Seed for McVey, a new, scab-tolerant spring wheat for the upper Midwest, was released by USDA-ARS and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station through the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association, St. Paul, for seed increase this past spring. Farmers will be planting the new seed in the spring 2000 planting season. Wheat and barley scab, a.k.a Fusarium head blight, is a fungal disease. It shrivels kernels of wheat and other cereal crops such as barley. It also produces toxins that can make the crop unsuitable for flour, cereals or malt--in the case of barley--and too toxic for sale as animal feed. A scab epidemic has caused farmers to lose 470 million bushels of wheat from 1991 through 1997, representing losses of $2.6 billion. Although the epidemic affects 12 states, Minnesota and the Dakotas are the hardest hit. Certified seed growers will grow McVey to build up enough seed supplies for commercial sale to farmers. The Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, Red Lake Falls, also funded, through the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association, an additional 50 acres in California to grow larger quantities of seed. To date, this spring wheat is the most tolerant and highest-yielding of three varieties developed jointly by ARS and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station at St. Paul. But it is considered a "transitional variety," meaning that some aspects of its tolerance to scab can still be improved. Research toward a more resistant variety has intensified, with McVey being the earliest product of the increased funding. USDA this fiscal year added an additional $1.2 million in research funds on scab resistant wheat at the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University at Fargo. ARS scientists at St. Paul received an additional $90,000 and ARS scientists at Fargo received an additional $50,000 for similar work. The increases are part of an overall $3 million annual boost in research to fight the epidemic, building on the $500,000 that USDA has allocated for additional scab research each year since 1997. McVey is named to recognize Donald V. McVey, a long-time plant pathologist at the ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory at St. Paul.

Plant Science Research Unit, St. Paul, MN
Robert H. Busch, (612) 625-1975, busch005@maroon.tc.umn.edu

Peach growers and breeders have a new at-your-fingertips resource: a handbook that describes in detail some 700 peach and nectarine varieties. An ARS researcher compiled the 808-page book, Handbook of Peach and Nectarine Varieties, USDA-ARS Agricultural Handbook #714, for commercial and hobby growers, domestic and foreign breeders, and other peach researchers and extension workers. It updates the 25-year-old peach variety bulletin published by Savage and Prince. It's the most comprehensive book of its kind since Peaches of New York, published in 1917. The handbook gives detailed leaf, flower and fruit information. Performance comments focus on varieties grown in the Southeast, but the book also describes the most prominent commercial varieties in other U.S. regions. It details all varieties released by U.S. public breeding programs, including those developed by ARS. An annotated index has brief descriptions of more than 6,000 varieties, including many obsolete and foreign peaches. While supplies last, scientists and commercial growers can request single copies from the researcher. The publication is also available from the National Technical Information Service, publication number PB98-149602, phone (703) 605-6000.

Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory, Byron, GA
William R. Okie, (912) 956-6405,dokie@bryronresearch.net

Three new peaches fit for royalty--Sureprince, Autumnprince and Springprince--have been released by ARS scientists. Sureprince is an attractive, firm peach that ripens in mid-June soon after Juneprince, a popular commercial variety. The chillier the better for this peach: It performs well in the colder parts of Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. Sureprince is no lightweight contender, weighing in at about 1/3 pound and about 2¼ to 2½ inches in diameter if the trees are thinned properly. Sureprince was so named because it is a reliable cropper. The surface is bright red at maturity with gleaming yellow flesh on the inside. The fruit has melt-in-your mouth texture and good flavor. Yellow-fleshed Springprince and Autumnprince, named for the seasons near when they ripen, are both adapted to the Southeastern climate. Close to 2¼ inches in circumference, Springprince ripens in late May. It is firm and softens slowly on the tree, enabling it to have good flavor for an early peach. Autumnprince, close to 3 inches around, ripens in late August to early September when most commercial peaches are finished. It hangs on the tree better than many late peaches, which tend to fall before ripening. All three new varieties have moderate resistance to bacterial spot, with Sureprince being the most resistant.

Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory, Byron, GA
William R. Okie, (912) 956-6405, dokie@byronresearch.net

Melissa, Summer Royal and Summer Muscat--three delicious new seedless grapes--may begin showing up in supermarkets in the next few years. A white seedless grape, Melissa, yields large, sweet berries that ripen about the same time as Thompson Seedless, America's number one seedless grape. Unlike Thompson Seedless, however, Melissa vines don't need to be sprayed with a natural growth regulator to make the plant form big berries. That saves money. Melissa is the product of embryo rescue, a sophisticated lab procedure for rescuing tiny seeds that probably would not survive in nature. Summer Royal black seedless grapes are sweet, large, firm and ideal for snacks and salads. This grape fills a production gap at the end of August, when there are usually few American-grown black seedless grapes on the market. The Summer Muscat seedless raisin grape may prove ideal for making candy-coated raisins. It has a sweet, strong, muscat flavor somewhat like the traditional Muscat of Alexandria grape, but is easier to candy-coat. That's because Summer Muscat is seedless. Muscat of Alexandria has seeds that must be removed mechanically, making the raisins sticky and hard to process. Too, Summer Muscat can be dried on the vine after the grape-bearing branches, called canes, are severed. Unlike conventional raisin grapes, dried-on-the-vine grapes can be mechanically harvested, saving labor costs. ARS scientists at Fresno put the new grapes through 5 to 18 years of testing in California's San Joaquin Valley, then offered cuttings to growers and breeders for the first time this year. The California Table Grape Commission funded some of the research.

Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, Fresno, CA
David W. Ramming (559) 453-3061, dramm@qnis.net

Blackberry lovers can now obtain a list describing all of Iowa's indigenous blackberries and their cousins, the dewberries and raspberries, thanks to an ARS researcher. The list will also be of interest to field biologists, botanists, naturalists and land managers such as those with the National Park Service. The scientist examined more than 5,000 specimens of blackberries, dewberries and raspberries (Rubus) found in the eastern United States to prepare the first revision of the native and naturalized species of these plants for Iowa. He identified 28 species in Iowa--one with two varieties--along with a naturally occurring hybrid of two raspberry species. The list includes information on synonyms, species distribution, time of year for flowering and fruiting, habitat, associated plants and taxonomy by past researchers. County distribution maps are presented for most of the species. Blackberries are rich in compounds that may help to protect cells from oxidative damage and to slow aging-related processes in the brain and elsewhere in the body.

North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station, Ames, IA
Mark P. Widrlechner, (515) 294-3511, isumw@iastate.edu

Sugarbeet growers who now must rely solely on insecticides to control sugarbeet root maggots may soon have a genetic defense against the pest. ARS and the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station scientists have developed sugarbeet breeding lines F1015 and F1016, the first maggot-resistant lines to produce root yields 70 to 75 percent as high as those from commercial hybrids treated with insecticide. Commercial hybrids grown in Minnesota and eastern North Dakota would have suffered yield losses up to 42 percent higher from the pest in recent years if growers had not turned to insecticides to combat the maggots. Sugarbeet root maggots are found on two-thirds of U.S. sugarbeet acreage. As adults, they appear similar to small houseflies. As grayish white larvae, they chew sugarbeet roots. Severe damage may kill plants or weaken them, leaving them more susceptible to a variety of root diseases. While developing maggot-resistant sugarbeets, ARS scientists are also researching biological controls for the insect pest.

Sugarbeet and Potato Research, Fargo, ND
Larry G. Campbell, (701) 239-1350, campbell@fargo.ars.usda.gov

Pectin, a key ingredient in making jelly, also appears to play a key role in cotton fiber quality. This discovery could lead to new ways to improve fiber length and strength. ARS researchers found cotton fibers have a layer of pectin around their cells that is not present in other parts of the plant. The scientists say this pectin layer appears to allow cotton fibers to elongate, which leads to more fiber, the fluffy white part taken directly from the boll. This discovery was a surprise because most research has focused on how cellulose--the major component of the plant cell wall--affects fiber quality and length, rather than how pectin has. ARS scientists found that mutations or certain herbicide treatments can alter cotton fiber. In lab studies, when they altered pectin amounts, they found that either cotton fiber did not grow or its physical characteristics changed--causing short, squatty fibers, for example. The scientists are trying to identify the enzymes responsible for producing fiber pectin.

Southern Weed Science Research Unit, Stoneville, MS
Kevin C. Vaughn, (601) 686-5211, kvaughn@ag.gov