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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Uncovering Tasselsheath3. A Genomic And Phenotypic Analysis Of A Maize Floral Mutant., Thompson Zhang Oct 2017

Uncovering Tasselsheath3. A Genomic And Phenotypic Analysis Of A Maize Floral Mutant., Thompson Zhang

Masters Theses

In the modern era, maize has become the most successful crop grown in the United States. According to the USDA over 90 million acres of land are planted to corn and 96.2% of the U.S feed grain production is made up of the cereal. Part of the success of maize is due to its floral architecture, and its pollination technique in which the flower opens, exposing stamens containing pollen into the air. A unique organ called the lodicule functions as a release mechanism, forcing the flower to open. Lodicules from grasses and eudicot petals are homologous, yet there is little …


Estimation Of Irrigation Requirements For Drip-Irrigated Maize In A Sub-Humid Climate, Liu Yang, Hai-Shun Yang, Jiu-Sheng Li, Yan-Feng Li, Hai-Jun Yan Oct 2017

Estimation Of Irrigation Requirements For Drip-Irrigated Maize In A Sub-Humid Climate, Liu Yang, Hai-Shun Yang, Jiu-Sheng Li, Yan-Feng Li, Hai-Jun Yan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Drip-irrigation is increasingly applied in maize (Zea mays L.) production in sub-humid region. It is critical to quantify irrigation requirements during different growth stages under diverse climatic conditions. In this study, the Hybrid-Maize model was calibrated and applied in a sub-humid Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China to estimate irrigation requirements for drip irrigated maize during different crop physiological development stages and under diverse agro-climatic conditions. Using dimensionless scales, the whole growing season of maize was divided into diverse development stages from planting to maturity. Drip-irrigation dates and irrigation amounts in each irrigation event were simulated and summarized in 30-year simulation …


A Comprehensive Analysis Of Alternative Splicing In Paleopolyploid Maize, Wenbin Mei, Sanzhen Liu, James C. Schnable, Cheng-Ting Yeh, Nathan M. Springer, Patrick S. Schnable, William Brad Barbazuk May 2017

A Comprehensive Analysis Of Alternative Splicing In Paleopolyploid Maize, Wenbin Mei, Sanzhen Liu, James C. Schnable, Cheng-Ting Yeh, Nathan M. Springer, Patrick S. Schnable, William Brad Barbazuk

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Identifying and characterizing alternative splicing (AS) enables our understanding of the biological role of transcript isoform diversity. This study describes the use of publicly available RNA-Seq data to identify and characterize the global diversity of AS isoforms in maize using the inbred lines B73 and Mo17, and a related species, sorghum. Identification and characterization of AS within maize tissues revealed that genes expressed in seed exhibit the largest differential AS relative to other tissues examined. Additionally, differences in AS between the two genotypes B73 and Mo17 are greatest within genes expressed in seed. We demonstrate that changes in the level …


Modeling Gross Primary Production Of Midwest Maize And Soybean Croplands With Satellite And Gridded Weather Data, Gunnar Malek-Madani Apr 2017

Modeling Gross Primary Production Of Midwest Maize And Soybean Croplands With Satellite And Gridded Weather Data, Gunnar Malek-Madani

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The gross primary production (GPP) metric is useful in determining trends in the terrestrial carbon cycle. Models that determine GPP utilizing the light use efficiency (LUE) approach in conjunction with biophysical parameters that account for local weather conditions and crop specific factors are beneficial in that they combine the accuracy of the biophysical model with the versatility of the LUE model. One such model developed using in situ data was adapted to operate with remote sensing derived leaf area index (LAI) data and gridded weather datasets. The model, known as the Light Use Efficiency GPP Model (EGM), uses a four …


Investigation Of Candidate Loci Associated With Maize Perennialism, Anjun Ma Jan 2017

Investigation Of Candidate Loci Associated With Maize Perennialism, Anjun Ma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing perennial grain crops is an effective and crucial way to prevent soil erosion caused by conventional agriculture of using annual crops while meeting the increasing need of global food demand. We hypothesized that the regrowth in Zea might be controlled by two dominant complementary genes. F1 hybrids were created by crossing Zea diploperennis Iltis, Doebley & R. Guzman with annual Zea mays L. ssp. mays inbred line B73. A Total of 134 F2 plants derived from nine F1 were planted and phenotyped. A subpopulation of 94 F2 plants were genotyped with Genotype-by- Sequencing (GBS) and called 10,431 SNPs after …


Uncovering Candidate Cold Tolerance Genes In Maize (Zea Mays), Raeann N. Goering Jan 2017

Uncovering Candidate Cold Tolerance Genes In Maize (Zea Mays), Raeann N. Goering

Departmental Honors Projects

With booming populations soon to overwhelm the world's food production capabilities, studying what makes crop organisms, like maize, efficient is crucial to ensure that the demand for food is met. Planting earlier in the spring would lengthen the crop season and produce larger yields provided the crop is tolerant to early spring’s low temperatures. Plants can adjust to abiotic stresses through biochemical changes controlled by transcription of genes. Trained plants can be produced by pre-exposing them to a lesser stress, allowing them to recover, then exposing them to a greater, longer stress. It is hypothesized that trained plants will tolerate …


