(Phys.org) —The more crop scientists know about how plant roots take up water and nutrients, the better able they will be to develop crop plants with roots that can cope with challenging soil and environmental ...

Biology - Biotechnology

May 16, 2013 not rated yet 0

In a study published online today in Crop Science, scientists describe a nematode-resistant wheat. But while the wheat carries the resistance to the pest, the benefits are actually seen in the crop that is grown after it. ...

Biology - Biotechnology

May 14, 2013 not rated yet 0

The first week of May is traditionally thought of as the ideal time for Iowa farmers to begin planting, but a slow start to spring and volatile grain markets in recent weeks have left producers with a lot ...

Biology - Ecology

May 08, 2013 not rated yet 0

Any day now, billions of cicadas with bulging red eyes will crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground and overrun the East Coast. The insects will arrive in such numbers that people in the southern ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

May 06, 2013 4.4 / 5 (5) 0

Researchers from Murdoch University have developed an environmentally friendly 'gene silencing' method to control Root Lesion Nematodes, plant pathogens known to reduce crop yields in major crops such as whea ...

Biology - Ecology

Apr 30, 2013 not rated yet 0

A collaboration of plant and soil scientists from across the UK has shown a grass hybrid species could help reduce the impact of flooding. The BBSRC-funded scientists, from Rothamsted Research, the James Hutton Institute, ...

Biology - Ecology

Apr 25, 2013 not rated yet 1

Approximately 55 percent of the horseradish produced in the United States is grown in the Collinsville, Ill., area, the self-proclaimed "Horseradish Capital of the World." The product is of such high quality that Europeans ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Apr 15, 2013 5 / 5 (2) 1 |

(Phys.org) —A new study undertaken by a diverse group of scientists in Sweden has found that contrary to popular belief, most of the carbon that is sequestered in northern boreal forests comes about due ...

Space & Earth - Environment

Mar 29, 2013 4.8 / 5 (10) 3 |

(Phys.org) —With a novel technique that noninvasively analyzes microbes, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory profiled, for the first time, the chemicals that a cyanobacterium makes available ...

Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry

Mar 21, 2013 5 / 5 (2) 0 |

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist and his colleague at Cornell University have developed a new tool for studying how roots take shape in the soil.

Biology - Biotechnology

Feb 20, 2013 5 / 5 (1) 0

(Phys.org)—The UN estimates that one in every seven people around the world are hungry. Fortunately, Jonathan Lynch uses Information Technology (IT) to get to the root of this problem.

Biology - Biotechnology

Feb 08, 2013 1 / 5 (2) 1

Engineered to produce the bacterial toxin, Bt, "Bt corn" resists attack by corn rootworm, a pest that feeds on roots and can cause annual losses of up to $1 billion. But besides merely protecting against these losses, the ...

Biology - Ecology

Feb 06, 2013 not rated yet 0

Gravity affects the ecology and evolution of every living organism. In plants, the general response to gravity is well known: their roots respond positively, growing down, into the soil, and their stems respond ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Feb 04, 2013 5 / 5 (1) 0 |

Until now it has not been clear how salt, a scourge to agriculture, halts the growth of the plant-root system. A team of researchers, led by the Carnegie Institution's José Dinneny and Lina Duan, found that ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Jan 23, 2013 5 / 5 (9) 2 |

Liang Dong held up a clear plastic cube, an inch or so across, just big enough to hold 10 to 20 tiny seeds.

Technology - Engineering

Jan 08, 2013 5 / 5 (1) 0