The CAO sweeps laser light across the vegetation canopy to image it in 3-D enabling the determination of the location and size of each tree at a resolution of 3. 5 feet (1. 1 meter.
*This study received funding from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Gluten a protein is found in grains such as wheat barley rye and triticale a cross between wheat and rye.
The paper The genome sequence of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) and evidence for independent domestication was published online in Nature Genetics on Sunday.
Sequencing of the African rice genome was made possible by National Science Foundation grants#0321678#0638541#0822284 and#1026200 to the Oryza Map Alignment and Oryza Genome Evolution Projects.
#Stress-tolerant tomato relative sequencedthe genome of Solanum pennellii a wild relative of the domestic tomato has been published by an international group of researchers including the labs headed by Professors Neelima Sinha and Julin
This traditional herb is a plant from the Family moraceae that has been used traditionally for its medicinal properties.
--which consists of 20%mango pulp and 50%mas cotek--has the potential to be developed as a new health drink.
and quantity of water available in watersheds in part by reducing the density of vegetation.
In 3 to 5 years shrubs produced a wealth of berries. Mature trees remained for the acorn harvest
but burning also made way for the next generation of trees to ensure a consistent future crop.
and vegetation when tribes made their seasonal rounds. In oak woodlands burning killed mold and pests like the filbert weevil and filbert moth harbored by the duff and litter on the ground.
and maximize the next acorn crop. Lake thinks that understanding tribal use of these forest environments has context for and relevance to contemporary management and restoration of endangered ecosystems and tribal cultures.
Additionally the 2014 seedling selection trials at both Springlake and Dalhart include 115408 seedlings from 634 families or crosses.
The tubers with yellow flesh contain compounds that are antioxidants and that appeals to the health-conscious consumer Miller said.
#New hope for powdery mildew resistant barleynew research at the University of Adelaide has opened the way for the development of new lines of barley with resistance to powdery mildew.
Powdery mildew is one of the most important diseases of barley. Senior Research Scientist Dr Alan Little and team have discovered the composition of special growths on the cell walls of barley plants that block the penetration of the fungus into the leaf.
The research by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell walls in the University's School of Agriculture Food and Wine in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Germany will be presented at the upcoming
Powdery mildew is a significant problem wherever barley is grown around the world says Dr Little. Growers with infected crops can expect up to 25%reductions in yield
In recent times we've seen resistance in powdery mildew to the class of fungicide most commonly used to control the disease in Australia.
The discovery means researchers have new targets for breeding powdery mildew resistant barley lines. Powdery mildew feeds on the living plant says Dr Little.
The fungus spore lands on the leaf and sends out a tubelike structure which punches its way through cell walls penetrating the cells and taking the nutrients from the plant.
The plant tries to stop this penetration by building a plug of cell wall material--a papillae--around the infection site.
Effective papillae can block the penetration by the fungus. It has long been thought that callose is the main polysaccharide component of papilla.
#Moose drool inhibits growth of toxic fungussome sticky research out of York University shows a surprisingly effective way to fight against a certain species of toxic grass fungus:
(which hosts a fungus called epichloã festucae that produces the toxin ergovaline) results in slower fungus growth and less toxicity.
Plants have evolved defense mechanisms to protect themselves such as thorns bitter-tasting berries and in the case of certain types of grass by harbouring toxic fungus deep within them that can be dangerous
or even fatal for grazing animals says York U Biology Professor Dawn Bazely who worked with University of Cambridge researcher Andrew Tanentzap and York U researcher Mark Vicari
which they then smeared onto clipped samples of red fescue grass carrying the toxic fungus simulating the effect of grazing.
They found that the application of saliva produced rapid results inhibiting fungus growth within 12-36 hours.
We found that the saliva worked very quickly in slowing the growth of the fungus
and the fungus colonies says Bazely. In addition by applying multiple applications of saliva to the grass over the course of two months we found we could lower the concentration of ergovaline between 41 and 70 per cent.
'and slow down the growth of the fungus. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by York University.
and air qualityto reduce fire hazard in the United states wildland managers often utilize the silvicultural practice of mechanically cutting woody shrubs and suppressed trees (ladder fuels).
Urbanization reduces the amount of vegetation in a habitat and increases impervious surfaces such as roads and rooftops.
Specifically the researchers found that higher temperatures increase stress on red maples by making it harder for them get water from their roots to their leaves.
and vegetation in cities increasing shade on impervious surfaces and limiting the'heat island'effect Frank says.
