Drought is one of the common abiotic stresses that limit wheat production worldwide. To ensure food security for the rapidly increasing world populations, improving wheat yield under drought stress is urgent and relevant. In this study, a RNA-seq analysis was conducted to study the effects of drought on wheat transcriptome changes during reproductive stages under field conditions. Our results indicated that drought stress during early reproductive periods had a more severe impact on wheat development, gene expression and yield compared with drought around flowering periods. In total, 115,656 wheat genes were detected, including 309 differentially expressed genes (DEG) responded to drought at different developmental stages. Validation of DEGs through RT-qPCR indicated that the transcriptome changes obtained by RNA-Seq were accurate in this study. GO analysis suggested that the DEG genes involved in many important processes under drought stress during wheat development, such as the floral development, photosynthesis activities and stoma movements etc. The subcellular location of proteins of the DEGs showed they were mainly located at nucleus, peroxisome, mitochondria, plasma membrane and chloroplast, respectively, indicating these organelles played critical role in drought stress in wheat at early developmental stages. Furthermore, we selected five DEGs and confirmed their responsiveness to drought under different genetic backgrounds. Functional verification of these DEGs will be performed in our subsequent research. Collectively, these results advance our understanding of the transcriptome changes under drought stress on wheat at early reproductive stages, which will be useful targets to manipulate drought tolerant at different development stages during wheat growth.

In Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), smallholder rain-fed systems are vital, yet they are challenged by land degradation, soil fertility decline, and climate risks. To address these challenges, crop diversification has been promoted as a potential pathway to enhance productivity, improve nutritional security, and offer a viable pathway out of poverty and hunger. This study explores crop diversification among 150 smallholder households in the Kasungu, Mchinji, and Lilongwe districts of Malawi, where the project Sustainable Intensification of Maize Legume Systems in East and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) has engaged the smallholder farmers in conservation agriculture (CA)-based sustainable intensification participatory research and development for seven years since 2010. This study used Simpson’s diversity index (SDI) to estimate crop diversification, and a multiple linear regression model (MLRM) to analyze how smallholder farmers’ socio-economic characteristics influence adoption. The findings show a prevalence of small farms of less than 1.5 hectares, with most farmers perceiving crop diversification as beneficial for soil fertility. Key adoption constraints include labor shortages and a lack of legume seeds. SIMLESA participants lead in crop rotations, with a 63% higher adoption rate, and show the highest crop diversity, with a 99% increase in farmers growing three crops and a 74% increase in those growing four crops compared to non-SIMLESA farmers. The SDI values were 0.39 for non-SIMLESA, 0.48 for SIMLESA neighbors, and 0.57 for SIMLESA participants. Access to NGO inputs, larger farm sizes, and participation in research programs were positively associated with diversification, while food insufficiency was negatively associated with its adoption. The study highlights the importance of integrating participatory research methods to promote development initiatives effectively.

Inappropriate water and fertilizer management can lead to unstable crop yields. Excessive fertilization can potentially cause soil degradation and nitrogen (N) leaching. The aim of this study was to explore the optimal N application rate on two wheat varieties with different nitrogen responding under limited water irrigation at three experimental sites in the Piedmont plain of the Taihang Mountains, China. A two-year field experiment was conducted to explore the effects of five N application rates (N0, N120, N180, N240, and N300) on winter wheat growth, leaf area index, aboveground biomass, grain yield, grain N accumulation, and net return. The results showed that N application rate significantly affected leaf area index, aboveground biomass, grain yield, and harvest index. Variety and variety × N rate interactions had a significant effect on few indicators. Compared with N0, N180 improved leaf area index, aboveground biomass, grain yield, and grain N accumulation. Compared with N240 and N300, N180 increased the harvest index and N harvest index, without significantly reducing grain yield or grain N accumulation, while enhancing a higher N use efficiency. Fertilizers applied in the ranges of 144.7–212.9 and 150.3–247.0 kg ha^-1 resulted in the highest net return for the KN199 and JM585 varieties, respectively. Our study provides a sound theoretical basis for high-efficiency fertilizer utilization in sustainable winter wheat production in the Piedmont plains of the Taihang Mountains of China.

Sulfur fertilizers play an important role in increasing the yield and improving the dough quality of bread wheat, but their regulatory mechanism remains unclear. In this study, 0 kg·ha⁻¹ (S0) and 60 kg·ha⁻¹ (S60) of sulfur were applied on the anthesis date; subsequently, immature wheat grains at 8, 13, and 18 days post-anthesis (DPA) were subjected to integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to investigate the changes in the gene/metabolite activity in a typical strong-gluten wheat, Gaoyou2018 (GY2018). Our data show that the S60 treatment could significantly increase the grain yield and grain protein content by 13.2 and 3.6%, respectively. The transcriptomic analysis revealed that 10,694 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were induced by S60 from 8 to 18 DPA when compared with their corresponding no-sulfur controls, and most DEGs were mainly involved in lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism pathways. Ninety-seven MYB transcription factors (TFs) were identified as responsive to the S60 treatment; of these, 66 showed significantly differential expression at 13 DPA, and MYB118 might participate in the process of sulfur metabolism by regulating glucosinolate synthesis. In total, 542 significantly enriched differentially expressed (DE) metabolites (DEMs) were identified following the S60 treatment, which mainly included secondary metabolites, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Several metabolites (e.g., glutathione, sucrose, GDP-alpha-D-glucose, and amino acids) exhibited altered abundances following the S60 treatment. The combination of transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses highlighted the important role of amino acid metabolism (especially cysteine, methionine, and glutathione metabolism) and starch and sucrose metabolism pathways after S60 application. Our results provide valuable information enhancing our understanding of the molecular mechanism of the response to sulfur and provide useful clues for grain protein quality formation and yield improvement in bread wheat.