Category

Agriculture

Study finds that heavy metal-contaminated leafy greens turn purple

By | Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables, News

Some might say you look a little green when you are sick. Leafy greens actually turn purple — although not obvious to the human eye, it can be seen through advanced hyperspectral imaging (different than purple varieties of some vegetables). Researchers discovered this color change in kale and basil stressed by cadmium, a heavy metal toxic to human and animal health.

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One gene closer to a super sorghum

By | Agriculture, News, Plant Science

Scientists are honing the traits of speed, strength and near invulnerability in sorghum, a very important food crop. Achieving a milestone in their pursuit of the Superman of sorghum plants, scientists identified a single gene that confers broad protection from the fungal diseases anthracnose, rust and target spot. 

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Leaving gaps in the genome to breed maize plants with low susceptibility to frost and drought damage

By | Agriculture, News, Plant Science

The use of genetic information is now indispensable for modern plant breeding. Even though DNA sequencing has become much cheaper since the human genome was decoded for the very first time in 2003, collecting the full genetic information still accounts for a large part of the costs in animal and plant breeding. One trick to reduce these costs is to sequence only a very small and randomly selected part of the genome and to complete the remaining gaps using mathematical and statistical techniques.

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