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Agricultural Research Magazine August 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Prescription for Curing Citrus Greening: Apply Heat and Wait

7 Screening Fresh Oranges With UV: Study Pinpoints New Value of Detection Tactic

8 Breed Matters: Selecting Rams for Rangeland Production

10 Scientific Works of Art Reveal a Hidden World

13 ARS Validates Soil Moisture Data Collected Via Satellite

14 New Strategies To Thwart Pecan Scab

15 Fire Ant Venom Compounds May Be Useful as a Fungicide

16 Possible Links Between Soil Microbial Communities and Stroke Risk

18 Early Weaning: A Good Bet for Beef Producers in Drought-Stricken Areas

20 Fungal Foam Tested Against Avocado Threat

21 …

Storage Technique Preserves Citrus, Kills Pathogens, Gayle Volk, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

Americans consume about 84 pounds of fresh and processed citrus per person each year, with oranges topping the list at 61 pounds annually. The availability of these favored fruits in grocery stores, fresh markets, and other consumer outlets is a testament to growers’ success in managing the ever-present threat of pests and diseases to the nation’s $3.4 billion citrus crop (2011-12), most of which is produced in Florida and California.

A major threat is citrus greening disease, also known as “Huanglongbing.” First detected in Florida in August 2005, citrus greening today is the target of a multifaceted effort by federal, …

Detecting Deadly Colonies Of E. Coli, Rosalie Marion Bliss

Agricultural Research Magazine

Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroup O157:H7 has long been associated with severe forms of foodborne illnesses. But these bacterial bad guys have many cousins, and six other STEC groups have also been linked to serious illnesses and outbreaks of disease.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a regulation that, as of June 2012, certain beef products that test positive for any of these six groups, nicknamed the “Big Six,” would be banned from being sold for public consumption. As USDA’s regulatory arm, FSIS employs inspectors who collect meat samples on the front …

Current Challenges Can Help Fuel Future Opportunities, Jeffrey J. Steiner

Agricultural Research Magazine

Native juniper trees and invasive plants pose an expanding threat to the survival of the sagebrush ecosystem in arid western rangelands. As the trees mature, they compete with other native plants that are valuable food sources for wildlife and cattle. After these plants die back, the bare patches of soil that remain are vulnerable to erosion and encroachment from other species like cheatgrass, an invasive nonnative annual that fuels wildfires.

Wildfires threaten livestock ranches, are suppressed in large part by efforts funded with taxpayer dollars, and increase the probability that invasive plants will spread and thrive in the postfire landscape. …

Better French Fries: Technique Helps Lower Fat, Zhongli Pan, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

No doubt about it. Americans love French fries.

But fries soak up a lot of oil while they’re turning a perfect golden brown in the deep-fat fryer.

Agricultural Research Service scientist Zhongli Pan and colleagues have tackled the challenge of lowering some of the fat from this favorite side order without skimping on the fries’ delicious taste and texture or their pleasing appearance and aroma. Their idea? After potatoes are peeled and sliced into strips, and just before the raw strips are dunked in the fryer, prep them with 3 minutes of infrared (IR) heat—just like that created in home …

Fungi Can Be Friends Or Foes, Amy Rossman, Jo Anne Crouch, Shannon Dominick, Sharon Durham

Agricultural Research Magazine

Fungi are a large and diverse group of organisms. Some fungi, like mushrooms, are edible and considered crops. Others, however, can cause serious diseases of crop and forest plants, and those diseases can have negative effects on local and international economies as well as on the supply of food and other materials that agriculture provides.

The Agricultural Research Service maintains a unique resource—the U.S. National Fungus Collections—for helpful and detailed information about fungi. Accurate knowledge of fungi is critical for controlling the diseases they cause.

North America’s Largest Fungarium

In 1869, the Smithsonian Institution transferred its fungal collection to the …

Measuring The Feeding Behavior Of Livestock, T. M. Brown-Brandl, Roger A. Eigenberg, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

Determining how much time animals spend eating could help animal caretakers identify sick livestock, improve management, and establish genetic differences within a herd. But first, a system is needed to monitor animal feeding behavior.

Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, have developed a new system to monitor feeding behavior of feedlot cattle and grow-finish swine in a livestock industry setting.

