Forage News [2012-07], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Drought and Forages
• Kentucky Hay Grower Wins National Hay Awards
• KFGC Field Day to be in Hart County
• Native Warm-Season Grasses In-Service Training
• AFGC National Tour
• If Baling Hay Wet, Watch for Fires
• Custom Grazing of Stocker Cattle
• AFGC 2013 Annual Conference
• AFGC 2013 National Competitions
• Reducing Energy Use in Production Agriculture
• Ohio State Alfalfa Enterprise Budgets Online
• The Diverse Structure and Organization of U.S. Beef Cow-Calf Farms

Efficacy And Stability Of Integrating Fungicide And Cultivar Resistance To Manage Fusarium Head Blight And Deoxynivalenol In Wheat, K. T. Willyerd, C. Li, L. V. Madden, C. A. Bradley, G. C. Bergstrom, L. E. Sweets, M. Mcmullen, J. K. Ransom, A. Grybauskas, L. Osborne, S. N. Wegulo, D. E. Hershman, K. Wise, W. W. Bockus, D. Groth, R. Dill-Macky, E. Milus, P. D. Esker, K. D. Waxman, E. A. Adee, S. E. Ebelhar, B. G. Young, P. A. Paul

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Integration of host resistance and prothioconazole + tebuconazole fungicide application at anthesis to manage Fusarium head blight (FHB) and deoxynivalenol (DON) in wheat was evaluated using data from over 40 trials in 12 U.S. states. Means of FHB index (index) and DON from up to six resistance class–fungicide management combinations per trial (susceptible treated [S_TR] and untreated [S_UT]; moderately susceptible treated [MS_TR] and untreated [MS_UT]; moderately resistant treated [MR_TR] and untreated [MR_UT]) were used in multivariate meta-analyses, and mean log response ratios across trials were estimated and transformed to estimate mean percent control ( C ) due to the management …

Nebline, July 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: 4-H Food Booth at Super Fair Volunteers Have Fun, Rewarding Experience

Farm Views

Urban Agriculture

Food & Fitness

Home & Family Living

Horticulture

Environmental Focus

4-H & Youth

Community Focus

Extension Calendar

Nutrition Education Program

Family and Community Education (FCE) Clubs

and other extension news and events

Mechanisms Of Group Ii Intron Loss From The Mitochondrial Cox2 Gene Of Plants, Nancy J. Hepburn

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It has been 35 years since the discovery of introns. Although fundamental aspects of their function and evolutionary origins have been widely studied, the mechanisms of intron loss are still an unresolved evolutionary mystery. Previously proposed mechanisms of intron loss include exonization, random genomic deletion and retroprocessing. The mitochondrial genomes of land plants have been characterized by widespread intron loss. In angiosperms, two introns located in the cox2 gene display a particularly variable intron distribution, indicating frequent loss. We took advantage of the frequent intron loss from cox2 to investigate the possible mechanisms of loss from this gene. The first …

Sfa Gardens Newsletter, Summer 2012, Sfa Gardens, Stephen F. Austin State University

SFA Gardens Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Pseudomonas Syringae Type Iii Secretion System: The Translocator Proteins, Their Secretion, And The Restriction Of Translocation By The Plant Immune System, Emerson Crabill

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pseudomonas syringae is a Gram-negative plant pathogen whose virulence is dependent upon its type III secretion system (T3SS), a nanosyringe that facilitates translocation, or injection, of type III effector (T3E) proteins into eukaryotic cells. The primary function of P. syringae T3E proteins is suppression of plant immunity. Bacterial proteins called translocators form a translocon that forms a pore in the host plasma membrane which is traversed by T3Es. HrpK1, a putative P. syringae translocator, is a type III-secreted protein important for virulence and T3E injection, but not secretion of T3Es. Harpins are a group of proteins specific to plant pathogens …

