News

Jul 28, 2026

Huck Institutes announces recipients of nine interdisciplinary seed grants

Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has awarded nine research teams seed funding for 2026-27. These grants support high-impact, innovative research projects that align with the Huck’s strategic research priorities and have the potential to drive scientific breakthroughs and generate significant return on investment.

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Jun 30, 2026

Newly discovered corn trait may help improve crop drought tolerance

Some corn plants are genetically predisposed to develop longer, less constricted water-conducting tissues and deeper roots, which helps them deal with drought. That’s the conclusion of a team led by Penn State researchers that conducted a study of the plant’s xylem tissue that moves water upward from the roots out to the leaves. They found that corn plants with longer metaxylem vessel elements also tend to have rapidly elongating roots, deeper root systems, stronger water transport capacity, greater water capture and improved drought adaptation

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May 26, 2026

Q&A: What can plant evolution teach people about breeding better crops?

May 22 is United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity, drawing attention to a critical resource for developing crops that are resilient or resistant to extreme weather and other threats to their health, according to Jesse Lasky, associate professor of biology at Penn State.

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May 04, 2026

Plant genes influence bacterial evolution in legume-bacteria partnership

In a recently published study, Penn State researchers described the complex relationship between plant host genes and rhizobial genes, and how plant genes strongly influence which rhizobial strains plants chose from a diverse mixture.

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Apr 15, 2026

Plant scientists receive $1.96M NIH grant to study plant-bacteria partnerships

A team of plant scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has received a $1.96 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund a study of how beneficial plant-bacteria partnerships evolve, persist, and can be harnessed to improve health and agriculture. This grant, called a Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award, supports a lab's long-term research vision rather than an individual project.

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Apr 10, 2026

Simple vineyard growing practice impacts soil microbiome deep below surface

In an effort to produce more and better grapes at a lower cost and with less environmental impact, vineyard growers have increasingly planted grass between rows of vines. These "groundcovers" root shallowly, but can benefit vineyard soils and reduce the need for herbicide applications. Now, a team of plant scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has found that implementing this practice impacts far more than previously thought. It not only alters the biology and ecology at the surface, where the grasses are planted, but also alters the system far below the surface, the researchers reported in a new study published in Phytobiomes Journal.

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Apr 08, 2026

Kaye honored with Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award

Jason Kaye, distinguished professor of soil biogeochemistry in the College of Agricultural Sciences and chair of the Ecology Intercollege Graduate Degree Program, is the 2026 recipient of the Graduate School Alumni Society Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award.

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Mar 27, 2026

Low-cost sensor system could warn farmers of salt stress in plants

Soil salinity is a critical concern in agriculture when excessive soluble salts restrict a plant’s water uptake, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hindering crop growth and reducing yields on roughly 30% of U.S. irrigated land. Caused by irrigation, poor drainage or saltwater intrusion, soil salinity impacts soil structure, reduces fertility and causes economic losses. To help growers identify and mitigate salt stress, in a proof-of-concept study, a team led by Penn State researchers built a low-cost sensor system that detects signals released by plants in trouble.

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Feb 06, 2026

Helping soil microbes kill weed seeds to aid organic farmers

To better equip organic farmers to control weeds, a team of Penn State agricultural scientists received a four-year, $935,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study how promoting soil microbes to infect and kill weed seeds might reduce problematic weed species.

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Feb 03, 2026

College of Ag Sciences awards bridge funding for global research collaborations

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has awarded bridge funding to four faculty members to support research collaborations addressing soil fertility, public health, climate resilience and agricultural trade include two from the Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology.

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