The optimization of irrigation and fertilization indexes for peanuts with drip irrigation is urgently needed in Xinjiang. A field experiment was conducted during the 2021 peanut growing season at Urumqi, Xinjiang, in Northwestern China, to evaluate the effects of different water and nitrogen treatments on the growth, yield, and water and nitrogen utilization of peanuts. In field experiments, we set up three irrigation levels (irrigation water quotas of 22.5, 30, and 37.5 mm, respectively, for W₁, W₂, and W₃), two nitrogen application levels (77.5 and 110 kg·ha⁻¹, recorded as N₁ and N₂), and a control treatment (W₂N₀) that did not include the application of nitrogen. The results showed that nitrogen application enhanced the growth, physiological indexes, yield, and water use efficiency of the W₁, W₂, and W₃ treatments when the irrigation volume remained the same. In comparison with no nitrogen application (W₂N₀), the peanut growth, physiological indexes, yield, and water use efficiency improved with increasing irrigation amounts in the N₁ and N₂ treatments. With an increase in the irrigation volume, the water use efficiency grew; the W₃N₂ treatment had the highest water use efficiency, which was 1.32 kg·m⁻³. The total water consumption and reproductive-stage water consumption of the peanuts in all treatments increased with the irrigation volume, and a high yield was achieved at 402.57 mm, which was 5.2974 Mg·ha⁻¹. In the W₁, W₂, and W₃ treatments, the nitrogen partial factor productivity significantly decreased as the nitrogen application increased, with the nitrogen partial factor productivity in the W₃N₁ treatment being the highest, at 60.61 kg·kg⁻¹. A comprehensive evaluation based on principal component analysis assigned W₃N₂ the higher score. These findings suggest that irrigation water quotas of 37.5 mm should be coupled with 110 kg·ha⁻¹ nitrogen applications for peanuts using drip irrigation in mulch film in Xinjiang.

Medicinal plants, recognized as significant natural resources, have gained prominence in response to the increasing global demand for herbal medicines, necessitating the large-scale production of these plants and their derivatives. Medicinal plants are exposed to a variety of internal and external factors that interact to influence the biosynthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites. With the rapid development of omics technologies such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, multi-omics technologies have become important tools for revealing the complexity and functionality of organisms. They are conducive to further uncovering the biological activities of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants and clarifying the molecular mechanisms underlying the production of secondary metabolites. Also, artificial intelligence (AI) technology accelerates the comprehensive utilization of high-dimensional datasets and offers transformative potential for multi-omics analysis. However, there is currently no systematic review summarizing the genomic mechanisms of secondary metabolite biosynthesis in medicinal plants. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) has rich and diverse bioactive flavonoids, among of which Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is specific to safflower and emerging as a potential medication for treating a wide range of diseases. Hence, significant progress has been made in the study of safflower as an excellent example for the regulation of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants in recent years. Here, we review the progress on the understanding of the regulation of main secondary metabolites at the multi-omics level, and summarize the influence of various factors on their types and contents, with a particular focus on safflower flavonoids. This review aims to provide a comprehensive insight into the regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolite biosynthesis from the perspective of genomics.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of water and nitrogen regulation on the characteristics of water and fertilizer demands and the yield, quality, and efficiencies of the water and nitrogen utilization of peanuts cultivated under mulched drip irrigation in a desert–oasis region. The experiment, conducted in Urumqi, Xinjiang, centered on elucidating the response mechanisms governing peanut growth, yield, quality, water consumption patterns, and fertilizer characteristics during the reproductive period under the influence of water and nitrogen regulation. In the field experiments, three irrigation levels were implemented, denoted as W₁ (irrigation water quota of 22.5 mm), W₂ (irrigation water quota of 30 mm), and W₃ (irrigation water quota of 37.5 mm). Additionally, two nitrogen application levels, labeled N₁ (nitrogen application rate of 77.5 kg·ha⁻¹) and N₂ (a nitrogen application rate of 110 kg·ha⁻¹), were applied, resulting in seven treatments. A control treatment (CK), which involved no nitrogen application, was also included in the experimental design. The results indicate a direct correlation between the increment in the irrigation quota and increases in farmland water-related parameters, including water consumption, daily water consumption intensity, and water consumption percentage. The nitrogen harvest index (NHI) demonstrated a higher value in the absence of nitrogen application compared to the treatment with elevated nitrogen levels. The application of nitrogen resulted in an elevation in both nitrogen accumulation and nitrogen absorption efficiency within pods and plants. When subjected to identical nitrogen application conditions, irrigation proved to be advantageous in enhancing water-use efficiency (WUE), nitrogen partial factor productivity (NPFP), and the yield of peanut pods. The contribution rate of water to pod yield and WUE exceeded that of nitrogen, while the contribution rate of nitrogen to nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) was higher. The total water consumption for achieving a high yield and enhanced water- and nitrogen-use efficiencies in peanuts cultivated under drip irrigation with film mulching was approximately 402.57 mm. Taking into account yield, quality, and water- and nitrogen-used efficiencies, the use of an irrigation quota of 37.5 mm, an irrigation cycle of 10–15 days, and a nitrogen application rate of 110 kg·ha⁻¹ can be regarded as an appropriate water and nitrogen management approach for peanut cultivation under mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang.

