Functional and Numerical Responses of Trichogramma euproctidis (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) to Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Under Laboratory Conditions.

The tomato fruitworm Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) is regarded as a serious pest that affects a great number of field crops globally. One of the environmentally safe alternatives to the utilization of insecticides is controlling H. armigera via the release of biological control agents by employing parasitoids, e.

Brown midrib mutant and genome-wide association analysis uncover lignin genes for disease resistance in maize.

Brown midrib (BMR) maize (Zea mays L.) harbors mutations that result in lower lignin levels and higher feed digestibility, making it a desirable silage market class for ruminant nutrition. Northern leaf blight (NLB) epidemics in upstate New York highlighted the disease susceptibility of commercially grown BMR maize hybrids.

Leveraging prior biological knowledge improves prediction of tocochromanols in maize grain.

With an essential role in human health, tocochromanols are mostly obtained by consuming seed oils; however, the vitamin E content of the most abundant tocochromanols in maize (Zea mays L.) grain is low. Several large-effect genes with cis-acting variants affecting messenger RNA (mRNA) expression are mostly responsible for tocochromanol variation in maize grain, with other relevant associated quantitative trait loci (QTL) yet to be fully resolved.

Genetic factors underlying anaerobic germination in rice: Genome-wide association study and transcriptomic analysis.

The success of rice (Oryza sativa L.) germination and survival under submerged conditions is mainly determined by the rapid growth of the coleoptile to reach the water surface. Previous reports have shown the presence of genetic variability within rice accessions in the levels of flooding tolerance during germination or anaerobic germination (AG).

Genome-wide marker effect heterogeneity is associated with a large effect dormancy locus in winter malting barley.

Prediction of trait values in plant breeding populations typically relies on assumptions about marker effect homogeneity across populations. Evidence is presented for winter malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) germination traits that a single, causative, large-effect gene in the Seed dormancy 1 region on Chromosome 5H, HvAlaAT1 (Qsd1), leads to heterogeneous estimated marker effects genome wide between groups of otherwise related individuals carrying different Qsd1 alleles.

Modeling chromatin state from sequence across angiosperms using recurrent convolutional neural networks.

Accessible chromatin regions are critical components of gene regulation but modeling them directly from sequence remains challenging, especially within plants, whose mechanisms of chromatin remodeling are less understood than in animals. We trained an existing deep-learning architecture, DanQ, on data from 12 angiosperm species to predict the chromatin accessibility in leaf of sequence windows within and across species. We also trained DanQ on DNA methylation data from 10 angiosperms because unmethylated regions have been shown to overlap significantly with ACRs in some plants.

Development and validation of an optimized marker set for genomic selection in southern U.S. rice breeding programs.

The potential of genomic selection (GS) to increase the efficiency of breeding programs has been clearly demonstrated; however, the implementation of GS in rice (Oryza sativa L.) breeding programs has been limited. In recent years, efforts have begun to work toward implementing GS into the Louisiana State University (LSU) Agricultural Center rice breeding program.

Effectiveness of washing in reducing lead concentrations of lettuce grown in urban garden soils.

Urban gardeners contribute to sustainable cities and often take great care to limit exposure to soil contaminants like lead (Pb). Although best management practices (BMPs) like mulching to reduce soil splash can limit crop contamination, they may not eliminate all contamination for leafy greens, which trap soil particles. How effective is washing at removing Pb contamination from leafy greens when using BMPs? Are certain washing techniques more effective than others? We present results from two experiments addressing these questions.

Generalizable approaches for genomic prediction of metabolites in plants.

Plant metabolites are important traits for plant breeders seeking to improve nutrition and agronomic performance yet integrating selection for metabolomic traits can be limited by phenotyping expense and degree of genetic characterization, especially of uncommon metabolites. As such, developing generalizable genomic selection methods based on biochemical pathway biology for metabolites that are transferable across plant populations would benefit plant breeding programs. We tested genomic prediction accuracy for >600 metabolites measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in oat (Avena sativa L.

A multiple alignment workflow shows the effect of repeat masking and parameter tuning on alignment in plants.

Alignments of multiple genomes are a cornerstone of comparative genomics, but generating these alignments remains technically challenging and often impractical. We developed the msa_pipeline workflow (https://bitbucket.org/bucklerlab/msa_pipeline) to allow practical and sensitive multiple alignment of diverged plant genomes and calculation of conservation scores with minimal user inputs.

