The Truncated Peptide AtPEP1(9-23) Has the Same Function as AtPEP1(1-23) in Inhibiting Primary Root Growth and Triggering of ROS Burst.

Currently, the widely used active form of plant elicitor peptide 1 (PEP1) from Arabidopsis thaliana is composed of 23 amino acids, hereafter AtPEP1(1-23), serving as an immune elicitor. The relatively less conserved N-terminal region in AtPEP family indicates that the amino acids in this region may be unrelated to the function and activity of AtPEP peptides. Consequently, we conducted an investigation to determine the necessity of the nonconserved amino acids in AtPEP1(1-23) peptide for its functional properties. By assessing the primary root growth and the burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS), we discovered that the first eight N-terminal amino acids of AtPEP1(1-23) are not crucial for its functionality, whereas the conserved C-terminal aspartic acid plays a significant role in its functionality. In this study, we identified a truncated peptide, AtPEP1(9-23), which exhibits comparable activity to AtPEP1(1-23) in inhibiting primary root growth and inducing ROS burst. Additionally, the truncated peptide AtPEP1(13-23) shows similar ability to induce ROS burst as AtPEP1(1-23), but its inhibitory effect on primary roots is significantly reduced. These findings are significant as they provide a novel approach to explore and understand the functionality of the AtPEP1(1-23) peptide. Moreover, exogenous application of AtPEP1(13-23) may enhance plant resistance to pathogens without affecting their growth and development. Therefore, AtPEP1(13-23) holds promise for development as a potentially applicable biopesticides.

Polyethylene fibers containing directional microchannels for passive radiative cooling.

Passive radiative cooling (PRC) that realizes thermal management without consuming any energy has attracted increasing attention. Unfortunately, polymer fibers with radiative cooling function fabricated via a facile, continuous, large-scale and eco-friendly method have been scarcely reported. Herein, polyethylene fibers containing directional microchannels (PFCDM) are facilely fabricated via melt extrusion and water leaching. Interestingly, fabric based on such hydrophobic PFCDM shows high sunlight reflectivity (93.6%), and mid-infrared emissivity (93.9%), endowing it with remarkable PRC performance. Compared with other reported examples, the as-prepared PFDCM fabric has the highest cooling power (i.e., 104.285 W m-2) and temperature drop (i.e., 27.71 °C). Furthermore, decent self-cleaning performance can keep the PFCDM fabric away from contamination and enable it to retain an excellent radiative cooling effect. The method proposed to fabricate PFCDM in this paper will widen the potential application of thermoplastic polyolefins in the field of radiative cooling.

Systemic Immunomodulatory Effects of Codonopsis pilosula Glucofructan on S180 Solid-Tumor-Bearing Mice.

The immune functions of the body are intricately intertwined with the onset and advancement of tumors, and immunotherapy mediated by bioactive compounds has exhibited initial effectiveness in overcoming chemotherapy resistance and inhibiting tumor growth. However, the comprehensive interpretation of the roles played by immunologic components in the process of combating tumors remains to be elucidated. In this study, the Codonopsis pilosula glucofructan (CPG) prepared in our previous research was employed as an immunopotentiator, and the impacts of CPG on both the humoral and cellular immunity of S180 tumor-bearing mice were investigated. Results showed that CPG administration of 100 mg/kg could effectively inhibit tumor growth in mice with an inhibitory ratio of 45.37% and significantly improve the expression of Interleukin-2 (IL-2), Interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α). Additionally, CPG clearly enhanced B-cell-mediated humoral immunity and immune-cell-mediated cellular immunity, and, finally, induced S180 cell apoptosis by arresting cells in the G0/G1 phase, which might result from the IL-17 signaling pathway. These data may help to improve comprehension surrounding the roles of humoral and cellular immunity in anti-tumor immune responses.

Mushroom-mimetic 3D hierarchical architecture-based e-skin with high sensitivity and a wide sensing range for intelligent perception.

