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Deciduous azaleas are an important element of residential and commercial landscapes in the United States after substantial trait improvements to increase their market appeal. Despite progress in breeding for ornamental characteristics and cold hardiness, intolerance to elevated pH and calcareous soils continues to limit their use in managed landscapes. Therefore, we assessed the utility of in vitro and greenhouse phenotyping approaches to evaluate and select for improved soil pH tolerance to increase the efficiency of breeding for this important trait. The research presented offers an example for implementing image-based phenotyping to expedite cultivar development in woody ornamental crops.

Malus sieversii, the main progenitor of domesticated apple, is native to areas in Central Asia. To better represent Malus wild germplasm in the USDA–ARS germplasm collections, maintained in Geneva, N.Y., a cooperative project was initiated with the Republic if Kazakhstan to collect and assess that country's wild populations of M. sieversii and to develop more secure in situ reserves to complement ex situ holdings in the United States and Kazakhstan. To date, four exploration trips to the region have included participants from the United States, Kazakhstan, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. Four Kazkh scientists have toured USDA–ARS sites, exchanged information, and collected germplasm in the United States greenhouse screens of 1600 have revealed potentially new sources of resistance to apple scab, cedar apple rust, and fire blight. An isozyme analysis of maternal half-sib families from four regions suggests the populations of M. sieversii collected represent a single panmictic population, with over 85% of total genetic variation due to differences among families. The most recent collections in 1995 were directed towards more ecologically diverse regions, including a site (Tarbagatai) at the most northern limit for M. sieversii equivalent to northern Minnesota in the United States. Some trees in this region produced fruit nearly 70 mm in diameter with excellent aroma, firmness, and color. This germplasm is being systematically characterized for horticultural traits, pest and disease resistance, and molecular markers.

The fungal pathogen, Diplocarpon rosae, infects only roses (Rosa spp.) and leads to rose black spot disease. Rose black spot is the most problematic disease of outdoor-grown roses worldwide due to the potential for rapid leaf chlorosis and defoliation. Eleven races of the pathogen were previously characterized from isolates collected in North America and Europe. Isolates of D. rosae obtained from infected leaves of the roses Brite Eyes^TM (‘RADbrite’; isolate BEP; collected in West Grove, PA) and Oso Easy^® Paprika (‘CHEwmaytime’; isolate PAP; collected in Minneapolis, MN) proved to have unique infection patterns using the established host differential with the addition of Lemon Fizz^TM (‘KORlem’). The new races are designated race 12 (BEP) and race 13 (PAP), respectively, and Lemon Fizz^TM should be included in the updated host differential because it distinguishes races 7 and 12. Additionally, inconsistent infections and limited sporulation were found in the host differential Knock Out^® (‘RADrazz’) for races 7 and 12. Expanding the collection of D. rosae races supports ongoing research efforts, including host resistance gene discovery and breeding new rose cultivars with increased and potentially durable resistance.

Cross-species transferability of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) is common and allows SSRs isolated from one species to be applied to closely related species, increasing the use of previously isolated SSRs. The genus Cornus consists of 58 species that are ecologically and economically important. SSRs have previously been isolated from C. florida and C. kousa. In this study, 36 SSRs were tested on taxa from 18 Cornus species and hybrids for cross-species transferability and genetic diversity was calculated for each locus using polymorphism information content (PIC). Cross-species transferability of SSR loci was higher in more closely related species and PIC values were high. Evidence was found for conserved primer sites as determined by the amplification of SSR loci in the taxa examined. Polymerase chain reaction products were cloned and sequenced for three SSR loci (CF48, CF59, and CF124) and all individuals sequenced contained the appropriate repeat. Phylogenetic relationships of 14 Cornus species were inferred using nucleotide sequences of SSR locus CF48. The most parsimonious tree resulting from this analysis was in concordance with phylogenies based on matK and internal transcribed spacer sequences. The SSR loci tested in this study will be useful in future breeding, population, and genetic studies within Cornus.