News by Subject Agriculture

In the fall of 2017, leaves of phasey bean plants in Homestead, Florida, displayed powdery fungal growth, which appeared in the form of white spots on both sides of the leaves. Scientists conducted analysis by sequencing genes of genomic DNA and identified the fungus as Erysiphe fallax, which causes a disease known as powdery mildew. To their knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew on phasey bean in the United States.

Curtis Adams and his colleagues at Texas A&M AgriLife Research reviewed plant population studies published in 2000 or later. They found that yield is optimized at about 15,000 plants per acre (1.1 seed per foot in 40-inch rows), and contrary to popular belief, there is no yield benefit to high populations.

Researchers in Brazil find that high levels of heavy metals and particulate matter suspended in the atmosphere restrict the growth of tipuana trees, which are ubiquitous in São Paulo, the largest Brazilian city.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Monica Turner and her team describe what happens when Yellowstone -- adapted to recurring fires every 100 to 300 years -- instead burns twice in fewer than 30 years. Yellowstone as we know it faces an uncertain future, the researchers say, and one of the big questions they hope to answer is whether the forests can recover.

The caterpillars of Lymantria dispar or Gypsy Moth are voracious eaters capable of defoliating entire forests. Sometimes they can even make harm for coniferous forests. Gypsy Moths are widely spread in Europe, Asia and Northern America.

Researchers examine global strategies for dealing with predators.

Spanish and Italian researchers have proven that when honey from strawberry trees, a product typical of Mediterranean areas, is added to colon cancer cells grown in the laboratory, cell proliferation is stopped. The authors hope that these promising results and the anti-tumour potential of this food will be confirmed in in vivo models.

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) are natural constituents detected all over the world in more than 350 plant species and suspected to occur in more than 6,000. Plants produce them as a defence against predators. Out of more than 660 known PA and similar compounds, the 1,2- unsaturated PA in particular have a health-damaging potential. Consequently, they are undesired in foods and feeds.