Farmland Assessment Through Multiple Regression Analysis

Farmland owners and agricultural producers often require accurate measures of the market value of agricultural parcels. However, there are a number of complicating factors that make estimation difficult. We demonstrate how multiple regression analysis may be used to estimate the market values while controlling for property differences and minimizing human error. We provide an example that uses a set of 545 farmland sales in Minnesota from 2009. Further, we demonstrate how the analysis can be easily replicated by Extension educators for regional farmland price estimation

Horizontal transfer of chloroplast genomes between plant species

The genomes of DNA-containing cell organelles (mitochondria, chloroplasts) can be laterally transmitted between organisms, a process known as organelle capture. Organelle capture often occurs in the absence of detectable nuclear introgression, and the capture mechanism is unknown. Here, we have considered horizontal genome transfer across natural grafts as a mechanism underlying chloroplast capture in plants. By grafting sexually incompatible species, we show that complete chloroplast genomes can travel across the graft junction from one species into another. We demonstrate that, consistent with reported phylogenetic evidence, replacement of the resident plastid genome by the alien genome occurs in the absence of intergenomic recombination. Our results provide a plausible mechanism for organelle capture in plants and suggest natural grafting as a path for horizontal gene and genome transfer between sexually incompatible species