Green-leaf volatiles--which are also responsible for the smell of freshly cut grass--have been observed to provide plants with both direct protection by inhibiting
even if stitched together from many small crystalline grains is almost as strong as graphene in its perfect crystalline form.
Large-area sheets required for applications must contain many small grains connected at grain boundaries
But CVD graphene is stitched'together from many small crystalline grains--like a quilt--at grain boundaries that contain defects in the atomic structure Kysar explains.
Their experiments demonstrated that CVD graphene with large grains is exactly as strong as exfoliated graphene showing that its crystal lattice is just as perfect.
And more surprisingly their experiments also showed that CVD graphene with small grains even when tested right at a grain boundary is about 90%as strong as the ideal crystal This is an exciting result for the future of graphene
and his colleagues Melissa Montalbo-Lomboy and Priyanka Chand has shown that pretreating a wide variety of feedstocks (including switch grass corn stover
wheat maize rice barley rye millet sorghum soybean sunflower potato cassava sugarcane sugar beet oil palm rapeseed (canola) and groundnut (peanut.
Nuts game poultry and fish are included also as well as whole grains rapeseed oil and low-fat dairy products.
when including distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Some producers believe that feeding pigs saturated fats will undo the fat-softening effects of DDGS.
Distillers dried grains contain unsaturated fatty acids and those fatty acids are deposited into the fat of the animal said Hans-Henrik Stein study co-author
Ragweed can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains per plant throughout a pollen season according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
In late spring and early summer grasses start to pick up their pollen production. Of special note to allergy sufferers are Northern grasses including Timothy-grass ryegrass
and Kentucky bluegrass and Southern grasses including Bermuda grass and Johnson grass. In late summer and fall the weeds make their presence known.
Common weed allergens include ragweed lamb's quarter pigweed English plantain and mugwort. This year the pollen count is proving to be high in Nashville according to Valet.
ME DEADLY family of proteins (KMDS)# that may help to improve production of fruits vegetables and grains.
of which (60%)comes down to rice wheat maize millet and sorghum. The decline in the diversity of crops and animals is occurring in tandem with the need to sharply increase world food production
In Switzerland the Federal office for Agriculture (FOAG) has followed suit suspending the authorizations of three insecticides used on oilseed rape and maize fields.
Also known as elephant grass miscanthus is one of a new generation of renewable energy crops that can be converted into renewable energy by being burned in biomass power stations.
Conventional hard disk drives store a single data bit in a continuous magnetic medium consisting of many'grains'.
'However the number (approximately 10-15) and the size of these grains (about 6-10 nanometers) naturally limits the maximum density at
Multiple grains must be used per data bit in continuous-media storage she explains. Ideally bit-patterned media will achieve one grain per bit
#Land management options outlined to address cheatgrass invasiona new study suggests that overgrazing and other factors increase the severity of cheatgrass invasion in sagebrush steppe one of North america's most endangered ecosystems.
The research found that overgrazed land loses the mechanisms that can resist invasion. This includes degradation of once-abundant native bunchgrasses
and trampling that disturbs biological soil crusts. The work was published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology by researchers from Oregon State university Augustana College and the U s. Geological Survey.
We think there are ways to assess the risks these lands face to reduce the impact of cheatgrass invasion said Paul Doescher professor
and bunchgrass ecosystem Doescher said. That type of community will protect the native plant and wildlife species and benefit sustainable rangeland use at the same time.
contrary to some previous suggestions grazing does not reduce cheatgrass abundance. Cheatgrass was found by this study to be extremely tolerant of even intensive grazing
and the findings raise serious concern about proposals to use cattle grazing to help control its spread in areas where native bunchgrasses still persist.
The study outlines the complex ecological processes that can promote cheatgrass invasion and the indirect role overgrazing plays in that process.
Increasing gaps and connection of gaps between once-abundant native bunchgrasses allow a dramatic increase in cheatgrass invasion the study concluded.
Such gaps could serve as a valuable early warning indicator and allow for management approaches that could help conserve
Cheatgrass threatens vast regions of the American West especially the Great Basin in Nevada and surrounding states.
which were carpeted once by millions of acres of native sagebrush perennial bunchgrasses and associated wildlife that had evolved with little herbivore pressure.
