The essential oil of Cinnamomum camphora is the most widely consumed and used spice in the world today. It has therapeutic effects in medicine and has been shown to have good antibacterial and bacteriostatic effects in agriculture. This study found that C. camphora oil significantly induced plant disease resistance activity. Linalool, its main active component, significantly induced plant disease resistance activity (67.49% at a concentration of 800 μg/ml) over the same concentration of the chitosan oligosaccharide positive control but had no direct effect on tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). In this study of its antiviral mechanism, linalool induced hypersensitive reaction (HR); the overexpression of related defense enzymes SOD, CAT, POD, and PAL; and the accumulation of H₂O₂ and SA content in N. glutinosa. Besides, linalool induced crops resistance against Colletotrichum lagenarium, Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and Phytophthora capsica. Taken together, the anti-TMV mechanism of linalool involved the induction of plant disease resistance through activation of a plant immune response mediated by salicylic acid. Linalool-induced plant disease resistance activity has a long duration, broad spectrum, and rich resources; linalool thus has the potential to be developed as a new plant-derived antiviral agent and plant immune activator.

Pratylenchus coffeae Filipjev & Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1941, is one of the most important root-lesion nematodes (RLN) parasitizing many agronomic and industrial crops (Wang et al. 2021). Corn (Zea m...

Dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production plays an extremely important role in the southeast of the Loess Plateau. Planting patterns have great influence on improving soil water storage and yield, and should be matched with different seeding rates. In order to assess the effect of different sowing methods on the drought resistance and stable yield of dryland wheat, a field experiment was conducted in Wenxi County Dryland Wheat Experimental Base in Shanxi Province, China. In the current study, the effects of three planting techniques (drilling sowing, furrow sowing, and film-mulched sowing) and four seeding rates (150, 225, 300, and 375 kg ha⁻¹) were examined on water storage, dry matter formation, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE). The results showed that furrow sowing (FS) and film-mulched sowing (FM) treatments increased soil water storage in the 0–300 cm soil layer at overwintering and jointing stages. In addition, FS and FM increased soil water consumption in the 0–300 cm soil layer from overwintering to maturity of wheat. Furthermore, FS and FM significantly increased the dry matter accumulation from the overwintering to the mature stage, promoted its accumulation in vegetative organs and translocation to grains after anthesis, viz., increased yield by 6.2% and 7.9%, and WUE by 4.6% and 5.3%, respectively, as compared with those of the drilling sowing (DS) treatments. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that grain yield had a significantly positive correlation with soil water storage at overwintering and jointing. Moreover, grain yield was significantly positively correlated with soil water consumption in the 0–300 cm soil layer from jointing to maturity. Additionally, the seeding rate of 150 kg ha⁻¹ with FS could obtain higher WUE and grain yield. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the seeding rate of 150 kg ha⁻¹ is used with FS to improve the grain yield and WUE of dryland agricultural systems in China.

Corn (Zea mays L.) is a very important cereal crop and serves as food, feed, and industrial material (Liu et al. 2016). The root-lesion nematode (RLN) is considered one of the most important plant-...