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EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEANSEEDI45DianeSaundersCristobalUauyandBrandeWul.Theircombinedresearchinterestsrangeromdetailedunderstandingohowpathogenscausediseasethroughtothebreedingoresist-anceinthehostplants.Theyspecicallywillocusonrustpathogensthatinectagricultur-allyandeconomicallyimportantplantssuchaswheatbarleyandsoybean.TheNorwichRustGroupNRGaimstobecomeahuborrustresearchandalreadyhas52collaboratorsin23countriesaroundtheworldalldriventodevelopnewtechnologiesandapproachestocombatrustungieciently.AnewstudyromtheUniversityofExeterintheUnitedKingdomhasoundthatvirusescarriedbycommercialbeescanjumptowildpollinatorpopulationswithpotentiallydev-astatingeects.Theresearchersarecallingornewmeasurestobeintroducedthatwillpreventtheintroductionodiseasedpollina-torsintonaturalenvironments.Fast-evolvingvirusescarriedbythesemanagedpopulationshavethepotentialtodecimatewildpollinatorspeciesincludingbeeshoverfiesandbutter-liesplacingbiodiversityandoodsecurityatrisk.Theresearchersreviewedexistingstudiestodeterminethepotentialordiseaseemergencewithinwildpollinatorcommunitiesbasedonknownhoneybeeviruses.Themainculpritodisease-relatedlossesromcommer-cialhoneybeecoloniesistheVarroamite.Thisparasitehelpsspreadviraldiseasesandmayincreasetheirvirulence.Oneothesevirusesthedeormedwingvirushasrecentlybeenidentiiedasanemergingdiseaseinpollinatorsanditsprevalenceincommercialhoneybeeshasbeenlinkedtoitsexistenceinwildbumblebees.Futureworkwillinvestigatewhichcommercialspeciesisdrivingdiseasetransmission.Theresearcherswillalsomon-itortheeectivenessoexistingconservationschemestodeterminetheirsuccessinprotect-ingwildpollinatorpopulations.TheInternationalServicefortheAcquisitionofAgri-BiotechApplicationsISAAAhasreleaseditsannualassessmentoglobalbiotechcropacreageshowingthat18millionarmersplanted181.5millionhectaresobiotechcropsacross28countriesin2014the18thstraightyearogrowthandthemosteverinasingleyear.AccordingtotheauthorsBangladeshbecamethenewestcountrygrowingbiotechcropsaterapprovingBtbrinjalplant-ingsandorthethirdstraightyeardevelopingcountriesgrewthemajorityobiotechcropsdemonstratingthetechnologyisscale-neutralandcanbringeconomicandenvironmentalbenetstoarmslargeandsmall.Farmersaceincrediblechallengesmaintainingabundanthigh-qualityharvestsinatimeoextremegrowingconditionsandreducedavailabilityonaturalresourcessaysDeniseDewarexecu-tivedirectororplantbiotechnologyatCropLieInternational.Ourindustryisproudtosupportthesegrowersthroughbiotechseedsthatghtinsectsweedsanddiseasesbuildresiliencetoextremeweatherandultimatelyimprovetheirabilitytoeedourworld.Acreagegrowthhasbeendrivenbyarmerswhocontinuetoplantbiotechseedsyear-ater-yearinactISAAAestimatesthattherepeatplantingrateorbio-techcropsisvirtually100percent.AnewreportromresearchersattheUniversityofMinnesotaInstituteontheEnvironmenthasoundthatclimatevari-abilityhistoricallyaccountsorone-thirdoyieldvariabilityormaizericewheatandsoy-beansworldwidetheequivalento36millionmetrictonsooodeachyear.Thisprovidesval-uableinormationplannersandpolicymakerscanusetotargeteortstostabilisearmerincomeandoodsupplyandsoboostoodsecurityinawarmingworld.Theresearcherslookedatnewlyavailableproductionstatisticsormaizericewheatandsoybeanrom13500politicalunitsaroundtheworldbetween1979and2008alongwithprecipitationandtemper-aturedata.Theteamusedthisdatatocalcu-lateyear-to-yearfuctuationsandestimatehowmuchotheyieldvariabilitycouldbeattributedtoclimatevariabilityabout32to39percentoyear