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Brazilian researchers show that feed supplementation improves fatty acid profile of milk and promotes a healthier omega-6/omega-3 ratio. Inclusion of soybean and linseed oils in the diet of dairy cows made the fatty acid content of their milk even healthier for human nutrition. It also increased the proportions of omega-6 and omega-3, which in the right balance play a key role in preventing cardiovascular diseases, for example, as well as chronic inflammation and some kinds of [...]

By means of an imaging analysis system made available by FAPESP, a Brazilian research group succeeds at facilitating the selection of sterilized male specimens reared to combat a South American fruit fly known as a pest of apple and peach orchards One of the strategies used for biological control of the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus is sterilization of males by X-ray or gamma-ray irradiation. The aim of the procedure is to bring about a decrease in the wild population of [...]

Based on the information obtained from this latest whole-genome sequencing effort, researchers at the USP are developing tools for the genetic improvement of sugarcane and testing several candidate genes in Genetically Modified (GM) plants. An international group of researchers led by Brazilian scientists has assembled the most complete genome sequence of commercial sugarcane. They mapped 373,869 genes or 99.1% of the total genome. This feat is the result of almost 20 years of research [...]

by Maria Fernanda Ziegler, FAPESP The 270 million hectares of native vegetation preserved by rural landowners (Legal Reserves and unprotected areas) yield Brazil the equivalent of some U.S. $1.5 trillion per year in ecosystem services, such as crop pollination, pest control, water security, rain production and soil quality maintenance. The calculation is part of a paper published in the journal Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation and endorsed by 407 scientist signatories, including 371 [...]

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — An innovative genetic mapping system for polyploid species promises to facilitate the work of scientists and plant breeders, who use genomics to develop varieties that are more productive and resistant to disease or drought. Polyploids are organisms with more than two sets of chromosomes. Many plant species of great economic value, such as potato, wheat, cotton and sugarcane, are polyploids. The research was conducted at the University of São [...]

The use of sugarcane leaves, known as trash or straw, to produce electricity and second-generation (2G) ethanol has been advocated as a means of increasing bioenergy generation without expanding cropland acreage. However, a study conducted in Brazil and published in the journal BioEnergy Research shows that removing straw instead of leaving it on the ground after the harvest could double the amount of fertilizer required by Brazilian sugarcane plantations by 2050. The warning comes from [...]

Inclusion of a parameter that measures an animal's capacity to transmit its genetic traits resulted in gains of up to 16% compared with a traditional method of selection Brazilian scientists at São Paulo State University (UNESP) collaborating with colleagues at the University of Maryland and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a dairy cattle breeding method that adds a new parameter to genetic selection and conserves or even improves a population's [...]

Plants in the Brazilian savanna, the Cerrado, have evolved to deal with the fire. When the fire is used intelligently as part of a carefully planned land management method, it is indispensable to the conservation of this superb ecosystem, the world's most biodiverse savanna. Two months suffice for the Cerrado to burst into flower after a fire The study "From ashes to flowers: a savanna sedge initiates flowers 24 h after fire", published recently in the journal Ecology, confirms [...]

A new £620,000 study led by the University of Stirling is taking a "revolutionary approach" in attempting to tackle resistance to pesticides in insects. Pesticide resistance is a serious problem for the agriculture industry worldwide, with pests consuming between 10 and 20 percent of all global crops while growing or in storage. The study will focus on Brazil, where the agricultural economy loses approximately $17.7 billion (£13.6 billion) a year to outbreaks of insects [...]