Two new sites for conserving and managing plants important to U.S. agriculture are open in Palmer, AK, and Parlier, CA. They join 26 other repositories in the National Plant Germplasm System. The NPGS holds more than 434,000 specimens of seeds and other genetic materials of crops and their wild relatives. Researchers use the germplasm to identify useful traits, like disease resistance, for breeding into commercial varieties. The National Arctic Germplasm Site in Palmer will house native Arctic plants useful in environmental restoration, some with potential medicinal value, and some grains, legumes and vegetables adapted to high latitudes. Examples are northern-adapted grasses like tussock grass, northern berries like bear berries and nagoon berries and plants with importance to native cultures such as Boreal yarrow. The Arid-Land Plant Germplasm Regeneration and Genetic Resource Unit in Parlier has two NPGS roles. The site serves as an alternate location for other genebanks to grow out crops that benefit from a long frost-free season. It also will house plants that grow in dry regions. Among them are jojoba, used in shampoos; guayule, a desert shrub being developed for its hypoallergenic latex; and lesquerella and meadowfoam, potential new oil crops.

National Arctic Germplasm Site, Palmer, AK
David M. Ianson, (907) 745-4469, david_ianson@dnr.state.ak.us
Arid-Land Plant Germplasm Regeneration and Genetic Resource Unit, Parlier, CA
Maria M. Jenderek, (559) 646-0307, jenderekm@aol.com

An Oregon-based group of organic seed growers is joining forces with ARS researchers to preserve a rich diversity of traditional crop plants. ARS’ National Plant Germplasm System maintains a network of 26 repositories nationwide that preserve and regenerate germplasm—seed and other reproductive tissues—of crops and their wild relatives. The system houses more than 400,000 accessions comprising more than 10,000 species. An accession is a genetically distinct group of plants such as a crop variety or wild subspecies. The Farmer Cooperative Genome Project based in Junction City, OR, seeks to educate growers about the system and contribute to it. To store germplasm longterm, plants must be grown out periodically. FCGP members hope to grow out varieties that may not get much attention from scientists but would be valuable for gardeners and growers. The NPGS would benefit because the growers would collect information on the accessions that may not be available elsewhere; they would return some germplasm to the repositories. The farmers, in turn, will become familiar with a greater diversity of plants than they might otherwise have access to; they hope to develop a niche market for their seeds. Since the project started in 1998, more than 300 farmers, seed producers, home gardeners and scientists have joined FCGP. The group has requested about 800 accessions covering more than 50 species from the NPGS.

Western Regional Plant Introduction Station, Pullman, WA
Rich Hannan, (509) 335-1502, hannan@wsunix.wsu.edu

Across the United States, experimental plots have been sporting the cream of the wild strawberry crop. Some of the wild plants are showing traits growers will want, such as early flowering and disease resistance. In the project, six ARS and university scientists have set about creating tomorrow's berry from the original parents of today's commercial plants. Their mission: broaden the strawberry's genetic base and build a bigger, better one in the process. Two ARS geneticists are among the six evaluating 20 to 40 of the finalists from North and South America during the 2-year project. The project leader is James F. Hancock at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Horticulturists had already done about 10 serious evaluations of wild strawberry species. The scientific team selected the best and most representative to screen for 18 characteristics that growers and consumers prize most. Early results are promising. Last April in Beltsville, MD, most of the wild species collection was in flower while the cultivars were just waking up. And the previous fall, one species from Alabama and another from Mississippi were disease-free while all the cultivars were covered with leaf spot, scorch and powdery mildew. Some of the elite species under evaluation come from ARS' National Clonal Germplasm Repository at Corvallis, OR. Others were recently collected in native habitats—from Chile to the Rockies to Ontario, Canada.

