Endophytic fungi are plant symbionts living asymptomatically within plant tissues. Neotyphodium spp., which are asexual vertically transmitted systemic fungal endophytes of cool-season grasses, are predicted to be plant mutualists. These endophytes increase host plant resistance to environmental stresses and/or increase the production of alkaloid-based herbivore deterrents. The ubiquity of this...

OsbZIP46 is one member of the third subfamily of bZIP transcription factors in rice (Oryza sativa). It has high sequence similarity to ABA-responsive element binding factor (ABF/AREB) transcription factors ABI5 and OsbZIP23, two transcriptional activators positively regulating stress tolerance in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice, respectively. Expression of OsbZIP46 was strongly indu...

Chaparral is the most abundant vegetation type in California and current climate change models predict more frequent and severe droughts that could impact plant community structure. Understanding the factors related to species-specific drought mortality is essential to predict such changes. We predicted that life history type, hydraulic traits, and plant size would be related to the ability of ...

From a global viewpoint, a number of challenges need to be met for sustainable rice production: (i) increasingly severe occurrence of insects and diseases and indiscriminate pesticide applications; (ii) high pressure for yield increase and overuse of fertilizers; (iii) water shortage and increasingly frequent occurrence of drought; and (iv) extensive cultivation in marginal lands. A combination...

In C4 plants, water deficit may decrease photosynthetic CO2 assimilation independently of changes in stomatal conductance, suggesting decreased turnover by ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). The activity and biochemistry of Rubisco was studied in three different C4 grasses: Paspalum dilatatum, Cynodon dactylon, and Zoysia japonica. The objectives were to characterize the...

Biological invaders can alter ecosystem processes via multiple pathways, yet few studies have compared the relative importance of these pathways. We assessed the impacts of exotic, invasive grasses on ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling in the seasonal submontane woodlands of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where native grasses have been historically rare. Exotic grasses have become abundant over th...

Converting the native rangelands to simplified agronomic communities causessome changes in soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Establishing of perennial plantcommunities on formerly cultivated rangelands is expected to stabilize soil properties andincrease the amount of C, N, P stored in rangeland soils, but there is little information on whatplant communities are the most effective for impro...

Aflatoxin contamination costs the U.S. peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) industry over $20 million annually. The development of peanut cultivars with resistance to preharvest aflatoxin contamination (PAC) would reduce these costs. Screening techniques have been developed that can measure genetic differences in aflatoxin contamination and they have been used to identify accessions that exhibited rela...

Since the mid-1980s, sagebrush rangelands in the Great Basin of the United States have experienced more frequent and larger wildfires. These fires affect livestock forage, the sagebrush/grasses/forbs mosaic that is important for many wildlife species (e.g., the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)), post-fire flammability and fire frequency. When a sagebrush, especially a Wyoming big...