Corn ethanol's byproduct--called distiller's dried grains--can be used as cattle feed but cellulosic ethanol's byproduct--called high-lignin residue--is perceived often as less valuable.
There are two cultivated rice and more than twenty wild rice species. Among them the wild relatives can provide invaluable genomic resources for rice improvement.
The Malawi diet is dominated by a single staple crop in this case maize which is used often to make a thick porridge type dish called nsima
The late monsoon in 2005 hindered summer grass development to the point that U s. ranchers had to buy supplemental feed for their cattle Andrea Ray a researcher at the National Oceanic
Compared to grains and pulses however vegetables are investigated under taxonomically and information on their genome is scarce.
Before he came to Virginia Tech he was at the University of California at Davis where he started researching bioenergy plants primarily switch grass which is not native to that state.
or slender false brome. The transcriptome provides an extensive genetic tool for studying how invasive species like slender false brome successfully spread into novel ranges.
In addition the genome is available for a closely related species Brachypodium distachyon. Together the transcriptome and genome can be used as a reference for pinpointing differences in slender false brome genes
and gene activity that may contribute to its invasive capabilities. Slender false brome is an invasive grass that is native to Europe Asia and North africa.
It was introduced into the United states about 100 years ago and is listed as a noxious weed along the West Coast of the United states. It is aggressively invasive within its current range--near monocultures of this grass occupy thousands of hectares of mixed coniferous understory
and grassland habitats in Oregon says Mitch Cruzan coauthor and Associate professor of Biology at Portland State university.
Slender false brome is ideal as a model for invasive plant evolution. False brome is in the process of active range expansion
and is wildly successful despite experiencing colder wet winters and drier summers than plants in the native range explains Cruzan
Fox and colleagues have assembled the transcriptomes for two slender false brome populations from its native range (Greece Spain) and one population from its invasive range (Oregon.
To allow future studies to identify the functions of slender false brome genes the authors also compared the false brome transcriptome to those of well-studied agricultural species including rice and sorghum.
If false brome possesses a gene that has already been studied in an agricultural species it will be easier to identify the gene's supposed function.
which may provide insights into how slender false brome has adapted to Oregon's different environmental conditions.
and genomic resources are publicly available so it would be relatively easy for any research group to establish a research program focused on slender false brome.
When it comes to making fuels out of trees crops grasses or algae it's all about the cell walls of the plants.
#True grit erodes assumptions about evolution of Earths first grasslandsdining on field grasses would be ruinous to human teeth
Instead there were tropical forests rich with palms bamboos and gingers according to Caroline Strã mberg UW assistant professor of biology and lead author of an article in Nature Communications.
Chewing grasses is abrasive because grasses take up more silica from soils than most other plants.
Silica forms minute particles inside many plants called phytoliths that among other things help some plants stand upright
In modern grasslands and savannas you'd expect at least 35 to 40 percent--more likely well over 50 percent--of grass phytoliths.
The fact we have so little evidence of grasses is very diagnostic of a forested habitat she said.
This has led to a realization that increased production of biofuels must take place on so-called marginal land acreage not suitable for growing food crops but capable of growing switch grass Indian beech trees and Barbados nut trees.
#Maize in diets of people in coastal Peru dates to 5, 000 years agofor decades archaeologists have struggled with understanding the emergence of a distinct South american civilization during the Late Archaic period (3000-1800
One of the persistent questions has been the role of agriculture and particularly corn (maize) in the evolution of complex centralized societies.
After years of study Haas and his colleagues have concluded that during the Late Archaic maize (Zea mays
and consumption of maize between 3000 and 1800 B c. They studied a total of 13 sites.
Macroscopic remains of maize (kernels leaves stalks and cobs) were rare. However the team looked deeper and found an abundance of microscopic evidence of maize in various forms in the excavations.
One of the clearest markers was the abundance of maize pollen in the prehistoric soil samples.
While maize is grown in the area today they were able to rule out modern day contamination
because modern maize pollen grains are larger and turn dark red when stain is applied. Also modern soil samples consistently contain pollen from the Australian pine (Casuarinaceae Casuarina) a plant
which is an invasive species from Australia never found in prehistoric samples. A majority of the soil samples analyzed came from trash pits associated with residential architecture.
