Assessment of bacterial communities of termite workers attacking Ironwood trees () in Guam for the presence of Ironwood tree decline-associated pathogens.

The Ironwood tree () holds a significant ecological role in Guam where a decline in Ironwood trees was first documented in 2002. Studies have linked the Ironwood tree decline (IWTD) to bacteria from the complex and wetwood bacteria, specifically and . Presence of termites was first found to be associated with IWTD in 2010; however, the role of termites in IWTD is still not clear.

Exploiting historical agronomic data to develop genomic prediction strategies for early clonal selection in the Louisiana sugarcane variety development program.

Genomic selection can enhance the rate of genetic gain of cane and sucrose yield in sugarcane (Saccharum L.), an important industrial crop worldwide. We assessed the predictive ability (PA) for six traits, such as theoretical recoverable sugar (TRS), number of stalks (NS), stalk weight (SW), cane yield (CY), sugar yield (SY), and fiber content (Fiber) using 20,451 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with 22 statistical models based on the genomic estimated breeding values of 567 genotypes within and across five stages of the Louisiana sugarcane breeding program.

The Effect of Heat-treated Poultry Pellets and Composted Poultry Litter on E. coli Survival in Southeastern US Soils: Florida and Georgia.

Biological soil amendments of animal origin (BSAAO) are a source of foodborne pathogens that can contaminate fresh produce. This study evaluated the survival of E. coli over 140 d in agricultural soils amended with composted poultry litter (PL), heat-treated poultry pellets (HTPP), or unamended (UN) in Florida (FL) and Georgia (GA).

Identification of a novel mycovirus belonging to the "flexivirus"-related family with icosahedral virion.

The order currently comprises five viral families with positive-sense RNA [(+)RNA] genomes that infect plants, fungi, and insects. Virion morphologies within the order differ between families, with icosahedral virions in the and filamentous virions in the other families. Despite their different morphologies, these viruses are placed in the same order based on phylogenetic analyses of replicase-associated polyproteins.

Value-Added Foods: Composition, Sensory, and Consumer Research.

The term "value-added" continues to be a relevant topic for global research, especially when it is related to increased economic value, increased consumer satisfaction, food waste reduction, and sustainability [...

Context-Dependent Estrogenic Actions of (+)-Pisatin Produced in Elicited Green or Snow Pea ().

Legumes are a predominant source of isoflavones, termed phytoestrogens, that mimic 17β-estradiol (E2). Phytoalexins are inducible isoflavones produced in plants subjected to environmental stressors (e.g.

Bark water vapor conductance varies among temperate forest tree species and is affected by flooding and stem bending.

Bark water vapor conductance (gbark) modulates forest transpiration during droughts, when leaf transpiration is highly reduced. If disturbances such as windstorms and floods impact gbark, they could affect tree performance during subsequent droughts. Bark traits, particularly lenticel traits, likely drive variation in gbark and may influence the effects of disturbances on gbark.

Phosphorus removal from irrigation return flow using an iron oxide filter and denitrifying pine bark bioreactor treatment train.

Development of low-cost aqueous P removal methods is imperative for water resource protection. This study assessed the contribution of an iron oxide (FeOx) filter for P sorption paired with a denitrifying pine bark bioreactor, quantifying the effect of treatment order on P removal. FeOx filters were placed upstream (order 1) or downstream (order 2) of pine bark bioreactors receiving a continuous flow of simulated irrigation return flow after constructed floating wetland treatment.

Endogean habits drove cryptic diversification in Appalachian Lathrobium Gravenhorst (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae).

The southern Appalachian Mountains are a biodiverse region with high levels of endemism. Shared biogeographic patterns among co-distributed, but independent taxa might illuminate common drivers of Appalachian endemism. Lathrobium is a Holarctic genus with 38 species described form North America, six of which are flightless and endemic to the high Appalachians.

Tea Quality: An Overview of the Analytical Methods and Sensory Analyses Used in the Most Recent Studies.

Tea, one of the world's most consumed beverages, has a rich variety of sensory qualities such as appearance, aroma, mouthfeel and flavor. This review paper summarizes the chemical and volatile compositions and sensory qualities of different tea infusions including black, green, oolong, dark, yellow, and white teas based on published data over the past 4 years (between 2021 and 2024), largely focusing on the methodologies. This review highlights the relationships among the different processing methods of tea and their resulting chemical and sensory profiles.

Inheritance of Cry2Ab2 resistance in two Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) populations resistant to single- and dual-Bacillus thuringiensis proteins.

Cry2Ab2 is a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) protein that has been pyramided with Cry1A.105 in transgenic maize and Cry1Ac in cotton to control some major lepidopteran pests including the corn earworm/bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie). However, the widespread occurrence of resistance of this pest to the pyramided Cry1A/Cry2A crops in the southern region of the United State has become a threat to the sustainability of the technology.

Introduction into natural environments shifts the gut microbiome of captivity-raised filter-feeding bivalves.

The gut microbiome is influenced by host species and the environment, but how the environment influences the microbiome of animals introduced into a new ecosystem has rarely been investigated. Freshwater mussels are aquatic fauna, with some threatened or endangered species propagated in hatcheries and introduced into natural systems as part of conservation efforts. The effects of the environment on the freshwater mussel gut microbiome were assessed for two hatchery-propagated species (, ) introduced into rivers within their natural range.

Optimizing multi-environment trials in the Southern US Rice belt via smart-climate-soil prediction-based models and economic importance.

Rice breeding programs globally have worked to release increasingly productive and climate-smart cultivars, but the genetic gains have been limited for some reasons. One is the capacity for field phenotyping, which presents elevated costs and an unclear approach to defining the number and allocation of multi-environmental trials (MET). To address this challenge, we used soil information and ten years of historical weather data from the USA rice belt, which was translated into rice response based on the rice cardinal temperatures and crop stages.

Most soil and litter arthropods are unidentifiable based on current DNA barcode reference libraries.

We are far from knowing all species living on the planet. Understanding biodiversity is demanding and requires time and expertise. Most groups are understudied given problems of identifying and delimiting species.

Bell pepper endornavirus alters green peach aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) host choice and population dynamics.

Bell pepper endornavirus (BPEV) Alphaendornavirus capsici (Endornaviridae) is an RNA virus that infects many pepper (Capsicum annuum) horticultural types and is seed transmitted. BPEV does not cause apparent symptoms and is found at every plant developmental stage. During the domestication of bell pepper, plant breeders, unaware of the existence of endornaviruses in the germplasm, selected endornavirus-infected genotypes.

Comparative Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal Differences in the Responses of Diploid and Triploid Eastern Oysters to Environmental Stress.

Triploid oysters are commonly used as the basis for production in the aquaculture of eastern oysters along the USA East and Gulf of Mexico coasts. While they are valued for their rapid growth, incidents of triploid mortality during summer months have been well documented in eastern oysters, especially at low salinity sites. We compared global transcriptomic responses of diploid and triploid oysters bred from the same three maternal source populations at two different hatcheries and outplanted to a high (annual mean salinity = 19.

Suitability evaluation of toehold switch and EXPAR for cell-free MicroRNA biosensor development.

The development of a robust and cost-effective sensing platform for microRNA (miRNA) is of paramount importance in detecting and monitoring various diseases. Current miRNA detection methods are marred by low accuracy, high cost, and instability. The toehold switch riboregulator has shown promising results in detecting viral RNAs integrated with the freeze-dried cell-free system (CFS).