Yong-Lak Park, professor of entomology at the West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, is researching the efficacy of dropping natural enemy insects on invasive plants using drone technology and artificial intelligence as a means of destroying these plants more efficiently.
Waterhemp, the aggressive weed threatening Corn Belt crop production, is throwing curveballs once again, according to researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The weed has famously developed resistance to not one or two, but seven herbicide sites-of-action classes, nearly exhausting the chemical tools farmers can use to defend their livelihood.
Kale is considered particularly healthy due, among other things, to its high secondary plant compound content, including the glucosinolates that give the vegetable its typical cabbage flavour.
Plants avoid the buildup of mutational damage by spreading out the damage they inherit, so that while some offspring inherit lots of mutations, others inherit far fewer.
Researchers have sequenced the genome of the fungus causing tar spot on corn and identified key genes involved in disease development. This information will help researchers develop better disease management strategies.
In October 2023, the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, officially launched a new initiative to expand biological and environmental research at the world leading X-ray and analysis facility.
The upcoming daylight saving time “fall back” may be a drag for many people — but new research from Michigan State University scientists reveals that plants have found ways to cope.
Beta-diversity of biological assemblages is central to biogeography and ecology. Researchers from Illinois State Museum in the US and Chongqing University in China have presented a set of novel global maps showing geographic patterns of genus-based beta-diversity of flowering plants.
It has been just over a year since the Danforth Center acquired the 140-acre farm that became the home of the new Danforth Center Field Research Site. Located in St. Charles, this historic farm is being used as a space for scientists to develop field-based experiments to understand how crops interact with their environment.
The challenges facing global food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers over the last year may at first appear insurmountable, yet IICI’s vital work continues to advance impactful agricultural innovations where they are needed most.
Plants harness energy from sunlight and carbon dioxide through a process called photosynthesis which supports the generation of carbohydrates, proteins, and oils that are stored in seeds – like a kernel of corn, a soybean, or a grain of rice.
Researchers have discovered a protein that seals plant roots to regulate the uptake of nutrients and water from the soil, the discovery could help develop climate proof crops that require less water and chemical fertilizers
Plant biologists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have engineered enzymes to modify grass plants so their biomass can be more efficiently converted into biofuels and other bioproducts.
This data will have many applications, including understanding how vegetation regenerates after fires, and how plant communities are being affected by a drying and warming climate.
We might think that, if you want to feed more people in areas with food insecurity, you can just grow more food. But it isn’t that simple.
The tropical wood type ipê is popular for building exclusive wooden decks, and in North America and Europe, the demand for the material has increased sharply. Now, a study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that more than three-quarters of all ipê from the top producing region in Brazil could have been harvested illegally. "The study reveals where in the chain the greatest risks lie. It can be a tool to counteract illegal logging," says Caroline S.S. Franca, PhD student at Chalmers.
A new album out this week showcases the daily rhythms of pond life.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists identified a gene “hotspot” in the poplar tree that triggers dramatically increased root growth. The discovery supports development of better bioenergy crops and other plants that can thrive in difficult conditions while storing more carbon belowground.
RUDN University agronomists and colleagues from Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Russia have found a way to mitigate the damage from soil salinity. To do that, they used not synthetic chemicals but completely harmless amino acids.
Researchers report that a single, simplified model can predict population fluctuations in three realms: urban employment, human gut microbiomes, and tropical forests.
20240326113011.png&width=400&height=400){kind=logo}
To keep fruit from getting coated in fuzzy mold, researchers in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry report that compounds from sunflower stems could help. They suggest the food industry could use these natural compounds to protect against postharvest diseases.
Research has found that bumblebees make foraging choices to collect the most sugar from flowers in the shortest time – even if that means using more energy in the process – to provide an immediate energy boost for the colony.
Broccoli sprouts have been discovered to contain seven times more polysulfides than mature broccoli
What if your house plant could tell you your water isn’t safe? Scientists are closer to realizing this vision, having successfully engineered a plant to turn beet red in the presence of a banned, toxic pesticide.
ST. LOUIS, MO, October 23, 2023 — Sustainable agricultural practices are necessary to mitigate climate change and produce more food, fiber, and renewable fuels. A promising new frontier in agriculture is to promote beneficial interactions with microbes as a sustainable mechanism of providing nutrients to crops.
In an article published in the journal Flora, researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil examine some of the strategies developed over eons of evolution by plants in the Cerrado, Brazil’s savanna-like biome, to protect themselves and resprout quickly after fire.
