Niche construction efforts by small-scale human societies that involve 'wild' species of plants and animals are organized into a set of six general categories based on the shared characteristics of the target species and similar patterns of human management and manipulation: (i) general modification of vegetation communities, (ii) broadcast sowing of wild annuals, (iii) transplantation of peren...

Is the crop economically feasible (profitable)? The most comprehensive way to determine if an alternative crop is economically feasible is to complete an enterprise budget. The enterprise budget is a projection of the manager’s estimates, and is a tool to estimate net profit by estimating revenues and subtracting operating and ownership costs associated with a particular crop. To create an ente...

Dickeya zeae is a phytopathogenic bacterium causing soft rot diseases in a wide range of economically important crops. Here we present the draft genome sequence of strain ZJU1202, which is the causal agent of rice foot rot in China. The draft genome will contribute to epidemiological and comparative genomic studies and the quarantine of this devastating phytopathogen.

"Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni" strain CX, belonging to subgroup 16SrIII-A, is a plant-pathogenic bacterium causing economically important diseases in many fruit crops. Here, we report the draft genome sequence, which consists of 598,508 bases, with a G+C content of 27.21 mol%.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. panici is a phytopathogenic bacterium causing brown stripe disease in economically important crops worldwide. Here, we announce the draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas syringae pv. panici LMG2367 to provide further valuable insights for comparison of the pathovars among species Pseudomonas syringae.

Abstract Climate benefit assessments of bioenergy crops often focus on biogeochemical impacts, paying little if any attention to biogeophysical impacts. However, land conversions required for large-scale crop production are substantial and may directly affect the climate by altering surface energy balance. In US, such likely be met in part converting Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland...

Done correctly, cellulosic bioenergy should be both environmentally and economically beneficial. Carbon sequestration and decreased fossil fuel use are both worthy goals in developing next-generation biofuels. We believe that biotechnology will be needed to significantly improve yield and digestibility of dedicated perennial herbaceous biomass feedstocks, such as switchgrass and Miscanthus, whi...

Biomass crops grown on marginal soils are expected to fuel an emerging bioenergy industry in the United States. Bioenergy crop choice and position in the landscape could have important impacts on a range of ecosystem services, including natural pest-suppression (biocontrol services) provided by predatory arthropods. In this study we use predation rates of three sentinel crop pests to develop a ...

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], an economically important dicot legume, is a member of the family Fabaceae and belongs to the genus Glycine Willd. Based on classical and molecular taxonomy, the genus Glycine has been divided into two subgenera; the subgenus Soja (Moench) F.J. Hermann includes soybean and its wild annual progenitor G. soja Sieb. & Zucc. Both species contain 2n = 40 chromosomes...

Perennial species offer significant advantages as crops including reduced soil erosion, lower energy inputs after the first year, deeper root systems that access more soil moisture, and decreased fertilizer inputs due to the remobilization of nutrients at the end of the growing season. These advantages are particularly relevant for emerging biomass crops and it is projected that perennial grass...