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Agricultural genetics is the applied study of the effects of genetic variation and selection used to propagate valuable heritable trait combinations in crop plants and farm animals. The discipline includes use of genetic markers to guide traditional breeding, and introgression and introduction of traits from other species into farmed organisms.
Many cereal crops have been bred to be more compact to allow high-density planting, but soybean has remained relatively overlooked. Here, the authors describe a compact soybean mutant, reduced internode 1, that significantly enhances grain yield under high-density planting conditions compared to an elite cultivar.
Indicine cattle make up half of all cattle populations worldwide. Using a large genomic dataset, this study finds historic migrations and extensive introgression with domestic and wild bovine species has facilitated this species physiological adaptation to extreme environments.
Soil-borne wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV) poses a serious threat to global wheat production. Here, the authors report that the nuclear inclusion protease-a produced by WYMV interacts with a small peptide catalyzed by TaRD21A protease activity to mediate WYMV resistance through activating MAPK signaling pathway.
The Open Institute of the African BioGenome Project empowers African scientists and institutions with the skill sets, capacity and infrastructure to advance scientific knowledge and innovation and drive economic growth.
In April 2023, leading experts met with members of US Congress to discuss strategies to ensure global food security. Following on from this, Pamela Ronald emphasizes the role that plant genetics has in achieving these goals.
