IFAS News
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences - University of Florida
Mosquitoes aplenty this July Fourth bring disease concerns for North Florida
July 1, 2009
Topic(s): Entomology and Nematology, Environment, Household Pests, Lawn & Garden, Pests, Safety, Weather
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Recent weeks of heavy rain have left conditions statewide ripe for a Fourth of July rife with mosquitoes. For some North Florida areas, however, the pests are more than a holiday annoyance — they bring the threat of the eastern equine encephalitis virus, known as EEEV.
“This year doesn’t look like it’s going to be tremendously unusual in terms of overall cases of mosquito-borne diseases,” said Jonathan Day, a professor of medical entomology with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “But transmission of [EEEV] tends to be very focal, and there are some areas that are looking risky.”
EEEV is best known for being deadly in horses, but humans can contract the virus as well.
According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus can cause a severe infection of the central nervous system in humans, and is fatal for nearly a third of those afflicted.
So far this year, 26 horses have been found to be infected in North Florida, with five more in the state’s Panhandle.
Native holly can provide caffeinated, antioxidant-rich beverage, UF experts say
June 25, 2009
Topic(s): Food Safety, Nutrition
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Coffee and tea drinkers, take note — a University of Florida study says a beverage made from a native holly tree might be just the thing to give you a caffeinated kick-start, plus a dose of antioxidants.
Yaupon (YO-ponn) holly is the only U.S. plant that produces substantial amounts of caffeine, said Jack Putz, a botany professor affiliated with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. A popular ornamental species, yaupon grows wild throughout the Southeast and can be grown in most coastal states.
Centuries ago, American Indians and Spanish settlers steeped yaupon leaves and twigs in hot water to make a stimulating beverage, but that use of the plant is virtually unknown today.
UF/IFAS, Buckeye Technologies and Myriant announce next-generation cellulosic ethanol research and demonstration plant
June 16, 2009
Topic(s): Agriculture, Conservation, Economics, Environment, New Technology, Research
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Fuel isn’t the only product derived from petroleum. Byproducts of the refining process are used to create other substances, such as plastics. However, in the race to replace our dependence on petroleum with biofuels, these valuable byproducts are often overlooked.
The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Buckeye Technologies Inc. and Myriant Technologies LLC (formed by BioEnergy International, LLC) have announced plans for a research and demonstration plant that will explore ways to harness byproducts from some of the most promising cellulosic ethanol techniques to make environmentally friendly versions of petroleum products.
The plant is to be located at Buckeye’s Perry, Fla., facility and will be built with the aid of $20 million allocated by the Florida Legislature. The groundbreaking is planned for this fall, with an ultimate goal of proving a level of commercial viability that could lead to a full-scale biorefinery at the site. (more…)
UF/IFAS announces modified plans for demonstration cellulosic ethanol plant
June 11, 2009
Topic(s): Agriculture, Biofuels, Environment, New Technology, Research
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Plans for a new cellulosic ethanol research and demonstration plant to be built by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are being revamped for a location closer to Gainesville.
IFAS officials announced today that they have modified their agreement for the plant, which originally was slated to be built at a Florida Crystals Corp. site in Okeelanta, Fla. The new plans call for a smaller, next-generation facility - the construction of which will more easily fall within the $20 million budget allocated by the Florida Legislature.
UF food scientists call for new science in food safety
May 19, 2009
Topic(s): Biocontrols, Crops, Food Safety, New Technology, Vegetables
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Some University of Florida food scientists say U.S. food safety procedures need to get out of the 1960s and into the era of biotechnology.
Back then, America’s scientists devised a system to ensure astronauts’ food stayed safe. That system, called Hazard Analysis of Critical Point, became the U.S. industry standard.
HACCP (pronounced “hassip”) is largely based on choosing points during handling and processing to eliminate or reduce as many possible hazards from food. While the method has given America an unparalleled level of food safety, there are new options to explore.
Featuring articles from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the new issue of the Journal of Current Opinion in Biotechnology focuses on applying recent scientific discoveries to food safety.
“We have to look at everything we know about the whole system,” said microbiologist Max Teplitski, who co-authored the journal’s lead editorial with food scientist Anita Wright. “And we know a lot more than we knew half a century ago. Recent food safety scares have shown us that maybe it’s time we started applying that knowledge.”
Topics such as biofilms and some aspects of genetics research are so new that they haven’t had time to be used in food safety systems, or need more study. Others, such as probiotics and stress-resistant bacteria, are slowly being integrated.
Scientists lauded in second annual Florida Agricultural Experiment Station ceremony
May 13, 2009
Topic(s): Announcements, IFAS
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida horticultural sciences researcher Paul Lyrene struggled as he worked to keep a grasp on five plaques given to him to mark five plant patents for blueberry cultivars he created.
“I think I won the most pounds of awards,” he joked as the second annual UF/IFAS Florida Agricultural Experiment Station awards ceremony ended Tuesday evening at the Harn Museum of Art.
Lyrene, one of more than 65 researchers honored, said he believes the ceremony helps scientists learn what their peers across campus-and often, the state-are up to.
Mark McLellan, IFAS research dean and FAES director, thanked the researchers for their dedication and hard work.
“It is time to salute some exceptional researchers for their passion … for their search and discovery of new ideas, and their intensity to create solutions-solutions for our lives,” he said during the ceremony.
