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The Effects Of Compost And Polyacrylamide Hydrogel On The Re-Vegetation Of Eroded Southern Aspects In The Western Rangeland, Allison R. Klocke, David A. Stein

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

MPG Ranch is a conservation-oriented organization in Montana’s Bitterroot valley. Since 2010, MPG has annually planted between 5,000 and 10,000 shrubs and trees with the goal of restoring native plant communities, beautifying the landscape, and providing habitat and forage for wildlife. Plant survival has been lowest on degraded south facing slopes, likely due to a combination of erosion and high solar radiation, which have left the soil with low nutrient content, soil moisture, and high soil temperatures. To resolve these issues, we partnered with MPG to test whether soil amendments can be used to increase plant establishment on degraded hillslopes. …

Proteomic Profiling Of Maize Opaque Endosperm Mutants Reveals Selective Accumulation Of Lysine-Enriched Proteins, Kyla J. Morton, Shangang Jia, Chi Zhang, David R. Holding

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Reduced prolamin (zein) accumulation and defective endoplasmic reticulum (ER) body formation occurs in maize opaque endosperm mutants opaque2 (o2), floury2 (fl2), defective endosperm*B30 (DeB30), and Mucronate (Mc), whereas other opaque mutants such as opaque1 (o1) and floury1 (fl1) are normal in these regards. This suggests that other factors contribute to kernel texture. A liquid chromatography approach coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) proteomics was used to compare non-zein proteins of nearly isogenic opaque endosperm mutants. In total, 2762 proteins were identified that were enriched for biological processes such …

Field Damage Of Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor) With Reduced Lignin Levels By Naturally Occurring Insect Pests And Pathogens, Patrick F. Dowd, Deanna L. Funnell-Harris, Scott E. Sattler

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) brown midrib (bmr) mutant lines have reduced levels of lignin, which is a potentially useful trait for bioenergy production, but the effects of this trait on insect and plant pathogen interactions are unknown under field conditions. Field-grown bmr6, bmr12, and wild-type (WT) plants were examined for insect and disease damage. In most cases, observed frequency, population, or leaf area damage caused by insects or pathogens on bmr6 or bmr12 plants were not greater than those observed on WT plants in the field or laboratory assays. European corn borers [Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner)(Lepidoptera: …

Horizontal Gene Acquisitions, Mobile Element Proliferation, And Genome Decay In The Host-Restricted Plant Pathogen Erwinia Tracheiphila, Lori R. Shapiro, Erin D. Scully, Timonthy J. Straub, Jihye Park, Andrew G. Stephenson, Gwyn A. Beattie, Mark L. Gleason, Roberto Kolter, Miguel C. Coelho, Consuelo M. De Moraes, Mark C. Mescher, Olga Zhaxybayeva

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Modern industrial agriculture depends on high-density cultivation of genetically similar crop plants, creating favorable conditions for the emergence of novel pathogens with increased fitness in managed compared with ecologically intact settings. Here, we present the genome sequence of six strains of the cucurbit bacterial wilt pathogen Erwinia tracheiphila (Enterobacteriaceae) isolated from infected squash plants in New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Michigan. These genomes exhibit a high proportion of recent horizontal gene acquisitions, invasion and remarkable amplification of mobile genetic elements, and pseudogenization of approximately 20% of the coding sequences. These genome attributes indicate that E. tracheiphila recently emerged as a …

Nutrients In The Nexus, Eric A. Davidson, Rachel L. Nifong, Richard B. Ferguson, Cheryl Palm, Deanna L. Osmond, Jill S. Baron

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer has enabled modern agriculture to greatly improve human nutrition during the twentieth century, but it has also created unintended human health and environmental pollution challenges for the twentyfirst century. Averaged globally, about half of the fertilizer-N applied to farms is removed with the crops, while the other half remains in the soil or is lost from farmers’ fields, resulting in water and air pollution. As human population continues to grow and food security improves in the developing world, the dual development goals of producing more nutritious food with low pollution will require both technological and socioeconomic …

Alkaline Stress And Iron Deficiency Regulate Iron Uptake And Riboflavin Synthesis Gene Expression Differently In Root And Leaf Tissue: Implications For Iron Deficiency Chlorosis, En-Jung Hsieh, Brian M. Waters

