#Tomato turf wars: Benign bug beats salmonella; tomato eaters winscientists from the U s. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have identified a benign bacterium that shows promise in blocking Salmonella from colonizing raw tomatoes.
Their research is published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. When applied to Salmonella-contaminated tomato plants in a field study the bacterium known as Paenibacillus alvei significantly reduced the concentration of the pathogen compared to controls.
The new paper digs at the roots not just of crop domestication but of civilization itself says plant agriculture professor Lewis Lukens.
whose seeds resist shattering such as corn whose kernels stay on the cob instead of falling off. Early agriculturalists also shortened flowering time for crops necessary in shorter growing seasons as in Canada.
The structures'passive heating and cooling capabilities can offer growers a cost-effective way to extend the growing season for high-value crops such as fruits vegetables and cut flowers.
Each subject performed 10 common gardening tasks in a high tunnel and in a nearby grassy area with a vegetable garden and weeds.
Because the students were most successful in learning to recognize circling roots codominant trunks and attachments of equal sizes the researchers recommended that these three defects should be introduced the first in sixth grade curriculum.
This ratio proved to be a robust marker for prognosis said MD Anderson co-author Anil Sood professor of gynecologic oncology and reproductive medicine and co-director of the Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNA.
#Leaf chewing links insect diversity in modern and ancient forestsobservations of insects and their feeding marks on leaves in modern forests confirm indications from fossil leaf deposits that the diversity of chewing damage relates directly to diversity of the insect
The direct link between richness of leaf-chewing insects and their feeding damage across host plants in two tropical forests validates the underlying assumptions of many paleobiological studies that rely on damage-type richness as a means to infer changes in relative
Studies of leaf chewing include observation of the leaves but rarely include all the insects that actually made the marks.
MÃ nica R. Carvalho graduate student Cornell University and Peter Wilf professor of geosciences Penn State and colleagues looked at leaf predation in two tropical forests in Panama to test
for a relationship between the richness of leaf-chewing insects and the leaf damage that the same insects induce.
Using Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute canopy-access cranes and working in the dark at almost 200 feet high in the treetops at new moon during two summers the researchers collected a total of 276 adult
and immature leaf-chewing insects of 156 species . While the largest category of insect was beetles leaf chewers among grasshoppers stick insects
and caterpillars as well as a few ants were collected also. The team also collected fresh leaves of the insects'host plants
The researchers then classified the damage to the leaves into categories in the same way they catalog fossil leaf-chewing damage.
This is the first attempt to compare leaf-chewing damage inflicted by many kinds of living insects on many kinds of plants throughout a large forest area both to the culprit insects
and to the leaf damage we see in the fossil record said Carvalho. We mounted 276 of the insects with their damaged leaves
and liana species observed in the feeding experiments. This suggests that the number of types of damage seen in the fossil record is also related to the actual diversity of damage-making insects.
The researchers also compared the modern leaf data to fossil data from Colombia Argentina the Great plains and the Rocky mountains.
and ancient settings showing a striking consistency in how insects have divided up their leaf resources since at least the end of the age of dinosaurs.
Rejesus says that research into more drought-resistant seeds or other ways of combating sensitivity to drought is necessary
Using films made of pullulan--an edible mostly tasteless transparent polymer produced by the fungus Aureobasidium pulluns--researchers evaluated the effectiveness of films containing essential oils derived from rosemary oregano
#Crocodile tears please thirsty butterflies and beesthe butterfly (Dryas iulia) and the bee (Centris sp.
and aquatic ecologist Carlos de la Rosa was passing slowing and quietly by and caught the moment on film.
De la Rosa reported the encounter in a peer-reviewed letter in the May 2014 issue of the Ecological Society of America's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
It was one of those natural history moments that you long to see up close said de la Rosa the director of the La Selva Biological Station for the Organization for Tropical Field Studies in San pedro Costa rica.
De la Rosa had seen butterflies and moths in the Amazon feeding on the tears of turtles and a few caimans.
and some bees doing this said de la Rosa. A search of the scientific literature produced a detailed study of bees drinking human tears in Thailand as well as the remembered October 2012 Trails
This experience reminds us that the world still has many surprises for ecologists de la Rosa said.