The system, created by agricultural engineers Tami Brown-Brandl and Roger Eigenberg in the center’s Environmental Management Research Unit, uses standard radio-frequency identification technology designed around a commercial reader. …

Agricultural Research Magazine, July 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Turning Trees Into Fighter Fuels

8 Tools for Tracking Troublesome Trees

10 Better Maps Mean Better Rangeland Management

12 New, Improved Codling Moth Lures Available

13 New Strawberry Species Found in Oregon

14 Measuring the Feeding Behavior of Livestock

15 Savvy Seed Sorter Gains New Fans

16 Fungi Can Be Friends or Foes

18 Detecting Deadly Colonies of E. coli

20 Storage Technique Preserves Citrus, Kills Pathogens

22 Better French Fries: Technique Helps Lower Fat

23 Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

July 2013- Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue

Agricultural Research Magazine

The Agricultural Research Service has about 100 labs all over the country.

Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Albany, California 9 research units ■ 241 employees

Corvallis, Oregon 3 research units ■ 127 employees

Great Basin Rangelands Research Unit, Reno, Nevada 1 research unit ■ 19 employees

U.S. Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, California 2 research units ■ 39 employees

Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory, Wapato, Washington 1 research unit ■ 57 employees

Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns, Oregon 1 research unit ■ 27 employees

Northwest Watershed Research Center, Boise, Idaho 1 research unit ■ 18 employees

Tucson, Arizona 2 research units …

New, Improved Codling Moth Lures Available, David Nicholson, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

New lures that entice codling moths with the scent of food and a possible mate are available for use in monitoring this orchard pest and controlling it with carefully timed applications of insecticide. The research related to the development and use of the lures involved scientists Alan Knight and Peter Landolt at the Agricultural Research Service’s Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory in Wapato, Washington, and Douglas Light at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California.

As larvae, codling moths are major pests of apples, pears, and walnuts. Historically, growers have sprayed their orchards with insecticide to prevent the pinkish-white, …

Better Maps Mean Better Rangeland Management, Brandon Bestelmeyer, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

Land managers are always hoping for the next best thing to help them figure out where they should spend their time and money restoring and maintaining healthy rangelands. Now Agricultural Research Service rangeland ecologist Brandon Bestelmeyer has one of the answers—an ecological-state map that identifies where rangeland is holding its own, where it could respond to restoration efforts, or where it’s already past the point of no return.

“We wanted to find a way to turn existing field-level rangeland assessments into broader tools for comprehensively managing larger landscapes,” says Bestelmeyer, who works at the ARS Jornada Experimental Range in Las …

New Strawberry Species Found In Oregon, Kim E. Hummer, Sharon Durham

Agricultural Research Magazine

A recently discovered wild strawberry species provides new genetic material for plant research and, in the future, might also provide a new class of commercial strawberries.

Agricultural Research Service scientist Kim Hummer, with the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository at Corvallis, Oregon, found the new species during several plant collection expeditions in the high peaks of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. She named it Fragaria cascadensis.

The find was reported in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

The new strawberry is endemic to the Oregon Cascades, hence its specific name, F. cascadensis. It is perennial, with …

Turning Trees Into Fighter Fuels, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

In western U.S. rangelands, native juniper and pinyon pine trees are spreading beyond their historical ecological niches and disrupting the environmental balance of their expanded range. Meanwhile, Agricultural Research Service scientists are teaming with university and industry colleagues to turn this problem into a source of fuel for U.S. Navy fighter jets.

“Juniper competes with grass and forbs for water and nutrients, and this leaves bare soil that is vulnerable to erosion,” says ARS scientist Mark Weltz, who works at the Great Basin Rangelands Research Unit in Reno, Nevada. “We have also lost habitat for sage grouse and mule deer, …

Tools For Tracking Troublesome Trees, Kirk Davies, Matt Madsen, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

In Oregon, western juniper trees are expanding their range, pushing out other plant species, reducing sagebrush habitat and livestock forage, and at times fueling catastrophic wildfires. During some of these conflagrations, fires burn even hotter because more wood is available to feed the flames—a cause-and-effect that in turn lengthens the time that temperatures remain elevated at fire-stricken sites.

To help streamline efforts to manage invasive trees, Agricultural Research Service rangeland scientists Kirk Davies and Matt Madsen are investigating ways of combining aerial photography and computer programs to quickly identify and measure affected areas. These tools could save time and money …

Savvy Seed Sorter Gains New Fans, Thomas C. Pearson, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Simple, swift, and comparatively inexpensive, a color-image-based seed sorter is helping plant breeders and others separate the seeds they want from those they don’t—with an impressive degree of accuracy.

Agricultural Research Service agricultural engineer Thomas C. Pearson, based at the agency’s Center for Grain and Animal Health Research in Manhattan, Kansas, developed the sorter in collaboration with National Manufacturing in Lincoln, Nebraska. The company has marketed the device to customers in the United States and abroad since 2010.

