The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
NSF funds biofertilizer research at Rutgers-Camden

CAMDEN -- A research project underway at Rutgers University's Camden campus could help revolutionize agriculture through the use of fungi as "biofertilizers" that reduce the farming industry's reliance on phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers that pollute water supplies.

Thanks to a newly awarded three-year grant of more than $419,000 from the National Science Foundation, Heike Bcking, an assistant professor of biology at Rutgers-Camden, is leading a research team exploring the exchange of nutrients in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, a close interaction between plant roots and soil fungi that is essential for the nutrient uptake of approximately 80 percent of all known plant species.

Rutgers-Camden undergraduate and graduate students are joining Bcking in this innovative research project.

Traditional agriculture relies on the use of fertilizers to provide the soil with the nutrients needed to grow plants. Such use is not without risks, Bcking explains. Farmers frequently apply more fertilizer nutrients than are used by the plants, leading to excess nitrogen and phosphate causing ecological problems by leaching into the groundwater and overfertilizing aquatic ecosystems. This can result in algal blooms, high fish mortality rates, and a variety of other problems while severely reducing the water quality. "We must find ways to improve agricultural assistance," she says.

Since mycorrhizal fungi are more efficient in the uptake of specific nutrients, and more resistant against soil-borne pathogens, interest in using these fungi as "biofertilizers" or "bioprotectors" is increasing. By promoting the proliferation of mycorrhizal fungi through diminished fertilizer input, farmers would make more efficient use of the nitrogen stores in the soils.

Bcking's research seeks to develop a more thorough understanding of the nutrient exchange processes between these fungi and agricultural environments, which she terms "necessary" for successful a
'"/>

Contact: Mike Sepanic
msepanic@camden.rutgers.edu
856-225-6026
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
9-Jan-2007


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. The Cancer Genome Atlas awards funds for technology development
2. NSF funds new Rutgers plant biomaterials initiative
3. NIH funds innovative alzheimers research initiated at UCSB
4. ResearchChannel awards matching funds for video production
5. Research grant funds studies of climate change and reef ecosystems
6. NHGRI funds large-scale sequencing centers
7. NCI funds Einstein and U. Albany NanoCollege to make worlds smallest cancer detection device
8. Worcester Polytechnic Institute receives $2 million in federal funds for biomedical research centers
9. Columbia University Medical Center receives major new NIH Clinical Science investment funds
10. NIH funds Berkeley Lab research on defense against radiological attack
11. NIH funds 14 High-End Instrumentation grants

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: NSF funds biofertilizer research Rutgers Camden