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Iron (Fe) is an essential mineral that has low solubility in alkaline soils, where its deficiency results in chlorosis. Whether low Fe supply and alkaline pH stress are equivalent is unclear, as they have not been treated as separate variables in molecular physiological studies. Additionally, molecular responses to these stresses have not been studied in leaf and root tissues simultaneously. We tested how plants with the Strategy I Fe uptake system respond to Fe deficiency at mildly acidic and alkaline pH by measuring root ferric chelate reductase (FCR) activity and expression of selected Fe uptake genes and riboflavin synthesis genes. …

Corn Response To Nitrogen Management Under Fully-Irrigated Vs. Water-Stressed Conditions, Bijesh Maharjan, Carl J. Rosen, John A. Lamb, Rodney T. Venterea

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Characterizing corn (Zea mays L.) grain yield (GY) response to N is critical for maximizing profits, increasing N use efficiency and minimizing environmental impacts. Although a large database of GY response to N exists for highly productive soils, few data exist for less productive soils. While changes in precipitation are expected in the future, few studies have compared GY response to varying N management practices under conditions of varying water availability. We measured GY and basal stalk nitrate nitrogen (BSN) at harvest using split-applied urea at eight N rates under fully-irrigated (FI) and water-stressed (WS) conditions in a loamy …

Pronghorn Habitat Suitability In The Texas Panhandle, Nathan P. Duncan, Samantha S. Kahl, Shawn S. Gray, Christopher J. Salice, Richard D. Stevens

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Habitat quality is an important factor that can greatly affect wildlife populations. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) habitat in the Texas Panhandle, USA has been lost through growth of human settlements and agricultural lands. We determined the most pertinent environmental variables affecting habitat selection using multiple methods, including a search of peer-reviewed literature, expert opinion ranking, and habitat suitability modeling. We determined quality and extent of pronghorn habitat in the Texas Panhandle using the MAXENT modeling environment to build a presence-only habitat suitability model based on global positioning system (GPS) locations collected via aerial surveys. Our habitat suitability model indicated …

Letter To The Editor Ws-2 Introgression In A Proportion Of Arabidopsis Thaliana Col-0 Stock Seed Produces Specific Phenotypes And Highlights The Importance Of Routine Genetic Verification, Mon-Ray Shao, Vikas Shedge, Hardik Kundariya, Fredric R. Lehle, Sally Ann Mackenzie

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Arabidopsis thaliana is an important model organism with a robust network of resources that has been of enormous value to the plant science research community. The use of isogenic material as a reference point or control is critical for many types of experiments in plant molecular biology and genetics. Recently, we noticed that some seed from a common source of the widely-used Columbia-0 (Col-0) strain gave rise to plants showing features atypical for this strain. Whole genome DNA-sequencing and allele-specific PCR assays confirmed that the abnormal individuals contain multiple introgressions from the ecotype Wassilewskija-2 (Ws-2), as described below. This emphasizes …

The Effects Of Manufactured Nanomaterial Transformations On Bioavailability, Toxicity And Transcriptomic Responses Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Daniel L. Starnes

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

In recent decades, there has been a rapid expansion in the use of manufactured nanoparticles (MNPs). Experimental evidence and material flow models predict that MNPs enter wastewater treatment plants and partition to sewage sludge and majority of that sludge is land applied as biosolids. During wastewater treatment and after land application, MNPs undergo biogeochemical transformations (aging). The primary transformation process for silver MNPs (Ag-MNPs) is sulfidation, while zinc oxide MNPs (ZnO-MNPs) most likely undergo phosphatation and sulfidation. Our overall goal was to assess bioavailability and toxicogenomic impacts of both pristine, defined as-synthesized, and aged Ag- and ZnO-MNPs, as well as …

Distribution And Characterization Of The Soybean Cyst Nematode, Heterodera Glycines (Hg) Types In South Dakota, Krishna Acharya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, is an endoparasitic nematode and one of the major pests of soybean (Glycine max L.) in the United State and all over the world where soybean is grown. SCN is ranked first among the biological factors that cause yield loss in soybean. The estimated yield loss by this nematode is $1b annually in the United States alone. SCN is thought to have been first found in China. It was first identified in the United States in 1954 in North Carolina and in South Dakota in 1995. To date, SCN continues to spread …

Seeing Red In A Sea Of Green: Anthocyanin Production In A Carnivorous Plant, Pinguicula Planifolia, Jenna Annis

