Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

Erratum To: Identification And Characterization Of Four Missense Mutations In Brown Midrib12 (Bmr12), The Caffeic Acid O-Methyltranferase (Comt) Of Sorghum, Scott E. Sattler, Nathan A. Palmer, Ana Saballos, Ann M. Greene, Zhanguo Xin, Gautam Sarath, Wilfred Vermerris, Jeffrey F. Pedersen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The original version of this article unfortunately contained some mistakes. The name of the enzyme “Caffeic O-methyltransferase” should be read as “Caffeic acid O-Methyltranferase” throughout the paper, including the title.

On Table 2, the fifth column should have been captured as part of the sub-heading “Unpretreated”. The corrected version is shown on the next page.

Table 2 Variation in Klason lignin content and glucose yields obtained after enzymatic saccharification at 50 °C at 60 FPU/ g cellulase of native (unpretreated) stover after 4, 20, and 96 h, and of pretreated stover after 24 h

Mapping Soybean Aphid Resistance Genes In Pi 567598b, Carmille Bales, Guorong Zhang, Menghan Liu, Clarice Mensah, Cuihua Gu, Qijian Song, D. L. Hyten, P. B. Cregan, Dechun Wang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) has been a major pest of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in North America since it was first reported in 2000. Our previous study revealed that the strong aphid resistance of plant introduction (PI) 567598B was controlled by two recessive genes. The objective of this study was to locate these two genes on the soybean genetic linkage map using molecular markers. A mapping population of 282 F_4:5 lines derived from IA2070 X E06902 was evaluated for aphid resistance in a field trial in 2009 and a greenhouse trial in 2010. Two …

Unleashing The Potential Of The Root Hair Cell As A Single Plant Cell Type Model In Root Systems Biology, Zhenzhen Qiao, Marc Libault

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Plant root is an organ composed of multiple cell types with different functions.This multicellular complexity limits our understanding of root biology because -omics studies performed at the level of the entire root reflect the average responses of all cells composing the organ. To overcome this difficulty and allow a more comprehensive understanding of root cell biology, an approach is needed that would focus on one single cell type in the plant root. Because of its biological functions (i.e., uptake of water and various nutrients; primary site of infection by nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes), the root hair cell is an attractive …

Carbon Farming In Wa, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia, Department Of Regional Development And Lands, Western Australia

Natural resources published reports

Fact sheets:

1. Applying biochar to improve soil quality and crop productivity

2. Reducing methane emissions from cattle using feed additives

3. Cattle breeding for lower greenhouse gas emissions

4. Managing genetic codes to reduce methane emissions from cattle

5. Managing pastures and stocking rate to reduce methane emissions from cattle

6. Claying as a method of increasing soil carbon content

7. Green and brown manuring as part of carbon farming

8. Permanent environmental plantings to earn carbon credits

9. Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils

10. Sheep genetics in methane reduction

11. Managing sheep pastures to reduce methane production …

The Clubroot Pathogen (Plasmodiophora Brassicae) Influences Auxin Signaling To Regulate Auxin Homeostasis In Arabidopsis, Linda Jahn, Stefanie Mucha, Sabine Bergmann, Cornelia Horn, Paul E. Staswick, Bianka Steffens, Johannes Siemens, Jutta Ludwig-Müller

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The clubroot disease, caused by the obligate biotrophic protist Plasmodiophora brassicae, affects cruciferous crops worldwide. It is characterized by root swellings as symptoms, which are dependent on the alteration of auxin and cytokinin metabolism. Here, we describe that two different classes of auxin receptors, the TIR family and the auxin binding protein 1 (ABP1) in Arabidopsis thaliana are transcriptionally upregulated upon gall formation. Mutations in the TIR family resulted in more susceptible reactions to the root pathogen. As target genes for the different pathways we have investigated the transcriptional regulation of selected transcriptional repressors (Aux/IAA) and transcription …

Managing Soil Microbial Communities With Organic Amendments To Promote Soil Aggregate Formation And Plant Health, Shawn T. Lucas

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

The effects of managing soil with organic amendments were examined with respect to soil microbial community dynamics, macroaggregate formation, and plant physio-genetic responses. The objective was to examine the possibility of managing soil microbial communities via soil management, such that the microbial community would provide agronomic benefits. In part one of this research, effects of three amendments (hairy vetch residue, manure, compost) on soil chemical and microbial properties were examined relative to formation of large macroaggregates in three different soils. Vetch and manure promoted fungal proliferation (measured via two biomarkers: fatty acid methyl ester 18:2ω6c and ergosterol) and also stimulated …

A Land Data Assimilation System (Ldas) Based Dataset For Regional Agro-Climatic Assessments, Xing Liu

Open Access Theses

This study is part of a USDA sponsored project ----Useful to Usable (U2U): "Transforming Climate Variability and Change Information for Cereal Crop Producers". The broader objective includes improving farm resilience and profitability in the U.S. Corn Belt region by transforming existing climate/weather data into usable knowledge and tools for the agricultural community.