Electronic skin (e-skin) is one of the most important components of future wearable electronic devices, whose sensing performances can be improved by constructing micropatterns on its sensitive layer. However, in traditional e-skins it is difficult to balance sensitivity and the pressure sensing range, and most micropatterns are generally prepared by some complex technologies. Herein, mushroom-mimetic micropatterns with 3D hierarchical architecture and an interdigital electrode are facilely prepared. The micropatterned sensitive layer is further developed through spraying carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion on the thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film with mushroom-mimetic micropatterns (denoted as MMTC). Thanks to the "interlocking effect" between mushroom-mimetic micropatterns and the interdigital electrode in the as-prepared MMTC/interdigital electrode e-skin, the e-skin exhibits a high sensitivity (up to 600 kPa-1), a wide pressure sensing range (up to 150 kPa), a short response time (<20 ms) and excellent durability (15 000 cycles). The MMTC/interdigital electrode e-skin is capable of precisely monitoring health conditions via the as-acquired physiological parameters in real time. Moreover, such e-skins can be used to monitor gestures wirelessly, sense the trajectory of pressure stimuli and recognize Morse code under water. This study provides a cost-efficient, facile strategy to design e-skin for future-oriented wearable intelligent systems.

Clinical and Biological Characteristics of Severe Malaria in Children under 5 Years Old in Benin.

Background: Malaria is a global public health concern, mainly occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Children infected with malaria are more likely to develop severe disease, which can be fatal. During COVID-19 in 2020, diagnosing and treating malaria became difficult. We analyzed the clinical characteristics and laboratory indicators of children with severe malaria in Benin to provide important information for designing effective prevention and treatment strategies to manage pediatric cases. Methods: Clinical characteristics of pediatric patients with severe malaria admitted to two hospitals in Benin (Central Hospital of Lokossa and Regional Hospital of Natitingou, located ∼650 kilometers apart) were collected from January to December 2020. Patients were grouped according to age (group A: 4-12 months old, group B: 13-36 months old, and group C: 37-60 months old), and clinical and laboratory indicators were compared. The incidences of severe pediatric malaria in both hospitals in 2020 were calculated. Inclusion, exclusion, and blood transfusion criteria were identified. Results: We analyzed 236 pediatric cases. The main clinical symptoms among all patients were severe anemia, vomiting, prostration, poor appetite, dysphoria, and dyspnea. Over 50% of patients in group A experienced vomiting and severe anemia. Most patients in group B had severe anemia and prostration. Delirium affected significantly more patients in group C than in groups A and B. In group C, the hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05), and the leukocyte count was significantly lower (p < 0.01) than in groups A and B. Parasitemia was significantly higher in group C than in group A (p < 0.01). Twelve deaths occurred. Conclusions: Severe pediatric malaria is seasonal in Benin. The situation in children under 5 years old is poor. The main problems are severe disease conditions and high fatality rates. Effective approaches such as prevention and early and appropriate treatment are necessary to reduce the malaria burden in pediatric patients.

Nighttime light perspective in urban resilience assessment and spatiotemporal impact of COVID-19 from January to June 2022 in mainland China.

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has resulted in large threats and damage to society and the economy. In this study, we evaluate and verify the comprehensive resilience and spatiotemporal impact of the COVID-19 epidemic from January to June 2022 in mainland China based on multisource data. First, we adopt a combination of the mandatory determination method and the coefficient of variation method to determine the weight of the urban resilience assessment index. Furthermore, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin were selected to verify the feasibility and accuracy of the resilience assessment results based on the nighttime light data. Finally, the epidemic situation was dynamically monitored and verified with population migration data. The results show that urban comprehensive resilience of mainland China is shown in the distribution pattern of higher resilience in the middle east and south and lower resilience in the northwest and northeast. Moreover, the average light intensity index is inversely proportional to the number of newly confirmed and treated cases of COVID-19 in the local area. This study provides a scientific reference to improve the comprehensive resilience of cities to achieve the goals of sustainable development (SDGs 11): make cities and human settlements resilient and sustainable.

The BrAFP1 promoter drives gene-specific expression in leaves and stems of winter rapeseed (Brassica rapa L.) under cold induction.