De la Rosa is a specialist in the biology of non-biting midges and a natural historian with his eyes always open to new discoveries.
De la Rosa's job as director of La Selva Biological Station brings him an unusual number of serendipitous encounters with wildlife.
Those are the kinds of things that you know you don't plan for them you can't plan for them de la Rosa said.
BABA has long been known for its protective effects against devastating plant diseases such as potato blight but has so far not been used widely in crop protection because of undesirable side effects.
Although their research has been performed in a weed called'Arabidopsis thaliana'the work horse of plant geneticists the team is confident that their discovery can be used for the protection of crops from their enemies.
In addition to changing the amount of concentrate supplement the cows had free access to forage at pasture or an herbage allowance between 19 and 25 kg of dry matter/cow per day.
However this low amount of herbage allowance did not cause any health problems. It is therefore economically sensible to increase concentrate feeding
and are attracted to land on flowers popular with other bees when exposed to perilous situations according to new research from Queen Mary University of London.
The study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that past experience of predation causes bumblebees to join other bees already safely feeding on flowers.
when bees find themselves in these predator-infested environments they locate safe places to eat by joining other bees that are already safely feeding on flowers.
when bees landed on a flower associated with danger foam pincers would trap the bee
This simulates an attack by a crab spider a predator that lurks on flowers to catch pollinators
In safe environments the bumblebees subsequently chose to feed from flowers at random but in dangerous environments the bees specifically flew to flowers that were occupied by other bees.
Erika added: It's similar to walking through a bad neighbourhood--you're more likely to choose a busier route where there are lots of other people around than a deserted street to get to your destination
Bees normally spread themselves out among flowers to minimise competition but when danger lurks they dine together to seek safety in numbers commented co-author Professor Lars Chittka from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical sciences.
Producers will need to know how fruit of the other color groups compare with red raspberries with regard to the many postharvest qualities noted the University of Maryland's Julia Harshman corresponding author of the study published in Hortscience
although there is abundant information in the literature regarding red raspberry production in regard to gray mold very little research has been conducted on postharvest physiology of black yellow or purple raspberries.
The researchers analyzed 17 varieties of raspberries at the USDA's Agricultural Research center in Beltsville Maryland examining each cultivar for characteristics such as anthocyanins soluble solids titratable acids ph
Red raspberries in comparison with the other three colors analyzed during the study had the highest titratable acids (TA) and the lowest ratio of soluble solids to TA
Their TA was lower than red raspberries but their ratio of soluble solids to TA was the second highest.
Black raspberries resisted leakage the least of all of the colors particularly after rainy humid overcast days. The authors observed that this quality will make it challenging to move black raspberries into the wholesale fresh market.
Purple raspberries--a hybrid between red and black raspberries--had the third highest anthocyanin and phenolic content
and their flavor was intermediate between black and yellow raspberries. Similar to black raspberries their ability to resist juice leakage was poor and cool weather tended to exacerbate this the authors said.
We have shown for the first time that when significant differences between ethylene rates and decay incidence coincide; the berries that produced the highest ethylene rates rotted the most quickly Harshman said.
We investigated whether coiling wire around the lower part of the plant stems to reduce the capacity of xylem to transport water to the shoot would result in low shoot moisture conditions
Takahata and Miura's study involved coiling bonsai wire around the stems of tomato seedlings between the cotyledon node and the first leaf node.
Eleven days after treatment the stem diameters immediately above the wire coils were markedly greater in treated plants compared with the corresponding stem regions of control plants they said.
The stems of treated plants were elongated less and developed fewer nodes at 39 and 51 days after treatment than did the control plants.
At 112 days after treatment the shoots and roots of treated plants had weights that were 58%and 32%of those of control plants respectively.
Since basal wire coiling in this experiment markedly suppressed root growth presumably by impeding photosynthate translocation through the phloem to the roots we assume that water absorption was decreased also by this treatment Takahata
Furthermore impeding water transport through the xylem to the upper parts of the plant by this treatment should accelerate a reduction in the moisture content of the shoot.
#Impact of pelargonic acid for weed control in yellow squashgrowers who produce squash for market are interested increasingly in using more natural herbicides that are also effective in providing season-long weed control
but the options for controlling annual broadleaf weeds in summer squash are limited currently. The authors of a new study say that both organic
and conventional producers will benefit from the identification of natural herbicides that effectively provide postemergent weed control.
and animals and is found in many foods--on weed control efficacy crop injury and squash yields of yellow squash.
