AFP is a negative regulator of ABA signaling that promotes ABI5 protein degradation and weakens regulation of ABA signaling by targeting upstream genes of ABI5, and TaABI5 gene was seed-specific, and accumulated during wheat grain maturation and dormancy acquisition, which played an important role in seed dormancy; TaAFP has a conserved domain with AFP, so TaAFP may also play an important role in seed dormancy in wheat. Two allelic variants of TaAFP were identified on chromosome 2BS in common wheat, and designated as TaAFP-B1a and TaAFP-B1b. Sequence analysis showed a 4-bp deletion in the 5’UTR region of TaAFP-B1b compared with TaAFP-B1a. Based on the 4-bp deletion, a co-dominant functional marker of TaAFP-B was developed and designated as AFPB. The genotype generating a 203-bp fragment (TaAFP-B1b) was more resistant to pre-harvest sprouting than the genotype producing a 207-bp fragment (TaAFP-B1a) in a test of 91 white-grained Chinese wheat cultivars and advanced lines. The average germination index(GI) values of TaAFP-B1a and that of TaAFP-B1b were 45.18 and 30.72%, respectively, indicating a significant difference (P < 0.001). Moreover, the 4-bp deletion located in the 5’UTR not only affected the transcription level of TaAFP-B but also affected the mRNA decay, reduced the translation level of GUS and tdTomatoER and GUS activity in wheat leaves of transient expression. The transcript expression and the mRNA half-life value of TaAFP-B1a in developing seeds and mature seeds were much higher than those of TaAFP-B1b. We identified a 4-bp InDel in the 5’UTR of TaAFP-B, which affected the mRNA transcription level, mRNA decay, translation levels of GUS and tdTomatoER, GUS activity, and was significantly associated with seed dormancy in common wheat. A functional marker was developed and validated based on this InDel.

As an important cereal crop, common oat, has attracted more and more attention due to its healthy nutritional components and bioactive compounds. Here, high-depth resequencing of 115 oat accessions and closely related hexaploid species worldwide was performed. Based on genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium analysis, it was found that hulled oat (Avena sativa) experienced a more severe bottleneck than naked oat (Avena sativa var. nuda). Combined with the divergence time of ∼51,200 years ago, the previous speculation that naked oat was a variant of hulled oat was rejected. It was found that the common segments that hulled oat introgressed to naked oat cultivars contained 444 genes, mainly enriched in photosynthetic efficiency-related pathways. Selective sweeps during environmental adaptation and breeding improvement were identified in the naked oat genome. Candidate genes associated with smut resistance and the days to maturity phenotype were also identified. Our study provides genomic resources and new insights into naked oat domestication and breeding.

• The 437 volatile organic compounds, of which 414 were shared metabolites in the three Triticeae crops, with 3 metabolites unique to oats. • The 307 differentially accumulated metabolites from all the comparison groups. • Terpenoids and esters are the key metabolites determining the differences in flavor. • The alpha-linolenic acid and phenylalanine pathways are the most significant metabolic pathways. • The 42 differentially accumulated metabolites may be leading to the flavor differences.

Camel milk produces many beneficial functional compounds and affects body health through metabolism. The differential metabolites of bactrain camel milk in Alxa before and after fermentation were identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry based metabolomics (LC-MS/MS). The differential metabolite pathway types were also identified in this paper. We obtained the following results that 148 and 82 differential metabolites were detected in positive and negative ion mode respectively, 85 differential metabolites were shown a significant upward trend and 63 with downward trend after fermentation in positive ion mode. Meanwhile, 32 differential metabolites characterized upward trend and 50 characterized downward trend in negative ion mode. The differential metabolites were mainly organic acids, amino acids, esters, vitamins and other substances contained in camel milk. Among them, most up-regulated substances had the functions of lowering blood pressure, lowering blood sugar, treatment of inflammation, antibiosis and other effects. Many harmful substances were significantly down-regulated after camel milk fermentation. However, there were also some metabolites whose prebiotic functions have been weakened by camel milk fermentation, which may provide reference values for healthcare function, exploitation and application of camel milk.

The mechanism of winter survival for perennials involves multiple levels of gene regulation, especially cold resistance. Agropyron mongolicum is one important perennial grass species, but there is little information regarding its overwintering mechanism. We performed a comprehensive transcriptomics study to evaluate global gene expression profiles regarding the winter survival of Agropyron mongolicum. A genome-wide gene expression analysis involving four different periods was identified. Twenty-eight coexpression modules with distinct patterns were performed for transcriptome profiling. Furthermore, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their functional characterization were defined using a genome database such as NT, NR, COG, and KEGG. A total of 79.6% of the unigenes were characterized to be involved in 136 metabolic pathways. In addition, the expression level of ABA receptor genes, regulation of transcription factors, and a coexpression network analysis were conducted using transcriptome data. We found that ABA receptors regulated downstream gene expression by activating bZIP and NAC transcription factors to improve cold resistance and winter survival. This study provides comprehensive transcriptome data for the characterization of overwintering-related gene expression profiles in A. mongolicum. Genomics resources can help provide a better understanding of the overwintering mechanism for perennial gramineae species. By analyzing genome-wide expression patterns for the four key stages of tiller bud development, the functional characteristics of the DEGs were identified that participated in various metabolic pathways and have been shown to be strongly associated with cold tolerance. These results can be further exploited to determine the mechanism of overwintering in perennial gramineae species.