The complete mitochondrial genome of Tibetan hulless barley.

Hulless barley (Hordeum vulgar L. var. nudum) is one of the staple foods for Tibetans and an important livestock feed in the Tibetan Plateau. We report the complete mitochondrial genome of Tibetan hulless barely. The complete mitochondrial genome size is 416,675 bp. Hulless barely mitochondrial genome encode 34 protein-coding genes, 19 tRNA genes and three rRNA genes. The mitochondrial genome has 50 forward and palindrome repeats totally. Nucleotide sequence of coding region takes over 13.60%, GC content is 44.33%. The maximum-likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree based on 11 protein-coding genes common to seven plant mitochondrial genomes using Arabidopsis thaliana as out-group support that hulless barely is close to Triticum species.

[Effects of different water and fertilizer supply on cucumber soil nutrient content, enzyme activity, and microbial diversity].

With cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) variety Jinyou 1 as test material, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of different water and fertilizer supply on the cucumber soil nutrient content, enzyme activity, and microbial diversity. Three water regimes (50%-60%, 70%-80%, and 90%-100% soil relative moisture content) and two fertilization practices (600 kg N x hm(-2) + 420 kg P2O5 x hm(-2) and 420 kg N x hm(-2) + 294 kg P2O5 x hm(-2)) were designed. The increase of water and fertilizer supply benefited the increase of soil available P content and sucrase activity. Increasing fertilization rate increased soil NH(4+)-N content but decreased soil protease activity, and increasing soil relative moisture content decreased the soil NH(4+)-N content and urease activity. Soil microbial diversity had no significant correlations with soil nutrient contents, but significantly positively correlated with soil urease activity and negatively correlated with soil sucrase activity. Among the treatments, the treatment 70%-80% soil relative moisture content + 600 kg N x hm(-2) and 420 kg P2O5 x hm(-2) had the highest soil nutrient contents, soil urease, sucrase, and phosphatase activities, and soil microbial diversity and evenness, being the best in soil potential productivity.

[Effects of soil covering on solar greenhouse pepper water use efficiency and soil nitrate N and available phosphorus contents].

A greenhouse study on the effects of soil covering on pepper (Capsicum anmuum L.) water use efficiency and soil nitrate and available phosphorus contents showed that straw mulch + plastic film mulch could get the highest pepper yield water use efficiency (33.04 kg . m(-3)) and economic water use efficiency (50.22 yuan . m(-3)), followed by plastic film mulch, with the two parameters being 18.81 kg . m(-3) and 28.57 yuan . m(-3), respectively. Significant differences of nitrate N content in 0-20 cm soil layer were observed among different treatments. The control had the highest nitrate N content (50.33 mg . kg(-1)), followed by straw mulch (31.98 mg . kg(-1)) and straw + plastic film mulch (31.96 mg . kg(-1)), and plastic film mulch and applying water preserving agent. Compared with the control, soil covering could increase the nitrate N use efficiency of pepper, and decrease the accumulation of nitrate N in plough layer. In 0-20 cm soil layer, treatment plastic film mulch had the lowest available phosphorus content (0.72 mg . kg(-3)), and the second (0. 92 mg . kg(-1)) was the treatment straw + plastic film mulch. Treatments straw + plastic film mulch and plastic film mulch could increase pepper fruit yield and fertilizer use efficiency, and decrease fertilizer loss.