Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) is an important economic crop widely grown in China. The effects of salt-alkaline stress on metabolites accumulation in the salt-tolerant Ningqi1 wolfberry fruits were evaluated across 12 salt-alkaline stress gradients. The soil pH, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg^2+, and HCO₃⁻ contents decreased at a gradient across the salt-alkaline stress gradients. Based on the widely-targeted metabolomics approach, we identified 457 diverse metabolites, 53% of which were affected by salt-alkaline stress. Remarkably, soil salt-alkaline stress enhanced metabolites accumulation in wolfberry fruits. Amino acids, alkaloids, organic acids, and polyphenols contents increased proportionally across the salt-alkaline stress gradients. In contrast, nucleic acids, lipids, hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives, organic acids and derivatives and vitamins were significantly reduced by high salt-alkaline stress. A total of 13 salt-responsive metabolites represent potential biomarkers for salt-alkaline stress tolerance in wolfberry. Specifically, we found that constant reductions of lipids and chlorogenic acids; up-regulation of abscisic acid and accumulation of polyamines are essential mechanisms for salt-alkaline stress tolerance in Ningqi1. Overall, we provide for the first time some extensive metabolic insights into salt-alkaline stress tolerance and key metabolite biomarkers which may be useful for improving wolfberry tolerance to salt-alkaline stress.

The intercropping patterns of protected cultivations have been widely used to increase productivity and sustainability in modern agriculture. However, there have been few studies of wolfberry intercropping cultivated by clean tillage. We introduced 10 forages into wolfberry cultivation through land productivity and an interspecific competitiveness analysis, and we screened out the appropriate intercropping modes to provide a scientific basis for wolfberry green cultivation and pasture production. The results showed that the wolfberry–forage intercropping land equivalent ratio (LER) of greenhouse and field tests increased from 29% to 59% and from 62% to 170%, respectively, when compared with the monoculture weighted mean, showing significant yield advantages (p < 0.05), particularly in wolfberry–mangold, wolfberry–ryegrass, wolfberry–alfalfa, and wolfberry–clover. The aggressivity of interspecific competitiveness analysis showed that the forage introduction did not affect the dominant competitive position of wolfberry. In addition, wolfberry–forage intercropping could promote the monetary advantage index (MAI). Wolfberry–mangold, wolfberry–ryegrass, and wolfberry–alfalfa performed well, with MAI values of 827.63, 994.18, and 1918.57 for fruit and 2106.54, 1706.27, and 3103.13 for biomass, respectively. Finally, wolfberry–mangold, wolfberry–ryegrass, and wolfberry–alfalfa were screened out, which can form a new mode of wolfberry and forage production.

The fruit diameter (FD), fruit length (FL), fruit peduncle length (FPL), fruit weight (FW) and fruit index (FI, FL/FD) are important quantitative traits in wolfberry fruit, and also one of the most important goals of variety breeding; however, the inheritance of these traits has not been studied to date. In this study, the genetic analysis of these five fruit traits was undertaken for four pairs of F₁ hybrid populations (CI, CII, CIII and CIV) using the major gene and polygene mixed inheritance model. The results showed that the five fruit traits exhibited super-parent segregation in four hybrid combinations, and five traits of progeny with abundant genetic diversity. In CII, CIII and CIV, the mid-parental heterosis ratio (RH_m%) of FD, FL, FPL and FI was greater than 0 with positive heterosis. FD, FL and FI in CI, CII and CIII were controlled by one pair of additive-dominant major genes (A-1). However, in CIV, FD was controlled by two pairs of additive-dominant alleles (B-6) and FL was best fitted to polygenic control (A-0). In addition, it was found that FPL in CI, CIII and CIV was controlled by one or two pairs of additive-dominant major genes (A-1, B-6, B-1), and FW in CIII and CIV was also controlled by one or two pairs of additive-dominant major gene controls (A-1, B-1). For FD, FPL, FW and FI in CIII and FPL and FW in CII, the major genes heritability was over 50%, indicating that these traits are affected by both genes and the environment, and that the selection of these traits should be considered in later generations due to the large effect of environmental factors. Therefore, this study provides a theoretical basis for QTL mapping and early selection of hybrid breeding of Lycium fruits.

