This study was carried out to compare in situ and in vitro enzyme techniques for determining estimates of forage escape proteins. Eight forages (vetch hay, wheat silage, corn silage, wheat hay, grass hay, lentil straw, triticale hay and alfalfa hay) were used as feed materials. During 70 h, incubation with enzyme method had similar escape protein values for vetch hay, wheat hay, grass hay, trit...

Tall fescue (Festuca rundinacea) plants can be infected with the endophytic fungus Acremonium coenophialum. This fungus, which grows subcutaneously in leaves, stems, and seeds, does not undergo sexual reproduction or sporulate, and cannot survive outside the plant (Clay 1988). The fungus is passed from one generation to the next through infected seed. A mutualistic relationship exists between t...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L., 2n = 4x = 28; AABB genomes) is a natural hybrid-an allotetraploid between 2 wild species, Triticum urartu Tumanian (AA genome) and Aegilops speltoides Tausch (BB genome). Even at the allotetraploid level, durum wheat can tolerate chromosomal imbalance, for example, addition of alien chromosome 1E of diploid wheatgrass, Lophopyrum elongatum. Therefore, one way ...

It is very important to use chromosome-specific markers for identifying alien chromosomes in advanced generations of distant hybridization. The chromosome-specific markers of rye and Thinopyrum elongatum, as well as genomic in situ hybridization, were used to identify the alien chromosomes in eight lines that were derived from the crossing between Triticum trititrigia (AABBEE) and triticale (AA...

The geologic history of the tall grass prairie in central North America reveals the prairie began developing 10,000 years ago after the Pleistocene ice sheets had retreated into Canada. The long-lived triangular shaped prairie survived several climatic shifts during the Holocene. Scientists have studied the anomaly—grasses where many climate conditions indicate forests should have been growing—...

Recognition is growing that besides ungulates, small vertebrate and invertebrate herbivores are important drivers of grassland functioning. Even though soil microarthropods play key roles in several soil processes, effects of herbivores-especially those of smaller body size-on their communities are not well understood. Therefore, we progressively excluded large, medium and small vertebrate and ...

Together maize, Sorghum, rice, and wheat grass (Poaceae) species are the most important cereal crops in the world and exhibit different "grain endosperm texture." This trait has been studied extensively in wheat because of its pivotal role in determining quality of products obtained from wheat grain. Grain softness protein-1 and Puroindolines A and B (grain storage proteins), encoded by Ha-like...