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Enzyme inhibitor from natural origin without any side effects and multi diseases target provide more advantageous over commercial drugs. In present study phytocompound lupeol was isolated from Indian traditional medicinal plant Crateva adansonii leave extracts and its possible applications for treating diabetes and inflammation diseases. Single major peak in HPLC profiling and FTIR functional group analysis of lupeol fraction (LF) confirmed the presence of phytocompound lupeol in LF. LF obtained from chloroform leave extract of Crateva adansonii had most prominent inhibitory activity on alpha-amylase and alpha glucosidase with IC50 values 16.31 µg/mL and 41.25 µg/mL respectively. LF exhibit superior COX-2 enzyme (91.36%) inhibition potential among all tested samples whereas LF exhibit equipotent (81.38%) MPO enzyme inhibitory potential compared with celecoxib standard drug (86.19%). In silico validation reveals that lupeol exhibit least docking score with excellent binding affinities of -9.2, -7.6, -10.0 -8.2 Kcal/mol with COX-2, myeloperoxidase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inflammatory molecular target enzymes respectively than inflammatory (celecoxib) and diabetic (acarbose) reference standard drugs. Further in silico molecular dynamics simulation analysis revealed that Lupeol-COX-2 RMSD (root mean square deviation) plot showed that both COX-2 and Lupeol are stable after 20 NS at 9.0 A for ligand and 3.2 A for protein. Lupeol-α amylase complex showed good level of interaction throughout the simulation when compared with reference standard drug acarbose. Present study findings suggests that lupeol from Crateva adansonii plant could be incorporated in medicinal formulations intended for treatment of chronic inflammation and diabetic disorders.

Antibiotic resistance is a global concern. Two members of the bacterial genus Elizabethkingia, namely, E. anophelis and E. meningoseptica have raised much concern in recent years because of their resistance to multiple commonly used antibiotics. Identification of multidrug resistant and pan-drug resistant bacteria has propelled the search for new antibiotics that can act on unconventional targets. Researches are going on to find out the possibility of using bacterial ribonucleotide reductases as a novel target for antibiotic development. Through in silico evaluations, this study aims for characterization and functional annotation of ribonucleotide reductase enzymes of E. anophelis and E. meningoseptica. Binding affinities with these enzymes of the compounds that have shown promising results in inhibiting Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth by acting on its ribonucleotide reductase were also assessed by molecular docking and dynamics simulations. Insights from this study will help in battling these infections in the near future. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Under natural conditions, plants constantly encounter various biotic and abiotic factors, which can potentially restrict plant growth and development and even limit crop productivity. Among various abiotic factors affecting plant photosynthesis, light serves as an important factor that drives carbon metabolism in plants and supports life on earth. The two components of light (light quality and light intensity) greatly affect plant photosynthesis and other plant’s morphological, physiological and biochemical parameters. The response of plants to different spectral radiations and intensities differs in various species and also depends on growing conditions. To date, much research has been conducted regarding how different spectral radiations of varying intensity can affect plant growth and development. This review is an effort to briefly summarize the available information on the effects of light components on various plant parameters such as stem and leaf morphology and anatomy, stomatal development, photosynthetic apparatus, pigment composition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, antioxidants, and hormone production.

Background Bioinformatics tools are of great significance and are used in different spheres of life sciences. There are wide variety of tools available to perform primary analysis of DNA and protein but most of them are available on different platforms and many remain undetected. Accessing these tools separately to perform individual task is uneconomical and inefficient. Objective Our aim is to bring different bioinformatics models on a single platform to ameliorate scientific research. Hence, our objective is to make a tool for comprehensive DNA and protein analysis. Methods To develop a reliable, straight-forward and standalone desktop application we used state of the art python packages and libraries. Bioinformatics Mini Toolbox (BMT) is combination of seven tools including FastqTrimmer, Gene Prediction, DNA Analysis, Translation, Protein analysis and Pairwise and Multiple alignment. Results FastqTrimmer assists in quality assurance of NGS data. Gene prediction predicts the genes by homology from novel genome on the basis of reference sequence. Protein analysis and DNA analysis calculates physiochemical properties of nucleotide and protein sequences, respectively. Translation translates the DNA sequence into six open reading frames. Pairwise alignment performs pairwise global and local alignment of DNA and protein sequences on the basis or multiple matrices. Multiple alignment aligns multiple sequences and generates a phylogenetic tree. Conclusion We developed a tool for comprehensive DNA and protein analysis. The link to download BMT is https://github.com/nasiriqbal012/BMT_SETUP.git.

Little is known about best herbicidal weed option for weed eradication in soybean in agro-climatic circumstances of Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. A two year field study was accomplished at College of Agriculture experimental site Sargodha in spring seasons of 2018 and 2019 to evaluate the efficacy of different herbicides adjacent to major weeds present in soybean. The study consisted of 8 herbicide treatments including two pre-emergence herbicides (pendimethalin at 489.1 g a.i. ha-1, pendimethalin + S-metolachlor at 731.1 g a.i. ha-1) which are applied immediately after sowing and six post-emergence herbicides (oxyfluorfen at 237.1 g a.i. ha-1, metribuzin at 518.7 g a.i. ha-1, quizalofop-p-ethyl at 148.2 g a.i. ha-1, acetochlor at 741 g a.i. ha-1, halosulfuron at 37 g a.i. ha-1and topramezone at 21.5 g a.iha-1) which were used 25 days subsequent to sowing. In contrast to control, all herbicides have shown significant decline in weed density (up to 94%) and dry weight (up to 88%); and caused significant increases in plant height (up to 85%), pod bearing branches (up to 77%), number of pods per plant (up to 83%), 100-seed weight (up to 37%) and seed yield (up to 160%) of soybean. Among herbicides, topramezone at 21.5 g a.i ha-1 gave significantly the highest (1234 and 1272 kg ha-1 in the year 2018 and 2019) seed yield of soybean and HEIs (1.28 and 1.03 in year 2018 and 2019, respectively). However, oxyfluorfen at 237.1 g a.i. ha-1, pendimethalin + S-metolachlor at 731.1 g a.i. ha-1, pendimethalin at 489.1 g a.i. ha-1, quizalofop-p-ethyl at 148.2 g a.i.ha-1 followed it. The regression analysis depicted a significant negative moderate relationship of soybean seed yield with weed dry weight (R2 = 0.7074), and pods per plant (R2 = 0.7012) was proved to be the main yield component responsible for higher yield of soybean.

