Engineering Enhanced Photosynthesis in Zea mays Zea mays (Maize, Zm) and Miscanthus x giganteus (Mg) employ C4 photosynthesis, which enhances carbon assimilation efficiency by concentrating CO2 around Rubisco to minimize photorespiration. Pyruvate, orthophosphate...
Investigating the Role of CAT in BAP1 Mediated Immune Response In Arabidopsis thaliana, the BAP (BON1 association protein) family of proteins are important for plant growth. The loss of BAP1 leads to growth reduction in Arabidopsis thaliana. The BAP1 protein is...
Relationship of Indels with Meiotic Recombination Sites in Maize Meiotic recombination, a process that generates new combinations of alleles, is crucial for increasing genetic variation within species. Meiotic recombination is thought to be a very precise process but...
Comparing the daily dynamics of stomatal features between slac1 with mutant allele and slac1 wild-type across different genetic backgrounds Climate change leads to increased drought events that challenge food security. Substantial research efforts are needed to find...
De novo annotation of long noncoding RNAs in tomato and eggplant A large fraction of the genomes of multicellular organisms contain genes specifying many classes of RNAs, inducing the complexity of the transcriptome. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have increasingly...
Root System Development, Architecture, and Traits in Maize As the demand for crops along with the frequency and duration of droughts is predicted to increase, it is essential to develop crops with improved water uptake efficiency. In order to understand how maize, a...
Exploring the cold tolerance capacity of USDA pea (Pisum sativum L.) collections Winter pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a commonly grown winter annual legume cover crop in the US due to its nitrogen-fixing capabilities, effective weed suppression, and several other...
The palatability of Oenothera flava for Hyles lineata larvae Hyles lineata hawkmoths play an important role in pollinating many plant species with night blooming flowers, but in the case of evening primroses (genus Oenothera), they eat the leaves of the same plants...
Conserved m6A sites in Arabidopsis thaliana and Sorghum bicolor mRNA RNA bases can be modified in many ways. These modifications can influence stability, translation, and structure. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is one of the most common and well-studied mRNA modifications...
Revealing candidate genes for maize resistance against Spodoptera exigua (beet armyworm) via GWAS Maize crops worldwide suffer substantial losses every year due to damage caused by pests, such as the armyworm. Secondary metabolites, specialized complex molecules...
Optimizing SynBio Systems to Express Bryophyte Rubiscos in E. coli Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is the notoriously inefficient carbon-fixing enzyme involved in photosynthesis. Despite its importance, it has a slow catalytic rate, poor...
Know when to hold ‘em: Folate Biofortification via Stabilization and Storage Folates are B-vitamins essential for creating energy-rich molecules like ATP, and for regulating genetic repair and expression. Because humans do not produce folate, maintaining a folate-rich...
Cell-type marker gene expression in Medicago truncatula Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi participate in a mutualistic endosymbiosis with most land plants, exchanging mineral nutrients for carbon compounds through structures called arbuscules. Decoding this symbiosis...
Predicting BAHD Acyltransferase Function Through Phylogenetic Analysis and Molecular Docking Understanding substrate-enzyme interactions is critical for advancing biochemical research and drug development. This study focuses on BAHD enzymes, a family known for...
Come Together: Vasculature and Public Opinion on GMOs One use of grafting in research is to gain insight into plant development. Grafting enables researchers to study how different elements of the plant develop, while working on a larger scale that is much easier to...
Understanding Tomato Regeneration and Maize Transformation Through Bioengineering Tomato and maize are major crops and genetic models for studying gene function. Different genotypes exhibit varying responses to transformation. In plant bioengineering, some genotypes...
Understanding the role of PRD2 in regulating meiotic recombination in maize Genetic variation is important for developing crops with higher yields, disease resistance, and other desirable traits. During plant meiosis, homologous recombination (HR) ensures this genetic...
Carotenoid Composition and Interaction with Dry Matter Across Spatial Variation and Developmental Time in Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major cause of blindness and increased mortality in sub-Saharan African children. While cassava...
Exploring mechanisms of TAL-effector recognition and escape from rice and tomato resistance proteins Bacterial leaf streak (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola, Xoc) is a rice pathogen in Africa and Asia. Xo1 is a rice resistance protein which recognizes transcription...
First dual-sex hornwort genomes probe sex chromosome evolution in a haploid system Hornworts (Anthocerophyta) are a group of seed-free, nonvascular plants known for their horn-shaped sporophyte generation. Shared only with some other seed-free plants and fungi, their...
Enabling DNA Complexation and Plant Transformation with Cell-Penetrating Peptides Conventional techniques for plant genetic engineering have challenges including genotype and species dependence, tissue damage, and complicated progeny regeneration. Several types of...
Integration of proximal remote sensing data streams through deep learning increases predictability of agronomically important traits Phenotyping, known simply as the process of obtaining and analyzing the observable characteristics of an organism that culminate as a...
Investigating insect defense systems in groundcherry as a model for related Physalis species Physalis is a genus of fruit plants native to Central and South America. Goldenberry (Physalis peruviana) has abundant nutritional and medicinal properties that make it...
Investigating Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Patterns Following Genome Duplication in Maize Most crop plants are diploid (2n), meaning their genome contains two copies of each chromosome. Maize is no exception; however, it evolved from a tetraploid (4n) ancestor....
Investigating How Glucose Regulates Protein Modification to Influence Longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans Glucose is known to decrease the lifespan of C. elegans. One way it does this is by causing atypical protein modifications. While some of these protein...
