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Functional Characterization Of Petiolule-Like Pulvinus (Plp) Gene In Abscission Zone Development In Medicago Truncatula And Its Application To Genetic Improvement Of Alfalfa, Juan Du, Shaoyun Lu, Maofeng Chai, Chuanen Zhou, Liang Sun, Yuhong Tang, Jin Nakashima, Jaydeep Kolape, Zhaozhu Wen, Marjan Behzadirad, Tianxiu Zhong, Juan Sun, Yunwei Zhang, Zeng-Yu Wang

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important forage crops throughout the world. Maximizing leaf retention during the haymaking process is critical for achieving superior hay quality and maintaining biomass yield. Leaf abscission process affects leaf retention. Previous studies have largely focused on the molecular mechanisms of floral organ, pedicel and seed abscission but scarcely touched on leaf and petiole abscission. This study focuses on leaf and petiole abscission in the model legume Medicago truncatula and its closely related commercial species alfalfa. By analysing the petiolule-like pulvinus (plp) mutant in M. truncatula at phenotypic level (breakstrength and …

Feeding A Growing Population--Feasibility Of Leghemoglobin As Visual Marker For Facilitating Plant Genetics Based Nutritional Improvement, Rebecca E. Caldbeck

Oswald Research and Creativity Competition

As the population continues to expand, it is becoming increasingly relevant to find sustainable and affordable sources of high-nutritional value food, specifically protein and fatty acids.

One such crop of interest is Glycine max, commonly known as soybean. The leguminous plant is of high importance globally with its far-reaching economic applicability. Soybeans are a versatile crop with a wide-ranging habitat, making them a readily available food source. Besides their abundance, this crop is also one of the most economical sources of protein on the planet.

With their already blanketed global reach, the introduction of improved genetics to facilitate improved nutritional …

Defensive Manoeuvres Of Nhx1 And Sos1 Co/Overexpression In Plant Salt Tolerance, Necla Pehli̇van Gedi̇k, Li Sun, Neelam Mishra

Turkish Journal of Botany

Excessive accumulation of salts is one of the most important factors affecting the production quality of plants. The difficulty to develop salt stress tolerant crops has prevented the security of the global food system. The classical crop breeding approach that uses random mutagenesis/recombination is time-consuming in the face of an ever-increasing human population and extreme weather pattern shifts. Today, technologies introducing foreign genetic material into plants have the best potential to assist in crop breeding improvement due to its high efficiency, accuracy, low risk of off-target effects, and minimal labour compared to classical methods. The notion of Na+/H+ antiporters in …

Relation Between Soil Salinity And Species Composition Of Halophytic Plant Communities: A Baseline Data Inventory For Wetland Monitoring, Kemal Tulühan Yilmaz, Erhan Akça, Hali̇l Çakan, Yüksel Ünlükaplan, Seli̇m Kapur

Turkish Journal of Botany

Our study sets forth the outcomes of an interdisciplinary project conducted in order to fill the information gap on the management of a wetland ecosystem, in the case of a protected area on the south-eastern coast of Turkey. The hypothesis of the study is that the pattern of species composition reflects soil salinity level and some species can act as relevant indicators. The study aimed to discover a relationship between soil salinity and vegetation composition and establish some indicators useful for monitoring. For this aim, the temporal and spatial changes of soil salinity were monitored and the distribution of coastal …

Captive Ring-Necked Pheasant Response To Very High Experimental Doses Of Lead, Travis J. Runia, Alex J. Solem

The Prairie Naturalist

Ingestion of spent lead pellets is a well-documented source of lead exposure in free-ranging birds, although the consequence of lead ingestion varies widely among avian guilds. Ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) appear to be less susceptible to lead poisoning than other game birds. Our objectives were to determine survival, liver lead accumulation, and body mass change of 129 captive-raised pheasants in response to being gavage-fed 5, 10, 20, or 40 lead pellets. All pheasants survived the 21-day experiment. Liver-lead levels were positively correlated with the number of lead pellets retained and negatively correlated with beginning body mass. Change in percent body …

Forage News [2020-01], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Media To Determine Optimal Growth In Aquaponics, Rachel L. Fogle, Andrea Nagy, Allison Bernard, Jordan Brown, Samantha Delvalle-Trinh, James Shuler

Harrisburg University Presidential Research Grants

No abstract provided.