Masters Theses

The Southeastern United States is a biological hot-spot for carnivorous plants, with over half of the North American species occurring along the Gulf Coast. Pinguicula planifolia Chapman is one of six carnivorous perennial butterwort species found in the Florida Panhandle. Among these species, only P. planifolia expresses a distinct variation of red coloration on its leaves. The functional role of foliar anthocyanins may include stress response to drought and nutrient deficiency, herbivory defense, free radical scavenging, and photoprotection. Carnivorous plant leaves face strong selection pressures to optimize prey capture and nutrient absorption. Given the frequency of these red pigments in …

Successional Changes In Leaf Nutrient Concentrations Of Woody And Herbaceous Species, Daniel Walter Kuchta

Masters Theses

Leaf nutrient concentrations are an example of a functional trait, a trait that can be used to understand community dynamics by observing how plants interact with their environment. I explored how leaf nutrient concentrations were affected over successional time by environmental changes. The majority of prior research on functional traits focuses on either woody or herbaceous species, but not both life forms simultaneously. To address this, I also explored the successional changes to leaf nutrient concentrations, separating the plant community into woody and herbaceous species.

Healthy, mature leaves were taken from 122 taxa of woody and herbaceous species in a …

The Role Of Anthropogenic Habitats As Substitutes For Natural Habitats: A Case Study On Epipactis Helleborine (L.) Crantz (Orchidaceae, Neottieae). Variations In Size And Nutrient Composition Of Seeds, Agnieszka Rewicz, Jeremi Kolodziejek, Anna Jakubska-Busse

Turkish Journal of Botany

Natural and anthropogenic habitats differed greatly in terms of soil nutrients. Soil at the anthropogenic sites contained significantly lower concentrations of nitrogen (N) than those at the natural sites. Seeds of Epipactis helleborine were sampled from these two contrasting growth habitats and their size and nutrient composition were recorded. The 8 populations of E. Helleborine were different in seed and embryo volumes, but there were no significant differences in seed width. Habitat type significantly influenced seed area: in the anthropogenic areas, seed area was greater than in the natural areas. Two distinct groups of populations were evident with regard to …

Growing South Dakota (Winter 2016), College Of Agriculture &. Biological Sciences

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

This issue includes the 2015 South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Report.

[Page] 2 Director's Message
[Page] 3 Concentrating On Cattle: Researcher Studying Mechanics To Improve Reproduction Efficiency In Beef Cattle
[Page] 5 At The Forefront: SDSU Diagnostic Lab Scientists Sequence Avian Influenza Genome
[Page] 6 Seeking Superior Wheat: Breeder Using Extensive Genome Testing To Improve Winter Wheat Cultivars
[Page] 8 Profiles In Leadership: Plant And Fungi Interactions May Offer New Plant Production Possibilities
[Page] 9 Targeting Emerging Diseases: Plant Pathologists Working To Better Manage Soybean & Sunflower Diseases
[Page] 10 Compelling New Crop: Carinata Offers Potential For Crop Diversity, …

Maize Landraces Are Less Affected By Striga Hermonthica Relative To Hybrids In Western Kenya, Charles A.O. Midega, John Pickett, Antony Hooper, Jimmy Pittchar, Zeyaur R. Khan

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Production of maize in western Kenya is severely constrained by the parasitic weed striga. Although productivity of maize can be improved through adoption of improved varieties, adoption of such varieties remains low in the region, as the majority of smallholder farmers still grow unimproved open-pollinated varieties (landraces). The performance of two improved hybrid varieties was evaluated against six landraces in striga-infested soils in western Kenya. The varieties were planted in plots under natural striga infestation and were supplemented with pot experiments under artificial infestation. Striga emergence was lower in landraces than in the hybrid varieties in both field and pot …

Spanish River Carbonatite: Its Benefits And Potential Use As A Soil Supplement In Agriculture, James J

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A critical problem facing agriculture today is being able to consistently and sustainably provide plants with adequate nutrients for growth. With this problem being exacerbated by the ever-increasing human population, new perspectives and techniques are required to ensure global food security. In order to fully realize potential solutions, however, plant growth and nutrition cannot be exclusively focused upon. The soil-microorganism-plant system is comprised of many interconnected and interdependent processes that together support plant growth: it is upon these processes that the focus must be placed. In this work, the agromineral Spanish River Carbonatite (SRC) is characterized using the framework of …

Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs Book, Utah State University

All Current Publications

This book is a compilation of 58 researched-based fact sheets written and compiled by Utah State University faculty and students. For more gardening resources provided by USU Extension please visit our gardening website at garden.usu.edu.