Impact of a lincRNA on seedling development Plant responses to environmental stimuli are complex, involving regulatory mechanisms at the protein and RNA levels. In this research, we are looking at transcriptional regulation mediated by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)....
Uncovering the mechanisms of potato leaf roll virus’ effect on Myzus persicae’s antiviral immunity Flaviviruses are single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses primarily transmitted by arthropods from host to host. Many have caused major global public health crises,...
Linking Genotype Specific Interkingdom Communication with Shifts in Environmental P Pools Reveals New Insights into Plant-Microbe-Environment Resource Utilization Increasing demand on global agriculture and growing pressures from climate change urge more sustainable...
Effects of methyl jasmonate seed treatment on adult and larval seed corn maggot (Delia platura) preference, and impacts of soil amendments Seed corn maggot (Delia platura) is an agricultural pest that develops in the soil by consuming organic matter, such as corn...
CRISPGET: The CRISPR Guide Evaluator Tool to support guide selection based on off-target scoring systems The CRISPR/Cas nuclease systems are game changers within the different genome editing tools. They were discovered as a part of the bacterial immune system and...
The role of genes encoding pericycle-specific expression in development of lateral roots and salinity tolerance Salinity stress is a contributing factor to lowering crop yield due to the accumulation of sodium ions in the shoot and interfering with photosynthesis as...
Copper Regulator CITF1 Crosstalks with Iron Regulator FIT in Arabidopsis thaliana Copper and iron are essential micronutrients for plants. They are vital for biological processes such as photosynthesis but can be toxic when over-accumulated. Thus, plants have...
Investigating the Role of HugZ Proteins in Chloroplast Proteolysis and Heme Homeostasis Chloroplast proteolysis is essential for maintaining chloroplast function, with the CLP system playing a key role in selectively degrading misfolded or damaged proteins. CLPC1, an...
Evaluation of herbivorous insect resistance amongst Card4, Card6, Card8 and DAO-1 mutant lines of Erysimum cheiranthoides The biosynthetic pathway of cardiac glycosides has not yet been fully deciphered. The chemical diversity of these compounds is large, and little...
Using Computational Predictions to Engineer Rubisco Kinetics Elevated temperatures, associated with climate change, have drastic impacts on photosynthesis, reducing plant size and growth in the long run. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, Rubisco for...
Generating a Phased Genome Assembly of the Hexaploid Sweetpotato Cultivar, ‘New Kawogo’ Sweet potato is among the most important staple crops. Sweet potato cultivars rich in Vitamin A have been produced and promoted in areas where childhood Vitamin A deficiency is...
Comparison of Soilless Potting Mixes In the Plant Growth Facility at BTI, different potting mixes are used to grow plants for experimentation and analysis. Components of these bagged potting medias used at BTI are non-renewable and have become increasingly difficult...
Localizing Catechol-Glucoside Synthesis Genes May Provide New Insight Into The Functions of Maize Benzoxazinoids Benzoxazinoids are a type of grass species metabolite that are essential to herbivory and pathogen defense. Prior research has indicated their potential to...
Voruscharin in cardiac glycosides Cardiac glycosides (CGs) are a class of organic compounds that are used as medicines to slow the heart rate and strengthen the muscle. These organic compounds can be found in milkweed plants and make the plant very toxic to most...
Carotenoid analysis of gene-edited rin mutant tomatoes Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) serves as a model system to study ripening in fleshy fruit due to its fast rate of growth (3-4 months) and ease of genetic transformation. The rin (ripening inhibitor) mutation is...
Exploring the macrolous rin mutation The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has served as the model system to understand ripening processes because it is characterized well genetically, grows quickly (typically 3-4 months), and is of great economic importance. The RIN gene...
Elucidating the role of dipeptides in plants Dipeptides are small molecules that consist of two amino acids joined by a peptide bond. In animals, dipeptides are known to affect various physiological responses including digestive, immune, and nervous systems. In...
Standardizing Setaria viridis phenotyping protocols—Application to Rubisco overexpression lines Earth’s population has grown tremendously over the last seven decades, from 2.6 to 7.6 billion1,2, and finding ways to provide food without increasing land use is...
The Function of the RPS6 Gene in Plant Growth Under Normal and Cold Temperatures RPS6 is a vital gene found in the ribosomes of all plant species, directly influencing cell proliferation during early growth stages. This study aims to investigate the impact of RPS6...
Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes in F1 from the Cross between S. lycoperiscum M82 and S. pennellii LA0716 The modern cultivated tomato is characterized by a lack of genetic diversity due to extensive selective breeding. In contrast, wild tomatoes...
Investigating the Effects of Dark Septate Endophytes on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are soil microorganisms that form symbiotic relationships with plants through root colonization. AMF inhabit more than 80% of terrestrial plant...
High Throughput Phenotyping of Arabidopsis Mutants Under Stress Deepening the understanding of how stress affects plants is important due to climate change. Understanding how plants deal with stress and improving their resilience could allow for breeding plant...
Auditing Database Tables in Breedbase In an era when genetic sequencing and phenotyping are quickly producing vast amounts of data, database systems such as Breedbase are becoming increasingly necessary in genomics research. Websites that use the Breedbase ecosystem...
Foraging Distance of Honey Bees with Deformed Wing Virus Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a common RNA virus exacerbated in honey bees (Apis mellifera) by Varroa mites. DWV is at epidemic levels in honey bees and poses a major concern for beekeepers. Additionally, DWV can...
