PHOTO: canstock

Saskatchewan researchers help crack the wheat genome

The development could unlock untapped yield and quality potential

University of Saskatchewan researchers are part of an international team who published the first chromosome-based draft sequence of the wheat genome, a development that promises wheat breeders powerful new tools in developing varieties to meet the challenges of world population growth and climate change. “The release of the chromosomal draft of the wheat genome sequence will accelerate gene

This is a cabbage butterfly caterpillar feeding on an Arabidopsis plant where, on an adjacent leaf, a piece of reflective tape helps record vibrations.

Plants can hear the difference

They respond differently to vibrations caused by 
chewing insects than to wind

University of Missouri-Columbia – Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia have found plants can not only tell the difference between the sound waves caused by insects chewing and wind but they respond with more defences. ‘We found that feeding vibrations signal changes in the plant cells’ metabolism, creating more defensive chemicals that can repel attacks


PHOTO: thinkstock

Insect farms: Investors see big profits in thinking small

Flies fed garbage become an environmentally friendly source of protein

When it comes to resolving a big global food problem, a new breed of farmers and their financial backers are thinking small. Work on the world’s largest fly farm has begun in South Africa after the European firm behind the project won much-needed funding from investors, propelling the use of insects as livestock feed beyond

Spinning straw into… mould? Sweet

Spinning straw into… mould? Sweet

Ordinary straw can be converted into the sweetener erythritol using a genetically modified mould fungi

Straw is often considered to be worthless and is therefore burned. But researchers have found a way to make it into erythritol, a sweetener that is 70 to 80 per cent as sweet as sugar. Erythritol does not make you fat, does not cause tooth decay, has no effect on the blood sugar and, unlike


piglet

Pig parasites could be beneficial to humans

The pig whipworm could hold the key to new medical treatments

New treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and autism could be on the horizon, after a global University of Melbourne — lead study successfully mapped the genes of a parasitic worm in pigs. “We know that humans infected with the harmless, ‘pig whipworm’ can have significantly reduced symptoms linked to autoimmune

ants

How ants use their bodies to build rafts

But it remains a mystery how ants know what to do

Three years ago, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers took a close look at how fire ants work together to build waterproof rafts to stay alive. By looking at the edges and tops of rafts, the team discovered that ants grip each other with their mandibles and legs at a force of 400 times their body


Bumblebees on a wildflower

Wondering about the state of the environment?

Just eavesdrop as bees communicate with each other 
on where to find the best eats

Researchers have been monitoring honeybee “waggle dances” to track where they find the best nectar and pollen and measure the benefits of biodiverse landscapes. The results reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology May 22 suggest that costly measures to set aside agricultural lands and let the wildflowers grow can be very beneficial to

a bunch of radishes and water cans

Have your lawn and eat it too

This is a competition for those who prefer hoeing over mowing

The grass may not be greener on the other side of the fence — but the lettuce and beans might be, if Food Matters Manitoba has its way. It’s sponsoring the Manitoba Garden Makeover Competition to encourage more homeowners to start hoeing instead of mowing by creating an edible landscape. Balcony transformations are eligible too.


large covered dome tent

Former pesticide factory goes under the dome

An inflatable cover the size of three football fields 
is designed to keep odour under wraps

A Chinese company in the eastern city of Hangzhou, China has constructed a massive inflatable dome over the site of a closed-down pesticide factory, state media reported May 14. While it covers an area the size of roughly three football fields, the 20,000-square-metre polyester dome still covers less than half the contaminated zone, according to

Crop researchers in a field

Rising CO2 levels may cut nutrient levels in crops, study finds

Wheat and rice were lower in zinc, iron and protein at higher levels of CO2

Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may cut the nutritional quality of some of the world’s most important food crops, researchers reported May 7 after conducting experiments simulating conditions expected by mid-century. The amounts of two important nutrients, zinc and iron, were found to be lower in wheat, rice, soybeans and field peas