Cornell University researchers participating in the Eastern Broccoli Project, which aims to produce broccoli varieties suited to grow on the East Coast, have devised a statistical method to standardize evaluations of broccoli, in order to make plant breeding decisions more consistent and efficient.
A team of undergraduates at Cornell University, partnering with Michael Gore, professor of molecular breeding and genetics for nutritional quality, is aiming to use the tools of digital agriculture to spot Northern leaf blight – a devastating fungal disease of maize.
The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy and the UIC/National Institutes of Health Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research will host an open-to-the-public garden walk and lecture on July 26 to celebrate the first and only urban medicinal plant garden in Chicago.
Northern Arizona University researcher Bradley Butterfield looked at history's packrats to gauge what plant species move during warm, dry periods. The team found a plant’s evolutionary build are strong predictors of how quickly it can move to a more favorable climate when its current one becomes hotter or drier.
A team of scientists led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered the specific gene that controls an important symbiotic relationship between plants and soil fungi, and successfully facilitated the symbiosis in a plant that typically resists it.
Working together can benefit plants and microbes to secure their future
A predictive model combining information about plant physiology, real-time soil conditions and weather forecasts can help make more informed decisions about when and how much to irrigate. This could save 40 percent of the water consumed by more traditional methods, according to new Cornell University research.
Researchers have discovered a new species of tree in the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania, part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, and a globally important region for species in need of conservation.
Scientists call for more research into food grade corn breeding, production
Iowa State University researchers hope to connect the “silos” of various disciplines by encouraging wide collaboration to address agricultural challenges. The effort is part of the Genomes to Fields Initiative, which began in 2014 to make genomic data related to corn as widely available as possible.
Arbor Biosciences announces today its partnership with Curio Genomics for analysis of the IWGSC wheat exome
A new study of cabbage crops in New York – a state industry worth close to $60 million in 2017, according to the USDA – reports for the first time that the effectiveness of releasing natural enemies to combat pests depends on the landscape surrounding the field.
Wine researchers at the University of Adelaide are investigating drought-tolerant grape varieties from Cyprus for their suitability for Australian conditions.
A multinational team of researchers has identified countries where agriculture's increasing dependence on pollination, coupled with a lack of crop diversity, may threaten food security and economic stability.
The mustards, broccolis and cabbages of the world share a distinct and bitter taste. Some consider the flavor of cruciferous plants their strongest attribute. But even in India and China, where Brassicas have been cultivated for more than 4,000 years, scientists have sought to tone down the chemical compounds responsible for their pungent flavor.
Karolina Mukhtar, Ph.D., will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., with the 2019 PECASE award, a prestigious award for leadership in science and technology.
Research determines bioavailable nitrogen content of different biosolid products
As ecosystem engineers, bison have been hiding in plain sight for the past 40 years, since archaeologists first discovered that several native plants were domesticated in eastern North America. New research by Natalie Mueller, assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, explains the connection, published July 8 in Nature Plants.
The males of one species of butterfly are more attracted to females that are active, not necessarily what they look like, according to a recent research conducted at Augustana University.The paper, “Behaviour before beauty: Signal weighting during mate selection in the butterfly Papilio polytes,” found that males of the species noticed the activity levels of potential female mates, not their markings.
A new Cornell University-led study describes the first successful rearing of engineered tobacco plants in order to produce medical and industrial proteins outdoors in the field, a necessity for economic viability, so they can be grown at large scales.
When an asteroid smacked into the Earth 66 million years ago, it triggered mass extinctions all over the planet.
Scientists have discovered how plants create networks of air channels - the lungs of the leaf - to transport carbon dioxide (CO2) to their cells.
In new work by Berkeley Lab and our collaborators, scientists discover how a protein made by bullfrogs inhibits the deadly neurotoxin involved in red tide events, perform the first observation of how atoms arrange in four dimensions during phase transitions, and describe a new bacterial gene that could be engineered into biofuel-producing bacteria to significantly boost efficiency.
Research could bring new coffee varieties to market faster and improve yields.
Four new sweet basil varieties resistant to downy mildew disease – which destroys leaves and has been the bane of basil growers for a decade – are now being sold to home gardeners and commercial farmers across the U.S. thanks to years of painstaking breeding and selection at Rutgers University.
Some microscopic green algae stop photosynthesizing and start accumulating fats and/or other valuable molecules when certain changes happen. However, scientists don’t know the details of those swift metabolic changes. A team examined a green microalga to better understand this process. After a few days of feeding this microbe sugar, it completely dismantles its photosynthetic apparatus while accumulating fat. In contrast, after the team stopped feeding it sugar, the microbe returned to its normal metabolism.
