Other Plant Sciences Commons^™

Nebline, March/April 2022

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Become a Groundwater Steward

4 Ways to Celebrate National Nutrition Month

Recipe of the Month

Selecting Fruit Trees for Eastern Nebraska

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

2022 Chemigation Trainings

Lancaster County Ag VIP Awards

Upcoming Early Childhood Trainings

Aleyna Cuttlers Participated in National 4-H Congress

4-H Horse Judging Team at Nationals

Meet 2021–22 4-H Council

Meet 2021–22 4-H Teen Council

Hear of 4-H Volunteer Award: Sherry Kubicek

Hear of 4-H Volunteer Award: Angie Root

4th & 5th Grade Fun Night, March 4

Rabbit Show, March 19

UNL Chick Days, March 26

Bucket Calf Workshop, March 27

Dressage Schooling …

Ecology And Diversity Of Culturable Fungal Species Associated With Soybean Seedling Diseases In The Midwestern United States, Mirian F. Pimentel, Ali Y. Srour, Amanda J. Warner, Jason P. Bond, Carl A. Bradley, John Rupe, Martin I. Chilvers, J. Alejandro Rojas, Janette L. Jacobs, Christopher R. Little, Alison E. Robertson, Loren J. Giesler, Dean Malvick, Kiersten Wise, Albert Tenuta, Ahmad M. Fakhoury

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Aims: To isolate and characterize fungi associated with diseased soybean seedlings in Midwestern soybean production fields and to determine the influence of environmental and edaphic factors on their incidence.

Methods and Results: Seedlings were collected from fields with seedling disease history in 2012 and 2013 for fungal isolation. Environmental and edaphic data associated with each field was collected. 3036 fungal isolates were obtained and assigned to 76 species. The most abundant genera recovered were Fusarium (73%) and Trichoderma (11.2%). Other genera included Mortierella, Clonostachys, Rhizoctonia, Alternaria, Mucor, Phoma, Macrophomina and Phomopsis. …

Improving Taxonomic Delimitation Of Fungal Species In The Age Of Genomics And Phenomics, Asjley Stengel, Kimberly M. Stanke, Amanda C. Quattrone, Joshua Herr

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Species concepts have long provided a source of debate among biologists. These lively debates have been important for reaching consensus on how to communicate across scientific disciplines and for advancing innovative strategies to study evolution, population biology, ecology, natural history, and disease epidemiology. Species concepts are also important for evaluating variability and diversity among communities, understanding biogeographical distributions, and identifying causal agents of disease across animal and plant hosts. While there have been many attempts to address the concept of species in the fungi, there are several concepts that have made taxonomic delimitation especially challenging. In this review we discuss …

Hybrid Seed Set In Relation With Male Floral Traits, Estimation Of Heterosis And Combining Abilities For Yield And Its Components In Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.), Samira El Hanafi, Souad Cherkaoui, Zakaria Kehel, Miguel Sanchez-Garcia, Jean-Benoit Sarazin, Stephen Baenziger, Wuletaw Tadesse

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Breeding hybrids with maximum heterosis requires efficient cross-pollination and an improved male sterility system. Renewed efforts have been made to dissect the phenotypic variation and genetic basis of hybrid floral traits, although the potential of tailoring the appropriate flower design on seed setting is less known. To this end, elite wheat genotypes were crossed using a chemical hybridizing agent at different doses. A total of 23 hybrids were developed from a partial diallel design; and planted in an alpha lattice design with their parents at two locations in Morocco, for two years, to evaluate for yield components, heterosis and combining …

The Astounding World Of Glycans From Giant Viruses, Anna Notaro, Chantal Abergel, Rosa Lanzetta, Todd L. Lowary, Antonio Molinaro, Michela Tonetti, James L. Van Etten, Cristina De Castro

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Viruses are a heterogeneous ensemble of entities, all sharing the need for a suitable host to replicate. They are extremely diverse, varying in morphology, size, nature, and complexity of their genomic content. Typically, viruses use host-encoded glycosyltransferases and glycosidases to add and remove sugar residues from their glycoproteins. Thus, the structure of the glycans on the viral proteins have, to date, typically been considered to mimick those of the host. However, the more recently discovered large and giant viruses differ from this paradigm. At least some of these viruses code for an (almost) autonomous glycosylation pathway. These viral genes include …