BrAFP1(antifreeze protein in winter turnip rape) effectively limits recrystallization and growth of ice crystals. The BrAFP1 expression level determines whether the freezing-induced damage to winter turnip rape plants is avoided. This study analyzed the activity of the BrAFP1 promoters of several varieties at various cold tolerance levels. We cloned the BrAFP1 promoters from five winter rapeseed cultivars. The multiple sequence alignment revealed the presence of one inDel and eight single-nucleotide mutations (SNMs) in the promoters. One of these SNMs (base mutation from C to T) at the -836 site away from the transcription start site (TSS) enhanced the transcriptional activity of the promoter at low temperature. The promoter activity was specific in cotyledons and hypocotyls during the seedling stage and was referential in stems, leaves, and flowers but not the calyx. This consequently drove the downstream gene to be specifically expressed in leaves and stems, but not in roots at low temperature. The truncated fragment GUS staining assays revealed that the core region of the BrAFP1 promoter was included in the 98 bp fragment from the -933 to -836 site away from the TSS, which was necessary for transcriptional activity. The LTR element of the promoter significantly enhanced expression at low temperatures and suppressed expression at moderate temperatures. Moreover, the BrAFP1 5'-UTR intron bound the scarecrow-like transcription factor and enhanced expression at low temperature.

Electrospun Core-Sheath PVDF Piezoelectric Fiber for Sensing Application.

In recent years, piezoelectric polymer sensors are used in energy harvesting and self-powered sensing due to their flexibility, low density, and high piezoelectric constant, and their performances may be improved through a careful architectural design. Herein, we reported a facile strategy for fabricating core-sheath piezoelectric fiber (C-PEF) by directly electrospinning poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) onto the stainless steel wires. Such C-PEF can well respond to bending deformation with different degrees, and therefore it can be assembled into a piezoelectric bending sensor for airflow speed sensing. Furthermore, spring-like structured C-PEF (S-C-PEF) can serve as a piezoelectric spring sensor and in a sophisticated manner monitor human sleep behavior. This work paves a way for developing multigeometric piezoelectric sensors though a low-cost, facile, and reliable method, showing potential applications including bending sensing and health monitoring.

Carbon Dots-Based Ultrastretchable and Conductive Hydrogels for High-Performance Tactile Sensors and Self-Powered Electronic Skin.

Smart tactile sensing materials have excellent development prospects, including wearable health-monitoring equipment and energy collection. Hydrogels have received extensive attention in tactile sensing owing to their transparency and high elasticity. In this study, highly crosslinked hydrogels are fabricated by chemically crosslinking polyacrylamide with lithium magnesium silicate and decorated with carbon quantum dots. Magnesium lithium silicate provides abundant covalent bonds and improves the mechanical properties of the hydrogels. The luminescent properties endowed by the carbon dots further broaden the application of hydrogels for realizing flexible electronics. The hydrogel-based strain sensor exhibits excellent sensitivity (gauge factor 2.6), a broad strain response range (0-2000%), good cyclicity, and durability (1250). Strain sensors can be used to detect human motions. More importantly, the hydrogel can also be used as a flexible self-supporting triboelectric electrode for effectively detecting pressure in the range of 1-25 N and delivering a short-circuit current (ISC ) of 2.6 µA, open-circuit voltage (VOC ) of 115 V, and short-circuit transfer charge (QSC ) of 29 nC. The results reveal new possibilities for human-computer interactions and electronic robot skins.

DNA methylation affects freezing tolerance in winter rapeseed by mediating the expression of genes related to JA and CK pathways.

Winter rapeseed is the largest source of edible oil in China and is especially sensitive to low temperature, which causes tremendous agricultural yield reduction and economic losses. It is still unclear how DNA methylation regulates the formation of freezing tolerance in winter rapeseed under freezing stress. Therefore, in this study, the whole-genome DNA methylation map and transcriptome expression profiles of freezing-resistant cultivar NTS57 (NS) under freezing stress were obtained. The genome-wide methylation assay exhibited lower levels of methylation in gene-rich regions. DNA methylation was identified in three genomic sequence contexts including CG, CHG and CHH, of which CG contexts exhibited the highest methylation levels (66.8%), followed by CHG (28.6%) and CHH (9.5%). Higher levels of the methylation were found in upstream 2 k and downstream 2 k of gene regions, whereas lowest levels were in the gene body regions. In addition, 331, 437, and 1720 unique differentially methylated genes (DMGs) were identified in three genomic sequence contexts in 17NS under freezing stress compared to the control. Function enrichment analysis suggested that most of enriched DMGs were involved in plant hormones signal transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and protein processing pathways. Changes of genes expression in signal transduction pathways for cytokinin (CK) and jasmonic acid (JA) implied their involvement in freezing stress responses. Collectively, these results suggested a critical role of DNA methylation in their transcriptional regulation in winter rapeseed under freezing stress.

