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  • Author or Editor: W. Alan Erb x
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Selected interspecific hybrids between Lycopersicon esculentum and 11 wild species accessions were evaluated for level and type of resistance to Trialeurodes vaporariorum. The interspecific hybrids were clonally propagated and evaluated for antibiosis to non-sexed adult whiteflies, larvae development to the 3rd or 4th instar and reproduction of a second generation of adults. The test unit was a fully mature and expanded leaf containing only 4 leaflets and an 11 cm stem section sitting in a bottle of weak nutrient solution. One detached leaf-stem section from each entry was randomly placed in one of 12 set positions of a bottle rack. Leaflets were infested by placing 5-10 adult whiteflies on 2 leaflets/entry in small leaf cages for 24 or 48 hrs. Adult mortality was determined after 24 & 48 hrs and instar counts were taken after 14 & 21 days. Second generation reproduction was determeind by placing the 2 leaflets with the highest number of 3rd & 4th instar larvae in a petri-dish and recording adult emergence over a 5-18 day period. Some of the hybrids were more resistant and others were more susceptible that the L. esculentum parent. Resistance was manifested in greater adult antibiosis, reduced number of developed larvae and reduced adult emergence.

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Two tomato inbreds (one advanced greenhouse line, P1=Ohio ICR.9 and one frost resistant line, P2=Ohio 4013-3) and F1, BC1, BC2 and F2 progeny were examined for growth and development during December and January to determine inheritance of biomass characters. Two-week-old seedlings from each generation (8 from the P1, P2 and F1; 32 from the BC1 and BC2; and 64 from the F2) developed over a 9-week period at 2 different night temperatures (17 and 12 C) and light levels (natural light and 30% shade, 5 days/week). The F1 generation had the highest leaf area and total dry weight means followed by the BC1 and P1 generations. The variance components for leaf area and total dry weight accumulation were: Ve = 120,300 and 2.63; Vp = 553,618 and 12.46; Va = 127,475 and 3.65; and Vd = 305,843 and 6.18, respectively. Both traits are highly heritable, having a broad sense heritability of 0.78 and 0.79 for leaf area and total dry weight, respectively. However, because narrow sense heritability is low, 0.23 and 0.30, respectively, improvement in biomass accumulation will be more difficult.

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Two procedures for screening tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seedlings for resistance to three pathogens were developed. In one scheme, seeds were sprayed with a spore suspension of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici Jarvis & Shoemaker (fusarium crown and root rot). Resistant seedlings were root-dipped 2.5 weeks later in a spore suspension of Verticillium dahliae Kleb. (verticillium wilt), and 1 week following the root dip, leaves were rubbed with tobacco mosaic virus. In the other scheme, 2-week-old seedlings were dipped in a spore suspension of F. oxysporum Schlecht f. sp. lycopersici (Sacc.) Snyd. & Hans. races 1 and 2 (fusarium wilt). Resistant seedlings were root-drenched 1.5 weeks later with a suspension of Meloidogyne incognita Kofoid & White (rootknot nematode), and 1 week following, the leaves were rubbed with tobacco mosaic virus. These procedures were effective for disease screening, and their use should reduce the time required for development of two multiple disease-resistant populations. Inbreds from each population could be crossed to produce hybrids resistant to five pathogens.

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This study was conducted in the greenhouse by running two experiments at different temperature regimes (22°C day and 13°C night and 33°C day and 22°C night). One-year-old tissue culture propagated plants were irrigated at three different soil moisture tension levels (5, 15, and 30 cnbars) and either exposed to moving or still air. The moving air treatment was created by two 51-cm-diameter fans running at either low (5.6 mph) or medium (8.2 mph) speed. Each experiment included, forty-eight plants arranged in a randomized complete block design. Each block consisted of a greenhouse bench containing two fans, a plastic dividing wall and two plant replications for each treatment. Canopy volume measurements were taken at the beginning, middle and end of each experiment to estimate growth rate. At the end of each experiment, total leaf area and leaf, stem and root dry weight data were collected. In the moderate temperature experiment, the still air treated plants had the highest canopy volume and leaf weight ratio while the moving air treated plants had the highest stem weight ratio. The only difference for the moisture treatments was the 5-cnbar treatment had the highest canopy volume. In the high temperature experiment, the still air treated plants had the highest canopy volume, total leaf area, leaf dry weight, shoot/root ratio, leaf weight ratio and leaf area duration while the moving air treated plants had the highest root weight ratio. The 5-cnbar treatment had the highest canopy volume and biomass accumulations. The 30-cnbar treatment had the highest root weight ratio.

