Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

...To Genespan Corp., Redmond, WA, to commercialize ARS-patented technology using a cell line derived from pig embryonic stem cells. ARS-PICM-19 is the first established liver-stem cell line and is able to regenerate fetal liver tissue in vitro. This phenomenon, observable within a culture dish, allows scientists to study liver biology. The ARS scientist developed this cell line as part of studies aimed at learning how to modify pigs to grow faster and leaner. Continuous regeneration of normal liver cells in culture has been previously unsuccessful. This technology may be useful in making artificial liver devices and toxicological assay kits for detecting liver problems. (PATENT 5,532,156)
ARS Contact: Neil C. Talbot, Gene Evaluation and Mapping Lab, Beltsville, MD, (301) 504-8216, ntalbot@ggpl.arsusda.gov

...With Fruits International, Inc. of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico, to develop a hot water immersion quarantine treatment for Puerto Rican mangoes. The treatment would allow mangoes weighing more than 700 grams (1-1/2 pounds) to be shipped to the U.S. mainland without risk of letting in the West Indian fruit fly. This fly is a major agricultural pest in Puerto Rico but is not established in the continental United States, Hawaii, or Japan—major mango markets. Quarantine treatments must be 100 percent effective in controlling eggs and larvae of the pest. In an experimental treatment for mangoes weighing 1-1/2 to 2 pounds, the fruit is immersed in 115- to 116-degree F. water for 45 to 180 minutes. Then it is cooled and evaluated for market quality. For lighter mangoes, ARS already developed a treatment approved by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Mango demand in the United States has steadily increased. Imports jumped from 59 million tons in 1993 to 93 million tons—worth more than $69 million—in 1996.
ARS Contact: Jennifer Sharp, Subtropical Horticulture Research Station, Miami, FL, (305) 238-9321, miajs@ars-grin.gov

Licenses

...To International Diagnostic Systems (IDS), St. Joseph, MI, to make fast, inexpensive test kits to detect the antibiotic hygromycin B in animal feed. Hygromycin B is added to livestock and poultry feed to protect pigs and chickens against disease, but its presence in feed is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Feed mills are required to periodically test medicated animal feeds to ensure they contain the appropriate levels of hygromycin B. To make the test kit, IDS uses an ARS-developed and -patented antibody. The new kit replaces traditional analytical methods, which require expensive equipment and chemical solvents. Lab technicians can perform the new test in less time and without equipment clean-up, maintenance, or solvents. One major company currently evaluating the use of the IDS test kits is Eli Lilly's Elanco Division in Indianapolis, IN.
ARS Contact: Larry H. Stanker, Food and Animal Protection Research Lab, College Station, TX, (409) 260-9484, stanker@usda.tamu.edu

...To Florida Sun Citrus, Inc., Jacksonville, FL, and Fresh Cut Fruits, Inc., Columbia, MD, to use an ARS-patented process to peel citrus with natural enzymes. This technique uses commercially available food-grade enzymes to dissolve albedo, the white, pithy material that keeps citrus peel clinging to the fruit. The process allows fruit to be peeled without losing any juice or separating the citrus sections. Another advantage: whole fruit that, because of peel defects, wouldn't make the grade for the fresh market can be pre-peeled and still used for fresh consumption. (PATENT 4,284,651)
ARS Contact: Robert A. Baker, U.S. Citrus and Subtropical Products Research Lab, Winter Haven, FL, (941) 293-4133, ext. 120, rabaker1@concentric.net

Patents

Economical, commercial mass-rearing of millions of helpful predatory bugs to control crop pests may be possible as early as next year. Lack of economical and suitable artificial diets has limited the use of predators as an alternative to pesticides. But ARS scientists developed and now are patenting new diets for lab-reared big-eyed bugs and lacewings. These two insects devour a wide range of pests including whiteflies, aphids, scale insects, and mealybugs. They also eat eggs and larvae of many moth pests like the tobacco budworm, pink bollworm, and corn earworm. Among the main ingredients in the new diets are ground beef, beef liver, and cooked whole eggs. Fish innards, oysters, and meat and liver from other animals might be substituted. The new lacewing diet costs only $2.50 a pound. A commercial diet of insect eggs can cost $300 a pound. Lacewings and big-eyed bugs reared on the new diets produce more offspring, often mature faster, and are up to 50 percent larger than wild ones, according to the scientists' studies. With slight modification, the diets work for other predators including a lady beetle and a minute pirate bug. (PATENT APPLICATION 08/699,815)
Western Cotton Research Lab, Phoenix, AZ
Thomas J. Henneberry, (602) 379-3524, henneb@asrr.arsusda.gov
Biocontrol and Mass-Rearing Research, Mississippi State, MS
Allen C. Cohen, (601) 323-2230, acohen@bcmrru.msstate.edu

