Parents pass on a lot of things to their offspring. You can thank Mom and Dad for how you look (or not). They can also be to blame for passing on some conditions and diseases.
In the plant world, genetically transmitted viruses can hang out in seeds for years, just waiting to sprout. This can allow disease transmission to happen within seed trade across country borders—a major concern for ag.
Progeny pathway: To solve the problem of parent-to-progeny virus transmission, scientists started with what the mother plant is already doing. An infected mother plant may only pass the virus to up to 5% of its seedlings.
So researchers wanted to find out what happens 95% of the time the virus isn’t passed on.
They found that two genes that exist in the early stages of seed development are key. Small, interfering RNA fragments block protein production, and some of those proteins may contain a virus waiting to invade.
Soundbite: “We believe the reason these plants can prevent seed infections is because the antiviral RNA interference pathway is active when seeds are being developed within mother plants,” said study corresponding author Shou-Wei Ding.
Where this goes: Researchers are exploring if they can reduce virus transmission rates through bulking up the immune pathway they pinpointed. The pathway could help reduce disease transmission outside of plants, too: people, animals, and fungi could all turn over a new leaf.
Short Corn Packs a Punch
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Congress to EPA: What’s Your BEEF with Meat Packers?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering new regulations that take aim at meat and poultry processors.
And some members of Congress have a BEEF with the EPA’s proposals.
The proposed rules: In late January, the EPA released the details of its proposed “Clean Water Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Meat and Poultry Products Point source category.”
Huh?
Basically, the EPA formally published its proposals to combat wastewater contaminants that come from slaughterhouses.
Okay… that makes more sense.
At the heart of the rules proposal is a concern from environmental groups about nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants that originate from slaughterhouses. In some cases, the wastewater goes directly into waterways. In other cases, the water goes to municipal wastewater treatment facilities.
But not everyone is on board with the EPA’s suggestions…
Congress responds: Last week, two U.S. representatives—Eric Burlison (MO) and Ron Estes (KS)—pushed back against the EPA and introduced the “Banning EPA’s Encroachment of Facilities (BEEF) Act.” If passed and signed by President Biden, the law would prohibit the EPA from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing the rule.
According to the lawmakers, the proposed rules place undue burden on small processors—costs that can be absorbed by larger companies.
Soundbite: “The… proposed regulation isn’t just an attack on family-run small businesses, it’s an attack on rural communities,” said Burlison. “These meat and poultry processors are the lifeblood of our communities. The BEEF Act… lets these hardworking Americans do what they do best, produce safe, affordable food for our families.”
University of Illinois Makes Big Mooves in Milk Production
Pump it up: Scientists led by Matt Wheeler at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are...