FAU Harbor Branch researchers have received the prestigious 2025 Responsible Seafood Innovation Award in Aquaculture from the Global Seafood Alliance for its Queen Conch Lab’s pioneering work in sustainable aquaculture. Researchers developed mobile lab hatcheries – trailer-based systems that support queen conch restoration in Caribbean communities lacking traditional infrastructure. These mobile hatcheries help rebuild wild conch populations while creating local opportunities in education, employment, and food security. FAU was recognized for its innovative approach to address the urgent decline of a species vital to the region’s ecosystems and economies.

Soybeans grown alongside maize often face shading stress that reduces yield, yet some cultivars can thrive under low light. Scientists have now uncovered a comprehensive genetic network that controls this shade tolerance, moving beyond the traditional single-gene perspective. By integrating forward genome-wide association and reverse transcriptomic analyses, researchers identified more than 200 causal genes and over 7,800 expressed genes involved in soybean’s shade response. These genes function in a coordinated sequence—from light signal detection to metabolic adaptation—forming a multilayered regulatory system. The findings open a new pathway toward breeding high-yield, shade-tolerant soybeans for intercropping systems worldwide.

An ancient genetic event may hold the key to how plants survive in metal-contaminated environments. Scientists have discovered that a duplication of phytochelatin synthase (PCS) genes—crucial enzymes for detoxifying toxic metals—occurred millions of years ago and remains conserved in flowering plants today. These twin gene copies, known as D1 and D2, evolved distinct but complementary functions: while D1 plays a general role in detoxification, D2 exhibits exceptional catalytic activity against cadmium and arsenic. Functional tests in Malus domestica (MdPCS1, MdPCS2) and Medicago truncatula (MtPCS1, MtPCS2) revealed that both copies are indispensable for maintaining metal balance, unveiling a deep evolutionary strategy for resilience.

Palm oil isn’t inherently bad, and olive oil isn’t inherently good, conservation scientists say in an opinion paper publishing October 16 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Sustainability. They argue that the vegetable oil industry is haunted by narratives and myths about different types of oil crops, but the reality is much more nuanced. Almost all oils—including soybean, olive, coconut, and sesame oil—are associated with biodiversity and human rights issues in some contexts, depending on crop management and supply chains. The researchers call for greater transparency and regulation to enable consumers to make informed decisions about their oil choices. 

In the search for eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic herbicides, researchers from Kyushu University, Japan, have identified a potent, weed-inhibiting compound in the leaves of the Manchurian walnut tree (Juglans mandshurica Maxim.). The discovery of the compound, 2Z-decaprenol, and its unique mode of action on plants could lead to the development of more sustainable herbicides. The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

New research has found cover crops that are viable in Washington’s normal “off season” don’t hurt the soil and can be sold as a biofuel source. 

After harvest, farmland often sits fallow and unused until growers seed in the next crop. Soil can erode, weeds can take root, and farmers don’t make any money during that time. Cover crops can eliminate or reduce some of those issues, but many farmers have concerns about their effects on soil quality, a reduced growing window for their primary crop, and the inability to sell the cover crop. 

In a paper recently published in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy, a team led by Washington State University scientists looked at four cover crops grown for multiple years in western and central Washington fields. Two showed promising results.