Plant Sciences Commons^™

Fungicide Sensitivity Of Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum Isolates From Five States With Different Fungicide Treatments, Cristian Wulkop Gil, Edgar Nieto-Lopez, Sydney Everhart

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Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a plant pathogenic fungus that causes a disease called white mold that can infect more than 450 plant species including soybeans, dry beans, green beans, canola, and sunflower. This pathogen is capable of up to $252M in losses every year (U.S. Canola Association, 2014). Fungicides are widely used in developed agricultural systems to control disease. However, resistance to the most effective fungicides has emerged and spread in pathogen populations and there have been multiple reports of S. sclerotiorum isolates becoming resistant to certain fungicides. Since different fields in different states use different fungicide treatments on plants and …

Remediation Strategies To Reduce Heavy Metal Uptake In Lettuce Grown In Contaminated Urban Soil, Ryley Thomas

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Urban soils are increasingly used to produce food for local consumption, which requires at the same time management strategies that prevent the plant uptake of potentially present contaminants. This study was conducted to test different soil amendments for their ability to retain lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) within the soil matrix. The analyzed soil was taken from a potential community garden lot near a railroad in Lincoln, NE where elevated concentrations in Pb and As had been detected. Ponderosa pine biochar and spent coffee grounds were used as soil additives because of their documented chemical reactivity towards soil cations or …

Fungicide Sensitivity Of Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum Isolates Selected From Five Different States That Use Different Fungicide Treatments, Cristian Wulkop Gil

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Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a plant pathogenic fungus that causes a disease called white mold that can infect more than 450 plant species including soybeans, dry beans, green beans, canola, and sunflower. This pathogen is capable of up to $252M in losses every year (U.S. Canola Association, 2014). Fungicides are widely used in developed agricultural systems to control disease. However, resistance to the most effective fungicides has emerged and spread in pathogen populations and there have been multiple reports of S. sclerotiorum isolates becoming resistant to certain fungicides. Since different fields in different states use different fungicide treatments on plants and …

Using Hydrogeophysics & Xrf To Produce A High-Resolution 3-Dimensional Soil Cadmium Map For Evaluating Hybrid Wheat Trials, Thierry Bienvenu, Trenton Franz, Associate Professor Of Hydrogeophysics, Nuwan Wijewardane, Post Doc Research Associate, Yufeng Ge, Associate Professor

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Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in wheat decreases germination, growth, grain yield, and in higher concentration leads to adverse effects on human health (Liu et al, 2018). Due to wheat cultivars variation in Cd accumulation, wheat breeders aim to select those at low Cd concentration lines in a field. Hence the need to quantify the concentration of Cd at different parts of a field and visually represent on a high resolution Cd distribution map. Various ways to quantify the concentration of soil Cd exist. However, the cost of equipment required make the process quite expensive and labor intensive. This work studied the …

Characterization Of A Novel Mitochondrial Plasmid In Brassica, Mackenzie Strehle

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Possessing some of the largest and most complex genomes of any eukaryotic organelles, plant mitochondria are notorious for their rapidly rearranging genetic framework. In addition to containing a large and complex mitochondrial genome, the mitochondria of several plants in the genus Brassica have also been shown to contain an independent, self-replicating linear plasmid. Interestingly, the plasmid appears to be able to move independently between the cytoplasm and the mitochondria, and it can be paternally inherited, unlike the rest of the mitochondrial genome. The plasmid also has features similar to those of adenoviruses, including terminal inverted repeats and covalently bound proteins …

Evaluating Mechanisms Of Rna Editing In Plants, Lexis Funk, Weishu Fan, Jeffrey P. Mower

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RNA editing is one of several post-transcriptional RNA processes. This process generates RNA and protein diversity in eukaryotes and results in specific amino acid substitutions, deletions, and changes in gene expression levels. It occurs in both plastids and mitochondria and typically involves the changing of specific C to U (cytosine to uracil). Welwitschia belongs to the gymnosperms (a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and Gnetales). It has already been substantiated that Welwitschia mirabilis has a major loss of cis-spliced introns and unusual trans-splicing introns. Research in the Mower lab has already proven that ancestral gymnosperm has …

