Research

Researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Georgia recently published a paper related to an underutilized source of resistance in the soybean genotype Peking. That source is linked to two polymorphisms in serine hydroxyl-methyltransferase 8 (SHMT8). SHMT is an enzyme important for folate-mediated 1-carbon metabolism, a universal metabolic process. David Korasick, a postdoctoral fellow who was part of the John Tanner lab and mentored by Tanner, Lesa Beamer and Melissa Mitchum, produced five crystal structures of different states of the SHMT8 tetramers from the SCN-susceptible and SCN-resistant cultivar. He combined protein biochemistry, protein biophysics and X-ray crystallography approaches to tackle the problem.

June 3, 2020

Fighting a Financially Taxing Pathogen

A unique collaboration between plant biologists and biochemists is looking to tackle the most financially taxing pathogen in the soybean industry. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the most detrimental and costly pathogen affecting soybean production in the United States, with more than $1 billion lost annually due to SCN infection. Management of this pathogen relies on the use of SCN-resistant soybean cultivars, a strategy that has struggled in recent years due to nematodes showing resistance to those cultivars. Researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Georgia recently published a paper related to an underutilized source of resistance…
The Center for Agroforestry’s Chung-Ho Lin, an associate research professor, and his lab are currently looking at how to redirect its analytical capacity (reverse-transcription and real-time qPCR) for the detection and quantification of COVID-19 in food, water and air – and develop mitigation techniques to reduce community exposure to COVID-19.

May 4, 2020

Contributing to Research

For more than 20 years, the Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri, has served as one of the world’s leading centers contributing to the science underlying agroforestry, which is the science and practice of intensive land-use management combining trees and shrubs with crops or livestock. Agroforestry practices help landowners to diversify products, markets and farm income; improve soil and water quality; sequester carbon; reduce erosion, non-point source pollution and damage due to flooding; and mitigate climate change. The Center for Agroforestry’s Chung-Ho Lin, an associate research professor, and his lab are currently looking at how to redirect…
FAPRI released its most recent U.S. Agricultural Market Outlook in March – and has already released an additional report, which presents a preliminary analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural markets in the U.S.

May 4, 2020

Gathering Preliminary Data

The U.S. Agricultural Market Outlook is prepared annually by economists with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) and MU Agricultural Markets and Policy (AMAP) and is updated each August. FAPRI Director Pat Westhoff said the report gives policymakers, farmers, agribusinesses and the public an overview of the state of the U.S. farm economy. The market projections it contains can be useful to farmers making production choices, to policymakers trying to decide how to respond to agriculture issues, to lenders who must decide whether to make loans and to agribusinesses making investment decisions. FAPRI released its most recent U.S.
The Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) at the University of Missouri operates a system of Agricultural Research Centers across the state in an effort to meet the regional needs of agricultural producers and natural resource managers. The various facilities play a vital role in the agricultural food chain in numerous ways, including seed variety trials, plant and animal breeding studies, and providing agronomic information. As research ramps down at MU due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Research Centers are working to help move the agricultural food chain along.

April 9, 2020

Moving the Agricultural Food Chain Forward

The Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) at the University of Missouri operates a system of Agricultural Research Centers across the state in an effort to meet the regional needs of agricultural producers and natural resource managers. With nearly 14,000 acres, these research and demonstration facilities host more than 35,000 people each year for field days, Extension activities and other community events. The various facilities play a vital role in the agricultural food chain in numerous ways, including seed variety trials, plant and animal breeding studies, and providing agronomic information. As research ramps down at MU due to the global COVID-19 pandemic,…
Seven University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ Agricultural Research Centers planted a total of seven acres of hemp throughout the state. Those plantings happened from the end of June to early July. All were between half an acre and three acres.

April 9, 2020

A Unique Opportunity

Last year, Missouri lawmakers passed a law that allowed producers to grow a crop that hasn’t been legal in the state in decades – hemp. The new law required that growers be licensed with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, and it also allowed universities to plant hemp right away to collect data for future plantings. Seven University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Agricultural Research Centers planted a total of seven acres of hemp throughout the state. Those plantings happened from the end of June to early July. All were between half an acre and three acres.
Field Day tours

Aug. 30, 2019

An Investment in Agriculture

University of Missouri officials announced today a $6.5 million investment in the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station of MU’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. The investment will enhance the university’s ability to share next-generation agricultural technologies developed by MU researchers with Missouri’s farmers and ranchers. “CAFNR’s world-class animal and plant researchers use these centers to translate research from the laboratory and evaluate its impact under real field conditions,” MU Chancellor Alexander N. Cartwright said. “Because these projects oftentimes include an educational component, our students also use the research centers for essential field studies. Needless to say, these centers are…
MOFLUX tower at Baskett.

June 27, 2019

Throwing New Light on Photosynthesis

In the summer months, Jeff Wood, a biometeorologist in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, likes to spend his days with his head in the clouds, or at least the canopies of forests. Sometimes starting before dawn and staying until dusk, he uses a 32-meter tall instrument-studded tower at the Missouri Ozark AmeriFlux site (MOFLUX) at the Baskett Wildlife Research and Education Center near Ashland, Missouri, to monitor the “breathing” of the forest. Using tools to measure the flow of carbon dioxide and water from the level of the individual leaf to the entire forest, he…
When completed, the new $28.2 million East Campus Plant Growth Facility, on East Campus Drive across from the Trowbridge Livestock Center, will contain nearly 23,000 square feet of greenhouse space in three ranges, along with more than 9,300 square feet for controlled environment plant growth chambers. Photo courtesy Bill Lamberson/Robert Sharp.

Sep. 25, 2018

A Culture of Collaboration

For nearly 150 years, scientists from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri have contributed to advancements around the globe. Many have heard the story of Charles Valentine Riley, an MU professor and Missouri’s first state entomologist, who saved the French wine industry from decimation by an insect, the grape phylloxera. The aphid had destroyed nearly one-third of French wine grapes in 25 years and threatened to annihilate the entire industry within another decade. Riley’s rescue involved grafting French vines onto resistant American rootstock. Others know that Aureomycin, one of the world’s first antibiotics…
Mike Byrne is one of the newest faculty members in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, arriving on campus in June 2017. The assistant professor of natural resources is an expert in the field of wildlife movement ecology. By learning more about why animals go where they go and do what they do, resource managers can improve conservation and species management efforts. Photo by Jason Jenkins.

May 11, 2018

Covering Their Tracks

Whether a creature has feathers, fur or fins, it really doesn’t matter to Mike Byrne. He just wants to know where it’s going and what it might do when it gets there. Byrne is one of the newest faculty members in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, arriving on campus in June 2017. The assistant professor of natural resources is an expert in the field of wildlife movement ecology. By learning more about why animals go where they go and do what they do, resource managers can improve conservation and species management efforts.
Vinebot robot in corn field.

March 14, 2017

High Tech, Low Cost

To accurately create 3-D models of plants and collect data both on regions of crops and individual plants, the research team developed a combination approach of a mobile sensor tower (in background) and an autonomous robot vehicle equipped with three levels of sensors and an additional robotic arm. Photo courtesy of Gui DeSouza. A two-pronged robotic system pioneered by University of Missouri researchers is changing the way scientists study crops and plant phenotyping. Felix Fritschi, associate professor in the Division of Plant Sciences, and Suhas Kadam, a postdoctoral fellow in Fritschi’s laboratory, have teamed up with Gui DeSouza, associate professor of…