News

A research plot after dairy manure slurry was injected into a growing cover crop in early spring when temperatures were cooler, A new study demonstrated that the practice achieved multiple conservation goals while maintaining corn yield. Credit: Sailesh Sigdel/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Injecting manure into growing cover crops can cut pollution, support corn crops

A team of Penn State agricultural scientists conducted a new study on dairy manure management strategies for ecosystem services in no-till crop systems.

In anaerobic soil disinfestation, after organic amendments are mixed in, the soil is irrigated to saturation and covered with impermeable plastic, as shown here, creating no-oxygen conditions that suppress weeds.

$1M USDA grant to perfect weed killing method in organic crop production

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a four-year, $1 million grant to a team led by plant scientists and an economist from Penn State to investigate anaerobic soil disinfestation to support transitioning from conventional to organic production systems.

Nine faculty members were named the 2024 IEE Fellows. In the front row, from left, are Heather Preisendanz, Nilanjan Ray Chaudhuri, Li Li and Miriam Freedman. In the back row, from left, are Adri van Duin, Charles Anderson, Armen Kemanian, Siela Maximova, Enrique Gomez (Not pictured: Karen Fisher-Vanden) Credit: Kevin Sliman. All Rights Reserved.

Nine researchers named Institute of Energy and the Environment Fellows

Nine Penn State researchers have been named fellows of the Institute of Energy and the Environment (IEE) for 2024. The program recognizes and assists the exceptional achievements and unparalleled research impacts of highly successful researchers in the areas of energy and the environment. Nominees for the fellowship were submitted by the University community.

Research teams receive $1.1 million to study microbiomes in agriculture

Two Penn State-led research teams have received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for projects investigating the ways microbiomes — the microorganisms in a particular environment, such as in soil or a living organism — can affect disease dynamics in agriculture.

How duplicated genomes helped grasses diversify and thrive

Grasses cover about 40% of the Earth’s land surface, thriving in a multitude of environments. The evolutionary success of this plant family, which includes rice, maize, wheat and bamboo, likely results from a history of whole-genome duplications, according to a new analysis led by Penn State biologists.

Researchers compile Cacao Gene Atlas to help plant breeders boost chocolate tree

A team led by researchers at Penn State has created a genetic information resource to help plant breeders develop resistant strains of cacao that can be grown sustainably in its native Amazon and elsewhere, such as the tropical latitudes of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

New tomato, potato family tree shows that fruit color and size evolved together

Fruits of Solanum plants, a group in the nightshade family, are incredibly diverse, ranging from sizable red tomatoes and purple eggplants to the poisonous green berries on potato plants. A new and improved family tree of this group, produced by an international team led by researchers at Penn State, helps explain the striking diversity of fruit colors and sizes and how they might have evolved.

Mark Guiltinan, professor of plant molecular biology and J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany and director of the Penn State Plant Institute. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Guiltinan named director of the Penn State Plant Institute

Mark Guiltinan, professor of plant molecular biology and J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany, has been named director of the Penn State Plant Institute.

Why is breaking down plant material for biofuels so slow?

Breaking down cellulose for biofuel is slow and inefficient but could avoid concerns around using a food source while taking advantage of abundant plant materials that might otherwise go to waste. New research led by Penn State investigators has revealed how several molecular roadblocks slow this process.

Yellow-eyed grasses may have more insect visitors than previously thought

Scientists previously believed that a family of flowering plants called yellow-eyed grasses didn’t attract many insect visitors, but the recent discovery of a fungus that hijacks the plant and forms fungal “pseudoflowers” has researchers rethinking this assumption.