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

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

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

Production, Culture, And Representation: An Anthropological Exploration Of Food In Kathmandu, Nepal, Blair Brady

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores various food-­‐related narratives, including meat production in Kathmandu, organic farming, the separate experiences of American researchers and American missionaries, "haute cuisine" in a luxury hotel, and a nutritional rehabilitation clinic for malnourished children. Accompanying these narratives are my own experiences that are made communicable through making, or watching food being made. The result of these narratives is a growing picture of the various roles food plays within our lives-­‐ generated by what was communicated by the people who source, cook, and eat food, but also infused by my own observations. Included narratives primarily concern food's ability to …

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

Faculty Publications

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

The Protective Effect Of Antioxidants On Vitamin A Stability In Nonfat Dry Milk During Thermally Accelerated Storage, Amalie Brown Kurzer

Theses and Dissertations

Two studies were conducted to determine the relative effect of various combinations of antioxidants on vitamin A oxidation and isomerization in nonfat dry milk (NDM). In the first study, one lot of pasteurized unfortified skim milk was divided, fortified with vitamins A and D and one of 11 antioxidant treatments, and spray dried. A control batch from the same lot was also fortified with vitamins A and D and spray dried. Samples were analyzed for total vitamin A bioactivity after zero, one, and two weeks of storage. After two weeks at 50°C, the only NDM samples that did not experience …

Emergency Preparedness In Utah Households With Emphasis On Water And Food Storage Conditions, Stephanie Rae Gerla

Theses and Dissertations

Emergency preparedness steps taken by individuals in Utah households were evaluated in 3 studies. Study 1 evaluated the 2011 landline and cell phone Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey and General Preparedness Optional Module results from two states, Louisiana and Utah, to find factors from demographic and medical data that can be used to predict emergency preparedness in individuals. Stepwise logistical regression analysis ascertained the ability of chosen variables to predict individuals' preparedness. The rate of prepared individuals was lower if they were between the ages of 18 to 54 years, when compared to the reference age group of 65 …

College Students' Fruit, Vegetable, And Sugar Sweetened Beverage Intake According To Dinner Group Participation, Erica Nicole Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To compare the fruit, vegetable, and sugar sweetened beverage intake of college students who do and do not participate in dinner groups. Also, to determine if dinner group participation affects college students' perception of their overall health and adequacy of their fruit and vegetable intake. Design: A quantitative study of college students' fruit, vegetable, and sugar sweetened beverage intake through a one-time online survey. Setting: The survey was accessed via the internet at the time and place of students' convenience. Participants: A sample of 10,000 students was randomly selected from Brigham Young University's population of single students. 3,651 responded …

A Single Point Mutation In The Listerial Betl Sigma(A)-Dependent Promoter Leads To Improved Osmo- And Chill-Tolerance And A Morphological Shift At Elevated Osmolarity, Ronald F. Hoffman, Susan Mclernon, Audrey Feeney, Colin Hill, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Betaine uptake in Listeria monocytogenes is mediated by three independent transport systems, the simplest of which in genetic terms is the secondary transporter BetL. Using a random mutagenesis approach, based on the E. coli XL1 Red mutator strain, we identified a single point mutation in a putative promoter region upstream of the BetL coding region which leads to a significant increase in betL transcript levels under osmo- and chill-stress conditions and a concomitant increase in stress tolerance. Furthermore, the mutation appears to counter the heretofore unreported “twisted” cell morphology observed for L. monocytogenes grown at elevated osmolarities in tryptone soy …

Linking Animal Behavior To Useful Natural Repellents, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

Measuring And Managing Impacts Of Manure Spills, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

March 2013 Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue

Agricultural Research Magazine

The Agricultural Research Service has about 100 labs all over the country.

Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

Agricultural Research Magazine, March 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

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

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

8 Enhancing Yogurt With Healthful Fiber From Oats

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

10 Linking Animal Behavior to Useful Natural Repellents

12 Cultural Practices To Maintain Soil Quality and Address Climate Change

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

16 Measuring and Managing Impacts of Manure Spills

18 Trickery and Other Methods Explored To Vanquish Potato Cyst Nematodes

20 Measuring the Potential of Switchgrass …

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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

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

Agricultural Research Magazine

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

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

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