Nitraria tangutorum Bobrov., belonging to the family Nitrariaceae, is a drought-tolerant and salt-loving plant and has drawn attention for its good economic and ecological value. As one of the main group species and dominant species in China's desert and semi-desert regions, N. tangutorum possesses superior tolerance to drought, high temperature, cold, barren, high salinity and alkalinity and wind and sand. Its root system is well developed, with many branches and a strong germination capacity. Once buried in sandy soil, N. tangutorum can quickly produce a large number of adventitious roots, forming new plants and continuously expanding the shrubs, forming fixed and semi-fixed shrub sand dunes. Sand dune shrubs can trap and fix a large amounts of quicksand, prevent desert expansion and erosion, and play an important role in maintaining regional ecosystem balance and improving ecological environmental quality. In addition, the phytochemical screening studies report that N. tangutorum contains an abundance of various compounds including flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic acids and polysaccharides. These compounds confer a range of beneficial bioactivities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-fatigue, liver protection, neuroprotection, cardiovascular protection, lowering blood lipid, regulating blood sugar level and immunoregulation. The fruits of N. tangutorum also contain vitamin C, amino acids, minerals and microelements. It has been traditionally used as a nutritional food source and in folk medicine to treat diseases of the spleen and stomach, abnormal menstruation, indigestion, and hyperlipidemia. N. tangutorum, as a wild plant with medicinal and edible homology, possesses remarkable economic and medicinal values. This detailed, comprehensive review gathers and presents all the information related to the morphological structure, propagation characteristics, resistance physiology and exploitation and utilization of N. tangutorum, providing a theoretical basis for the researchers to conduct future in-depth research on N. tangutorum.

With the implementation of the Chang'E-5 mission in 2020,the three phases of China lunar exploration program,namely orbiting,landing and returning,have been completed.Next,the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS)will be established at the lunar south pole by 2030,and a lunar base will be planned later.It is a new era of exploitation and utilization of the Moon,in which a vast tasks should be completed.In this paper,we summarized some important progresses of investigation of lunar resources in the past,including lunar resource exploration,analysis of lunar volatiles,mineral extraction,and material construction by 3D printing of lunar regolith.Then,we proposed future tasks for the exploitation of the lunar resources.The main challenges of the Moon,such as the extreme lunar environment,unique properties of lunar regolith,and autonomous control of the process,were considered.The views in this paper can be referenced for future scientific researches and engineering tasks in the field.