Plant breeders utilize directed selection and transgenics to produce novel cultivars of diploid and polyploid species. DNA sequence is clearly important in these processes, but growing evidence implicates epigenetics as an important factor in controlling genetic variation and gene/transgene expression. In this article, we focus on epigenetic variation defined as mitotically and meiotically heri...

Maize originated under warm, seasonally dry conditions of Mesoamerica, and was by human selection converted from a low-yielding progenitor species into its modern form, with a large rachis (cob) of the female inflorescence bearing up to 1,000 seeds. Maize is a C4 plant and is very efficient in water use. If subjected to water stress, however, especially during the mid-season pollination process...

Background Apricots, family Rosaceae, are economically important representatives of the genus Prunus. The number of apricot species ranges from three to ten, depending on the classification system adopted. The major obstacles to expansion of apricot production are irregular yields and low resistance to diseases. Compared with the high genetic variability in related species, apricots are not so ...

Diseases can greatly lower wheat yield and grain quality. Leaf rust, Stagnospora (Septoria) glume blotch, Septoria leaf blotch, and powdery mildew have historically been the most damaging diseases on wheat in Alabama. Stripe rust has recently emerged in the Deep South as a very destructive disease of wheat. Field cropping history, cultivar selection, and weather patterns all have a tremendous i...

Unlike most other agronomic crops, the selection of a bermudagrass cultivar is a long-term commitment. Bermudagrass is a warm-season perennial grass that can persist and withstand the rigors of grazing and hay production for decades. Establishing it, however, is a significant investment that pays off over the long-term. It is important to understand the characteristics of the different cultivar...

Heterodera glycines is a cyst nematode that causes significant lost soybean yield in the U.S. Recent studies observed the aphid Aphis glycines and H. glycines interacting via their shared host, soybean, Glycine max. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to discern the effect of A. glycines feeding on H. glycines reproduction. An H. glycines-susceptible cultivar, Kenwood 94, and a resistant cult...

Recent studies suggest that plant pectin methylesterases (PMEs) are directly involved in plant defence besides their roles in plant development. However, the molecular mechanisms of PME action on pectins are not well understood. In order to understand how PMEs modify pectins during banana (Musa spp.)-Fusarium interaction, the expression and enzyme activities of PMEs in two banana cultivars, hig...

The effects of cultivar mixture cropping on yield, biomass, and water use efficiency (WUE) in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were investigated under non-irrigation (W0, no irrigation during growth stage), one time irrigation (W1, irrigation applied at stem elongation) and two times irrigation (W2, irrigation applied at stem elongation and anthesis) conditions. Nearly 90% of cultivar mixtur...

BACKGROUND Hyperspectral reflectance and transmittance sensing as well as near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy were investigated as non-destructive tools for estimating blueberry firmness, elastic modulus and soluble solid content (SSC). Least squares-support vector machine models were established from these three spectra based on samples from three cultivars viz. Bluecrop, Duke and M2 and two harv...

The toxic effects of the Fusarium graminearum trichothecene toxin deoxynivalenol were determined on ribosomes and leaf tissues of the fusarium head blight-resistant spring wheat cultivar Frontana and the susceptible spring wheat cultivar Casavant. The use of a poly-U-directed 14C-phenylalanine and deoxynivalenol ribosome-binding assays provided evidence of resistance to the protein-synthesis in...