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Cell wall formation offers clues to healthier walnut trees

If you’ve driven past central California’s walnut groves, you’ve seen them: Thick, rough-looking tree-trunks rise from the ground for two or three feet. Then, atop each base, a thinner trunk with smoother bark continues up and branches into majestic, green canopies spreading toward the sky.

Zhang seeks better ways to breed small grains

Xiaofei Zhang started this month as an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, specializing in molecular genetics and breeding of small grains crops. His top priority, he said, will be developing wheat varieties that are highly productive for forage and that also have high grain yield and good quality.

California growers want both. The stresses of climate change demand that these varieties be developed quickly, and be able to survive under new conditions, he added.

Historic achievement: Five women hold endowed chairs in department

Five women in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences now hold endowed chairs, the first time in the department’s history that so many women have attained this prestigious distinction.

Faculty members Gail Taylor, Amelie Gaudin, Giulia Marino, Li Tian and Leslie Roche all have been appointed to endowed chairs in the last four years. Endowments are dedicated funds, giving researchers the freedom to explore an idea before the concept is fully worked out and ready for grant applications.

Students learn to advocate for ag research

Doctoral student Matt Davis traveled to Washington, D.C., recently to experience first-hand the intersection of agricultural science and federal policy-making.

“We were there to learn about careers in government and policy,” Davis explained. “We learned how to communicate with legislators and went to the legislators’ offices to talk about the 2024 Farm Bill and the importance of funding agricultural research.”.

Crump aims to improve food in rural markets

People in rural regions like mountainous Nepal produce plenty of food. But before it can get to local markets and into people’s homes, much of it spoils. What’s left often has lost much of its nutritional value. Now, Amanda Crump and team are working on a way to get more nutritious food into the homes of Nepalese people

What does the science say? Students learn to translate research

Graduate student Paige Kouba discussed her research with California legislators as part of a program to train scientists to better communicate with policy-makers. Kouba met with Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar Curry (D-Winters) and other legislative leaders at the state Capitol recently. Her goal is to inform science policy coming out of Sacramento.

NSF Award for Monroe will push knowledge of DNA repair in plants

Grey Monroe has received a CAREER Award for the Faculty Early Career Development Program from the National Science Foundation. Monroe is an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. Monroe’s award expands on his recent work making breakthroughs in our understanding of genetic mutation in plants (published in Nature). This grant provides more than $1 million over the next five years.

Dubcovsky lab seeks non-allergenic wheat

Jorge Dubcovsky’s ground-breaking research on wheat genetics will receive an additional seven years of support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dubcovsky and team, in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, are looking for ways to make wheat less likely to spark allergic reactions in people – a condition that affects about 3 million Americans.