-to-yearvariabilityortheourcropscouldbeexplainedbyit.Thisissubstantialtheequivalento22millionmetrictonnesomaizethreemillionmetrictonnesoriceninemillionmetrictonnesowheatandtwomillionmetrictonnesosoybeansperyear.Theresearchteamisnowlookingathistoricalrecordstoseewhetherthevariabilityattribut-abletoclimatehaschangedovertimeandisowhataspectsoclimatearemostpertinent.Aninternationalconsortiumomorethan30researchinstituteshasdecipheredthecomplexgenomesequenceofoilseedrapeBrassicanapusL.morecommonlyknownascanolathemostimportantoilseedcropinEuropeCanadaandAustralia.Thestudyshowedthatapartromthepost-Neolithichybridisationthatledtoitsormationoilseedrapehasoneothemosthighlyduplicatedgenomesoallfoweringplantsbecauseonumerousolderpolyploidi-sationsthatoccurredduringitsevolution.Thisphenomenonledtotheaccumulationoagreatnumberogenes101000intotaloneothehighestgenedensitiesoanypreviouslysequencedorganismandourtimesmorethanthe20000-25000genesohumans.Themaindicultyoroilseedrapehasbeentodier-entiateitsdierentsub-genomes.Thishasbeenachievedbythedevelopmentoanorig-inalsequencingstrategybioinormaticstoolsandtheanalysisoduplicatedgeneexpressionandtheirregulationsaysBoulosChalhoubotheFrenchNationalInstituteorAgriculturalResearchINRAwhocoordinatedtheresearcheortswithintheinternationalconsortium.ThepaperpresentingtheresearchresultshasbeenpublishedinthejournalScience.WEBANDAPPNEWSPhenomeNetworksaplantbreedingman-agementandanalyticssotwarecompanyhaslaunchedProjectUnityacollaborativeweb-basednetworkdesignedtohostmanageanalyseandsharephenotypicandgenotypicstudiesoplantsandanimals.ProjectUnityletsresearchersprivatelylinkandcorrelatetheirresultswiththeworldsdataunleashingresearchinsightsthroughbigdataanalytics.Researcherscanconnecttheirentitiesgen-otypesphenotypesandmarkerstocommonontologiesandmapsandgetimmediateaccesstotheentirewealthoresearchdataromleadinguniversities.TheideathatProjectUnitypromotesohavingasingleplatormormanagingandsharinggermplasmphe-notypesandgenotypesisveryimportantorbothscienticandteachingpurposessaysToddWehnerproessoratNorthCarolinaStateUniversityandawatermelonandcucumberbreeder.DataloadedintoProjectUnityispri-vateandcanbeaccessedonlybythepersonwhouploadedit.Sharingodatasetseitherwithspecicusersorwiththepublicisullyupontheusersdiscretion.ProjectUnitysim-pliestheanalysisprocessophenotypesandgenotypescreatesstandardisationandallowssmartcomparisonamongdierentdatasetseventuallyleadingtobetterunderstandingogeneseectsonphenotypes.Theplatormiscurrentlyinbetatestingandreeochargeoracademicuse.Laterin2015itwillbeupgradedtoincludeullplantbreedingmanagementunctionality.www.phenome-networks.comTheNationalAgriculturalLibraryNALhasunveiledPubAgauser-riendlysearchenginethatgivesthepublicenhancedaccesstoresearchpublishedbytheU.S.DepartmentoAgriculturescientists.NALispartotheUSDAsAgriculturalResearchService.PubAgisanewportalorliteraturesearchesandull-textaccessomorethan40000scienticjournalarticlesbyUSDAresearchersmostlyrom1997to2014.NewarticlesbyUSDAresearcherswillbeaddedalmostdailyandolderarticlesmaybeaddedipossible.Phase1oPubAgprovidesaccessorsearcheso340000peer-reviewedagriculturally-relatedscientiicliteraturemostlyrom2002to2012eachentryoeringacitationabstractandalinktothearticleiavailableromthepublisher.Thisinitialgroupohighlyrele-vanthigh-qualityliteraturewastakenromtheourmillionbibliographiccitationsinNALsdatabase.Phase2oPubAgplannedorlaterin2015willincludetheremainderoNALssigni-icantbibliographicrecords.ThereisnoaccesseeorPubAg.httppubag.nal.usda.govpubaghome.xhtml