Category

Fruits and Vegetables

Image: Autumn leaves of wild grapevine that grows on salty soil. KIT researchers studied how that works. Credit: Maren Riemann, KIT. 

Researchers Study Salt Tolerance of Wild Grapevine to Make Crops More Resilient

By | Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables, News

Rising sea levels due to climate change and artificial irrigation cause soil salinity to increase. This has a negative impact on agriculture, including viticulture. The plants die, yields decrease. Researchers have therefore studied a wild grapevine of higher salt tolerance. Their goal is to identify the genetic factors that make the grapevine resilient. They can then be inserted into commercial varieties, thus securing viticulture.

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Image: tomato plant. credit: 1195798 / Pixabay

You say tomato, these scientists say evolutionary mystery

By | Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables, News

Biologists have found evidence for evolutionary “syndromes”—sets of traits that occur together—that help to explain how tomatoes first evolved their distinctive blend of color, sweetness, acidity and aroma. The research, not only shines a light on how fruits evolve in the wild, but will also be valuable to crop-improvement efforts aimed at breeding more nutritious and appealing varieties of fruits.

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Image: Soil profile of a test field: - Samples the size of a brick were taken from the soil at different depths and the roots were then isolated, scanned and measured.  Credit: Johannes Siebigteroth / University of Bonn

Agriculture study delivers unexpected results: Cover crops and roots

By | Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables, News

Farmers usually plant so-called cover crops after harvesting their main crop in the Fall. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure of the soil. It had been assumed up to now that a mixture of different cover crops would result in particularly intensive rooting. However, a recent study found only limited evidence that this is the case. Instead, mixed cover crops grow thinner roots than when just one single type of cover crop is planted. This result was unexpected. It documents how little is currently understood about the interactions between plant roots.

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Image:  Cabbage white caterpillar eating an oilseed rape plant. Credit: Benjamin Fuchs/University of Turku

Fungal–plant symbiosis offers a promising tool to boost crop resilience

By | Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables, News, Plant Health

Researchers inoculated oilseed rape plants with a species of fungus that is known for its ability to combat pest insects. Utilising the relationship between beneficial fungi and crop plants may introduce a new era of agriculture where the plant resilience is improved and the ecological footprint of traditional/chemical pesticides is minimised.

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Image: tomato plant. credit: 1195798 / Pixabay

Researchers create double-haploid watermelon plants via in vivo, seed-based haploid induction system

By | Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables, News

Generating haploid plants for the purpose of obtaining pure double haploid lines is widely recognized as one of the most efficient breeding strategies in modern agriculture. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), an important fruit crop known for its nutritional value and flavor, has undergone long-term artificial selection resulting in genetic narrowing. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a haploid induction system to enhance traditional breeding methods and facilitate the development of valuable lines.

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