Soybean (Glycine max L.) has been extensively cultivated in maize–soybean relay intercropping systems in southwest China. However, during the early co-growth period, soybean seedlings suffer from severe shading by maize resulting in lodging and significant yield reduction. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the reasons behind severe lodging and yield loss. Therefore, four different soybean genotypes (B3, B15, B23, and B24) having different agronomic characteristics were cultivated in intercropping and monocropping planting patterns. The results showed that under different planting patterns, the stem resistance varied among genotypes (P < 0.01). The lodging resistance index of B3, B15, B23, and B24 genotypes was 70.9%, 60.5%, 65.2%, and 57.4%, respectively, under intercropping, among which the B24 genotype was less affected by the shade environment as there was little decrease in the lodging resistance index of this genotype under intercropping. The lignin content of B23 and B24 was significantly higher than that of B3 and B15 under both planting patterns. Under intercropping, the hemicellulose content of B23 and B24 stems was significantly higher than that of B3 and B15. Compared to the monocropping, the content of mannose in the structural carbohydrate of soybean stems was decreased in all genotypes except B23, but the difference was not significant. The content of xylose in the structural carbohydrate of soybean stems was significantly higher than that in B3 and B15. Mannose content showed no significant difference among genotypes. The arabinose content of B24 was significantly higher than that of B3, B15, and B23. The effective pod number, seed number per plant, seed weight per plant and yield of soybean plants were significantly decreased under intercropping. Conclusively, manipulation of structural and nonstructural carbohydrate rich soybean genotypes in intercropping systems could alleviate the yield loss due to lodging.

A half-root stress is a half portion of the root system exposed to treatment while the remaining half portion kept under normal conditions. A half-root stress including half-root drought stress, half-root nutrient stress, and half-root salinity stress has become a general approach to improve plant performance and adaptability. Plants produce some chemical signals in stressed part of root, and other parts sense these signals to improve the acclimation and adaptive responses to environmental stresses. Plants adapt the compensatory functions and discriminate the systemic and local regulatory mechanisms, but the understanding of these mechanisms is controversial. Chemical signals (Abscisic acid, sap pH, cytokinins, content of malate, amino acid, and ureide) have been involved in root to shoot signaling under half-root stress. Furthermore, naturally appeared half-root stress in intercropping systems could be an additional attribute of half-root stress approach. Therefore, much more study is required to elaborate its acceptability in intercropping. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge and identified some key future researches areas regarding half-root stress approach.

Without developing new agronomic practices, present rates of improvement in seed yields of cereal crops globally are insufficient to fulfil the estimated increasing food demand for 2050 and beyond. Intercropping is one of the agricultural practices that can lead to greater crop yields. However, there exists leaf redundancy for maize in intercropping systems, and the top canopy leaves shade more competent leaves at middle strata of maize plants. Therefore, this work aimed to elucidate the effect of leaf excision treatments in maize to understand the optimum leaf area of maize plants under a maize–soybean relay‐intercropping system (MSR) and a sole cropping system (SM). The effects of four‐leaf excision treatments (T₁, 0; T₂, 2; T₃, 4; T₄, 6 leaves excised from the top of maize plants until 7 days after silking) on light interception, leaf area index (LAI), photosynthetic characteristics, total biomass accumulation at blistering stage (BS), dough stage (DS) and physiological maturity (PM), and seed yield of maize were investigated through field experiments for 2 years under MSR and SM. Results showed that, under MSR and SM, as compared to control (T₁), optimum excision of leaves (T₂) from the top of maize plants significantly improved the light interception (by 25, 18 and 16% at BS, DS and PM, respectively) to lower strata leaves and accelerated the biomass partitioning to maize seeds (by 13 and 12% at DS and PM, respectively). Importantly, plants under T₂ exhibited higher green leaf area than control, that is, excision the top two leaves led to an increase in LAI at PM by 10%, suggesting that leaf senescence under T₂ was delayed which enhanced the photosynthetic rate at PM by 7% in 2017 and 6% in 2018. Relative to T₁, maize under T₂ produced 19 and 13% higher maize yield under MSR and SM, respectively, and relay‐cropped maize had 90% of SM seed yield. These results suggest that by manipulating the canopy structure of maize plants we can enhance the biomass accumulation and seed yield of maize crops under MSR and SM.

Titanium (Ti) is considered an essential element for plant growth; however, its role in crop performance through stimulating the activities of certain enzymes, enhancing chlorophyll content and photosynthesis, and improving crop morphology and growth requires more study. We therefore conducted a laboratory experiments to study the effects of ionic Ti application on morphology, growth, biomass distribution, chlorophyll fluorescence performance and Rubisco activity of soybean (Glycine max L.) under normal light (NL) and shade conditions (SC). In this study, we sprayed soybean plants with five different levels of ionic Ti (T1 = 0, T2 = 1.25, T3 = 2.5, T4 = 5 and T5 = 10 mg Ti Plant−1) through foliar application method. Our results show that with increasing moderate (2.5 mg Ti Plant−1) Ti concentration, the chlorophyll pigments (chlorophyll [Chl] a, b, carotenoid [Car]), plant biomass, photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and electron transport rate (ETR) of soybean increased, but higher levels (5–10 mg Ti Plant−1), resulted in leaf anatomical and chloroplast structural disruptions under both NL and SC. Soybean plants showed maximum biomass, leaf area, leaf thickness, Chl a, b, Car, Rubisco activity, Fv/Fm and ETR for T3 at 2.5 mg Ti Plant−1; however, declined significantly for T5 at high concentration of 10 mg Plant−1. In NL, the application of 2.5 mg Ti Plant−1 (T3) increased the Chl a, b, and total Chl contents 40, 20, and 27% as compared to control treatment (T1). In SC, the application of 1.25 mg Ti mg Plant−1 (T2) increased the Chl a, b, and total Chl contents 38, 19, and 14% as compared to control treatment. In NL, the Fv/Fm, qP, PSII, and ETR were higher in the T3 treatment over the T1 (control) by 7, 0.3, 16, and 16%, respectively. In SC, the Fv/Fm, qP, PSII, and ETR were higher in the T3 treatment over the T1 (control) by 5, 5, 19, and 19%, respectively. Moreover, Rubisco activity was at peak (55 and 6% increase under NL and SC) at 2.5 mg Ti Plant−1and decreased with increasing Ti concentration, reaching the lowest at 10 mg Ti Plant−1, which indicates that leaf cells were damaged as observed in the leaf anatomy. We concluded that ionic Ti expresses a hormesis effect: at lower concentrations, promoting soybean growth, however, at higher concentrations, suppressing soybean growth both under NL and SC. We therefore suggest that under different light stress conditions, Ti application could serve to mitigate abiotic stresses, especially in intercropping systems.