This enormous release of carbon is balanced by carbon coming into the soil system from falling leaves and other plant matter as well as by the underground activities of plant roots.
The team revealed that higher temperatures increased the amount of leaf litter falling onto the soil as well as other underground sources of carbon such as roots.
On the other hand we cannot expect that the soil will soak up more carbon in places where vegetation is stimulated by warmer temperatures.
in addition to increasing the leaf area and biomass of the plant said Carlos Alberto Martinez project coordinator and first author of the study.
which they cultivated plants in open fields in a normal-temperature environment and in a temperature-controlled area using a temperature free-air controlled enhancement system known as T-FACE.
In addition there was a 32%increase in the leaf area index and a 16%increase in aboveground biomass production compared with plants grown at normal temperature according to Martinez The increase in temperature during the period of the experiment was favorable for the development of the biochemical and biophysical processes involved in plant growth he stated.
According to Martinez some possible explanations for the increase in photosynthetic activity in addition to the leaf area index and biomass production from samples of Stylosanthes capitata that experienced temperature increases were the plant's thermal and photosynthetic acclimatization.
In another experiment the researchers cultivated the forage plant Panicum maximum at a temperature 2â°C above normal at a carbon concentration of 600 parts per million (ppm) equivalent to twice the amount there is today an amount
The researchers found that there was less partitioning of biomass to the leaves relative to the stem of plants cultivated under these conditions.
in the production of stems and a decrease in biomass in the leaves of the plant.
The researchers used satellite images taken at weekly intervals from 2002 to 2007 of the wheat growing seasons to measure'vegetation greenness'of the crop--acting as an indicator of crop yield.
and pomegranates in antioxidant capacity said professor Basil Dalaly Plumb's research adviser. In addition blueberries are second only to strawberries in terms of the fruits Americans prefer.
The ice crystals that form during freezing disrupt the structure of the plant tissue making the anthocyanins more available.
Researchers who studied the vegetation-caribou-wolf food chain in the Bathurst region of Canada say that currently use pesticides enter the food chain
and become concentrated in vegetation but the evidence shows that they are not biomagnified through the diets of their consumers.
Typically the gardens are excavated backfilled with a filter bed substrate then planted with vegetation that helps to remove pollutants.
and silt fines and 5%pine bark; a soil-based substrate (soil) composed of 50%sandy loam soil and 50%pine bark;
and a slate-based substrate (slate) composed of 80%expanded slate and 20%pine bark.
The substrates differed in infiltration and drainage rates as well as chemical composition. Diverse plant species that included trees shrubs herbaceous perennials a grass and a rush were selected to allow the researchers to evaluate the performance of a wide range of evergreen deciduous woody and herbaceous plants.
Results showed that sand had good overall retention of pollutants except nitrogen. Soil had the lowest remediation of phosphorus
'Juncus effuses'Frenzy'Helianthus angustifolius (swamp sunflower) Helianthus angustfolius'First Light 'and Eupatorium purpureum subsp. maculatum (Joe pye weed) performed well in the experiments
and could be used as rain garden plants according to the authors. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Horticultural Science.
#LEDS shine in bedding plant production studygrowers of annual bedding plant seedlings or plugs work to produce compact fully rooted transplants with a large stem diameter
and high root dry mass--qualities that make seedlings less susceptible to damage during shipping and transplant.
To determine whether the use of narrow-spectra high-intensity LEDS is can be a practicable supplemental lighting source for greenhouse grown annual bedding plant seedlings researchers Wesley Randall
and Roberto Lopez from Purdue University designed a series of lighting experiments on plugs of Antirrhinum Catharanthus Celosia Impatiens Pelargonium Petunia Tagetes Salvia and Viola.
Results showed that the height of Catharanthus Celosia Impatiens Petunia Tagetes Salvia and Viola was 31%29%31%55%20%9%and 35%shorter respectively for seedlings grown under 85:15 red:
blue LEDS compared with those grown under high-pressure sodium lamps. Stem caliper of Antirrhinum Pelargonium
and Tagetes was 16%8%and 13%larger respectively for seedlings grown under the 85:15 red:
blue LEDS compared with seedlings grown under HPS lamps. The quality index was significantly higher for Petunia Salvia and Viola under 85:15 70:30 and 100:0 red:
blue LEDS than under HPS lamps respectively. Overall the results indicate that seedling quality for the majority of the species tested under supplemental light LEDS providing both red
and blue light was similar or higher than those grown under high-pressure sodium lamps. Our results indicate that providing supplemental lighting from LEDS
or high-pressure sodium lamps has a positive influence on seedling root dry mass height and stem caliper leading to high-quality bedding plant seedlings
when solar light is limited Lopez and Randall noted. A light ratio of 85:15 red: blue light could be a good combination for greenhouse LED supplemental lighting of bedding plant plugs.