In-Season Crop Management Effect On Soybean Yield And Grain Quality In Eastern South Dakota, Kelsey Bergman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield has increased over time by introduction of newer varieties and improved agronomic practices. However, grain protein concentration has been decreasing at the same time. New field studies in 2018 and 2019 investigated inseason crop management practices effect such as use of foliar protection application, fertilizer application, different maturity length or different planting dates on grain yield and grain quality. The studies were established near Brookings, SD and Beresford, SD. In-season treatments were targeting nutrient availability or protecting soybean canopy during the grain filling period. Such treatments included the use of fungicide, insecticide, or supplying …

The Impact Of Subsurface Physical Characteristics On The Effectiveness Of Subsurface Drainage In The Northern Great Plains, Mehmet Emin Budak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

World-wide, salinity and sodicity problems are increasing in coastal, irrigated and dryland agricultural systems. Traditional reclamation techniques for saline sodic soils include improving soil drainage by installing subsurface drainage, leaching with high quality water, and applying a source of calcium. However, due to differences in the soil parent material these traditional approach treatments were ineffective in removing sodium and other salts out of the soil profile of South Dakota. Understanding how the surface and subsurface soil characteristics and management interact to affect the sustainability of these systems is the first step in remediation. Each region and soil have a slightly …

Investigating Links Between Soil Microbial Structure And Function In Three Major Plant Communities Across Temporal Scales Of Arctic Alaska, Kaj Lynoe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Arctic microbial systems continue to get attention today as our understanding regarding their structure and function in a changing system is paramount to C feedbacks with warming and changes in precipitation. Plant communities and microbial community processes across the Arctic landscape are central to understanding tundra ecosystem processes because environmental conditions and plant community structure drive microbial cycling of soil organic matter. Here, we want to understand how soil microbial respiration, mineralization, biomass, and community composition are linked to three Alaskan tundra plant communities, namely Shrub, Tussock, and Sedge tundra and the seasonal variability in this system. A total of …

Predicting Farinograph Stability Of Wheat Flour With Mixograph And Glutomatic Tests, Brooke Shumate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; HRSW) flour is typically used to produce wheat-based foods where dough strength is a key quality component. Maintaining acceptable levels of dough strength is an important goal in the development of new HRSW cultivars. In a commercial setting, dough strength is often measured as Farinograph stability, though due to various resource constraints, stability is often predicted in breeding programs via other methods like the Mixograph. The objective of this research was to combine Glutomatic with Mixograph data to determine whether Farinograph stability predictions might be improved over the use of Mixograph data …

Developing Microbial Based Process To Produce High Value Natural Antimicrobial (Glyceollin) In Soybeans And Pullulan From Sucrose, Andrea Zavadil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Glyceollin is a secondary metabolite produced under stress conditions by soybean to act as a plant defender to pathogen attack. The antimicrobial nature of glyceollin makes it a promising natural alternative to antibiotics if incorporated into livestock feed. However, production of glyceollin is highly variable, dependent on soybean variety, and fungal elicitor used as inoculum. Our study compares two fungal spore elicitors, Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus sojae on soybeans of diverse maturity level, and fungal susceptibility to determine highest glyceollin titer. Spore inoculation with T. reesei elicited highest glyceollin titers of 2.42±0.20 mg/g at 120 h, while A. sojae elicited …

Crop Rotations And Cover Crops Influences On Soil Biochemical Properties, Root Characteristics And Economic Performance, Hanxiao Feng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introducing cover crops (CC) and increasing crop diversity in agricultural systems are beneficial in improving the soil health and crop production. However, limited research has been conducted that focuses the influence of CC and crop rotation on soil ecosystem, root growth and development, crop production, and economic returns. The objectives of this study were to (i) assess the impacts of CC management on soil enzyme activities and soil microbial community structure changes, (ii) evaluate the crop rotation management on crop root growth and development, nutrient storage in crop grain and biomass, and crop yield, and (iii) investigate the crop rotation …

Letter From The Faculty And Managing Editors, Beth Kegley, Gail Halleck

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Letter From Division Of Agriculture Communications, Fred Miller

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Food Accessibility Related To The Double Your Dollar Program, Julia Carlson, Heather Friedrich, Mechelle Bailey, Curt Rom

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The Double Your Dollar (DYD) Program is a program that gives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) participants match dollars to spend at local farmers markets. The DYD’s goal is to incentivize healthy eating among individuals of low income and promote spending at farmers markets. Food insecurity affects over 60,000 individuals in Washington and Benton counties in Arkansas. The aim of this study was to assess how the DYD program impacted users’ food accessibility and how the program could be improved for the future. A survey was used to address basic demographics, type, …

Development Of A Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (Nirs) Platform For Rapid Wheat Quality Analysis, Lily Schimke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wheat is a valuable cereal grain in terms of its growability, versatility, and multifunctional nutritional components. Research into the genetic characteristics and growing conditions of the grain is advantageous to wheat breeders, farmers, food scientists, food processors, and consumers. Optimizing the quality of the wheat grain is important to yielding a crop with the most desirable traits. Analytically obtaining data on the quality attributes of wheat is a lengthy and resource intensive process. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) technology is rapid, cost-effective, and a powerful analytical tool that can be harnessed to create predictive calibrations for estimations of wheat parameters. …

