https://phys.org/biology-news/agriculture en-us Agriculture, livestock, farming and food processing news The corn leafhopper Dalbulus maidis has become a serious problem for farmers. This tiny insect is now widely distributed in the Americas, from the south of the United States to the north of Argentina. In Brazil, it uses only corn plants as hosts, and little is known about its survival mechanisms in the absence of these plants. In corn, it causes damage directly by sucking sap from the phloem, the vascular tissue that conducts sugar and other metabolic products downward from the leaves. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-fungus-corn-leafhopper-extremely-pest.html Ecology Agriculture Wed, 06 Mar 2024 12:42:04 EST news628951321 Scientists have discovered the gene that enables marine algae to make a unique type of chlorophyll. They successfully implanted this gene in a land plant, paving the way for better crop yields on less land. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-marine-algae-implants-boost-crop.html Biotechnology Agriculture Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:17:18 EST news628946232 Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, researchers said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-birds-beetles-bugs-pesticides.html Agriculture Wed, 06 Mar 2024 04:19:14 EST news628921149 To understand the food production resources necessary to help feed a growing global population, accurate and up-to-date data, such as crop, livestock, aquaculture and fisheries statistics, are crucial for the implementation of effective food system interventions. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-global-food-production.html Agriculture Tue, 05 Mar 2024 09:51:02 EST news628854659 "War is hell" usually applies to war zones, but the Ukraine-Russian war's protracted battles can take a toll on biodiversity as far away as the United States or Brazil. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-war-biodiversity-enemy-peaceful-locales.html Ecology Agriculture Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:59:41 EST news628851579 Plant genomics has come a long way since Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) helped sequence the first plant genome. But engineering the perfect crop is still, in many ways, a game of chance. Making the same DNA mutation in two different plants doesn't always give us the crop traits we want. The question is why not? CSHL plant biologists just dug up a reason. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-evolutionary-mystery-million-years.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Mon, 04 Mar 2024 14:00:01 EST news628757086 Researchers from the Department of Technical Physics and the Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland have used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate how the pathogen Phytophthora cactorum affects the growth and development of strawberry plants. This pathogen causes crown rot in strawberries and can lead to significant losses on horticultural crops. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-mri-crown-infection-strawberries.html Biotechnology Agriculture Mon, 04 Mar 2024 10:37:03 EST news628771021 Fonio (Digitaria exilis), a type of millet, is the oldest indigenous crop in West Africa and one of the fastest-maturing cereals. Despite its low yield, the combination of quick maturation and drought tolerance and its ability to thrive in poor soils make it a useful model for understanding how cereals can adapt to future climate change conditions. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-seed-microbes-resilience.html Cell & Microbiology Agriculture Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:56:40 EST news628444598 Spring frosts can have devastating effects on apple production, and a warming climate may be causing trees to blossom early, making them more susceptible to the damaging effects of extreme cold events. Growers' attempts to prevent the flowers from freezing by attempting to heat the canopies of their orchards largely have been inefficient. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-cyber-physical-apple-blossoms-orchards.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 29 Feb 2024 12:57:44 EST news628433860 A greater understanding of how plants and microbes work together to store vast amounts of atmospheric carbon in the soil will help in the design of better bioenergy crops for the fight against climate change. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-fabricated-ecosystems-bioenergy-crops.html Ecology Agriculture Thu, 29 Feb 2024 11:26:04 EST news628428361 Crushed rock can remove about 3–4 metric tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) per hectare per year and improve crop yields, results of a pioneering study have shown. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-field-trials-reveal-boosts-carbon.html Ecology Agriculture Thu, 29 Feb 2024 10:22:04 EST news628424521 A promising new fungicide to fight devastating crop diseases has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The chemical, ebselen, prevented fungal infections in apples, grapes, strawberries, tomatoes and roses and improved symptoms of pre-existing fungal infection in rice. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-biologists-fungicides.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Thu, 29 Feb 2024 09:51:04 EST news628422661 It's one thing for a hybrid citrus tree to tolerate citrus greening disease (a.k.a. Huanglongbing) and quite another if it also produces orange-like fruit—especially if the juice makes for a delicious breakfast beverage. Now, that holy grail of traits could be closer at hand, thanks to the chemical and genetic sleuthing of a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) scientists. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-discovery-scientists-huanglongbing-tolerant-citrus.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Wed, 28 Feb 2024 16:43:04 EST news628360982 In a recent study published in Molecular Plant, researchers have elucidated the mechanism underlying the increased susceptibility to necrotrophs during fruit ripening and have developed a rapid strategy to improve tomato fruit resistance to necrotrophs without compromising fruit quality. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-ripe-fruit-susceptible-necrotrophic.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Wed, 28 Feb 2024 11:11:35 EST news628341093 Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have not only succeeded in using blue-green algae as a surrogate mother for a new protein—they have even coaxed the microalgae to produce "meat fiber-like" protein strands. The achievement may be the key to sustainable foods that have both the "right" texture and require minimal processing. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-blue-green-algae-surrogate.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 27 Feb 2024 11:30:59 EST news628255856 Salination causes harvests to fail across the globe. Plants die, or their growth is stunted. Researchers of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) have discovered that a local regulator protein encourages root growth in saline soil, which allows the plant to develop under these adverse conditions. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-soil-salinity-discovery-crops-resilient.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 27 Feb 2024 10:02:38 EST news628250554 A group led by researchers at Nagoya University and Meijo University in Japan has developed a disinfection technology that uses low-temperature plasma generated by electricity to cultivate environmentally friendly hydroponically grown crops. This innovative technology sterilizes the crops, promoting plant growth without the use of chemical fertilizers. Their findings appear in Environmental Technology & Innovations. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-disinfection-tech-temperature-plasma-coli.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:20:52 EST news628248049 Scientists at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have achieved a breakthrough in molecular plant pathology, marking a technological leap forward for breeding durable disease-resistant crops. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-rapid-gene-screening-platform.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Mon, 26 Feb 2024 15:46:03 EST news628184761 Iron is a micronutrient for plants. Biologists from the Institute of Botany at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) describe in a study, which has now been published in the Journal of Cell Biology, that regulatory proteins for iron uptake behave particularly dynamically in the cell nucleus when the cells are exposed to blue light—an important signal for plant growth. They found that the initially homogeneously distributed proteins relocated together into "biomolecular condensates" in the cell nucleus shortly after this exposure. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-biomolecular-condensates-regulatory-hubs-iron.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:23:08 EST news627913386 The use of pesticides, while beneficial for global food security, wreaks havoc on natural ecosystems and human health. To address this issue, Penn State researchers have turned to an unlikely enforcer to protect crops: the ladybug. The team, led by Sara Hermann in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, developed a novel pest management tool by leveraging the chemical ecology of predator-prey interactions between ladybugs and aphids. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-ladybug-scents-ecologically-friendly-crops.html Ecology Agriculture Fri, 23 Feb 2024 09:07:04 EST news627901621 A systematic analysis of 40 years of studies on public crop breeding programs found that cereal grains receive significantly more research attention than other crops important for food security, such as fruits and vegetables; only 33% of studies sought input from both men and women household members; and there is significantly less research in South America, the Middle East and North Africa than in sub-Saharan Africa. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-years-crop-inequities.html Other Agriculture Thu, 22 Feb 2024 11:31:03 EST news627823861 Dishes like Brazilian steak and Indian kidney bean curry have an especially large biodiversity footprint, or impact on biodiversity, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Elissa Cheng from the National University of Singapore, Singapore, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-meat-legume-rice-based-dishes.html Ecology Agriculture Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:00:01 EST news627728475 In a breakthrough for the snack food industry, a team of scientists led by Michigan State University professors Jiming Jiang and David Douches has discovered a key mechanism behind the darkening and potential health concerns associated with cold-stored potatoes. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-code-healthier-potato-chip.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Wed, 21 Feb 2024 12:31:04 EST news627741061 Rice feeds the world. But a look-alike weed has many ways of getting ahead. Weedy rice is an agricultural pest with a global economic impact. It is an aggressive weed that outcompetes cultivated rice and causes billions of dollars in yield losses worldwide. In the U.S. alone, crop losses attributed to weedy rice could feed an additional 12 million people annually. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-weedy-rice-competitive-boost-wild.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:34:03 EST news627726841 Global population growth has led to rapidly increasing food demand. A new international study, published in Nature Genetics, has found a way to accelerate crop improvements, specifically in peanuts. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-peanut-plate-reveal-potential-crop.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:02:03 EST news627649321 Fish exposed to some pesticides at extremely low concentrations for a brief period of time can demonstrate lasting behavioral changes, with the impact extending to offspring that were never exposed firsthand, a recent study found. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-pesticide-exposure-affect-fish-generations.html Ecology Agriculture Tue, 20 Feb 2024 09:51:04 EST news627645062 An often-overlooked water plant that can double its biomass in two days, capture nitrogen from the air—making it a valuable green fertilizer—and be fed to poultry and livestock could serve as life-saving food for humans in the event of a catastrophe or disaster, a new study led by Penn State researchers suggests. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-common-food-insecurity.html Agriculture Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:51:12 EST news627565868 Wheat, a globally important food crop, derives its yield from factors such as number of spikes per unit area, thousand-grain weight and grain yield per spike. Spike shape directly affects spikelet number, grain yield, and overall wheat productivity. Uncovering the key regulators of wheat spike development and investigating their molecular mechanisms holds great promise for precision breeding and molecular improvement of spike morphology. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-approach-key-regulatory-factors-wheat.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:12:00 EST news627563518 Potassium deficiency in agricultural soils is a largely unrecognized but potentially significant threat to global food security if left unaddressed, finds new research involving researchers at UCL, University of Edinburgh and the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-potassium-depletion-soil-threatens-global.html Ecology Agriculture Mon, 19 Feb 2024 05:00:01 EST news627295952 A new genetic map of the arabica coffee plant, Coffea arabica, could help breeders develop to more climate-proof brews. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-crop-cup-genetic-morning-coffee.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Sat, 17 Feb 2024 12:30:01 EST news627222099