However it is important to remember that although blue LEDS have a higher electrical conversion efficiency compared with red LEDS blue light is a higher energy light
which increases energy consumption as higher proportions of blue are used. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Horticultural Science.
finding ways to manage competitive vegetation under the trees and supplying important supplemental nutrition to trees.
University of Arkansas scientists published a study that includes recommendations for the use of various groundcover management systems for apple orchard floors.
A cross-disciplinary research team studied the impacts of groundcover management systems and nutrient source on soil characteristics tree health and productivity and insect disease and weed management.
The researchers evaluated several under tree in-row groundcover management systems including shredded paper wood chips municipal green compost and mow-blow.
The groundcover systems and nutrients were analyzed for their respective effects on soil organic matter carbon and nitrogen concentration and soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration.
The results showed that the use of various groundcover management systems as an orchard floor management tool can increase soil organic matter total soil and total nitrogen mineral soils thereby improving soil quality.
Nesting on lowland heath such as parts of Sherwood forest and Thames Basin Heath it can be affected by development such as housing
and as part of the planning process developers must now provide data on presence and abundance of this species and provide mitigation plans to prevent their disturbance before planning applications will be considered.
#Fecal transplants let packrats eat poisonwoodrats lost their ability to eat toxic creosote bushes after antibiotics killed their gut microbes.
A toxic resin coats the leaves of the creosote bush; juniper toxins are found inside juniper needles.
and vegetation changes that began 17000 years ago. In a natural climatic event at the end of the last glacial period the Southwest dried out
Desert woodrats in the Mojave started eating creosote bushes while desert woodrats in the Great Basin kept eating toxic juniper to
Other possible places to get microbes include leaf surfaces the soil or feces that woodrats collect from other animals.
One group was fed rabbit chow containing 1 percent of creosote resin for two days followed by rabbit chow with 2 percent of creosote resin for three days.
One group was placed on a diet of rabbit chow and creosote resin. With their gut microbes killed by the antibiotic they were unable to feed on creosote
but a plant like a dandelion with lots of close relatives shouldn't be counted equal to our endemic redwood
The terminal buds of each twig are today's living species and the nearness of twigs represents how closely species are related.
The tree was initially a metaphor for the relatedness of all species. Charles darwin referred to the tree of life in his seminal 1859 book On the Origin of Species
. But genetic comparisons and molecular dating have in the past several decades provided exact lengths in years for most of these branches indicating how long ago a species had a common ancestor.
If we look only at the diversity of species--the twigs on the tree of life--we aren't taking advantage of all this branch information he said.
The new method starts with the branches connecting the species in a specific area so-called phylogenetic diversity
but then gives more weight to those branches that are restricted endemic--that is in range. This relative phylogenetic endemism is a better measure of diversity
and count not only the species (twigs) in each area but also the phylogenetic distance between species (the branch length between twigs) measuring down the branch to the nearest junction then back up to the other twig.
Diversity weighted by a branch's endemism yields a unique map of areas of endemism.
She and her coworkers will study the potential of dandelions to inhibit bacteria related to bovine mastitis an infection in the mammary glands of dairy cows.
when it comes time for seeds to germinate. Though they have been in the United states--particularly the Southeast
Fighting invasive species--like buckthorn and gypsy moths and garlic mustard--is a big part of our work here Herrick says
Professor Rosa Maria Marcã from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili Tarragona said: This highly selective and sensitive instrument has allowed the small amounts of TSNAS stuck to the surface of house dust to be measured for the first time.
#For bees and flowers, tongue size matterswhen it comes to bee tongues length is proportional to the size of the bee
For bees and the flowers they pollinate a compatible tongue length is essential to a successful relationship.
Some bees and plants are matched very closely with bee tongue sized to the flower depth.
Other bee species are generalists flitting among flower species to drink nectar and collect pollen from a diverse variety of plants.
