News tagged with plant crops

A genetic alternative to fertilizer

Several studies have shown that a lack of nitrogen in soils adversely affects crop yields. The modern use of nitrogen fertilizers has improved yields to meet expanding global food demand, but in some cases ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Deterring signals: Tobacco plants advertise their defensive readiness to attacking leafhoppers

Following herbivory, plants produce jasmonic acid, a hormone which activates several plant defense reactions. Scientists found that leafhoppers can evaluate whether tobacco plants are ready for defense when attacked. If jasmonate-signaling ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

EU food agency rejects France ban on Monsanto GM maize

Europe's food safety agency EFSA on Monday rejected the grounds for a temporary French ban on a genetically modified strain of maize made by US company Monsanto.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Blossom end rot plummets in transgenic tomato

The brown tissue that signals blossom end rot in tomatoes is a major problem for large producers and home gardeners, but a Purdue University researcher has unknowingly had the answer to significantly lowering ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 3

How plants chill out

Plants elongate their stems when grown at high temperature to facilitate the cooling of their leaves, according to new research from the University of Bristol published today in Current Biology. Understanding why plants alter ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Supercharged safflower

This scientific achievement has produced safflower seed oil that contains more than 90 per cent of this valuable fatty acid, the highest level of purity of an individual fatty acid currently available in any ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Common fungicide wreaks havoc on freshwater ecosystems

Chlorothalonil, one of the world's most common fungicides used pervasively on food crops and golf courses, was lethal to a wide variety of freshwater organisms in a new study, University of South Florida researchers said ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 16, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

When the soil holds not enough phosphorus: Scientists describe new transporter in cells of plant roots

Plants cannot survive without phosphorus. It forms the backbone of many crucial molecules (such as DNA) and is a key player in energy transfer reactions. Low availability of phosphorus is a major environmental ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 15, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Increasing predator-friendly land can help farmers reduce costs

Having natural habitat in farming areas that supports ladybugs could help increase their abundance in crops where they control pests and help farmers reduce their costs, says a Michigan State University study.

Biology / Ecology

created May 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Barley takes a leaf out of reindeer's book in the land of the midnight sun

Barley grown in Scandinavian countries is adapted in a similar way to reindeer to cope with the extremes of day length at high latitudes. Researchers have found a genetic mutation in some Scandinavian barley ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Legume lessons: Reducing fertilizer use through beneficial microbe reactions

Janine Sherrier, professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware, is part of a team that has been awarded $6.8 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 10, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Crop root study to boost Australian grain production

Researchers at The University of Western Australia say that "next frontier" of agricultural science is understanding the root system and function of crop plants to significantly increase Australian grain production, ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

New research reveals challenges in genetically engineered crop regulatory process

A new innovation can completely reshape an industry-- inspiring both optimism and debate. The development of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the 1980's ignited a buzz in the agricultural community with the potential ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Breeder works to reduce aluminum toxicity in rice

(Phys.org) -- As rice farmers around the world begin to turn from wet paddies to dry fields in an attempt to conserve water and mitigate climate change, they are facing a new foe: aluminum.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers plan to double biofuel yield from a non-food oil seed crop

One of the most promising avenues for reducing our national dependence on imported oil, lowering greenhouse gases and boosting domestic fuel production is biofuel from non-food plant seed oils. Recently, a University of Massachusetts ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1