Agricultural Science Commons^™

Synthesis Of The Effect Of Fire On Lesser Prairie‐Chickens, Eric Thacker, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In this synthesis, we reviewed the scientific literature pertaining to the effects of fire on lesser prairie‐chickens and their habitat. Overall, research is generally lacking that directly assesses relationships among fire, both as a regime and a discrete event, to its effect on lesser prairie‐chicken behavior and habitat value. Yet, research has quantified the effects of fire on vegetation throughout the distribution of the lesser prairie‐chicken, which has been linked to known metrics of habitat value and broad landscape‐level habitat requirements.

To summarize the literature, lesser prairie‐chickens require broad landscapes of fire‐dependent grass‐shrub vegetation. Changes in the eco‐evolutionary fire regime …

Garlic Variety Trial 2014, Rebecca Brown, Noah Leclaire-Conway

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

Based on the 2012-13 results, soft neck garlic is a viable crop for southern New England. The best varieties did as well as the best hard neck varieties. For both types of garlic approximately ¼ of the bulbs were culled because of insufficient size. The cause of the small bulbs is unclear; they may have been due to competition from the oats that failed to winter kill, or they may have been because the planting stock had not adapted to our conditions. Bulb rot is more of a problem with soft neck garlic, but appears to be controllable with careful …

Effect Of Sulfur Amendments On Yield And Quality In Alliums, Rebecca Brown, Noah Leclaire-Conway

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

In conclusion, sulfur fertilization appears to offer little or no benefit for allium vegetables in Rhode Island. Variety differences were much greater than the fertility effects, and growers who are experiencing issues with yield and storage life are encouraged to consider switching to better varieties.

Leek Variety Trial 2014, Rebecca Brown, Noah Leclaire-Conway

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

Megaton was an excellent performer for yield both years, with strong establishment and uniformly large leeks. DP-12-02 and Tadorna also did well both years; moderate yields are due to the smaller size of these leeks relative to Megaton. DP-12-02 is a very tall, thin, green leek that is well suited to bunching sales in late summer and early fall, but loses quality when harvested late. Tadorna and Autumn Giant were the most winter hardy, and were generally good performers except for a tendency to variable size and a high percentage of unmarketably small leeks. Rally was only tested in 2013 …

Onion Variety Trial 2014, Rebecca Brown, Noah Leclaire-Conway

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

In 2012 we trialed 18 yellow storage onion varieties, three red onion varieties, and one sweet onion. The 2013 trial included 17 yellow storage onion varieties, 3 sweet yellow onion varieties, one sweet white variety, and 7 red onion varieties. The onion varieties were evaluated for yield, quality, storability, and suitability to plasticulture. All of the onions were started from seed in the greenhouse and transplanted into raised beds covered with plastic mulch. In 2012 transplanting took place on April 13 and beds were covered with conventional plastic mulch. In 2013 transplanting took place on April 30 and beds were …

Drivers Of Spatial And Temporal Variation In Soybean Yield And Irrigation Requirements In The Western Us Corn Belt, Patricio Grassini, Jessica A. Torrion, Kenneth Cassman, Haishun Yang, James Specht

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Both rainfed and irrigated soybean production are important in Nebraska (western US Corn Belt), accounting for a respective 48 and 52% of the state’s soybean production of 7 Mt on a respective 55 and 45% share of the state soybean area of 1.9 Mha. To date, no assessment of factors that may account for regional and inter-annual variation in yield and irrigation amount has been performed. To accomplish that objective, we evaluated a database containing on-farm field yields and total irrigation amount used in those fields. These data have been collected annually from ca. 1000 soybean fields in six regions …

Stacking Of A Stearoyl-Acp Thioesterase With A Dual-Silenced Palmitoyl-Acp Thioesterase And Δ12 Fatty Acid Desaturase In Transgenic Soybean, Hyunwoo Park, George L. Graef, Yixiang Xu, Patrick Tenopir, Thomas E. Clemente