Post-Termination Effects Of Cover Crop Monocultures And Mixtures On Soil Inorganic Nitrogen And Microbial Communities On Two Organic Farms In Illinois, Eleanor E. Lucadamo, Ashley A. Holmes, Samuel E. Wortman, Anthony C. Yannarell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cover crops can continue to affect agricultural systems even after they have been terminated by influencing nitrogen dynamics and by altering soil microbial communities. These post-termination effects can influence soil fertility, weed pressure, and the dynamics of potential plant pathogens in the narrow window of time between cover crop termination and cash crop emergence. We evaluated the post-termination effects of 12 different spring-sown cover crop mixtures and monocultures on soil nitrogen and microbial communities on two different organic farms in Central Illinois (on Lawson silt loam soil) and Northern Illinois (on Virgil silt loam soil). In comparison to control plots …

Post-Termination Effects Of Cover Crop Monocultures And Mixtures On Soil Inorganic Nitrogen And Microbial Communities On Two Organic Farms In Illinois, Eleanor E. Lucadamo, Ashley A. Holmes, Samuel E. Wortman, Anthony C. Yannarell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cover crops can continue to affect agricultural systems even after they have been terminated by influencing nitrogen dynamics and by altering soil microbial communities. These post-termination effects can influence soil fertility, weed pressure, and the dynamics of potential plant pathogens in the narrow window of time between cover crop termination and cash crop emergence. We evaluated the post-termination effects of 12 different spring-sown cover crop mixtures and monocultures on soil nitrogen and microbial communities on two different organic farms in Central Illinois (on Lawson silt loam soil) and Northern Illinois (on Virgil silt loam soil). In comparison to control plots …

Practice Cost And Size Differences In Invasive Plant Management Strategies: An Empirical Analysis Of Us Great Plains States, Mazbahul G. Ahamad

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Grassland conservation of the Conservation Stewardship Program in the United States (US) is one of the largest cost-sharing initiatives for protecting grazing land from invasive and woody plants. The practice cost and unit size of various invasive and woody plant management strategies, such as mulching, brush management, and pre- scribed burning, are different from state to state. We aimed to compare and examine the association between practice cost ($/acre[ac]) and standard unit size of practice (acre) of mulching, brush management, and pre- scribed burning strategies in nine US Great Plains states, including Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, …

Implementation Of Epigenetic Variation In Sorghum Selection And Implications For Crop Resilience Breeding, Dikungwa Ketumile, Xiaodong Yang, Robersy Sanchez, Hardik Kundariya, John F. Rajewski, Ismail M. Dweikat, Sally A. Mackenzie

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Crop resilience and yield stability are complex traits essential for food security. Sorghum bicolor is an important grain crop that shows promise for its natural resilience to drought and potential for marginal land production. We have developed sorghum lines in the Tx430 genetic background suppressed for MSH1 expression as a means of inducing de novo epigenetic variation, and have used these materials to evaluate changes in plant growth vigor. Plant crossing and selection in two distinct environments revealed features of phenotypic plasticity derived from MSH1 manipulation. Introduction of an epigenetic variation to an isogenic sorghum population, in the absence of …

Assessment Of Bacterial Inoculant Delivery Methods For Cereal Crops, Yen Ning Chai, Stephanie Futrell, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Despite growing evidence that plant growth-promoting bacteria can be used to improve crop vigor, a comparison of the different methods of delivery to determine which is optimal has not been published. An optimal inoculation method ensures that the inoculant colonizes the host plant so that its potential for plant growth-promotion is fully evaluated. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of three seed coating methods, seedling priming, and soil drench for delivering three bacterial inoculants to the sorghum rhizosphere and root endosphere. The methods were compared across multiple time points under axenic conditions and colonization efficiency was …

