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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Effects Of Wollastonia Biflora Expansion On The Soil Seed Bank In Native Forest Communities On A Tropical Coral Island, Yao Huang, Hai Ren, Jun Wang, Nan Liu, Shuguang Jian, Hongyue Cai, Dafeng Hui, Qinfeng Guo Dec 2020

Effects Of Wollastonia Biflora Expansion On The Soil Seed Bank In Native Forest Communities On A Tropical Coral Island, Yao Huang, Hai Ren, Jun Wang, Nan Liu, Shuguang Jian, Hongyue Cai, Dafeng Hui, Qinfeng Guo

Biology Faculty Research

Invasive plants and native weeds (i.e., undesirable plant species) often have negative effects on native ecosystems. However, the effects of weed expansion on soil seed banks and seedling emergence in native forests have not been well investigated. In this study, we used a seedling emergence assay to assess the effects of expansion by a native weed, the perennial C4 herb Wollastonia biflora, on the soil seed bank and above-ground vegetation in forests on Yongxing Island, a coral island in the South China Sea. We found that W. biflora expansion was associated with a reduced abundance of native species in the …


Nitrogen Uptake By Two Plants In Response To Plant Competition As Regulated By Neighbor Density, Xuan Jia, Chaohe Huangfu, Dafeng Hui Dec 2020

Nitrogen Uptake By Two Plants In Response To Plant Competition As Regulated By Neighbor Density, Xuan Jia, Chaohe Huangfu, Dafeng Hui

Biology Faculty Research

Plant species may acquire different forms of nitrogen (N) to reduce competition for the same resource, but how plants respond to neighbors with different densities in their N uptake is still poorly understood. We investigated the effects of competition regime on the uptake of different N forms by two hygrophytes, Carex thunbergii and Polygonum criopolitanum, by conducting a hydroponic test of excised roots and an in situ experiment in a subtropical wetland ecosystem. The two species were grown either in monocultures or mixtures with various neighbor densities. Root functional traits and N uptake rates of different N forms were measured. …


Comparative Performance Of Reduced-Risk Fungicides And Biorational Products In Management Of Postharvest Botrytis Blight On Bigleaf Hydrangea Cut Flowers, Ravi Bika, Cristi Palmer, Lisa Alexander, Fulya Baysal-Gurel Dec 2020

Comparative Performance Of Reduced-Risk Fungicides And Biorational Products In Management Of Postharvest Botrytis Blight On Bigleaf Hydrangea Cut Flowers, Ravi Bika, Cristi Palmer, Lisa Alexander, Fulya Baysal-Gurel

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Botrytis cinerea is one of the problematic and notorious postharvest pathogens of bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) cut flowers. It causes flower blight, leaf blight, and stem rot, reducing the ornamental value (such as longevity, color, and texture) of flowers, ultimately making them unsalable. The objective of this study was to identify effective conventional fungicides and biorational products for botrytis blight management on bigleaf hydrangea cut flowers that can be easily and readily adopted by growers of ornamentals. Preventive preharvest whole-plant spray and postharvest dip treatment applications were used in this study. For the whole-plant spray applications, bigleaf hydrangea …


First Report Of Powdery Mildew On Physocarpus Opulifolius Caused By Podosphaera Physocarpi In Tennessee, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Terri Simmons, Farhat A. Avin, Ravi Bika, Christina Jennings Nov 2020

First Report Of Powdery Mildew On Physocarpus Opulifolius Caused By Podosphaera Physocarpi In Tennessee, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Terri Simmons, Farhat A. Avin, Ravi Bika, Christina Jennings

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Eastern ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius [L.] Maxim.) is a popular native perennial plant used in landscapes because of its colorful foliage and spring flower display. Powdery mildew symptoms were observed on container-grown eastern ninebark ‘Mindia’ Coppertina plants in a commercial nursery in DeKalb County, TN, in May 2016. The disease severity was nearly 40%, and the disease incidence was nearly 60% of 1,000 plants. Affected plants displayed witches’ brooms with cream to white colored, thickened shoots with stunted, curly leaves as well as patches of white powdery fungal growth on the surface of young and old leaves, inflorescences, infructescences, and stems. …