The unavailability of vaccine and medicines raised serious issues during COVID-19 pandemic and peoples from different parts of world relied on traditional medicine for their immediate recovery from COVID-19 and it found effective also. The current research aims to target COVID-19 immunological human host receptors i.e. angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-2, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and protease-activated receptor (PAR)-1 using curcumin derivatives to prevent viral infection and control overproduction of early clinical responses of COVID-19. Targeting these host proteins will mitigate the infection and will filter out many complications caused by these proteins in COVID-19 patients. It is proven through computer-aided computational modeling approaches, total 30 compounds of curcumin and its derivatives were chosen. Drug-likeness parameters were calculated for curcumin and its derivatives and 20 curcumin analogs were selected for docking analysis. From docking analysis of 20 curcumin analogs against five chosen human host receptor targets reveals 11 curcumin analogs possess least binding affinity and best interaction at active sites subjected to absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion (ADME) analysis. Density functional theory (DFT) analysis of five final shortlisted curcumin derivatives was done to show least binding affinity toward chosen host target protein. Molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) was performed to observe behavior and interaction of potential drug hydrazinocurcumin against target proteins ACE-2 and PAR-1. It was performed at 100 nanoseconds and showed satisfactory results. Finally, our investigation reveals that hydrazinocurcumin possesses immunomodulatory and anti-cytokine therapeutic potential against COVID-19 and it can act as COVID-19 warrior drug molecule and promising choice of drug for COVID-19 treatment, however, it needs further

(1) Background: Enterococcus faecium DO is an environmental microbe, which is a mesophilic, facultative, Gram-positive, and multiple habitat microorganism. Enterococcus faecium DO is responsible for many diseases in human. The fight against infectious diseases is confronted by the development of multiple drug resistance in E. faecium. The focus of this research work is to identify a novel compound against this pathogen by using bioinformatics tools and technology. (2) Methods: We screened the proteome (accession No. PRJNA55353) information from the genome database of the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and suggested a potential drug target. I-TASSER was used to predict the three-dimensional structure of the protein, and the structure was optimized and minimized by different tools. PubChem and ChEBI were used to retrieve the inhibitors. Pharmacophore modeling and virtual screening were performed to identify novel compounds. Binding interactions of compounds with target protein were checked using LigPlot. pkCSM, SwissADME, and ProTox-II were used for adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) properties. (3) Results: Novel selected compounds have improved absorption and have better ADMET properties. Based on our results, the chemically identified inhibitor ZINC48942 targeted the receptor that can inhibit the activity of infection in E. faecium. This research work will be beneficial for the scientific community and could aid in the design of a new drug against E. faecium infections. (4) Conclusions: It was observed that novel compounds are potential inhibitors with more efficacy and fewer side effects. This research work will help researchers in testing and identification of these chemicals useful against E. faecium.

Selecting optimum planting time (PT) in maize–soybean relay intercropping system (MSRI) is important to obtain higher intercrop yields because planting time decides the co‐growth duration and competitive ability of intercrop species in MSRI. However, little is known on how planting time (co‐growth duration) changes the interspecific interaction resulting in a seed‐yield difference between intercropping and sole cropping system. Therefore, this field study was initiated to determine the effects of changing co‐growth duration on competitive interactions, growth, and yield of intercrop species under MSRI. The sole soybean and relay‐cropped soybean were planted on PT1 (15–20 May, 90 days of co‐growth duration in MSRI); PT2 (5–10 June, 70 days of co‐growth duration in MSRI); and PT3 (25–30 June, 50 days of co‐growth duration in MSRI) to generate different size‐asymmetric competition between component crops in MSRI. Results showed that sole soybean produced the mean highest (2.93 t/ha) seed yield under PT2, and the mean lowest (2.51 t/ha) seed yield under PT1. However, in MSRI, PT3 increased the soybean yield by 29.1% and 13.3% compared to PT1 and PT2, respectively. The PT3 also increased the maize yield by 7.4% and 2.9% than PT1 and PT2, respectively, and it reduced the yield differences of maize and soybean between relay intercropping and sole cropping systems. In MSRI, decreased co‐growth duration promoted the soybean plants to achieve the higher crop growth rate, and biomass accumulation, which ultimately improved the soybean resilience toward size‐asymmetric competition created by maize plants. Furthermore, as compared to PT1 and PT2, planting time PT3 significantly increased the competitive ratio (by 10.1% and 17.3%, respectively) of soybean plants. Overall, the PT3 achieved the average highest land equivalent ratio of 1.63, which is significantly higher than PT1 (by 12.3%) and PT2 (by 10.6%). In conclusion, this study implied that in MSRI, the determination of proper soybean planting time (co‐growth duration) is one of the most critical factors to reduce the competition between the intercrops and to obtain higher crop yields.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS CoV‐2/COVID‐19) is a highly contagious and deadly disease caused by a virus belonging to the coronaviridae family. Researchers working in histopathology laboratories, dealing with morbid samples, are particularly vulnerable to infection unless they have very strong immunity. Hence, a proper precautionary protocol is required for the safety of the laboratory staff. The current review highlights the biological and physical agents that can be used to inactivate the virus and disinfect the surrounding environment in the laboratory.