Seed-Shattering Phenology At Soybean Harvest Of Economically Important Weeds In Multiple Regions Of The United States. Part 3: Drivers Of Seed Shatter, Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro, Lovreet S. Shergill, Jeffrey A. Evans, Muthukumar V. Bagavathiannan, Shawn C. Beam, Mandy D. Bish, Jason A. Bond, Kevin W. Bradley, William S. Curran, Adam S. Davis, Wesley J. Everman, Michael L. Flessner, Steven C. Haring, Nicholas R. Jordan, Nicholas E. Korres, John L. Lindquist, Jason K. Norsworthy, Tameka L. Sanders, Larry E. Steckel, Mark J. Vangessel, Blake Young, Steven B. Mirsky

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Seed retention, and ultimately seed shatter, are extremely important for the efficacy of harvest weed seed control (HWSC) and are likely influenced by various agroecological and environmental factors. Field studies investigated seed-shattering phenology of 22 weed species across three soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]-producing regions in the United States. We further evaluated the potential drivers of seed shatter in terms of weather conditions, growing degree days, and plant biomass. Based on the results, weather conditions had no consistent impact on weed seed shatter. However, there was a positive correlation between individual weed plant biomass and delayed weed seed-shattering rates during …

Corn Nitrogen Nutrition Index Prediction Improved By Integrating Genetic, Environmental, And Management Factors With Active Canopy Sensing Using Machine Learning, Dan Li, Yuxin Miao, Curtis J. Ransom, Gregory Mac Bean, Newell R. Kitchen, Fabián G. Fernández, John E. Sawyer, James J. Camberato, Paul R. Carter, Richard B. Ferguson, David W. Franzen, Carrie A. M. Laboski, Emerson D. Nafziger, John F. Shanahan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Accurate nitrogen (N) diagnosis early in the growing season across diverse soil, weather, and management conditions is challenging. Strategies using multi-source data are hypothesized to perform significantly better than approaches using crop sensing information alone. The objective of this study was to evaluate, across diverse environments, the potential for integrating genetic (e.g., comparative relative maturity and growing degree units to key developmental growth stages), environmental (e.g., soil and weather), and management (e.g., seeding rate, irrigation, previous crop, and preplant N rate) information with active canopy sensor data for improved corn N nutrition index (NNI) prediction using machine learning methods. Thirteen …

Tracking Spatial Regimes In Animal Communities: Implications For Resilience-Based Management, Caleb P. Roberts, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Larkin A. Powell, Brady W. Allred, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D. Maestas, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Spatial regimes (the spatial extents of ecological states) exhibit strong spatiotemporal order as they expand or contract in response to retreating or encroaching adjacent spatial regimes (e.g., woody plant invasion of grasslands) and human management (e.g., fire treatments). New methods enable tracking spatial regime boundaries via vegetation landcover data, and this approach is being used for strategic management across biomes. A clear advancement would be incorporating animal community data to track spatial regime boundaries alongside vegetation data. In a 41,170-hectare grassland experiencing woody plant encroachment, we test the utility of using animal community data to track spatial regimes via two …

Seeding The Way: A Guide To Restoring Native Plants In Great Salt Lake Wetlands, Emily Tarsa, Rae Robinson, Coryna Hebert, David England, Keith Hambrecht, Chad Cranney, Karin Kettenring

All Current Publications

From densely vegetated marshes to sparse patches of playa vegetation, native plants of Great Salt Lake drive healthy wetlands. They provide habitat, cover, and food for the many birds, amphibians, insects, and mammals that call these wetlands home. Disturbances to these wetlands, such as treating invasive Phragmites australis or building dikes, can impact native plant communities. Reestablishing native vegetation is critical to rebuilding healthy wetlands. Though there is still much to be learned, here we have summarized our knowledge of the "what, where, and how" of native plant revegetation in these wetlands, specifically using native seed. This guide is intended …

Water Use Characteristics Of Weeds: A Global Review, Best Practices, And Future Directions, Mandeep Singh, Meetpal Singh Kukal, Suat Irmak, Amit J. Jhala