In order to explore the applicability of the peanut growth simulation model CSM-CROPGRO-Peanut under conditions of mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang, and to determine the optimal scenario for parameter estimation and model validation, field experiments were conducted in 2022 and 2023 on the water and nitrogen regulation of peanut. Based on the water requirements during the stages of peanut growth, three irrigation levels (low, medium, and high) and two nitrogen application levels (100% N and 50% N) were set, resulting in six treatments. An additional control treatment (CK) with a medium irrigation level and no nitrogen application was also included. In this study, four different parameter estimation and validation protocols were designed, and different parameter estimation results were obtained using the DSSAT-GLUE parameter estimation module. The results showed that the FL-SH (time between first flower and first pod), FL-SD (time between first flower and first seed), SIZLF (time between first flower and first seed), XFRT (maximum size of full leaf), and WTPSD (maximum weight per seed) parameters exhibited strong variability, with coefficients of variation of 24.33%, 22.9%, 19.78%, 14.47%, and 23.82%, respectively, and were significantly affected by environment–management interactions. Other parameters showed weaker variability, with coefficients of variation that were all less than 10%. The model outputs varied significantly among different parameter estimation protocols. Scenario 3, which used data from the adequate irrigation and adequate fertilization treatment (W3N2) environment across both years for parameter estimation and data from other treatments for validation, showed the highest model calibration and validation accuracy. The average absolute relative error (ARE) and normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) for model calibration and validation were the lowest at 9.1% and 10.1%, respectively. The CSM-CROPGRO-Peanut model effectively simulated peanut growth and development as well as soil moisture dynamics under mulched drip irrigation conditions in Xinjiang, with the highest simulation accuracy observed under full irrigation conditions. The findings provide a basis for using the CSM-CROPGRO-Peanut model to develop suitable irrigation and nitrogen application regimes for peanuts under mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an important oilseed crop cultivated extensively across the globe. High salinity adversely impacts plant growth and physiological processes. In this study, the data of the phenotypes and various indices were collected to clarify the physiological mechanisms underlying sunflower's salt tolerance with the seedlings of two salt-tolerant (182265 and 182283) and two salt-sensitive (182093 and 186096) genotypes, which were exposed to 350 mM NaCl for 4 days. The findings revealed that, during the seedling stage, salt-tolerant sunflowers accumulated less Na+ and more K+, resulting in a higher K+/Na+ ratio that mitigated ionic toxicity throughout the plants, compared to the salt-sensitive resources. Furthermore, the salt-tolerant germplasms also exerted salt tolerance through the following several pathways: they maintained robust osmotic regulation by accumulating higher levels of proline, soluble sugars, and other osmolytes; they neutralized reactive oxygen species (ROS) by elevating the activity of antioxidant enzymes; and they sustained optimal growth by boosting photosynthesis. Taken together, this study provided a more comprehensive assessment of the sunflower's physiological salt tolerance, offering valuable insights for further exploration of the molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance and accelerating the breeding process for sunflower varieties with improved salt resilience.