Strip width management is a critical factor for producing higher crop yields in relay intercropping systems. A 2‐year field experiment was carried out during 2012 and 2013 to evaluate the effects of different strip width treatments on dry‐matter production, major‐nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) uptake, and competition parameters of soybean and maize in relay intercropping system. The strip width (SW) treatments were 0.40, 0.40, and 0.40 m (SW1); 0.40, 0.40, and 0.50 m (SW2); 0.40, 0.40, and 0.60 m (SW3); and 0.40, 0.40, and 0.70 m (SW4) for soybean row spacing, maize row spacing, and spacing between soybean and maize rows, respectively. As compared to sole maize (SM) and sole soybean (SS), relay‐intercropped maize and soybean accumulated lower quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in all treatments. However, maize in SW1 accumulated higher nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium than SW4 (9%, 9%, and 8% for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively). Soybean in SW3 accumulated 25% higher nitrogen, 33% higher phosphorus, and 24% higher potassium than in SW1. The improved nutrient accumulation in SW3 significantly increased the soybean dry matter by 19%, but slightly decreased the maize dry matter by 6% compared to SW1. Similarly, SW3 increased the competition ratio value of soybean (by 151%), but it reduced the competition ratio value of maize (by 171%) compared to SW1. On average, in SW3, relay‐cropped soybean produced 84% of SS seed yield and maize produced 98% of SM seed yield and achieved the land equivalent ratio of 1.8, demonstrating the highest level in the world. Overall, these results suggested that by selecting the appropriate strip width (SW3; 0.40 m for soybean row spacing, 0.40 m maize row spacing, and 0.60 m spacing between soybean and maize rows), we can increase the nutrient uptake (especially nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), dry‐matter accumulation, and seed yields of relay‐intercrop species under relay intercropping systems.

Traditional maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max (L) Merrill) intercropping practice cannot be adapted to modern agriculture due to low light use efficiency, radiation use efficiency, low comparative profits of soybeans and incompatibility with mechanization. However, a new type of maize and soybean intercropping system (MSIS) with high land equivalent ratio (LER) provides substantial benefits for small-land hold farmers worldwide. Our research team has done a wide range of research to suggest the appropriate planting geometry that ensures high yield and LER as high as 2.36, nutrient acquisition and mechanical operations in MSISs. Increase in the distance between soybean and maize rows and decrease in the spacing of maize narrow rows is useful for the high light interception for the short soybean in MSISs. This review concludes that MSIS has multifold and convincing results of LER and compatible with mechanization, while those practiced other than China still require technological advancements, agronomic measures and compatible mechanization to further explore its adaptability.

Multiple antibiotic-resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae can cause life-threatening infections. Bacterial enoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductases (ENRs) are considered critical targets for developing antibiotics. Our current study aims to identify inhibitors of K. pneumoniae ENRs (FabI and FabV). Due to the unavailability of experimental structures, protein models of FabI and FabV were predicted and validated in this study. Virtual screening of the 1930 FDA-approved drug database was conducted against the active site of the FabI protein with the help of the LEA3D server, and carfilzomib was chosen among the screened drugs for further docking studies. Carfilzomib, a proteasome inhibitor used in the treatment of multiple myeloma, was among the best-suited compounds obtained from the virtual screening and was found to be bactericidal in the in vitro experiment. Carfilzomib was docked against the active sites of the FabI and FabV proteins, and the ENR of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, InhA. Carfilzomib showed a high binding affinity with all three proteins. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were conducted following the docking studies. MD simulations revealed that carfilzomib binds strongly to the active sites of the above mentioned ENRs. Our study found that carfilzomib is a potential inhibitor of the ENRs of K. pneumoniae and M. tuberculosis. This is a possible mechanism of its bactericidal property against M. tuberculosis observed in vitro in addition to its predicted actions on zinc-dependent metalloprotease-1 and peptide deformylase, two other drug target enzymes of M. tuberculosis. Our study suggests that this drug could be used as a lead compound to develop antibiotics that can selectively act against ENRs of bacteria, without interfering with the activities of human proteasome. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Optimizing the nitrogen (N) timings and rate can improve nutrient uptake, and nutrient-efficiencies, especially of N in wheat under the changing climate scenario. Climatic stress in the form of high temperature and drought resulted in the decreased crop physiology and, ultimately, grain yield. Taking the example of rainfed wheat, we quantified the impact of N application rates as full and split-dose at three variable sites of rainfed Pothwar, Pakistan by conducting field experiments for two years (2013-14 and 201-15). Treatments include, T1 = Control (No fertilizer applied), full dose of N applied at the time of crop sowing, i.e. T2 = 50 kg N ha-1, T3 = 100 kg N ha-1 and T4 = 150 kg N ha-1 and split application of N at different timings during different stages of the crop called as split application of N, i.e. T5: Application of 50 kg N ha-1 (15 kg N ha-1 (Sowing) : 20 kg N ha-1 (Tillering) :15 kg N ha-1 (Anthesis), T6: Application of 100 kg N ha-1 (30 kg N ha-1 (Sowing): 40 kg N ha-1 (Tillering) : 30 kg N ha-1 (Anthesis) and T7: Application of 150 kg N ha-1(45 kg N ha-1 (Sowing) : 60 kg N ha-1 (Tillering) : 45 kg N ha-1 (Anthesis). Three study sites include viz. Islamabad (High rainfall with optimum temperature), University Research Farm (URF)-Koont (Medium rainfall with moderate temperature), and Talagang (low rainfall with high temperature). Results showed that the highest stomatal conductance (0.80 mole m-2 sec-1), net photosynthetic rate (20.07 μmole m-2s-1), transpiration rate (9.58 mmole m-2s-1), intercellular CO2 concentration (329.25 μmole CO2 mol-1 air), SPAD values (58.86 %) and proline contents (35.42 μg g-1) were obtained for split application of N (T6 = Split N100) compared to control and full dose of N treatments. Among sites, these physiological traits remained highest at Islamabad and lowest at Talagang, while among years, maximum values of the measured parameters were obtained in 2013-14. A similar trend was observed for crop total N, N efficiencies, and agronomic traits of the crop. Our results suggest that optimum N application rate and its suitable timings can help to harvest real benefits of N as in our findings, split dose resulted in the maximum performance of the crop from physiological parameters to the agronomic traits of the rainfed wheat crop.

