Horticulture Commons^™

Nebline, March 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: National Agriculture Week is March 4–10: A Time to Celebrate and Reflect About Nebraska’s Leading Industry

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Weed Awareness Special Pullout Section

Nebline, February 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: 4-H Diamond Clover Program Helps Youth Plan and Achieve Goals

Farm Views

Urban Agriculture

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2011 Vadose Zone Nitrate Study At Hastings, Ne (Revised), Roy F. Spalding, Martin Toavs

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In an effort to assist Hastings Utilities in the management of their well-head protection area (WHP A) and to protect the groundwater from the impact of nitrate loading from potential nonpoint and point sources, Hastings Utilities subcontracted with the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska for deep vadose zone coring. Continuous 60-ft soil cores were obtained at 36 sites within the apparent WHP A (Figure 1). The sites were selected by Marty Stange on the basis of availability for sampling, management, landuse , cropping history, and location within the WHPA. Nitrogen analyses of these deep soil …

Genome-Wide Analysis Of Syntenic Gene Deletion In The Grasses, James C. Schnable, Michael Freeling, Eric Lyons

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The grasses, Poaceae, are one of the largest and most successful angiosperm families. Like many radiations of flowering plants, the divergence of the major grass lineages was preceded by a whole-genome duplication (WGD), although these events are not rare for flowering plants. By combining identification of syntenic gene blocks with measures of gene pair divergence and different frequencies of ancient gene loss, we have separated the two subgenomes present in modern grasses. Reciprocal loss of duplicated genes or genomic regions has been hypothesized to reproductively isolate populations and, thus, speciation. However, in contrast to previous studies in yeast and teleost …

Letter From The Dean, Michael Vayda

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Brown Midrib2 (Bmr2) Encodes The Major 4-Coumarate: Coenzyme A Ligase Involved In Lignin Biosynthesis In Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench), Ana Saballos, Scott Sattler, Emiliano Sanchez, Timothy P. Foster, Zhanguo Xin, Chulhee Kang, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, Wilfred Vermerris

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Successful modification of plant cell-wall composition without compromising plant integrity is dependent on being able to modify the expression of specific genes, but this can be very challenging when the target genes are members of multigene families. 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL) catalyzes the formation of 4-coumaroyl CoA, a precursor of both flavonoids and monolignols, and is an attractive target for transgenic down-regulation aimed at improving agro-industrial properties. Inconsistent phenotypes of transgenic plants have been attributed to variable levels of down-regulation of multiple 4CL genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the sorghum genome revealed 24 4CL(-like) proteins, five of which cluster with bona fide …

Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis Of Saturated Fatty Acids In A Population Of Recombinant Inbred Lines 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 crop which contributes approximately 58% of the world’s oilseed production. Palmitic and stearic acids are the two main saturated fatty acids in soybean oil. Different levels of saturated fatty acids are desired depending on the uses of the soybean oil. Vegetable oil low in saturated fatty acids is preferred for human consumption, while for industrial applications, soybean oil with higher levels of saturated fatty acids is more suitable. The objectives of this study were to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for saturated fatty acids, analyze the genetic effects of single QTL …

Natural Variation In Iron Use Efficiency And Mineral Remobilization In Cucumber (Cucumis Sativus), Brian M. Waters, Grace Troupe

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Aims: Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient, and plant-available Fe is often limited in alkaline soils. Fe deficiency chlorosis decreases plant growth and yield. Identification of germplasm with high and low Fe use efficiency will allow studies to better understand the genetic components for breeding Fe efficient varieties.

Methods: A screen using cucumber (Cucumis sativus) seedlings identified varieties that maintained contrasting levels of chlorophyll under Fe deficiency or limitation. A time course of mineral dynamics in cotyledons was conducted.