Effects Of Nitrogen Fertilization And Bioenergy Crop Species On Central Tendency And Spatial Heterogeneity Of Soil Glycosidase Activities, Min Yuan, Jianjun Duan, Jianwei Li, Siyang Jian, Lahiru Gamage, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Dafeng Hui, Philip A. Fay Nov 2020

Effects Of Nitrogen Fertilization And Bioenergy Crop Species On Central Tendency And Spatial Heterogeneity Of Soil Glycosidase Activities, Min Yuan, Jianjun Duan, Jianwei Li, Siyang Jian, Lahiru Gamage, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Dafeng Hui, Philip A. Fay

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Extracellular glycosidases in soil, produced by microorganisms, act as major agents for decomposing labile soil organic carbon (e.g., cellulose). Soil extracellular glycosidases are significantly affected by nitrogen (N) fertilization but fertilization effects on spatial distributions of soil glycosidases have not been well addressed. Whether the effects of N fertilization vary with bioenergy crop species also remains unclear. Based on a 3-year fertilization experiment in Middle Tennessee, USA, a total of 288 soil samples in topsoil (0–15 cm) were collected from two 15 m2 plots under three fertilization treatments in switchgrass (SG: Panicum virgatum L.) and gamagrass (GG: Tripsacum dactyloides L.) …


Inoculation And Amendment Strategies Influence Switchgrass Establishment In Degraded Soil, Ekundayo Adeleke, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Ali Taheri Nov 2020

Inoculation And Amendment Strategies Influence Switchgrass Establishment In Degraded Soil, Ekundayo Adeleke, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Ali Taheri

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Bioenergy feedstock production on degraded land can serve as a means for modulating land competition for food versus energy. Due to little or no agricultural value of degraded soil, fortification of the soil with an organic amendment or inoculum will improve biomass productivity. However, as farmers struggle to rejuvenate their degraded land, there is a need for a quick screening strategy to select the best method of enhancing cellulosic (switchgrass, SG) biomass production in degraded soil. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of soil amendment and inoculation strategies on biomass productivities of SG in a reclaimed …


Impacts Of Organic And Conventional Management On The Nutritional Level Of Vegetables, Atanu Mukherjee, Emmanuel C. Omondi, Paul R. Hepperly, Rita Seidel, Wade P. Heller Oct 2020

Impacts Of Organic And Conventional Management On The Nutritional Level Of Vegetables, Atanu Mukherjee, Emmanuel C. Omondi, Paul R. Hepperly, Rita Seidel, Wade P. Heller

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The nutrient concentration of fruits and vegetables in the U.S.A. has declined in the past 50–70 years. Crop management practices utilizing on-farm inputs are thought to increase crop nutritional quality, but few studies have evaluated this under long-term side-by-side trials. An experiment was conducted from 2004 to 2005 at Rodale Institute’s long-term Farming Systems Trial to investigate the nutritional quality of vegetables under organic manure (MNR) and conventional (CNV) farming systems, with or without arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) treatment. AMF reduced the vitamin C content in carrots in both systems in 2004, but the reduction was 87% in CNV and …


Comparative Performance Of Chemical And Biological-Based Products In Management Of Algal Leaf Spot On Magnolia, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Ravi Bika, Christina Jennings, Cristi Palmer, Terri Simmons Oct 2020

Comparative Performance Of Chemical And Biological-Based Products In Management Of Algal Leaf Spot On Magnolia, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Ravi Bika, Christina Jennings, Cristi Palmer, Terri Simmons

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Magnolia trees (Magnolia sp.) are a popular choice for consumers when choosing flowering woody plants for landscapes. Magnolia species grow in a wide variety of both temperate and tropical locations. Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is one of the more popular magnolias due to its pleasing aesthetics: large showy flowers in a range of colors and evergreen foliage. However, magnolias can be affected by algal leaf spot. Algal leaf spot is caused by Cephaleuros virescens, which is a widespread plant parasitic green alga. There has been little research on how to treat algal leaf spot on magnolia …