Plant Microbial Interactions In Wheat: Fusarium Head Blight And Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, Yaqoob Rashid Thurston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plant microbial interactions consist of the many relationships between plants and microbes which involve studies that observe the biology and molecular genetics of pathological, symbiotic, and associative interactions. Worldwide studies involving these interactions are scarcely available in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In South Dakota (SD), wheat research is a major platform used to understand the nature and consequences of these interactions. Specifically, our research efforts here at South Dakota State University (SDSU) concentrate on two different, but valuable, interactions in wheat: the fungal pathogen that causes fusarium head blight (FHB) and the symbiotic interaction of arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF) with …

Analysis Of Two Maize Mutations That Arose After Exposure To Radiation From A Plutonium-Beryllium Source And Developing Molecular Markers For Antimorph Aei1-5180, An Alternative To Aei To Increase Amylose Content In Maize Endosperm, Prameela Awale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of two independent projects dealing with two different aspects of maize. The first project is about the maize reproduction, where we try to uncover the candidate genes of two mutations that affect pollen viability and successful fertilization. The second project is about maize endosperm starch, where we developed molecular markers to characterize a mutant allele that knocks a major starch branching enzyme in maize.

Analysis of two maize mutations that arose after exposure to radiation from a plutonium-beryllium source
Maize is a monoecious and diclinous plant. Sexual reproduction takes place by the fusion of haploid male and …

Utilizing Rhizospheric And Bacterial Endophytes For Use As Potential Bio-Fertilizers For Sustainable Agricultural Production, Vincent Peta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Brassica carinata crop production offers an exciting alternative approach to the energy crisis when looking at novel ways to power our motor vehicles. Bacterial endophytes, while residing in host-plant tissues, offer a wide array of plant growth promotion benefits such as nitrogen fixation to impart nitrogen (N) nutrition, phosphate (P) solubilization to make soil-bound phosphate more mobile in soil for plant uptake, can suppress pathogenic microbes such as fungus and produce plant growth hormones to offset stress incurred by the plant. Previous literature has shown that there is large interest in studying endophytes from economically important crops such as wheat, …

Use Of Unmanned Aerial System (Uas) For High Throughput Evaluation Of Forage Yield In Oat Breeding Nurseries, Prakriti Sharma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current strategies for phenotyping (for traits like biomass) numerous breeding lines under field conditions demand significant investment in both time and labor. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can be used to collect vegetation indexes (VI) with high throughput and could provide an efficient way to predict forage yield in breeding nurseries with accuracy. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the use of VIs derived from UAV collected images for estimating crop biomass. For this study, forage trials consisting of 35 oat genotypes were carried out at three locations in 2018 and four locations in 2019. Unmanned aerial vehicles …

Patterns Of Epiphytic Lichen Abundance On Aspen Stands In Proximity To Roads Of Varying Vehicular Traffic, D. Aragon, C. Castillo, J. Moffroid, G. Thomas

Aspen Bibliography

Although present in nearly any wild space with available moisture and on a wide variety of substrates, lichen, and its importance as a bioindicator for an ecosystem, is often overlooked. As air pollution becomes a greater concern for flora, fauna, and even humans, the story told by lichen growth becomes more useful as we try to make sense of the downstream effects of anthropogenic contributions to poor air quality. One such human-driven pollutant is the level of emissions that result from vehicular travel. The Jackson Hole area has experienced a large increase in vehicular traffic in the past five to …

Acquisition Of Boron Tolerance By Salt Pretreatment In Two Sunflower Cultivars, Yasemi̇n Ekmekçi̇, Şeküre Çulha Erdal, Ayşe Suna Balkan Nalçai̇yi̇, Nuran Çi̇çek

Turkish Journal of Botany

This study was carried out to investigate the ameliorative effects of salt pretreatment against B toxicity in two sunflower cultivars (Helianthus annuus L. `Sanbro? and `Tarsan-1018?) differing in salt tolerance. Seedlings were grown in perlite with modified half-strength Hoagland?s solution for 15 days and then they were divided into two groups: salt-pretreated (75 mM NaCl for 5 days) and B-treated (control, 2, 4, and 8 mM B for 10 days). In both cultivars, the biomass of root and shoot decreased depending on B accumulation, especially at 8 mM. The translocation factor values indicated that B uptaken by roots of the …

Changes In Phenolic Profile, Soluble Sugar, Proline, And Antioxidant Enzyme Activities Of Polygonum Equisetiforme In Response To Salinity, Faycal Boughalleb, Raoudha Abdellaoui, Maher Mahmoudi, Esmaeil Bakhshandeh