The chemical insecticide flonicamid is widely used to control aphids on crops. Differences among crops make the universality of detection methods a particularly important consideration. The aim of this study was to establish a universal, sensitive, accurate and efficient method for the determination of flonicamid residues in peach, cucumber, cabbage and cotton. QuEChERS pretreatment was combined with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). A satisfactory recovery rate of 84.3–99.3% was achieved at three spiking levels, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 0.41–5.95%. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of flonicamid in the four matrices was 0.01 mg/kg. The residue and dissipation kinetics of flonicamid in four types of crops in various locations were determined by using the optimized method. The results showed that flonicamid had a high dissipation rate in the four different types of crops and a half-life in the different matrices and locations of 2.28–9.74 days. The terminal residue of flonicamid was lower than the maximum residue limit (MRL). The risk quotient (RQ) of flonicamid was 4.4%, which is significantly lower than 100%. This result shows that the dietary risk presented by using flonicamid at the maximum recommended dose is low and acceptable. The comprehensive long-term dietary risk assessment of flonicamid performed in this study provides a reference for the protection of consumer health and safe insecticide use.

Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) is a small Solanaceae shrub with medicinal and edible homology, and widely used as ethnobotanical medicine and nutraceutical food. The wolfberry fruits mainly have red, purple, and yellow phenotypes. Wolfberries are rich in flavonoids, which are natural water-soluble pigments that endow a variety of colors in plants There are very few investigations on mechanism of flavonoids biosynthesis and fruit coloring reported about wolfberry. The widely targeted metabolome and transcriptome analysis were performed to obtain metabolite and gene expression profiles of red, yellow, and purple wolfberries and to explain the underlying molecular mechanism of the color differences in wolfberry. As result, metabolomics analysis revealed that the bluish anthocyanins Malvidin and petunidin trended to accumulate in purple wolf-berry, while red and yellow wolfberries trended to accumulate more yellowish flavonoids. And transcriptome analysis showed that flavonoid synthesis-related genes, such as CHS, F3H, ANS and DFR, and several MYB and bHLH genes were differentially expressed among wolfberries in different colors: most of them were more highly expressed in purple wolfberries than in red and yellow ones. In conclusion, the different flavonoids’ accumulation patterns may result in the different fruit colors of wolfberry, and the MYB or bHLH transcription factors could regulate the expression of flavonoids biosynthesis related genes to change the composition of flavonoids or anthocyanins in wolfberry fruits and result in varied fruit colors. These findings provide new insights into the underlying molecular mechanism of the fruit color differences in wolfberry and provide new ideas for molecular breeding of wolfberry.

Lycium barbarum L. (goji berry), a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, depends heavily on nitrogen input to maintain productivity. Nitrogen application also profoundly influences rhizosphere microbial dynamics, which are critical for soil health and plant performance. This study aimed to investigate how the rhizosphere fungal community responds to nitrogen input and explore the potential role of beneficial fungi (e.g., Chaetomium) in goji berry rhizosphere enrichment. A field experiment with four nitrogen levels (0, 53.82, 67.62, and 80.73 g·N m⁻²·year⁻¹, designated as N0, N1, N2, and N3) was conducted to analyze the fungal community structure in the rhizosphere of goji berry using ITS rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The results showed that nitrogen input significantly altered the rhizosphere fungal community composition and diversity. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and Mantel tests indicated that soil electrical conductivity, total phosphorus, available phosphorus, and nitrate nitrogen were key environmental factors driving the fungal communities’ shifts. Notably, specific fungal genera, including Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Gibberella, Fusarium, Pyxidiophora, Acaulium, and Lophotrichus, exhibited differential enrichment across nitrogen levels. In particular, Chaetomium was significantly enriched under the conventional nitrogen treatment (N2), a strain of Chaetomium sp. LC101 was successfully isolated from the goji berry rhizosphere, and its functional roles were verified via pot experiments. Inoculation with Chaetomium sp. LC101 significantly promoted goji berry growth, with the most pronounced effects observed under N0 treatments, root fresh weight, root vitality, and leaf chlorophyll content increased by up to 55.10%, 15.69%, and 43.27%, respectively, compared to non-inoculated controls. Additionally, Chaetomium sp. LC101 regulated rhizosphere nitrogen transformation by enhancing urease, nitrite reductase, and polyphenol oxidase activities while inhibiting nitrate reductase activity. These findings demonstrate that Chaetomium responds sensitively to nitrogen input, with enrichment under moderate nitrogen levels, and acts as a beneficial rhizosphere fungus by promoting plant growth and regulating nitrogen cycling. This study provides novel insights for nitrogen management in the goji berry industry, where synergistic regulation via “nitrogen reduction combined with microbial inoculation” can reduce nitrogen loss, improve yield and quality through functional fungi, and contribute to ecological sustainability.