Results: The variety Ashley had the highest chlorophyll under Fe deficiency and per unit Fe in the leaf, while …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 13 2012, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Nebline, January 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: UNL Food Processing Center Provides Valuable Assistance to Food Manufacturers

Farm Views

Urban Agriculture

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2011 Annual Report Special Pullout Section

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Effectiveness Of Grass Filters In Reducing Phosphorus And Sediment Runoff, Ahmed Al-Wadaey, Charles S. Wortmann, Thomas G. Franti, Charles A. Shapiro, Dean E. Eisenhauer

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Surface water contamination can often be reduced by passing runoff water through perennial grass filters. Research was conducted in 2006 to 2008 to evaluate the size of cool season grass filters consisting primarily of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) with some orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata L.) relative to drainage area size in reducing runoff sediment and phosphorus (P). The soil was Pohocco silt loam Typic Eutrochrepts with a median slope of 5.5%. The grass filters occupying 1.1 and 4.3% of the plot area were compared with no filter with four replications. The filters were planted in the V-shaped …

Greenhouse Production Of Strawberries During The Winter, Ellen T. Paparozzi, George E. Meyer, Stacy A. Adams, M. Elizabeth Conley, Benjamin A. Loseke, Paul E. Read

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Strawberries are one of America’s favorite fruits and are available in grocery stores year round. Given increased shipping and other associated costs as well as the opportunity to provide a fresh, nutritious, local product, our research team is exploring the feasibility of growing strawberries during the winter in Nebraska.

Productivity Of Field Pea (Pisumsativum L.) And Spring Oat (Avena Sativa L.) Grown As Sole And Intercrops Under Different Nitrogen Levels, Chengchou Han, Christopher Borman, Dori Osantowski, Jeremy Wagnitz, Katja Koehler-Cole, Kevin Korus, Evan Sonderegger, Rodrigo Werle, Tara Wood, John L. Lindquist

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Intercropping cereal grains and legumes has potential as an alternative cool-season forage crop in low-input farming systems. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effects of density, species proportion, and nitrogen (N) supply on the biomass accumulation of field pea and spring oat grown as sole or intercrops. Greenhouse experiments were conducted using an additive series experimental design. Treatments included three fertilizer N rates and 20 density/proportion combinations in a randomized complete block with four replications. Sole plant densities included 2, 3, 4, 5 plants of each species pot-1 (16 cm in diameter, 16 cm in height). The …

An Investigation Of Reflective Mulches For Use Over Capillary Mat Systems For Winter-Time Greenhouse Strawberry Production, George E. Meyer, Ellen T. Paparozzi, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, Erin E. Blankenship, Stacy A. Adams

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Photosynthethically active radiation (PAR) is a principle environmental variable used by horticultural specialists, agronomists and ecosystem modelers to characterize the quantity and quality of light conducive to plant growth and development. Spatial distribution of PAR in a greenhouse can be quite variable and diffuse throughout the day time photoperiod, especially at low sun angles in northern regions of the United States. Four colors of reflective plastic mulches (white, red, olive, and black) were evaluated for winter-time strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) production based on their reflectance and transmittance properties in a double-polyethylene, plastic-glazed Quonset greenhouse inNebraska. The spectral properties …

Inheritance Of Grain Polyphenol Oxidase (Ppo) Activity In Multiple Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) Genetic Backgrounds, Somrudee Nilthong, Robert A. Graybosch, P. Stephen Baenziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Grain polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity can cause discoloration of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) food products. Five crosses (PI 117635/Antelope; Fielder/ NW03681; Fielder/Antelope; NW07OR1070/Antelope; NW07OR1066/OR2050272H) were selected to study the genetic inheritance of PPO activity. STS markers, PPO18, PPO29 and STS01, were used to identify lines with putative alleles at the Ppo-A1 and Ppo-D1 loci conditioning low or high PPO activity. ANOVA showed significant genotypic effects on PPO activity (P\0.0001) in all populations. The generations and generation 9 genotype effects were not significant in any population. A putative third (null) genotype at Ppo-A1 (no PCR fragments for PPO18) was discovered …

Identification And Characterization Of Four Missense Mutations In Brown Midrib 12 (Bmr12), The Caffeic 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