Evaluation Of Systemic Imidacloprid And Herbicide Treatments On Flatheaded Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Management In Field Nursery Production, Karla M. Addesso, Jason B. Oliver, Nadeer N. Youssef, Donna C. Fare Oct 2020

Evaluation Of Systemic Imidacloprid And Herbicide Treatments On Flatheaded Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Management In Field Nursery Production, Karla M. Addesso, Jason B. Oliver, Nadeer N. Youssef, Donna C. Fare

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The flatheaded appletree borer, Chrysobothris femorata (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), and related species are deciduous tree pests. Female beetles prefer to oviposit at tree bases, and larvae tunnel beneath the bark, which weakens or kills young or newly transplanted trees. In the first objective of this study, Discus N/G (2.94% imidacloprid + 0.7% cyfluthrin) applied at six lower-than-labeled rates (0.0, 0.98, 1.97, 3.94, 5.91, and 7.87 ml/cm of average trunk dia.) was evaluated for protection of field-grown maples. A second objective evaluated imidacloprid with and without herbicides to assess the impact of weed competition at the tree base on insecticide effectiveness. …


Introgression Of The Afila Gene Into Climbing Garden Pea (Pisum Sativum L.), Oscar Eduardo Checa, Marino Rodriguez, Xingbo Wu, Matthew Wohlgemuth Blair Oct 2020

Introgression Of The Afila Gene Into Climbing Garden Pea (Pisum Sativum L.), Oscar Eduardo Checa, Marino Rodriguez, Xingbo Wu, Matthew Wohlgemuth Blair

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The pea (Pisum sativum L.) is one of the most important crops in temperate agriculture around the world. In the tropics, highland production is also common with multiple harvests of nearly mature seeds from climbing plant types on trellises. While the leafless variant caused by the afila gene is widely used in developing row-cropped field peas in Europe, its use for trellised garden peas has not been reported. In this study we describe a pea breeding program for a high-elevation tropical environment in the Department of Nariño in Colombia, where over 16,000 hectares of the crop are produced. The most …


Genotypic Variation Of Flavonols And Antioxidant Capacity In Broccoli, Yongbo Duan, Franklin Eduardo Melo Santiago, Andre Rodrigues Dos Reis, Marislaine A. De Figueiredo, Suping Zhou, Theodore W. Thannhauser, Li Li Oct 2020

Genotypic Variation Of Flavonols And Antioxidant Capacity In Broccoli, Yongbo Duan, Franklin Eduardo Melo Santiago, Andre Rodrigues Dos Reis, Marislaine A. De Figueiredo, Suping Zhou, Theodore W. Thannhauser, Li Li

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Flavonols are gaining increasing interests due to their diverse health benefits for humans. Broccoli is a main flavonol source in our diet, but the genetic variation of flavonols and their correlation with antioxidant capacity remain to be understood. Here, we examined variations of the two major flavonols kaempferol and quercetin in florets and leaves of 15 diverse broccoli accessions by ultra-performance liquid chromatography. Broccoli accumulated more kaempferol than quercetin in most of the accessions tested, with the ratios varying from 4.4 to 27.9 in leaves and 0.4 to 4.4 in florets. Total flavonoids showed 2.5-fold and 3.3-fold differences in leaves …


Bryophyte Diversity Is Related To Vascular Plant Diversity And Microhabitat Under Disturbance In Karst Caves, Hai Ren, Faguo Wang, Wen Ye, Qianmei Zhang, Taotao Han, Yao Huang, Guowei Chu, Dafeng Hui, Qinfeng Guo Sep 2020

Bryophyte Diversity Is Related To Vascular Plant Diversity And Microhabitat Under Disturbance In Karst Caves, Hai Ren, Faguo Wang, Wen Ye, Qianmei Zhang, Taotao Han, Yao Huang, Guowei Chu, Dafeng Hui, Qinfeng Guo

