Food Science Commons^™

Viral Infection In Sheep Linked To Gene, Michael P. Heaton, Kreg A. Leymaster, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

The discovery of a gene associated with a persistent viral infection that causes an incurable disease—ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP)—in sheep has led to the development of a genetic test that can be used to help reduce the impact of the disease.

A slow-acting, wasting disease, OPP affects millions of sheep worldwide and is one of the most costly diseases to producers in North America. Previous research revealed that 36 percent of sheep operations and 24 percent of sheep tested in the United States were infected with ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV)—lentivirus strains that target the immune system and cause OPP. …

Agricultural Research Magazine, April 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Irrigation Wastewater: Waste Not, Want Not

6 Two Approaches for Optimizing Water Productivity

8 Compounds in Whole-Grain Rice Varieties

10 New Discovery Makes Detecting Johne’s Disease Easier

12 House Fly Virus Stops Flies from Reproducing

14 Improved Vitamin B12 Test May Help Young and Old Alike

16 Rooting Out a Novel Stress Syndrome in Pigs

18 A Modeling Milestone for Soil Phosphorus Management

20 New Technologies for Studying Crops and Crop Diseases

23 Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

New Technologies For Studying Crops And Crop Diseases, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

Agricultural Research Service scientists in New York and California have developed very different technologies that share a common thread. They offer scientists new, innovative ways to probe what happens when a crop is threatened by drought or disease.

Michelle Cilia and Stewart Gray, ARS scientists at the Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health in Ithaca, New York, and their colleagues at the University of Washington have found a way to map the structure of an elusive protein that gives certain plant viruses the ability to travel from plants to insects, through the insects, and back into plants.

Andrew …

New Discovery Makes Detecting Johne's Disease Easier, John Bannantine, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

Before a disease can be treated, it must first be identified. But that’s not always easy, especially in the case of Johne’s disease, which affects cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and other ruminants.

Johne’s disease—also known as “paratuberculosis”— is a costly, contagious disease that causes diarrhea, reduced feed intake, weight loss, and sometimes death. Annual estimated losses to cattle producers range from $40 to $227 per infected animal. For the U.S. dairy industry alone, losses exceed $220 million each year.

For years, scientists have been hampered by the fact that any antibody—a protein produced by the immune system to fight infections …

House Fly Virus Stops, Christopher J. Geden, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

The house fly is often considered merely a nuisance. But these flies are capable of transmitting animal and human pathogens that can lead to foodborne diseases, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Shigella bacteria.

Insecticides are important for control, but house flies are particularly good at developing resistance, and their larvae tend to stay deep enough within their gooey food to avoid exposure to sprays.

Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE) in Gainesville, Florida, are looking at new methods that target adult flies. A promising biological control agent—salivary gland hypertrophy virus …

Challenge For Sustaining Agriculture, Mark Walbridge

Agricultural Research Magazine

With the climate changing and the world’s population expected to rise in the coming decades, supplying a hungry planet with food and fiber will become more of a challenge. By some estimates, food production will have to increase by up to 70 percent to feed the world over the next 40 years. Perhaps no resource is more critical to meeting that challenge than water.

How essential is water to agriculture? An estimated 17 percent of all harvested U.S. cropland is irrigated, accounting for about 56.6 million acres. Worldwide, more than 40 percent of the world’s food is grown on irrigated …

April 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

Davis, California 3 research units ■ 117 employees

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

U.S. Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, Maricopa, Arizona 3 research units ■ 80 employees

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

Conservation and Production Research Laboratory, Bushland, Texas 2 research units ■ 55 employees

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

Grassland Soil and Water Research …

Rooting Out A Novel Stress Syndrome In Pigs, Dan Nonneman, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

Undergoing surgery, even a minor procedure, can be stressful for anyone. But for people who have malignant hyperthermia, a hereditary disease that’s triggered by certain drugs used for general anesthesia, it can also be dangerous.