Growing South Dakota (Summer 2012), College Of Agriculture &. Biological Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 2 150 Years and Counting: 2012 Marks a Significant Milestone for Land-Grant Universities [Page] 4 Summer College News
[Page] 6 Ready, Set, Grow: Gardening Programs Offer bevy of Benefits to Community
[Page] 8 SDSU Extension Staff Directory: Pull Out and Save for Future Reference
[Page] 13 Bugs Beware!: SDSU Assembles Talented Team of Entomologists
[Page] 14 High-Tech Teaching: Curriculums Now Integrate iPads, Social Media & Peer Mentoring
[Page] 16 A Lesson in Chinese: SDSU Contingent Experiences World's Largest Marketplace
[Page] 18 Here and There
[Page] 20 Adapting with Apps: Technological Advancements Offer Opportunities for Farming's Future
[Page] 21 A …

Evolutionary Genomics Of Mycovirus-Related Dsrna Viruses Reveals Cross-Family Horizontal Gene Transfer And Evolution Of Diverse Viral Lineages, Huiquan Liu, Yanping Fu, Jiatao Xie, Jiasen Cheng, Said A. Ghabrial, Guoqing Li, Youliang Peng, Xianhong Yi, Daohong Jiang

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Double-stranded (ds) RNA fungal viruses are typically isometric single-shelled particles that are classified into three families, Totiviridae, Partitiviridae and Chrysoviridae, the members of which possess monopartite, bipartite and quadripartite genomes, respectively. Recent findings revealed that mycovirus-related dsRNA viruses are more diverse than previously recognized. Although an increasing number of viral complete genomic sequences have become available, the evolution of these diverse dsRNA viruses remains to be clarified. This is particularly so since there is little evidence for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) among dsRNA viruses.

RESULTS: In this study, we report the molecular properties of two novel dsRNA mycoviruses that …

Five Nuclear Loci Resolve The Polyploid History Of Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum L.) And Relatives, Jimmy Triplett, Yunjing Wang, Jinshun Zhong, Elizabeth Kellogg

Biology Department Faculty Works

Polyploidy poses challenges for phylogenetic reconstruction because of the need to identify and distinguish between homoeologous loci. This can be addressed by use of low copy nuclear markers. Panicum s.s. is a genus of about 100 species in the grass tribe Paniceae, subfamily Panicoideae, and is divided into five sections. Many of the species are known to be polyploids. The most well-known of the Panicum polyploids are switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and common or Proso millet (P. miliaceum). Switchgrass is in section Virgata, along with P. tricholaenoides, P. amarum, and P. amarulum, whereas P. miliaceum is in sect. Panicum. We have …

The Pseudomonas Syringae Hrpj Protein Controls The Secretion Of Type Iii Translocator Proteins And Has A Virulence Role Inside Plant Cells, Emerson Crabill, Andrew Karpisek, James R. Alfano

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

The bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae injects effector proteins into plant cells via a type III secretion system (T3SS), which is required for pathogenesis. The protein HrpJ is secreted by P. syringae and is required for a fully functional T3SS. A hrpJ mutant is non-pathogenic and cannot inject effectors into plant cells or secrete the harpin HrpZ1. Here we show that the hrpJ mutant also cannot secrete the harpins HrpW1 and HopAK1 or the translocator HrpK1, suggesting that these proteins are required in the translocation (injection) of effectors into plant cells. Complementation of the hrpJ mutant with secretion incompetent HrpJ …

Sesquiterpene Synthase Gene And Protein, Joe Chappell, Bryan Greenhagen

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Patents

The invention relates to sesquiterpene synthases and methods for their production and use. Particularly, the invention provides nucleic acids comprising the nucleotide sequence of citrus valencene synthase (CVS) which codes for at least one CVS. The invention further provides nucleic acids comprising the nucleotide sequence coding for amino acid residues forming the tier 1 and tier 2 domains of CVS. The invention also provides for methods of making and using the nucleic acids and amino acids of the current invention.