Turkish Journal of Botany

This study intended to focus on the effect of different levels of NaCl (0?400 mM, at regular intervals every 100 mM) on the growth, secondary metabolites, and antioxidant enzyme activities of Polygonum equisetiforme, a wild plant with medicinal and industrial uses, which often grows in harsh environmental conditions. Our results showed that biomass production significantly decreased with salinity, while the leaf relative water content declined only at high levels of NaCl concentration (300?400 mM). In contrast, these higher doses of salt resulted in a significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Both proline and soluble sugar (e.g., fructose, glucose, and sucrose) …

The Role Of Badh Gene In Oxidative, Salt, And Drought Stress Tolerances Of White Clover, Gürkan Demi̇rkol

Turkish Journal of Botany

The aim of this study was to confirm the presence of BADH gene and control whether it plays an important role to protect white clover (Trifolium repens L.) against oxidative, salt, and drought stresses. Three genotypes possessing BADH and 1 genotype lacking BADH were selected, considering the expression levels of BADH in response to methyl viologen mediated oxidative stress. The genotypes possessing BADH displayed significantly less ion leakage under oxidative stress treatment, compared to that lacking BADH . In order to test salinity tolerance, the plants were treated with 300 mM NaCl for 2 weeks, and to mimic drought conditions, …

Effects Of Microalgal Biomass As Biofertilizer On The Growth Of Cucumber And Microbial Communities In The Cucumber Rhizosphere, Junping Lv, Shufang Liu, Jia Feng, Qi Liu, Jun Guo, Lige Wang, Xiaoyan Jiao, Shulian Xie

Turkish Journal of Botany

In the present study, microalgal biomass (Anabeana circinalis and Scenedesmus quadricauda) was used as biofertilizer in cucumber cultivation. The response of cucumber growth characters to microalgal biofertilizer was evaluated. Moreover, rhizosphere microbial diversity and community composition of cucumber was analyzed through 16S rRNA high-throughput Illumina sequencing data. The results showed that microalgal biomass as biofertilizer significantly promoted height, number of leaves and flower buds, and stem diameter of cucumber. The application of a high concentration of S. quadricauda to soil raised the diversity of rhizosphere fungi of cucumber. The rhizosphere microbial community of cucumber also responded to microalgal biofertilizer. The …

Dehydrins: An Overview Of Current Approaches And Advancement, Nesli̇han Saruhan Güler, Rabi̇ye Terzi̇

Turkish Journal of Botany

Since plants are exposed to diverse environmental stresses in their natural area, numerous reviews have demonstrated many aspects of dehydrins (DHNs), including structural and functional dynamics, and multiple roles such as membrane protection, cryoprotection of enzymes, chaperone feature, and protection from reactive oxygen species. In this review, we have focused on new information, and other promising and emerging topics of DHNs in plants. This review outlines particularly the potential regulatory mechanisms of DHNs associated with stress tolerance and the role of DHNs in morphological responses of the plants exposed to environmental stresses. Besides the discussion of the signaling pathways involved …

Characterization Of Bacterial Endophytes Isolated From Brassica Carinata And Their Potential Use To Decrease Nutrient Requirements In Crops, Alex Soupir

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial endophytes have the capability to enhance plant growth by producing plant growth hormones, solubilizing phosphates, suppressing pathogenic fungi, and reducing plant stress hormones. These capabilities make them desirable limiting the amount of nutrients and pesticides that are applied to crops. Through these assays and isolations, it is possible to identify novel bacterial species. In-vitro testing had shown 9 of the 20 isolates possess the ability to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) with Pantoea agglomerans BC09 producing a concentration of 30.2 ng/μl over 4 days. BC09, Bacillus subilis BC10, and Pantoea sp. BC12 were able to solubilize calcium phosphate, 7 endophytes …

Phytoremediation Of Saline-Sodic Soils In East Central South Dakota Utilizing Perennial Grass Mixtures, Douglas J. Fiedler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several decades of above average precipitation in South Dakota has increased the area of saline and sodic soils, which reduce crop yields and inhibit sensitive plant growth. Saline and sodic soils are difficult to remediate using traditional agricultural crops. Establishing salt tolerant perennial species may restore productivity to salt affected areas. Two perennial grass mixtures (mix 1: slender wheatgrass, beardless wildrye; mix 2: slender wheatgrass, western wheatgrass, green wheatgrass, creeping meadow foxtail) were dormant frost seeded along a topographic gradient in Clark Co., SD. Soils were Forman-Cresbard loam and a Cresbard-Cavour loam with surface electrical conductivity (EC_1:1) that …