Research into this rare, life-threatening condition, which causes a fast rise in body temperature, severe muscle contractions, and sometimes death, was limited until the discovery of a similar disorder in pigs, referred to as “porcine stress syndrome.” The classical syndrome is associated with poor response to stressors like transport and with poor-quality pork. It has been eliminated from commercial herds in the United States, but …

Compounds In Whole-Grain Rice Varieties, Ming-Hsuan Chen, Karen Bett-Garber, Rosalie Marion Bliss

Agricultural Research Magazine

Whole-grain brown rice contains 15 vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, and iron—all nutrients the body needs to grow and develop normally. In addition to these essential nutrients, there are bioactive phytochemicals in rice, as well as in other whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds. Although the role of these plant chemicals in terms of human health has not been proven, a body of evidence suggests that some phytochemicals could be nutritionally beneficial.

Now, studies headed by chemist Ming-Hsuan Chen, who is with the Agricultural Research Service’s Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas, …

A Modeling Milestone For Soil Phosphorus Management, Peter Vadas, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is looking for ways to upgrade the Phosphorus Index, a simple management tool developed during the 1990s to gauge the risk of phosphorus losses from agricultural fields. In developing a national nutrient-management policy, NRCS allowed states to modify the original index—a matrix of source and transport factors that contribute to phosphorus loss— with inputs to account for local variations in soils, climate, management, and water quality goals.

But this resulted in widely different state-by-state phosphorus indices that often didn’t agree with each other on how to manage phosphorus. “We’d put …

Two Approaches For Optimizing Water Productivity, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

Agricultural Research Service researchers in Bushland, Texas, are helping farmers make the most of their water supplies in a region where they depend on the Ogallala Aquifer, a massive underground reservoir under constant threat of overuse.

Steve Evett, Susan O’Shaughnessy, and their colleagues at the Conservation and Production Research Laboratory are developing and testing soil-water and plant-stress sensors and automated irrigation systems that will irrigate fields only as necessary. Automated systems are considered key to sustainable use of the aquifer and to helping growers reduce water and labor costs.

“As water becomes more precious and the costs to pump it …

Irrigation Wastewater: Waste Not, Want Not, Dennis Corwin, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

Agricultural producers on the west side of California’s San Joaquin Valley (WSJV) used to drain irrigation wastewater into Kesterson Reservoir, a series of holding ponds that were part of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge. But selenium levels in the water became hazardous to waterfowl, so the storage facility was closed in 1987. Since then, farmers have been keeping the wastewater—which also contains salt and traces of arsenic, boron, and molybdenum—in evaporation ponds on their own land, which takes around 10 percent of the crop land out of production.

Agricultural Research Service soil scientist Dennis Corwin and his colleagues had …

Improved Vitamin B12 Test May, John W. Newman, Lindsay H. Allen, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Vitamin B12 helps your body perform many vital chores, including forming healthy red blood cells; keeping your brain functioning smoothly; and processing (metabolizing) the fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in foods that you eat.

Like all vitamins, B12 is a micronutrient, meaning that we need it in only very small amounts. We get B12 from animal products— meats, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, and yogurt, for instance—or from B12-fortified foods, notably breakfast cereals. We can also obtain it from nutritional supplements, such as B12 tablets or multivitamin pills. People who need to boost their B12 levels quickly may do so via shots …

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

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

[Page] 2 Food Focus: SDSU Leading National Effort To Promote Healthy Food Choices
[Page] 3 In Stores Now: “Pick It, Try It, Like It” Fruit & Vegetable Campaign
[Page] 4 Coaching Food Entrepreneurs: SDSU Extension Outreach Includes Entrepreneur Workshops
[Page] 5 From South Dakota to South America: College of Agriculture & Biological Science Students Experience Argentine Agriculture
[Page] 6 Spring College News
[Page] 8 Showcasing Ag’s Evolution: SDSU’s Ag Museum Is More Than Just Tractors [Page] 10 Mastering Marketing: Students Host Bull Sale Through Unique Class [Page] 11 Following Pheasants: SDSU Researchers Analyze Nesting Needs
[Page] 12 Faculty Highlights
[Page] …

Sugar Promotes Vegetative Phase Change In Arabidopsis Thaliana By Repressing The Expression Of Mir156a And Mir156c, Li Yang, Mingli Xu, Yeonjong Koo, Jia He, R. Scott Poethig

Faculty Publications

Nutrients shape the growth, maturation, and aging of plants and animals. In plants, the juvenile to adult transition (vegetative phase change) is initiated by a decrease in miR156. In Arabidopsis, we found that exogenous sugar decreased the abundance of miR156, whereas reduced photosynthesis increased the level of this miRNA. This effect was correlated with a change in the timing of vegetative phase change, and was primarily attributable to a change in the expression of two genes, MIR156A and MIR156C, which were found to play dominant roles in this transition. The glucose-induced repression of miR156 was dependent on the …

Linking Animal Behavior To Useful Natural Repellents, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

A little monkey business is revealing a few clues about natural remedies that animals use to protect themselves against biting insects and arthropods.