A multi-trait multi-locus stepwise approach for conducting GWAS on correlated traits.

The ability to accurately quantify the simultaneous effect of multiple genomic loci on multiple traits is now possible due to current and emerging high-throughput genotyping and phenotyping technologies. To date, most efforts to quantify these genotype-to-phenotype relationships have focused on either multi-trait models that test a single marker at a time or multi-locus models that quantify associations with a single trait. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the performance of a multi-trait, multi-locus stepwise (MSTEP) model selection procedure we developed to (a) a commonly used multi-trait single-locus model and (b) a univariate multi-locus model.

Transcriptome-wide association and prediction for carotenoids and tocochromanols in fresh sweet corn kernels.

Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) is consistently one of the most highly consumed vegetables in the United States, providing a valuable opportunity to increase nutrient intake through biofortification. Significant variation for carotenoid (provitamin A, lutein, zeaxanthin) and tocochromanol (vitamin E, antioxidants) levels is present in temperate sweet corn germplasm, yet previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of these traits have been limited by low statistical power and mapping resolution.

Novel stripe rust all-stage resistance loci identified in a worldwide collection of durum wheat using genome-wide association mapping.

Durumwheat [Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum (Desf.

A novel framework for estimating and analyzing pesticide risk on golf courses.

This study develops a framework that quantifies golf course pesticide risk, explores environmental and economic factors that may be responsible for the observed risk, develops a method to compare golf course pesticide risk to other agricultural crops and investigates how pesticide risk on golf courses can be most effectively reduced. To quantify pesticide risk, we adapt the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) and hazard quotient models for use on golf courses. The EIQ model provides an estimate of overall environmental risk, while the hazard quotient model, as applied here, provides an estimate of pesticide risk to mammals.

The Mars 2020 Rover Mast Camera Zoom (Mastcam-Z) Multispectral, Stereoscopic Imaging Investigation.

Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission's rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6° × 19.

On-farm screw press and rotary drum treatment of dairy manure-associated antibiotic residues and resistance.

An on-farm solid-liquid separator (SLS) and rotary drum composter (RD) manure treatment system was monitored for its impact on antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Administered antibiotics were tracked, and treatment system mass flows were quantified. Total amounts of antibiotic residues and ARGs were calculated from measured concentrations and mass flows.

Machine Learning Improves the Identification of Individuals With Higher Morbidity and Avoidable Health Costs After Acute Coronary Syndromes.

Objectives: Traditional risk scores improved the definition of the initial therapeutic strategy in acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but they were not designed for predicting long-term individual risks and costs. In parallel, attempts to directly predict costs from clinical variables in ACS had limited success. Thus, novel approaches to predict cardiovascular risk and health expenditure are urgently needed.

Kinetics of nitrous oxide mass transfer from porewater into root aerenchyma of wetland plants.

The creation and/or restoration of wetlands is an important strategy for controlling the release of reactive nitrogen (N) via denitrification, but there can be tradeoffs between enhanced denitrification and the production of nitrous oxide (N O), a potent greenhouse gas. A knowledge gap in current understanding of belowground wetland N dynamics is the role of gas transfer through the root aerenchyma system of wetland plants as a shortcut emission pathway for N O in denitrifying wetland soils. This investigation evaluates the significance of mass transfer into gas-filled root aerenchyma for the N O budget in wetland mesocosms planted with Sagittaria latifolia Willd.

Ammonia volatilization from composting with oxidized biochar.

Animal manure, agricultural residues, and other sources of biomass can be diverted from the waste stream and composted into valuable fertilizer. However, composting often results in substantial N loss through NH gas volatilization. We investigated biochar's capacity to improve NH -N retention during composting of poultry manure and straw.

Natural variation for carotenoids in fresh kernels is controlled by uncommon variants in sweet corn.

Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) is highly consumed in the United States, but does not make major contributions to the daily intake of carotenoids (provitamin A carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin) that would help in the prevention of health complications. A genome-wide association study of seven kernel carotenoids and twelve derivative traits was conducted in a sweet corn inbred line association panel ranging from light to dark yellow in endosperm color to elucidate the genetic basis of carotenoid levels in fresh kernels.