UF researchers find potential malaria treatment may extend to Legionnaires’ disease, botulism
May 7, 2009
Topic(s): Biocontrols, New Technology
Caption at the bottom of the page. Click here for full image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers have found that a potential strategy for treating malaria also extends to the bacteria behind maladies such as Legionnaires’ disease, Weil’s syndrome and botulism.
The work, by researchers at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, hinges on some organisms’ ability to produce folate despite lacking one of the essential enzymes typically used to produce the compound.
As they report in the online edition of the Journal of Bacteriology, microbiologist Valérie de Crécy-Lagard and biochemist Andrew Hanson discovered that many bacteria use the same substitute for the enzyme as the parasite that causes malaria.
Folate, a vitamin best known for its importance to healthy pregnancies, is also essential to fueling the cell division that enables bacteria to spread.
Humans don’t have the biological process that produces folate, so drugs that disrupt the process are ideal candidates for disease treatments. Two widely used antibiotics, trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole, use this approach.
“It had been a big mystery ever since we started decoding bacterial genomes-what are we not seeing that allows certain bacteria to produce folate even though they are missing an essential step in the process?” Crécy-Lagard said. “The answer had already been found in the parasite that causes malaria.”
New public television show aimed at Southern gardeners hits the air May 9
May 6, 2009
Topic(s): Agriculture, Extension, Florida Friendly, Green Living, IFAS, Landscaping, Lawn & Garden, Vegetables
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Southern gardeners will soon have a new tool to help them in the garden. “Your Southern Garden” with Walter Reeves is an educational television show created to help gardeners of all levels learn new tricks, get fresh ideas and visit interesting sites.
“This show provides the opportunity to really educate Floridians and others in the region about landscaping and outdoor water conservation,” said Millie Ferrer, interim extension dean for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “Watering in the landscape is such an important issue right now and the faculty at UF and UGA can provide great tips and information to help conserve water.”
The show, produced by University of Florida IFAS Extension and the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is a one-of-a-kind program specifically for the Southeast.
The 2009 season of “Your Southern Garden” premieres May 9 on public broadcast stations in the Tampa Bay and north central Florida areas. Beginning in April 2010, it will air throughout most of north and central Florida area and the Georgia Public Broadcasting viewing area. (more…)
New technique for vulture population estimates could aid control efforts, UF researcher says
May 5, 2009
Topic(s): Biocontrols, Livestock, New Technology, Pests
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For months, Erik Anderson tried to persuade a flock of vultures to stop roosting at Santa Fe College’s main campus in northwest Gainesville. In the end, the vultures won. Years later, he sees them as he motors down Interstate 75 to work.
“I don’t fight them anymore,” says Anderson, the college’s director of facilities operations. “It was a no-win situation for us.”
It’s a common story, says Michael Avery, a U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife biologist affiliated with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Avery is one of the nation’s top vulture management experts. He and U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service colleagues just published a paper on a mathematical formula that can help determine how many vultures can be taken from a local population without jeopardizing its long-term viability. The article is in May’s issue of The Journal of Wildlife Management.
Predatory mite could put the bite on invasive crop pest, UF researcher says
April 28, 2009
Topic(s): Agriculture, Biocontrols, Invasive Species, Pests, Vegetables
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
Caption at bottom. Click here for high resolution image.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Chilli thrips sound more like a snack food than an agricultural menace, but these tiny insects threaten many of the Sunshine State’s most important crops — fortunately, University of Florida research shows a predatory mite gobbles them up like popcorn.
On bell pepper plants in greenhouses, the mite consumed enough chilli thrips to keep the population to less than one per leaf, compared with 70 per leaf on control plants. Similar results were obtained with peppers grown outdoors. The study was published this month in the journal Biological Control.
Native to Asia, the invasive pest attacks more than 100 host plants, including corn, citrus, peanuts and tomatoes. Established first in the Caribbean, it spread to Florida in 2005 and then to Texas. Adult chilli thrips are about 1 millimeter long.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate, if chilli thrips become more widely established in the U. S., they could cause agricultural losses of almost $4 billion per year.
For greenhouse crops — including bell peppers, strawberries, basil and flowers such as Gerber daisies — the mite could provide a much-needed alternative to pesticides, said Lance Osborne, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and an author of the study.
“This mite has a lot of potential for greenhouses, which is where it’s used now,” Osborne said. The mite, which has no common name but is known scientifically as Amblyseius swirskii, is available commercially to manage whiteflies and broad mites.
Because the mite is already approved for use in Florida, growers can try it against chilli thrips, he said. Osborne cautioned that the mite is not likely to be successful on every crop the pest attacks. Researchers were happy to find the mite held up well outdoors on bell peppers. Previous attempts to establish the mite outside on rose bushes have been unsuccessful, he said.
“Maybe there is a plant issue — they prefer peppers, but not roses,” Osborne said.
An upcoming project will investigate the use of peppers as “banker plants” — the mite equivalent of birdhouses, said Cindy McKenzie, a research entomologist with the USDA’s Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce.
In the project, ornamental peppers will be planted outdoors among rose bushes, to see if they can harbor mite populations that protect both plant species, said McKenzie, another author of the study. (more…)
