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Public Release: 20-Nov-2009
 GeneticsIt's a gas: New discovery may lead to heartier, high-yielding plants In a research report in the November 2009 journal Genetics, scientists show how a family of genes (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, or ACS genes), in the weed Arabidopsis thaliana, are responsible for production of ethylene. This gas affects many aspects of plant development, and this information, which will be applicable to other plants, lays the foundation for future genetic manipulation that could make plants disease resistant, able to survive and thrive in difficult terrain, and increase yields. Contact: Tracey DePellegrin Connelly
Public Release: 20-Nov-2009
2009 AGU Fall MeetingNew method to measure snow, vegetation moisture with GPS may benefit farmers, meteorologists A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a clever way to use traditional GPS satellite signals to measure snow depth as well as soil and vegetation moisture, a technique expected to benefit meteorologists, water resource managers, climate modelers and farmers. 
National Science Foundation
Contact: Kristine Larson
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceNew maize map to aid plant breeding efforts A massive survey of genetic diversity in maize has produced a gene map that should pave the way to significant improvements in a plant that is a major source of food, fuel, animal feed and fiber around the world.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture
Contact: Pat Bailey
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Darwin 2009 SciencePaleontologists find extinction rates higher in open-ocean settings during mass extinctions Arnie Miller, University of Cincinnati professor of paleontology in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, and co-author Michael Foote of the University of Chicago publish their research in the Nov. 20 issue of Science with their paper, "Epicontinental Seas Versus Open-Ocean Settings: The Kinetics of Mass Extinction and Origination."
NASA, National Science Foundation
Contact: Wendy Beckman
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceNew map of variation in maize genetics holds promise for developing new varieties A new study of maize has identified thousands of diverse genes in genetically inaccessible portions of the genome. New techniques may allow breeders and researchers to use this genetic variation to identify desirable traits and create new varieties that were not easily possible before.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture
Contact: Blaine Friedlander
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Plant PhysiologyMaize cell wall genes identified, giving boost to biofuel research Purdue University scientists have helped identify and group the genes thought to be responsible for cell wall development in maize, an effort that expands their ability to discover ways to produce the biomass best suited for biofuels production. Contact: Brian Wallheimer
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ORNL, Los Alamos pioneer new approach to assist scientists, farmers Sustainable farming, initially adopted to preserve soil quality for future generations, may also play a role in maintaining a healthy climate, according to researchers at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories. Contact: Ron Walli
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Microorganism may provide key to combating giant salvinia throughout Louisiana A team of researchers at Louisiana Tech University has found that a naturally occurring microorganism acts as a natural herbicide against giant salvinia. Contact: Dave Guerin
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceReference genome of maize, most important US crop, is published by team co-led by CSHL scientists A four-year, multi-institutional effort co-led by three Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists culminated today in publication of a landmark series of papers in the journal Science revealing in unprecedented detail the DNA sequence of maize. Maize, or corn, as it is commonly called by North American consumers, is one of the world's most important plants and the most valuable agricultural crop grown in the United States, representing $47 billion in annual value.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Defense
Contact: Peter Tarr
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public HealthLet them eat snail A nutritionist in Nigeria says that malnutrition and iron deficiency in schoolchildren could be reduced in her country by baking up snail pie. In a research paper to be published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, she explains snail is not only cheaper and more readily available than beef but contains more protein. Contact: Ukpong Udofia
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Why Israeli rodents are more cautious than Jordanian ones A series of studies carried out at the University of Haifa have found that rodent, reptile and ant lion species behave differently on either side of the Israel-Jordan border. "The border line, which is only a demarcation on the map, cannot contain these species, but the line does restrict humans and their diverse impact on nature," says Dr. Uri Shanas. Contact: Rachel Feldman
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceU of M plant scientist uncovers clues to yield-boosting quirks of corn genome The offspring of two inbred strains tend to be superior to both of their parents. Characterizing the gene-level variability that leads to this phenomenon, known as heterosis or hybrid vigor, could boost our ability to custom-tailor crops for specific traits, such as high protein content for human consumption or high glucose content for biomass fuel. Contact: Patty Mattern
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceScientists at UA, collaborating institutions decode maize genome Scientists from the University of Arizona led by Arizona Genomics Institute director Rod A. Wing and from collaborating institutions have deciphered the complete genetic code of the maize plant for the first time.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Lori Stiles
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
PLoS GeneticsPLoS Genetics 2009 maize genome collection Maize is an important crop in many countries of the world. It is widely used for human consumption, animal feed and industrial materials. It also is considered an exemplar plant species for studying domestication, molecular evolution and genome architecture. The authors of the research presented in this special collection used the first description of the B73 maize genome to probe some of the most intriguing questions in genetics and plant biology. Contact: Tamsin Milewicz
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceSweet corn story begins in UW-Madison lab This week, scientists are revealing the genetic instructions inside corn, one of the big three cereal crops. Corn, or maize, has one of the most complex sequences of DNA ever analyzed, says University of Wisconsin-Madison genomicist David Schwartz, who was one of more than 100 authors in the article in the journal Science. Contact: David C. Schwartz
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceLike humans, ants use bacteria to make their gardens grow Leaf-cutter ants, which cultivate fungus for food, have many remarkable qualities.
