Protein-rich subcellular particulates were isolated by zonal centrifugation from homogenates of endosperms of normal, opaque-2, and floury-2 mutant corn (Zea maize) kernels at different stages of development. In early stages the high lysine mutants vary from normal corn by greater production of a glutelin protein not associated with the matrix. This protein is high in lysine and may become a co...

Predicting animal performance and relating it to improvements in corn silage quality whether from breeding or management is complex. In numerous studies, differences in fiber and digestibility translate into differences in animal performance. For example, researchers in Idaho have found that high quality corn silage (low fiber and high digestibility) produced $315 more beef per acre than low qu...

As a promising material for bioethanol production, corn stover has been studied under various pretreatment methods prior to production of bioethanol. However, the storage of pretreated corn stover is still challenged by both weather conditions and the physical properties of its own. The objective of this experiment is to evaluate the effect of low-moisture anhydrous ammonia (LMAA) pretreatment ...

Gelatinase activity was detectable in the culture filtrates of 13 of 14 species of marine fungi tested. The fungi were grown under conditions of submerged culture in a medium consisting of corn meal, soybean meal, and CaCO(3). The degree of enzymatic activity did not necessarily correlate with the amino nitrogen content of the filtrates. Eight of the filtrates contained measurable quantities of...

Lactic acid has been identified as one of the top 30 potential building-block chemicals from biomass. Therefore, the search for cheap raw materials is an objective to reduce the production costs. Efficient polymer-grade L-lactic acid production was achieved in this report by a thermophilic strain Bacillus sp. XZL4 using corn stover hydrolyzate as sole carbon source. High L-lactic acid concentra...

Reduced-tillage, cover crop intensive production systems have several important potential benefits for sweet corn growers including: fuel and labor savings; reduced equipment wear and tear; more timely planting under wet conditions; and improvements in soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Since sweet corn is an important rotational crop for many high value vegetables, improvements...

A model that integrates biophysical simulations in an economic model is used to analyze the impact of climate change on crop production. The biophysical model simulates future plantmanagement-climate relationships and the economic model simulates farmers’ adaptation actions to climate change using a nonlinear programming approach. Beyond the development of average yields, special attention is d...

benefit to corn growers, but support for this claim is limited. Some cost–benefit studies have assumed that atrazine boosts corn yields by 6%; an extensive review found a 3%–4% average yield increase; other research suggests only a 1% yield effect. Syngenta, the producer of atrazine, also makes mesotrione, an alternative herbicide that does about the same amount for corn yields as atrazine. Ita...

Many studies have compared corn-based ethanol to cellulosic ethanol on a per unit basis and have generally concluded that cellulosic ethanol will result in fewer environmental consequences, including nitrate (NO3(-)) output. This study takes a system-wide approach in considering the NO3(-) output and the relative areal extent of hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) due to the introduct...

The ethanol industry has expanded at an amazing rate since the turn of the century. From 2000 to 2011, the US ethanol industry grew from 1.6 billion gallons to 13.9 billion gallons of ethanol produced (Renewable Fuels Association, 2013a). The renewable fuels standard mandates that should there be 20.5 billion gallons of ethanol produced annually in the US by 2015 (Renewable Fuels Association, 2...