The specific tasks of this research are: (1) Build a high-resolution (4 km, daily) agro-climatic dataset using a Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS). (2) Estimate regional corn yield across the Corn Belt with crop models and the agro-climatic dataset. (3) Evaluate the impacts of climate variability due to …

Slurry Seeding Cover Crops, Edwin Alexander Suarez

Open Access Theses

Cover crops improve soil quality through increased organic matter, biological activity, aggregate stability, water infiltration, and nutrient cycling. Slurry seeding, the co-application of cover crop seed and swine (Sus domesticus) manure, is a new practice that saves fuel, time and labor. High salinity and/or ammonia, among other components in swine manure, may reduce cover crop seed germination and limit the use of slurry seeding. Ten cover crop species were evaluated to compare the effects of swine manure components on cover crop seed germination. Seed germination percentages and rates were affected by swine manure but not by equivalent salinity levels established …

Planning Ahead - A Guide For Your Cropping Program, Janet Paterson

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

It is difficult to think logically and make rational choices when under extreme pressure.

The seasonal break between harvest and preparation for seeding is a good time to get some rest and take some time to consider the position of your enterprise.

This is your best opportunity to assess risks and make important decisions when the demands on your time are few.

Most people, farm managers included, struggle to make sound decisions if they are extremely stressed-this is only natural. If you feel that you are struggling to make decisions, counselling services are a valuable resource to help you plan …

Immunodetection Of Triticum Mosaic Virus By Das- And Dac-Elisa Using Antibodies Produced Against Coat Protein Expressed In Escherichia Coli: Potential For High-Throughput Diagnostic Methods, Satyanarayana Tatineni, Gautam Sarath, Dallas Seifers, Roy C. French

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV), an economically important virus infecting wheat in the Great Plains region of the USA, is the type species of the Poacevirus genus in the family Potyviridae. Sensitive and high-throughput serology-based detection methods are crucial for the management of TriMV and germplasm screening in wheat breeding programs. In this study, TriMV coat protein (CP) was expressed in Escherichia coli, and polyclonal antibodies were generated against purified soluble native form recombinant CP (rCP) in rabbits. Specificity and sensitivity of resulting antibodies were tested in Western immuno-blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). In direct antigen coating (DAC)-ELISA, …

Soil Sorptivity Enhancement With Crop Residue Accumulation In Semiarid Dryland No-Till Agroecosystems, T.M. Shaver, G. A. Peterson, Laj R. Ahuja, D.G. Westfall

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Water capture and precipitation use efficiency are of great importance in dryland cropping systems because the world's dependence on food produced in dryland areas continues to increase. Growing season evapotranspiration potential greatly exceeds growing season precipitation rates in dryland areas, creating a water deficit for crops. Management practices that positively impact soil physical properties increase the potential for soils to capture water. One way to assess the ability of soils to capture water is through the measurement of sorptivity. Sorptivity is defined as the cumulative infiltration proportionality constant and is governed by surface soil physical properties such as texture, degree …

Enzyme Activity In Wheat Breeding Lines Derived From Matings Of Low Polyphenol Oxidase Parents, Somrudee Nilthong, Robert A. Graybosch, P. Stephen Baenziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in grain plays a major role in time-dependent discoloration of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) products, especially fresh noodles. Breeding wheat cultivars with low or nil PPO activity can reduce undesirable product darkening. The low PPO line PI 117635 was crossed to two low PPO wheats, IDO580 and ‘IDO377s’, to determine whether matings between wheats with low levels of grain PPO would result in complementation, such that lines with still lower or nil PPO would be generated. Progeny in a population derived from PI 117635/ IDO580 displayed no variation in PPO activity. In the F_3:4 populations …

Evaluation Of Public Sweet Sorghum A-Lines For Use In Hybrid Production, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, Scott E. Sattler, William F. Anderson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A fundamental need for commercialization of sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] as a bioenergy crop is an adequate seed supply, which will require development of hybrid varieties using dwarf seed-parent lines. A set of six public sweet sorghum A-lines (Dwarf Kansas Sourless, KS9, N36, N38, N39, and N4692) were crossed with a set of six public sweet sorghum cultivars (Brawley, Kansas Collier, Dale, Sugar Drip, Waconia, and Wray). Grain, fiber, and sugar yields were determined, and conversion formulas were applied to estimate ethanol yields. Hybrids were grown in fields at Ithaca, NE, USA, in 1983– 1984 fertilized with …

