“Currently there is a knowledge gap in the management of blackleg, and we wish to address it by characterising the identity and distribution of free-living nematodes but also microbial communities, and the ways in which they associate and interact with the blackleg pathogen through changes in factors such as irrigation and use of cover crops” Scientists at the James Hutton Institute and partner organisations are working to understand the interactions between pathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum and an array of soil-microbe-crop interactions in the development of blackleg, one of the most
“This work shows why it is important to continue with the existing presumption against planting trees in deep peat areas, but that additional incentives or constraints may be needed to achieve the overall rates of emission mitigation that policy commitments imply” Tree planting and woodland expansion are often touted as desirable ways to soak up atmospheric carbon and help stem climate change. They are a frequent feature of climate change mitigation policies, but these policies often assume that all new trees are good for carbon storage, which isn’t necessarily true in all circumstance. More
"The PIP story will continue at Potatoes in Practice 2021, on Thursday 12 August at Balruddery Farm, Angus. See you then!" More information from: Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, Media Manager, James Hutton Institute, Tel: +44 (0)1224 395089 (direct line), +44 (0)344 928 5428 (switchboard) or +44 (0)7791 193918 (mobile). read more
"We have developed new features for Germinate that will allow plant breeders and other scientists to explore, visualize and export data into other commonly used analysis tools from a single platform" The James Hutton Institute's bioinformatics group within the Department of Information and Computational Sciences has unveiled a new version of Germinate, the Institute's open-source, fully featured plant database infrastructure and application programming platform, on which complex data from genetic resource collections can be stored, queried and visualized using common, reusable programming
“This year the event will feature a week’s worth of online updates from each of the soft fruit breeding programmes: raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, blackberries and the all-new honeyberries” The programme for Fruit for the Future 2020, the James Hutton Institute’s long-running soft fruit themed industry event, has been announced. Usually a well-attended physical gathering, this year FFF is going virtual with a week’s worth of online updates from each of the soft fruit breeding programmes: raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, blackberries and the all-new honeyberries, with a Q&A
"This project has huge potential because it will study AMR spread in a more quantitative and predictive manner, which is urgently needed for assessing environmental exposure risk" British and Indian experts are joining forces to investigate the impact that releasing antibiotics from antibiotic manufacturing into India’s waterways has on the spread of potentially fatal drug-resistant infections. An estimated 58,000 babies die in India every year from superbug infections passed on from their mothers, whilst drug resistant pathogens cause between 28,000 to 38,000 extra deaths in the European