Understanding the steps in metabolic pathways is important for understanding health and disease, whether in people or plants. But figuring out these biochemical pathways is difficult and time consuming. So why not have a machine do it? Scientists at UC Davis and Ben-Gurion University in Israel have applied machine learning (artificial intelligence) techniques to this…
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Plant breeders and food safety experts conducted a two-day conference at UC Davis (June 5–6, 2019) to discuss issues relevant to food safety, including control of microbial contamination in produce throughout the food chain (seeds, field production, pre- and postharvest, packaging, distribution, marketing). Maeli Melotto, a UC Davis Plant Sciences professor who focuses on plant-microbe…
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“More than Yield: Exploring the Full Potential of Our Agroecosystems” was the theme at Russell Ranch Field Day on June 12. Field tours included three topic areas: Soil Structure, Carbon, and Microbes Management and Cropping for Resilience Irrigation, Nutrient Retention, and Disease In addition to field tours, there were a number of flash talks (in…
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Innovators at the University of California, Davis, are receiving financial support to advance their research and technologies toward commercialization. The Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) Grant program, managed by Venture Catalyst and funded by the UC Davis Office of Research, provides funding to support translational science and innovative research performed by UC Davis researchers….
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The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) announced that the Foundation for Agronomic Research, which administers projects for the 4R Research Fund, has awarded nearly $2.7 million in grants to five universities to conduct field research and demonstration projects that evaluate and promote the economic, social, and environmental outcomes of 4R Nutrient Stewardship. The 4R Nutrient Stewardship concept…
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As the end of the academic year arrives, we’re pleased to highlight two Plant Sciences students who had the opportunity to go to Congressional Visits Day earlier this quarter. Samantha Hilborn (an M.S. student working with Charlie Brummer and Allen Van Deynze in Plant Sciences), and Carolina Vaquerano (a B.S. student who works in Brummer’s…
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John and Justin Diener of Five Points, Calif., in the San Joaquin Valley, and Scott Park of Meridian, Calif., in the Sacramento Valley, are organic processing tomato farmers. Over the past forty or so years, they have developed and refined their practices into highly successful production systems. This video summarizes the production techniques, equipment, and…
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The cell wall is a complex and dynamic structure surrounding and protecting plant cells. Polysaccharides and glycoproteins are principal components of the cell wall. Within the plant cell, a network of membrane-enclosed compartments known as the endomembrane system, transports polysaccharides from their synthesis in Golgi apparatus, via vesicles, to build the cell wall. Given the…
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Treatments May Reduce Loss in Future Droughts and Bark Beetle Epidemics Thinning forests and conducting prescribed burns may help preserve trees in future droughts and bark beetle epidemics expected under climate change, suggests a study from the University of California, Davis. The study, published in the journal Ecological Applications, found that thinning and prescribed fire…
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Morning coffee is a part of many daily routines –– but with coffee shops on every corner in metropolitan areas, we tend to take coffee for granted. However, UC Davis students enrolled in the online Just Coffee course are getting a new, globally-conscious perspective on the caffeinated beverage. The course was the inspiration of Patrick…
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