencing results of rhizosphere soil showed that after inoculation with synthetic bacterial flora, beneficial bacterial genera such as Nocardioides and Pseudonocardia were enriched in the rhizosphere, and genes involved in nitrogen metabolism and indole-3-acetic acid （IAA） biosynthetic pathways were significantly increased, and rhizosphere bacteria to carry out biological processes such as coenzymes, amino acid transport and metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and signal transduction were promoted. The results provided theoretical basis and technical support for the construction of soybean endophytic microbiome and the development of efficient microbial fertilizer.

Without shattering resistance and different pods ripen time of indefinite inflorescence in rapeseed maturating stage, combine harvest usually result to more than 20% of rapeseed yield loss in China. In order to reduce rapeseed combine harvest loss, we used two kinds of Diquat dibromide monohydrate (C₁₂H₁₄BrN₂O) as desiccant in rapeseed maturating stage, to analysis effect of Diquate for desiccating efficiency and yield. The results showed that the moisture content of the sample pods and stems were decreased significantly which compared with the natural maturity after spraying diquat (“Reglone” from Syngenta and “Linongshou” from LuBachem). After spraying for 5 d with Syngenta Diquatand LuBachem Diquat, the moisture content of the pod decreased from about 45% to 9.58% and 16.05%, and the moisture content of the stem decreased from about 55% to 37.14% and 45.02%, respectively. Compared with LuBachem Diquat, Syngenta Diquat showed better fast and stable characteristics in raining weather. The suitable period of spraying Diquat were maturity stage of 80% pod color become yellow (in mid maturity), the yield increased by 9.69% and 4.15% compared with natural maturity combined harvest, and the average combine harvest loss rate were 4.63% and 9.45% which spraying Syngenta Diquat and LuBachem Diquat. Spraying Diquat in later stage of 100% pod color become yellow (in late maturity) lead to a significant increase harvest loss rate in 13.80% and 15.87%, respectively. Syngenta Diquat concentration of 9-45 g/hm² and LuBachem Diquat of 9-27 g/hm² didn't have influence with the descendant yield, while the high concentration (36 g/hm²,45 g/hm²) of LuBachem Diquat decrease descendant yield by 5.76% and 8.69%. Diquat didn't affect Erucic acid, Oleic acid, Glucosinolate, water content, germination potential and germination rate of seeds. As Diquat were registered as a desiccant plant growth regulation in China and other country with studies showed a strong safety, we suggest that Diquat maybe an increasing efficiency method to reduce harvest loss in rapeseed production in China and it has positive significance for improving rapeseed yield and production efficiency.