The present invention provides a new species of tobamovirus and its use to identify plants comprising resistance against the virus.

A system including a light source, sampling tray, and a plurality of fiber optics positioned to achieve high contrast to improve accuracy and eliminate the need to rotate the sample. A composite light image from the fiber optics is fed to a spectrometer which converts the reflected light into a fingerprint corresponding to the concentration of at least one substance in the sample. The fingerprint is processed by a statistical model to determine concentration level of the at least one substance in the sample and the concentration level is then displayed.

Methods for screening plant cells, particularly plant protoplasts, for disease resistant traits, and kits for performing such methods are provided. The methods are performed in a microfluidic device that includes a flow region and at least one growth chamber suitable for culturing and screening a plant protoplast. The at least one surface of the growth chamber of the microfluidic chip can include a covalently linked coating material or a surface modifying ligand. The kit can comprise a microfluidic chip in combination with a reagent for detecting the viability of the plant protoplast and, optionally, a surface conditioning reagent or a surface modification reagent.

Described herein are compositions comprising at least one auxin transport inhibitor for pre-treating a plant or seed to increase saccharification, or saccharide release by hydrolysis, the at least one auxin transport inhibitor being in an amount effective to increase sugar release from a plant tissue by hydrolysis. Also described are plant mutations, and methods to screen for such plant mutations, having an improved sugar release phenotype. The described compositions, methods and plant mutations are particularly useful for producing biofuel crops, such as maize, to improve sugar extractability from lignocellulosic biomass and hence, the efficiency of bioethanol production overall.

The invention pertains to a method for synthesizing a product of interest by culturing a microalgal cell producing the product of interest in the dark in a culture medium comprising an organic acid as a fixed carbon source, wherein the microalgal cell is a facultative heterotroph. The product of interest can be a microalgal biomass, a pigment, terpene, recombinant molecule, biogas, or a precursor thereof. In an embodiment, the culture medium comprises urea as a primary source of nitrogen. In one embodiment, the microalgal cell belongs to the order Chlamydomonadales. A method of identifying and isolating a microalgal cell having a preferred characteristic that is suitable for synthesis of a product of interest is also provided, the method comprising identifying and isolating a non-mutagenized or recombinant microalgal cell from a microalgal culture using a fluorescence activated cell sorting technique and/or a phototaxic response.

The present invention relates to systems and methods for screening natural products such as secondary metabolites produced by engineered microbial strains.

A single chirality single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT), and combinations thereof, can be used to detect trace levels of chemical compounds in vivo with high selectivity.

A sensing system comprises an electrochemical chip having an arrangement of electrodes configured for electrochemical sensing; a microfluidic system having fluidic channels leading to ports on a surface of the sensing system, for delivering to a plant part a substrate for a reporter enzyme expressed by the plant; and an attachment system for attaching the surface of the sensing system to a surface of the plant part in a manner that the fluidic ports contact the surface of the plant part.

OsACBP5 can be used to enhance tolerance to fungal necrotrophs in genetically modified plants. OsACBP5-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis were conferred enhanced tolerance to fungal necrotrophs such as root-infecting necrotroph Rhizoctonia solani and shoot-infecting necrotrophs (Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria brassicicola). Vectors/expression cassettes for conferring tolerance to fungal necrotrophs to plants/plant material are provided. Methods of using OsACBP5 to enhance tolerance to fungal necrotrophs are provided. Plants and plant material with improved tolerance to fungal necrotrophs are also provided. Methods for screening for genes with OsACBP5-like activity are also provided.

A data creation method includes: an autofluorescence data generation step of placing a focus of light having a predetermined wavelength at one set of coordinates on a predetermined focal plane, irradiating a sample positioned at the set of coordinates with excitation light containing the light to obtain autofluorescence emitted from the sample, and generating autofluorescence data including intensity data and/or spectrum data of the autofluorescence; a reflected light data generation step of irradiating the set of coordinates on the predetermined focal plane with illumination light to obtain reflected light scattered by the sample, and generating intensity data of the reflected light; and a correspondence data creation step of creating correspondence data associating the autofluorescence data and the reflected light data on the set of coordinates on the predetermined focal plane.