Plant Sciences presentations (MU)
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Items in this collection represent public presentations made by Division of Plant Sciences faculty, staff, and students, either alone or as co-authors, and which may or may not have been published in an alternate format.
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Item Plants are just very slow animals(2010-03) Schultz, Jack C.; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Life Sciences Summit (2010: University of Missouri--Kansas City)Most of us regard plants as quite different from animals, and many of us think of them as furniture. But plants actually share a very large number of biological functions with the animal kingdom, including mechanisms for sensing and responding to enemies (e.g., immune responses), cellular and molecular organization, and even behaviors. Moreover, because they must interact with animals in diverse and intimate ways, plants possess many characteristics uniquely suited for influencing animals, including humans. These include the chemical bases for all of traditional and much of modern medicine. I will illustrate similarities between plants and animals, and convergences that make plants useful for research and development in comparative medicine.Item Gary Stacey Podcast(University of Missouri (System), 2009-04) Stacey, Gary, 1951-; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)MSMC Endowed Professor of Soybean Biotechnology and Director of the Center for Sustainable Energy Gary Stacey discusses how the center addresses the nation's energy needs.Item Nitrogen: The key to biofuel energy balance [abstract](2009-04) Scharf, Peter C. (Peter Clifton), 1959-; Palm, Harlan Lee, 1943-; Kitchen, Newell R.; Sudduth, Kenneth A., 1958-; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Vigorous debate continues regarding the net energy that can be gained in producing liquid fuels from crop materials. However, it is clear that the net energy gain from the process is small relative to the energy demands of producing the fuel. Thus, a small reduction in the energy required to produce biofuels would result in a much larger increase (proportionally) of net energy produced. Nitrogen nutrition of crops is one of the most promising places to gain a small reduction in energy invested in fuels. Most estimates of energy required to produce corn, for example, suggest that nitrogen fertilizer represents nearly half of the energy budget. Grass-based fuels would also require large energy inputs in the form of nitrogen fertilizer. Our research has shown that the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed by corn varies widely from field to field and from place to place within a single field. However, corn producers generally apply the same nitrogen fertilizer rate over whole fields and often whole farms. This results in many areas being over-fertilized and represents a large energy input that produces no energy return. Convenient, accurate, and spatially intensive diagnostic tools are needed to match fertilizer use to crop need. Crop sensors are the most promising technology to achieve this goal. They can be mounted on fertilizer applicators, diagnose fertilizer need, and control fertilizer rate within seconds. In 41 on-farm demonstrations of this technology from 2004-2007, we were able to improve system nitrogen efficiency (nitrogen removed in grain/nitrogen fertilizer applied) from 81% (current producer practice) to 96%. This was accomplished by producing the same grain yield with 16% less nitrogen fertilizer, thus decreasing the energy input for corn ethanol and increasing the net energy return. Current funding for this project is $723,000 for two grants. Total funding over the duration of this work is about $1.7 million.Item Engineering of biofuel crops for improving alternative energy production [abstract](2009-04) Yin, Xiaoyan, 1979-; Zhang, Zhanyuan; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Genetic engineering plays a unique and important role in improving crop traits. Teaming up with three other laboratories (Drs. Gary Stacey, Xu Dong, and Monty Kerley) at MU and several other institutions in Missouri, we are developing an engineering approach to improve biofuel production as an alternative source of energy. A two-year funded project with a total of $355,635 has been awarded to our MU team. One of the most important crops in this project is switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). To be successful in this project employing engineering approach, it is essential to develop an efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation process in switchgrass. In spite of previous reports, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of this crop has been proven to be very difficult. Therefore, since our project started we have optimized a number of critical conditions affecting switchgrass transformation. These conditions included the switchgrass genotypes, cocultivation temperatures and medium salt concentrations, Agrobacterium strains, transformation vectors, selection system and selective agents. We also plan to examine the impact of types of promoter driving selectable markers on transformation. These works will lay a good foundation for efficient transformation of switchgrass via Agrobacterium. Some of the significant progresses will be presented.Item Genetic Mapping of Soybean Cyst Nematode (Heterodera glycines) Resistance to Enhance Soybean Production in the United States [abstract](2009) Vuong, T. D.; Wu, Xiaolei R.; Sleper, D. A.; Shannon, J. Grover; Nguyen, Henry T.; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines) is the most destructive pest of soybean in the United States, resulting in an annual extensive yield loss of approximately $1.5 billion in the United States alone. Breeding for resistance to SCN is the most effective approach to control this pest. However, most of commercial soybean varieties resistant to SCN were mainly derived from a few common resistant sources. The continuation of growing the same resistant cultivar(s) have resulted in SCN population shifts and loss of SCN resistance; thus it highlights a need of further investigation to mine new resistant genes from new resistant sources for soybean improvement. As a leading group on SCN research in the United States, the University of Missouri SCN researchers have been continuing the evaluation of exotic soybean germplasm for broad-based resistance to multi-HG types of SCN, the identification and mapping of novel quantitative trait loci (QTL)/gene(s), and the discovery of genetic markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs. Using many plant introductions (PIs) with high resistance to multi-SCN HG types, we have developed genetic populations for molecular characterization and QTL mapping. These efforts led to the discovery of many novel QTL underlying the resistance to multi-SCN HG types. With sequence information using the genome-wide Illumina/Solexa sequencing technology, we have developed hundreds of genetic markers associated with the target QTL. Along with the soybean physical and genetic maps, these markers will provide a powerful genomics tool facilitating our efforts toward fine-mapping and positional cloning of candidate genes for SCN resistance. Moreover, the QTL associated genetic markers are greatly useful to incorporate novel resistant genes into new soybean varieties through the MAS approach. With SCN resistant soybean varieties, soybean yield and productivity will be increased and, in turn, enhance the seed oil production; which will significantly be an important source for the development of biofuel.