Bacillus amyloliquefaciens QST713 and B. firmus I-1582 are bacterial strains which are used as active ingredients of commercially-available soil application and seed treatment products Serenade® and VOTiVO®, respectively. These bacteria colonize plant roots promoting plant growth and offering protection against pathogens/pests. The objective of this study was to develop a qPCR protocol to quant...

Hawes, M. C. 1983. Technique for using isolated corn root cap cells in a simple, quantitative assay for the pathotoxin produced by Helminthosporium maydis race T. Phytopathology 73:1184-1187. Root cap cells from corn with Texas male sterile (Tms) cytoplasm were kill Tms cells within 6-8 hr and 50 ng/ ml or more caused nearly 100% cell much more sensitive to HMT-toxin, the pathotoxin produced by...

We used a two-step enrichment approach to isolate root-colonizing hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH)-degrading microorganisms. The first step consists of the use of classical liquid enrichment to isolate γ-HCH degraders. The γ-HCH-degrading microbes were attached in mass to corn seeds sown in soil with γ-HCH, and after plant development we rescued bacteria growing on root tips. Bacteria were then subj...

Biotech crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal crystalline (Cry) proteins became commercially available in the US in 1996. In 2006, 19 million ha of Bt corn were planted worldwide, which resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of chemical insecticides that are necessary to control agricultural pests. Despite the high adoption rates of this novel insecticide, little ...

Three enzymes with ribonuclease activity, one of which also had deoxyribonuclease activity, have been isolated and partially purified from corn seeds and seedlings. The purification of Ribonuclease I from mature seed was previously reported. This enzyme has a pH optimum near 5.0, is loosely adsorbed to carboxymethyl-cellulose, and has a molecular weight of 23,000, determined by gel filtration.R...

Growth of Zea mays L. cv Potro roots was inhibited by the herbicide metsulfuron methyl (MSM) at the lowest concentration tested: 5 nanomoles per liter. Pretreatment of corn seeds with commercial 1,8-naphthalic anhydride (NA) at 1% (w/w) partially reversed MSM-induced root growth inhibition. MSM at a concentration of 52 nanomoles per liter was taken up rapidly by roots and accumulated in the cor...

BACKGROUND: Cases of western corn rootworm (WCR) field-evolved resistance to Cry3Bb1 and other corn rootworm (CRW) control traits have been reported. Pyramid products expressing multiple CRW traits can delay resistance compared to single trait products. We used field studies to assess the pyramid CRW corn products, SmartStax (expressing Cry3Bb1 and Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1) and SmartStax PRO (expressi...