Plant Biology Commons^™

Effect Of Supplements On The Live-Weight Gain Of Beef Cattle Given Forage During The Dry Season, C Thomas, P N. Mbugua

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The low quality of standing pasture grasses in the dry seasons presents a major problem in the intensification of beef produc­tion in the tropics. The objective of this research was to examine the role of maize and grass silage or standing napiergrass (Pen­nisetum purpureum) as sources of forage when given alone or with supplements to beef cattle. In the first of three trials conducted at the National Agricultural Research Station, Kitale, Kenya, 36 Friesian castrates, initially 249 kg live weight (LW), were given silage of whole-crop maize either alone or supplemented with corn-and-cob meal. Each of these two basal diets …

Cis-Variant Gene-Expression Association Analysis: A Targeted Approach To Identify Functional Cis-Regulatory Variation, Sofiya Arora

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Phenotypic diversity in plants is largely driven by changes in gene function arising from mutations in both the coding and regulatory regions. Regulatory variation is particularly pervasive because it can fine-tune gene expression without disrupting protein function and is therefore less likely to be strongly selected against in natural populations. As a result, it has played a central role in evolution and domestication. In our previous genome-wide eQTL mapping study in maize, nearly two-thirds of the expressed genes were found to harbor detectable cis-expression quantitative trait loci (cis-eQTLs) with strong local effects on gene expression. Though these cis-variants are widespread, …

Quantitative Genetics, Genomics, And Phenomics In Maize And Sorghum, Nikee Shrestha

Complex Biosystems Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Generating the best crop varieties and hybrids requires identifying genes associated with the phenotype of interest and screening thousands of varieties across multiple locations. Quantitative genetics, along with comparative genomics, phenomics, and machine learning approaches, can help us identify target genes associated with the phenotype of interest to develop the right genotypes. Satellite platforms offer logistical and technical advantages in scalability and accessibility and could facilitate plot-level predictions, especially with steadily improving spatial resolution, thereby empowering the large-scale screening of thousands of genotypes across diverse locations. In the first chapter, I evaluated over 20,000 plot-level images of over 80 hybrid …

Evaluation Of Publicly Available Maize Germplasm Adaptation To Environments In Nebraska, Garrett Snodgrass

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Publicly available maize germplasm represents an important resource for breeding programs seeking to expand genetic diversity and improve hybrid performance. However, effective use requires characterization of per se phenotypic performance of parental lines and evaluation of the parental line’s hybrid progeny adaptation to a given target population of environments. Furthermore, understanding population structure and heterotic grouping is imperative for maximizing efficiency of breeding decisions. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate phenotypic performance of parental lines and hybrids across environments in Nebraska, and to (2) refine heterotic group classification of parental lines within the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Hybrid …

Forage Production From Maize: Soybean Intercrops, S J. Herbert, D H. Putnam, A Vargas

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean ( Glycine max L. Merr.) were intercropped in various planting patterns, and at varying densities and nitrogen rates to determine if such mixtures could provide forage superior to pure maize for ruminants. In 1980 all but one intercrop pattern had dry matter (DM) yields similar to maize monoculture even when every second maize row was replaced with a soybean row. In all studies soybean alone yielded about half that of maize yield alone. Density studies in 1981 and 1982 showed yields similar to maize alone. However, experiments both years indicated that maize row …

Economics Of Producing Corn (Maize) And Sorghum As Feeds For Animal Production In China, Bingxing Zhang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Due to insufficient production of animal products the Chinese people have eaten too much grain and too little meat and milk. Now, as a result of burriper harvests for several years in succession, it is time for the Chinese peasants to convert their surplus grain into feeds for the development of animal production to meet the growing needs of the Chinese people for meat and milk on the one hand and for wool and leather on the other. At the same time more forage sorghum and corn should be grown, especially on unused or misused poor lands and wide hillsides …

Potentials Of Summer Fodders Under Intensive Cropping System In India, M S. Tiwana, Thakur Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

One of the reasons for low milk production in India is the non-availability of good quality fodders in sufficient quantity. Therefore, it is necessary to bridge the gap of this acute short­age of fodder for increasing the milk production. There seems to be no possibility of increasing area under fodders and the only alternative looks to be the ulilization of vacant land (70 days) after harvesting wheat and before the sowing of main summer season crops. However, the growing of these crops may have some effect on the yield of succeeding crops by depleting or replenishing the nutrient status of …