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is valued for both its protein and oil, whose seed is composed of 40% and 20% of each component, respectively. Given its high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid and linolenic acid, soybean oil oxidative stability is relatively poor. Historically food processors have employed a partial hydrogenation process to soybean oil as a means to improve both the oxidative stability and functionality in end-use applications. However, the hydrogenation process leads to the formation of trans-fats, which are associated with negative cardiovascular health. As a means to circumvent the need for the hydrogenation process, genetic …

Perceptions Of The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program: A Survey Of Superintendents On University-Affiliated Golf Courses In The U.S., Jacob Joseph Kuban

Theses and Dissertations

This project assessed U.S. university-affiliated golf courses on their certification level in regards to the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (ACSP) for golf courses and the amount of college or university student involvement with the certification process. Certification through the ACSP is designed to recognize environmental stewardship and sustainable golf course management practices. A cross-sectional, self-administered online questionnaire was administered to U.S. university golf course superintendents via an online link to the survey in an e-mail message. The population of 120 university golf course superintendents was asked to participate. Data was analyzed using Qualtrics, SPSS, SAS, and Microsoft Excel. Questions were …

No 1 2013 Eggplant Variety Trial, Rebecca Brown

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

Descriptions of eggplant varieties trialed at the Gardiner Crop Research Farm of URI, Kingston, RI

No 2 2013 Pepper Variety Trial, Rebecca Brown

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

Descriptions of pepper varieties trialed at the Gardiner Crop Research Farm of URI, Kingston, RI

No 4 2013 Tomato High Tunnel Variety Trial, Andrew M. Radin

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

Descriptions of tomato varieties trialed in high tunnels, and a system used to trellis them at the Gardiner Crop Research Farm of URI, Kingston, RI

No3 2013 Melon Variety Trial, Rebecca Brown

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

Descriptions of melon varieties, including disease ratings, trialed at the Gardiner Crop Research Farm of URI, Kingston, RI

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2013, Fred Bourland, A. B. Beach, C. Kennedy, L. Martin

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production.

First Report Of Curvularia Inaequalis And Bipolaris Spicifera Causing Leaf Blight Of Buffalograss In Nebraska, B. S. Amaradasa, K. Amundsen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

During the summer of 2011, foliar blight was observed on buffalograss (Buchloë dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.) lawns in Lincoln and Waverly, Nebraska. Disease symptoms were common when buffalograss was growing above 30°C and in drought conditions. Disease symptoms began as dark brown oblong leaf spots, followed by leaf tip dieback and eventual blighting of entire tillers. Leaf infections would progress into patches of thinning turf. Diseased leaf pieces were rinsed in distilled water and placed on 1.5% water agar. Two mitosporic fungal species having conidial morphology of Curvularia and Bipolaris were isolated. Colonies of Curvularia isolates grown on ¼× PDA …

2014 Carrot Variety Trial, Rebecca Brown

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Effectiveness Of Hand Removal For Small-Scale Management Of Japanese Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Paul V. Switzer, Ryan M. Cumming

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Hand removal is often recommended as a method for small-scale control of Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica Newman). In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of daily hand removal for controlling damage by Japanese beetles on grape plants. We also investigated whether the timing of the removal (at 0800, 1400, or 1900 hours, or at all 3 periods) inßuenced the effectiveness of the technique. We found that hand removal signiÞcantly lowered the number of beetles on, and consequently the damage to, grape plants relative to nonremoval controls. Of the single removal treatments, removal of beetles at 1900 hours was most effective, …

Effectiveness Of Hand Removal For Small-Scale Management Of Japanese Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Paul Switzer, Ryan Cumming

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Hand removal is often recommended as a method for small-scale control of Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica Newman). In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of daily hand removal for controlling damage by Japanese beetles on grape plants. We also investigated whether the timing of the removal (at 0800, 1400, or 1900 hours, or at all 3 periods) inßuenced the effectiveness of the technique. We found that hand removal signiÞcantly lowered the number of beetles on, and consequently the damage to, grape plants relative to nonremoval controls. Of the single removal treatments, removal of beetles at 1900 hours was most effective, …

Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis Of Unsaturated Fatty Acids In A Recombinant Inbred Population Of Soybean, Xianzhi Wang, Guo-Liang Jiang, Marci Green, Roy A. Scott, D. L. Hyten, P. B. Cregan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is an important oilseed crop which produces about 30 %of the world’s edible vegetable oil. The quality of soybean oil is determined by its fatty acid composition. Soybean oil high in oleic and low in linolenic fatty acids is desirable for human consumption and other uses. The objectives of this study were to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for unsaturated fatty acids and to evaluate the genetic effects of single QTL and QTL combinations in soybean. A population of recombinant inbred lines derived from the cross of SD02-4-59 X A02-381100 was evaluated for fatty …

Detection And Confirmation Of Quantitative Trait Loci For Soybean Seed Isoflavones, Christopher J. Smallwood, Catherine N. Nyinyi, Dean A. Kopsell, Carl E. Sams, Dennis R. West, Pengyin Chen, Stella K. Kantartzi, P. B. Cregan, D. L. Hyten, Vincent R. Pantalone

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Interest in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] isoflavones has increased in recent years owing to numerous reported health benefits. Consequently, quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection for marker-assisted breeding for isoflavones is being examined for genetic gains. This study sought to detect QTL for soybean isoflavones in a population of 274 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between ‘Essex’ and ‘Williams 82’ that were subdivided and tested by maturity (early, mid, and late). The field tests were conducted in three environments in 2009 (Knoxville, TN; Harrisburg, IL; and Stuttgart, AR). The population was genotyped with 480 polymorphic single nucleotide …

Transcriptomic And Physiological Characterization Of The Fefe Mutant Of Melon (Cucumis Melo) Reveals New Aspects Of Iron-Copper Crosstalk, Brian M. Waters, Samuel A. Mcinturf, Keenan Amundsen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) homeostasis are tightly linked across biology. In previous work, Fe deficiency interacted with Cu-regulated genes and stimulated Cu accumulation. The C940-fe (fefe) Fe-uptake mutant of melon (Cucumis melo) was characterized, and the fefe mutant was used to test whether Cu deficiency could stimulate Fe uptake. Wild-type and fefe mutant transcriptomes were determined by RNA-seq under Fe and Cu deficiency. FeFe-regulated genes included core Fe uptake, metal homeostasis, and transcription factor genes. Numerous genes were regulated by both Fe and Cu. The fefe mutant was rescued by high Fe or by …

Arabidopsis Lipins, Pdat1 Acyltransferase, And Sdp1 Triacylglycerol Lipase Synergistically Direct Fatty Acids Toward Β-Oxidation, Thereby Maintaining Membrane Lipid Homeostasis, Jilian Fan, Chengshi Yan, Rebecca Roston, John Shanklin, Changcheng Xu

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Triacylglycerol (TAG) metabolism is a key aspect of intracellular lipid homeostasis in yeast and mammals, but its role in vegetative tissues of plants remains poorly defined. We previously reported that PHOSPHOLIPID:DIACYLGLYCEROL ACYLTRANSFERASE1 (PDAT1) is crucial for diverting fatty acids (FAs) from membrane lipid synthesis to TAG and thereby protecting against FA-induced cell death in leaves. Here, we show that overexpression of PDAT1 enhances the turnover of FAs in leaf lipids. Using the trigalactosyldiacylglycerol1-1 (tgd1-1) mutant, which displays substantially enhanced PDAT1- mediated TAG synthesis, we demonstrate that disruption of SUGAR-DEPENDENT1 (SDP1) TAG lipase or PEROXISOMAL TRANSPORTER1 (PXA1) severely decreases …