Monitoring Standing Herbage Of Mid-Grass Prairie On The Fort Pierre National Grassland, South Dakota, Daniel W. Uresk

The Prairie Naturalist

Monitoring vegetation with a modified Robel pole on the Fort Pierre National Grassland was evaluated for combined shallow clay and loamy overflow ecological sites (dominated by warm-season grasses), and for clayey ecological sites (dominated by cool-season grasses). My objectives were to 1) develop a relationship between visual obstruction readings (VOR) and standing herbage, 2) provide guidelines for vegetation monitoring, and 3) evaluate vegetation monitoring during the growing season for clayey ecological sites. The relationship between visual obstruction readings and standing herbage was linear and regression coefficients were highly significant (P < 0.001) for both ecological types. Cluster analyses for shallow clay and loamy overflow ecological sites grouped the VOR and standing herbage (kg•ha-1) into 4 resource categories. Monitoring with 4 transects will provide adequate information to estimate standing herbage within 259 ha (1 section). Three resource categories (VOR + herbage) for clayey ecological sites were defined by cluster analyses. Monitoring with 4 transects was determined to provide reliable estimates of standing herbage. July validation of vegetation with the developed clayey ecological site model will provide reliable monitoring of standing herbage from July through November for this ecological site.

Five New Records Of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) For Nebraska, Kristine T. Nemec, James C. Trager, Elizabeth Manley, Craig R. Allen

The Prairie Naturalist

Ants are ubiquitous and influential organisms in terrestrial ecosystems. About 1,000 ant species occur in North America, where they are found in nearly every habitat (Fisher and Cover 2007). Ants are critical to ecological processes and structure. Ants affect soils via tunneling activity (Baxter and Hole 1967), disperse plant seeds (Lengyel et al. 2009), prey upon a variety of insects and other invertebrates (Way and Khoo 1992, Folgarait 1998), are often effective primary consumers through their prodigious consumption of floral and especially extrafloral nectar, and honeydew (Tobin 1994), and serve as prey for invertebrates (Gotelli 1996, Gastreich 1999) and vertebrates …

Microhabitat Selection By Bobcats In The Badlands And Black Hills Of South Dakota, Usa: A Comparison Of Prairie And Forested Habitats, Cory E. Mosby, Troy W. Grovenburg, Robert W. Klaver, Greg M. Schroeder, Lowell E. Schmitz, Jonathan A. Jenks

The Prairie Naturalist

An understanding of habitat selection is important for management of wildlife species. Although bobcat (Lynx rufus) resource selection has been addressed in many regions of the United States, little work has been conducted in the Northern Great Plains. From 2006–2008 we captured and radiocollared 20 bobcats in the Badlands (n = 10) and Black Hills (n = 10) regions of South Dakota. During the summers of 2008 and 2009 we collected habitat measurements at 349 (176 Badlands, 176 Black Hills) bobcat locations and 321 (148 Badlands, 173 Black Hills) random sites. Microhabitat characteristics at bobcat use sites varied with region …

Distribution And Diversity Of Ant Genera From Selected Ecoregions Across Nebraska, Jessica Jurzenski, Marc Albrecht, W. Wyatt Hoback

The Prairie Naturalist

We documented distribution and diversity of ant genera in four of the six-level III ecoregions across Nebraska. We sampled ants using bait cards, pitfall traps, and by opportunistic sampling, including direct collection and in carrion-baited pitfall traps. We identified 22 genera from five subfamilies, which were further classified into six functional groups. In common with other Great Plains states, Formica Linnaeus and Lasius Fabricius occurred most frequently in our samples, and overall ant genus-level richness was comparable to surrounding states. We compared genera similarity using Jaccard’s similarity index within and between the High Plains (western-most) and Western Corn Belt Plains …

Topographic Home Range Of Large Mammals: Is Planimetric Home Range Still A Viable Method?, W. David Walter, Justin W. Fischer, Teresa J. Frink, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Jonathan A. Jenks, Kurt C. Vercauteren

The Prairie Naturalist

Topography influences movement trajectories, quality of forages used, and behavioral response of large herbivores to anthropogenic disturbances, but research is lacking on the influence of terrain complexity on size of home range. Size of home range usually is based on planimetric area and therefore rarely accounts for the true surface area traversed by an animal. We conducted radiotelemetry on bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) equipped with VHF collars at three sites from 2002 to 2006 to document size of home range in areas that ranged from 400 …

Nebline, June 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Thiamethoxam Seed Treatments On Bean Leaf Beetles, Chelsea L. Piitz

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The increased use of thiamethoxam seed treatments for controlling target pests such as the bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata (Forster), suggests the need for methods to measure and monitor the development of resistance to these insecticides. Overwintering and F1 bean leaf beetles were collected from alfalfa and soybean fields and used in early growth stage soybean studies to measure toxicity of thiamethoxam both in greenhouse experiments and laboratory bioassays involving exposure to treated foliage. Lethal and sub-lethal effects were detected in both greenhouse and lab bioassays. Lethal concentrations determined from laboratory assays were compared with residues determined from field grown …