Integrated methylome and transcriptome analysis unravel the cold tolerance mechanism in winter rapeseed(Brassica napus L.).

BACKGROUND: Cytosine methylation, the main type of DNA methylation, regulates gene expression in plant response to environmental stress. The winter rapeseed has high economic and ecological value in China's Northwest, but the DNA methylation pattern of winter rapeseed during freezing stress remains unclear. RESULT: This study integrated the methylome and transcriptome to explore the genome-scale DNA methylation pattern and its regulated pathway of winter rapeseed, using freezing-sensitive (NF) and freezing-resistant (NS) cultivars.The average methylation level decreased under freezing stress, and the decline in NF was stronger than NS after freezing stress. The CG methylation level was the highest among the three contexts of CG, CHG, and CHH. At the same time, the CHH proportion was high, and the methylation levels were highest 2 kb up/downstream, followed by the intron region. The C sub-genomes methylation level was higher than the A sub-genomes. The methylation levels of chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA were much lower than the B. napus nuclear DNA, the SINE methylation level was highest among four types of transposable elements (TEs), and the preferred sequence of DNA methylation did not change after freezing stress. A total of 1732 differentially expressed genes associated with differentially methylated genes (DMEGs) were identified in two cultivars under 12 h and 24 h in three contexts by combining whole-genome bisulfite sequencing( and RNA-Seq data. Function enrichment analysis showed that most DMEGs participated in linoleic acid metabolism, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, flavonoid biosynthesis, and plant hormone signal transduction pathways. Meanwhile, some DMEGs encode core transcription factors in plant response to stress. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of DNA methylation, the freezing tolerance of winter rapeseed is achieved by enhanced signal transduction, lower lipid peroxidation, stronger cell stability, increased osmolytes, and greater reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging. These results provide novel insights into better knowledge of the methylation regulation of tolerance mechanism in winter rapeseed under freezing stress.

Integrate QTL Mapping and Transcription Profiles Reveal Candidate Genes Regulating Flowering Time in Brassica napus.

Flowering at the proper time is an important part of acclimation to the ambient environment and season and maximizes the plant yield. To reveal the genetic architecture and molecular regulation of flowering time in oilseed rape (Brassica napus), we performed an RNA-seq analysis of the two parents after vernalization at low temperature and combined this with quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping in an F2 population. A genetic linkage map that included 1,017 markers merged into 268 bins and covered 793.53 cM was constructed. Two QTLs associated with flowering time were detected in the F2 population. qFTA06 was the major QTL in the 7.06 Mb interval on chromosome A06 and accounted for 19.3% of the phenotypic variation. qFTC08 was located on chromosome C06 and accounted for 8.6% of the phenotypic variation. RNA-seq analysis revealed 4,626 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between two parents during vernalization. Integration between QTL mapping and RNA-seq analysis revealed six candidate genes involved in the regulation of flowering time through the circadian clock/photoperiod, auxin and ABA hormone signal, and cold signal transduction and vernalization pathways. These results provide insights into the molecular genetic architecture of flowering time in B. napus.

Multi-stimuli-responsive actuator based on bilayered thermoplastic film.

Recently, soft actuators have attracted considerable interest owing to their biomimetic performance. Unfortunately, it remains a great challenge to fabricate multi-stimuli-responsive soft actuators by a facile but low-cost method. Herein, a thermoplastic film with bilayered architecture was designed and fabricated by a one-step method. This bilayered thermoplastic film can act as a soft actuator, demonstrating versatile shape-programmable performance in response to acetone vapor exposure and temperature change. Interestingly, diverse biomimetic devices including a worm-like self-walker, crawler-type robot and soft gripper can be realized, which highlights its promising applications in biomimetic robots, artificial muscles and automatic devices. Considering the one-step preparation process and the low-cost raw materials, this approach can be cost-effectively scaled up for practical production.

Fabrication of ß-Phase-Enriched PVDF Sheets for Self-Powered Piezoelectric Sensing.