A Reference Genome For Common Bean And Genome-Wide Analysis Of Dual Domestications, Jeremy Schmutz, Phillip E. Mcclean, Sujan Mamidi, G. Albert Wu, Steven B. Cannon, Jane Grimwood, Jerry Jenkins, Shengqiang Shu, Qijian Song, Carolina Chavarro, Mirayda Torres-Torres, Valerie Geffroy, Samira Mafi Moghaddam, Dongying Gao, Brian Abernathy, Kerrie Barry, Matthew Blair, Mark A. Brick, Mansi Chovatia, Paul Gepts, David M. Goodstein, Michael Gonzales, Uffe Hellsten, D. L. Hyten, Gaofeng Jia, James D. Kelly, Dave Kudrna, Rian Lee, Manon M.S. Richard, Phillip N. Miklas, Juan M. Osorno, Josiane Rodrigues, Vincent Thareau, Carlos A. Urrea Florez, Mei Wang, Yeisoo Yu, Ming Zhang, Rod A. Wing, P. B. Cregan, Daniel S. Rokhsar, Scott A. Jackson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important grain legume for human consumption and has a role in sustainable agriculture owing to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. We assembled 473 Mb of the 587-Mb genome and genetically anchored 98% of this sequence in 11 chromosome-scale pseudomolecules. We compared the genome for the common bean against the soybean genome to find changes in soybean resulting from polyploidy. Using resequencing of 60 wild individuals and 100 landraces from the genetically differentiated Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools, we confirmed 2 independent domestications from genetic pools that diverged before human colonization. …

Effectiveness Of A Farm Field Trip, Bonnie S. Sigmon

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

The annual Sigmon Farm Tour was started in 1992 as an agricultural education program where students could experience being on a farm with the goal of increasing the agricultural literacy levels of the participants. Every year the entire 4th grade student population of Rockcastle County spends the day touring the farm and participating in experiential mini lessons given by the cooperating farm service and health agencies. The program has continued for 20+ years without an evaluation as to whether it is achieving its objectives. This evaluation will also exhibit the programs strengths and weakness so it can continue to improve. …

Shattercane X Als-Tolerant Sorghum F1 Hybrid And Shattercane Interference In Als-Tolerant Sorghum, Rodrigo Werle, Jared J. Schmidt, John Laborde, Angela Tran, Cody F. Creech, John L. Lindquist

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

ALS-tolerant grain sorghum cultivars are expected to be available for farmers within the next few years. Knowing that: (i) crosses between sorghum and shattercane are likely to occur resulting in crop-to-weed gene flow; (ii) ALS-susceptible shattercane X ALS-tolerant grain sorghum F1 hybrids (hybrids) were ultimately resistant to ALS-herbicides under field conditions; and (iii) hybrid fitness is equal to, or greater than, the wild parent, we conducted a greenhouse study to compare the competitive effect of shattercane and hybrid on sorghum, and whether or not herbicide application would influence the competitive ability of the hybrid …

Common Sunflower Seedling Emergence Across The U.S. Midwest, Sharon A. Clay, Adam Davis, Anita Dille, John Lindquist, Analiza H. M. Ramirez, Christy Sprague, Graig Reicks, Frank Forcella

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Predictions of weed emergence can be used by practitioners to schedule POST weed management operations. Common sunflower seed from Kansas was used at six Midwestern U.S. sites to examine the variability that 16 climates had on common sunflower emergence. Nonlinear mixed effects models, using a flexible sigmoidal Weibull function that included thermal time, hydrothermal time, and a modified hydrothermal time (with accumulation starting from January 1 of each year), were developed to describe the emergence data. An iterative method was used to select an optimal base temperature (T_b) and base and ceiling soil matric potentials (ψ_b and …

Genotyping By Sequencing For Genomic Prediction In A Soybean Breeding Population, Diego Jarquin, Kyle Kocak, Luis Posadas, Katie Hyma, Joseph Jedlicka, George L. Graef, Aaron Lorenz

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Advances in genotyping technology, such as genotyping by sequencing (GBS), are making genomic prediction more attractive to reduce breeding cycle times and costs associated with phenotyping. Genomic prediction and selection has been studied in several crop species, but no reports exist in soybean. The objectives of this study were (i) evaluate prospects for genomic selection using GBS in a typical soybean breeding program and (ii) evaluate the effect of GBS marker selection and imputation on genomic prediction accuracy. To achieve these objectives, a set of soybean lines sampled from the University of Nebraska Soybean Breeding Program were genotyped using …