The experiments included an untreated weedy control and an untreated weed-free control. Pelargonic acid was applied in Mid-july
Results of the experiments revealed that maximum smooth crabgrass control broadleaf weed control and yellow nutsedge control occurred with the 15-lb/acre PA treatment at 9 days after initial spray treatment and 1 day after the sequential treatment.
Pelargonic acid at 15-lb/acre provided equal or slightly greater smooth crabgrass and broadleaf control compared with the 10-lb/acre application and consistently greater control than the 5-lb/acre rate and the weedy control.
Pelargonic acid was less effective at controlling yellow nutsedge than smooth crabgrass and broadleaf weeds. Analyses showed that increasing the PA application rate increased the crop injury rating at 1 and 3 days after each application;
maximum squash injury occurred for each application rate at 9 days after treatment. Yield analysis found that the 10-lb/acre PA treatment produced the highest squash yields
and fruit number compared with either the 5 -or 15-lb/acre rates and yields and fruit number equivalent to the hand-weeded weed-free treatment.
This research determined that a sequential postdirected application of pelargonic acid at 10-lb/acre in 40-gal/acre can consistently produce satisfactory weed control with low crop injury to produce weed-free
equivalent squash yields Webber said. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Horticultural Science.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Fungus implicated in potato blightscientists at the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and development Neiker-Tecnalia led by the Doctor in Biology Josã Ignacio Ruiz de Galarreta have identified for the first time the existence in à lava-Araba
of the two sexual types A1 and A2 of the fungus Phytophthora infestans responsible for potato blight. The experts have been able to confirm that the crossing between the two types leads to variants that are more resistant to conventional fungicides
and can survive in adverse conditions of temperature and humidity for months and even years on end.
and A2 which would lead to rapid significant changes in the population of the Phytophtora infestans fungus with the appearance of new more aggressive strains resistant to routine phytosanitary teatments.
in order to find out the types of races existing across Spain as a first step towards improving the effectiveness of the fight against this fungus.
Over last summer Phytophthora infestans samples were collected in potato crops affected by the blight in five producing areas across à lava-Araba:
Two of them produced oospores so they belonged to type A2; specifically they were taken the ones at Arkaute and Iturrieta.
and the formation of oospores in three matings were obtained as the result. These were gathered the strains in Gauna Heredia and Zuazo de San Millã¡
Sexual reproduction produces new racesthe Phytophthora infestans fungus can also reproduce asexually without being crossed. But the biggest problem for potato growers lies in sexual reproduction since this produces new races of the fungus that attack the plants in a more virulent way
and at the same time are more resistant to the treatments designed to eradicate them. Establishing that the A1
since the spores are able to move considerable distances thanks to the wind or irrigation water.
As a general rule Phytophthora infestans needs temperatures above 10â C and humidity above 90%in order to develop
in order to prevent resistance appearing in the fungus caused by repeatedly using the same fungicide. Plant lesions become visible on day five following an attack by the fungus.
The symptoms can be seen firstly on the lower leaves where a light-green or yellow spot can be seen on the tips and edges of the leaves.
The lesions then spread across the remaining surface of the leaf and can be seen in the form of dark green grey-brown or black patches.
and then stopping every two meters to measure signs of crab damage on 100 cordgrass stalks.
A conventional plastic container and nine types of biocontainers (bioplastic coir manure peat bioplastic sleeve slotted rice hull solid rice hull straw and wood fiber) were included in the life cycle
assessments for greenhouse petunia production. The impacts were presented in terms of contribution to the carbon footprint or global warming potential (GWP) of a single finished plant in a 10-cm-diameter container.
Results showed that a traditional plastic container accounts for approximately 16%of overall carbon dioxide equivalents emissions during petunia production.
These strategies include pulse fertigation surface mulching and polypropylene groundcover which have been shown to improve nutrient and water acquisition.
of two sweet cherry cultivars to a variety of nutrient and water management strategies (Hortscience February 2014.
