🌍 Global food crisis affects 318 million people in 68 countries, with simultaneous famines in Palestine and Sudan posing extreme threats.

💧 Researchers at UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering have developed a spray-on polymer called polynorbornene to protect plants from harmful bacteria and drought.

🌿 This new tool acts as a spray-on armor, weakening harmful bacteria while allowing the plant to breathe and retain water, even when applied to small areas of leaves.

🔬 The polymer is synthesized in water, making it biocompatible and easier to apply. Untreated plants withered significantly more during drought tests compared to treated ones.

#FoodSecurity #AgriTech #Innovation

📊 A study near a pig farm in China found that N2O emissions increased with NH3 deposition, with total emissions estimated at 69.7 kg N yr−1 within a 500 m radius. This accounts for about 1.3% of the total NH3 deposited from the farm.

🔬 N2O emissions were linked to higher levels of soil ammonium and the presence of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), suggesting that NH3 deposition boosts N2O release by enhancing AOA-driven nitrification.

🧪 Laboratory tests confirmed that ammonium (NH4+-N) produced greater N2O emissions than nitrate (NO3−-N) under specific soil moisture conditions.

#AgriTech #ClimateChange #EnvironmentalScience

🌾 A study combined genetic analysis, prediction, and marker-assisted selection to improve durum wheat's freezing tolerance and grain quality.

🧬 The research identified five significant genetic markers associated with freezing tolerance, with one on chromosome 5A explaining up to 27% of the variation and co-localizing with a key cold-stress regulatory gene.

📈 A genomic selection model successfully identified optimal parent lines, showing measurable gains in simulated generations for freezing tolerance, grain weight, and gluten traits.

🔬 Functional markers were validated in BC2F2 populations, confirming the selection of lines with favorable alleles for both cold tolerance and gluten strength, demonstrating the predictive accuracy of the model.

#DurumWheat #CropImprovement #Agritech

🍊 Molecular biologist Yoram Eyal and his team at The Volcani Center have used CRISPR/Cas9 to inactivate a key gene responsible for bitterness in grapefruit, potentially making the fruit more appealing, especially to children.

🍊 The research, published in The Plant Journal, focused on the gene 1,2RhaT, introducing small mutations to stop the biosynthesis of bitter compounds like naringin.

🍊 While initial analysis of leaves shows no detectable bitter compounds, further testing is needed on the fruit itself, as citrus trees have a long juvenile period before producing fruit.

#GeneEditing #FoodTech #AgriTech

🐄 Researchers have identified a newly discovered structure in gut microbes of dairy cows, dubbed the "hydrogenobody." This structure plays a key role in methane production, a potent greenhouse gas.

🔬 The hydrogenobody in "rumen ciliates" removes oxygen and produces hydrogen, which other microbes then use to create methane. This provides a significant breakthrough in understanding how cows emit methane.

📊 The study, published on Thursday in Science, combined genetic analysis, detailed microbe imaging, and real-life methane measurements from dairy cows to confirm the hydrogenobody's function.

💡 This discovery offers a clearer mechanism that could lead to future strategies for reducing methane emissions from cattle, a major agricultural source of greenhouse gases.

#AgriTech #ClimateChange #Methane

🌿 Scientists have genetically engineered lettuce and tobacco plants to produce myoglobin, a key protein that gives meat its desirable taste and color.

🌱 This breakthrough, published in Frontiers in Plant Science, could pave the way for more sustainable food production, as plant cultivation is significantly more resource-efficient than livestock farming.

🔬 While current yields are lower than in animal muscle (810 mg/kg dry weight in lettuce, 800 mg/kg in tobacco), researchers believe further refinements can increase protein output and explore engineering other high-value proteins.

#SustainableFood #PlantBased #AgriTech