Nitrogen-fixing bacteria can transform atmospheric nitrogen into fixed nitrogen, compounds which are usable by plants. For example, Rhizobium is a symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria that invade the root hairs of host plants where they multiply and stimulate the formation of root nodules. Within these nodules, nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert free nitrogen into compounds such as ammonia, which the host plant uses for its development. Legume plants such as peas and soybeans can be infected by nitrogen-fixing bacteria for such benefits. Legume crops are extremely valuable in the United States and around the world. A modest increase in crop yield could increase profits by billions of dollars. Thus, there is an interest and need to improve methods of cultivating crops and increase crop yield. A UC Santa Cruz researcher, in collaboration with The Carnegie Institution for Science, has developed improved approaches for infecting legume plants with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

The mammary gland is responsible for producing milk in mammals. Producing a milk supply involves significantly accelerated cell growth and differentiation. It is thought that alveologenesis, the process by which milk-producing alveoli are made, occurs when alveolar progenitor cells differentiate into milk-producing alveolar cells. Thus, promoting alveolar differentiation is important in increasing milk production. Various industries, such as the dairy industry, may be interested in increasing milk production generally or increasing milk production without the use of hormones.

In 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that between 20 to 40 percent of global crop production are lost to plant diseases and pests annually, with plant diseases costing the global economy roughly $220B each year. Disease-warning systems are currently being used by growers to preemptively mitigate destructive events using chemical treatment or biological management. Meteorological factors including rainfall, humidity, and air temperature are all considered in these systems, but the measurement of leaf wetness duration (LWD) is important to its governing role in infection processes for many fungal pathogens. The longer a leaf stays wet, the higher the risk that disease will develop, because many plant pathogen propagules require several hours of continuous moisture to germinate and initiate infection The current gold standard to measuring LWD is using the capacitive leaf wetness sensor (LWS). The LWS functions by measuring a change in the capacitance seen at its surface which then yields an output signal that changes according to its surface wetness. Commercial leaf wetness sensors estimate the amount of surface water and leaf wetness duration by measuring the change in capacitance of a surface that accumulates condensed water. However, the one-size-fits-all commercial sensors do not accurately reflect the variation in leaf traits (particular shape, texture, and hydrophobicity) these traits strongly affect surface wettability (hydrophilicity) and vary widely among plant species.

The implementation of ortho-quinone methide (o-QM) intermediates in complex molecule assembly represents a remarkably efficient strategy designed by Nature and utilized by synthetic chemists. o-QMs have been taken advantage of in biomimetic syntheses for decades, yet relatively few examples of o-QM-generating enzymes in natural product biosynthetic pathways have been reported. The biosynthetic enzymes that have been discovered thus far exhibit tremendous potential for biocatalytic applications, enabling the selective production of desirable compounds that are otherwise intractable or inherently difficult to achieve by traditional synthetic methods. Characterization of this biosynthetic machinery has the potential to shine a light on new enzymes capable of similar chemistry on diverse substrates, thus expanding our knowledge of Nature's catalytic repertoire.

Researchers at the University of California Davis have developed a rapid growth platform that aims to decrease crop production time, allow for tunable sensory attributes, and decrease carbon emissions.

Plant viral nanoparticles (plant VNPs) are promising biogenetic nanosystems for the delivery of therapeutic, immunotherapeutic, and diagnostic agents. The production of plant VNPs is simple and highly scalable through molecular farming in plants. Some of the important advances in VNP nanotechnology include genetic modification, disassembly/reassembly, and bioconjugation. Although effective, these methods often involve complex and time-consuming multi-step protocols.

The inventors have developed ion-selective potentiometric sensors for monitoring soil analytes with naturally degradable substrate, conductor, electrode, and encapsulant materials that minimize pollution and ecotoxicity. This novel sensor-creation method uses printing technologies for the measurement of nitrate, ammonium, sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphate, nitrite, and others. Monitoring soil analytes is key to precision agriculture and optimizing the health and growth of plant life. 

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed wearable, highly adsorptive, cotton fabrics that can neutralize fumigants in both open-air and sequestered environments.