'and'Skeena'cultivars on the dwarfing rootstock Gisela 6 at the Pacific Agri-Food Research center in Summerland.
an unamended control a 10-cm wood waste mulch treatment and an annual fertigated application of 20 g of phosphorus (as ammonium polyphosphate) per tree at full bloom.
Several soil management treatments which improved establishment of sweet cherry on Gisela 6 rootstock were continued for three fruiting seasons;
Analyses showed that high-frequency irrigation resulted in higher root zone soil moisture content relative to low-frequency irrigation despite reduced evaporative demand during part of the growing season.
An important factor affecting yield during the study period was weather which affected cultivars differently.
'Differences in cultivar response were related to their different rates of phenological development Neilsen said. Analyses revealed that cherry fruit size was affected minimally by soil
while decreased SSC occurred with delayed harvest maturity in trees receiving phosphorus fertigation at bloom.
Like other insect pests whitefly feed by pushing their long mouthpiece--or stylets--into the leaf until it reaches the plant's main source of nutrients travelling through the phloem.
Measuring the time it took from the insect settling on a plant to accessing the plant sap the team showed that hardly any of the whiteflies exposed to a range of smells started feeding from the phloem within 15 hours from the time of exposure.
The risk of forest fires is also increasing in southern Europe Tim Carter explains about the regional effects of climate change.
To be effective the Forest Code must be tied to economic incentives that reward landowners who conserve native vegetation says co-author Raoni Rajã£o of UFMG.
Previous research used satellite-based measurements of vegetation greenness to investigate changes in the Amazon rainforest notably the effects of severe short-term droughts in 2005 and 2010.
whether they could detect a trend in a satellite measure of vegetation greenness called the Enhanced Vegetation Index.
whether that is in the form of rainfall water stored in the ground water in near-surface soils or water within the vegetation.
and provided us with insights into the environmental and physiological mechanisms of the browning observed by the MODIS data said co-author Sassan Saatchi of NASA's Jet propulsion laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena Calif. Climate factors known to affect vegetation growth were also in line with the observed
or even some sort of small fruit bush that was in flower it very likely could have killed the fruit buds said Ward Upham Kansas State university extension agent in horticulture.
Apricots and peaches are most likely to be affected since they bloom earlier than other fruits.
The fruiting canes of thornless blackberries and raspberries were lost so we won't have fruit from those plants this year.
which give way to fields of grass and shrubs. The area of forest degradation is increasing posing serious threats to certain species
Statistics on forest fire causes show that human activities are responsible for 94 percent of fires in this forest zone of the Russian Far east.
#Getting at the root of mountain pine beetles rapid habitat expansionthe mountain pine beetle has wreaked havoc in North america across forests from the American Southwest to British columbia
Bark beetles change Rocky mountain stream flows, affect water qualityon Earth Week--and in fact every week now--trees in mountains across the western United states are dying thanks to an infestation of bark beetles that reproduce in the trees'inner bark.
Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from leaves stems and flowers.
For example why did people domesticate a mere dozen or so of the roughly 200000 species of wild flowering plants?
Olsen studies rice and cassava and is interested currently in rice mimics weeds that look enough like rice that they fly under the radar even
when people threw out the refuse of plant foods including seeds some grew and again set seed and in this way people inadvertently selected species they were eating that also did well in the disturbed and nutrient-rich environment of the dump heap.
Cultivation practices play a huge role in selection said Olsen. Traditionally in Southeast asia many different varieties of rice were grown simultaneously in a given field.
Corn stover--the stalks leaves and cobs in cornfields after harvest--has been considered a ready resource for cellulosic ethanol production.
An unintended consequence of reduced timber harvesting may be reduced capacity to subsidize other restoration activities--either through revenue from timber sales or through manipulation of vegetation and woody fuels during logging.
What landowners should knowcumulative habitat loss encroachment by invasive woody plants wind energy development petroleum production
and drought impacting flowering plants from which the bees get all their food may be the more important factor driving these declines.
and the native flowering plant diversity that the bees depend on for food. In addition the researchers suggest that beekeepers use pesticides sparingly.
and other challenges can be found in the trunks of our oldest trees. Results from an analysis of tree rings spanning more than 300000 square miles
and gathering fruits and tubers to cultivating livestock and plants. It seems so straightforward and yet the more scientists learn the more complex the story becomes.
