1,102 research outputs found
Sometimes you're the scooper, and sometimes you get scooped: How to turn both into something good.
No full textFast-moving, competitive fields often inadvertently duplicate research. In a research environment that values being first over being robust, this results in one manuscript "scooping" ongoing research from other groups. Opportunities to demonstrate the solidity of a result through coincidental reproduction are thus lost. Here, two group leaders, one the scooper and one the scoopee, discuss their experiences under PLOS Biology's new "complementary research" policy. In this case, submission of the second article followed publication of the first by mere days. Scooper and scoopee discuss how complementary research is good for everyone by expanding the scientific reach of studies that are overlapping but not identical, demonstrating the robustness of related results, increasing readership for both authors, and making "replication" studies cost effective by creatively using resources that have already been spent
Kansas Corn Commission Press Releases, 2021. Kansas Corn Commission News Releases, 2021.
No full textThis internet resource contains news releases issued throughout the year.Jan. 8 E-News Political Outlook -- 2021 Kansas Corn School Webinars Announced -- Kansas Farmers Harvest Second Largest Corn Crop -- National Corn, Ethanol Leaders to Speak at Online Kansas Corn Symposium and Annual Meeting -- Kansas Corn Recognizes Collegiate Honors During Annual Symposium -- 2020 Kansas Corn Yield Contest Winners Announced -- Kansas Corn Growers Association Elects New Board Member; Holds First Virtual Annual Meeting -- Kansas Corn STEM Launches “We Grow Corn!” Public Library Series -- 2021 Corn School Presentations Now Available Online -- Thomas County Leads Kansas Corn Production -- Cost-share Funds Available for Fuel Retailers to Add E15 -- Kansas Corn . . . On the Air -- EPA’s E15 Decision for KC Is a Win for Drivers, Air Quality and Corn Farmers -- Production Focused, Communication Driven: Interning with Kansas Corn -- Find E15 Fuel Here! -- Kansas Corn Growers Encouraged to Enter State, National Yield Contests -- Kansas Corn STEM Launches Summer Scientist Program -- KCGA Disagrees with Court Ruling Against Year-Round E15 -- Kansas Corn Invites Farmers to Summer Listening Tour Stops -- Kansas Corn Growers Association Appoints Board Member -- Kansas Corn Commission Appoints Two Growers to Fill Retiring Commissioners -- Kansas Corn Welcomes Next Generation Fuels Act Introduction -- Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska Corn Checkoffs Help Build Ethanol Infrastructure in Top U.S. Ethanol Market -- KCGA Represents Grower Interests in Tax and WOTUS Letters and Comments -- Why I Contribute to CornPAC -- Mental Health Matters, Especially During Harvest -- Kansas Corn STEM Lesson Author KaCee James -- Pulled Pork: A BBQ Staple -- KCGA: EPA Ethanol Announcement Falls Short -- 2022 Kansas Corn Schools- Both In-Person and Virtual Sessions
Jacob Elry Metzger papers
No full textJacob E. Metzger came to the Maryland Agricultural College in 1914. He was a professor of agronomy and head of the Department of Agronomy, supervisor of the Agricultural Department of the Maryland High Schools for the State Department of Public Instruction, Agronomist of the Maryland Experiment Station, and acting director and director of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station from 1937 to 1939. Metzger also established and directed the university's first summer school in 1914. Metzger took part in research and experiments which led to development of "beardless" barley, conducted research on a special type of turf grass for golf courses, and was a noted author of bulletins and articles on soil research and other related fields. His papers consist of speeches, research papers, and recollections on subjects related to his career. Topics include agriculture in Maryland, agricultural education in college and secondary schools, alfalfa, soils, and corn production in Maryland
GWAS analysis of maize host plant resistance to western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) reveals candidate small effect loci for resistance breeding.