Biology Faculty Research

Plant diversity, habitat properties, and their relationships in karst caves remain poorly understood. We surveyed vascular plant and bryophyte diversities and measured the habitat characteristics in six karst caves in south China with different disturbance histories (one had been disturbed by poultry feeding, three had been disturbed by tourism, and two were undisturbed). The plant diversity differences among the six caves were analyzed using cluster analysis, and the relationships of plant diversity and microhabitat were assessed using canonical correspondence analysis. We found a total of 43 angiosperm species from 27 families, 20 lycophyte and fern species from 9 families, and …


Permethrin Residual Activity Against Ambrosia Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Attacks Following Field Aging And Simulated Rainfall Weathering, Matthew S. Brown, Karla M. Addesso, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Nadeer N. Youssef, Jason B. Oliver Aug 2020

Permethrin Residual Activity Against Ambrosia Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Attacks Following Field Aging And Simulated Rainfall Weathering, Matthew S. Brown, Karla M. Addesso, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Nadeer N. Youssef, Jason B. Oliver

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Adult ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) bore into ornamental nursery trees resulting in trunk vascular tissue damage, which can potentially kill trees. Ambrosia beetle exposure to surface-applied insecticides is minimal after internal trunk galleries are formed, so effective management requires insecticide treatments to be applied near the time of infestation or to have residual activity on the bark. Tree trunk sections (bolts) were used to determine the effect of field aging or irrigation (i.e., simulated rainfall weathering) on permethrin residual activity against ambrosia beetles. In all experiments, 30-cm-long bolts from Liriodendron tulipifera L. (Magnoliales: Magnoliaceae) were hollowed and filled with …


Pre-Emergence Herbicides And Mulches For Weed Control In Cutting Propagation, Anthony L. Witcher, Isha Poudel Aug 2020

Pre-Emergence Herbicides And Mulches For Weed Control In Cutting Propagation, Anthony L. Witcher, Isha Poudel

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Weed control is critical in cutting propagation to maximize root growth and liner quality, but hand weeding is time consuming and not cost efficient. Pre-emergence herbicides are widely used in container-grown nursery crop production, but concerns of potential phytotoxicity have limited widespread use in propagation. Mulches are a viable alternative for weed control but few products have been evaluated in propagation. Five pre-emergence herbicides and five mulches were evaluated for rooting stem cuttings of three nursery crop species and for control of four weed species. Mulches were applied (0.8 cm depth) prior to sticking cuttings while pre-emergence herbicides were applied …


Impact Of Winter Cover Crop Usage In Soilborne Disease Suppressiveness In Woody Ornamental Production System, Milan Panth, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Terri Simmons, Karla M. Addesso, Anthony L. Witcher Jul 2020

Impact Of Winter Cover Crop Usage In Soilborne Disease Suppressiveness In Woody Ornamental Production System, Milan Panth, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Terri Simmons, Karla M. Addesso, Anthony L. Witcher

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Diseases caused by soilborne pathogens are a major limitation to field grown nursery production. The application of cover crops for soilborne disease management has not been widely investigated in a woody ornamental nursery production system. The objective of this study was to explore the impact of winter cover crops usage on soilborne disease management in that system. Soils from established field plots of red maple (Acer rubrum L.) with and without winter cover crops (crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) or triticale (× Triticosecale W.)) were sampled following the senescence of the cover crops. Separate bioassays were performed using red maple …


Genome-Wide Snp Identification And Association Mapping For Seed Mineral Concentration In Mung Bean (Vigna Radiata L.), Xingbo Wu, A.S.M. Faridul Islam, Naransa Limpot, Lucas Mackasmiel, Jerzy Mierzwa, Andrés J. Cortés, Matthew W. Blair Jun 2020

Genome-Wide Snp Identification And Association Mapping For Seed Mineral Concentration In Mung Bean (Vigna Radiata L.), Xingbo Wu, A.S.M. Faridul Islam, Naransa Limpot, Lucas Mackasmiel, Jerzy Mierzwa, Andrés J. Cortés, Matthew W. Blair

