NSF awards 22 new projects for plant genome research
...ttuce, sunflower and artichoke, as well as noxious weeds such as Russian thistle. This work should shed light on the processes that shaped the genomes of these plants during domestication and identify the traits that lead to weediness. And a project at Mississippi State University will work to develop geno...... hardest to kill," said Wang. "The cells grow like weeds and they are tough as a rock." The cells, however, were no match for Compound 3. When the researchers added the Smac mimic to glioblastoma cultures -- along with a protein called TRAIL that also helps activate the apoptosis machinery -- it easily ki...New fumigant to replace gas that damages ozone layer
...lly-safe fumigant for treating soil, insect pests, weeds and diseases. CSIRO and BOC have agreed to commerc...omide is used to sterilise soil from insect pests, weeds and diseases before planting high value crops such as strawberries and carrots. "In addition to bein...UCR earns $1.5 million grant to examine how engineered crop genes stray
...have been identified, such as the evolution of new weeds because of contamination with transgenes that make them more difficult to control. "Recalling genes is more difficult than recalling defective car parts or contaminated meat," said Ellstrand. "Because genes have the opportunity to multiply themselve...Forest managers can fight invasive species that come with roads
...ted the findings. "These conditions allow invasive weeds to take hold and displace native plant life." For his master's thesis, Hawbaker used historic aerial photographs of 17 townships in northern Wisconsin to track road density during the past 60 years. He found that between 1937 and 1999 road density do...Wildland fires: After the smoke clears
...tation that can impact water quality; and invasive weeds that can fuel future fires. Come hear how the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners work together to protect lives, property, and ecosystems as they stabilize burned areas and rehabilitate the land. Speakers: Anne Kinsinger, U.S. Geologi...Lowly weeds may hold promise for curing host of common health woes
...who did the study. "There are probably hundreds of weeds growing right outside people's doors they could us...n drug companies' quests to discover new remedies, weeds short-lived, herbaceous, fast-growing plants that thrive in areas of human disturbance that sprout...Devastating parasitic weed may be felled by toxin borrowed from flies
...e paper, "Engineering crop resistance to parasitic weeds (AGFD 28)" will be presented by Westwood at 9:20 a.m. Monday, March 29, as part of the symposium on natural products for pest management at 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the Hilton's Pacific Ballroom B. Authors are Hamamouch, Aly, Virginia Tech PPWS pr...Using a companion crop to control weeds organically
...r-seeded winter cereal rye decreases the amount of weeds in the soybeans and increases soybean yield, in years where soil moisture was not a yield-limiting factor. Two years of the three-year project were drier than the 30-year average, which resulted in decreased soybean yields. "Our results suggest th...Sediment samples suggest how plants would fare in hotter, drier future
...n abundance." The West Olaf Lake area was rich in weeds such as Ambrosia during the Holocene's drier middle years. During the period's early years, severe droughts limited plant productivity, reducing the accumulation of flammable fuels. During the milder, wetter later years of the period, rising C4 plant...National Science Foundation announces $14M planetary biodiversity inventory awards
...s, sources of pharmaceutical agents, and poisonous weeds like deadly nightshade. With an estimated 1500 species worldwide, Solanum is the focus of large-scale genomics projects and the genus provides model systems to study plant breeding, pollination biology and fruit dispersal. Larry Page of the Flori...Invading species have tough time cracking diverse neighborhood
... the native diversity of species can help keep out weeds and exotic species. The study is published in the ...o predict which exotic species will become problem weeds by studying the weeds alone. Their success actually depends to a large extent on the characteristics...Pathogenic yeasts and fungi: A growing health concern
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (May 13, 2003)When a few weeds appear on your front lawn, you can easily pick the...everal applications of the herbicide, however, the weeds could become resistant, forcing you to use an even more powerful solution. Meanwhile, the survival o...Roads pave the way for weed invasions
...ved roads in wilderness areas spread more invasive weeds than primitive roads, while roadless areas act as ...habitat to roadside habitat, from which non-native weeds spread into adjacent natural ecosystems. Compared to 4-wheel-drive tracks, paved roads had much wide...Paving roads can increase weed invasions
...y, it makes sense that improved roads would spread weeds more than primitive roads because the former have ... can favor invasive species. To see if non-native weeds really are more likely to invade along improved roads, Gelbard and Belnap surveyed the plants along...What to plant when the fires go out
...asive species. "Given the onslaught of fire and of weeds such as leafy spurge, toadflax, and cheatgrass, I ...says. "We could lose our forests and rangelands to weeds if we target our scarce resources incorrectly. To date, no substantial effort to improve the weed f...Theyre healthier: With fewer parasites, invaders gain competitive edge over native species
...d that the introduced plants most likely to become weeds are those that have left behind the most pathogens. Additionally, the two studies documented that the parasites lost by invasive species are also their widespread "Achilles' heel," a weakness that can be intentionally turned against them. According...Invading weeds escaped old enemies, brought immunity
...ges were less likely to become widespread, noxious weeds that are costly to agriculture. "These results suggest that invasive plants' impacts are a function of both release from and accumulation of natural enemies, including pathogens," the Cornell ecologists reported in Nature . A second phase of the st...Researchers find invasive species are healthy species They leave their parasites behind
...found that introduced plants most likely to become weeds are those that have left behind the most pathogens. The plant and animal groups worked side by side on the research at UCSB's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. According to both groups of authors, bringing in parasites from a pe......iversity of Toronto. "The ants, garden fungi, and weeds have all been co-evolving since ant agriculture fi... ants, their garden fungi and the parasitic fungal weeds have been living in a co-evolved, complex system for a very long time, probably 50 million years or ...