The fabrication of self-powered pressure sensors based on piezoelectric materials requires flexible piezoelectric generators produced with a continuous, large-scale, and environmentally friendly approach. In this study, continuous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) sheets with a higher ß-phase content were facilely fabricated by the melt-extrusion-calendering technique and a PVDF-based piezoelectric generator (PEG) was further assembled. Such a PEG exhibits a remarkable piezoelectric output performance. Moreover, it possesses prominent stability even after working for a long time, exhibiting potential applications for real-time monitoring of various human movements (i.e., hopping, running, and walking) and gait. This work not only provides the possibility of continuous and environmentally friendly fabrication of PVDF sheets with remarkable piezoelectric properties but also paves a new promising pathway for powering portable microelectronic applications without any external power supply.

Stretchable, Sensitive Strain Sensors with a Wide Workable Range and Low Detection Limit for Wearable Electronic Skins.

With the rapid development of wearable electronics, a multifunctional and flexible strain sensor is urgently required. Even though enormous progress has been achieved in designing high-performance strain sensors, the conflict between high sensitivity and a large workable range still restricts their further advance. Herein, a "point to point" conductive network is proposed to design and fabricate a carbon black/polyaniline nanoparticles/thermoplastic polyurethane film (CPUF). The designed structure renders CPUF composites with a wide sensitive range (up to 680% strain), highly sensitive response with a low detection limit of 0.03% strain, and high gauge factor (GF) of 3030.8, together with good sensing stability, fast response/recovery time (80 ms/95 ms), and good durability even after 10000 stretching/releasing cycles. CPUF composites are assembled as wearable strain sensors with the ability of precisely detecting full-range human motions and organic solvents, showing a potential application in human-machine interaction and environmental monitoring.

Hollow-porous fibers for intrinsically thermally insulating textiles and wearable electronics with ultrahigh working sensitivity.

Wearable smart devices should be flexible and functional to imitate the warmth and sensing functions of human skin or animal fur. Despite the recent great progress in wearable smart devices, it is still challenging to achieve the required multi-functionality. Here, stretchable hollow-porous fibers with self-warming ability are designed, and the properties of electrical heating, strain sensing, temperature sensing and pressure sensing are achieved. The hollow-porous TPU fiber possesses an ultra-high stretchability (1468%), and the textiles woven from the fibers present a splendid thermal insulation property (the absolute value difference in temperature |ΔT| = 68.5 and 44 °C at extreme temperatures of 115 and -40.0 °C). Importantly, after conductive filler decoration, the fiber-based strain sensor exhibits one of the highest reported gauge factor (2.3 × 106) towards 100% strain in 7200 working stretch-release cycles. A low detection limit of 0.5% strain is also achieved. Besides, the fibers can be heated to 40 °C in 18 s at a small voltage of 2 V as an electrical heater. The assembled thermal sensors can monitor the temperature from 30 to 90 °C in real time, and the fiber-based capacitive type pressure sensor exhibits good sensing performance under force from 1 to 25 N. The hollow-porous fiber based all-in-one integrated wearable systems illustrate promising prospects for next generation electronic skins to detect human motions and body temperature with thermal therapy and inherent self-warming ability.

Bioinspired Multifunctional Photonic-Electronic Smart Skin for Ultrasensitive Health Monitoring, for Visual and Self-Powered Sensing.

Smart skin is highly desired to be ultrasensitive and self-powered as the medium of artificial intelligence. Here, an ultrasensitive self-powered mechanoluminescence smart skin (SPMSS) inspired by the luminescence mechanism of cephalopod skin and the ultrasensitive response of spider-slit-organ is developed. Benefitting from the unique strain-dependent microcrack structure design based on Ti3 C2 Tx (MXene)/carbon nanotube synergistic interaction, SPMSS possesses excellent strain sensing performances including ultralow detection limit (0.001% strain), ultrahigh sensitivity (gauge factor, GF = 3.92 × 107 ), ultrafast response time (5 ms), and superior durability and stability (>45 000 cycles). Synchronously, SPMSS exhibits tunable and highly sensitive mechanoluminescence (ML) features under stretching. A relationship between ML features, strain sensing performances, and the deformation has been established successfully. Importantly, the SPMSS demonstrates excellent properties as triboelectric nanogenerator (4 × 4 cm2 ), including ultrahigh triboelectric output (open-circuit voltage VOC  = 540 V, short-circuit current ISC  = 42 µA, short-circuit charge QSC  = 317 nC) and power density (7.42 W m-2 ), endowing the smart skin with reliable power source supply and self-powered sensing ability. This bioinspired smart skin exhibits multifunctional applications in health monitoring, visual sensing, and self-powered sensing, showing great potential in artificial intelligence.