This is consistent with the percentage of maize pollen found in pollen analyses from sites in other parts of the world where maize is a major crop
The tools were examined for evidence of plant residues particularly starch grains and phytoliths (plant silica bodies.
Of the 14 stone tools analyzed 11 had maize starch grains on the working surfaces
and two had maize phytoliths. Coprolites (preserved fecal material) provide the best direct evidence of prehistoric diet.
Among 62 coprolites analyzed of all types--34 human 16 domesticated dog and others from various animals--43 (or 69 percent) contained maize starch grains phytoliths
Of the 34 human coprolites 23 (or 68 percent) contained evidence of maize. The second most common grain in humans came from sweet potatoes.
The researchers concluded that the prevalence of maize in multiple contexts and in multiple sites indicates this domesticated food crop was grown widely in the area
The manure had been collected from livestock that had consumed either corn or feed with wet distillers grains.
and a type of grass--tropical panic grass--found in Yellowstone national park grow together in temperatures above 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
A typical BECCS system converts woody biomass grass and other vegetation into electricity chemical products or fuels such as ethanol.
As a carbon-negative technology BECCS takes advantage of the innate ability of trees grasses
To make the process carbon negative researchers have proposed a BECCS co-fired power plant that runs on a mixture of fossil fuel (such as coal) and vegetation (wood grass or straw for example.
The type of feedstock also contributes to stability with wood being more stable than grasses and manure.
This is likely due to high grass cover and fast wind speeds. Fires have long been regarded as the enemies of the savanna
and the parched grass visible on modern satellite images also suggested its presence Dr Wickstead said.
Other food sources include beans nuts some shellfish whole grains fortified cereals and dairy products. The nutrient is also available in supplement form.
of maize or corn in hotspots of Bolivia Peru and Mexico. Hotspots are areas where cultivation of peaches
and succeed in producing their Andean maize both for eating and seed as well as some sale said Zimmerer whose findings were published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Zimmerer and his colleagues surveyed land use among 174 smallholder households to assess production inputs and outputs of maize and peach crops.
and estimates of the areas devoted to intensified peach-and maize-growing. Zimmerer also interviewed diverse groups of land users
and grow high agrobiodiversity maize. The farmers'families tend to become better educated and local nonprofit groups currently supporting food security health
For example parched or toasted maize and a kind of popular fermented beverage from Bolivian maize are both readily available in Washington D c
Maize agriculture for example is both a subsistence crop--ideal for helping to ensure food security which is most important among the rural poor--and a cash crop.
and knowledge of the diverse types of maize Zimmerer noted and they have the highest levels of expertise in this knowledge and management.
The team selectively burned plots to compare areas of mostly grasses with areas of mixed grasses and diverse native plants.
and other omega-3 rich grains have fewer respiratory diseases. The cattle also have higher fertility rates which helps offset infertility among dairy cattle.
#Plant scientists demonstrate new means of boosting maize yieldsa team of plant geneticists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has demonstrated successfully
what it describes as a simple hypothesis for making significant increases in yields for the maize plant.
Called corn by most people in North america modern variants of the Zea mays plant are among the indispensable food crops that feed billions of the planet's people.
and creative thinking on how to perform genetic manipulations in maize that will have the effect of increasing the number of its seeds--which most of us call kernels.
Dr. Peter Bommert a former postdoctoral fellow in the Jackson lab performed an analytical technique on several maize variants that revealed
a maize gene called FASCIATED EAR2 (FEA2. Not long after cloning the gene Jackson had a group of gifted Long island high school students part of a program called Partners for the Future perform an analysis of literally thousands of maize ears.
Their task was to meticulously count the number of rows of kernels on each ear.
and in so doing get a maize plant to produce ears with more rows and more kernels.
In two different crops of maize variants that the Jackson team grew in two locations with weakened versions of FEA2 the average ear had 18 to 20 rows
Teosinte the humble wild weed that Mesoamericans began to modify about 7000 years ago beginning a process that resulted in the domestication of maize makes only 2 rows of kernels;
or allele associated with higher kernel yield with the best maize lines used in today's food crops to ask
In corn reproduction male flowers at the top of the plants distribute pollen grains two at a time through individual tubes to tiny cobs on the stalks covered by strands known as silks in a process known as double fertilization.