A bee collects pollen on its body as it laps sugar-rich nectar from within the cupped interior of the flower's petals
and carries the flower's genetic heritage away with it to fertilize the next flower of the same species that it visits.
Perched at the mouth of a flower the bee unfolds the beaky maxilla and extends its tongue into the corolla of the flower dipping
and retracting it to lap up the nectar. If its tongue is too short to reach the nectar the bee has a problem.
Long flowers like honeysuckle or columbine are too deep for short-tongued bees. But longer isn't always better;
long tongues are harder to wrangle into short flowers. Long-tongued bees are often specialists favoring a few deep-throated flower species. In the bumblebee-sparse southern tip of Argentina for example Bombus dahlbomii the native long-tongued giant of Patagonia has lost ground
to a new bumblebee from Europe the short-tongued generalist Bombus terrestris imported to help pollinate tomatoes.
Because specialists depend on just a few flowers they can be more vulnerable to change. Tongue length can
whose mutation affects plant stem growth a finding that could lead to the development of improved soybean cultivars for the northern United states. Purdue agronomy professor Jianxin Ma (pronounced Jen-SHIN'Ma)
or more pods than current northern cultivars but do not grow as tall. Their reduced height makes them more resistant to lodging a bending or breaking of the main plant stem.
This gene could help us improve the yield potential and adaptability of soybeans for specific growing areas Ma said.
We can now focus on developing a variety of elite semideterminate soybean cultivars which could perform very well in high-yielding irrigated environments such as Nebraska and northeastern Indiana.
Soybean cultivars are divided often into two groups: indeterminate--tall plants whose main stem continues to grow after flowering--and determinate--shorter bushier plants
whose main stem halts growth when blossoms begin to form. Determinate soybean plants thrive in the longer growing season of the south
while indeterminate plants'overlapping vegetative and reproductive stages make them better suited to the north. But the height of indeterminate cultivars renders them prone to lodging.
For northern soybean producers semideterminate soybean plants could represent a Goldilocks cultivar a just right alternative between the two.
Semideterminate soybeans are easy to manage have similar or better yields than indeterminate plants and can handle a short growing season Ma said.
Only one semideterminate soybean cultivar NE3001 is common in the United states. Having pinpointed Dt2 will enable Ma
and his researchers to use natural plant breeding methods to develop a variety of semi-determinate cultivars.
The potential for soybean yield productivity in the U s. has not been explored fully in part because of the lack of semideterminate cultivars he said.
We're now working on converting high-yielding indeterminate cultivars to semideterminate types to test their yield potential.
After identifying the gene he inserted it into indeterminate cultivars to confirm that it caused the plants to become semideterminate.
and horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said the identification of Dt2 gives soybean breeders a powerful tool for breeding new cultivars.
This provides breeders with a perfect genetic marker for identifying semideterminancy in soybean seeds and seedlings he said.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Purdue University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and its long-term exposure has negative effects on human health comments Dr Iva Hojsak of University Children's Hospital Zagreb Croatia lead author of the Committee report.
In areas of the world where rice consumption is very high the rice types (cultivars) with the lowest arsenic content should be identified
and move their herds to wherever the vegetation offers the best grazing at the time.
Their data on rainfall fluctuations and on the productivity and regenerative capacity of pasture vegetation formed the basis for the ecological part of the model.
and Genomics (CBGP) of Universidad Politã cnica de Madrid (UPM) conducted infection assays of commercial kiwis with Alternaria alternata spores which is a pathogenic fungus involved in chronic asthma
and they found that the infected kiwis had the major allergen of the fungus although symptoms of rot were seen not.
This could trigger the involuntary ingestion of the fungus found in this fruit causing an asthmatic crisis in people allergic to Alternaria.
Alternaria alternata is a fungus that proliferates in fruit and vegetables crops and also when are collected
A protein known as Alt a 1 and related to the virulence is found in the spores this protein is described as the major allergen of this fungus.
When a pathogen infects a plant the defense response is activated producing an increase of certain proteins related to the defense (known as protein 5). Likewise the fungus increases the production of the proteins involved in attacks or virulence.
All this can cause the involuntary ingestion of the fungus when eating the fruit. Researchers conducted tests by infecting commercial kiwifruit with spores of Alternaria alternata
and they detected the presence of Alt a 1 a protein of fungal virulence. Also researchers studied how this protein is involved in the activation of defense protein 5 in kiwifruit.