Certain species of animals, such as monkeys and birds, anoint themselves with citrus, other plants, and creatures like millipedes. To find out more about this behavior and to determine if any chemicals in the anointing substances effectively deter ticks and mosquitoes, scientists are examining responses to natural compounds.

Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service Henry A. Wallace Beltsville [Maryland] Agricultural Research Center (BARC) and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) at the National Zoological Park in Front …

An Atlas For Guatemala, A Tool For Conserving World Crops, Karen Williams, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

With exotic names like ayote de caballo (a wild squash), friajolito (a wild bean), and teocinte (a wild relative of corn), Guatemala’s native plants seem very different from the agricultural bounty produced by farmers in the United States and other countries. But many of these native plants carry genes that may be vital to global food security. A new tool, developed by a team that includes Agricultural Research Service scientists, will make it easier to find and preserve these important plants. The tool is an interactive atlas designed to provide Guatemalan scientists and land managers with information on where these …

Wasted Food: What We Are Doing To Prevent Costly Losses, Robert L. Fireovid

Agricultural Research Magazine

Like many other public and private organizations, the Agricultural Research Service is very concerned about how much food goes to waste between farm and fork—both nationally and internationally.

By reducing losses in our food systems, U.S. growers, processors, and others can enhance America’s ability to feed itself and the world. By the same token, slashing waste may provide new opportunities to reduce costs along the entire supply chain and make better use of increasingly limited natural resources.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) estimated— in 2008—that the amount of food lost annually at just the retail and …

Measuring And Managing Impacts Of Manure Spills, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

Manure spills happen for a range of reasons—a manure spreader rolls over, a hose breaks, a storage pond overflows after a relentless downpour. Whatever the cause, these events are such a threat to the environment that states have emergency teams to deal with the hazard.

Typically, the responders build dams to contain the spill and then pump out the contaminated water. Although cleanup efforts start as quickly as possible, a fish kill in a nearby stream is often the first evidence that a spill has taken place.

Another problem is that sediments in the contaminated water channel can capture phosphorus …

March 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

Davis, California 3 research units ■ 117 employees Corvallis, Oregon 3 research units ■ 127 employees

Vegetable and Forage Crops Research Unit, Prosser, Washington 1 research unit ■ 35 employees

Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, Idaho 1 research unit ■ 34 employees

U.S. Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, Maricopa, Arizona 3 research units ■ 80 employees

Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, Sidney, Montana 2 research units ■ 59 employees

Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas 1 research unit ■ 8 employees …

Trickery And Other Methods Explored To Vanquish Potato Cyst Nematodes, Roy Navarre, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

The pale cyst nematode, Globodera pallida, is one bad roundworm.

Unchecked, it invades the roots of potato and other host crops to feed, obstructing the free flow of nutrients and causing stunted growth, wilted leaves, and other symptoms that can eventually kill the plant. Severe infestations in potato fields can cause yield losses of up to 80 percent.

To make matters worse, female G. pallida nematodes form hard, round cysts that safeguard their eggs from predators and parasites, inhospitable conditions, or a scarcity of food. As many as 30 years may pass before the eggs hatch (cued by a …

How Does A Mom's Nutrition Affect Her Children's Health?, Robert A. Waterland, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

In some rural villages of the tiny West African nation of The Gambia, food is generally less available during August and September—the peak of the rainy season—than during a typically dry March through May. Now, a study led by molecular geneticist Robert A. Waterland of the USDA-ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas, has shown that functioning of certain genes in kids conceived during the rainy season differs from that in children conceived during the dry season.

