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NIFA Currently Accepting Applications for Community Food Projects

Media Contact: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2010 – USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced the availability of nearly $5 million in funds for community-based food and agriculture projects through the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP). 

Since 1996, the Community Foods Projects program has been funding low income community organizations to take control of their food systems and become more self-reliant.  Projects have created food systems that are economically equitable and socially and environmentally sustainable.

The primary goals of the Community Food Projects program are to (1) meet the food needs of low-income individuals; (2) increase the food self-reliance of low-income communities; (3) promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm and nutrition issues; and (4) meet specific state, local or neighborhood food and agricultural needs, including needs relating to infrastructure improvement and development, planning for long-term solutions and the creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers. Community Food Projects have been funded in nearly to 300 communities in 48 states during its 14-year history.

Community Food Projects unite the entire food system, assessing strengths, establishing linkages, and creating systems that improve self-reliance over food needs.  Applications are being solicited for Community Food Projects and Planning Projects until November 17, 2010.  Grants are intended to help eligible private nonprofit entities in need of a one-time infusion of federal assistance to establish and carryout multipurpose community food projects.  Projects are funded from $10,000 to $300,000 and up to 36 months.  All grants require a dollar-for-dollar match in resources.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future.  More information is at: www.nifa.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

USDA and DOE Partnership Seeks to Develop Better Plants for Bioenergy

Media Contact: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced research awards under a joint DOE-USDA program aimed at improving and accelerating genetic breeding programs to create plants better suited for bioenergy production. The $8.9 million investment is part of the Obama Administration's broader effort to diversify the nation's energy portfolio and to accelerate the development of new energy technologies designed to decrease the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

"Cost-effective, sustainable biofuels are crucial to building a clean energy economy," said Secretary Chu. "By harnessing the power of science and technology, this joint effort between DOE and USDA will help accelerate research in the critical area of plant feedstocks, spurring the creation of the domestic bio-industry while creating jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign oil."

"Developing a domestic source of renewable energy will create jobs and wealth in rural America, combat global warming, replace our dependence on foreign oil, and build a stronger foundation for the 21st century economy," Secretary Vilsack said. "This scientific investment will lay the foundation for a source of fuel made from renewable sources."

The research grants will be awarded under a joint DOE-USDA program focused on fundamental investigations of biomass genomics, with the aim of harnessing lignocellulosic materials--i.e., nonfood plant fiber--for biofuels production. Emphasis is on perennials, including trees and other nonfood plants that can be used as dedicated biofuel crops. Since such crops tend to require less intensive production practices and can grow on somewhat poorer quality land than food crops, they will be a critical element in a strategy of sustainable biofuels production that avoids competition with crops grown for food. Combining DOE's leadership in genome-scale technologies with USDA's long experience in crop improvement will help accelerate development of such specialized crops and improve their effectiveness as feedstocks for biofuels production.

The research will make use of the most advanced technologies and techniques of today's genomics-based systems biology.

New projects to be funded this year aim at enhancing productivity, yield, nutrient and water utilization, and sustainability of plant feedstocks. Research focuses on better understanding of basic plant processes that control cell wall composition, plant architecture, cell size and division, wood formation, nutrient uptake, carbon allocation and on the impact of temperature and water availability.

DOE's Office of Science will provide $6.9 million in funding for seven projects, while USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture will award $2 million to fund two projects. Initial funding will support research projects for up to three years.

DOE-funded projects include:

• USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif., $949,348
• University of California, Berkeley, Calif., $793,413
• University of Delaware, Newark, Del., $868,794
• University of Georgia, Athens, Ga., $1,340,000
• University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill., $1,165,900
• University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo, $1,106,656
• Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, Danville, Va., $734,759

USDA-funded projects include:

• University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill, $1,000,000
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $1,000,000

For more information on the individual projects and the joint DOE-USDA Plant Feedstocks Genomics for Bioenergy research program, visit: http://genomicscience.energy.gov/
research/DOEUSDA/index.shtml

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

Core Knowledge of Tree Fruit Expands with Apple Genome Sequencing

Media Contact: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2010 – An international team of scientists funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has published a draft sequence of the domestic apple genome in the current issue of Nature Genetics.