Functional Characterization Of Cinnamyl Alcohol Dehydrogenase And Caffeic Acid O-Methyltransferase In Brachypodium Distachyon, Gina M. Trabucco, Dominick A. Matos, Scott J. Lee, Aaron J. Saathoff, Henry D. Priest, Todd C. Mockler, Gautam Sarath, Samuel P. Hazen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Lignin is a significant barrier in the conversion of plant biomass to bioethanol. Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) and caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) catalyze key steps in the pathway of lignin monomer biosynthesis. Brown midrib mutants in Zea mays and Sorghum bicolor with impaired CAD or COMT activity have attracted considerable agronomic interest for their altered lignin composition and improved digestibility. Here, we identified and functionally characterized candidate genes encoding CAD and COMT enzymes in the grass model species Brachypodium distachyon with the aim of improving crops for efficient biofuel production.

Results: We developed transgenic plants overexpressing artificial microRNA designed …

Transcriptome Analysis Of Two Buffalograss Cultivars, Michael Wachholtz, Tiffany Heng-Moss, Paul Twigg, Lisa Baird, Guoqing Lu, Keenan Amundsen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Buffalograss [Buchloë dactyloides (Nutt.) Engel. syn. Bouteloua dactyloides (Nutt.) Columbus] is a United States native turfgrass species that requires less irrigation, fungicides and pesticides compared to more commonly used turfgrass species. In areas where water is limited, interest in this grass species for lawns is increasing. While several buffalograss cultivars have been developed through buffalograss breeding, the timeframe for new cultivar development is long and is limited by a lack of useful genetic resources. Two high throughput next-generation sequencing techniques were used to increase the genomic resources available for buffalograss.

Results: Total RNA was extracted and …

Complete Plastid Genomes From Ophioglossum Californicum, Psilotum Nudum, And Equisetum Hyemale Reveal An Ancestral Land Plant Genome Structure And Resolve The Position Of Equisetales Among Monilophytes, Felix Grewe, Wenhu Guo, Emily A. Gubbels, A Katie Hansen, Jeffrey P. Mower

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Plastid genome structure and content is remarkably conserved in land plants. This widespread conservation has facilitated taxon-rich phylogenetic analyses that have resolved organismal relationships among many land plant groups. However, the relationships among major fern lineages, especially the placement of Equisetales, remain enigmatic.

Results: In order to understand the evolution of plastid genomes and to establish phylogenetic relationships among ferns, we sequenced the plastid genomes from three early diverging species: Equisetum hyemale (Equisetales), Ophioglossum californicum (Ophioglossales), and Psilotum nudum (Psilotales). A comparison of fern plastid genomes showed that some lineages have retained inverted repeat (IR) boundaries originating …

Indoor Application Of Attractive Toxic Sugar Bait (Atsb) In Combination With Mosquito Nets For Control Of Pyrethroid-Resistant Mosquitoes, Zachary P. Stewart, Richard M. Oxborough, Patrick K. Tungu, Matthew J. Kirby, Mark W. Rowland, Seth R. Irish

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Attractive toxic sugar bait (ATSB) sprayed onto vegetation has been successful in controlling Anopheles mosquitoes outdoors. Indoor application of ATSB has yet to be explored. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ATSB stations positioned indoors have the potential to kill host-seeking mosquitoes and constitute a new approach to control of mosquito-borne diseases.

Methods: Insecticides were mixed with dyed sugar solution and tested as toxic baits against Anopheles arabiensis, An. Gambiae s.s. and Culex quinquefasciatus in feeding bioassay tests to identify suitable attractant-insecticide combinations. The most promising ATSB candidates were then trialed in experimental …

Sorghum Transformation: Overview And Utility, Tejinder Kumar, Arlene Howe, Shirley Sato, Ismail M. Dweikat, Tom E. Clemente

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Over the past decade genomics resources available for sorghum have rapidly expanded (Paterson Int J Plant Genomics 2008:6, 2008), these resources, coupled with the recent completion of the genome sequence which is relatively small in size (730 Mb) (Paterson et al. Nature 457:551–556, 2009) makes sorghum a rather attractive species to study. Moreover, the USDA germplasm system maintains 42,614 accessions, of which more than 800 exotic landraces have been converted to day length-insensitive lines to facilitate their use in breeding programs. In addition, a set of EMS mutation stocks developed by the USDA Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit in …

Nutrient Partitioning And Grain Yield Of Tanam-Rnai Wheat Under Abiotic Stress, Mary J. Guttieri, Ricardo J. Stein, Brian M. Waters

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Aims — Decreased expression of TaNAM genes by RNAi results in delayed senescence and decreased grain protein, iron, and zinc concentrations. Here, we determined whether NAM expression level alters onset of senescence under stress conditions, whether delayed senescence in the TaNAM-RNAi line resulted in improved tolerance to post-anthesis abiotic stress, and determined the effects of post-anthesis abiotic stress on N and mineral remobilization and partitioning to grain.

