Location: Southern Horticultural Research Unit
Project Number: 6062-21000-010-003-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 1, 2016
End Date: Jun 30, 2021
Objective:
To (1) understand the genetic basis for host-plant resistance to microbes, insects, and/or abiotic stress in woody and herbaceous perennial ornamental species, especially those characteristic of the southeastern United States; and (2) apply the knowledge gained through the preceding research using conventional and molecular breeding methods to improve host plant resistance in woody and herbaceous perennial landscape plants.
Approach:
Select materials from woody landscape plant species will be used as parents for breeding for superior cultivars, physiology and gene expression studies on host plant resistance, and test populations for molecular marker development. Species include, but are not limited to, dogwood, hydrangea, fringe tree, and viburnum, several of which are native to the Southeastern United States. Genomics approaches such as transcriptome sequencing and RNAseq gene expression studies will be used to better understand taxonomy and relatedness within germplasm collections, to develop markers from select taxa for association with host-plant resistance traits, and to identify genes and gene networks involved in the complex interaction between host plant and biotic stress. When not available, genomic resources will be developed for pathogens or insects across a broad range of hosts to understand the source and diversity of the biotic stresses affecting woodly landscape plants.
