BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The following is a summary of published science and technology news in China.

PROTEIN SENSING NITRATE IN PLANTS

A Chinese research team, alongside foreign counterparts, recently discovered that a key protein acts as a primary nitrate sensor for land plants.

Nitrate is an essential nutrient and signaling molecule for plant growth. Researchers from China's Northwest A&F University, alongside researchers from Harvard University and the University of Tokyo, found that the protein NLP7 serves as both nitrate signal switch and nitrate receptor.

MINERAL RESOURCES

China had discovered a total of 173 kinds of mineral resources by the end of 2021. These mineral resources include 13 types of energy minerals, 59 kinds of metallic minerals, 95 kinds of nonmetallic minerals and six kinds of water and gases.

Among these, China saw a rapid production of energy minerals, with last year's primary energy production being equal to 4.33 billion tonnes of standard coal, an increase of 6.2 percent over the previous year.

MIGRATORY WATER BIRDS

Qinghai Lake, China's largest inland saltwater lake, has seen an increasing number of migratory water birds.

During the migratory bird monitoring and patrol operations conducted from Sept. 16 to 21, the monitoring staff spotted 39 species of water birds totaling over 233,000 in number, increasing nearly 32 percent from the same period last year.

These birds included 60 black-necked cranes, a species under first-class national protection, and 27 whooper swans, a species under second-class national protection.