Understanding Limitations In Photosynthesis And Cold Tolerance In Panicoid Grasses: Maize And Sorghum, Fangyi Li

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Sorghum and maize, both key crops within the Poaceae family (commonly known as the grass family), are staple foods in various regions and play a vital role in global food systems and economic development. These crops thrive in similar climates, particularly in warm, arid, and semi-arid regions. As subjects of extensive agricultural research, both maize and sorghum are being studied to enhance stress resistance and improve yield. Due to their botanical similarities, advances in one crop often inform practices in the other. The goal of this dissertation is to deepen our understanding of the photosynthesis process and cold tolerance in …

Identifying Genes Linked To Variation In Metabolic And Whole Plant Phenotypes Using Data From Genome Resequencing, Transcriptomics, And Metabolic Profiling Of A Field-Grown Maize Diversity Panel, Ramesh Kanna Mathivanan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Maize metabolism is highly complex and influenced by genetic variation, yet the specific genes contributing to this variation and their links to non-metabolic traits remain less understood. To address this knowledge gap, we identified genes involved in maize metabolic variation and linked them to non-metabolic traits. We utilized a quadruplicate dataset of whole genome resequencing, transcriptomic, metabolic, and whole plant phenotype data from a single common field experiment of 660 diverse maize inbred lines. Leaf samples were collected shortly before flowering and analyzed using GC-MS for 26 metabolites. A Resampling Model Inclusion Probability Genome-Wide Association Study (RMIPGWAS) of approximately 2.6 …

Investigating The Abilities Of Potentially Beneficial Bacteria For Increasing Nitrogen-Use Efficiency In Maize, Lexie R. Foster

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global agriculture relies heavily on the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer to meet the current global food demand. Unfortunately, the average nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) of maize (Zea mays) is approximately 50 percent. Improving the NUE of maize is essential for meeting the growing global food demand while also decreasing the negative environmental impacts caused by losses of nitrogen fertilizer due to runoff and volatilization. Harnessing the symbiotic relationship between plants and the soil microbiome may be one method for increasing the NUE in crops such as maize. In the present study, a set of potentially beneficial bacterial species …

Anatomy Of Forage Plant Parts In Relation To Digestion, P Rezvani Moghaddam, D Wilman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The objective of this study was to contribute some quantitative information regarding the proportion of cell types and the thickness of cell walls in different plant parts of three major forage species, lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and maize (Zea mays L.). All plant parts examined contained a significant proportion of cell types with walls which appeared too thick to be completely degraded during the time which plant particles are likely to spend in the rumen; this applied particularly to lucerne stems and maize leaf blades.

Estimation Of Dry Matter And Lignin Distributions In Maize Internodes By Micro-Surgical Tissue Separation, O Kawamura, N Niijima, M Niimi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The second, 5th and 8th internodes, counting from the lowest internode, taken from the heading, milk-ripe and full-ripe maize (Zea mays L), were dissected into fractions of epidermis (EPI), sclerenchyma (SCL), vascular bundle (VB) and pith parenchyma (PITH). The proportion of dry weight of VB to the total dry weight were smallest (8-13%), followed by EPI (15-22%) and SCL (15-30%) and PITH (43-58%). These values differed entirely from the proportions of area for the fractions on the cross-cut section. The lignin concentration, in the most case, was in the order of; EPI > SCL > VB > PITH. From the bottom toward the …

Stover Traits As Indicators For Forage Aptitude In Argentine Hybrids Of Maize, L M. Bertoia, M B. Aulicino, R Burak

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The use of maize as forage in Argentina has increased in recent years. Nowadays, the seed sold in the country as forage maize belongs to selected grain hybrids. The development of wholly forage materials means a complete change in the architecture of the plant. Our aims were 1) To propose classification criteria of maize genotypes 2) To characterize maize hybrids used as forage on the Argentine market, based on yield and quality forage traits. Numerical techniques allowed the classification of the hybrids. Stover digestibility and stover soluble carbohydrates, indicative of forage quality traits, presented the greatest variability. These results would …

General And Specific Combining Ability For Forage Maize Aptitude. Part 1: Inbred Lines, R Burak, L M. Bertoia

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ten inbred maize lines were evaluated through their crosses in various environments with the aim of determining their forage production. The ear and stover dry matter were established separately, when variability for both components was found . The effect of the environment was mainly noted in the harvest index. The most outstanding lines were: B84 for ear yield and dry matter yield from the whole plant and L1 for stover yield. The crosses B84xL2 and B84xL6 produced non-additive effects which were significant for some variables. No significant differences were found when comparing the commercial checks with the highest yielding crosses.

