Australian scientists identify crucial barley gene - In many parts of the world, high levels of boron found in the soil are having a negative impact on agriculture. Too much boron in a plant can limit growth. In Australia, 17% of the barley yield is lost due to boron toxicity. A research team led by Dr. Tim Sutton (University of Adelaide) has identified the gene responsible for boron toxicity tolerance in barley plants. As a result, breeders can now select with barley varieties that are tolerant to higher levels of boron. This finding may led to boron tolerant crops with higher yields. Published in Science.
The Proof Is In The Tree Bark - A Indiana University study has identified high levels of flame retardant in the bark of trees. Why is this important? Tree bark could be developed as a ‘environment sampler’ to determine regional levels of chemicals in the environment.

News Briefs
New Technique Thins Excess Blossoms And Boosts Tree Fruit Size - Reducing blossoms leads to larger, more valuable fruit. Researchers from the Agricultural Research Service have developed a method of exposing fruit trees to an essential oil to reduce flower production. This environmentally friendly approach is not only efficient and inexpensive, it may also allow the fruit produced to qualify as ‘organic’.

Reaching for the Sky: A California Project to Clone Redwoods - One of today’s growing concerns revolves around deforestation. As a result, efforts to clone trees and create new forests in England, France, New Zealand, and other countries have been underway. But what about the United States? Dr. William Libby (formerly from the University of California, Berkeley) is taking on the challenge of cloning California Redwood trees to strengthen forests within the United States and other countries. Unlike the cloning of animal cells, scientists will grow a genetically identical plant. To do this, cuttings from the Redwood tree that are four to six inches in length are dipped into a growth-hormone cocktail and then planted in a temperature- and moisture-controlled fog chamber. Nine hundred cuttings have been taken as of now and only twenty cuttings are needed to reforest one acre.

European Forests Absorbing More Carbon Dioxide - Due to reforestation efforts in Europe, it is believed that forests there are absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than previously expected. Between 1990 and 2005, forests in Europe absorbed approximately eleven percent of the region’s carbon emissions. While the European Union was initially trying to reduce emissions by twenty percent by the year 2020, it is believed that with the unexpected levels of emissions absorption from forests that goal could double by 2020.