US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation
Contact: Cameron Currie
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceAfter mastodons and mammoths, a transformed landscape Roughly 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, North America's vast assemblage of large animals -- including such iconic creatures as mammoths, mastodons, camels, horses, ground sloths and giant beavers -- began their precipitous slide to extinction.
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, National Science Foundation
Contact: John Williams
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
ScienceAmaizing: Corn genome decoded In recent years, scientists have decoded the DNA of humans and a menagerie of creatures but none with genes as complex as a stalk of corn, the latest genome to be unraveled. A team of scientists led by the Genome Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis published the completed corn genome in the Nov. 20 journal Science, an accomplishment that will speed efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet the world's growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Energy
Contact: Caroline Arbanas
Public Release: 18-Nov-2009
American Journal of BotanyThe benefits of stress ... in plants This study finds that certain wild flax plants growing in poor soils have succeeded in balancing the stress in their lives -- these plants are less likely to experience infection from a fungal pathogen. This is the first study to attempt to quantitatively explain how plants have evolved a specialization to serpentine soils and ultimately may help to explain floristic diversity in these unique environments.
California Native Plant Society, Hardman Native Plant Research Fellowship, R. Poulin, UC Davis Genetic Resources Conservation Program
Contact: Richard Hund
Public Release: 18-Nov-2009
Proceedings of the Royal Society BScientists unravel evolution of highly toxic box jellyfish With thousands of stinging cells that can emit deadly venom from tentacles that can reach ten feet in length, the 50 or so species of box jellyfish have long been of interest to scientists and to the public. Yet little has been known about the evolution of this early branch in the animal tree of life. In a paper published today, researchers have unraveled the evolutionary relationships among the various species of box jellyfish, thereby providing insight into the evolution of their toxicity.
National Science Foundation, PADI Foundation
Contact: Shelley Dawicki
Public Release: 18-Nov-2009
NatureUCR plant scientist's research spawns new discoveries showing how crops survive drought Breakthrough research done earlier this year by a UC Riverside plant cell biologist has greatly accelerated scientists' knowledge on how plants and crops can survive difficult environmental conditions like drought. In only months since the discovery, six research papers in prestigious journals such as Science and Nature have been published that build on his work, a testament to the interest among plant scientists to nail down how exactly the stress signaling pathway works in plants.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala
Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic ResearchCanadians finding it tough to shake the salt habit Canadians know that too much salt isn't good for their diets, but half still continue to shake it on, according to a new study by University of Alberta researchers.
Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research, British Columbia Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport
Contact: Bev Betkowski
Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Physical Review JournalsSpotting evidence of directed percolation Convincing experimental evidence has finally been found for directed percolation, a phenomenon that turns up in computer models of the ways diseases spread through a population or how water soaks through loose soil. Contact: James Riordon
Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
OryxAlternative animal feed part of global fisheries crisis fix: UBC study Finding alternative feed sources for chickens, pigs and other farm animals will significantly reduce pressure on the world's dwindling fisheries while contributing positively to climate change, according to University of British Columbia researchers. Contact: Brian Lin
Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater EcosystemsIs 80-year-old mistake leading to first species to be fished to extinction? A species of common skate is to become the first marine fish species to be driven to extinction by commercial fishing, due to an error of species classification 80 years ago. Contact: Ben Norman
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