Producing meat products using cells grown in culture (instead of via animal husbandry farming) has many benefits and great potential. Current cell-cultured approaches either: (1) use suspension culture to produce homogenous products that don't meet consumer taste expectations for a substitute meat, or (2) organ culture methods to create products that meet consumer taste expectations, but at unacceptably high prices. To address this situation, researchers at UC Berkeley have been developing a process by which cells are grown in free suspension, making possible the economies of scaling that result from using large stirred tanks. After growth, the cells can be assembled into desirable macroscopic structures by controlling the conditions under which the desired multiple cell types and scaffolds are mixed and dewatered. The macroscopic structures include features such as fat marbling and muscle fiber orientation as expected by meat consumers.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a one-step spray dry calcium cross-linked alginate encapsulation process where the calcium is released from a chelating agent.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have developed a new chemical reaction that combines ozone, an iron salt, and a hydrogen atom donor to enable hydrodealkenylative cleavage of C(sp3)–C(sp2) bonds in a widely applicable manner.

Researchers at the UCLA Department of Chemical Engineering, and Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology have discovered a new small molecule plant enzyme inhibitor, which has strong herbicidal activity. They have also discovered a resistant form of the plant enzyme that can be expressed to make a plant tolerant to herbicide.

Researchers at UCI have developed a compact device for the rapid desalination of water which is driven entirely by renewable solar energy.

Inventors at UC Irvine have engineered an orthogonal DNA replication system capable of rapid, accelerated continuous evolution. This system enables the directed evolution of specific biomolecules towards user-defined functions and is applicable to problems of protein, enzyme, and metabolic pathway engineering.

Background: Brassinosteroids are essential plant hormones that control growth and development, in addition to playing a critical role in response to stress and infections. Brassinosteroids also induce ethylene synthesis and are therefore related to senescence and ripening. The major overarching issue involves strictly controlling brassinosteroid response in order to promote growth yet limit other negative effects of brassinosteroids.  Brief Description: UCR researchers have identified three compounds that alter brassinosteroid signaling in plants. These chemicals were found to increase the effects of limited brassinosteroids found under normal conditions yet reduce the effects of excess brassinosteroids. This includes promotive effects on plant height, which increase by 100% due to the chemical enhancing the impact of endogenous brassinosteroids. In contrast, the extreme effects seen with addition of high levels of brassinosteroids are substantially reduced upon addition of this chemical, indicating that this chemical may be useful for modulating the effects of brassinosteroids. In conjunction with this, treatment with the chemical resulted in reversal of several ethylene dependent growth phenomena that are also regulated by brassinosteroids. Currently, there is a huge unmet need in the agricultural sector since treatments that modulate brassinosteroid-regulated phenomena do not exist.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed an efficient synthesis of 2,5- dimethylfuran (DMF) from 5- (chloromethyl)furfural (CMF).

Background: Current bait station designs and other pest control tools are not very ideal nor advanced – they leak, become excessively hydrated or dehydrated, and need frequent maintenance. The global pest control services market is expected to grow annually at 5.3% and the industry is always looking for unique ways to conquer them.  Brief Description: UCR Researchers have developed a novel, protected bait station that has controlled liquid bait release. The compact design contains a sugary, insecticide liquid bait that diffuses through an absorbent polymer or gel matrix. Only ants have access to the station and once an ant consumes the bait, the station biodegrades thus eliminating bait station cleanup.

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The technology is a tessellated composite structure that is resistant to tearing and fatigue.It features improved resistance to tearing and fatigue damage and is biased towards compression stress, as opposed to tensile stress.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a method of delivering targeted bioactives that is applicable to the agricultural, food processing, cosmetic, veterinary and medical industries.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a safe, simple and cost-effective method of preventing fungal wilt - without resorting to chemical or transgenic means./p>

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Inorganic nitrogen is a vital nutrient for plants. Soil nitrate provides as much as 90 percent of the nitrogen taken up by most plants and leads to a dramatic change in gene expression, which is critical to direct the productivity and survival of the plant. Consequently, nitrate is commonly provided by way of fertilizer to improve crop yield. However, many crop plants are inefficient in their ability to utilize the nitrogen. For example, corn and wheat typically only utilize 50 percent of the nitrogen applied to the soil and paddy rice may recoup as little as 30 percent. Nitrogen not used by crops may contribute to severe environmental problems, including pollution of ground water, run-off into nearby bodies of water, and release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Plants take up and assimilate nitrate in response to its availability in the soil and the demands of the plant, but with varying efficiency among species. Understanding and improving the ability of particular plant species to respond to and utilize nitrogen could therefore lead to increased crop productivity and decreased water and air pollution.