Crop Improvement Research Frontiers

Nonlegume winter cover crops make vegetable production more sustainable & protect water quality

Nonlegume winter cover crops make vegetable production more sustainable & protect water quality On vegetable farms, non-legume winter cover crops can act like sponges to take up (scavenge) leftover nitrogen and reduce nitrate leaching to ground water. T...

Jumping Genes and Pathogenic Schemes: the diverse roles that transposons play in pathogen evolution.

Megan McDonald at THE EWG ON WHEAT PATHOGENS WEBINAR SERIES

Thursday, November 20, 2025 17:00 18:00 (UK GMT)

Join the meeting @ Microsoft Teams # Meeting ID: 281 268 009 362 4
Passcode: JR9kd7YE

Summary of the talk:
Transposons have carried many names since their discovery by Barbara McClintock in 1950. Common names such as “junk-DNA” underplayed their importance in the driving adaptation in the genomes of organisms where they are found. As described by Prof. McClintock transposons have a powerful impact on the phenotype of the host, which we now understand to be driven by several different mechanisms, including gene disruption, exon capture and regulatory changes, among others. Our work over the last several years has sought to understand how transposons drive adaptive evolution in plant pathogenic fungi. Fungal genomes are highly variable in their transposon content and contain many novel transposons that have yet to be functionally characterised. We now have very detailed examples of how transposons drive the duplication, pseduogenisation and horizontal movement of effector genes all of which can have real world impacts on the incidence and severity of disease in the field. This talk will explore two of these examples; firstly the duplication and inactivation of ToxB by helitron transposons and secondly the horizontal movement of the necrotrophic effector ToxA within giant Starship transposons. This work provides a foundation for the study of transposon-mediated effector evolution at the field scale as well as mechanistic studies that leverage the diversity of fungal transposons for novel applications in biotechnology.

Megan McDonald at THE EWG ON WHEAT PATHOGENS WEBINAR SERIES — Wheat initiative Our Expert Working Group on Control of Wheat Pathogens has invitedMegan McDonald from the University of Brimingham, UK to this online talk. The title  of the presentation is Jumping Genes and Pathogenic Schemes: the diverse roles that transposons play in pathogen evolution . Summary

Speed breeding enhances crop resilience and productivity in a changing climate

Speed breeding enhances crop resilience and productivity in a changing climate - Molecular Breeding To enhance agricultural productivity and resilience in the face of changing climatic conditions, innovative strategies over traditional breeding methods are essential to shorten the breeding cycle for developing new climate-smart crop varieties, thereby supporting food security for a growing global....

डीएपी यूरिया पोटाश और जिंक खाद की ताक़त को चार गुणा तक ऐसे बढ़ाएँ |How to increase efficiency of dap uria potash and zinc fertilizer | Agriculture | Farming | Kheti #dapfertilizer #fertilizeruseinagriculture #dhankikheti #soyabeankikheti #makkakikheti #mungfalikikheti #bajrakikikheti #khetibadi #khetikisani #farmingtips

किसान भाई ने बताया दीमक का एकदम निःशुल्क एवं जोरदार देसी इलाज

A Novel Biodegradable Mixture for A Sustainable Regenerative Agroecosystem Executive Summary The sustainable resilient agro-ecological impact of a novel biodegradable granular mixture combining ‘Cereal Hydrogel’, ‘Nano-Urea’, ‘Hydrogen Peroxide’, and ‘Crop Residue Biochar’, addresses critical agricultural challenges including water scarcity, nitrogen loss, ...

The Evolutionary Dynamics of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL): From Discrete to Continuous Expression Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) represent a fundamental concept in genetics that bridges the gap between simple Mendelian inheritance and complex Polygenic traits. The evolutionary mechanisms underlying the transition from discrete qualitative traits to continuous quantitative expression patterns are

Advances in understanding crown root formation in barley

Summary : Root architecture contributes to the overall resilience and productivity of cereal crops, yet many regulatory pathways remain poorly understood. Our research centers on the initiation and early development of crown roots in barley, a critical process for establishing a robust root system. The seminar will focus on our recent transcriptomic study, which dissected the early molecular responses to auxin and examined how chromatin accessibility shapes gene expression during crown root initiation. We will explore the possible roles of two stress-related transcription factors, HvNAC013 and CBF12C, in this process. Of particular interest was revealing their participation in a regulatory network that integrates auxin signaling with environmental response pathways.

Through this work, we aim to advance the understanding of root development in barley and provide new insights for the future identification of novel targets for crop improvement. Optimization of root architecture holds the potential to enhance the plant’s ability to adapt to stress conditions and thus achieve more sustainable barley production in the face of environmental challenges.

IBH Seminar | Advances in understanding crown root formation in barley International Barley Hub is pleased to announce the next in the 2025 series of seminars: “Advances in Understanding Crown Root Formation in Barley” presented...

Managing Fusarium in Barley with Dr. Kelly Turkington | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada In this recording from the BarleyBin LIVE, Dr. Kelly Turkington dives into the challenges of managing Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) in barley. From leveraging t...

Crop Trust webinar: How to use Genesys - Part 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VV-juFFVxs
Want to master Genesys PGR and uncover its hidden advanced features?
In the latest Crop Trust webinar on how to use Genesys we explored.

https://www.genesys-pgr.org/
Genesys is an online platform where you can find information about Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) conserved in genebanks worldwide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesys_(website)
Genesys is an online, global portal about plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. It is a gateway from which germplasm accessions from gene banks around the world can be easily found and ordered. The project started in 2008 by Bioversity International, the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, "to create a single information portal to facilitate the access to, and use of, accessions in ex situ gene banks".