USDA-ARS University of Wisconsin-Madison Plant Breeders Receive Specialty Crop Grants to Improve Important Vegetable Traits
The USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) was designed to address critical industry issues in specialty crops, including fruits and vegetables. In October, the SCRI awarded more than $28 million to fund research projects that fit into five focus areas addressing specialty crops needs. Two USDA-ARS University of Wisconsin researchers, Professors Michael Havey and Philipp Simon, were each awarded a grant to work on pests affecting important vegetable crops. Both Havey and Simon are also graduate trainers in the Univ. Wisconsin’s Plant Breeding & Plant Genetics program (www.wisconsinplantbreeding.com).
Simon (Univ. Wisc. and ARS) and colleague Philip Roberts (Univ. Calif. - Riverside) received a $371,845 (not including matching funds) grant for their project entitled: “Deployment of Nutrient-Rich Nematode-Resistant Carrots to Benefit Growers, Consumers, and the Environment”. One of their primary objectives is to continue breeding for root-knot nematode resistance, which affects three-quarters of the US carrot crop. They have identified several sources of resistance (to both M. javanica and M. incognita) and will work towards combining these resistances, developing a carrot which will benefit carrot growers and the environment. The nematode resistance will also be combined with quality traits that are of interest to the consumer, particularly taste and nutritional value. This will lead to nutritional orange, yellow and purple carrots that are resistant to root-knot nematode.
In the second funded project, Professor Havey (Univ. Wisc. and ARS) will lead a project entitled: “Ensuring U.S. Onion Sustainability: Breeding and Genomics to Control Thrips and Iris Yellow Spot Virus”. This research will utilize translational genomics to solve two of the most severe threats to US onion production: thrips and the thrip-vectored Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV). This project, spearheaded by the University of Wisconsin, includes a team of co-directors and collaborators from four other US institutions. Other members of this project include Foo Cheung and Christopher D. Town (The J. Craig Venter Institute), Christopher S. Cramer and Jerry M. Hawkes (New Mexico State University), Hanu Pappu (Washington State University), and Howard F. Schwartz and Whitney Cranshaw (Colorado State University). The goals of this $998,957 (not including matching funds) project are to:
1.) Build a high density SNP map for association mapping approaches to tag pest resistances
2.) Cooperatively evaluate and select germplasm for thrip and IYSV resistance and further characterize IYSV
3.) Develop outreach material for sustainable management of thrips and IYSV
Written by Chad Kramer (cckramer@wisc.edu)