No full textWestern corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is the most serious economic pest of maize, Zea mays (L.) (Poales: Poaceae), in the U.S. Corn Belt and also threatens production in Europe. Traditional management options have repeatedly failed over time as western corn rootworm rapidly develops resistance to insecticides, transgenic maize and even crop rotation. Traits that improve host plant resistance and tolerance are highly sought after by plant breeders for crop protection and pest management. However, maize resistance to western corn rootworm appears to be highly complex and despite over 75 yr of breeding efforts, there are no naturally resistant hybrids available commercially. Using phenotypic data from field and greenhouse experiments on a highly diverse collection of 282 inbred lines, we screened and genetically mapped western corn rootworm-related traits to identify genetic loci which may be useful for future breeding or genetic engineering efforts. Our results confirmed that western corn rootworm resistance is complex with relatively low heritability due in part to strong genotype by environment impacts and the inherent difficulties of phenotyping below ground root traits. The results of the Genome Wide Associated Study identified 29 loci that are potentially associated with resistance to western corn rootworm. Of these loci, 16 overlap with those found in previous transcription or mapping studies indicating a higher likelihood they are truly involved in maize western corn rootworm resistance. Taken together with previous studies, these results indicate that breeding for natural western corn rootworm resistance will likely require the stacking of multiple small effect loci
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Flipping the Hemoglobin Switch and Discovering Regulators Involved in Fetal Hemoglobin Reactivation
No full textThe fetal to adult hemoglobin switch is a developmental process by which fetal hemoglobin becomes silenced after birth and replaced by adult hemoglobin. Diseases caused by defective or missing adult hemoglobin, such as Sickle Cell Disease or β-Thalassemia, can be ameliorated by reactivating fetal hemoglobin. We discovered that knockdown or knockout of β-globin, a subunit of adult hemoglobin, led to robust upregulation of γ-globin, a subunit of fetal hemoglobin. This phenomenon suggested that red blood cells have an inherent ability to upregulate fetal hemoglobin in the event that adult hemoglobin is lacking.We developed multiple gene-editing tools in an immortalized erythroid cell model to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind the increase in fetal hemoglobin. Time-course transcriptomics identified ATF4, a transcription factor, as a causal regulator of this response. Further analysis also converged upon downregulation of MYB and BCL11A, known repressors of γ-globin, described in detail in chapter 2. Further work in chapter 3 explores other possible fetal hemoglobin regulators as discovered by CRISPRi arrayed mediated knockdown experiments. This work furthers our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of gene regulation and how cellular and molecular events influence red blood cell differentiation
Enzymatic digestibility and ethanol fermentability of AFEX-treated starch-rich lignocellulosics such as corn silage and whole corn plant
No full textBackground: Corn grain is an important renewable source for bioethanol production in the USA. Corn ethanol is currently produced by steam liquefaction of starch-rich grains followed by enzymatic saccharification and fermentation. Corn stover (the non-grain parts of the plant) is a potential feedstock to produce cellulosic ethanol in second-generation biorefineries. At present, corn grain is harvested by removing the grain from the living plant while leaving the stover behind on the field. Alternatively, whole corn plants can be harvested to cohydrolyze both starch and cellulose after a suitable thermochemical pretreatment to produce fermentable monomeric sugars. In this study, we used physiologically immature corn silage (CS) and matured whole corn plants (WCP) as feedstocks to produce ethanol using ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis (at low enzyme loadings) and cofermentation (for both glucose and xylose) using a cellulase-amylase-based cocktail and a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST) strain, respectively. The effect on hydrolysis yields of AFEX pretreatment conditions and a starch/cellulose-degrading enzyme addition sequence for both substrates was also studied.
Results: AFEX-pretreated starch-rich substrates (for example, corn grain, soluble starch) had a 1.5-3-fold higher enzymatic hydrolysis yield compared with the untreated substrates. Sequential addition of cellulases after hydrolysis of starch within WCP resulted in 15-20% higher hydrolysis yield compared with imultaneous addition of hydrolytic enzymes. AFEX-pretreated CS gave 70% glucan conversion after 72 h of hydrolysis for 6% glucan loading (at 8 mg total enzyme loading per gram glucan). Microbial inoculation of CS before ensilation yielded a 10-15% lower glucose hydrolysis yield for the pretreated substrate, due to loss in starch content. Ethanol fermentation of AFEX-treated (at 6% w/w glucan loading) CS hydrolyzate (resulting in 28 g/L ethanol at 93% metabolic yield) and WCP (resulting in 30 g/L ethanol at 89% metabolic yield) is reported in this work.