Tunable and Nacre-Mimetic Multifunctional Electronic Skins for Highly Stretchable Contact-Noncontact Sensing.

Electronic skins (e-skins) have attracted great attention for their applications in disease diagnostics, soft robots, and human-machine interaction. The integration of high sensitivity, low detection limit, large stretchability, and multiple stimulus response capacity into a single e-skin remains an enormous challenge. Herein, inspired by the structure of nacre, an ultra-stretchable and multifunctional e-skin with tunable strain detection range based on nacre-mimetic multi-layered silver nanowires /reduced graphene oxide /thermoplastic polyurethane mats is fabricated. The e-skin possesses extraordinary strain response performance with a tunable detection range (50 to 200% strain), an ultralow response limit (0.1% strain), a high sensitivity (gauge factor up to 1902.5), a fast response time (20 ms), and an excellent stability (stretching/releasing test of 11 000 cycles). These excellent response behaviors enable the e-skin to accurately monitor full-range human body motions. Additionally, the e-skin can detect relative humidity quickly and sensitively through a reversible physical adsorption/desorption of water vapor, and the assembled e-skin array exhibits excellent performance in noncontact sensing. The tunable and multifunctional e-skins show promising applications in motion monitoring and contact-noncontact human machine interaction.

Comparative Transcriptomics and Proteomics Analyses of Leaves Reveals a Freezing Stress-Responsive Molecular Network in Winter Rapeseed (Brassica rapa L.).

Winter rapeseed is susceptible to low temperature during winter in Northwest China, which could lead to a severe reduction of crop production. The freezing temperature could stress the whole plant, especially the leaf, and ultimately harm the survival rate of winter rapeseed. However, the molecular mechanism underlying freezing tolerance is still unclear in winter rapeseed. In this study, a comprehensive investigation of winter rapeseed freezing tolerance was conducted at the levels of transcript, protein, and physiology and biochemistry, using a pair of freezing-sensitive and freezing-resistant cultivars NQF24 and 17NTS57. There were 4,319 unique differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 137 unique differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) between two cultivars identified in leaf under freezing stress. Function enrichment analysis showed that most of the enriched DEGs and DAPs were involved in plant hormone signal transduction, alpha-linolenic/linoleic acid metabolism, peroxisome, glutathione metabolism, fatty acid degradation, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways. Based on our findings, it was speculated that freezing tolerance formation is caused by increased signal transduction, enhanced biosynthesis of protein, secondary metabolites, and plant hormones, elevated energy supply, greater reactive oxygen species scavenging, and lower lipid peroxidation as well as stronger cell stability in leaf under freezing stress. These results provide a comprehensive profile of leaf response under freezing stress, which have potential to be used as selection indicators of breeding programs to improve freezing tolerance in rapeseed.

Germinating seed can sense low temperature for the floral transition and vernalization of winter rapeseed (Brassica rapa).

The hybrid production of winter rapeseed is limited by the difficult vernalization processes. Thus, floral regulation of winter rapeseed parental lines cannot be executed through selection of sowing time during hybrid production. Therefore, in this study, strong winter rapeseed was used as the material to analyse the floral transition mechanism of germinating seed vernalization. Results demonstrated that germinating seeds could sense low temperatures and complete vernalization following a low temperature treatment for 56.5 d with a 100 % vernalization rate. The regression equation between vernalization rate (y) and vernalization treatment days (x) was determined as y = 0.019x - 0.0765 (R² = 0.8529). When the vernalization treatment time was prolonged, the vernalization rate and fruiting ability increased rapidly, and variations were observed in the membrane lipid oxidation and physiological characteristics. Furthermore, at the prolonged treatment time of 10-50 d, the salicylic acid (SA) content continued to decrease, with values significantly lower than those of the control. SA content is significantly positively correlated with the level of BrFLC transcription and a significantly negatively correlated with the vernalization rate of germinating seeds. Moreover, the expressions of genes associated with SA biosynthesis, SA signal transduction, the flowering key negative regulators were suppressed and that of positive regulators were promoted during vernalization. These results suggest that SA as a floral repressor is involved in the regulation of the vernalization process of winter rapeseed germination seeds. In addition, SA may be related to the counting dosage of vernalization.