Modifying lignin content and composition are targets to improve bioenergy crops for cellulosic conversion to biofuels. In sorghum and other C4 grasses, the brown midrib mutants have been shown to reduce lignin content and alter its composition. Bmr12 encodes the sorghum caffeic O-methyltransferase, which catalyzes the penultimate step in monolignol biosynthesis. From an EMS-mutagenized TILLING population, four bmr12 mutants were isolated. DNA sequencing identified the four missense mutations in the Bmr12 coding region, which changed evolutionarily conserved amino acids Ala71Val, Pro150Leu, Gly225Asp, and Gly325Ser. The previously characterized bmr12 mutants all contain premature stop codons. These newly identified mutants, along …

Estimating Construction Costs For A Low-Cost Quonset-Style Greenhouse, David P. Lambe, Stacy A. Adams, Ellen T. Paparozzi

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Double polyethylene Quonset-style greenhouses offergrowers and farmers a more cost-effective structure than glass- or acrylic-covered structures for growing plants off-season. These greenhouses are especially applicablefor producing off-season high value crops such as fruits and vegetables for local markets. To support this production alternative, this publication contains a list of greenhouse components, the start-up costs associated with these items and an estimate of the number of person hours required to assemble and outfit a 24-foot-by-72-foot double polyethylene, air-inflated greenhouse structure. As there are many options available for building double polyethylene greenhouses, the main purpose of this publication is to identify the …

The ‘Pi 438489b’ By ‘Hamilton’ Snp-Based Genetic Linkage Map Of Soybean [Glycine Max (L.) Merr.] Identified Quantitative Trait Loci That Underlie Seedling Sds Resistance, Kassem My Abdelmajid, Laura Ramos, Leonor Leandro, Gladys Mbofung, D. L. Hyten, Stella K. Kantartzi, Robert L. Grier Iv, Victor N. Njiti, Khalid Meksem

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] are susceptible to many diseases including fungal diseases such as soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS). Several studies reported SDS resistance quantitative trait loci (QTL) on the soybean genome using different recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations and low density genetic linkage maps. High density exclusively single nucleotide polymorphisms-based (SNP-based) maps were not yet reported in soybean. The objectives of this study were (1) to construct a high density SNP-based genetic linkage map of soybean using the ‘PI438489B’ by ‘Hamilton’ (PIxH, n=50) recombinant inbred line population, and (2) to map QTL for SDS resistance using this …

Structural Variants In The Soybean Genome Localize To Clusters Of Biotic Stress-Response Genes, Leah K. Mchale, William J. Haun, Wayne W. Xu, Pudota B. Bhaskar, Justin E. Anderson, D. L. Hyten, Daniel J. Gerhardt, Jeffrey A. Jeddeloh, Robert M. Stupar

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Genome-wide structural and gene content variations are hypothesized to drive important phenotypic variation within a species. Structural and gene content variations were assessed among four soybean (Glycine max) genotypes using array hybridization and targeted resequencing. Many chromosomes exhibited relatively low rates of structural variation (SV) among genotypes. However, several regions exhibited both copy number and presence-absence variation, the most prominent found on chromosomes 3, 6, 7, 16, and 18. Interestingly, the regions most enriched for SV were specifically localized to gene-rich regions that harbor clustered multigene families. The most abundant classes of gene families associated with these regions …

Identification Of Positive Yield Qtl Alleles From Exotic Soybean Germplasm In Two Backcross Populations, K.-S. Kim, B. W. Diers, D. L. Hyten, M. A. Rouf Mian, J. G. Shannon, R. L. Nelson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Increasing seed yield is an important breeding goal of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] improvement efforts. Due to the small number of ancestors and subsequent breeding and selection, the genetic base of current soybean cultivars in North America is narrow. The objective of this study was to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) in two backcross populations developed using soybean plant introductions as donor parents. The first population included 116 BC₂F₃-derived lines developed using ‘‘Elgin’’ as the recurrent parent and PI 436684 as the donor parent (E population). The second population included 93 BC₃F …

Molecular Mapping Of Soybean Rust Resistance In Soybean Accession Pi 561356 And Snp Haplotype Analysis Of The Rpp1 Region In Diverse Germplasm, Ki-Seung Kim, Jair R. Unfried, D. L. Hyten, Reid D. Frederick, Glen L. Hartman, Randall L. Nelson, Qijian Song, Brian W. Diers