Fruit Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Stan C. Hokanson, (301) 504-6768, hokanson@asrr.arsusda.gov

Fowler, a new soybean variety resistant to several races of soybean cyst nematodes, has been released by ARS and university scientists. Soybean cyst nematodes are tiny wormlike pests that attack soybean plants, costing farmers approximately $350 million annually in reduced yields. The main way to control this pest has been using resistant soybean varieties, which the nematodes find unappealing to eat. Unfortunately, the nematode has superior genetic ability to overcome and adapt to the plant’s defenses. Usually within a few years of continuous planting, the nematode adapts to resistant varieties. Therefore, new varieties are important for keeping this pest off soybean plants. Fowler is resistant to soybean cyst nematode races 2,3,5 and 14 and has high yield potential. ARS researchers developed Fowler from a cross between Holladay and Hartwig, two popular commercial varieties. Seeds are available to certified seed producers and researchers from the Crop Genetics and Production Research Unit.

Crop Genetics and Production Research Unit, Jackson, TN
Lawrence D. Young, (901) 425-4741, youngl@ars.usda.gov

Lewis is the first new red raspberry variety released since 1939 by ARS berry breeders for the summer fresh-fruit market. Lewis plants bear large, glossy, firm fruit in June and July. The berries are larger than those of Meeker and Willamette, standard red raspberries grown in the Pacific Northwest for the processed berry market. ARS researchers jointly developed Lewis in cooperation with the Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand. The new berry's name honors historic figures in both countries. The expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark spent the winter of 1805-06 in Oregon after reaching the Pacific during their historic overland trek. New Zealand surveyor Henry Lewis discovered a route through that country's Southern Alps in the 1850s. Lewis red raspberry should grow well in the Pacific Northwest, California and other raspberry-growing areas where winter temperatures don’t fall much below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Raspberries are low in fat and a good source of dietary fiber. Research at the Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston, SC, has indicated that red raspberries may be potent cancer-fighters due to their high ellagic acid content.

Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, Corvallis, OR
Chad E. Finn, (541) 750-8759, finnc@bcc.orst.edu

The greenbug, among the worst cereal aphids, may have met its match with a wheat germplasm called GRS (Greenbug Resistant Selection) 1201. ARS scientists evaluated resistance to three greenbug biotypes in this wheat, Largo (one of the oldest greenbug-resistant germplasms) and the cultivar TAM W-101, known to be highly susceptible. The greenbug, Schizaphis graminum Rondani, is a serious pest of grain and sorghum in the Southern Plains. By damaging and often killing plants, it causes average annual losses estimated at $60 million. Through experiments, the scientists developed a plant resistance index (PRI) for each wheat line. The PRI was based on the plants' tolerance to greenbug, their negative effect on greenbug biology, and their degree of preference by the greenbug. The PRI was 90 for GRS 1201 and only 25 for Largo. The susceptible control, TAM W-101, had a PRI of 1. This test revealed a much higher level of greenbug resistance in GRS 1201, which would make it a better source of resistance than Largo to breed new high-performance multi-greenbug-biotype resistant wheat cultivars.

Plant Science and Water Conservation Laboratory, Stillwater, OK
David R. Porter, (405) 624-4141, ext. 239, dporter@pswcrl.ars.usda.gov

In the world of plants, green is usually good—except in canola seeds. That’s because too much green means too much chlorophyll in the seed. Seeds may be mature, but if they’re green, their market value drops. Freezing temperatures cause seed greening, and an early frost can cost North American canola growers $150 million. Seed crushers have to remove the green from the oil with bleaching clays, which add expense and pose environmental problems. ARS scientists are studying Arabidopsis—a close relative of canola—with the goal of identifying mutant plants that develop little or no seed chlorophyll. Some day, the researchers may be able to provide industry with transgenic canola, tailor-made to tolerate freezing temperatures. Canola is an oilseed crop grown mainly in Western Canada, with some acreage in Ontario and the Pacific Northwest, North Central, and Southeast United States. Its yellow flowers produce pea-shaped pods that contain tiny seeds harvested for their oil. The nutritional treasures in canola oil are its omega-3 fatty acids, acclaimed for improving human immune and vascular systems.

Photosynthesis Research, Urbana, IL
John Whitmarsh, (217) 333-2947, johnwhit@uiuc.edu