Fourteen days after the infection the kiwifruits showed a regular aspect without apparent development of the fungus
but through tests conducted in lab (microscopy of specific staining fungus and Kiwi proteins) they detected the presence of Alt a 1 in the pulp.
What is more they observed that this fungal protein is found in the same areas that the defense protein of the kiwifruit.
Researchers did observed not development of the fungus in kiwifruit but they indeed detected the presence of its major allergen through specific staining.
Worrying link to fungal drug resistance in UK, warns scientistscrop spraying on British farms could be aiding a life-threatening fungus suffered by tens of thousand of people in the UK each year.
New research by British and Dutch scientists has found that Aspergillus--a common fungus that attacks the lungs
Although the link has been made before in The netherlands it's the first time its been made in the UK between drug resistance in Aspergillus
He believes merging antifungal resistance in human pathogenic fungi is causing a huge threat to patients especially to those with weaken immune systems
However the clear association with triazole fungicide usage is very worrisome as some unlucky people at risk will breathe in untreatable Aspergillus with potentially dire consequences.
Diseases caused by Aspergillus affect millions of people worldwide causing high morbidity and mortality. The only oral antifungal agents (triazoles) for human use are similar in structure to certain fungicides.
and some fungi are multi-resistant. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Manchester University.
and pollinating a wide range of crops from apples to cherries and clover. Unfortunately bees all over the world are under pressure from pesticides mites viruses bacteria fungi and environmental changes among other things.
The problems often lead to the syndrome Colony Collapse Disorder which can cause whole bee colonies to fall apart.
Ravens and possibly arctic foxes scavenged exposed portions of her carcass including parts of the trunk and skull and the fat hump that likely covered the back of her neck.
In Lyuba the scans revealed a solid mass of fine-grained sediment blocking the air passages in the middle of the trunk.
Slightly coarser sediment was found in Khroma's trunk mouth and throat. Her lungs weren't available for study
In general the team found that organic crops have several nutritional benefits that stem from the way the crops are produced.
The leading explanation is that certain fertilizers approved for use only on conventional farms somehow make cadmium more available to plant roots.
Drip irrigation delivers water directly to plant roots underground instead of sprinkling plants from above. In Leinauer's and Sevostianova's vision a decentralized treatment system at a subdivision would be tailored to generate effluent during the summer that contained 15 parts per million (ppm) of the nutrient nitrate.
and the growth of weeds including couch grass can be prevented. Paper is also superior to plastics from the viewpoint of plant gas metabolism.
The development of cover materials for various perennial berry-producing plants and different soils continues in Finland
#Beloved crape myrtle in nurseries now susceptible to bacterial leaf spotit's enough to send gardeners into conniptions.
Crape myrtle a tree adored for its bright flowers that scream summer carefree maintenance and even its colorful bark now has a disease problem--although so far only in the commercial nursery setting.
University of Florida researchers had been getting sporadic reports from nursery owners over the last five years of a leaf spot problem
and those reports have increased only in frequency. Through genetic testing scientists identified the disorder as being caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas axonopodis.
or overhead irrigation and some crape myrtle varieties are more susceptible than others. I've been working with crape myrtles for a long time
and they've been such a disease-resistant plant for such a long time so it's pretty significant
The U s. crape myrtle crop had a value of nearly $43 million in 2010 and Florida is its second-biggest producer behind Texas. Florida has more companies producing crape myrtle
however with 130 compared with 72 in Texas. In the June issue of the journal Plant disease the UF/IFAS team outlined the first report of the disease
They believe it is the first report of the bacterium causing leaf spot in crape myrtle.
Bacterial leaf spot doesn't kill the ornamental tree but creates spots on its leaves that eventually turn yellow and drop.
The researchers say for now the disease affects only crape myrtle commercial producers and is spread by factors such as overhead irrigation systems
I think you can safely say that nearly every crape myrtle producer would have the disease at this point Knox said.
The varieties Natchez Osage Fantasy Basham's Party Pink and Miami have proven highly resistant to bacterial leaf spot
while Carolina Beauty Arapaho Tuscarora White Chocolate Red Rocket and Rhapsody in Pink were more susceptible in field trials funded by the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association.
Crape myrtle is so close to Southern gardeners'hearts that they endlessly debate such topics as how to spell its name (variants include crepe myrtle crape myrtle
It's ideally suited to the southern climate it blooms for a long time it comes in lots of different colors
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