Florida State researchers working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo found a link between the churning of deep soils during deforestation and the release of carbon dioxide through streams and rivers.
Five scientists from the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences will compare insect management tools, including insect-proof netting. Researchers also will study reflective mulch, kaolin clay and chemical-based insect pest management.
UPTON, NY—Scientists studying plant biochemistry at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory recently made a surprising discovery: They found that a protein that turns on oil synthesis also activates a protein that puts the brakes on the same process. In a paper just published in the journal Plant Physiology, they describe how this seemingly paradoxical system keeps oil precursors perfectly balanced to meet plants’ needs.
Wheat plants engineered to have fewer microscopic pores – called stomata – on their leaves are better able to survive drought conditions associated with climate breakdown, according to a new study.
UC Riverside is testing whether a sesame seed-sized wasp can control a pest that could seriously damage California crops including wine, walnuts, and avocados.
Getting an excellent rabbiteye blueberry harvest requires helpful pollinators--particularly native southeastern blueberry bees--although growers can bring in managed honey bees to do the job,
Cornell University engineers have taken a step in understanding how iron in the soil may unlock naturally occurring phosphorus bound in organic matter, which can be used in fertilizer, so that one day farmers may be able to reduce the amount of artificial fertilizers applied to fields.
Crops like mustard, cabbages, can help heal infected soils
Dr. Seth Murray may have more than a casual interest in National Bourbon Day on June 14.
New research from Washington University in St. Louis reveals the molecular machinery behind the high-intensity sweetness of the stevia plant. The results could be used to engineer new non-caloric products without the aftertaste that many associate with the sweetener marketed as Stevia.Although the genes and proteins in the biochemical pathway responsible for stevia synthesis are almost completely known, this is the first time that the 3D structure of the proteins that make rebaudioside A — or RebA, the major ingredient in the product Stevia —has been published, according to the authors of a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Emissions of methane from the industrial sector have been vastly underestimated, researchers from Cornell University and Environmental Defense Fund have found.
Until recently, New York onion farmers had just two insecticide options for controlling onion thrips, a pervasive insect pest, and neither was good. One was short-lived, the other was dangerous to work with – and both were losing effectiveness. Enter Cornell entomologist Brian Nault, who spent a decade testing less toxic, more effective chemicals, which nearly all New York onion farmers now use.
Climate change-induced heat stress will play a larger role than drought stress in reducing the yields of several major U.S. crops later this century, according to Cornell University researchers who weighed in on a high-stakes debate between crop experts and scientists.
Benson Hill Biosystems, a crop improvement company unlocking the natural diversity of plants, and RiceTec, a leader in hybrid rice seed technologies, announced prior to the kick off of the Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) Conference at Shenzhen, China, the licensing agreement for the use of Benson Hill’s technologies as part of RiceTec’s rice research and development operations.
An international study has revealed new evidence to help understand the consequences of habitat loss on natural communities.
It provides a natural food coloring. It gives nurseries another ornamental to grow and sell, and it might provide health benefits to those who eat it with their food.
Although pollen has covered cars for weeks and allergy sufferers have been sneezing, we think of sex as being the realm of animals. But plant sex can be quite interesting, especially in species that can have male or female flowers. In a study in the journal Annals of Botany, Rutgers University–New Brunswick researchers found that striped maple trees can change sex from year to year. A tree may be male one year and female the next, and while male trees grow more, female trees are more likely to die.
Researchers may be able improve corn yields and nutritional value after discovering genetic regulators that synthesize starch and protein in the widely eaten grain, according to a Rutgers-led study. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could benefit millions of people who rely on corn for nutrition in South America, Africa and elsewhere.
“We are eager to expand our relationship with Benson Hill and use CropOS to advance breeding for farmers across Latin America.” said Cleber Soares, executive director for Innovation and Technology of Embrapa. “Our work together has demonstrated their commitment to collaboration and appreciation for the power of genetic diversity to help solve big global challenges in a sustainable way.”
Imagine a technology that could target pesticides to treat specific spots deep within the soil, making them more effective at controlling infestations while limiting their toxicity to the environment. Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Case Western Reserve University have taken a step toward that goal. They discovered that a particular plant virus can deliver pesticide molecules deeper below the ground, targeting places normally beyond their reach. The work could help farmers manage infestations deep in the soil with less pesticide.
The abundance of bird species living in agricultural environments has decreased both in Finland and elsewhere in Europe.
An open-source RNA analysis platform has been successfully used on plant cells for the first time – an advance that could herald a new era of fundamental research and bolster efforts to engineer more efficient food and biofuel crop plants. The technology, called Drop-seq, is a method for measuring the RNA present in individual cells, allowing scientists to see what genes are being expressed and how this relates to the specific functions of different cell types.
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