Conclusions: The current results indicate the feasibility of co-utilization of whole plants (that is, starchy grains plus cellulosic residues) using an ammonia-based (AFEX) pretreatment to increase bioethanol yield and reduce overall production cost.Peer reviewed
Pollen and Molecular Biomarkers from Sedimentary Archives in the Central Po Plain (N Italy): Assessing Their Potential to Deepen Changes in Natural and Agricultural Systems
No full textThis paper proposes to improve the information provided by biological indicators from sedimentary archives by integrating biomolecular techniques and botanical skills. This study repre sents a first proposal for combining pollen and biomolecular markers to detect land use and improve knowledge of past environmental change drivers. The specific aim of the research is to verify the relationship between miliacin (a pentacyclic triterpene methyl ether, usually interpreted as a broom corn millet biomarker) and Panicum pollen in three near-site stratigraphic sequences of the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (Po Plain, N Italy). The three cores span the last ~15,000 years and potentially record the beginning of Panicum miliaceum cultivation attested in the area since at least the Bronze Age within the Terramare culture. Despite the fact that Panicum pollen grains were rare in the spectra
and miliacin was barely detectable in most of the 31 samples selected for biomolecular analyses, their combined evidence testifies to the local presence of the plant. Panicum pollen and sedimentary miliacin suggest the adoption of millet crops during the Recent Bronze Age by the Terramare culture, when climatic instability led to the diversification of cereal crops and the shift to drought-tolerant varieties
Eliciting a predatory response in the eastern corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) using live and inanimate sensory stimuli: implications for managing invasive populations
No full textNorth America's Eastern corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) has been introduced to several islands throughout the Caribbean and Australasia where it poses a significant threat to native wildlife. Invasive snake control programs often involve trapping with live bait, a practice that, as well as being costly and labour intensive, raises welfare and ethical concerns. This study assessed corn snake response to live and inanimate sensory stimuli in an attempt to inform possible future trapping of the species and the development of alternative trap lures. We exposed nine individuals to sensory cues in the form of odour, visual, vibration and combined stimuli and measured the response (rate of tongue-flick [RTF]). RTF was significantly higher in odour and combined cues treatments, and there was no significant difference in RTF between live and inanimate cues during odour treatments. Our findings suggest chemical cues are of primary importance in initiating predation and that an inanimate odour stimulus, absent of simultaneous visual and vibratory cues, is a potential low-cost alternative trap lure for the control of invasive corn snake populations
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Identification of Proteins Responsible for Rapid Displacement of Cas9 from DNA
No full textCas9 is a prokaryotic RNA-guided DNA endonuclease that binds substrates tightly in vitro but turns over rapidly when used to manipulate genomes in eukaryotic cells. Little is known about the factors that physically interact with or dislodge Cas9 from DNA and how these factors might influence genome engineering tools. I first attempted to identify Cas9 displacement factors by repurposing Cas9 as a proximity sensor in live human cells. In order to reduce the noise derived from unbound Cas9 molecules, I subsequently used cell-free Xenopus laevis egg extract whose lack of a plasma membrane allowed me to tightly control the ratio of Cas9 to its substrate. Label-free proteomics identified the dimeric histone chaperone facilitates chromatin transcription (FACT) as an interactor of substrate-bound Cas9. FACT is both necessary and sufficient to displace dCas9, and FACT immunodepletion converts Cas9’s activity from multi-turnover to single-turnover. In human cells, FACT depletion extends dCas9 residence times, delays genome editing, and alters the balance between indel formation and homology directed repair. FACT knockdown also increases epigenetic marking by dCas9-based transcriptional effectors with a concomitant enhancement of transcriptional modulation. FACT thus shapes the intrinsic cellular response to Cas9-based genome manipulation most likely by determining Cas9 residence times
Probing the nature of AFEX-pretreated corn stover derived decomposition products that inhibit cellulase activity
No full textSequential fractionation of AFEX-pretreated corn stover extracts was carried out using ultra-centrifugation, ultra-filtration, and solid phase extraction to isolate various classes of pretreatment products to evaluate their inhibitory effect on cellulases. Ultra-centrifugation removed dark brown precipitates that caused no appreciable enzyme inhibition. Ultra-filtration of ultra-centrifuged AFEX-pretreated corn stover extractives using a 10 kDa molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) membrane removed additional high molecular weight components that accounted for 24–28% of the total observed enzyme inhibition while a 3 kDa MWCO membrane removed 60–65%, suggesting significant inhibition is caused by oligomeric materials. Solid phase extraction (SPE) of AFEX-pretreated corn stover extractives after ultra-centrifugation removed 34–43% of the inhibition; ultra-filtration with a 5 kDa membrane removed 44–56% of the inhibition and when this ultra-filtrate was subjected to SPE a total of 69–70% of the inhibition were removed. Mass spectrometry found several phenolic compounds among the hydrophobic inhibition removed by SPE adsorption.Published version: Humpula, James F., Uppugundla, Nirmal, Vismeh, Ramin, Sousa, Leonardo, Chundawat, Shishir P. S., Jones, A. Daniel, Balan, Venkatesh, Dale, Bruce E. & Cheh, Albert M. (2014). Probing the nature of AFEX-retreated corn stover derived decomposition products that inhibit cellulase activity. Bioresource Technology 152, 38-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.10.08
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