The Function Of A Putative Sumo E2 Enzyme In Plant Immunity, Huan Zhang

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SUMO proteins are small ubiquitin-like modifiers. They can be attached to a target protein through a process called SUMOylation that involves an enzymatic cascade catalyzed by SUMO E1 (activating enzyme), E2 (conjugating enzyme) and E3 (ligation enzyme). Similar to ubiquitination, SUMOylation has been found in recent years to play a role in the regulation of pathogen-host ”arms race” (Chen, A. J., et al., 2013). However, the molecular mechanism behind the regulation is largely unexplored. To date, only ONE SUMO E2, UBC9 has been identified and confirmed to catalyze SUMOylation in human cell (Motion, G. B, et al., 2015). Nevertheless, recently …

Is A Mitochondrial Plasmid Really A Virus?, Mackenzie Strehle

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In addition to containing a large and complex mitochondrial genome, the mitochondria of several species of plants have been shown to contain an independent, self-replicating DNA molecule in the form of a plasmid. Plants in the Brassica genus contain a linear plasmid that is approximately 11.6 kilobases in length. The plasmid is characterized by the presence of terminal inverted repeats and covalently bonded proteins at its termini (Handa 2008). The plasmid also contains six ORFs that encode DNA and RNA polymerases and a number of unknown proteins (Figure 1). Currently, both the function of this plasmid and the mechanisms by …

Reducing The Potential For Acrylamide Formation In Wheat Products, Amy Hauver, P. Stephen Baenziger, Mary J. Guttieri

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Acrylamide, a chemical formed from free asparagine and reducing sugars during high-temperature cooking via the Maillard reaction (i.e. frying or baking) of high starch foods is deemed ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ based on its affect in mice. In April of 2002, a group of Swedish researchers reported findings that presented evidence that heat-treated, starch-rich foods contained high levels of acrylamide, later linking the production of acrylamide to the Maillard reaction. A number of other studies have been done to link dietary intake of acrylamide to human cancers and other health effects, although many have had inconclusive results. Nevertheless, the World …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Goss’S Wilt, Samuel Eastman, Guangyong Li, Fan Yang, Josh Herr, James R. Alfano

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Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. Nebraskensis (Cmn) is a pathogen responsible for Goss’s Wilt in maize in the high plains. Strains of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. Nebraskensis that are virulent and non-virulent in maize have been isolated, but the mechanism of this differentiation is not understood. Investigation of the genetic differences between virulent and non-virulent strains is providing an explanation as to how Cmn causes disease. Cmn mutants with reduced or removed virulence have been created using Tn5 transposon transformation to randomly knockout virulence factors. Potential effectors have also been identified in a genomic “virulence island” region by using bioinformatics.

How Nebraska’S Eastern Saline Wetland Native Plant Species Grow In Response To Restoration Methods: Application Of Different Salinity Level Groundwater, Ellen Dolph, Keunyea Song, Amy Burgin, Trenton E. Franz

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Nebraska’s Eastern Saline Wetlands are unique ecosystems endemic to the Salt and Rock Creek waters in Lancaster and Saunders County.

They provide an ecosystem services as well as habitat for endangered species such as the state endangered saltwort (Salicornia rubra) and federally endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana).

Over 80 % of the saline wetlands are highly degraded and in recent years, the Saline Wetland Conservation Partnership has formed to conserve and restore the remaining saline wetland fragments, but there is limited information about inland saline wetland restoration. Purpose: Investigate techniques to better conserve …

Screening Arabidopsis Accessions For Alkaline Stress Tolerance, Yuzhi Chen, Brian M. Waters

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Will there be differences between Arabidopsis accessions for alkaline stress tolerance in potting mix growth conditions?

2. Will there be differences for fluorescent concentration between inside and outside roots in hydroponic system?

3. Will there be differences for fluorescent concentration between different Arabidopsis accessions in hydroponic system?