The Invasion Of California Grasslands: Past, Present, And Future Implications, Danielle Simone Caziarc

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Composting Manure And Other Organic Materials, Charles S. Wortmann, Charles A. Shapiro

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The Composting Process

Composting is the aerobic decomposition of manure or other organic materials in the thermophilic temperature range (104-149oF). Composted material is odorless, fine-textured, and low-moisture. It can be bagged and sold for use in gardens or nurseries, or used as fertilizer on cropland with little odor or fly breeding potential. Composting improves the handling characteristics of any organic residue by reducing its volume and weight. Composting can kill pathogens and weed seeds.

Disadvantages of composting organic residues include loss of nitrogen and other nutrients, time for processing, cost for handling equipment, available land for composting, odors, marketing, diversion …

Least And Merriam’S Shrews From Banner County, Nebraska, Jennifer N. Merlino, Alexandra R. Frohberg, Jamie Harmon, Keith Geluso

The Prairie Naturalist

Four species of shrews occur in the panhandle of western Nebraska – the masked shrew (Sorex cinereus), Merriam’s shrew (S. merriami), dwarf shrew (S. nanus), and least shrew (Cryptotis parva; Genoways et al. 2008). Little information is known regarding the distribution and habitat of those species due to few captures of individuals throughout the region (e.g., Jones 1964, Freeman et al. 1993, Benedict et al. 1999, 2000, Geluso et al. 2004). To date, no shrew has been reported from the southwestern part of the panhandle in Banner, Kimball, or Cheyenne counties. Here we present distributional records for the least shrew …

Spatiotemporal Variation In Vegetation Structure Resulting From Pyric-Herbivory, Sherry Leis, Lloyd W. Morrison, Michael D. Debacker

The Prairie Naturalist

Pyric-herbivory is a process that is widely assumed to create greater habitat heterogeneity in grasslands at the landscape scale than could be achieved by either fire or grazing alone. Yet, few studies have actually quantified the effects of pyric- herbivory on vegetation structure within layers of the grass canopy. Here we quantify the effects of pyric-herbivory on a pasture at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas. We subdivided the pasture into three patches and burned one patch each year in a three-year rotation. We estimated visual obstruction for 25-cm strata and recorded maximum vegetation height. We found that recently burned …

Sickleweed On The Fort Pierre National Grassland: An Emerging Threat, Jack L. Bulter, Stefanie D. Wacker

The Prairie Naturalist

We report the first detailed field survey of sickleweed (Falcaria vulgaris L.) in the United States. Sickleweed is native to Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, and Iran and was first reported in the United States in 1922. It is listed by the Nebraska Invasive Species Council as a Category II invasive plant species. In recent years, abundance and distribution of sickle- weed has increased dramatically in and around the Fort Pierre National Grassland (FPNG), South Dakota. Management of such a rapidly expanding population is hampered by a general lack of baseline information on the biology and ecology of sickleweed. We …

Spatial Ecology Of Urban Raccoons In Northeastern Ohio: Implications For Oral Rabies Vaccination, Are R. Berentsen, Mike R. Dunbar, Chadd E. Fitzpatrick, W. David Walter

The Prairie Naturalist

In 1977, rabies was detected in a raccoon (Procyon lotor) in West Virginia, and since the mid-1980s raccoon variant rabies has spread throughout the eastern United States and moved west as far as the eastern edge of Cleveland, Ohio. The primary tool to combat this spread is the distribution of oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits. A thorough knowledge of raccoon space use is critical in determining bait placement, particularly in urban areas. We monitored nine raccoons in urban areas of Cleveland, Ohio, calculated home range sizes, monitored raccoon movement with respect to potential movement barriers, and used resource selection functions …

Host Pathogen Interactions: Is Arabidopsis Thaliana Remembered By Its Nemesis Pseudomonas Syringae?, Daniel Z. Kreiser