“The United States is the world’s second largest producer of apples, with annual production valued at more than $1 billion and the completion of the sequence of the apple genome gives researchers an important tool that can be used to develop nutritious fruit of the highest quality for American consumers,” said Roger Beachy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Washington State University (WSU) researcher Amit Dhingra, in collaboration with WSU computer scientist Ananth Kalyanaraman and University of Washington microbiologist Roger Bumgarner, sequenced and analyzed a double haploid version of the genome of the apple variety Golden Delicious. This information was used to validate the assembly of the heterozygous Golden Delicious apple. They also compared gene islands from the apple genome landscape with that of pear, peach and grape to identify genetic differences that make it possible to trace the lineages among these important fruit crops.

An organism’s genome is the total of all its genetic information, including genes. Genes carry information that determines, among other things, an organism's appearance and health. Knowing the sequence of the apple genome will ultimately allow scientists to point to a specific gene and identify the trait it is responsible for. Scientists will begin using the apple genome to help breed apples with desirable new traits, including disease resistance, flavor and, potentially, increased health-benefitting qualities.

Although the economic importance of having the apple genome in hand cannot be understated, the pressing question answered by the international team’s paper in Nature Genetics was one of origin. Scientists have long wanted to know -- and have for years argued vehemently about -- the ancestor of the modern domesticated apple. The question is now settled: Malus sieversii, native to the mountains of southern Kazakhstan, is the apple’s wild ancestor.

The apple genome is available digitally on Dhingra’s Genomics Lab website as well as the Tree Fruit Genome Database Resources website, the online Rosaceae family genomic database accessed by scientists millions of times per year.

USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded the project through a grant from the National Research Initiative. Other funders include the WSU Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, WSU-Agriculture Research Center and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

NIFA AgrAbility Grants Give Disabled Farmers Tools They Need to Be Successful

Study Unlocks Secret Behind Success of Disease-Causing Microbes

Media Contact: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2010 – Researchers from Virginia Tech have identified the mechanism several important microbial pathogens use to infect plants and cause devastating diseases. The study, published in the July 23, 2010, issue of Cell, also provides insights into how some microbes cause diseases in humans and animals.

The identified mechanism is used by fungi and oomycetes (microbes related to algae), including the kind of fungi that are causing wheat rust epidemics in Africa and Asia, and by oomycete pathogens that caused the Irish potato famine of the 19th century and continue to cause crop losses for producers today.

“Our findings suggest broad, new strategies for combating the most damaging diseases of the world’s major crop foods, including wheat, rice, maize and potatoes, as well as several nasty human diseases,” said Brett Tyler of Virginia Tech’s Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and leader of the study.

The study, which was funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the National Science Foundation, shows that once a fungus or an oomycete comes into contact with a host, it may initiate an infection by secreting special proteins, called effectors, that have the ability to enter and reprogram the host’s cells. Each of these effectors consists of a long chain of amino acids designed to disable a host cell’s immune system. But a small stretch of the amino acid chain, which contains four particular amino acids, binds to a specific type of lipid; this lipid is a fat-like molecule that is part of the membrane surrounding the host cell.

When the identified four amino acids in the effector’s protein chain binds to the lipid on the host cell’s membrane, it acts like a key that opens a locked door, unlocking the membrane to the invading effector. Once unlocked, the cell extends itself to engulf and absorb the effector.

Previously, scientists were only aware of how effectors of bacteria were able to enter plant cells, which they did through a needle-like structure produced by the bacteria that punctured the host cell’s membrane . The Tyler Team made two surprising discoveries: 1) the existence of the binding lipid (called PI3P) on host cell surfaces and 2) the ability of the microbial effectors to use the binding lipid to invade host cells. Also surprising were:

• The novelty and simplicity of the mechanism used by fungi and oomycetes to insert their effectors into host cells.
• The discovery that fungi and oomycetes use the same binding mechanism to introduce effectors into plant cells, even though these two classes of microbes are evolutionarily distinct from one another.
• The presence of an abundance of the binding lipids on the surfaces of plant cells as well as animal cells, including some human cells. This discovery suggests that fungal and oomycete effectors might also enter animal and human cells through the same newly-discovered method they use in plants. Thus this phenomenon may, in fact, be an attack mechanism common to fungal and oomycete diseases of plants, animals and humans.

