Meiosis Research in Orphan and Non-orphan Tropical Crops

Cooperación internacional e interdisciplinaria entre la Universidad de Costa Rica y The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.Plant breeding is directly linked to the development of crops that can effectively adapt to challenging conditions such as soil nutrient depletion, water pollution, drought, and anthropogenic climate change. These conditions are extremely relevant in developing countries already burdened with population growth and unchecked urban expansion, especially in the tropical global southern hemisphere. Engineering new crops thus has potential to enhance food security, prevent hunger, and spur sustainable agricultural growth. A major tool for the improvement of plant varieties in this context could be the manipulation of homologous recombination and genome haploidization during meiosis. The isolation or the design of mutations in key meiotic genes may facilitate DNA recombination and transmission of important genes quickly and efficiently. Genome haploidization through centromeric histone mutants could be an option to create new crosses rapidly. This review covers technical approaches to engineer key meiotic genes in tropical crops as a blueprint for future work and examples of tropical crops in which such strategies could be applied are given.Universidad de Costa Rica/[736-B6-602]/UCR/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[736-B5-A52]/UCR/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[814-B5-A49]/UCR/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[736-B7-801]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Estación Experimental Agrícola Fabio Baudrit Moreno (EEAFBM)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Jardín Botánico Lankester (JBL

Biogenic silica-based microparticles obtained as a sub-product of the nanocellulose extraction process from pineapple peels

Vega-Baudrit, Jose R. ( Jose Roberto Vega Baudrit)Silica in plant tissues has been suggested as a component for enhancing mechanical properties, and as a physical barrier. Pineapples present in their shell and bracts rosette-like microparticles that could be associated to biogenic silica. In this study, we show for the first time that silica-based microparticles are co-purified during the extraction process of nanocellulose from pineapple (Ananas comosus). This shows that vegetable biomass could be an underappreciated source, not only for nanocellulose, but also for a highly valuable sub-product, like 10 µm biogenic rosette-like silica-based microparticles. The recovery yield obtained was 7.2 wt.%; based on the dried initial solid. Due to their size and morphology, the microparticles have potential applications as reinforcement in adhesives, polymer composites, in the biomedical field, and even as a source of silica for fertilizers

Huertos Mixtos Familiares

Editores científicos: Félix Argüello Delgado, Orlando Varela Ramírez y Patricia Quesada RojasEsta obra es una fuente de consulta dirigida a productores, investigadores, estudiantes y extensionistas interesados en promover la conservación y el uso de los recursos fitogenéticos presentes en los huertos familiares de la zona Huetar Norte de Costa Rica, ya que constituyen una fuente importante de diversidad para enfrentar la demanda creciente de alimentos, la presencia de nuevas plagas y las variaciones en el clima del país.Consejo Nacional de Rectores/[]/CONARE/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Estación Experimental Agrícola Fabio Baudrit Moreno (EEAFBM