News Archive - Page 4 of 10 - Boyce Thompson Institute

Better breeders, better yams: YamBase workshops help improve yam breeding

More than 70 participants joined in on the training sessions provided by members of BTI’s Mueller Lab, October-December 2017.

Maria Harrison featured in interview with International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

In this IS-MPMI’s interview with Kevin Cope (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Maria Harrison discusses her research on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and provides advice to young scientists entering the field.

Maria Harrison, consortium of scientists receive $5 million grant to study genes that help legumes access soil nutrients

BTI’s Harrison lab will develop Medicago truncatula mutants to identify the function of genes predicted to be important in nitrogen fixation in legumes.

GOBii/EiB cross-project workshop showcases integrated breeding resources and tools to African partners

“By working together, we can have much greater impact and help train breeders in the latest and most efficient techniques,” according to Liz Jones, GOBII Director.

Bottle gourd genome provides insight on evolutionary history and genetic relationships of cucurbit crops

In their findings, researchers compared the sequenced bottle gourd genome to those of other cucurbit species, allowing them to reconstruct the ancient genomic history of the Cucurbitaceae family.

BTI announces Alumni Recognition Program, opening of inaugural round of award nominations

The BTI Alumni Recognition Program celebrates the success of outstanding BTI Alumni and recognizes the foundation that their BTI experiences provided.

Pumpkin genomes sequenced revealing uncommon evolutionary history

For some, pumpkins conjure carved Halloween decorations, but for many people around the world, these gourds provide nutrition. Scientists at Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and the National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables in Beijing have sequenced the genomes of two important pumpkin species, Cucurbita maxima and Cucurbita moschata.

In Memoriam: Edward “Ted” Buckley

Edward “Ted” Buckley, a retired faculty member at the Boyce Thompson Institute, passed away October 21, 2017 at the age of 86.

2017 BTI Symposium highlights plant development and evolution

Organized by BTI’s Postgraduate Society (PGS), BTI’s 2017 Symposium featured a jam-packed program with representation from more than 10 BTI research groups and affiliated projects.

$9.4M NIH grant funds chronic fatigue syndrome center

Cornell will receive close to $9.4 million over five years to establish the Cornell Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Collaborative Research Center, which will span Cornell’s Ithaca campus, Weill Cornell Medicine, Ithaca College, the Boyce Thompson Institute [Schroeder Lab], the Workwell Foundation, EVMED Research, the SOLVE ME/CFS Initiative and private ME/CFS medical practices.

Bioreactors on a chip renew promises for algal biofuels

This week, researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute and Texas A&M University report in Plant Direct exciting new technology that may revolutionize the search for the perfect algal strain: Algal droplet bioreactors on a chip.

Thank you, BTI postdocs! Celebrating National Postdoc Appreciation Week 2017

To recognize and thank postdoc researchers, BTI will join institutions around the globe in celebrating this year’s National Postdoc Appreciation Week (September 18th – 22nd, 2017).

International team collaborates to decipher the Asian citrus psyllid genome

BTI’s Mueller and Heck Labs, in collaboration with 21 partner institutions, recently published a draft assembly and annotation of the D. citri genome.

Hot tomatoes! MPMI Cover features BTI research

This month, the cover of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions features a publication by Simon Schwizer from the Martin Lab at BTI that furthers our understanding of how tomatoes are able to resist infection by Pseudomonas syringae, the causal agent of bacterial speck, a common disease in upstate NY.

GOBii initiative bridges plant breeding digital divide

With open-source software, GOBII plans to provide organizations in the developing world with the computational infrastructure needed for efficient breeding.

Broader Impacts: Beet Armyworm in Bronx, NY

Joe Macchia, a science teacher at the Urban Science Academy in Bronx, NY, uses BTI teaching kits to engage his students in hands-on science.

Workshop announcement – Help improve training in the plant sciences!

On September 19, 2017, the Plant Science Research Network (PSRN) will convene an in-person meeting using the scenarios as a tool to understand the challenges that plant science trainees face today. Apply by August 18 to join them!

2017 PGRP Symposium marks finale of intern researchers’ summer

Now in its 16th year, BTI’s annual PGRP symposium provides a means for student interns to to present their findings in a professional, engaging setting.

New genomic insights reveal a surprising two-way journey for apple on the Silk Road

New research out of Boyce Thompson Institute reveals surprising insights into the genetic exchange along the Silk Road that brought us the modern apple.

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Science In Real Life: GMOs with the Van Eck Lab

Follow Science In Real Life (IRL) as they head to the Van Eck Lab and demystify GMOs by showing how they’re made in the lab.

An Interview With PGRP Intern Natalie Gonzalez

Natalie explains how having a mentor and interning at BTI has given her a new perspective on where to plant her professional roots.

January 2017

Development Update: BTI’s generous friends and supporters helped us to have a very successful fundraising year. We raised $237,728.35, or 97% of the 2017 goal of $246,000 – more than doubling the amount raised during 2016. Responses to the campaign are still...

BTI Receives DARPA “Insect Allies” Award to Develop Viruses and Insects for Maize Improvement

The research project, titled Viruses and Insects as Plant Enhancement Resources (VIPER), is supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Insect Allies program.