Effects Of Predator Satiation On Seed Predation In New Roadside Prairie Plantings, Jessica Riebkes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Restoration efforts in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem are inhibited by high seed cost and as little as 10% emergence of planted, pure live seed. This study examined the portion of loss due to seed predation and sought to reduce this predation in new roadside prairie plantings. Studies document the occurrence of predation in several plant communities and across all plant families, but little is known about how to reduce the impact of seed predators, especially in a restoration setting. On three sites where native prairie seed was recently drilled, we attempted to satiate seed predators by broadcasting a supplemental food …

Effects Of Glyphosate On Soybean Nutrition, Endophytic Colonization By Cercospora Cf. Flagellaris And Development Of Cercospora Leaf Blight, Teddy Garcia Aroca

LSU Master's Theses

Glyphosate (Roundup®, Monsanto, Inc., St. Louis, MO) is the most widely used herbicide in the world because of its broad spectrum and its efficacy in controlling annual broadleaf weeds and undesired grasses. The effect of glyphosate on mineral nutrition and plant diseases has been an important topic during the past decade, because of its controversial effects on plant mineral nutrition. In order to test the hypothesis that glyphosate affects soybean mineral nutrition, and therefore predisposes soybean to Cercospora leaf blight, six glyphosate-resistant (GR) soybean varieties were either not treated or treated with glyphosate in field experiments. Plants were then evaluated …

Influence Of Silicon On The Development Of Anthracnose Of Grain Sorghum, Sanjay Pokhrel

LSU Master's Theses

To study the effect of Silicon (Si) with and without a fungicide on anthracnose development of sorghum, several experiments were conducted in the greenhouse and field. In the initial study, different Si rates [0 (control), 0 (lime control), 200, 400, 600, 800 kg Si/ha] were used in a low-Si Alfisol to determine if inoculum densities were affected by Si levels. No differences were observed between inoculum densities of 1*105 and 1*106 conidia/ml in affecting anthracnose development in the greenhouse. Anthracnose severity was found to be lowest in plants treated with 800 kg Si/ha, regardless of inoculum density. In another study, …

Evaluation Of Ammonia Volatilization And Zinc Nutrition Of Experimental Zinc Sulfate Coated Urea Fertilizers In A Drill-Seeded Delayed Flood Rice Production System, Nutifafa Adotey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Approaches in controlling nitrogen (N) loss from preflood fertilizer applications in delayed flood rice (Oryza stiva) production in the mid-southern U.S.A. typically involves treating urea with urease inhibitors like N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT). Limited research exists on managing N utilizing the combined effects of treating urea with a urease inhibitor and subsequently adding a physical zinc (Zn) sulfate coating. Zinc deficiency is also a major soil fertility constraint in flooded rice production. The objectives of this study were to: (i) determine the ammonia volatilization potential of experimental zinc sulfate coated urea (ZSCU) fertilizers on four rice soils in a controlled …

Extension Agriculture And Natural Resources In The U.S. Midwest: A Review And Analysis Of Challenges And Future Opportunities, Mahdi M. Al-Kaisi, Roger Wesley Elmore, Gerald A. Miller, David Kwaw-Mensah

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

This review addresses key changes in U.S. agricultural extension and future opportunities. Agricultural extension has been a part of the land-grant university (LGU) system for more than 100 years. The Morrill Act of 1862 established the LGU system by authorizing states access to federally controlled land and funding for public institutions offering educational opportunities focusing on agriculture and mechanical arts for farmers and the working class. Current surveys in Iowa reveal changing trends in extension: more than 90% of farmers identified private-sector crop advisers as their primary source for recommendations, whereas more than 80% of those advisors identified Iowa State …

Assessing Foliar Ascorbate Content In A Rice Diversity Panel And In Selected Mapping Population Lines With Varying Levels Of Seedling Cold Tolerance, Sonia Elizabeth Castillo Gonzalez

Student Theses and Dissertations

Rice is economically, culturally, and socially important to many people in the world. Arkansas is the main rice producer in the USA. Climate change continues to increase the incidence of abiotic stresses such as cold, heat, drought, water excess, and soil salinity. These stresses pose a particular challenge to rice cultivation. Rice has lower yields under cold stress, particularly when plants are exposed to cold at the seedling and reproductive stages. Early spring plantings and field irrigation with underground cold water expose rice seedlings to cold stress. Previous studies in Arabidopsis thaliana have shown that lines engineered to have elevated …