Methods — Greenhouse-grown WT and TaNAM-RNAi wheat were characterized in two studies: three levels of N fertility or water limitation during grain fill. Studies were conducted under both optimal and heat stress …

The Essentials Of Economic Sustainability By John Ikerd [Book Review], Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Essentials of Economic Sustainability is the latest challenging statement on innovative economic philosophy from an alternative opinion leader John Ikerd, retired agricultural economist from University of Missouri, Columbia (Columbia, Missouri, United States). His perspective is that accelerating changes surrounding us require more than small adaptations, but rather a thoughtful reconsideration of basic principles about how the world works and our role in this dynamic reality. Ikerd paraphrases the challenge of the 1988 Brundtland Report of the United Nations that we must design strategies ‘to meet the economic needs of the present without diminishing economic opportunities for the future’ (page 1). …

Estimating Crop Yield Potential At Regional To National Scales, Justin Van Wart, Kurt Christian Kersebaum, Shaobing Peng, Maribeth Milner, Kenneth Cassman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

World population will increase 35% by 2050, which may require doubling crop yields on existing farm land to minimize expansion of agriculture into remaining rainforests, wetlands, and grasslands. Whether this is possible depends on closing the gap between yield potential (Yp, yield without pest, disease, nutrient or water stresses, or Yw under water-limited rainfed conditions) and current average farm yields in both developed and developing countries. Quantifying the yield gap is therefore essential to inform policies and prioritize research to achieve food security without environmental degradation. Previous attempts to estimate Yp and Yw at a global level have been too …

Yield Gap Analysis With Local To Global Relevance—A Review, Martin K. Van Ittersum, Kenneth Cassman, Patricio Grassini, Joost Wolf, Pablo Tittonell, Zvi Hochman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Yields of crops must increase substantially over the coming decades to keep pace with global food demand driven by population and income growth. Ultimately global food production capacity will be limited by the amount of land and water resources available and suitable for crop production, and by biophysical limits on crop growth. Quantifying food production capacity on every hectare of current farmland in a consistent and transparent manner is needed to inform decisions on policy, research, development and investment that aim to affect future crop yield and land use, and to inform on-ground action by local farmers through their knowledge …

Genetic Mapping And Confirmation Of Quantitative Trait Loci For Seed Protein And Oil Contents And Seed Weight In Soybean, Safiullah M. Pathan, Tri Vuong, Kerry Clark, Jeong-Dong Lee, J. Grover Shannon, Craig A. Roberts, Mark R. Ellersieck, Joseph W. Burton, P. B. Cregan, David L. Hyten, Henry T. Nguyen, David A. Sleper

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Demand for soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] meal has increased worldwide and soybean importers often offer premiums for soybean containing higher contents of protein and oil. Objectives were to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with soybean seed protein, oil, and seed weight in a soybean mapping population and confirm detected QTL across genetic backgrounds and environments. Two populations of 216 and 156 recombinant inbred lines were developed from Magellan × PI 438489B and Magellan × PI 567516C crosses, respectively, and grown in two Missouri environments in 2008. More than 900 simple sequence repeat (SSR) and single nucleotide polymorphism …

Soybean Seed Amino Acid Content Qtl Detected Using The Universal Soy Linkage Panel 1.0 With 1,536 Snps, Benjamin D. Fallen, Catherine N. Hatcher, Fred L. Allen, Dean A. Kopsell, Arnold M. Saxton, Pengyin Chen, Stella K. Kantartzi, P. B. Cregan, D. L. Hyten, Vincent R. Pantalone

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is the primary source of meal used in animal feed in the U.S. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate genomic regions controlling amino acid composition is soybean. Designing soybean seed compositions that will benefit animal production is essential. The objective of this study was to identify genomic regions controlling essential and non-essential amino acid composition in soybean seed proteins. To achieve this objective, 282 F_5:9 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) developed from a cross of Essex × Williams 82 were used. Ground soybean seed samples were analyzed for amino acids and statistically …