In Memoriam: Klaus Apel

Klaus Apel, former professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute, passed away on June 30th at the age of 74.

Maize in Maricopa: An Interview with Intern Michael Miller

Michael Miller spent his first two weeks as a PGRP intern at the United States Department of Agriculture’s Arid Land Research Center.

BTI’s Mueller Lab and visiting researchers collaborate to improve important crop databases

During June and July at BTI, visiting scholars from crop breeding programs in Nigeria, Nairobi, and Uganda have been working closely with researchers in Lukas Mueller’s group to discuss ways to improve the development of online resources related to two of Africa’s most important staple crops: cassava and banana.

2017 GOBii hackathon helps improve current genomic data management system

The GOBII project’s annual hackathon united 25 software developers, bioinformaticians, computational biologists, and application specialists on a week-long mission.

Georg Jander receives $1 million NSF EDGE award to develop genomic tools for studying milkweed

BTI’s Georg Jander is leading one of eight research groups selected to receive awards through the Enabling Discovery through Genomic Tools (EDGE) program, overseen by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Biological Science Directorate.

Wading into discovery: BTI’s 2017 PGRP Interns

Motivated, curious, and eager to discover, BTI’s 2017 Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) interns are ready to dive into a 2+ month transformative experience that will prepare them for their future career.

Our commitment to sustainability: A statement from David Stern

BTI reaffirms its commitment to innovation and discovery in the life sciences, upholding our founder’s vision that new knowledge promises new solutions for food security and planetary health.

Science in seconds: Stronger spinach

Most of us know the story of how spinach makes Popeye the Sailor Man strong, but what make spinach stronger? Dr. Chen Jiao explains how a new spinach genomic sequence discovered by BTI’s Fei Lab can help increase spinach’s resistance to drought and...

Yonkers’ Boyce Thompson Center opening pays homage to BTI’s history and roots

After the Boyce Thompson Institute relocated to Ithaca, NY in 1978, its original building and grounds in Yonkers, NY laid vacant for more than 40 years. A remnant of its original purpose, the building was left devoid of its most basic vestige: life. That all changed on May 23rd, 2017, with the ribbon-cutting ceremony and official opening of the new Boyce Thompson Center.

October 2016

As we work our way through October, we’re preparing for an exciting new end of the year “Unrestricted Futures” annual fund campaign, as well as the upcoming November board meetings and fall dinner. The Development and Communications teams are reaching the culmination...

Newly-published spinach genome will make more than Popeye stronger

Today in Nature Communications, researchers from BTI and the Shanghai Normal University report a new draft genome of Spinacia oleracea, better known as spinach. Additionally, the authors have sequenced the transcriptomes (all the RNA) of 120 cultivated and wild spinach plants, which has allowed them to identify which genetic changes have occurred due to domestication.

Science in seconds: Fabulous Fungi!

Dr. Armando Bravo of Maria Harrison’s lab shares new research on the storied relationship between fungi and plant roots.

New graffiti mural for Yonkers’ Boyce Thompson Center

A beautiful graffiti mural has been completed at the old Boyce Thompson Institute in Yonkers, NY by artist Eelco van den Berg from The Netherlands.

400 million years of a stable relationship: clues to the molecular basis of balance in AM symbiosis

Researchers from the Harrison lab at BTI have identified a transcriptional program that drives arbuscule degeneration during AM symbiosis. This regulation of arbuscule lifespan has likely contributed to the 400MY stability of the symbiosis by preventing the persistence of fungal cheaters.

Feeding fat to fungi: evidence for lipid transfer in arbuscular mycorrhiza

Researchers from the labs of Dr. Maria Harrison at the Boyce Thompson Institute and Dr. Peter Dörmann at the University of Bonn have produced the first experimental evidence to suggest that AM fungi also get lipids from the plant. AM-induced FatM and RAM2 may play specific roles in the biosynthesis of 16:0 βMAG, which cannot be produced by the fungus, providing a clue to understanding the obligate nature of AM fungi.

Protecting our diversity: A statement from David Stern

“BTI is an international institution. The global reach of science, and its ability to traverse and dissolve cultural and national boundaries in the pursuit of knowledge and its applications, count among our core strengths. BTI scientists and staff hail from more...

Blue-bellied insects may play a role in fight against citrus greening

New research finds that the Asian citrus psyllid responds to the citrus greening bacterium by producing an oxygen-transporting protein called hemocyanin. The protein not only turns them blue, but suggests that they are trying to fight off the infection.

Global partnerships for improving cassava

Cassava geneticist Ismail Yusuf Rabbi from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria visited BTI and Cornell University last week to discuss his ongoing collaboration with NextGen Cassava.

BTI researchers share latest research at ag-genomics conference

The offices of data scientists at BTI emptied out earlier this month as a contingent of researchers flew to San Diego for the 25th annual Plant and Animal Genome Conference.

Cilia receives Presidential Early Career Award

Michelle Cilia has been selected to receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which recognizes outstanding, government-funded scientists who show great potential for becoming leaders in their field and for expanding the frontiers of scientific knowledge.