Global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration [CO2] increased 20% in the last century and is expected to increase another 48% by 2050. Surface concentrations of ozone [0,] also are increasing rapidly in agricultural areas of the northern hemisphere and are expected to increase another 20% by 2050. To better understand the combined impact of increased [CO2] and [O-3] on crop production in the Midwest, we used a 32-ha experimental field planted with soybean (Glycines max L. Merr.). The field included sixteen 21.3-m-diameter plots using free air gas concentration enrichment (FACE) to simulate the changes in atmospheric composition forecast for 2050. We evaluated the impact of elevated [CO2] and [O-3] singly and in combination on adult and egg densities of the variant western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte. During 2003-2004, each of the four blocks included four plots, representing the four treatments (ambient atmospheric control, elevated [O-3] elevated [CO2] and an elevated [CO2] and [O-3] combination). Although elevated [CO2] and [O-3] did not have an effect on adult female densities of the variant western corn rootworm, they did significantly affect egg densities. Approximately twice as many eggs were found in the soil of soybean plots exposed to elevated [CO2] compared with ambient control plots or those with elevated [O-3]. Egg densities were even greater (approximately three times) in plots with the elevated [CO2] and [O-3] combination treatment than in ambient plots. This suggests that rising [CO2] and [O-3] are stimulating egg-laying by the variant western corn rootworm, potentially increasing population densities and risk of damage to the subsequent corn crop.

The cultural practice of rotating corn, Zea mays L., with soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, to manage larval injury by the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, was used extensively throughout east central Illinois and northern Indiana until the mid-1990s. The effectiveness of this management tactic diminished due to a shift in the ovipositional behavior of the western corn rootworm. The variant western corn rootworm has since spread as far as northwestern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, southern Michigan, and eastern Ohio. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of four cropping systems on adult and egg densities of the western corn rootworm and to quantify the level of root injury in rotated corn after each system. The four cropping systems used included: 1) corn; 2) soybean; 3) double-cropped winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L., followed by soybean; and 4) winter wheat. Research trials were conducted near Monmouth (northwestern), DeKalb (northern), and Urbana (east central), IL, during 2003 and 2004. Results indicated variant western corn rootworm adults can be found in all four treatments at each location and consequently no crop was immune to oviposition or root injury by corn rootworm larvae in rotated corn the following season. Adults were found primarily in corn and soybean, whereas egg densities were greatest in corn plots in all three locations in both years of the study. Root injury by larvae was most abundant in corn following corn at all three sites. Of the four systems evaluated, the use of wheat demonstrated the most potential for preventing yield reducing levels of root injury in rotated corn.

A recent paper in Nature Cell Biology describes the identification of a gene — SMYD3 (SET- and MYND-domain-containing-3) — that encodes a histone methyltransferase, and that is overexpressed in colorectal and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and tissues.In support of a role for SMYD3 in tumorigenesis, Yusuke Nakamura and colleagues found that SMYD3 overexpression induced cell growth in vitro, whereas knockdown of SMYD3 expression with small interfering RNAs suppressed the growth of several colorectal and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.