In tests, the compact, portable sorter— a simpler and faster version of other machine-vision equipment that Pearson developed in 2009—speedily differentiated kernels …

Growing South Dakota (Summer 2013), College Of Agriculture &. Biological Sciences

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

[Page] 2 Fish, Field & Forest: Natural Resource Management Research Covers the Gamut
[Page] 5 Profiles In Leadership: David Willis; Combined Department Creates Interdisciplinary Opportunities
[Page] 6 Research On the Range: Cottonwood Field Station Has Provided Research Data for 106 Years
[Page] 8 Prairie Oasis: Natural Diversity Showcased at Oak Lake Field Station
[Page] 9 Special Section: Investigating in Agriculture & Biological Sciences at SDSU: An Update On the College of Ag’s Enhanced Facilities and Continuing Efforts Important to Helping Address Future Agricultural Challenges and Opportunities.[Page] 13 South Dakota 4-H Update: Skill-a-thons, New Exhibit Hall Planned
[Page] 14 After The …

Estudios Científicos En El Estado De Hidalgo Y Zonas Aledañas, Volumen Ii, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Scott Monks

Zea E-Books Collection

Los 16 capítulos que conforman este libro son una contribución al conocimiento de la biodiversidad y conservación de los recursos naturales en el estado de Hidalgo, México.

Se aborda el derecho de propiedad intelectual en la biodiversidad, citando algunos ejemplos de México. Así mismo, se presenta un estudio de la biodiversidad y distribución de la herpetofauna en cuatro tipos de vegetación. Desde el punto de vista de la helmintología se presentan dos estudios de los helmintos parásitos de vertebrados silvestres; con nuevos registros de hospederos y localidades de algunas especies de helmintos para Hidalgo. También, se aborda el uso de …

Issues In Organic Crop Labeling: Food Processing Procedures May Decertify Organic Crops, Chelsea Person

Student Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

High Occurrence Of Functional New Chimeric Genes In Survey Of Rice Chromosome 3 Short Arm Genome Sequences, Chengjun Zhang, Jun Wang, Nicholas C. Marowsky, Manyuan Long, Rod A. Wing, Chuanzhu Fan

Biological Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In an effort to identify newly evolved genes in rice,we searched the genomes of Asian-cultivated rice Oryza sativa ssp. japonica and its wild progenitors, looking for lineage-specific genes. Using genome pairwise comparison of approximately 20-Mb DNA sequences from the chromosome 3 short arm (Chr3s) in six rice species, O. sativa, O. nivara, O. rufipogon, O. glaberrima, O. barthii, and O. punctata, combined with synonymous substitution rate tests and other evidence, we were able to identify potential recently duplicated genes, which evolved within the last 1 Myr. We identified 28 functional O. sativa genes, which …

Cited For More Than 60 Years Of Flavor Research, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

It’s a unique scientific niche that touches the lives of everyone.

Flavor chemistry is one of several areas of research conducted at the Agricultural Research Service’s Western Regional Research Center (WRRC) in Albany, California. The WRRC’s achievements in flavor chemistry have earned it the distinction of being named a 2013 National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The ACS is the world’s largest society of chemists, and its prestigious National Historic Chemical Landmarks program grants landmark status to seminal achievements in the history of chemical science in the United States that have had a significant impact on …

Providing More—And Better—Food By 2050, John W. Finley

Agricultural Research Magazine

The world in 2050 is predicted to have 9 billion people, who will differ in almost every way but one: They will all need to eat on a daily basis.

Their nutritional needs will be similar, too. Nutrition means eating, eating means food, and food means agriculture. Many people speak of the increased food needed for 9 billion, but in reality, the increased need is for nutrition. Thus, the world of 2050 will force a melding of two disciplines that have diverged in recent years—agriculture and nutrition.

We need to change our focus. We need sustainable nutrition as much as …

May/June 2013- Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue

Agricultural Research Magazine

The Agricultural Research Service has about 100 labs all over the country.

Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Albany, California 9 research units ■ 230 employees

Pullman, Washington 6 research units ■ 136 employees

Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit, Aberdeen, Idaho 1 research unit ■ 57 employees

U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, Dubois, Idaho 1 research unit ■ 10 employees

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska 6 research units ■ 117 employees

Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, North Dakota 2 research units ■ 51 employees

Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas …

Agricultural Research Magazine, May-June 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Olives! Scientists Take a New Look at an Ancient Crop

8 Getting Hooked on Farmed Salmon: A Good Source of Omega-3s

10 Nematode-Filled Capsules Tested Against Corn Rootworms

12 Viral Infection in Sheep Linked to Gene

14 Cited for More Than 60 Years of Flavor Research

17 Dogs, Pine Trees, and Carbs: Studies Lead to New Pet- Food Ingredient

18 Nourishing America’s Preemies: Scientists Confront the Challenges of IV Feeding

20 Mapping the Way to Even Healthier Rice

22 New Bioenergy Yeast Is an Overachiever

23 Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Olives! Scientists Take A New Look At An Ancient Crop, Talwinder S. Kahlon, Jiann-Tsyh Lin, Rebecca R. Milczarek, Mendel Friedman, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Though the price makes you wince, you might just buy that bottle of your favorite olive oil anyway. Perhaps it’s exactly what you want for the salad dressing you’re making tonight and for your special stir-fry on the weekend. But are you really getting what you paid for?