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Weeds usually penalize crop yields by competing for resources, such as water, light, nutrients, and space. Most of the studies on the crop-weed competition domain are limited to assessing crop-yield losses due to weed pressure and other crop-weed interactions, overlooking the significant uptake of soil-water by weeds that exacerbates global water constraints and threatens the productivity and profitability. The objective of this review was to synthesize globally available quantitative data on weed water use (WU) sourced from 23 peer-reviewed publications (filtered from 233 publications via a multi-step protocol of inclusion criteria) with experimental investigations across space (3 continents), time (1927–2018), …

Management-Intensive Grazing Impacts On Total Escherichia Coli, E. Coli O157: H7, And Antibiotic Resistance Genes In A Riparian Stream, Laura M. Rubeck, James E. Wells, Kathy Hanford, Lisa M. Durso, Walter H. Schacht, Elaine D. Berry

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The impacts of management-intensive grazing (MIG) of cattle on concentrations of total Escherichia coli, total suspended solids (TSS), and nitrate-nitrite nitrogen (NO₃+NO₂-N), and occurrence of E. coli O157:H7 and selected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in stream water and/or sediments were evaluated. Cattle were grazed for twoweek periods in May in each of three years. Overall, grazing increased total E. coli in downstream water by 0.89 log10 MPN/100 mL (p < 0.0001), and downstream total E. coli concentrations were higher than upstream over all sampling intervals. Downstream TSS levels also increased (p ≤ 0.0294) during grazing. In contrast, there was …

The Last Continuous Grasslands On Earth: Identification And Conservation Importance, Rheinhardt Scholtz, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Grasslands are the most threatened and least protected biome. Yet, no study has been conducted to identify the last remaining continuous grasslands on Earth. Here, we used World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifications to measure the degree of intactness remaining for the world's grassland ecoregions. This analysis revealed three findings of critical conservation importance. First, only a few large, intact grasslands remain. Second, every continent with a grassland ecoregion considered in this study contains at least one relatively intact grassland ecoregion. Third, the largest remaining continuous grasslands identified in this analysis have persisted …

Responses Of Arthropods To Fire And How Pollinators And Pollination Services Are Affected By Fire Severity, Blyssalyn V. Bieber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fires impact ecosystems globally and due to climate change, there are shifts in fire regimes that impact ecological communities which provide essential ecosystem services. Focusing on arthropods, fire can influence this ubiquitous animal group in various way. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis evaluating how fires impact differing arthropod functional groups. We found that overall, fire negatively effects community level responses for most functional groups with herbivores as the only exception showing some positive effects of fire. We also studied mixed-severity fires that burned >20 years ago and compared floral visitor communities across fire severities. We implemented a pollinator exclusion experiment …

Nebline, January/February 2022

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

2021 Extension Highlights

Your Trusted Educational Resource

4-H Programs Engaged 24,313 Youth

A New Year, A New You, A Renewed Community by Emily Gratopp

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Extension’s 2022 Master Gardener Training, Two Sites Available

Upcoming Green Industry Conferences

ProHort Lawn & Landscape Update

2022 Pesticide Applicator Trainings

Crop Production Clinics In-Person and Zoom

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Phil Wharton and Jenny DeBuhr

Watch Chicks Hatch on Egg Cam

4-H Rabbit Show, March 19

Dog Club Accepting New Members, Starts Jan. 10

4-H Club Gives Youth With Special Needs Opportunity to Show Lambs

4-H Announcements …

A Phytobacterial Tir Domain Effector Manipulates Nad+ To Promote Virulence, Samuel Eastman, Thomas Smith, Mark A. Zaydman, Panya Kim, Samuel Martinez, Neha Damaraju, Aaron Diantonio, Jeffrey Milbrandt, Thomas Clemente, James R. Alfano, Ming Guo

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The Pseudomonas syringae DC3000 type III effector HopAM1 suppresses plant immunity and contains a Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain homologous to immunity-related TIR domains of plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors that hydrolyze nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and activate immunity. In vitro and in vivo assays were conducted to determine if HopAM1 hydrolyzes NAD+ and if the activity is essential for HopAM1’s suppression of plant immunity and contribution to virulence. HPLC and LC-MS were utilized to analyze metabolites produced from NAD+ by HopAM1 in vitro and in both yeast and plants. Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression and in planta inoculation assays were performed to …