The Influence Of Native Woody Species, Combretum Glutinosum And Piliostigma Reticulatum, On Soil Fertility In Dialacoto, Senegal, Gwen Jacobson Jan 2017

The Influence Of Native Woody Species, Combretum Glutinosum And Piliostigma Reticulatum, On Soil Fertility In Dialacoto, Senegal, Gwen Jacobson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In the low-fertility soils of Senegal, West Africa, management of woody species in agricultural fields has the potential to improve soil fertility and crop production. However, optimal species for this purpose have not been clearly defined. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential for two native woody species, Combretum glutinosum and Piliostigma reticulatum, to improve soil fertility. Soil samples were collected from beneath tree crowns of P. reticulatum and C. glutinosum and compared with fertilizer-amended and non-amended soil from adjacent open fields in a bioassay experiment. Two common crops, millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and maize (Zea mays), …


Estimating Yield Gaps At The Cropping System Level, Nicolas Guilpart, Patricio Grassini, Victor O. Sadras, Jagadish Timsina, Kenneth Cassman Jan 2017

Estimating Yield Gaps At The Cropping System Level, Nicolas Guilpart, Patricio Grassini, Victor O. Sadras, Jagadish Timsina, Kenneth Cassman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Yield gap analyses of individual crops have been used to estimate opportunities for increasing crop production at local to global scales, thus providing information crucial to food security. However, increases in crop production can also be achieved by improving cropping system yield through modification of spatial and temporal arrangement of individual crops. In this paper we define the cropping system yield potential as the output from the combination of crops that gives the highest energy yield per unit of land and time, and the cropping system yield gap as the difference between actual energy yield of an existing cropping system …


Genome-Wide Characterization Of Non-Reference Transposable Element Insertion Polymorphisms Reveals Genetic Diversity In Tropical And Temperate Maize, Xianjun Lai, James C. Schnable, Zhengqiao Liao, Jie Xu, Gengyun Zhang, Chuan Li, Erliang Hu, Tingzhao Rong, Yunbi Xu, Yanli Li Jan 2017

Genome-Wide Characterization Of Non-Reference Transposable Element Insertion Polymorphisms Reveals Genetic Diversity In Tropical And Temperate Maize, Xianjun Lai, James C. Schnable, Zhengqiao Liao, Jie Xu, Gengyun Zhang, Chuan Li, Erliang Hu, Tingzhao Rong, Yunbi Xu, Yanli Li

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Maize was originally domesticated in a tropical environment but is now widely cultivated at temperate latitudes. Temperate and tropical maize populations have diverged both genotypically and phenotypically. Tropical maize lines grown in temperate environments usually exhibit delayed flowering, pollination, and seed set, which reduces their grain yield relative to temperate adapted maize lines. One potential mechanism by which temperate maize may have adapted to a new environment is novel transposable element insertions, which can influence gene regulation. Recent advances in sequencing technology have made it possible to study variation in transposon content and insertion location in large sets of …


Rooting For Food Security In Sub-Saharan Africa, Nicolas Guilpart, Patricio Grassini, Justin Van Wart, Haishun Yang, Martin K. Van Ittersum, Lenny G.J. Van Bussel, Joost Wolf, Lieven Claessens, Johan G.B. Leenaars, Kenneth G. Cassman Jan 2017

Rooting For Food Security In Sub-Saharan Africa, Nicolas Guilpart, Patricio Grassini, Justin Van Wart, Haishun Yang, Martin K. Van Ittersum, Lenny G.J. Van Bussel, Joost Wolf, Lieven Claessens, Johan G.B. Leenaars, Kenneth G. Cassman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

There is a persistent narrative about the potential of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to be a ‘grain breadbasket’ because of large gaps between current low yields and yield potential with good management, and vast land resources with adequate rainfall. However, rigorous evaluation of the extent to which soils can support high, stable yields has been limited by lack of data on rootable soil depth of sufficient quality and spatial resolution. Here we use location-specific climate data, a robust spatial upscaling approach, and crop simulation to assess sensitivity of rainfed maize yields to root-zone water holding capacity. We find that SSA could …


The Role Of Tre6p And Snrk1 In Maize Early Kernel Development And Events Leading To Stress-Induced Kernel Abortion, Samuel W. Bledsoe, Clémence Henry, Cara A. Griffiths, Matthew J. Paul, Regina Feil, John E. Lunn, Mark Stitt, L. Mark Lagrimini Jan 2017

The Role Of Tre6p And Snrk1 In Maize Early Kernel Development And Events Leading To Stress-Induced Kernel Abortion, Samuel W. Bledsoe, Clémence Henry, Cara A. Griffiths, Matthew J. Paul, Regina Feil, John E. Lunn, Mark Stitt, L. Mark Lagrimini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Drought stress during flowering is a major contributor to yield loss in maize. Genetic and biotechnological improvement in yield sustainability requires an understanding of the mechanisms underpinning yield loss. Sucrose starvation has been proposed as the cause for kernel abortion; however, potential targets for genetic improvement have not been identified. Field and greenhouse drought studies with maize are expensive and it can be difficult to reproduce results; therefore, an in vitro kernel culture method is presented as a proxy for drought stress occurring at the time of flowering in maize (3 days after pollination). This method is used to …