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74 SEEDWORLD.COM SEPTEMBER 2015 INDUSTRY NEWS Delivering the people industry business and product news you need to know. Submissions are welcome. Email us at newsissuesink.com. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture wanted to see if coating alfalfa seeds with zeolite a mineral that comes from degraded volcanic rock would protect them from soil diseases including Aphanomyces root rot ARR. Known for its antifungal activity zeolite qualifies as an organic soil treatment. The results show that the mineral coating was as effective as mefenoxam in protecting seeds from most soil pathogens but unlike mefenoxam zeolite protected the seeds from ARR. Also it did not inhibit production of healthy roots or beneficial microbes in the soil. The coated seeds need to be evaluated further but they could prove useful in conventional and organic alfalfa operations. If not for a single genetic mutation each kernel of corn on an ear would be trapped inside a tough inedible casing. The mutation switches one amino acid for another at a specific position in a protein regulating formation of these shells in modern corns wild ances- tor according to a study published in GENETICS a publication of the Genetics Society of America. The domestication of corn has long fascinated biologists studying evolution. Corn can provide clues to how organisms change under selection whether its natural selec- tion or selection by humans choosing the most delicious and productive plants to grow in next years crop. The study results provide an example of how selection by ancient plant breeders triggered pro- found structural change in an organism through relatively minor genetic altera- tions allowing new traits to evolve rapidly. In recent decades corn hybrids with improved tolerance to crowding stress have helped drive yield increases. Large differences in crowding stress tolerance CST reported among popular sweet corn processing hybrids has grow- ers and processors wondering if newly emerging hybrids also offer improved CST. Martin Williams a University of Illinois crop scientist and ecologist with the U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service says this question is important in improving the sustainability of sweet corn production in the United States and maintaining dominance in sweet corn production globally. In a recent study Williams identified a more efficient method for comparing and identifying processing sweet corn hybrids for CST. His research not only shows which hybrids could be planted at higher populations than normal but also challenges seed companies to improve CST. North Carolina State University researchers used a preci- sion scalpel to excise expendable target genomic regions. This strategy can also elucidate gene regions that are essential for bacterial survival. The approach offers a rapid and effective way to identify core and essential genomic regions eliminates nones- sential regions and leads to greater understanding of bacterial evolution in a chaotic pool of gene loss and gene acquisition. The system gives researchers the ability to edit desired DNA sequences to add delete activate or suppress specific genes in just about any organism. It has major implications for application in medicine biotechnology food and agriculture. Just as humans benefit from the good bacteria of probiotics plants benefit from certain microbes. That benefit is also good for the environment scientists atthe University of Washington say. They arecollaborating with an agricultural company to take advantage of these bacteria on a large scale which could include seed coating and spraying. Researchers have found nitrogen- fixing bacteria living inside plant tissue with impressive results.