Shading conditions adversely affect flower-number and pod-number of soybeans under maize-soybean relay-intercropping (MSR). Here we reveal that leaf-removal from maize-canopy improves the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) transmittance and dry-matter production (DMP) of soybean (especially during the co-growth phase), and compensates the maize seed-yield loss by considerably increasing soybean seed-yield. In a two-year experiment with MSR, maize-plants were subjected to different leaf-removal treatments to increase the PAR-transmittance of soybean; removal of the topmost two-leaves (R2), four-leaves (R4), six-leaves (R6), with no-removal of leaves (R0). Leaf-removal treatments improved the PAR-transmittance, photosynthetic-rate, and morphological-characteristics of soybean under MSR. At 90 days after sowing, the dry-matter of pods, and seeds was increased by 25%, and 32%, respectively under R6 than R0. Importantly, enhanced PAR-transmittance and DMP under R6 enabled soybean to initiate a greater number of flowers 182.2 plant−1 compared to 142.7 plant−1 under R0, and it also decreased the flower-abscission (by 13%, from 54.9% under R0 to 47.6% under R6). These positive responses increased the pod-number by 49% and seed-number by 28% under R6 than R0. Overall, under R6, relay-intercropped soybean produced 78% of sole-soybean seed-yield, and relay-intercropped maize produced 81% of sole-maize seed-yield and achieved the land equivalent ratio of 1.59.

Background Maize-soybean relay-intercropping (MSR) is a famous system of crop production in developing countries. However, maize shading under this system directly affects the light quality and intensity of soybean canopy. This is a challenging scenario in which to implement the MSR system, in terms of varieties selection, planting pattern, and crop management since the duration of crop resource utilization clearly differs. Methods Therefore, this experiment aimed to elucidate the effect of leaf excising treatments from maize top to fully clarify the needs and balance of light quality and intensity of intercrop-soybean under MSR in field conditions. The effects of different leaf excising treatments (T0, no removal of leaves; T2, removal of two topmost leaves; T4, removal of four topmost leaves; T6, removal of six topmost leaves from maize plants were applied at first-trifoliate stage (V1) of soybean) on photosynthetically active radiation transmittance (PART), red to far-red ratio (R:FR), morphological and photosynthetic characteristics and total biomass production at second-trifoliate stage (V2), fifth-trifoliate stage (V5), and flowering-stage (R1) of soybean were investigated through field experiments for 2-years under MSR. Results As compared to T0, treatment T6 increased the PART and R:FR ratio at soybean canopy by 77% and 37% (V2), 70% and 34% (V5), and 41% and 36% (R1), respectively. This improved light environment in T6 considerably enhanced the leaf area index, SPAD values and photosynthetic rate of soybean plants by 66%, 25% and 49% at R1, respectively than T0. Similarly, relative to control, T6 also increased the stem diameter (by 29%) but decreased the plant height (by 23%) which in turn significantly increased stem breaking strength (by 87%) by reducing the lodging rate (by 59%) of soybean plants. Overall, under T6, relay-cropped soybean produced 78% of sole soybean seed-yield, and relay-cropped maize produced 81% of sole maize seed-yield. Our findings implied that by maintaining the optimum level of PART (from 60% to 80%) and R:FR ratio (0.9 to 1.1), we can improve morphological and photosynthetic characteristics of soybean plants in MSR. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the light environment when considering the sustainability of MSR via appropriate planting pattern selection.

Water deficiency significantly affects photosynthetic characteristics. However, there is little information about variations in antioxidant enzyme activities and photosynthetic characteristics of soybean under imbalanced water deficit conditions (WDC). We therefore investigated the changes in photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics, total soluble protein, Rubisco activity (RA), and enzymatic activities of two soybean varieties subjected to four different types of imbalanced WDC under a split-root system. The results indicated that the response of both cultivars was significant for all the measured parameters and the degree of response differed between cultivars under imbalanced WDC. The maximum values of enzymatic activities (SOD, CAT, GR, APX, and POD), chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm, qP, ɸPSII, and ETR), proline, RA, and total soluble protein were obtained with a drought-tolerant cultivar (ND-12). Among imbalanced WDC, the enhanced net photosynthesis, transpiration, and stomatal conductance rates in T2 allowed the production of higher total soluble protein after 5 days of stress, which compensated for the negative effects of imbalanced WDC. Treatment T4 exhibited greater potential for proline accumulation than treatment T1 at 0, 1, 3, and 5 days after treatment, thus showing the severity of the water stress conditions. In addition, the chlorophyll fluorescence values of FvFm, ɸPSII, qP, and ETR decreased as the imbalanced WDC increased, with lower values noted under treatment T4. Soybean plants grown in imbalanced WDC (T2, T3, and T4) exhibited signs of oxidative stress such as decreased chlorophyll content. Nevertheless, soybean plants developed their antioxidative defense-mechanisms, including the accelerated activities of these enzymes. Comparatively, the leaves of soybean plants in T2 displayed lower antioxidative enzymes activities than the leaves of T4 plants showing that soybean plants experienced less WDC in T2 compared to in T4. We therefore suggest that appropriate soybean cultivars and T2 treatments could mitigate abiotic stresses under imbalanced WDC, especially in intercropping.

Intercropping improves crop productivity in dryland farms, but little information is available on its application to irrigated land. Therefore, a three-year field trial was conducted to compare two maize-soybean strip-intercropping planting patterns (two-rows of maize intercropped with two-rows of soybean [2M2S] or -three rows of soybean [2M3S]) were studied with sole maize (SM) and sole soybean (SS) systems. Our results showed that wider-strips of soybean grown as 2M3S had significantly higher leaf area index (LAI; 19%), total dry matter accumulation (TDM; 15%), and grain yield (21%) than the narrower 2M2S strips; this is likely related to the reduced effects of maize shading on soybean. Slightly decreased LAI (4%), TDM (8%), and grain yield (5%) of maize were found in 2M3S. On average, intercropped maize and soybean produced 80% and 52% in 2M2S and 76% and 63% in 2M3S compared to SM and SS yields, respectively, demonstrating the dominance of maize over soybean when intercropped. Similarly, maize was a stronger competitor for water than soybean, with partial water equivalent ratio of 0.81 in 2M2S and 0.78 in 2M3S, while that of soybean was 0.54 in 2M2S and 0.66 in 2M3S. In the intercropping systems, the land equivalent ratio ranged from 1.31 to 1.45, and the water equivalent ratio ranged from 1.32 to 1.49, exhibiting that maize-soybean strip-intercropping is a productive strategy to maximize water use efficiency. The results suggest that the maize-soybean strip-intercropping system may be a productive and sustainable strategy to improve the water use efficiency and land productivity under irrigated conditions. This strategy could benefit agriculture with cleaner, and more efficient production under a global scenario of constrained land and water resources. However, more studies are needed to evaluate the feasibility of intercropping systems in various growing conditions.

