Regulation of Early Endosperm Development in Maize

[Source: UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences] - The starchy endosperm in cereal grains supplies more than 50 percent of the calories in the human diet worldwide and serves as raw material for many industrial products. Yet not much is known about the earliest stages of the endosperm's development, when critical genetic processes can influence a grain crop's yield, nutritional content, milling properties and other traits that affect its biological and economic value.

Using maize as a model, scientists and students at the University of Arizona, the University of Utah, Central Michigan University and New College of Florida will identify the gene networks that control endosperm development and function during the first eight to 10 days after pollination.

The National Science Foundation has granted $4.93 million for the five-year project, with the University of Arizona as the lead institution.

For more information: Regulation of Early Endosperm Development in Maize

Researchers complete draft genome sequence for cassava

[Soure: Eureka Alert] - A team of academic, government and industry researchers has completed a first draft of the cassava (Manihot esculenta) genome. The project is an important first step in accelerating the pace of research on this subsistence crop and addressing some of the many limitations that face cassava farmers around the world.

Cassava is a root crop that serves as the primary food source for more than 750 million people each day. Although it has many properties that make it an important food across much of Africa and Asia, it also has many limitations. Cassava has poor nutritional content and is susceptible to many pathogens, particularly in Africa, where one third of the continental harvest is lost each year to viral diseases. One of these, Cassava Brown Streak Disease, or CBSD, is currently the major threat to food security in some parts of Eastern Africa.

In response to the urgency of this threat, and building upon the newly available cassava genome sequence, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a $1.3 million grant to University of Arizona researchers who will lead an international consortium to develop a genome variation database that will provide breeding tools to aid farmers in improving cassava, with a special focus on increased resistance to the CBSD virus.

For more information: Researchers complete draft genome sequence for cassava