Relationships Between Rumen Degradability And Cell Wall- Binding Ferulic Acid Ethers In Various Forage Crops, M Goto

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ether-linked ferulic acid was determined in whole straw, plant parts and specific tissue cell walls of five barley (Hordium vulgare L.) cultivars and in sorghum stalks (Sorghum bicolor Moench x Sorghum sudanense Stapf) with five different growth and maturation stages and was related to their dry matter degradability (DMD) and extent of alkali-labile substitution at 0-5 arabinose residues previously determined.

Compatibility Of Stylosanthes Hamata And Stylosanthes Capitata In Mixed Pastures In The Subhumid Zone Of Nigeria, G Tarawali, M Peters

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The forage productivity of sole plots of Stylosanthes capitata and Stylosanthes hamata in comparison with various proportional mixtures of the two legumes and their effect on soil properties and subsequent maize yield were studied in subhumid Nigeria. Dry matter (DM) yields in the mixtures were higher than in the sole stands, with the mixtures of S. hamata and S. capitata reaching 11959 to 14822 kg/ha over a three year period. Total nitrogen and/or organic carbon concentrations in the soil following the three years of legume were higher in the mixtures than in the sole stands, and this resulted in higher …

Long Term Benefits Of Diversified Forage-Oriented Cropping Systems As Compared To Rotations Based Mainly On Cereals Or Maize, E Meister, V Mediavilla, P Weisskopf

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The aim of this study is to assess the long term effects of a forageoriented, versus a maize- and a cereal-oriented crop rotation on the yield potential and soil fertility, as well as the weed, disease and pest development. We report the results after four cropping cycles using silage maize (Zea mays L.) in 1994 and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in 1995 as reference crops for all three rotations. Two years of a grass-clover mixture in a five-year rotation showed positive effects with respect to most soil and plant parameters.

Multiple Uses Of Tropical Forage Legumes For Sustainable Farming In The Moist Savannas Of Africa, L Muhr, S A. Tarawali, M Peters, U Merkel, R Schultze-Kraft, D Berner

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ensuring that farming in the moist savannas of Africa is maintained, despite increasing population pressure and agricultural demands, necessitates the sustainable integration of crop and livestock enterprises; a role that forage legumes can fulfill. The potential of eleven herbaceous and two shrubby species of forage legumes in an improved fallow or ley-farming system to provide dry season fodder and beneficial effects to a subsequent cereal crop were investigated. Fodder dry matter yields were highest for Stylosanthes guianensis (9.9 t/ha), Centrosema pubescens, and Aeschynomene histrix. Maize yield following S. guianensis was 138% higher than after natural fallow. Similar increases were …

The Beneficial Effects Of Short-Term Rotation Systems Of Winter Forage Crops With Maize On Dry Farming Land Of Southwestern China, S R. Zhou, U Simon, K Mao

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The objective of this study was to sift out the suitable and better short-term rotation systems of winter forage mixture with maize on dry farming land for the local farmers in Southwestern China. Four species of legume, Italian ryegrass and maize were used to organize six treatments for this experiment. The result showed that the three rotation systems of Astragalus sinicus (80%) + Lolium multiflorum (20%) ’ Zea mays, Medicago hisida (70%) + Lolium multiflorum (30%) ’ Zea mays and Vicia villosa (75%) + Lolium multiflorum (25%) ’ zea mays obtained good forage values (TDOM 4.06-4.36 t/ ha, CP 1.10-1.58 …

