Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the ubiquitous energy currency of all living organisms. Without it there would be no metabolic processes or growth possible – for animal cells as well as plant cells. Headed by the University Bonn an international team of researchers was able to visualise the ATP distribution and utilisation during stressful phases in living plant seedlings.
What do Antarctica and space have in common? Nothing can grow there. Except, that is exactly the goal of a new long-term experiment as part of the EDEN-ISS project. The EDEN-ISS project aims to develop plant cultivation technologies that can be used for safe food production in space in so-called closed-loop systems or closed greenhouses.
Wild Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) is the wild form of nearly all the domesticated wheat in the world, including both durum (pasta) and bread wheat. Wild emmer is too low-yielding to be of use to farmers today but it contains several attractive characteristics that could be used by plant breeders.
Bayer aims to further grow its Animal Health Business. Until the year 2021, the company will invest an estimated €92 million into the further development of the production site in Kiel, where some of the most important products for the global market are being manufactured.
20% of bee colonies in Germany did not survive the winter – a high toll: the average loss per winter is about 10%. Since the turn of the millennia there have been several waves of widespread bee death with detrimental consequences for the agricultural industry. However, the reasons behind these disappearances are not entirely resolved yet. Nonetheless, it seems very likely that global climate change, as well as the use of pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, play an important role regarding these disappearances.
The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) is a non-profit organisation based in Brussels. It represents the private sector in a public-private partnership (PPP) with the EU on Bio-based Industries (BBI). €3.7 billion will be injected into the European economy between 2014 and 2024 - €975 million from the European Commission and €2.7 billion from the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) - to develop an emerging bioeconomy sector.
A plethora of factors is involved in the maintenance of functioning ecosystems. The smallest change in numbers between predators and prey can upset the balance of the entire system. However, even leading researchers in the field of natural resource management cannot predict how natural ecosystems will develop in response to management measures that dynamically interact with natural factors. Therefore the researchers conducted complex and extended field experiments in order to provide insight and answers for a future adaptive environmental management.
Biodiesel is largely produced from rapeseeds in Europe. The fuel consists of long-chain hydrocarbon compounds. Due to a higher boiling point compared to mineral oil-based fuel, the biodiesel cannot be used undiluted in conventional engines. Biodiesel is nonetheless very important for industries, since it has a lower impact on global warming than conventional fuel. In accordance with an EU directive to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, biofuel has to be added to conventional fuel.
Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) is a fairly young but also diverse crop that is farmed across Europe. The cultivation of sugar beet was the starting point for the industrial sugar production. Today, approximately one third of the global sugar consumption originates from sugar beet, which generates a yearly revenue of about €25 billion. However, in recent years the plant the beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) - causing rhizomania - has endangered the sugar beet yield more and more.
At the end of May roughly 300 representatives of governments, as well as scientific and civil society organisations met in Berlin for the Fourth Global Soil Week (GSW), to assess some of the gaps and synergies regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation, and the relevance of soil protection in this context.