Cheatgrass displaces native grasses and wildlife can increase fire frequency and ultimately cause an irreversible loss of these native shrub-steppe communities.
cheatgrass is a short-lived annual grass that dries out quickly and provides lower quality forage for much of the year compared to perennial bunchgrasses.
Cheatgrass changes the fire regime and as it spreads can reach a tipping point said Michael Reisner now an assistant professor at Augustana College who led this study as a doctoral student at OSU.
After you cross that threshold a major rangeland fire will come through that takes out the sagebrush
Many of the plant and animal species that were there can disappear mostly replaced by cheatgrass that offers poor forage for cattle.
In a more resistant system abundant native bunchgrasses can limit the size and connectivity of gaps
which minimizes the water and nutrients available to cheatgrass. Using data from 75 study sites researchers found that high levels of cattle grazing were associated with reduced bunchgrass cover with wider
and more connections between the gaps that provided an opportunity for cheatgrass to invade. Cattle trampling also appeared to disturb biological soil crust that offers a second defensive barrier against cheatgrass and further speeds the invasion.
Impacts are greater on the drier and warmer sites within this region. If the level and amount of gaps indicates that it's necessary changes in grazing could help restore bunchgrass cover maintain a diversity of native grass species
and provide much better resistance to cheatgrass invasion the study concluded. Continued research is needed to quantify the threshold levels of cattle grazing that would still maintain a healthy native ecosystem.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Oregon State university. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Early formula use helps some mothers breastfeed longerrecent public health efforts have focused extensively on reducing the amount of formula babies are given in the hospital after birth.
and shifting rainfall patterns caused by climate change threaten the future viability of food staples such as maize and wheat.
Wetlands and buffers of trees grasses and shrubs help to keep runoff from fields out of the waterways slowing erosion of soil and blooms of algae downstream.
Her experiments look for native grass mixtures that don't tend to invade the crops and are highly attractive to beneficial native insects including the natural enemies of agricultural pests.
#Diet, anti-aging supplements may help reverse blood vessel abnormalitya diet low in grains beans and certain vegetables--combined with anti-aging supplements--improved blood vessel function in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2013 Scientific Sessions.
The restricted foods included grains beans fruit poultry and plants belonging to the nightshade family
and fish olive oil and grass-fed animal protein while taking supplements containing the antioxidant polyphenol from fish oil grape seed extract and vitamins.
or other healthy foods from their diets said the American Heart Association which recommends consuming a diet with plenty of fruits vegetables whole grains and fish.
and whether it will lead to reduced levels of arsenic in rice grains. We have a bacterium that moves iron
and whether it will lead to reduced levels of arsenic in the rice grains the edible portion of the plant.
whether we can reduce arsenic in the grains or reduce the upward movement of arsenic towards the grain
Some components of the nectar and pollen grains bees collect to manufacture food to support the hive increase the expression of detoxification genes that help keep honey bees healthy.
which makes up the outer wall of pollen grains. It's a great signal that tells their systems that food is coming in
After abandonment a lush carpet of grass springs up and these fertile glades--sometimes as large as a football field--remain visibly distinct from the surrounding savanna for over a century.
The data set collected from 2001 to 2008 includes a sample of all trees shrubs vines herbs grasses fern
but will consume aquatic plants tubers grasses and small invertebrates such as insect larvae worms and snails when fruits are said scarce Dr. Keuroghlian.
and maize can significantly cut the use of crop protection agents and at the same time reduce the need for fertilizers.
But the plant also differentiates between species. Maize growing beside wheat will produce deep roots to avoid those of the wheat
whereas if there are roots of beans close by the maize roots will grow towards them.
Using remains of grains and other plants and some highly advanced analysis techniques the two researchers and archaeologists Tony Axelsson and Karl-GÃ ran Sjã gren have been able to identify parts of the diet of their Stone age ancestors.'
In the initial study the researchers provided each of two groups of wild monkeys with a box of maize corn dyed pink and another dyed blue.
It's a real paradox explain Dr Tom Reed and Prof Marcel Visser of The netherlands Institute of Ecology.
Still the population numbers do not Go down on the short term that is as Reed Visser and colleagues from Norway the USA and France have calculated now using almost 40 years of data from this songbird.
We call this relaxed competition as there are fewer fledglings to compete with first author Reed points out.
