Research Collaboration Aims to Enhance Cereal Crop Resilience to Acidic Soils and Improve Agriculture Sustainability

Acidic soil caused by changing climate patterns threatens agriculture sustainability across the globe. But the problem goes far beyond rising temperatures. One major cause for concern is more acidic soil, a product of increasing rainfall.

First Deaf, Black Woman Receives her PhD in a STEM Discipline

Graduate student Amie Fornah Sankoh recently stood in front of 150 colleagues family and friends at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to defend her thesis, Investigating the Effects of Salicylic acid on Intercellular Trafficking via Plasmodesmata in Nicotiana benthamiana. Upon her successful defense, Dr. Amie Sankoh became the first Deaf, Black woman to receive a PhD in any STEM discipline.

St. Louis Comes Together to Announce the Taylor Geospatial Institute

The Taylor Geospatial Institute is a first-of-its-kind institution that brings together eight leading research institutions to collaborate on research into geospatial technology.

Dr. Elizabeth “Toby” Kellogg Receives the 2021 Asa Gray Award Recognizing a Lifetime of Achievements

Elizabeth “Toby” Kellogg, PhD, Member and Robert E. King Distinguished Investigator, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center recently received the 2021 Asa Gray Award from The American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT).

Danforth Center and Salk plant researchers launch collaboration to breed carbon-capturing sorghum

Researchers at the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative have established a five-year, $6.2 million collaboration with Dr. Nadia Shakoor and her team at the Danforth Center to identify and develop sorghum plants that can better capture and store atmospheric carbon.

Danforth Center Announces New Principal Investigator

Tessa Burch-Smith, PhD, has joined the Danforth Center as Associate Member and Principal Investigator. Her research is focused on how plant cells communicate with each other through intercellular pores called plasmodesmata.

NSF Taps Danforth Center to Lead New Institute to Advance the Restoration of Natural and Agricultural Ecosystems

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced a $12.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish the New Roots for Restoration Biology Integration Institute (NRR-BII).

Danforth Center Joins Decade of Ag Movement

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced it has joined the Decade of Ag movement, recognizing that a unified vision of sustainable food, fiber and energy systems for the future requires collaboration, endorsement and advancement from across the agricultural value chain.

Two Danforth Center Scientists Receive Prestigious Awards Recognizing Their Achievements And Leadership

Andrea Eveland received the Marcus Rhoades Early Career Award at the 63rd Maize Genetics Conference. Malia Gehan received the 2021 North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN) Early Career Award at the NAPPN annual conference.

International Team is the First to Successfully Stack Virus Resistance Plus Iron and Zinc Biofortification in a Non-cereal Crop

For the first time, an international team of scientists have developed cassava displaying high-level resistance to cassava mosaic disease (CMD), cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) as well as higher levels of iron and zinc.

New Research Reveals Infertile Spikelets Contribute To Yield In Sorghum And Related Grasses

The researchers used radioactive and stable isotopes of carbon, RNA-seq of metabolically important enzymes, and immunolocalization of Rubisco to show that the sterile spikelet collects carbon from the air and carries out photosynthesis while the awn does not.

International Group of Scientists Explain the Advantages of Using Metabolic Engineering to Address Hidden Hunger

In a perspective paper, “Multiplying the efficiency and impact of biofortification through metabolic engineering,” published in Nature Communications, an international team of scientists, led by Ghent University, explain how plant genetic engineering can help to sustainably address micronutrient malnutrition.

CoverCress Announces Cover Crop Carbon-Sequestration Collaboration with Salk Institute

CoverCress, Inc., announced a new collaboration with the Salk Institute to improve plant yield, soil health and soil organic carbon storage in cover crops via cutting-edge technologies developed by the Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI).

Regulators Classify Gene-Edited Rice Varieties with Disease Resistance as Equivalent to Conventional Varieties

The Healthy Crops team, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have used gene editing tools to develop new varieties of disease-resistant rice that regulators in the United States and Colombia have determined are equivalent to what could be accomplished with conventional breeding.

CAN PLANT-BASED PROTEIN REPLACE ANIMAL PROTEIN IN THE FOOD SYSTEM?

Dr. Pat Brown, founder and CEO of Impossible Foods will share his belief that plant-based protein will match the sensory, nutritional value and price requirements consumers desire, and replace meat protein sooner than people think at the opening keynote of AgTech NEXTTM on September, 22, 2020 at 12 PM CST.

Danforth Center Scientists Collaborate On A $20 Million Nationwide Artificial Intelligence Research Institute

Todd Mockler, PhD, will co-lead a research team applying AI approaches to extract plant phenotypes, from sensor data sets in order to accelerate crop improvement, with a focus on enhancing nitrogen and water use efficiency in major row crops such as corn and soy.

Shaping the Future of Food

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced the lineup of TableTalks, a series of conversations shaping the future of food that will follow each AgTech NEXT conference session on Tuesdays, September 22 – November 10 from 1:30 – 2:15 PM.

Danforth Center Scientists Collaborate On $13 Million Bioenergy Project

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a five-year, $13 million grant to a nationwide research project to genetically strengthen Thlaspi arvense, commonly known as pennycress, for use in sustainable energy efforts.

New Research Reveals Antifungal Symbiotic Peptide In Legume

Danforth Center scientists, Dilip Shah, PhD, Siva Velivelli, PhD, Kirk Czymmek, PhD, and their collaborators at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have identified a sub class of peptides in the nodules of the legume, Medicago truncatula that proved effective in inhibiting growth of the fungus causing gray mold.

Danforth Center Scientist Receives $1.4M Grant To Develop Smart Farm Technology

The National Institute for Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation has awarded Nadia Shakoor, Ph.D., senior research scientist at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a three-year, $1.4 million grant to develop FieldDock, an integrated smart farm system.

New Research Reveals Regulatory Features Of The Maize Genome During Early Reproductive Development

A team of researchers led by Andrea Eveland, Ph.D., assistant member, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, has mapped out the non-coding, ‘functional’ genome in maize during an early developmental window critical to formation of pollen-bearing tassels and grain-bearing ears.

Danforth Center Principal Investigator Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced that Elizabeth (Toby) Kellogg, Ph.D., Robert E. King Distinguished Investigator and member of the Danforth Center, was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Creator Of The Impossible Burger To Give Keynote Address At AgTech NEXT Summit

The Danforth Center today announced that Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and founder of Impossible Foods will give the keynote address on Tuesday, May 5 at the inaugural AgTech NEXT, the bold new food and agtech innovation summit to be held May 4 – 6 at the Danforth Center.

Danforth Center Unveils Robust Line-up for Inaugural AgTech NEXT Summit

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced the preliminary lineup of presentations and panel discussions by innovative thinkers for AgTech NEXT, the bold new food and agtech innovation summit will be held May 4 – 6, 2020 at the Danforth Center in St. Louis, MO.

Danforth Center Announces External Advisory Board of AgTech NEXT Summit

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced the preliminary list of members of the External Advisory Board (EAB) of AgTech NEXT, a bold new food and agtech innovation summit that will be held May 4 – 6, 2020 at the Danforth Center in St. Louis, MO.

Danforth Center Announces External Advisory Board of AgTech NEXT Summit

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced the External Advisory Board (EAB) of AgTech NEXT, a bold new food and agtech innovation summit that will be held May 4 – 6, 2020 at the Danforth Center in St. Louis, MO. Members of the AgTech NEXT EAB are known for their impact and innovation and represent the diverse perspectives within the ag innovation community.