To gain new insights into tomato breeding and their consequences, a group of researchers from China, USA, Bulgaria, and Germany analyzed the metabolic constitution and the genetic background of tomato fruits. In a paper published in the journal Cell, they presented an overview about the human influence on the chemical composition of a crop plant for the first time.

Scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory have discovered how plants vary their response to heat stress depending on the time of day, solving a 79-year-old mystery. Since 1939, it has been known that plants' response to heat stress fluctuates between day and night. The daily cycle of plant heat resistance is a strategy that protects plants from the hottest parts of the day, and prevents energy waste at night when it is cooler

Researchers at the University of Tsukuba in Japan have identified a key genetic pathway that allows legumes to respond to soil nitrogen. They found the genetic pathway in the legume Lotus japonicus, and it controls nodulation in response to nitrogen levels in the soil. Root nodules form when there is low soil levels of fixed nitrogen molecules such as nitrate. When soil nitrate increases, legumes respond by inhibiting root nodulation. The mechanism of this response was unknown, though.

Among the major genetically engineered (GE) crops commercially grown in 26 countries, maize has the highest number of approved events (single and stacked traits) and is the second largest crop, after soybean, in terms of global adoption. Despite this, the risks and benefits of GE maize are still being debated and concerns about safety remain.

The World Academy of Science (TWAS) announced the new fellows who were elected into membership on January 26, 2018. Out of the 55 new fellows, 16 are women, an unprecedented 29 percent of the new class. Thirty-five fellows were from China (12), India (11), Brazil (5), South Africa (4) and Taiwan, China (3). The other 18 comes from Argentina, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chile, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Panama, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Two new fellows are from Indonesia and Norway, where TWAS previously has had no members.

Government of Maharashtra and a consortium led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a bold initiative for the science-led development of agriculture in the drought-prone drylands of Vidarbha Region of the state.

The digital transformation of economies and societies in recent years has opened new, important possibilities for agriculture. In this context, we see the emergence of CGIAR’s Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, which aims to positively transform agricultural research, helping to generate powerful data management innovations that can revolutionize agriculture in developing countries.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) together with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) collaborate through funding and research efforts to develop Green Super Rice (GSR), a new breed of rice varieties that perform well in the toughest conditions.
 

In field trials three years ago, biotechnologists showed that they could increase maize productivity by introducing a rice gene into the plant that regulated the accumulation of sucrose in kernels, which also led to more kernels per maize plant. This promising technique is set to do the same for other crops, including wheat and rice. The rice gene affected the performance of a natural chemical in maize, trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P), which influences sucrose distribution in the plant.

A new study reveals that breeding temperature resilient crops can now be achieved. A research conducted at John Innes Centre (JIC) has established a genetic link between increased temperature and the problem of "pod shatter" (premature seed dispersal) in oilseed rape. The research, led by Dr. Vinod Kumar and Professor Lars Østergaard, reveals that pod shatter is enhanced at higher temperature across diverse species in the Brassicaceae family which also includes cauliflower, broccoli, and kale.