Media Tip: Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source to accelerate biological and environmental research

In October 2023, the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, officially launched a new initiative to expand biological and environmental research at the world leading X-ray and analysis facility.

Thirsty wheat needed new water management strategy in ancient China

Research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that a practice of purposeful water management, or irrigation, was adopted in northern China about 4,000 years ago as part of an effort to grow new grains that had been introduced from southwest Asia. But the story gets more complex from there. Wheat and barley arrived on the scene at about the same time, but early farmers only used water management techniques for wheat.

Unearthing the secrets of plant health, carbon storage with rhizosphere-on-a-chip

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a miniaturized environment to study the ecosystem around poplar tree roots for insights into plant health and soil carbon sequestration.

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 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).

Sensing what plants sense: Integrated framework helps scientists explain biology and predict crop performance

Scientists have invested great time and effort into making connections between a crop’s genotype and its phenotype. But environmental conditions play a role as well. Iowa State University researchers untangle those complex interactions with the help of advanced data analytics in a newly published study.

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.

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.

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).