The assessment of seed vitality is a common challenge for phytologists, especially with the small amount of precious germplasms involved in breeding research. Researchers try to avoid the loss of precious samples as much as possible. A simple, rapid, and convenient method is urgently required to assess seed longevity or vitality without large dosages and tedious procedures. Therefore, in this study, a comprehensive, simple, very rapid, and convenient method based on 1H NMR profiling was developed to quantify the constituents in soybean seeds. Additionally, the general and individual partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) approach was used to analyze the vitality determination of black and yellow soybean germplasms, and the corresponding loadings scatter plot and difference analysis helped to identify the biomarkers in soybean seeds with varied seed vitalities. The result demonstrates that arginine, hypoxanthine, O-phosphocholine, and tryptophan are important biomarkers to assess the seed vitality of soybean. The detection of these biomarkers provides an approach for the assessment of soybean seed vitality.

A field microenvironment varies with intercropping ecological planting patterns, especially its light conditions. Due to light reflection and absorption by maize leaves, spectral irradiance, red/far-red (R/FR) ratio, and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) of the soybean canopy are decreased in a maize–soybean intercropping system as compared to those in sole cropping. In this study, a metabolomics method was applied to analyze fatty acid metabolism of soybeans grown under an intercrop shading condition. The results indicate that the fatty acid contents of the intercropped soybean were significantly higher than those of the sole-cropped soybeans. As the shading effect increased, the soybean fatty acids content showed a rise and fall tendency. Moreover, the partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), Pearson correlation, and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) multivariate analyses showed a similar result. The results suggested that shading can manipulate soybean fatty acid metabolism in a maize–soybean strip intercropping system. Further, the metabolite profiling combined with multivariate statistical analysis can be used as a useful tool for identifying the metabolic links between fatty acid metabolites.

SUMMARYUnderstanding crop water use in mixed crops over sole cropping is vital for developing optimum water management systems for crop production. In this study, a two-year field experiment with typical maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] relay strip intercropping (2:2 maize-to-soybean rows; 200 cm bandwidth) was carried out in the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. The quantitative effects of various planting patterns on the water-use efficiency (WUE) and water distribution were investigated. Our results indicated that soil volumetric water content and soil evaporation in the intercropping systems showed decreasing trends in the order: maize row (MM) < maize-to-soybean row (MS) < soybean row (SS). The highest leaf transpiration (1.91 and 2.07 mmol m−2 s−1) for the intercropped maize was measured in each of the two years in the 20 cm maize narrow-row planting pattern and decreased thereafter. Opposite trend was observed for the intercropped soybean; the highest soybean leaf transpiration (7.01 and 6.80 mmol m−2 s−1 for 2013 and 2014, respectively) was recorded in the 70 cm. The WUE of maize and soybean intercrops was lower than that of sole crop counterparts. However, the maximum group water use efficiency (GWUE) of 26.08 and 26.20 kg ha−1 mm−1 in the 40–50 cm maize narrow-row planting pattern was, respectively, 39.6% and 23% higher compared with that of sole crops. The water equivalent ratio (WER) values ranged from 1.60–1.79, suggesting better crop water use in the intercrops over sole cropping. Planting patterns provided by 40–50 cm maize narrow-row spacing were considered the most efficient in terms of maximum total yields, GWUE and WER. These results suggest that an appropriate reduction in the spacing of narrow maize row with wide soybean row could be an efficient crop management method to achieve optimal WUE and homogeneous water distribution in maize–soybean intercropping systems.

In order to improve soybean's resistance to lodging, silicon (Si) solutions at concentrations of 0,100, 200,300 mg kg-1 were applied during the seedling stage. The Si accumulation in different parts of the plants, the photosynthetic parameters of leaves and chlorophyll content, the stem bending resistance, the expression of genes of lignin biosynthesis and associated enzyme activity and sap flow rates were measured at early and late growth stages. The potential mechanisms for how Si improve growth and shade tolerance, enhances lodging resistance and improves photosynthesis were analyzed to provide a theoretical basis for the use of Si amendments in agriculture. After application of Si at 200 mg kg-1, the net photosynthetic rate of soybeans increased by 46.4 % in the light and 33.3 % under shade. The application of Si increased chlorophyll content, and fresh weight of leaves, reduced leaf area and enhanced photosynthesis by increasing stomatal conductance. The activity of peroxidase (POD), 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) increased during pre-and post-growth periods, whereas Si also increased lignin accumulation and inhibited lodging. We concluded that Si affects the composition of plant cell walls components, mostly by altering linkages of non-cellulosic polymers and lignin. The modifications of the cell wall network through Si application could be a useful strategy to reduce shading stress in intercropping.

Planting arrangements affect radiation use efficiency (RUE) and competitiveness of intercrop species in intercropping systems. Here, we reveal that narrow‐wide‐row planting arrangement in maize‐soybean relay‐intercropping system increases the dry matter and competitiveness of soybean, increased the RUE of maize and soybean, and compensates the yield loss of maize by substantially increasing the yield of soybean. In this field study, maize was planted with soybean in different planting arrangements (P1, 20:180, P2, 40:160; P3, 60:140, and P4, 80:120) of relay intercropping, all the relay‐intercropping treatments were compared with sole crops of maize (SM) and soybean (SS). Results showed that P1 improved the total RUE 3.26 g/MJ (maize RUE + soybean RUE) of maize and soybean in relay‐intercropping system. Compared to P4, treatment P1 increased the soybean competition ratio (CR) values (by 55%) but reduced the maize CR values (by 29%), which in turn significantly improved the yield of soybean by maintaining the maize yield. Generally, in P1, soybean produced 82% of SS yield, and maize produced 88% of SM yield, and it achieved the land equivalent ratio of 1.7. These results suggest that by maintaining the appropriate planting distances between maize and soybean we can improve the competitiveness and yield of intercrop species in relay‐intercropping system.

