Genetic and chemical control of coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix Berk et Br.): impacts on coffee (Coffea arabica L.) quality.

Background: The occurrence of diseases can alter coffee (Coffea arabica L.) metabolism, causing changes in the composition of coffee beans and beverage quality. However, little is known about which aspects of coffee quality are actually altered by rust (Hemileia vastatrix Berk et Br.

Augmenting iron accumulation in cassava by the beneficial soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis (GBO3).

Cassava (Manihot esculenta), a major staple food in the developing world, provides a basic carbohydrate diet for over half a billion people living in the tropics. Despite the iron abundance in most soils, cassava provides insufficient iron for humans as the edible roots contain 3-12 times less iron than other traditional food crops such as wheat, maize, and rice. With the recent identification that the beneficial soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis (strain GB03) activates iron acquisition machinery to increase metal ion assimilation in Arabidopsis, the question arises as to whether this plant-growth promoting rhizobacterium also augments iron assimilation to increase endogenous iron levels in cassava.