Development And Evaluation Of Soysnp50k, A High-Density Genotyping Array For Soybean, Qijian Song, D. L. Hyten, Gaofeng Jia, Charles V. Quigley, Edward W. Fickus, Randall L. Nelson, P. B. Cregan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The objective of this research was to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and to develop an Illumina Infinium BeadChip that contained over 50,000 SNPs from soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.). A total of 498,921,777 reads 35–45 bp in length were obtained from DNA sequence analysis of reduced representation libraries from several soybean accessions which included six cultivated and two wild soybean (G. soja Sieb. et Zucc.) genotypes. These reads were mapped to the soybean whole genome sequence and 209,903 SNPs were identified. After applying several filters, a total of 146,161 of the 209,903 SNPs were determined to be …

The Plant Science Decadal Vision: Response To The Martin Commentary, David Stern, Sally Ann Mackenzie

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The plant science community is being called upon as never before to carry out research that addresses challenges in food, climate, and health, to educate a populace inundated with science misinformation, and to excite and recruit a new generation of scientists from among that populace, all while investments in basic research are stagnant or even declining in many countries. The Decadal Vision (Plant Science Research Summit, 2013) represents a response from that community, one that launches a meaningful and ongoing dialogue about how best to accomplish these goals. In that spirit, we welcome this thoughtful commentary by Cathie Martin (Martin, …

Chloroplast Division Protein Arc3 Regulates Chloroplast Ftsz-Ring Assembly And Positioning In Arabidopsis Through Interaction With Ftsz2, Min Zhang, Aaron J. Schmitz, Deena K. Kadirjan-Kalbach, Allan D. Terbush, Katherine W. Osteryoung

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Chloroplast division is initiated by assembly of a mid-chloroplast FtsZ (Z) ring comprising two cytoskeletal proteins, FtsZ1 and FtsZ2. The division-site regulators ACCUMULATION AND REPLICATION OF CHLOROPLASTS3 (ARC3), MinD1, and MinE1 restrict division to the mid-plastid, but their roles are poorly understood. Using genetic analyses in Arabidopsis thaliana, we show that ARC3 mediates division-site placement by inhibiting Z-ring assembly, and MinD1 and MinE1 function through ARC3. ftsZ1 null mutants exhibited some mid-plastid FtsZ2 rings and constrictions, whereas neither constrictions nor FtsZ1 rings were observed in mutants lacking FtsZ2, suggesting FtsZ2 is the primary determinant of Z-ring assembly in vivo. arc3 …

Resource Allocation For Maximizing Prediction Accuracy And Genetic Gain Of Genomic Selection In Plant Breeding: A Simulation Experiment, Aaron Lorenz

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Allocating resources between population size and replication affects both genetic gain through phenotypic selection and quantitative trait loci detection power and effect estimation accuracy for marker-assisted selection (MAS). It is well known that because alleles are replicated across individuals in quantitative trait loci mapping and MAS, more resources should be allocated to increasing population size compared with phenotypic selection. Genomic selection is a form of MAS using all marker information simultaneously to predict individual genetic values for complex traits and has widely been found superior to MAS. No studies have explicitly investigated how resource allocation decisions affect success of genomic …

Evaluation Of Public Sweet Sorghum A-Lines For Use In Hybrid Production, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, Scott E. Sattler, William F. Anderson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A fundamental need for commercialization of sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] as a bioenergy crop is an adequate seed supply, which will require development of hybrid varieties using dwarf seed-parent lines. A set of six public sweet sorghum A-lines (Dwarf Kansas Sourless, KS9, N36, N38, N39, and N4692) were crossed with a set of six public sweet sorghum cultivars (Brawley, Kansas Collier, Dale, Sugar Drip, Waconia, and Wray). Grain, fiber, and sugar yields were determined, and conversion formulas were applied to estimate ethanol yields. Hybrids were grown in fields at Ithaca, NE, USA, in 1983– 1984 fertilized with …

Yield Gap Analysis—Rationale, Methods And Applications—Introduction To The Special Issue, M.K. Van Ittersum, Kenneth Cassman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Yield gap analysis is an increasingly popular concept. It is a powerful method to reveal and understand the biophysical opportunities to meet the projected increase in demand for agricultural products towards 2050, and to support decision making on research, policies, development and investment that is needed. This Special Issue presents the state-of-the-art about concepts, methods and applications of yield gap analysis. The methodological papers emphasize the need for agronomically sound and relevant analyses, from local to global scales. The fourteen papers provide examples of applications to different crops, climate zones and production conditions, at various spatial extents and with different …