Microbiome-Enabled Genomic Selection Improves Prediction Accuracy For Nitrogen-Related Traits In Maize, Zhikai Yang, Tianjing Zhao, Hao Cheng, Jinliang Yang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Root-associated microbiomes in the rhizosphere (rhizobiomes) are increasingly known to play an important role in nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and disease resistance of plants. However, it remains largely unclear to what extent these rhizobiomes contribute to trait variation for different genotypes and if their inclusion in the genomic selection protocol can enhance prediction accuracy. To address these questions, we developed a microbiome-enabled genomic selection method that incorporated host SNPs and amplicon sequence variants from plant rhizobiomes in a maize diversity panel under high and low nitrogen (N) field conditions. Our cross-validation results showed that the microbiome-enabled genomic selection model significantly …

2020-2021 Field Seasons Of Maize Gxe Project Within The Genomes To Fields Initiative, Dayane Cristina Lima, Alejandro Castro Aviles, Ryan Timothy Alpers, Alden Perkins, Dylan L. Schoemaker, Martin Costa, Kathryn J. Michel, Shawn Kaeppler, David Ertl, Maria Cinta Romay, Joseph L. Gage, James Holland, Timothy Beissinger, Martin Bohn, Edward Buckler, Jode Edwards, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Michael A. Gore, Candice N. Hirsch, Joseph E. Knoll, John Mckay, Richard Minyo, Seth C. Murray, James Schnable, Rajandeep S. Sekhon, Maninder P. Singh, Erin E. Sparks, Peter Thomison, Addie Thompson, Mitchell Tuinstra, Jason Wallace, Jacob D. Washburn, Teclemariam Weldekidan, Wenwei Xu, Natalia De Leon

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Objectives: This release note describes the Maize GxE project datasets within the Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative. The Maize GxE project aims to understand genotype by environment (GxE) interactions and use the information collected to improve resource allocation efficiency and increase genotype predictability and stability, particularly in scenarios of variable environmental patterns. Hybrids and inbreds are evaluated across multiple environments and phenotypic, genotypic, environmental, and metadata information are made publicly available. Data description: The datasets include phenotypic data of the hybrids and inbreds evaluated in 30 locations across the US and one location in Germany in 2020 and 2021, soil …

Evaluation Of Sweet Grain Sorghum Silage For Dairy Cows As An Alternative To Irrigated Maize Silage, W. G. Do Nascimento, Y. Barrière, X. Charrier, Christian Huyghe, J. C. Emile

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Under European dairy cattle rearing conditions, whole plant maize silage is the main part of the dairy cow's diet especially during the winter season. Nevertheless maize production can be limited in some areas because summer rainfall is insufficient and so irrigation is necessary. Grain sorghum hybrids, and especially sweet sorghum types, are potentially of great interest to avoid this water consumption (Lemaire et al., 1996, Legarto, 2000). For this reason we evaluated in 2003 the benefits and limits of a sweet grain sorghum silage for dairy milk production, compared to an irrigated maize silage. We paid particularl attention to …

Effects Of Cattle Slurry, Their Solid And Liquid Fractions And Mineral N Fertilizers On Italian Ryegrass And Maize Forage Yield, H. Trindade, J. Coutinho, N. Moreira

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Solid-liquid slurry separation techniques expand possibilities to improve slurry use efficiency and to reduce its negative environmental impact. These possibilities arise from the different behaviour of the two fractions concerning the release of nutrients, namely nitrogen (N), due to different C:N ratios (≈30 for the solid fraction and ≈7 for the liquid fraction).

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of cattle-slurry and their solid and liquid fractions applied at sowing time of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum cv. Andrea) and forage maize on crop dry matter (DM) yield. In the NW region of Portugal these two …

Effects Of Nitrogen Fertiliser On Nitrate Leaching And Production Of Autumn-Sown Italian Ryegrass In A Double-Cropping System On A New Zealand Dairy Farm, Errol R. Thom, A. A. Judge, R. N. Jensen, M. S. Sprosen, Sterwart F. Ledgard, W. D. Catto

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

On intensive dairy farms in New Zealand, winter Italian ryegrass crops are combined with summer maize silage crops in double-cropping systems. Limited data (Davies & Neilson, 1975) showed variable ryegrass yield responses to nitrogen (N) fertiliser when grown after maize. Nitrogen leaching losses were not measured in this experiment but Ledgard et al. (1988) showed that late autumn/early winter N applications are vulnerable to leaching. Different rates of N fertiliser were applied to Italian ryegrass grown after maize to assess yield responses and levels of nitrate leaching.