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) quality is dependent on seed chemical composition, which in turn determines the benefits of its consumption for human health and nutrition. While mung bean is rich in a range of nutritional components, such as protein, carbohydrates and vitamins, it remains less well studied than other legume crops in terms of micronutrients. In addition, mung bean genomics and genetic resources are relatively sparse. The objectives of this research were three-fold, namely: to develop a genome-wide marker system for mung bean based on genotyping by sequencing (GBS), to evaluate diversity of mung beans available to breeders …


Seed Structural Variability And Germination Capacity In Passiflora Edulis Sims F. Edulis, Nohra Rodríguez Castillo, Luz Marina Melgarejo, Matthew Wohlgemuth Blair May 2020

Seed Structural Variability And Germination Capacity In Passiflora Edulis Sims F. Edulis, Nohra Rodríguez Castillo, Luz Marina Melgarejo, Matthew Wohlgemuth Blair

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Purple passion fruit, Passiflora edulis Sims f. edulis, is an important semi-perennial, fruit bearing vine originating in South America that produces a commercial tropical juice pulp for international and national consumption. Within the round purple passion fruit are a large number of membranous seed sacs each containing individual seeds. Little is known about the seed anatomy of the commercial passion fruit, differences between wild collected and commercial types, and its effect on seedling germination. Therefore, our main objective for this study was to analyze the seed anatomy variability of different germplasm as well as the effect on viability and …


Potential Biological Control Agents For Soilborne Fungal Pathogens In Tennessee Snap Bean Farms, Jacqueline Joshua, Margaret T. Mmbaga May 2020

Potential Biological Control Agents For Soilborne Fungal Pathogens In Tennessee Snap Bean Farms, Jacqueline Joshua, Margaret T. Mmbaga

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Fungi isolated from snap bean roots and rhizosphere soil where fungicides are not used included Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium equiseti, Fusarium subglutinans, Fusarium camptoceras, Fusarium chlamydosporum, Fusarium verticillioides, Fusarium proliferatum, Fusarium acuminatum, Fusarium solani, Peyronellaea pinodella, Macrophomina phaseolina, and Glomerella guttata. Only P. pinodella, M. phaseolina, and F. oxysporum were isolated on symptomatic plants. These soilborne fungi are common pathogens of diverse host plants. Pathogenicity tests under controlled environment demonstrated that these fungi were pathogenic on snap beans. Subsequently, bacterial endophytes isolated from snap bean roots, papaya roots and stems, and dogwood stems were evaluated as potential biological control agents against …


Morphological And Agronomic Variability Among Cultivars, Landraces, And Genebank Accessions Of Purple Passion Fruit, Passiflora Edulis F. Edulis, Nohra Rodríguez Castillo, Daniel Ambachew, Luz Marina Melgarejo, Matthew Wohlgemuth Blair May 2020

Morphological And Agronomic Variability Among Cultivars, Landraces, And Genebank Accessions Of Purple Passion Fruit, Passiflora Edulis F. Edulis, Nohra Rodríguez Castillo, Daniel Ambachew, Luz Marina Melgarejo, Matthew Wohlgemuth Blair

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Global demand for juice of the purple passion fruit, Passiflora edulis f. edulis, is growing, making it a promising species for farmers to grow in the highland tropics, to which it is adapted. However, research centers and private companies have done little to produce new high-yielding varieties. The objective of the present study, therefore, was to evaluate the agronomic and morphological characteristics of 50 passion fruit genotypes across two different elevations and agro-ecological sites as a base for germplasm enhancement. Three groups of genotypes were commercial cultivars (8 genotypes), genebank accessions (8), and landraces (34) collected from throughout the …


Agronomic Evaluation Of Biofortified Beans In Antioquia Producers’ Farms, Álvaro Tamayo-Vélez, Gloria E. Santana-Fonseca, Matthew W. Blair, Carolina Ortiz-Muñoz May 2020

Agronomic Evaluation Of Biofortified Beans In Antioquia Producers’ Farms, Álvaro Tamayo-Vélez, Gloria E. Santana-Fonseca, Matthew W. Blair, Carolina Ortiz-Muñoz