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Leaf disk bioassays based on oviposition and damage accrued during 72 hours were used to screen 76 strawberry (Fragaria spp.) cultivars for resistance to the twospotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). Oviposition rates (eggs/female per day) and damage scores were both highly variable, allowing cultivars to be classified, according to a combination of these two variables, into six categories of susceptibility or resistance: highly susceptible- `Canoga', `Ozark Beauty', `Scott', and `Tangi'; resistant—'Aiko', `Annapolis', `Apollo', `Bounty', `Cardinal', `Douglas', `Dover', `Fairfax', `Fern', `Floridabelle', `Glooscap', `Governor Simcoe', `Hecker', `Kent', `Pajaro', `Parker', `Rainier', `Redcoat', and `Vesper'; and highly resistant—`Profumata di Tortona' (F. moschata Duch.). Bioassay based on oviposition rates and damage scores was considered to be an efficient method to eliminate susceptible accessions from a breeding program, but authentication of putative resistance may require further testing in vivo.

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Abstract

Open-pollinated species, interspecific hybrid seedling populations, and selected clones propagated by softwood cuttings and tissue culture were used to further evaluate the use of dry soil to screen blueberry seedlings for drought resistance. These different propagation types of Vaccinium (subgenus Cyanococcus) were screened for drought resistance in a Galestown fine sandy loam soil. The soil was permitted to dry to progressively higher soil tension levels to a maximum of 0.8 MPa. The plants were evaluated by scoring them on a 1 to 9 shoot damage rating scale and by determining the fraction of total biomass partitioned as roots. Drought resistance in blueberries is heritable and there is a high degree of genetic diversity within and among Vaccinium spp. for resistance to water deficits. Southern species (Vaccinium darrowi Camp, V. elliottii Chapman, and V. ashei Reade) were more drought-resistant than northern species (V. corymbosum L., V. vacillans Torrey, and V. myrtilloides Michaux), which demonstrated the reliability of this soil screening method. Clones with half their germplasm from southern species were usually drought-resistant. This screening method can be used to select for shoot and root vigor and drought resistance in 6- to 7-month-old blueberry seedlings.

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This study was conducted at three locations (Manhattan, Kan.; Wichita, Kan.; Wooster, Ohio) for 3 years (1994–1996). At bloom, 2-year-old limb sections from `Smoothee', `Jonagold', `Empire', and `Rome' on M.9EMLA, Bud 9, Mark, Ottawa 3, or M.26EMLA were evaluated for flowering and vegetative, spurs (5 cm or less), short shoots (5–15 cm) and long shoots (>15 cm). In mid-August, spur quality was estimated by randomly selecting five spurs per cultivar rootstock combination. There were significant location and year differences for all the morphological and spur quality characters measured. Across locations and years, the following characteristics were consistently high for the cultivars listed: stem density of flowering spurs for `Empire'; and leaf area, bud-diameter and average leaf size per spur for `Jonagold'. The most consistently high characteristics across locations and years for the rootstocks were for stem density of flowering spurs for Mark and leaf number, leaf area, bud-diameter, and average leaf size per spur for M.26EMLA. Stem density for flowering short shoots was highest for `Smoothee' and M.9EMLA in Wooster, `Jonagold' and Bud 9 in Wichita and `Rome', `Jonagold', and Bud 9 in Manhattan. Flowering long shoot stem density was highest for `Smoothee', `Jonagold', and M.26EMLA in Wooster, `Smoothee' in Wichita, and `Jonagold' and Ottawa 3 in Manhattan. There were some significant cultivar by rootstock interactions. The most-consistent interactions across locations and years were for stem cross-sectional area, stem length, stem density of flowering spurs, and flowering short shoots and bud-diameter per spur.

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Lignin composition in leaf, fruit, and fruit outer epidermis of transgenic tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) plants that overproduce the enzyme tobacco anionic peroxidase (TobAnPOD) was analyzed. This enzyme may catalyze the polymerization of cinnamyl alcohols into lignin in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.); therefore, we predicted that its presence in the transformed tissue would increase lignin levels in healthy and wounded tissue. Lignin levels in healthy plants increased by 20% in leaf, 49% in fruit, and 106% in fruit outer epidermal tissue. Mature-green fruit were aseptically wounded and incubated in darkness for up to 7 days. Soluble phenols in wounded transgenic fruit increased by more than 300% hut changed little in control fruit. As with soluble phenols, lignin content in wounded transformed fruit increased by more than 20-fold hut increased less than two-fold in control fruit. Transgenic seedlings overproducing TobAnPOD were screened for susceptibility to several pathogens, but resistance did not increase. Possible TobAnPOD roles in lignin biosynthesis, phenol metabolism, stress response, and disease resistance are discussed.

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