Publications by authors named "Sarah J Purdy"

Cannabis sativa L. glandular trichomes synthesize large amounts of secondary metabolites, predominantly cannabinoids and terpenoids. The associated demand for carbon and energy makes glandular trichomes strong sink tissues with indications that their secondary metabolism is coupled to the availability of photoassimilates.

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Chickpea is the second-most-cultivated legume globally, with India and Australia being the two largest producers. In both of these locations, the crop is sown on residual summer soil moisture and left to grow on progressively depleting water content, finally maturing under terminal drought conditions. The metabolic profile of plants is commonly, correlatively associated with performance or stress responses, e.

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The standard practice to initiate flowering in medicinal cannabis involves reducing the photoperiod from a long-day period to an equal duration cycle of 12 h light (12L)/12 h dark (12D). This method reflects the short-day flowering dependence of many cannabis varieties but may not be optimal for all. We sought to identify the effect of nine different flowering photoperiod treatments on the biomass yield and cannabinoid concentration of three medicinal cannabis varieties.

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Article Synopsis
  • Miscanthus is a biomass crop that typically requires low chemicals and produces high yields, but specific hybrids show unique carbohydrate profiles, having low starch and sucrose but high fructose levels.
  • An RNA-seq analysis indicated that high-yielding hybrids down-regulate genes related to starch and sucrose while up-regulating pathways involved in glycolysis and phosphate export, influenced by a small network of transcription factors.
  • The findings suggest that higher starch and sucrose levels correlate with lower biomass production, providing insights for selecting high-yield Miscanthus genotypes based on their carbohydrate metabolism gene expression.
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Plant breeding is achieved through the controlled self- or cross-pollination of individuals and typically involves isolation of floral parts from selected parental plants. Paper, cellulose or synthetic materials are used to avoid self pollination or cross contamination. Low seed set limits the rate of breeding progress and increases costs.

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In perennial energy crop breeding programmes, it can take several years before a mature yield is reached when potential new varieties can be scored. Modern plant breeding technologies have focussed on molecular markers, but for many crop species, this technology is unavailable. Therefore, prematurity predictors of harvestable yield would accelerate the release of new varieties.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A bioenergy grass was studied as a potential alternative, showing promise on marginal land with better environmental impact, though it needs improvements in carbohydrate concentration and digestibility to compete with maize.
  • * Research on non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in various genotypes revealed peak NSC levels in July; however, overall yields were higher in October due to greater biomass, suggesting that breeding efforts should focus on starch rather than sugars for improved biogas potential.
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is a rhizomatous C4 grass of great interest as a biofuel crop because it has the potential to produce high yields over a wide geographical area with low agricultural inputs on marginal land less suitable for food production. At the moment, a clonal interspecific hybrid  ×  is the most widely cultivated and studied in Europe and the United States, but breeding programmes are developing newer more productive varieties. Here, we quantified the physiological processes relating to whole season yield in a replicated plot trial in Wales, UK.

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Willows ( spp.) grown as short rotation coppice (SRC) are viewed as a sustainable source of biomass with a positive greenhouse gas (GHG) balance due to their potential to fix and accumulate carbon (C) below ground. However, exploiting this potential has been limited by the paucity of data available on below ground biomass allocation and the extent to which it varies between genotypes.

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There is a pressing need to find a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels that will not compromise food security or require extensive use of agrochemicals. Miscanthus is a perennial energy grass predominantly used for combustion but with the current advancement of ligno-cellulosic fermentation technologies there is an interest in using Miscanthus for bioethanol production. Currently, the only commercially grown genotype of Miscanthus is M.

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Background: Arabidopsis plants accumulate maltose from starch breakdown during cold acclimation. The Arabidopsis mutant, maltose excess1-1, accumulates large amounts of maltose in the plastid even in the warm, due to a deficient plastid envelope maltose transporter. We therefore investigated whether the elevated maltose level in mex1-1 in the warm could result in changes in metabolism and physiology typical of WT plants grown in the cold.

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Background And Aims: The bioenergy grass Miscanthus is native to eastern Asia. As Miscanthus uses C4 photosynthesis, the cooler temperatures experienced in much of northern Europe are expected to limit productivity. Identification of genetic diversity in chilling tolerance will enable breeders to generate more productive varieties for these cooler regions.

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Plants respond to cold by transcriptional and metabolic responses which underlie tolerance and acclimation mechanisms, but details at the molecular level are incomplete. Here we describe KOLD SENSITIV-1 (KOS1), a new gene required for responses to cold. KOS1 protein is predicted to have coiled-coil, Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes and nuclear-targeting domains.

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*The aim of this work was to determine the genetic basis of sugar-regulated senescence and to explore the relationship with other traits, including flowering and nitrogen-use efficiency. *Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for senescence were mapped in the Arabidopsis Bay-0 x Shahdara recombinant-inbred line (RIL) population after growth on glucose-containing medium, which accelerates senescence. The extent of whole-rosette senescence was determined by imaging the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (F(v)/F(m)).

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