The difference may be explained by a relatively new science referred to as “epigenetics.” The variation appears to be permanent, and in …

A Desert Shrub’S Crystallized Protein Sheds Light On Photosynthesis, Michael Salvucci, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

Plants use an enzyme known as “rubisco” to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, with energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil, build up the shoots, leaves, and stems that make up the plant itself. Scientists have known that for years. They also have known that temperatures are important. When it gets too hot, a rubisco helper protein called “rubisco activase” shuts down, photosynthesis stops, and the plant stops growing. Heat literally unravels the activase protein, and when it does, the result is a less bountiful harvest. Different plants shut down photosynthesis at different temperatures, and the …

Agricultural Research Magazine, March 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Weight Loss, Cortisol, and Your Brain: Scientists Explore Connections

6 How Does Mom’s Nutrition Affect Her Children’s Health? Epigenetics May Provide New Insights

8 Enhancing Yogurt With Healthful Fiber From Oats

9 An Atlas for Guatemala, a Tool for Conserving World Crops

10 Linking Animal Behavior to Useful Natural Repellents

12 Cultural Practices To Maintain Soil Quality and Address Climate Change

15 A Desert Shrub’s Crystallized Protein Sheds Light on Photosynthesis

16 Measuring and Managing Impacts of Manure Spills

18 Trickery and Other Methods Explored To Vanquish Potato Cyst Nematodes

20 Measuring the Potential of Switchgrass …

Cultural Practices To Maintain Soil Quality And Address Climate Change, Upendra Sainju, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

For decades, farmers in Montana and the Dakotas have produced impressive yields of barley and wheat. But that bounty has come at a cost. Tilling the soil in the region’s crop-fallow production systems has robbed the soil of nutrients and organic matter and reduced crop yields. In fact, the region’s soils have lost up to 50 percent of their organic matter in the last 50 to 100 years, and scientists say that current practices are unsustainable.

Agriculture also contributes about 25 percent of the human-made carbon dioxide and 70 percent of the human-made nitrous oxide being released into the atmosphere. …

Measuring The Potential Of Switchgrass Pellets, Paul Adler, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

President Barack Obama wants U.S. scientists to pursue an “all-of-the-above” strategy in developing new sources of domestic energy. Agricultural Research Service agronomist Paul Adler is providing complete cost-benefit breakdowns for using switch-grass pellets instead of fuel oil to heat homes and businesses in the Northeast.

“There have been a lot of studies on bioenergy potential,” says Adler, who works at the ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit in University Park, Pennsylvania. “Most of them are focusing on transportation, but we still need a viable, commercial, bio-based fuel substitute for petroleum. In the meantime, our studies suggest that we …

Weight Loss, Cortisol, And Your Brain Scientists Explore Connections, Nancy L. Keim, Kevin D. Laugero, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Americans everywhere are struggling to lose weight—and to keep from putting those lost pounds right back on. For many, it’s discouraging to have their best efforts fail while those of other dieters succeed.

Researchers at the Agricultural Research Service’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California, are conducting studies that may provide new insights into the underlying causes of this disparity in dieting success.

Given America’s obesity epidemic, such research is timely and relevant. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 35 percent of U.S. adults and 18 percent of kids and adolescents age 6 through …

Enhancing Yogurt With Healthful Fiber From Oats, Mukti Singh, Sanghoon Kim, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Adding about one-quarter teaspoon of a fiber-rich component of oats boosts the nutritional value of low-fat yogurt without noticeably affecting the taste or texture of this increasingly popular dairy food.

Oat fiber is of interest to foodmakers and nutritionists alike. Studies with volunteers have shown that it can lower serum cholesterol, which may help improve heart health.

Agricultural Research Service food technologist Mukti Singh, chemist Sanghoon Kim, and their colleagues experimented with adding fiber-containing oat beta-glucan to what’s known in the dairy industry as “low-fat yogurt mix.” It is made up of low-fat milk and a selection of common, safe-to-eat …

The Space Age Sugar Shack, Stephen G. Saupe

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Temperament Plays Key Role In Cattle Health, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

Do you know someone who’s temperamental? What about an animal? Amazingly, cattle can be temperamental too, which influences how they should be handled, how they perform, and even how they react to viruses that cause diseases.

For cattle, temperament is defined as the reactivity or fear response to humans or handling. Terms used to describe temperamental animals include “flighty,” “excitable,” and “high strung.” These animals can potentially injure themselves or their handlers.

Beef cattle experience stressful events during routine management practices— weaning, transportation, social mixing, and vaccination. These practices have been shown to induce secretion of the stress-related hormones cortisol …