The declining flight of the bumble bee 

New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest is home to nearly 140 species of native bees, including two species of native bumble bees that are in decline in the Northeast. NIFA-funded researchers with the University of New Hampshire recently completed the first assessment of the state’s native bee population in the national forest.

Bees are important pollinators of food crops and natural ecosystems. Yet pollinators are decreasing in numbers and diversity in many agricultural landscapes across the United States.

Read the UNH story here.

Natural plant defense could help fight cancer and Alzheimer’s disease

A natural defense that helps plants ward off insect predators could lead to better crops and new treatments for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, as discovered by NIFA-supported researchers at Washington State University (WSU). 

As the building blocks of our bodies, proteins play important roles in plant and animal health. Special enzymes called proteases destroy proteins and must be carefully controlled to avoid problems like disease and early aging. Researchers found that when a seedling emerges from soil, inhibitors shut down and protease levels rise. When an insect tries to eat the plant, the protease attacks its digestive enzymes, causing the insect to seek a different meal.

Chief researcher Sachin Rustgi suggested a better understanding of protease activity could also improve human health. His findings reveal new insights on cancer progression and could lead to new therapies for cancer and other diseases.

 Read the WSU article here.                 

Buying local dairy may have unexpected effects

If more Northeast consumers buy local dairy, that could have some positive and negative effects on the supply chain, according to research from Penn State and Cornell universities. Research was supported through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program.

The researchers found that if the supply chains for fluid milk products in five northeast states were reconfigured it would increase the total distance traveled by the fluid milk and other dairy products. Also, add to supply chain costs, and raise greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more at the Penn State website.  

Bacteria can lead to insect population control

Researchers from Vanderbilt University and Yale University have discovered genes from a common bacterium that can be utilized to sterilize male insects. The report, published in Nature and Nature Microbiology, can possibly lead to population control for both disease carrying mosquitoes and pest.

The Wolbachia bacteria, which is located in the testes and ovaries of most insect species, plays an important role during mating. When an infected male fertilizes an egg that fails to develop its called cytoplasmic incompatibility. But, when females are infected with the disease healthy embryos can develop. The discovery may help public health officials control the size of insect populations by introducing sterile males into the environment. “If the sterilized males are released into problem areas we can eliminate insect populations,” said researcher John Beckmann.

The project was funded by the NIFA'S Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program.

Read the Yale story here. 

Vermont Extension highlights tips on winter cover crops

Erosion and sediment can severely impact the health of waterways. A new NIFA-supported video by the University of Vermont Extension and local stakeholders offers tips on using winter cover crops to protect Lake Champlain and other state waterways.

"Cover crops are planted after the farmer's main crop, such as corn, is harvested in the fall," explained Brian Kemp, Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition president. "They grow throughout the winter and spring to build soil health and are widely recognized as an environmentally sustainable way for farmers to prevent nutrients and sediment from leaving the fields."

Watch the video.