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean rust (SBR), caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi Sydow, is one of the most economically important and destructive diseases of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and the discovery of novel SBR resistance genes is needed because of virulence diversity in the pathogen. The objectives of this research were to map SBR resistance in plant introduction (PI) 561356 and to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplotypes within the region on soybean chromosome 18 where the SBR resistance gene Rpp1 maps. One-hundred F_2:3 lines derived from a cross between PI 561356 and the susceptible experimental line LD02-4485 were genotyped with genetic …

Advances In Genome Sequencing And Genotyping Technology For Soybean Diversity Analysis, David L. Hyten

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The completion of a soybean draft whole genome sequence along with advances in sequencing and genotyping technologies are creating a revolution in soybean genomics. The draft whole genome sequence of soybean is allowing researchers to fully take advantage of this new technology and is rapidly changing how soybean germ plasm is mined. Genetic markers such as SNPs can be quickly identified by using next generation sequencing and assayed on a large number of materials using advanced technologies that can genotype tens of thousands of markers on thousands of individuals very rapidly. This ability to qUickly identify and genotype genetic diversity …

High-Resolution Mapping Of Open Chromatin In The Rice Genome, Wenli Zhang, Yufeng Wu, James C. Schnable, Zixian Zeng, Michael Freeling, Gregory E. Crawford, Jiming Jiang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Gene expression is controlled by the complex interaction of transcription factors binding to promoters and other regulatory DNA elements. One common characteristic of the genomic regions associated with regulatory proteins is a pronounced sensitivity to DNase I digestion. We generated genome-wide high-resolution maps of DNase I hypersensitive (DH) sites from both seedling and callus tissues of rice (Oryza sativa). Approximately 25% of the DH sites from both tissues were found in putative promoters, indicating that the vast majority of the gene regulatory elements in rice are not located in promoter regions. We found 58% more DH sites in …

Nebline, November/December 2011

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Avoid Guessing About Holiday Food Safety

Farm Views

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Heritable Epigenetic Variation Among Maize Inbreds, Steve R. Eichten, Ruth A. Swanson, James C. Schnable, Amanda J. Waters, Peter J. Hermanson, Sanzhen Liu, Cheng-Ting Yeh, Yi Jia, Karla Gendler, Michael Freeling, Patrick S. Schnable, Matthew W. Vaughn, Nathan M. Springer

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Epigenetic variation describes heritable differences that are not attributable to changes in DNA sequence. There is the potential for pure epigenetic variation that occurs in the absence of any genetic change or for more complex situations that involve both genetic and epigenetic differences. Methylation of cytosine residues provides one mechanism for the inheritance of epigenetic information. A genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation in two different genotypes of Zea mays (ssp. mays), an organism with a complex genome of interspersed genes and repetitive elements, allowed the identification and characterization of examples of natural epigenetic variation. The distribution of DNA methylation …

Nebline, October 2011

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: What is Your Energy IQ?

Farm Views

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Miscanthus 3 Giganteus Productivity: The Effects Of Management In Different Environments, Matt Maughan, German Bollero, D.K. Lee, Robert Darmody, Stacy Bonos, Laura Cortese, James Murphy, Roch E. Gaussoin, Matthew Sousek, David Williams, Linda Williams, Fernando Miguez, Thomas Voigt

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Miscanthus 9 giganteus is a C4 perennial grass that shows great potential as a high-yielding biomass crop. Scant research has been published that reports M. 9 giganteus growth and biomass yields in different environments in the United States. This study investigated the establishment success, plant growth, and dry biomass yield of M. 9 giganteus during its first three seasons at four locations (Urbana, IL; Lexington, KY; Mead, NE; Adelphia, NJ) in the United States. Three nitrogen rates (0, 60, and 120 kg ha -1) were applied at each location each year. Good survival of M. 9 giganteus during its first …

Nebline, September 2011

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: 4-H Helps Build Successful Scientists

Farm Views

Horticulture

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4-H & Youth

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Extension Calendar

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