The management of fire-prone forests is one of the most controversial natural resource issues in the US today,
particularly in the west of the country. Although vegetation and wildlife in these forests are adapted to fire, the
historical range of fire frequency and severity was huge. When fire regimes are...
In vitro propagation is important for rapid multiplication of a wide range of nursery crops, including
red raspberries. The genetic variation of the many red raspberry cultivars makes it difficult to use one
growth medium for all. Although some cultivars grow well on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium
(MS), others...
Most blackberry and raspberry (Rubus) seed exhibit delayed or poor germination because of a deep double dormancy. The objective of this study was to improve seed scarification and germination protocols for the diverse Rubus species in two subgenera often used for breeding improved cultivars. We also defined the germination potential...
Many hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivars
fail to thrive in vitro on standard growth medium and the
reasons for poor growth are not well understood. Our initial
study of five C. avellana cultivars showed that changes in
the mineral nutrients of Driver and Kuniyuki walnut
(DKW) medium, including doubling the...
Meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba L.) is a herbaceous winter spring annual grown as a commercial oilseed crop. The meal remaining after oil extraction from the seed contains up to 4% of the glucosinolate glucolimnanthin. Degradation of glucolimnanthin yields toxic breakdown products, and therefore the meal may have potential in the management...
Inorganic nitrate (NO₃⁻) and ammonium (NH₄⁺) are the two major components in nitrogen (N) nutrition of typical tissue culture growth media, and the total amounts and ratios influence both shoot induction and differentiation. This study was designed to determine the optimal N requirements and interactions of NH₄⁺×NO₃⁻ to complete the...
Obesity contributes to increased risk for several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid from hops (Humulus lupulus), was tested for efficacy on biomarkers of metabolic syndrome in 4 week old Zucker fa/fa rats, a rodent model of obesity. Rats received daily oral doses...
Ocular infection by HSV-1 strain McKrae is neurovirulent in both mice and rabbits and causes fatal encephalitis in approximately 50% of animals. In addition, it spontaneously reactivates with high frequency relative to other HSV-1 strains in rabbits. We sequenced the McKrae strain genome and compared its coding protein sequences with...
Rubus seed has a deep double dormancy that restricts germination due to seed coat structure and chemical composition. Improved germination of diverse Rubus species required for breeding improved blackberry and raspberry cultivars is partly dependent on the seed coat structure. This study evaluated the seed coat structure of three species...
Pear accessions and species show a broad response to tissue culture media due to the wide genetic diversity that exists in the available pear germplasm. An initial study of mineral nutrition using a systematic response surface approach with five Murashige and Skoog medium mineral stock solutions indicated that the mesos...