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The objective of this research was to evaluate genotypes of iron- and zinc-enriched common beans during breeding in producers’ farms. Yield, disease reaction, and commercial grain characteristics were evaluated to achieve this objective. In three locations of Antioquia (Rionegro, Jardín, and Betulia), seven bush beans and eight climbing bean genotypes were planted. A randomized complete block design with four replications was used in each location. There were significant differences between the bush and climbing bean genotypes that were evaluated. The highest yields, in all locations, were for the biofortified bean NUA 45 and the control variety Uribe Rosado, followed by …


Container Type And Substrate Affect Root Zone Temperature And Growth Of ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae, Anthony L. Witcher, Jeremy M. Pickens, Eugene K. Blythe Apr 2020

Container Type And Substrate Affect Root Zone Temperature And Growth Of ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae, Anthony L. Witcher, Jeremy M. Pickens, Eugene K. Blythe

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Root zone temperature (RZT) in nursery containers commonly exceeds ambient temperature during the growing season, negatively impacting crop growth and quality. Black nursery containers absorb radiant heat resulting in excessive RZT, yet other types of containers and different substrates can moderate RZT. We conducted studies in Tennessee and Alabama to evaluate the effects of container type and substrate on RZT and growth of ‘Green Giant’ arborvitae (Thuja standishii × plicata ‘Green Giant’). Trade gallon arborvitae were transplanted into black, white, or air pruning containers filled with pine bark (PB) or 4 PB: 1 peatmoss (v:v) (PB:PM). Plants grown in PB:PM …


Container Color And Compost Substrate Affect Root Zone Temperature And Growth Of “Green Giant” Arborvitae, Anthony L. Witcher, Jeremy M. Pickens, Eugene K. Blythe Apr 2020

Container Color And Compost Substrate Affect Root Zone Temperature And Growth Of “Green Giant” Arborvitae, Anthony L. Witcher, Jeremy M. Pickens, Eugene K. Blythe

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Container-grown nursery crops are commonly exposed to root zone stress due to inadequate moisture and supraoptimal root zone temperature (RZT). Compost substrates can improve water and nutrient retention but plant responses can vary due to physical and chemical properties. Dark color containers absorb solar radiation through the container side wall leading to excessive heat buildup in the substrate, yet white containers can reduce RZT. Compost substrates and container color were examined for effects on RZT and growth of “Green Giant” arborvitae (Thuja standishii × plicata “Green Giant”). “Green Giant” arborvitae were transplanted into white or black containers (11.3 L) filled …


Al-Induced Proteomics Changes In Tomato Plants Over-Expressing A Glyoxalase I Gene, Xudong Sun, Hui Li, Santosh Thapa, Sasikiran Reddy Sangireddy, Xiaobo Pei, Wei Liu, Yuping Jiang, Shaolan Yang, Dafeng Hui, Sarabjit Bhatti, Suping Zhou, Yong Yang, Tara Fish, Theodore W. Thannhauser Apr 2020

Al-Induced Proteomics Changes In Tomato Plants Over-Expressing A Glyoxalase I Gene, Xudong Sun, Hui Li, Santosh Thapa, Sasikiran Reddy Sangireddy, Xiaobo Pei, Wei Liu, Yuping Jiang, Shaolan Yang, Dafeng Hui, Sarabjit Bhatti, Suping Zhou, Yong Yang, Tara Fish, Theodore W. Thannhauser

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Glyoxalase I (Gly I) is the first enzyme in the glutathionine-dependent glyoxalase pathway for detoxification of methylglyoxal (MG) under stress conditions. Transgenic tomato ‘Money Maker’ plants overexpressing tomato SlGlyI gene (tomato unigene accession SGN-U582631/Solyc09g082120.3.1) were generated and homozygous lines were obtained after four generations of self-pollination. In this study, SlGlyI-overepxressing line (GlyI), wild type (WT, negative control) and plants transformed with empty vector (ECtr, positive control), were subjected to Al-treatment by growing in Magnavaca’s nutrient solution (pH 4.5) supplemented with 20 µM Al3+ ion activity. After 30 days of treatments, the fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots …