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Plants contain innate immune systems that deter pathogen infection. Pattern recognition receptors bind microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs), triggering immunity. MAMPs are proteins exclusive to pathogens that are typically indispensable for their survival. For this reason, MAMPs cannot be mutated or removed without causing pathogen death. However, this does not necessitate constitutive expression of MAMPs. In this study, the MAMP response of Arabidopsis thaliana was utilized to determine differential detection of MAMPs expressed by Pseudomonas syringe pv. tomato DC3000 when pretreated with A. thaliana. Results demonstrated that more MAMPs are detected when P. syringae had previously encountered A. thaliana, …

Identification Of Late Embryogenesis Abundant (Lea) Protein Putative Interactors Using Phage Display, Rekha Kushwaha, Taylor D. Lloyd, Kim R. Schäfermeyer, Santosh Kumar, A. Bruce Downie

Horticulture Faculty Publications

Arabidopsis thaliana seeds without functional SEED MATURATION PROTEIN1 (SMP1), a boiling soluble protein predicted to be of intrinsic disorder, presumed to be a LATE EMBRYOGENESIS ABUNDANT (LEA) family protein based on sequence homology, do not enter secondary dormancy after 3 days at 40 °C. We hypothesized that SMP1 may protect a heat labile protein involved in the promotion of secondary dormancy. Recombinant SMP1 and GmPM28, its soybean (Glycine max), LEA4 homologue, protected the labile GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYROGENASE enzyme from heat stress, as did a known protectant, Bovine Serum Albumin, whether the LEA protein was in solution or attached to the bottom …

Validation Of Pcr-Based Assays And Laboratory Accreditation For Environmental Detection Of Aquatic Invasive Species, Invasive Species Advisory Committee

National Invasive Species Council

This white paper provides:

a) Background information on the use, accuracy and reliability of PCR-based assays such as environmentally sampled DNA (eDNA) for early detection of aquatic invasive species (AIS) and;

b) Recommendations for establishing a system for validating assays and accrediting laboratories that report on the presence or absence of AIS.

This white paper was developed by the members of ISAC and discusses the need for developing validation requirements for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and other DNA-based molecular assays that are increasingly being used to detect AIS. It does not provide a simplified checklist for evaluation of their ability …

Invasive Species And E-Commerce, Invasive Species Advisory Committee

National Invasive Species Council

ISSUE

Internet commerce (hereafter e-commerce) is a growing and vital part of the United States economy. Total e-commerce sales in the United States for 2011 totaled $194 billion, an increase of 16% over 2010. From 2002 to 2011, the proportion of reported e-commerce sales in the U. S. grew from about 1.4% to 5.5% of total retail sales (United States Census Bureau News 2012). Globally, e-commerce is expected to increase at a rate of 13.5% annually, amounting to $1.4 trillion in yearly sales by 2015 (Enright 2011). A portion of this activity includes the sale and trade of living organisms. …

Cholesterol Lowering Effects Of Milk With Added Phytosterols, Laura Kells Cusack

Master's Theses

Foods incorporating plant sterols (PS) reduce Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) on average approximately 10%. PS with a higher lipid solubility may promote greater reductions. We examined the cholesterol lowering effect of a novel triglyceride recrystallized phystosterol (TRP). Twenty subjects (mean ± SD; age, 56 ± 10 years; BMI, 27 ± 5) with elevated LDL (>100 mg/dL) participated in three 4-week phases; Phase I, 2% milk; Phase II, milk with 2.0 grams (g) free PS; Phase III, milk with 2.0 g TRP. Before and after each phase two fasting blood draws were obtained for determination of serum cholesterol. Between the 2% …

An Investigation Of Fraxinus Americana Branch Sway Using A 3 Dimensional Motion Capture System, Anna T. Campiformio

Master's Theses

Abstract

Wind is a dominant abiotic factor that a tree experiences throughout its lifetime and can cause severe tree damage, resulting in risk of injury to humans, and economic and ecological losses. It is thought that trees develop structural properties and architectures that help withstand loading conditions by dissipating wind energy through damping mechanisms. The role of branch motion in reducing potential dangerous wind loads has been the focus of relatively few studies. Even fewer studies have examined tree sway response to natural wind loaded conditions. In this investigation, branch frequencies were calculated for three Fraxinus americana using a three-dimensional …