Identification And Validation Of Quantitative Trait Loci For Seed Yield, Oil And Protein Contents In Two Recombinant Inbred Line Populations Of Soybean, Xianzhi Wang, Guo‑Liang Jiang, Marci Green, Roy A. Scott, Qijian Song, D. L. Hyten, P. B. Cregan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean seeds contain high levels of oil and protein, and are the important sources of vegetable oil and plant protein for human consumption and livestock feed. Increased seed yield, oil and protein contents are the main objectives of soybean breeding. The objectives of this study were to identify and validate quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with seed yield, oil and protein contents in two recombinant inbred line populations, and to evaluate the consistency of QTLs across different environments, studies and genetic backgrounds. Both the mapping population (SD02- 4-59 × A02-381100) and validation population (SD02- 911 × SD00-1501) were phenotyped for …

Porocercospora Seminalis Gen. Et Comb. Nov., The Causal Organism Of Buffalograss False Smut, Bimal S. Amaradasa, Hugo Madrid, Johannes Z. Groenewald, Pedro W. Crous, Keenan L. Amundsen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

False smut caused by Cercospora seminalis is an important disease of buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) affecting seed production. The pathogen prevents normal caryopsis development and causes considerable yield loss and reduced seed germination. The current taxonomic placement of the false-smut causal pathogen in the genus Cercospora is incorrect based on its morphological characteristics and DNA phylogeny. In the present study the phylogenetic position of C. seminalis is clarified based on DNA sequence analysis of three loci namely the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, partial nuclear ribosomal large subunit (LSU) and partial sequences of the RNA polymerase II second largest …

Identification Of A Sphingolipid Α-Glucuronosyltransferase That Is Essential For Pollen Function In Arabidopsis, Emilie A. Rennie, Berit Ebert, Godfrey P. Miles, Rebecca E. Cahoon, Katy M. Christiansen, Solomon Stonebloom, Hoda Khatab, David Twell, Christopher J. Petzold, Paul D. Adams, Paul Dupree, Joshua L. Heazlewood, Edgar B. Cahoon, Henrik Vibe Scheller

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Glycosyl inositol phosphorylceramide (GIPC) sphingolipids are a major class of lipids in fungi, protozoans, and plants. GIPCs are abundant in the plasma membrane in plants, comprising around a quarter of the total lipids in these membranes. Plant GIPCs contain unique glycan decorations that include a conserved glucuronic acid (GlcA) residue and various additional sugars; however, no proteins responsible for glycosylating GIPCs have been identified to date. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis thaliana protein INOSITOL PHOSPHORYLCERAMIDE GLUCURONOSYLTRANSFERASE1 (IPUT1) transfers GlcA from UDP-GlcA to GIPCs. To demonstrate IPUT1 activity, we introduced the IPUT1 gene together with genes for a UDP-glucose dehydrogenase …

Identification Of Differentially Expressed Genes Between Sorghum Genotypes With Contrasting Nitrogen Stress Tolerance By Genome-Wide Transcriptional Profiling, Malleswari Gelli, Yongchao Duo, Anji Reddy Konda, Chi Zhang, David R. Holding, Ismail M. Dweikat

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Sorghum is an important cereal crop, which requires large quantities of nitrogen fertilizer for achieving commercial yields. Identification of the genes responsible for low-N tolerance in sorghum will facilitate understanding of the molecular mechanisms of low-N tolerance, and also facilitate the genetic improvement of sorghum through marker-assisted selection or gene transformation. In this study we compared the transcriptomes of root tissues from seven sorghum genotypes having differential response to low-N stress.

Results: Illumina RNA-sequencing detected several common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between four low-N tolerant sorghum genotypes (San Chi San, China17, KS78 and high-NUE bulk) and three …