ARS scientists have patented a sex attractant to foil the mating of cranberry fruitworms. The fruitworm, Acrobasis vaccinii Riley, is the most destructive insect of cranberries in the United States and Canada. It sometimes wipes out entire crops. Scientists found two compounds that, mixed in the right ratio, strongly attract hopeful males by mimicking the female's mating pheromone. The mixture could be used to bait traps that will snare the pests, preventing them from mating as well as giving growers a simple way to monitor the cranberry bog for the pests' presence. This could give growers a way to eliminate unnecessary insecticide use. Instead, they could wait until enough pests are trapped to indicate the crop is seriously threatened. (PATENT 5,607,670).
Fruit and Vegetable Research Lab, Wapato, WA
Constance L. Smithhisler, (509) 454-5654, constances@yarl.gov

A nondestructive diagnostic test for citrus blight uses proteins found in leaves of affected plants. The new test was developed and patented by ARS. The cause of citrus blight is unknown, and there is no known cure. Current methods of detecting this stealthy disease—which only shows symptoms when it's too late to control—are inadequate. Repeated tree testing, by boring or cutting, can expose trees to the risk of further infections. An ARS scientist isolated and identified a gene responsible for one of the proteins. Scientists use peptide epitopes, which come from the diseased plant tissues, to make monoclonal antibodies. These molecules signal the blight's presence. A world-wide problem, citrus blight costs Florida citrus growers about $52 million a year, including tree value and replacement costs. Once symptoms appear, the tree gradually dies. But the newly patented test allows detection before symptoms appear. This not only might save trees but also could help scientists find the cause and a cure. (PATENT 5,650,151)
U.S. Horticultural Research Lab, Orlando, FL
Michael G. Bausher (407) 897-7300, mbausher@magicnet.net

Insect resistance and other traits boasted by potato's wild relatives might soon be easier to breed into commercial varieties. Today, when wild potatoes are bred with commercial types, offspring sometimes inherit an unwanted trait from the wild parent—high levels of bitter-tasting toxins called glycoalkaloids. High-glycoalkaloid potatoes won't pass safety tests. But ARS researchers discovered and short-circuited a gene responsible for making an enzyme that potatoes use to make alpha-chaconine, a key glycoalkaloid. The enzyme is known as solanidine UDP-glucose glucosyltransferase. Experimental plants with the "rebuilt" gene had lower glycoalkaloid levels, according to lab and greenhouse tests in California. ARS scientists in Idaho harvested more tubers with the altered gene this fall. They'll look not only at the potatoes' glycoalkaloid levels, but also for desirable attributes like resistance to insects and diseases. Potato breeding programs seek the perfect potato for fresh-market sale or for processing into chips, french fries, dehydrated flakes, or other popular potato products. (PATENT APPLICATION 08/797,226)
Crop Improvement and Utilization Research, Albany, CA
William R. Belknap, (510) 559-6072, wrb@pw.usda.gov

An environmentally friendly microbe may help protect tomorrow's freshly harvested fruits from organisms that cause costly rotting. ARS and Texas A & M University researchers have discovered a helpful strain of the well-known microbe that causes sour rot. The beneficial strain is called Geotrichum candidum strain AVIR. In lab tests with grapefruit and oranges, those treated with the beneficial strain had a lower incidence of attack by green mold. Applied as a dip or spray, the helpful microbe might reduce reliance on fungicides to protect citrus. Researchers think it might also protect apples, pears, and strawberries from their worst microbial enemies. (PATENT 5,668,008)
Horticultural Crops Research Lab, Fresno, CA
Cynthia G. Eayre, (209) 453-3162, ceayre@asrr.arsusda.gov

Tomorrow's growers may save water and reduce chemical leaching into groundwater with an experimental variable-flow sprinkler head. Engineers from ARS, the University of Idaho, and Precision Irrigation Systems, Inc., of Soda Springs, ID, designed the device. It can reduce nozzle flow by nearly 35 percent of full capacity without additional wear and tear on the irrigation system. Flow volume is adjusted to accommodate natural features such as slope or soil type. As it moves through a field, a computer- controlled overhead sprinkler system equipped with the new nozzles would apply water on sandy, fast- draining areas at a rate different from that on heavy, slow-draining clay soils. Engineers expect the device to cost less than other options requiring more pressure regulators, wiring, and plumbing. (PATENT APPLICATION 08/650,295)
Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID
Dennis C. Kincaid, (208) 423-6503, kincaid@kimberly.ars.pn.usbr.gov

Last Updated: October 23, 1997
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