‘Map’ of Sweetpotato Genome to Improve Breeding Efforts

Three different varieties of sweetpotatoes with different skin colors.

Jul 10, 2020

‘Map’ of Sweetpotato Genome to Improve Breeding Efforts

NC State scientists recently published a scientific paper that mapped the genetic locations of economically important traits in sweetpotatoes such as higher yield and disease resistance. Their genetic map may lead to breeding better sweetpotatoes.

A group of students in a corn field as the sun sets. (From Summer 2019)

Jun 22, 2020

CALS Researchers Return to the Bench and Field

As NC State ramps up the Research Restart process, here’s how three researchers from across the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are returning to the lab bench and test field after time away due to COVID-19.

Seedlings with mutations in genes involved in making a plant growth hormone have curly cotyledons, the first two “leaves” of a plant shoot, or short roots. (Labeled seedlings on black)

Jun 3, 2020

Complementary Mutations: A Rollercoaster of Scientific Discovery

NC State researchers discover a new genetic mutation that could “fix” another mutation in the same gene, an enzyme involved in making a plant growth hormone — after a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

Rodolphe Barrangou, professor and co-founder of TreeCo, with genome edited poplars.

Jun 1, 2020

NC State Spin-off TreeCo To Breed a Better Forest

TreeCo, start-up company founded by by two NC State researchers, is setting out to revolutionize the forestry industry by combining insights from tree genetics with the power of genome editing.

May 27, 2020

Big Data for Better Sweetpotatoes

An interdisciplinary team led by Cranos Williams is setting out on a three-year project to use artificial intelligence to make sweetpotatoes even more profitable. The team will image hundreds of thousands of sweetpotatoes to increase the percentage of sweetpotatoes grown that are USDA grade 1.

The new greenhouse at Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in western North Carolina.

May 26, 2020

Topping-off for Tomato Breeding

NC State’s tomato breeding efforts, led by Dilip Panthee, just got a boost in the form of a new 1440-square-foot greenhouse at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center.

Owen Wagner (far left) and other foundational supporters for the Plant Sciences Initiative during the Plant Sciences Building groundbreaking on September 6, 2019.

May 13, 2020

Partner Profile: North Carolina Soybean Producers Association

The North Carolina Soybean Producers Association was one of the first commodity groups to pledge their support for the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative (N.C. PSI). Owen Wanger, CEO of the association, shares why it supports the N.C. PSI.

Soybean plants in a laboratory with colorful tubes in the background.

May 11, 2020

CRISPR Plants: New Non-GMO Method to Edit Plants

Wusheng Liu has developed a new way to get CRISPR/Cas9 into plant cells without inserting foreign DNA. This will allow for precise genetic deletions or replacements for specialty crops, without GMO regulatory hurdles.

May 7, 2020

Faculty Focus: Holland Wins International Maize Genetics Award

Jim Holland, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service plant breeder and geneticist based in NC State’s Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, received an international maize genetics award for his decades of research on corn diversity and breeding in disease resistance.

Craig Yencho and Bernard Yada ’14, Ph.D., survey sweetpotato vines at a research farm outside Kampala, Uganda.

May 4, 2020

NC State Researchers Continue Improving Sweetpotatoes for Africa

Craig Yencho and his team recently received part of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to continue their work improving sweetpotatoes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The genomic tools developed through the three-year, $15-million-dollar grant will also improve sweetpotato breeding for North Carolina farmers.

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