In reality there is a de facto moratorium in Europe on the cultivation of genetically engineered crops such as maize cotton
#New grass hybrid could help reduce the likelihood of floodinga collaboration of plant and soil scientists from across the UK has shown a grass hybrid species could help reduce the impact of flooding.
The BBSRC-funded scientists from Rothamsted Research the James Hutton Institute Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University Lancaster University and the University of Nottingham
used a hybridised species of grass called perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) with a closely related species called meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis.
and growth rate of the ryegrass with the large well developed root systems and efficient water capture of the meadow fescue.
Over two years of field experiments in the south west the team demonstrated that the hybrid named Festulolium reduced water runoff from agricultural grassland by up to 51 per cent compared to a leading UK
nationally-recommended perennial ryegrass cultivar and by 43 per cent compared to meadow fescue. It is thought the reduced runoff is achieved
because Festulolium's intense initial root growth and subsequent rapid turn over especially at depth allows more water to be retained within the soil.
The hybrid grass also provides high quality forage with resilience to weather extremes making the grass doubly useful to farmers.
Hybrid grasses of this type show potential for reducing the likelihood of flood generation whilst providing pasture for food production under conditions of changing climate.
and a hugely important advance resulting from decades of fundamental BBSRC-supported work on the hybridisation of Lolium and Festuca (Fescue) species
The enormous savings that will be possible by mitigating flooding through planting grasses such as these dwarf any possible cost of producing them.
or leaving grass clippings on lawns can change the carbon cycling. If we go from one land use to another land use how does that impact carbon cycling
or triple cassava and maize yields by introducing disease-resistant plant varieties increasing fertilizer use
#Grains of sand from ancient supernova found in meteorites: Supernova may have been the one that triggered the formation of the solar systemit's a bit like learning the secrets of the family that lived in your house in the 1800s by examining dust particles they left behind in cracks in the floorboards.
Now scientists working at Washington University in St louis with support from the Mcdonnell Center for the Space sciences have discovered two tiny grains of silica (Sio2;
'Five silica grains were found earlier but because of their isotopic compositions they are thought to originate from AGB stars red giants that puff up to enormous sizes at the end of their lives
These two grains are thought to have come instead from a core-collapse supernova a massive star that exploded at the end of its life.
Because the grains which were found in meteorites from two different bodies of origin have spookily similar isotopic compositions the scientists speculate in the May 1 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters that they may have come from a single supernova perhaps even the one
The first presolar grains are discovereduntil the 1960s most scientists believed the early solar system got so hot that presolar material could not have survived.
Since then they've found grains of more than ten other minerals in primitive meteorites. Many of these discoveries were made at Washington University home to Ernst Zinner Phd research professor in Physics at Washington University in St louis who helped develop the instruments
and techniques needed to study presolar grains (and the last author on the paper). The scientists can tell these grains came from ancient stars
because they have highly unusual isotopic signatures. Isotopes are different atoms of the same chemical element that have a slightly different mass.
The isotopic compositions of these presolar grains provide clues to the complex nuclear and convective processes operating within stars
The first silica grains are discovered In 2009 Christine Floss Phd research professor of physics at Washington University in St louis
Their find was followed within the next few years by the discovery of four more grains. All of these grains were enriched in oxygen-17 relative to solar.
This meant they had probably come from red giant or AGB stars Floss said. When Haenecour began his graduate study with Floss she had him look at a primitive meteorite that had been picked up in Antarctica by a U s. team.
Haenecour with the Nanosims 50 ion microprobe he used to look for presolar grains in a primitive meteorite.
Haenecour found 138 presolar grains in the meteorite slice he examined and to his delight one of them was a silica grain
With two specks to go on Haenecour tackled the difficult problem of calculating how a supernova might have produced silica grains.
But if silica grains could condense there Haenecour and his colleagues thought they should be enriched in oxygen-16 not oxygen-18.
They found they could reproduce the oxygen-18 enrichment of the two grains by mixing small amounts of material from the oxygen-rich inner zones and the oxygen-18-rich helium/carbon zone with large
In fact Haenecour said the mixing needed to produce the composition of the two grains was so similar that the grains might well come from the same supernova.
How strange to think that two tiny grains of sand could be the humble bearers of such momentous tidings from so long ago and so far away.