Molecular Genetic Aspects Of Iron And Copper Cross-Talk In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Qingyuan Xiang

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

Iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) are essential micronutrients for plants and humans who consume plants. Their functions are tightly linked. For example, both of Fe and Cu work as cofactors in superoxide dismutase proteins to prevent reactive oxygen species damage. When Fe is removed from nutrient solution, plants uptake more Cu, but how plants sense and respond to Fe status is not fully understood. This thesis includes two projects that focus on Fe and Cu interaction, homeostasis and cross-talk in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Two Arabidopsis ecotypes, Kas-1 and Tsu-1, have difference in timing of Cu accumulation in rosettes under Fe …

Relative Salt Tolerance Of Seven Strawberry Cultivars, Youping Sun, Genhua Niu, Russ Wallace, Joseph Masabni, Mengmeng Gu

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cultivars (“Albion”, “Benicia”, “Camarosa”, “Camino Real”, “Chandler”, “Radiance”, and “San Andreas”) were evaluated for salt tolerance in a greenhouse environment. Plants were irrigated with a nutrient solution with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.1 dS·m−1 (control) or a nutrient solution with the addition of salts (salt solution) with ECs of 2.2, 3.3, or 4.4 dS·m−1 for four months. Salinity reduced plant growth and fruit yield of strawberry; however, the magnitude of reduction varied with cultivar. For example, at an EC of 4.4 dS·m−1 , “Benicia” and “Chandler” had 39% and 44% less shoot dry weight (DW) …

The Effects Of Meloidogyne Incognita And Heterodera Glycines On The Yield And Quality Of Edamame In Arkansas, Juliet Fultz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Edamame (Glycine max), also known as vegetable soybean, was introduced to the United States from Japan in 1890 and has been growing in popularity as a nutrient-rich, low-sugar snack in recent years. In 2012, the American Vegetable Soybean and Edamame, Inc. established the first domestic commercial processing plant in Mulberry, Arkansas and contracted local growers for production. Since the crop is harvested when seed are immature, management practices are different from those for traditional soybean. Plant-parasitic nematodes, particularly Meloidogyne incognita (southern root-knot) and Heterodera glycines (soybean cyst), are common in Arkansas and are pests of concern for edamame growers. Edamame …

Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm Annual Progress Report: 2015, Agricultural Experiment Station

Agricultural Experiment Station and Research Farm Annual Reports

This document highlights 34 crop and livestock research and demonstration reports from projects conducted at Southeast Research Farm in 2015. It is published by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service at South Dakota State University in cooperation with the Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm Corporation. Reports in this document include information on: weather and climate data, corn production and performance, soybean research and planting, soil testing, alfalfa yield test, fertilizer testing, herbicide research, crop rotation, sorghum, small grains, swine research, and pest and weed control.

Defining The Potassium Nutritional Requirements And Distribution Among Plant Parts Of Representative Soybean Cultivars From Different Maturity Groups, Md. Rasel Parvej

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The potassium (K) requirement of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] was investigated to determine whether cultivar sensitivity to K deficiency was affected by growth habit (determinate or indeterminate) and how cultivars from each growth habit accumulate and distribute K among plant structures. We also diagnosed K deficiency across reproductive growth stages (R2-6) using trifoliolate leaf- and petiole-K concentrations and at harvest (R8) using seed-K concentration. Soybean responded similarly to K deficiency in terms of yield, selected yield components, and seed-K concentration, regardless of growth habit. The yield loss from K deficiency was greatest on the middle to upper nodes of …

Stink Bugs: Spatial Distribution, Pecan Phenological Susceptibility And Sampling Program, Brian Cowell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An effective management program for stink bugs (SBs) in pecan groves requires knowledge of: stages of the pecans susceptible to SB damage; strata of the tree with SB damaged nuts; a practical SB monitoring method; and, effects of landscapes contributing SBs into pecan groves.

Stink bugs produced feeding punctures in pecan shucks at all phenological stages. Pecans punctured before the dough stage drop from the tree. Kernel damage occurs in the pecans’ dough stage, whereas mature pecans are not damaged.

The pecans collected from the whole tree using the tree shaker had significantly less punctures than the pecans collected from …