News by Subject Agriculture

Today's tomatoes are larger and easier to farm than their wild ancestor, but they also are less resistant to disease and environmental stresses like drought and salty soil. Researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute created a high-quality genome for the ancestor, discovering structural variants that are involved in fruit flavor, size and ripening, stress tolerance and disease resistance. Plant breeders could use the resource to develop tomatoes that taste better, are more nutritious and more resilient.

ORNL story tips: Air taxis, fungi speak, radiation game and climate collab.

Researchers at the University of Warwick have uncovered the mechanism that allows plants to pass on their 'memories' to offspring, which results in growth and developmental defects.

Researchers led by the University of Tsukuba demonstrated that Target-AID gene editing technology can be used to simultaneously introduce single-base changes into multiple genes in tomatoes. Using this technique, the researchers altered three genes associated with carotenoid accumulation, resulting in elevated levels of carotenoids, particularly lycopene, in the resulting tomato lines. This technology will allow tomato breeders to introduce multiple advantageous gene changes into elite commercial cultivars, bypassing lengthy back-crossing steps between generations.

How did canal grass arrive in Panama? STRI staff scientist Kristin Saltonstall compared the DNA of sugar cane relatives from around the world to find out.

The Fraser River estuary in British Columbia is home to 102 species at risk of extinction. A new study says it's not too late to save these species if action is taken now.