Local rice grains were used as raw material and covered with a special woollen fabric that is similar in strength to that of an icepack and is also able to sustain heat simultaneously.
The grains and beans were washed and dried in sun light and sterilization method began with these grains and beans
which were roasted on a hot plate to prevent germination. All grains and beans were treated under UV light for an hour.
The grains and beans were packed into a bag using rib fabric and these bags were cooked'using an autoclave (a machine that is suitable for pressure cooking) maintaining a temperature of 121°C for 15 minutes.
A small hole was made on each bag (to fit a thermometer) to measure the grains
and beans'heat retaining capacity. Rice displayed superior characteristic compared to barley and mung beans. In terms of fabric the rib fabric which was used to make the bag is able to retain
or triple cassava and maize yields by introducing disease-resistant plant varieties increasing fertilizer use
It threatens food supplies for millions of people who depend on wheat and other small grains.
#Urban grass might be greener, but that doesnt mean its greenernew research from the University of Cincinnati shows how some things you do to make your lawn green might not be conducive to going green.
Synthesized from the sugars in the cellulosic biomass of grasses other non-food crops and agricultural waste advanced biofuels represent a sustainable nonpolluting source of transportation fuel that would also generate domestic jobs and revenue.
Unlike the simple starch-based glucose sugars in corn and other grains the sugars in cellulosic biomass are complex polysaccharides that must be extricated from a tough polymer called lignin
The new PALM-based technique should allow enzyme cock tails to be matched optimally to the structural organizations of particular biomass substrates such as grass
or plant waste materials like grasses or corn stover may take over as those technologies reach the right scale
That will mean scientific innovations such as new strains of the big three grains--rice wheat
Cows horses and termites can digest the cellulose in grass hay and wood. Most cellulose consists of wood fibers and cell wall remains.
Brachypodium distachyon belongs to the Poaceae family of monocot plants which comprises temperate grasses and cereals and constitutes one of the most economically important plant families in the modern world.
It is the first of the grass subfamily Pooideae to have sequenced a genome and it is used widely as a model plant for structural and functional genomic studies of grasses and cereals.
The seeds made available at BRC are of the Bd21 line the standard line used in the sequencing project.
In addition to the seeds BRC will provide the scientific community with the technology needed for the cultivation and genetic alteration of Bd21.
and destroying the marsh an invasion of a predatory green crabs has helped turn back the tide in favor of the grass.
There the invasive green crab Carcinus maenas is helping to restore the marsh by driving away the Sesarma reticulatum crabs that have been depleting the marsh grasses.
and cause of the damage which includes grass die offs and subsequent erosion. A few years ago they started noticing that where there was still soil grasses were sometimes growing back somewhat although far short of full recovery.
When we started seeing the marshes recover we were baffled Bertness said. To see very quickly the marshes start to come back at least this veneer of cordgrass it seemed pretty impressive.
When we started seeing this recovery we started seeing loads of green crabs at the marshes that were recovering.
Bertness and Coverdale's measurements of cordgrass regrowth also showed that locations with high green crab density correlated positively with locations of grass regrowth.
and the sesarma crabs that would plausibly defend the grass. At select sites Bertness and Coverdale enclosed the two crabs together within a wire cage at a burrow.
whether green crabs had to eat the sesarma crabs to protect the grass or whether their mere presence had a deterrent effect.
Sesarma left alone ate lots of grass in their fenced in area. Sesarma who faced a free-roaming
or a caged green crab both ate far less grass. In other words the presence of a green crab was as effective a deterrent to sesarma herbivory as actual attacks by green crabs.
#Verifying that sorghum is a new safe grain for people with celiac diseasestrong new biochemical evidence exists showing that the cereal grain sorghum is a safe food for people with celiac disease who must avoid wheat
and certain other grains scientists are reporting. Their study which includes molecular evidence that sorghum lacks the proteins toxic to people with celiac disease appears in ACS'Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
and the myth of maizeresearch from the University of Cincinnati shows that perhaps the ancient Puebloans weren't as into the maize craze as once thought.
Traditional ethnographic literature indicates these ancient American indians were heavily dependent on maize as a food source
I'm not trying to bash anyone who says maize is not on the table because
I have maize in my samples. I'm just saying maize is not as important as once thought.
Berkebile will present her research Investigating Subsistence Diversity in the Upper Basin: New Archaeobotanical Analysis at MU 125 at the 78th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) held April 3-7 in Honolulu.