This includes seeds that remain attached to the plant for harvesting (a trait called nonshattering) reduced branching and robust growth of the central stem and bigger fruits seeds or tubers.
For example the gene teosinte branched1 (tb1) converts highly branched teosinte plants into single stalks of corn.
but plants with smaller lateral branches when it is crowded. Again however the effect is not symmetric.
--and trying to grow'cash crops'such as cotton and coffee that are highly susceptible to global price fluctuations.
those that grow cash crops such as coffee and cotton; those with'marginal'farms of less than one hectare;
Chimpanzees use tree branches to build beds or nests in trees. They select certain tree species to sleep in more frequently than others
and bending strength of 326 branches from the seven tree species most commonly used by the chimps.
Additionally they measured leaf surface area and determined the structure or architecture of each of the seven species. Of 1844 nests sampled chimpanzees selected Ugandan Ironwood for 73.6%of the nests
and had the greatest bending strength of all the trees tested had the smallest distance between leaves on the branches
and had the smallest leaf surface area. The authors suggest that chimpanzees select trees like the Ugandan ironwood due to these properties as they may provide protection from predators
Across most U s. distributors sales of specialty coffee rose more than 75 percent by economic value from 2000 to 2008.
H7 is able to colonise the roots of both spinach and lettuce. Dr Nicola Holden who led the research says:
Examples include true yams cassava breadfruit and malangas. Their preparation such as fried mashed or boiled was also important.
We also had a side-by-side taste-testing of the three boiled cultivars of yautã a (yellow white and pink) a'root'crop found in the Puerto rican markets
#Rising demand for herbal medicine can increase cultivation of medicinal treesformalizing trade in herbal medicinal products has the potential to increase the demand for on-farm grown raw material and raise the level of cultivation of medicinal tree
A study carried out by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Kenya shows that trade in herbal medicinal products is rising in the urban areas
The World health organization estimates that about 80%of Africans rely on traditional medicine a great proportion of which is herbal to meet their health needs
and Livelihoods says that In Kenya the majority of traditional medicines are sold as wild plant parts
Their research revealed that 49 per cent of traders in herbal medicine sourced materials from farms
and the spatial pattern of deforestation to forecast changes in the Congo Basin climate The study also maps the region's vegetation mix
Dead wood is great habitat for wildlife provides a sheltered environment for young seedlings holds soil
Oriental beech was the dominant species in the layer of foliage in the forest canopy known as the overstory
The results of this project show that extreme droughts may interact with fires to push Amazonian forests beyond a tipping point that may abruptly increase tree mortality and change vegetation over large areas.
and Havana commercial cultivars have been grown. The plants were modified genetically to increase their production of starch and sugars
As Prof Veramendi explained what has been done now is fieldwork with these two tobacco cultivars and it has been found that the starch
and sugars in the tobacco leaf are in fact higher. Traditional tobacco growing allows the plant to develop
and Public health combines mental-health data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) and Landsat 5 satellite data from July 2009 that analyzed how much vegetation was present in each of the SHOW census blocks.
Wheat seeds are coated with substances that also form hydrocyanic acid when they react. However the base substances are separated from each other in different layers
and react only when the seeds are bitten by a herbivore. Stark describes the successful research method as imitating nature
The habitats of these boreal specialists--cool wet sphagnum-draped bogs and swampy woods--are thought to be vulnerable to climate change particularly in the Adirondacks where they are fragmented more than in forest to the north.
Currently around 20 percent of global methane emissions stem from ruminants. In the atmosphere methane contributes to the greenhouse effect--that's why researchers are looking for ways of reducing methane production by ruminants.
Growing crops on photovoltaic farmsgrowing agave and other carefully chosen plants amid photovoltaic panels could allow solar farms not only to collect sunlight for electricity
The plants'roots would also help anchor the soil and their foliage would help reduce the ability of wind to kick up dust Computer simulations of a hypothetical co-location solar farm in Southern California's San bernardino County by Ravi
and colleagues suggest that these two factors together could lead to a reduction in the overall amount of water that solar farms need to operate.
agave. Native to North and South america the prickly plant can be used to produce liquid ethanol a biofuel that can be mixed with gasoline
Unlike corn or other grains most of the agave plant can be converted to ethanol Ravi said.
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