(Date:11/24/2009)...entists have crystallised a protein that may help ...he protein could be used by probiotic producers to...nefit to people. , "Probiotics need to interact w...ct, and if they attach to surfaces in the gut they...ert their activity," says Dr Nathalie Juge from th...
(Date:11/24/2009)... atomic-level action of a remarkable class of ring...rchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laborat...n crystallography beamline at the Advanced Light S...es in gene expression and replication, and are vit...l as infectious agents, such as the human papillom...
(Date:11/24/2009)... NEW YORK (November 24, 2009) -- The W... a report revealing that the last remaining popula...icantly due to the rising tide of poaching and hab...l help inform Russian officials of what needs to b...ld,s biggest cat. , The report was ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):A sticky solution for identifying effective probiotics 2Atomic-level snapshot catches protein motor in action 2Atomic-level snapshot catches protein motor in action 3Atomic-level snapshot catches protein motor in action 4Report shows dramatic decline in Siberian tigers 2SRI International announces findings from new upper atmospheric radar system for scientific research 8688 1SRI International announces findings from new upper atmospheric radar system for scientific research 8688 2SRI International announces findings from new upper atmospheric radar system for scientific research 8688 3SRI International announces findings from new upper atmospheric radar system for scientific research 8688 4Kashi Company Debuts Heart to Heart 28TM 29 Whole Grain Crackers 47606 1Kashi Company Debuts Heart to Heart 28TM 29 Whole Grain Crackers 47606 2Kashi Company Debuts Heart to Heart 28TM 29 Whole Grain Crackers 47606 3AstraZeneca Studies Show Relief of Nighttime Heartburn and Reduction in GERD Related Sleep Disturbances 47601 1AstraZeneca Studies Show Relief of Nighttime Heartburn and Reduction in GERD Related Sleep Disturbances 47601 2AstraZeneca Studies Show Relief of Nighttime Heartburn and Reduction in GERD Related Sleep Disturbances 47601 3AstraZeneca Studies Show Relief of Nighttime Heartburn and Reduction in GERD Related Sleep Disturbances 47601 4AstraZeneca Studies Show Relief of Nighttime Heartburn and Reduction in GERD Related Sleep Disturbances 47601 5
(Date:11/24/2009)....24/PRNewswire-FirstCall/--Sigma-AldrichCorporatio...erenceonTuesday,December1stat1:45PMGMTinLondon,7:4...oadcastovertheInternetavailableat http://inve s ...Webcast"icontoaccessthisfile. ,, AboutSigma-A...Technologycompany.Itschemicalandbiochemicalproduct...
(Date:11/24/2009)...if.,Nov.24/PRNewswire-FirstCall/--NeurogesX,Inc.(N...velopingandcommercializingnovelpainmanagementthera...ChiefExecutiveOfficer,isscheduledtopresentatthe21s...cember1-2,2009atTheNewYorkPalaceHotelinNewYork,New...ancialOfficer,willbeavailabletorespondtoquestionsd...
(Date:11/24/2009)...acyendpointhasbeenmetforpatientswithadvanced-stage...ov.24/PRNewswire-FirstCall/-AEternaZentarisInc.(NA...aceuticalcompanyfocusedonendocrinetherapyandoncolo...udywithitstargetedcytotoxicpeptideconjugate,AEZS-1...ntendometrialcancer.Inapersonalizedhealthcareappro...
(Date:11/24/2009)...Calif.,Nov.24/PRNewswire-FirstCall/--GenomicHealth...enomicHealth,sExecutiveChairman,willpresentatthe21...ityonTuesday,December1,2009at10:00a.m.ET. ,, To...esentation,visittheInvestorRelationssectionofGenom...com .Pleaseconnecttothewebsiteatleast15minutesprio...
Breaking Biology Technology:NeurogesX to Present at Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference 2NeurogesX to Present at Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference 3AEterna Zentaris Announces Positive Results for Phase 2 Study with LHRH-Receptor Targeted Cytotoxic Conjugate AEZS-108 in Endometrial Cancer 2AEterna Zentaris Announces Positive Results for Phase 2 Study with LHRH-Receptor Targeted Cytotoxic Conjugate AEZS-108 in Endometrial Cancer 3AEterna Zentaris Announces Positive Results for Phase 2 Study with LHRH-Receptor Targeted Cytotoxic Conjugate AEZS-108 in Endometrial Cancer 4Genomic Health to Present at Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference 2
Other News:
...ves from sensory neurons using a code more complic... to new research from the National Autonomous Univ.... By studying how monkeys perceive a vibrating obj...t changes in an animal's attention over time influ...
...sity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found...revent the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome... by an emergent coronavirus. There is no effective...o demonstrates a new mechanism for how viral prote...
...versity's Center for Biological and Environmental ...con hundreds of times smaller than a human cell th...y specific proteases. Altered expression of partic...erosclerosis, and many other diseases.......In the...
...d tail composed of ocelli has been considered a pr...rofessor Marion Petrie's classical studies have sh...f ocelli. However, a remaining question concerning...eir number. New research published today in Etholo...
Cracking the perception code 2Cracking the perception code 3Penn researchers discover key to how SARS virus infects cells 2Penn researchers discover key to how SARS virus infects cells 3'Smart' nanoprobes light up disease 2Behavioural ecologists elucidated how peahens choose their mates, and why 2
...Newport News, Va. The Free-Electron Laser (FEL), ...ted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jeff...ilowatts of infrared laser light in late July, mak...d. The recently upgraded laser's new capabilities ...
...PORTLAND - In their desire to get close to nature ...ds, Americans may very well be hastening the decli...t habitats.......The development boom in the natio...forest ecosystems, and the resulting decline in na...
Independent research groups have discovered novel therapeutic targets in the battle of the bulge. By altering the expression of a single -- albeit different gene, Drs. Roger Davis (UMASS Medical Scho
...PORTLAND - When it comes to forests, air pollution...irty air spreads across large areas of the New Eng...rn part of the United States. Details were present...th on Tuesday, Aug. 3, at the annual meeting of th...
Free electron laser reaches 10 kW 2A changing landscape may have dire implications for birds 2A changing landscape may have dire implications for birds 3In search of a lean gene 2In search of a lean gene 3New England forests at greater risk from air pollution 2New England forests at greater risk from air pollution 3