When the two pollen grains come in contact with an individual silk they produce a seed containing an embryo and endosperm.
The manipulation of corn plant genes that has been going on for millennia--resulting in the production of multicolored Indian corn cobs of various colors like red purple blue
In addition the tropical C4-type grasses and shrubs of the modern African savannah began to dominate the landscape earlier than thought replacing C3-type grasses that were suited better to a wetter environment.
The types of grasses appear to be sensitive to global carbon dioxide levels said Liddy who is currently working to refine the data pertaining to the Pliocene to provide an even clearer picture of a period that experienced similar atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to present day.
During this time the cow eats rough plants like hay and grasses. The methane-producing bacteria in the cow's gut thrive on these plants.
In feedlots by contrast cattle eat mostly corn and grains which the methane-producing bacteria cannot use as effectively.
Grasses trees and shrubs have obvious differences but in times of stress their communities exhibit less negative competitive pressure and more facilitative positive interaction.
Analyses of studies of grasses trees and shrubs for example found that despite the obvious differences among these plant types they all shifted toward less negative or more positive interactions.
Typically highly competitive species e g. grasses have decreased competitive or neutral effects at high stress whereas less competitive species e g. trees have strong facilitative effects at high stress the authors wrote.
and salt marshes and sea grass beds being decimated. We need to figure this stuff out quickly.
Traditional cattle feed mixtures of corn grains alfalfa hay and grass silage result in dairy products with low concentrations of omega-3 and other polyunsaturated fats according to Gerd Bobe the lead scientist
Without cordgrass protection you also get really significant erosion retreating at sometimes over a meter a year.
and dines almost exclusively on the tall and fast-growing low marsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) that lines the marsh edges.
The tall and sturdy cordgrass is an essential buffer against the friction of tides and storms.
and do not venture into the inner heart of the marsh where a shorter cordgrass species (the closely related
One of the remarkable features of the cordgrass die off is its tight locality. Some areas of undeveloped marsh as close as a kilometer to the denuded banks around private residences and public docks appear healthy and unaffected.
and C4 a more efficient adaptation employed by grasses maize sorghum and sugarcane that is better suited to drought intense sunlight heat and low nitrogen.
Slewinski looked for experimental maize lines with mutant Scarecrow genes which he knew governed endodermal cells in roots.
which they cultured in their lab using seeds of the garden-variety rice plant Oryza sativa.
This also is the first study to show that grasses and other nonwoody plants that grow naturally on unmanaged lands are sufficiently productive to make ethanol production worthwhile Conservative numbers were used in the study
Some are sandstone with grains up to about peppercorn size. One grain has an interesting gleam
Other rocks nearby are siltstone with grains finer than powdered sugar. These differ significantly from pebbly conglomerate rocks in the landing area.
When graphene is grown lattices of the carbon grains are formed randomly linked together at different angles of orientation in a hexagonal network.
and found no preferential orientation angle between grains and the GBS are continuous across graphene wrinkles and Si02 topography.
Her research also showed that the people who would have benefitted from the shaman's knowledge practiced small-scale farming of maize manioc and arrowroot and collected palm nuts tree fruits and wild tubers.
#Using lysine estimates to detect heat damage in distillers dried grains with solublesdistillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are a good source of energy and protein in swine diets.
Given the significant prevalence of refined grains starches and sugars in modern diets identifying a unified criterion to identify higher quality carbohydrates is a key priority in public health said first author Rebecca
and the new U s. national school lunch standards require that at least half of all grains be whole grain-rich.
Growing grass more efficiently through strategic irrigation fertilization and grazing strategies can significantly improve yield
and Joy Zedler then researchers at San diego State university speculated that too many insects feeding on cordgrass in the marshes of San diego bay could endanger the grass
Towering tankers block the horizon behind a vast field of cordgrass and pickleweed. Egrets and herons soar overhead as do airplanes and helicopters.
This bird makes its nest in the marsh's shallow slush forming its home with strands of the California cordgrass Spartina foliosa.