Effects Of Nitrogen Fertilization And Bioenergy Crop Type On Topsoil Organic Carbon And Total Nitrogen Contents In Middle Tennessee Usa, Jianwei Li, Siyang Jian, Chad S. Lane, Yuehan Lu, Xiaorui He, Gangsheng Wang, Melanie A. Mayes, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Dafeng Hui Mar 2020

Effects Of Nitrogen Fertilization And Bioenergy Crop Type On Topsoil Organic Carbon And Total Nitrogen Contents In Middle Tennessee Usa, Jianwei Li, Siyang Jian, Chad S. Lane, Yuehan Lu, Xiaorui He, Gangsheng Wang, Melanie A. Mayes, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Dafeng Hui

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Nitrogen (N) fertilization affects bioenergy crop growth and productivity and consequently carbon (C) and N contents in soil, it however remains unclear whether N fertilization and crop type individually or interactively influence soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N (TN). In a three-year long fertilization experiment in switchgrass (SG: Panicum virgatum L.) and gamagrass (GG: Tripsacum dactyloides L.) croplands in Middle Tennessee USA, soil samples (0–15cm) were collected in plots with no N input (NN), low N input (LN: 84 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in urea) and high N input (HN: 168 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in urea). Besides SOC …


Expression Level Of Sh2 And Bt2 Genes In Some Advanced Corn Lines Under Tropical Environment, Fatemeh Abna, Farhat A. Avin, Noorma Wati Haron Mar 2020

Expression Level Of Sh2 And Bt2 Genes In Some Advanced Corn Lines Under Tropical Environment, Fatemeh Abna, Farhat A. Avin, Noorma Wati Haron

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The rate-limiting step in starch synthesis entails the synthesis of ADP-Glc from Glc-1-P and ATP by AGPase. AGPase is a heterotetramer composed of two large subunits encoded by Sh2 and two small subunits encoded by Bt2. We examined the transcript level of each gene that encodes AGPase through quantitative real-time PCR (qRT_PCR) within endosperm and leaf tissues from 6 newer composite corn lines. The Sh2 and Bt2 genes presented upregulated expression levels in leaf and endosperm tissue. The highest expression level of these two genes in leaf tissues was observed in UM 1 with 6.96 fold and in UM 11 …


Comparative Proteomics Of Root Apex And Root Elongation Zones Provides Insights Into Molecular Mechanisms For Drought Stress And Recovery Adjustment In Switchgrass, Zhujia Ye, Sasikiran Reddy Sangireddy, Chih-Li Yu, Dafeng Hui, Kevin Howe, Tara Fish, Theodore W. Thannhauser, Suping Zhou Feb 2020

Comparative Proteomics Of Root Apex And Root Elongation Zones Provides Insights Into Molecular Mechanisms For Drought Stress And Recovery Adjustment In Switchgrass, Zhujia Ye, Sasikiran Reddy Sangireddy, Chih-Li Yu, Dafeng Hui, Kevin Howe, Tara Fish, Theodore W. Thannhauser, Suping Zhou

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Switchgrass plants were grown in a Sandwich tube system to induce gradual drought stress by withholding watering. After 29 days, the leaf photosynthetic rate decreased significantly, compared to the control plants which were watered regularly. The drought-treated plants recovered to the same leaf water content after three days of re-watering. The root tip (1cm basal fragment, designated as RT1 hereafter) and the elongation/maturation zone (the next upper 1 cm tissue, designated as RT2 hereafter) tissues were collected at the 29th day of drought stress treatment, (named SDT for severe drought treated), after one (D1W) and three days (D3W) of re-watering. …


The Bacterial Soft Rot Pathogens, Pectobacterium Carotovorum And P. Atrosepticum, Respond To Different Classes Of Virulence-Inducing Host Chemical Signals, Paul A. Agyemang, Md Niamul Kabir, Caleb M. Kersey, C. Korsi Dumenyo Feb 2020

The Bacterial Soft Rot Pathogens, Pectobacterium Carotovorum And P. Atrosepticum, Respond To Different Classes Of Virulence-Inducing Host Chemical Signals, Paul A. Agyemang, Md Niamul Kabir, Caleb M. Kersey, C. Korsi Dumenyo