Upper canopy leaves of maize decrease the light-transmittance at middle-strata-leaves of maize and soybean canopy in maize-soybean relay-intercropping systems (MS). This affects the uptake of nutrients and distribution patterns in various plant organs of intercrop species in MS. Judicious defoliation of maize plants in MS could help to alleviate this problem and improve nutrient uptake and intercrop yields. In a two-year field experiment with MS, including the measurements of biomass production, nutrients uptake, and distribution at the organ level, and grain yields of intercrop species, maize plants were subjected to four-leaf defoliation treatments to improve the light-transmittance of maize and soybean plants. Defoliation of the topmost two-leaves (T2), four-leaves (T4), six-leaves (T6) was compared to no defoliation (T0). Compared to T0, treatment T2 improved the uptake of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in each plant part of maize by 23, 12, and 11% (grain), 22, 19, and 13% (straw), and 28, 14, and 18% (root), respectively. Defoliation also enhanced the uptake of N, P, and K in each plant part of soybean by 5, 5, and 10% (grain), 10, 17, and 13% (straw), and 14, 11, and 11% (root), respectively. The improved nutrient uptake in T2 increased the total biomass and its distribution in the root, straw, and grain of soybean and maize by 15 and 13%, and 21 and 15%, 20 and 14%, 7 and 10%, respectively compared to T0. On average, over two years, under T2, relay-cropped maize obtained 107% of the sole-yield, and relay-cropped soybean obtained 65% of the sole-yield. The T2 defoliation treatment also achieved the highest land equivalent ratio of 1.69 and 1.77, with a net profit of 1301.6 $ ha−1 and 1293.4 $ ha−1 in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Following the optimum defoliation treatment of maize in maize-soybean intercrops, i.e., defoliation of the topmost two-leaves, the nutrient uptake can be increased, and the nutrient partitioning over plant organs be better balanced. Optimum defoliation, therefore, enhances the productivity of maize-soybean intercropping systems.

Salinity is a major abiotic stress which limits crop production, especially under rainfed conditions. Selenium (Se), as an important micronutrient, plays a vital role in mitigating detrimental effects of different abiotic stresses. The objective of this research was to examine the effect of Se fertilization on black gram (Vigna mungo) under salt stress. Our results showed that salt stress (100 mM NaCl) in leaves significantly induced oxidative damage and caused a decline in relative water content, chlorophyll (Chl), stomatal conductance (gs), photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm), sucrose, and reducing sugars. A low dose of Se (1.5 ppm) significantly reduced hydrogen peroxide content, malondialdehyde formation, cell membrane damage, and also improved antioxidative enzyme activities, including superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase under salt stress. Se-treated plants exhibited higher Chl, gs, Fv/Fm, sucrose, and reducing sugars than untreated plants in response to salt stress. In addition, Se application enhanced Se uptake and reduced Na+ uptake, but Cl&minus, remained unaffected. Our results indicated that a low dose of Se effectively alleviated salt damage via inhibition of Na+ uptake and enhanced antioxidant defense resulting in a significant decrease in oxidative damage, and maintained gaseous exchange and PS II function for sucrose and reducing sugars accumulation in black gram.

Shade and drought are considered the most drastic abiotic stress factors which restrict normal crop growth especially for those high-density and intercropped crops in arid and semi-arid areas. However, relationship and mechanisms of the interactive effects of these two stress factors on crops are elusive. Here, we report our identification of relationship between shade and drought and their interactive effects on soybean plants. Our quantitative-real time PCR (q-PCR) results showed that shade significantly up-regulated Abscisic Acid (ABA) biosynthesis (NCED3 and AAO3) and signaling (ABI4 and ABI5) genes. Moreover, shade massively enhanced the ABA contents. Based on these results, we subjected soybean seedlings to pretreatment of shade (Pre-SH) and normal light (Pre-NL) followed by polyethylene glycol 6000 induced drought stress. Drought resulted in the reduction of relative water content, morphophysiological and biochemical parameters under both light regimes. However, plants grown under Pre-SH treatment protected their cells from damaging effects of drought by scavenging more reactive oxygen species (ROS) through enhancement of its defense system as compared to Pre-NL plants. Hence, our findings demonstrated that plants grown under Pre-NL conditions were more affected with drought stress than those of Pre-SH ones which suggested that pretreatment of shade can enhance the drought resistance of soybean seedlings.

Water imbalance condition (WIC) in a maize-soybean relay intercropping system is the main abiotic stress limiting biomass production and seed yield and, consequently, seed-quality. This experiment was started to study the effects of WIC on soybean, in which two soybean genotypes ND12 and C103 were grown in pots with roots split equally between two soil column and six WIC treatments (%) T1 (100), T2, (100:50), T3 (100:20), T4 (50:50), T5 (50:20), and T6 (20:20) field capacity on both sides of soybean roots were used. Results showed that both genotypes responded significantly to WIC treatments for all the parameters, however, the level of response differed between genotypes. Maximum osmoprotectants (except proline), biomass, yield and yield-related traits and superior seed quality were observed with ND12. Among WIC treatments, T2 and T3 produced 94% and 85%, and 93% and 81% of T1 biomass and yield, respectively. Similarly, treatments T2 and T3 also improved the oil quality by maintaining the content of unsaturated fatty acids and isoflavone content, while opposite trends were observed for protein content. Overall, moderate water reduction (T2 and T3) can improve soybean seed-quality and by selecting drought-resistant genotypes we can increase the soybean yield under intercropping systems.