A bottle proclaiming that it is olive oil might actually include another, lessexpensive vegetable oil derived from, for example, safflower or canola. Mislabeling is of concern not just to shoppers, retailers, and chefs, but also to America’s olive growers, olive oil processors, and more—especially those newly entering the U.S. olive oil market. …

Mapping The Way To Even Healthier Rice, Shannon Pinson, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

With the aid of high-tech tools, Agricultural Research Service and collaborating scientists are closing in on the genes in rice that regulate the uptake and storage of important minerals—a pursuit that could bolster the nutritional value of this cereal grain crop as a staple food for roughly half the world’s population.

Ultimately, the team envisions biofortifying rice using traditional plant breeding methods to develop new varieties whose kernels (grain) boast exceptionally high concentrations of essential minerals, including zinc, iron, and calcium.

Rice is a mainstay of the human diet for good reason. It is a rich source of energy, free …

Nematode-Filled Capsules Tested Against Corn Rootworms, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

Each spring, the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera) awakens from its winter slumber to wreak havoc on corn crops across the United States. The pest emerges in larval form, hatching from small white eggs deposited beneath the soil and causing significant feeding damage to the grain crop’s roots. The toll on U.S. farmers: an estimated $1-2 billion annually in yield losses and chemical control.

European growers face a similar threat from the pest, which was first reported in a corn field near the Belgrade international airport in Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) in 1992, but is presumed to have arrived …

Getting Hooked On Farmed Salmon: A Good Source Of Omega-3s, Susan Raatz, Matthew Picklo, William Wolters, Rosalie Marion Bliss

Agricultural Research Magazine

Nearly 85 percent of seafood enjoyed by U.S. consumers is imported, and almost half of that is farm raised through a process called “aquaculture,” according to the National Aquaculture Association, based in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. In 2011, the United States imported $16.6 billion of seafood and exported $5.4 billion, a difference of $11.2 billion.

As the world’s population grows and demand for seafood increases, many seafood species are overfished or fully exploited. That means the world’s oceans cannot turn out more fish than are currently being produced. As the ceiling is being reached on seafood availability from the wild, U.S. …

New Bioenergy Yeast Is An Overachiever, Zonglin Lewis Liu, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

There's a lot that can be done with a corn cob after the kernels have been removed. Farmers leave the cobs on the field to boost soil quality. Enterprising cooks use the cobs to make jelly. In China, the sugar xylose is extracted from the cob for industrial uses.

Liu worked with technician Scott Weber and supervisory microbiologist Michael Cotta on this project. All three researchers are in the Bioenergy Research Unit at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois.

The team started the project with a strain of yeast that had been identified in earlier studies …

Dogs, Pine Trees, And Carbs, Neil P.J. Price, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Carbohydrates from a perhaps surprising source—pine trees—may have beneficial effects on dogs’ digestive-system health, according to collaborative studies by Agricultural Research Service, university, and corporate scientists.

The carbs, predominantly a group known as “GGMOs”—short for galactoglucomannan oligosaccharides—are a key ingredient in Previda, an all-natural dietary ingredient marketed to makers of pet food, aquaculture feed, and other animal-nutrition products.

ARS chemist Neil P.J. Price began his studies of these fiber-rich carbs in 2007, working under the auspices of a cooperative agreement with Temple-Inland, a Texas-based producer of lumber, fiberboard, and other wood products made from loblolly, longleaf, and other kinds of …

Nourishing America’S Preemies Scientists Confront The Challenges Of Iv Feeding, Douglas G. Burrin, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Each year, more than a half-million infants are born prematurely in the United States. Many of these preemies, particularly those whose tiny digestive systems are simply too underdeveloped to handle mother’s milk or infant formula, may need to be nourished exclusively via intravenous feeding, known as “total parenteral nutrition,” or TPN.

TPN solutions, usually administered at the hospital for anywhere from a few days to a month or more, provide essential nutrients broken down into a very basic form. This liquid is gently and continuously infused into the infant’s bloodstream, completely bypassing the digestive tract.

“TPN helps save the lives …