Another marsh creature relies on the same cordgrass: Haliaspis spartinae otherwise known as scale insects. These pinhead-sized insects form white protective armor that allows them to live
and feed for their entire lives on a single blade of cordgrass. Funded by a grant from California Sea Grant Long set out to discover exactly how these scale insects affect the growth of cordgrass.
Concentrating on cordgrassfor his study Long and Laura Porturas then an undergraduate research assistant at SDSU conducted three experiments on the marsh.
and used toothbrushes to remove scale insects from cordgrass in a particular cropping. They let the scale insects go about their usual business on another set of plants.
and died off earlier in the season than did brushed the-off cordgrass. This makes sense Long said as scale insects sap the cordgrass of sugars and nutrients.
But he was curious whether another factor might also be at play: soil salinity. Saltiness is a constantly churning variable in a salt marsh
and plants like cordgrass have to expend energy filtering and excreting the salt. So he performed a second experiment in the lab growing the cordgrass with and without scale insects in either fresh water or seawater.
To his surprise the freshwater cordgrass actually grew taller when it was infested with scale insects than when it wasn't. Long was puzzled initially.
Why did these insects appear to help the cordgrass grow in fresh water but not in salt water?
Then he had an idea. Compensating for consumptionthere's an idea in plant biology called the'compensatory continuum hypothesis
As for why the cordgrass seemed to overcompensate in fresh water but not in seawater Long thought that perhaps the effort required to filter the seawater was just too much for the cordgrass stressing it too much to overcompensate.
In the absence of this stress overcompensation kicked in. We hypothesized that when these plants aren't stressed they can compensate for their grazing by scale insects by growing more Long said.
Back in the salt marsh he raised the salinity of select locations of cordgrass by adding locally sourced salt then repeated his toothbrush experiment in these locations brushing off the insects from some plants but not from others.
whether scale insects positively or negatively affect the growth of cordgrass. Long and Porturas published their findings this week in PLOS ONE.
The health of cordgrass is important to more than just clapper rails Long emphasized. It's a critical environmental element for all of us.
way of identifying genes that are important for photosynthesis in maize and in rice. Their research helps to prioritize candidate genes that can be used for crop improvement
and C3 photosynthesis in developing leaves of maize and rice on October 12 2014 in Nature Biotechnology also made public a mathematical model enabling access to datasets comparing C4 photosynthesis traits
in plants like maize to C3 photosynthesis in plants like rice. C4 crops including maize sorghum switchgrass
and sugarcane are able to withstand drought heat nitrogen and carbon dioxide limitations better than C3 crops such as rice wheat barley and oats due to their ability to efficiently make use of carbon dioxide
Our research focuses on understanding complex network interactions in grasses with a goal of engineering C4 traits into C3 grasses
The Danforth Center has expanded their portfolio over the years by studying model C4 grasses to improve the quality yield
Grass-and-wildflower-dominated fields supported more than three times as many bird species as cornfields including 10 imperiled species found only in the grasslands.
While previous studies suggest corn is a more profitable biofuel crop than grasses and other types of vegetation the new findings indicate grassland fields may represent an acceptable tradeoff between creating biomass for bioenergy and providing habitat for grassland birds.
Among the grasslands studied the team found monoculture grasses supported fewer birds and fewer bird species than grasslands with a mix of grass types and other kinds of vegetation like wildflowers...
#Automated imaging system looks underground to help improve cropsplant scientists are working to improve important food crops such as rice maize
In collaboration with a research team led by Jonathan Lynch a professor of plant sciences at Penn State the system has been evaluated in South africa with cowpea and maize plants.
Their research--in collaboration with Harvestplus and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center also known as CIMMYT--has yielded varieties of orange corn with markedly higher amounts of Provitamin a carotenoids.
In fact losses of wheat rice and maize to fungal pathogens per year are the same as the annual spend by US Department of Homeland Security--some 60 billion US dollars.
whereas grass yields were reduced the quality of the yields was improved. Quality is measured by the concentration of proteins in the plants.
These compounds are found in barley grains but also in beers brewed from barley malts. Japanese research teams have linked previously beer hordatines to some physiological effects.