Urbanization and human activities have transformed a significant proportion of the land on Earth, resulting in the formation of urban environments.
Researchers have developed soft yet durable 3D-printed materials that glow in response to mechanical stress, such as compression, stretching or twisting. The materials derive their luminescence from single-celled algae known as dinoflagellates, which are embedded within the materials. The work was inspired by the bioluminescent waves caused by dinoflagellates during red tide events at San Diego’s beaches.
For tens of thousands of years, evolution shaped tomatoes through natural mutations. Then, humans came along. For centuries, we’ve bred and cherry-picked tomatoes with our preferred traits.
Orange Photonics, a pioneer in analytical testing solutions, is pleased to introduce LightLab 3 Psy Analyzer
Cornell researchers have harnessed the power of baker’s yeast to create a cost-effective and highly efficient approach for unraveling how plants synthesize medicinal compounds, and used the new method to identify key enzymes in a kratom tree.
In a plant microbiome, the microbial community assembles and changes by exchanging signals between the host plant and the microbes. Researchers have gathered and filtered a large amount of data using a combination of computational approaches to identify new mechanisms in this signaling process. The study discovered a host transport mechanism and a chemical signal that influences beneficial bacterial colonization of plants’ roots.
Because the bumblebee that an orchid relies on for pollination does not exist on a remote island, the plant gets pollinated by an island wasp.
UCR researchers suggest that assessing a plant's physiological state during stress, exacerbated by hotter, drier climates, can reveal their proximity to local extinction
RUDN University agronomists have shown that the hormone melatonin and the mineral zeolite mitigate the dangerous effects of heavy metals on plants. The first protects cells from destruction by cadmium, and the second increases nutrient availability and prevents the absorption of hazardous metals into the plant. The study was carried out on bamboo.
Nanozymes are synthetic materials that mimic the properties of natural enzymes for applications in biomedicine and chemical engineering. They are generally considered too toxic and expensive for use in agriculture and food science.
A multiyear analysis tested whether management zone maps based on soil conditions, topography or other landscape features can reliably predict which parts of a cornfield will respond best to higher rates of seeding or nitrogen application.
October is peak season for admiring fall foliage and soon those leaves will begin to fall, if they haven’t already done so. Before you start to clean them up, Virginia Tech turf experts suggest that you try a different approach instead of bagging and tossing.
Tropical crops such as coffee, cocoa, watermelon and mango may be at risk due to the loss of insect pollinators, finds a new study led by UCL and Natural History Museum researchers.
Despite incentives to use just the right amount of nitrogen fertilizer on corn fields, official recommendations are broad and ideal rates vary widely. A state-funded Iowa State University research project is collecting data from trials across Iowa – mostly from fields of participating volunteer farmers – to build models that offer far more granular guidance.
After ginger root was proven to halt autoimmune disease progression in mice, researchers are now trialing the same concept in humans
A new paper in the Annals of Botany, published by Oxford University Press, reveals that researchers have found unaltered agave plant species cultivated by several early cultures including the Hohokam people, a large Native American group in the Southwest that existed between 300 and 1500 CE.
Ateam from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the USDA Agricultural Research Service has used SIF to measure the effects of elevated ozone (O3) on soybean plants.
PNNL researchers are investigating the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of an increasingly smart food and agriculture sector.
The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) developed a group of platforms called TerraForms to provide users with an avenue for investigating hydrobiogeochemical processes.
Plant pathogens can hitch rides on dust and remain viable, with the potential for traveling across the planet, according to a new Cornell University study – a finding with important implications for global food security and predicting future outbreaks.
Scientists have found that concrete’s compressive strength can be increased by 4,1% and its flexural strength by 3,4% by adding a small amount of coconut shell (only 5%). In doing so, the material’s performance increased by 6,1% compared to clear concrete.
Diseases are among the major causes of tree mortality in both forests and urban areas. New diseases are continually being introduced, and pathogens are continually jumping to new hosts, threatening more and more tree species.
Regardless of how one says 'tomato,' they all contain tomatine, a toxin in the plant's green fruit, leaves, and roots. Tomatoes produce the bitter-tasting compound -- a major plant-specialized metabolite secreted from the roots -- to defend against pathogens and foragers.
Hundreds of weeds have been found advertised on a public online marketplace in Australia. Cacti and pond plants were among the most frequently advertised illegal weed species.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right
