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Agricultural Research Service United States Department of Agriculture
 

Plant Science Research
Raleigh, North Carolina
http://www.ars.usda.gov/saa/psru 
Dr. David Marshall, Research Leader

Research Spotlight

Agricultural Research Nov/Dec 2009 cover story: Soybean and wheat response to climate change
Plant physiologists Kent Burkey (left) and Fitzgerald Booker collect soybean leaf samples in open-top field chambers for analysis of the effects of elevated carbon dioxide and ozone on plant chemistry.

Fitzgerald Booker, Kent Burkey and Edwin Fiscus, researchers at the Plant Science Research Unit, are replicating some effects of climate change to see what the future holds for soybeans, wheat and the soils where they grow.

The researchers are using open-top chambers to expose soybean and wheat to levels of carbon dioxide and ozone that may be reached by the year 2050.  Besides assessing the effects of future air concentrations on both crops, the researchers are conducting a 5-year project to determine how soil quality and carbon sequestration may be affected by plant responses to the two gases. 

Preliminary results show just slightly higher levels of soil carbon in chambers with elevated carbon dioxide and in chambers with elevated levels of both carbon dioxide and ozone, but not in chambers with elevated ozone alone. In this type of cropping system, elevated carbon dioxide may stimulate soil decomposition processes and slow the rates of carbon accumulation in the soil.

Elevating carbon dioxide also reduced flour protein levels in wheat by 7 to 11 percent, but soybean protein concentrations were maintained because of soybeans’ ability to acquire the nutrient, nitrogen, from the air.

Fitzgerald Booker prepares to place an optical scanner in a tube in the soil to obtain pictures of roots  Soybean and Wheat Response to Climate Change
Agricultural Research Magazine, Nov/Dec 2009

Global Change/Air Quality Project - Plant Science Research Unit

Ozone effects on plants

New hard red winter wheat varieties released

ARS Releases First Hard Winter Wheat Varieties for Eastern U.S. Production

October 29, 2009

The first hard winter wheat varieties bred and developed for production in the eastern United States have been released by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

NuEast, a hard red winter wheat, and Appalachian White, a hard white winter wheat, were bred by ARS plant pathologist and geneticist David Marshall, research leader of the Plant Science Research Unit in Raleigh, N.C.

Hard wheats are best suited for making bread. Hard wheat has not traditionally been successfully grown in the eastern states because the area's humidity increases the incidence of disease in the field. This in turn affects yield and the quality of the grain.

But NuEast and Appalachian White address these problems. In field tests, these varieties had significantly higher grain yield than the check varieties and showed acceptable resistance to powdery mildew and rust.

There are very few hard white wheats grown and produced in the United States.  The key to developing a hard wheat for eastern U.S. production is the ability to produce consistently good grain quality, resulting in good milling and baking characteristics when grown in a humid environment.  Commercial millers and bakers involved in testing the vararities since their release have been favorably impressed.   

Plant Science Research Programs

Corn Genetics
Small Grains
GEM
Forages
Global Change

     
Last Modified: 11/27/2009