#Blades of grass inspire advance in organic solar cellsusing a biomimicking analog of one of nature's most efficient light-harvesting structures blades of grass an international research team led by Alejandro Briseno of the University
Nanopillars are engineered nanoscale surfaces with billions of organic posts that resemble blades of grass and like grass blades they are particularly effective at converting light to energy.
The advance not only addresses the problem of dead ends or discontinuous pathways that make for inefficient energy transfer
Our systems share similar attributes of grass such as high density array system vertical orientations and the ability to efficiently convert light into energy.
They also found that the grains or crystals of the aluminum matrix that recrystallized after being plasticized were extremely small;
smaller aluminum matrix grains can flow past each other more smoothly than larger particles enhancing the strength of the material.
The best nanoparticle distribution and smallest aluminum alloy grains were obtained after passing the rotating tool through the sheet four times.
Phragmites australis or the common reed is a rapid colonizer that has overrun many coastal wetlands from New england to the Southeast.
A nonnative perennial it can form dense stands of grass up to 10 feet high that block valuable shoreline views of the water kill off native grasses
The goats are likely to provide an effective sustainable and much more affordable way of mowing down the invasive grass
and cows would also readily eat the invasive grass. In addition to restoring views the controlled grazing allowed native plant species to reestablish themselves in the test plots over time.
and physical warfare on this grass using all the latest humanmade weapons Silliman said. We've used helicopters to spray it with herbicides
In this study we show that sustainable low-cost rotational livestock grazing can suppress the unwanted tall grass
Treestwo Kansas State university biologists are studying streams to prevent tallgrass prairies from turning into shrublands and forests.
because as trees expand into these grassland areas people who are using grassland for cattle production have less grass for animals too Dodds said.
The research shows the importance of burning to maintain the tallgrass prairie Dodds said. While burning can help to slow the expansion of trees
Grasses and trees compete for carbon dioxide and grasses are much better at conserving water and efficiently using carbon dioxide.
As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase it becomes easier for trees to gather carbon dioxide and gives them a growing advantage over grasses.
The tallgrass prairie is almost nonexistent on the globe Veach said. In order for us to preserve tallgrass prairie we need to look at woody encroachment
because it has been an issue. Things like no fire or differences in climate change may allow woody plant species to competitively take over grasslands.
The biologists plan to continue studying water quality and quantity issues at Konza. Konza is an 8600-acre tallgrass prairie ecological research site jointly owned by the university and The Nature Conservancy.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Kansas State university. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Grasses and crops such as maize attach sugars to chemical defenses called benzoxazinoids to protect themselves from being poisoned by their own protective agents.
With the abundance of maize grown throughout the world it is not surprising that the crop has many insect pests including larvae of the Genus spodoptera.
In North and South america the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda is an important maize pest causing considerable damage.
Like all cereals and other members of the grass family maize plants defend themselves with chemistry.
Leaves of young maize plants contain large amounts of a benzoxazinoid called (2r)- DIMBOA-glucoside.
Like his colleague Daniel Giddings Vassã£o Felipe Wouters is from Brazil where fall armyworm caused major losses of the maize yield before Bt maize was introduced.
If we can better understand how much this gut enzyme has helped the fall armyworm to become such a dangerous pest on maize we may be able to use this to our advantage by impairing this insect enzyme
and restoring the full defensive potential of maize against these pests says Daniel Giddings Vassã£o.
DIMBOA is only one member of the vast variety of toxic benzoxazinoids found in grasses.
and biochar grains and a second pathway is water moving through the biochar itself. Barnes said the highly porous structure of biochar makes each of these pathways more torturous than the pathway that water would take through sand alone.
and precipitation are the main factors influencing the local adaptation of sheep by their indirect effects on the amount of grasses and vegetation available.
For example in the face of globally changing climates that may favor more woody vegetation at the expense of grasses the finding are useful for identifying particular breeds
The groups had comparable scores on intakes of whole grains refined grain total dairy total protein fatty acid and sodium.
and followed a healthy diet with a regular consumption of fruits vegetables legumes nuts reduced-fat dairy products whole grains and fish.
#Mown grass smell sends SOS for help in resisting insect attacksthe smell of cut grass in recent years has been identified as the plantâ##s way of signalling distress
and his team used a mutant corn plant that could not produce the green leaf volatiles mown-grass smell when cut or torn.
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