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Soft rot bacteria of the Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera are Gram-negative phytopathogens that produce and secrete plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDE), the actions of which lead to rotting and decay of their hosts in the field and in storage. Host chemical signals are among the factors that induce the bacteria into extracellular enzyme production and virulence. A class of compounds (Class I) made up of intermediate products of cell wall (pectin) degradation induce exoenzyme synthesis through KdgR, a global negative regulator of exoenzyme production. While the KdgR− mutant of P. carotovorum is no longer inducible by Class I inducers, we …


Variation Analysis Of Root System Development In Wheat Seedlings Using Root Phenotyping System, Ekundayo Adeleke, Reneth Millas, Waymon Mcneal, Justin Faris, Ali Taheri Feb 2020

Variation Analysis Of Root System Development In Wheat Seedlings Using Root Phenotyping System, Ekundayo Adeleke, Reneth Millas, Waymon Mcneal, Justin Faris, Ali Taheri

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Root system architecture is a vital part of the plant that has been shown to vary between species and within species based on response to genotypic and/or environmental influences. The root traits of wheat seedlings are critical for their establishment in soil and evidently linked to plant height and seed yield. However, plant breeders have not efficiently developed the role of RSA in wheat selection due to the difficulty of studying root traits. We set up a root phenotyping platform to characterize RSA in 34 wheat accessions. The phenotyping pipeline consists of the germination paper-based moisture replacement system, image capture …


Nitrogen Fertilization Restructured Spatial Patterns Of Soil Organic Carbon And Total Nitrogen In Switchgrass And Gamagrass Croplands In Tennessee Usa, Jianwei Li, Siyang Jian, Chad S. Lane, Chunlan Guo, Yuehan Lu, Qi Deng, Melanie A. Mayes, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Dafeng Hui Jan 2020

Nitrogen Fertilization Restructured Spatial Patterns Of Soil Organic Carbon And Total Nitrogen In Switchgrass And Gamagrass Croplands In Tennessee Usa, Jianwei Li, Siyang Jian, Chad S. Lane, Chunlan Guo, Yuehan Lu, Qi Deng, Melanie A. Mayes, Kudjo E. Dzantor, Dafeng Hui

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Nitrogen (N) fertilizers can potentially alter spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations in croplands such as switchgrass (SG: Panicum virgatum L.) and gamagrass (GG: Tripsacum dactyloides L.), but it remains unclear whether these effects are the same between crops and under different rates of fertilization. 13C and 15N are two important proxy measures of soil biogeochemistry, but they were rarely examined as to their spatial distributions in soil. Based on a three-year long fertilization experiment in Middle Tennessee, USA, the top mineral horizon soils (0–15 cm) were collected using a spatially explicit design within …


The Al-Induced Proteomes Of Epidermal And Outer Cortical Cells In Root Apex Of Cherry Tomato 'La 2710', Shaolan Yang, Hui Li, Sarabjit Bhatti, Suping Zhou, Yong Yang, Tara Fish, Theodore W. Thannhauser Jan 2020

The Al-Induced Proteomes Of Epidermal And Outer Cortical Cells In Root Apex Of Cherry Tomato 'La 2710', Shaolan Yang, Hui Li, Sarabjit Bhatti, Suping Zhou, Yong Yang, Tara Fish, Theodore W. Thannhauser

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

This paper reports a laser capture microdissection-tandem mass tag-quantitative proteomics analysis of Al-sensitive cells in root tips. Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme ‘LA2710’) seedlings were treated under 15 μM Al3+ activity for 13 d. Root-tip longitudinal fresh frozen tissue sections of 10 μm thickness were prepared. The Al-sensitive root zone and cells were determined using histochemical analysis of root-tips and micro-sections. A procedure for collecting the Al-sensitive cells using laser capture microdissection-protein extraction-tandem mass tag-proteomics analysis was developed. Proteomics analysis of 18 μg protein/sample with three biological replicates per treatment condition identified 3879 quantifiable proteins each associated …