Increase In Forage Maize Production By Bacterial Fertilisers, D. Egamberdiyeva, G. Hoflich

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Farmers in many countries value green material generated from maize as a high quality forage. Its inclusion in dairy cow diets can improve forage intake, increase animal performance and has the potential to reduce production costs (Phipps, 1994). Restrictions on the use of chemical fertilisers and a renewed interest in organic sustainable farming systems in general, has restored attention to crop rotations The increase of maize production using bacterial fertilisers also gives alternative ways to reduce chemical fertilisers in forage production. Increased uptake of nutrients such as N, P, and K and crop yield was reported with rhizobacteria (Lazarovits & …

Genomes To Fields 2022 Maize Genotype By Environment Prediction Competition, Dayane Cristina Lima, Jacob D. Washburn, José Ignacio Varela, Qiuyue Chen, Joseph L. Gage, Maria Cinta Romay, James Holland, David Ertl, Marco Lopez-Cruz, Fernando M. Aguate, Gustavo De Los Campos, Shawn Kaeppler, Timothy Beissinger, Martin Bohn, Edward Buckler, Jode Edwards, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Michael A. Gore, Candice N. Hirsch, Joseph E. Knoll, John Mckay, Richard Minyo, Seth C. Murray, Osler A. Ortez, James C. Schnable, Rajandeep S. Sekhon, Maninder P. Singh, Erin E. Sparks, Addie Thompson, Mitchell Tuinstra, Jason Wallace, Teclemariam Weldekidan, Wenwei Xu, Natalia De Leon

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Objectives The Genomes to Fields (G2F) 2022 Maize Genotype by Environment (GxE) Prediction Competition aimed to develop models for predicting grain yield for the 2022 Maize GxE project field trials, leveraging the datasets previously generated by this project and other publicly available data.

Data description This resource used data from the Maize GxE project within the G2F Initiative [1]. The dataset included phenotypic and genotypic data of the hybrids evaluated in 45 locations from 2014 to 2022. Also, soil, weather, environmental covariates data and metadata information for all environments (combination of year and location). Competitors also had access to ReadMe …

The Effects Of Offering Grass Or Maize Silages To In-Lamb Ewes On Body Weight And Condition Changes, Colostrum Yield And Quality, T. F. Crosby, P. J. Quinn, J. J. Callan, P. Reilly, B. Flynn, D. Cunningham, T. Massey

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Hay and more recently grass silage (GS) have been the traditional feeds for sheep in Ireland over the winter period. Alternatives such as maize silage (MS) are becoming increasingly important as winter forage sources especially for cattle. This study sought to evaluate grass silage and maize silage when offered to pregnant ewes.

Factors Affecting Bag Silo Densities And Losses, R. E. Muck, B. J. Holmes

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Bag silos (polyethylene tubes, 30 to 90 m length, 2.4 to 3.7 m diameter, 0.22 mm thick) are used on approximately one-third of the dairy farms in the U.S.A. for making silage, and the level of adoption is increasing rapidly. Unfortunately, almost no research data have been published on these types of silos. Our objective was to measure densities and losses in bag silos at three farms, looking for causes of variation in both.

Effect Of A New Microbial Strain As An Inoculant On The Quality Of Maize Silage, J. G. Kim, J. S. Ham, E. S. Chung, S. Seo, J. K. Lee

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Lactic acid bacteria play a key role in making silage from forage, and lactic acid bacteria selected from good silage could be expected to be suitable inocula for making good silage. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the such novel lactic acid bacteria for making high quality maize silage.

Options For Improved Biomass Production In Feeding Systems For Dairying In High Rainfall Environments In New Zealand, John M. De Ruiter, D. R. Wilson, S. Maley, S. M. Henton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

New Zealand dairy production has expanded into marginal climates and soil types on the premise of excellent profitability and efficient utilisation of forage. Annual pasture production in the cool West Coast of the South Island (rainfall 2042-2933 mm) is15,000 kg. Increased farm production and feeding of high quality biomass, from imported feed or supplementary feed crops grown on- farm, are needed to improve milk solid output. Small plot trials with spring and early summer-sown brassicas, cereals and maize were the focus for development of systems to maximise and manage the seasonal feed supply. The effect of sowing time, fertiliser timing …