Metagenome-enabled models improve genomic predictive ability and identification of herbivory-limiting genes in sweetpotato.

Plant-insect interactions are often influenced by host- or insect-associated metagenomic community members. The relative abundance of insects and the microbes that modulate their interactions were obtained from sweetpotato () leaf-associated metagenomes using quantitative reduced representation sequencing and strain/species-level profiling with the Qmatey software. Positive correlations were found between whitefly () and its endosymbionts (, , and spp) and negative correlations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that implicate nitric oxide in sweetpotato-whitefly interaction.

Enhancing Reniform Nematode Management in Sweetpotato by Complementing Host-Plant Resistance with Nonfumigant Nematicides.

The reniform nematode ( Linford and Oliveira) adversely impacts the quality and quantity of sweetpotato storage roots. Management of in sweetpotato remains a challenge because host plant resistance is not available, fumigants are detrimental to the environment and health, and crop rotation is not effective. We screened a core set of 24 sweetpotato plant introductions (PIs) against .

Representing true plant genomes: haplotype-resolved hybrid pepper genome with trio-binning.

As sequencing costs decrease and availability of high fidelity long-read sequencing increases, generating experiment specific genome assemblies becomes feasible. In many crop species, obtaining the genome of a hybrid or heterozygous individual is necessary for systems that do not tolerate inbreeding or for investigating important biological questions, such as hybrid vigor. However, most genome assembly methods that have been used in plants result in a merged single sequence representation that is not a true biologically accurate representation of either haplotype within a diploid individual.

Impact of non-fumigant nematicides on reproduction and pathogenicity of and disease severity in tobacco.

is a highly aggressive quarantine pathogen which threatens the multibillion-dollar tobacco industry and is not manageable with the currently available management methods in tobacco. There is currently no known host plant resistance in tobacco and previous studies have shown that the lower level of the currently recommended rate of non-fumigant nematicides does not provide satisfactory management of . The current study was conducted with the hypothesis that can be better managed using a single soil application of the maximum allowed rate of non-fumigant nematicides.

Genetic diversity, population structure, and selection of breeder germplasm subsets from the USDA sweetpotato () collection.

Sweetpotato () is the sixth most important food crop and plays a critical role in maintaining food security worldwide. Support for sweetpotato improvement research in breeding and genetics programs, and maintenance of sweetpotato germplasm collections is essential for preserving food security for future generations. Germplasm collections seek to preserve phenotypic and genotypic diversity through accession characterization.