Oilseeds yield response to sulphur (S) has been well investigated but the dynamics of total biomass accumulation (TBA) and partitioning by sesame plants in response to S are not well understood. This study was initiated to investigate the effects of S on sesame, in which four sesame varieties V1, SG-27, V2, SG-30, V3, SG-36, V4, SG-51 and four S treatments T1, 20, T2, 30, T3, 40, T4, 50 kg ha&minus, 1 were used. Results revealed that the leaf area index and photosynthetic rate of sesame varieties were significantly higher under T3 with V3. Similarly, S fertilization considerably increased the TBA and maximum TBA was reached at late-flowering with V3 in T3. Relative to T1, plants in T3 had 33 and 23% higher capsule and seed biomass, respectively. Furthermore, total S accumulation and distribution in different plant organs changed with growth stage, at pre-flowering and mid-flowering stage maximum S was found in the stem, whereas at late-flowering and full-maturity stage highest S was recorded in reproductive parts. These results implied that S fertilizers should be applied to agricultural fields to improve oilseed production and by selecting the appropriate and area-specific genotype we can increase sesame seed yield under rainfed conditions.

Field mold (FM) can easily deteriorate the preharvest soybean in the field, and Fusarium moniliforme is demonstrated as the dominant pathogenic fungi. Metabolomics is a powerful tool to reveal the resistance mechanism in response to microbial infection. Therefore, in this research, the Design of Experiment (DOE) model was developed to optimize the extraction solvent combinations for metabolomic study of soybean seed and pod based on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Combined with the number of extracted peaks and the peak area of common substances, the extraction efficiency of different solvent was analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis. The result showed that isopropanol/water/methanol (1:1:1 and 1:1:4, v/v/v) mixture was highly efficient for metabolites extractions of soybean seed and pod, respectively. Additionally, the potential metabolites and pathways concerned in FM resistance were explored by the optimized extraction solvent system based on metabolomics analysis. Amino acid metabolism in soybean seed was disturbed by F. moniliforme and metabolic pathways related to energy conversion in soybean pod strongly responded to fungal infection. This study constructs a GC–MS-based metabonomic method for soybean metabolites; comparative analysis of organ-specific metabolomics for soybean fruit could be further applied in soybean metabolomics researches.

In China, maize-soybean relay-intercropping system follow the two main planting-patterns: (i) traditional relay-intercropping; maize-soybean equal row planting, where soybean experience severe maize shading on both sides of plants, and (ii) modern relay-intercropping; narrow-wide row planting, in this new planting pattern only one side of soybean leaves suffer from maize shading. Therefore, in this study, changes in morphological traits, cytochrome content, photosynthetic characteristics, carbon status, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) were investigated at 30 days after treatment (DAT) in shade-tolerant soybean variety Nandou-12 subjected to three different types of shading conditions; normal light (NL, all trifoliate-leaves of soybean plants were under normal light); unilateral shade (US, all right-side trifoliate-leaves of soybean plants from top to bottom were under shade while all the left-side of trifoliate-leaves from top to bottom were in normal light); bilateral shade (BS, all trifoliate-leaves of soybean plants were under complete shade). Compared with BS, US conditions decreased plant height and increased stem diameter, leaf area, and biomass at 30 DAT. Biomass distribution rates to stem, petiole and leaves, and photosynthetic characteristics were markedly improved by the US at all sampling stages, which proved to be a better growing condition than BS with respect to shade tolerance. The enhanced net photosynthesis and transpiration rates in the left-side leaves (LS) of soybean plants in US, when compared with the LS in BS, allowed them to produce higher total soluble sugar (by 70%) and total soluble protein (by 17%) at 30 DAT which reduce the adverse effects of shading at right-side leaves (RS) of the soybean plants. Similarly, soybean leaves under US accumulated higher proline content in US than the leaves of BS plants. Soybean leaves grown in shading conditions (LS and RS of BS and RS of US) developed antioxidative defence-mechanisms, including the accelerated activities of SOD, POD, APX, and CAT. Comparatively, soybean leaves in US displayed lower activity levels of the antioxidative enzymes than the leaves of BS plants, showing that soybean plants experienced less shade stress in US as compared with BS treatment. Overall, these results indicate that the association of improved photosynthetic characteristics, sugar and protein accumulation and optimum antioxidative defences could be an effective approach for growing soybean in intercropping environments.

The effects of storage duration on the seed germination and metabolite profiling of soybean seeds with five different coloured coats were studied. Their germination, constituents and transcript expressions of isoflavones and free fatty acids (FFAs) were compared using chromatographic metabolomic profiling and transcriptome sequencing. The seed water content was characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry. Results showed that dark-coloured seeds were less inactivated than light-coloured seeds. The aglycone and β-glucoside concentrations of upstream constituents increased significantly, whereas the acetylglucosides and malonylglucosides of downstream constituents decreased with an increase in the storage period. FFAs increased considerably in the soybean seeds as a result of storage. These results indicate that dark-coloured soybean seeds have better storability than light-coloured seeds, and seed water content plays a role in seed inactivation. It was concluded that there are certain metabolic regularities that are associated with different coloured seed coats of soybeans under storage conditions.

Soybean production under maize&ndash, soybean relay-intercropping system (MSICS) is vulnerable to shading. A study was initiated to investigate the effects of three sowing-times: ST1, 90, ST2, 70, and ST3, 50 days of co-growth period and two phosphorus-rates: P0, 0, and P60, 60 kg P ha&minus, 1 on soybean under MSICS. Results revealed that ST3 significantly increased the photosynthetically active radiations, leaf area index, and photosynthetic rate by 72% and 58%, and 61% and 38%, and 6% and 8%, respectively, at full-flowering and full-pod stage of soybean than ST1. Treatment ST3, increased the total dry-matter (TDM) and the highest TDM was reached at full-seed (R6) stage. Similarly, ST3 considerably increased the dry-matter partitioning to pods and seeds, relative to ST1, soybean under ST3 at R6 had 35% and 30% higher pod and seed dry-matter, respectively. Moreover, ST3 exhibited the maximum seed-yield (mean 1829.5 kg ha&minus, 1) for both years of this study. Soybean under ST3 with P60 accumulated 38% higher P, and increased the P content in pods and seeds by 36% and 33%, respectively at R6 than ST1. These results imply that by selecting the appropriate sowing-time and phosphorus-rate for soybean, we can increase the TDM and seed-yield of soybean under MSICS.