Vincent L. D'Antonio, a long-time staff research associate in the former UC Davis Dept. of Vegetable Crops, died on Sept. 23 in Vacaville, Calif. He was 74.
Maeli Melotto, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences specializing in plant immunity, has been recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.
Tastier tomatoes, zingier zinnias, beautiful bell peppers and better beans are among the new crop varieties that student scientists are developing for organic farmers through the SCOPE project, part of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and the UC Davis Student Farm.
Experimental robots are reducing the costs of hand-weeding by learning the difference between weeds and lettuce. In addition, steam can clear the soil of fungi and spores that cause lettuce and spinach to wilt, reducing the need for chemical herbicides in the bargain, according to the latest research by Steve Fennimore and his lab at the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences.
You may already be eating leafy greens that grow without soil, sunlight or ever being touched by human hands. Vertical farming has gained interest from growers and major investors around the world as a way to provide nourishing food, especially in urban areas. Gail Taylor, a vertical agriculture researcher and chair of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, offered this perspective in an article recently published in The Guardian:
Team AggieCulture recently completed an incredible journey to compete in the finals of the Urban Greenhouse Challenge, held by Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
The creativity that sparks when people meet in person filled the halls at UC Davis’ Department of Plant Sciences when an international team of scientists from Rothamsted Research, U.K., visited recently. Farm tours and presentations gave way to high-energy discussions of wheat genetics, soil management, grazing practices, climate change mitigations and opportunities for future collaboration.
The Department of Plant Sciences has released six new varieties of organic dry beans which are higher yielding, and are resistant to bean common mosaic virus (BCMV), a disease that prevents bean plants from maturing promptly and uniformly. Spearheading the project were Ph.D. candidate Travis Parker, Distinguished Professor Paul Gepts, and Charlie Brummer, professor and director of the Plant Breeding Center at UC Davis.
Mitochondria in cells generate energy for the cell and play roles in metabolism and programmed cell death. Not all mitochondria are the same — plant mitochondria are quite different from animal mitochondria. New research from the UC Davis Genome Center and partnering universities shows just how different.