This research demonstrated the possibility that fungal and oomycete effectors could be blocked from entering the host cells by preventing them from attaching to binding lipids. Further research will be needed to exploit this information to develop therapies for fighting diseases caused by fungi and oomycetes.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation’s future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

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Researchers Show That Organic Farming Enhances Biodiversity and Natural Pest Control

Media Contact: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2010 – A team of researchers from Washington State University and the University of Georgia have found that organic farming increases biodiversity among beneficial, pest-killing predators and pathogens. In potato crops, this led to fewer insect pests and larger potato plants.

“It’s always been a mystery how organic farmers get high yields without using synthetic insecticides,” says co-author Bill Snyder, associate professor of entomology at Washington State University. “Our study suggests that biodiversity conservation may be a key to their success.”

Ecosystems with more total species, and more beneficial species that are
relatively evenly distributed, are thought to be healthiest.  The use of insecticides harms biodiversity by reducing the number of species and by making some species (often pests) much more common than others. The study, which was funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and published in the July 1 edition of the journal Nature, shows that organic farming practices lead to many equally-common beneficial species, and that this reduces pest problems. 

In potato fields that used conventional control practices (e.g., applications of broad-acting insecticides), usually just one species of beneficial predatory insect or pest-killing pathogen was common. In contrast, in organic fields several beneficial species were about equally common. Experiments showed that groups of evenly-abundant beneficial species, typical of organic farms, were far more effective at killing potato beetle pests. Because natural enemies are usually more even in organic crops of many different kinds, not just potato, these benefits could be widespread.

NIFA funded this project through the National Research Initiative Arthropod and Nematode Biology and Management competitive grants program.
           
Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation’s future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.          

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

Flowering and Freezing Tolerance Linked in Wheat, Study Shows

Media Contacts:
USDA: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188
UC-Davis: Pat Bailey, (530) 752-9843

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2010 –New research by UC Davis wheat geneticist Jorge Dubcovsky and his colleagues could lead to new strategies for improving freezing tolerance in wheat, which provides more than one-fifth of the calories consumed by people around the world.
 
The new findings, published June 22 in the Online First issue of the journal Plant Physiology, shed light on the connection between flowering and freezing tolerance in wheat.
 
In winter wheat and barley varieties, long exposures to non-freezing cold temperatures accelerate flowering time in a process known as vernalization. These exposures also prepare the wheat to better tolerate freezing, a process known as cold acclimation.
 
In their new study, Dubcovsky and his colleagues at UC Davis, The Ohio State University and in Hungary, demonstrated that when the main vernalization gene, VRN1, is expressed in the leaves, it initiates a process that leads to decreased expression of the freezing tolerance genes. (In genetics, "expression" refers to the process by which information carried by the gene is used to create a protein.)
 
"This system enables wheat and other temperate grasses to respond differently to cool temperatures in the fall than they would to cool temperatures in the spring," said Dubcovsky, a professor in UC Davis' Department of Plant Sciences.
 
Dubcovsky heads UC Davis' wheat breeding program and Wheat Molecular Genetics Laboratory. The lab coordinates a broad-based research program that aims to provide the scientific information needed to develop healthier and more productive varieties of wheat.
 
He noted that a cool temperature in the fall, when plants have low levels of the vernalization gene VRN1, activates the freezing tolerance genes, helping to trigger the plants' acclimation to cold temperatures. This is essential in the fall, when cool temperatures are an indication that winter's freezing temperatures are approaching.
 
"However the same cool temperature in the spring, when high levels of the vernalization gene VRN1 are present in the leaves, results in a weaker response of the freezing tolerance genes," Dubcovsky said.  "This avoids initiating the plants' cold-acclimation response, which requires a lot of the plants' energy and is unnecessary in the spring because warmer weather is approaching."
 
This work was supported by the National Research Initiative from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation’s future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).