What she's found so far suggests the Puebloans of MU 125 dined on much more than just maize.
and seasonal climate--prone to periods of drought and frost--makes Berkebile think the Puebloans had to rely on more than maize to survive.
which you could grow maize Berkebile says. What are you going to do for those months
and to do so they would have needed to develop sustainable agricultural methods that complemented their maize crops.
These are hardy and easy-to-cultivate plants that existed in the Southwest a thousand years before maize.
These are also Southwestern plants that predated maize but they weren't necessarily actively cultivated.
Examples at MU 125 include maize and possibly a type of bean. Berkebile hopes her research can be a game-changer in how archaeologists perceive ancient cultures'reliance on maize
and also a mind-changer in the way modern society views its environmental resources. She thinks there are aspects of the Puebloans'intercropping strategies
They tested each inclusion level of corn germ in diets containing 30 percent distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as well as in diets containing no DDGS.
#Gene responsible for short stature of dwarf pearl millet identifiedwhile pearl millet is a major food staple in some of the fastest growing regions On earth relatively little is known about the drought-hardy grain.
Recently plant geneticists at the University of Georgia successfully isolated the gene that creates dwarfed varieties of pearl millet.
It is the first time a gene controlling an important agronomic trait has been isolated in the pearl millet genome.
In the longer term the knowledge gained in pearl millet will help to develop semi-dwarf lines with high agronomic performance in other cereal crops she said.
which region of the pearl millet's genome contributed to growth and then compared that section to a similar section of DNA from sorghum.
Sorghum is a grain related to pearl millet and a complete map of its genome recently was released by Devos'UGA colleague Andy Patterson.
and causing reduced plant height in sorghum was the prime gene candidate controlling pearl millet dwarf stature Devos said.
After Devos and Parvathaneni located the dwarfing gene they tested pearl millet dwarfs from around the world.
Dwarf varieties of pearl millet are not ideal for every planting situation. In Africa many farmers prefer taller varieties
The crop itself has a future a bright one-especially in regions where climate change may lead to more erratic rainfall patterns as pearl millet is highly drought tolerant.
Greater intake of fiber-rich foods--such as whole-grains fruits vegetables and nuts--are important for everyone
Six to eight servings of grains and eight to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables can provide the recommended amount.
The researchers also reported genomic evidence of the role of repeat expansion in the enlargement of genome size during the evolution of the Triticeae tribe of grasses.
Ae. tauschii (DD) also known as Tausch's goatgrass is a diploid goat grass species which has contributed the D genome of common wheat.
Around 8000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent it crossed with the tetraploid wheat T. turgidum (AABB) in rare hybridization events that resulted in the hexaploid wheat T aestivum.
and BGI focuses on the genome sequencing and analysis of the wild diploid grass Ae. tauschii.
Remarkably a higher number of genes for the cytochrome P450 family were identified in Ae tauschii (485) than sorghum (365) rice (333) Brachypodium (262) and maize (261.
and grass-fed beef which is seen as healthier by many consumers. And their genes may prove valuable to ranchers who can use the increasingly sophisticated genetic information to selectively breed the Longhorns'toughness into other breeds of cattle.
and bioethanol (obtained from monoculture of palm oil sugar cane maize etc.)have presented problems that make them less attractive.
#In triplicate, genes make maize tolerant to toxic soilrendering some of the world's toxic soils far less unfriendly the U s. Department of agriculture Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
In this effort when plant scientists searched the maize genome for clues as to why some plants can tolerate toxic aluminum in soil they found three copies of the same gene known to affect aluminum tolerance according to new USDA/Cornell-led research.
The MATE1 gene which was found in triplicate in aluminum-tolerant maize turns on in the presence of aluminum ions
The study Aluminum tolerance in maize is associated with higher MATE1 gene copy number appeared online March 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research came out of a long collaboration on aluminum tolerance with Embrapa Maize and Sorghum in Brazil
which provided the aluminum-tolerant maize germplasm where the 3-copy allele was discovered. Lead author Lyza Maron a senior research associate at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell also collaborated with researchers at the University of Florida Gainesville the University of Missouri Arizona Genomics Institute
and maize does a lot of this so there are probably many examples. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cornell University.
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