Hereditary variation is a vital component in the development of new and improved cultivars of landscape plants. Sources of hereditary variation include naturally occurring variation, recombination due to controlled crosses, artificial mutagenesis, and genetic modification via biotechnology. Here I explore all methods with the exception of genetic modification via biotechnology....
Two studies used DNA markers to assess their usefulness in germplasm identification and evaluation of genetic stability in four cryopreserved Rubus accessions that were stored for over 10 years in liquid nitrogen. In the first study, 12 robust Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers were developed from two microsatellite-enriched libraries of...
The objectives of this project were to determine the effects of harvest maturity, packaging, and storage conditions on subsequent fruit quality of Actinidia arguta ‘Ananasnaya’ and to investigate the use of edible coatings to improve fruit quality and storage life. The influences of harvest maturity (6.0, 8.7, 9.1, and 15.1%...
The United States is the third-largest producer of raspberries in the world. Washington
State leads the nation in red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) production. 'Meeker', the
most grown red raspberry cultivar in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon and
British Columbia, Canada) is highly susceptible to Raspberry crumbly fruit, a virusinduced...
Pre-existing Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) libraries (1,305 sequences) and a newly constructed microsatellite-enriched genomic library (136 clones) from the V. corymbosum cultivar 'Bluecrop' were screened for unique Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR)-containing sequences. Our goal was to develop a set of robust SSR markers for use in managing the National Clonal...
This dissertation describes the application and development of molecular tools that have great potential for use in studying variation in strawberry germplasm. The first study evaluated 91 microsatellite (simple sequence repeat, SSR) markers for transferability in 22 Fragaria species and their utility in fingerprinting octoploid strawberries. Out of the transferable...
The objectives of this study are to 1) qualitatively and quantitatively measure the odor-active compounds in ‘Marion’ blackberry; 2) compare the aroma profiles of advanced selections and new cultivars of thornless blackberry cultivars with ‘Marion’; 3) study the development of furaneol in ‘Marion’ during ripening and; 4) investigate the distribution...
Frozen blueberries were pilot-plant-processed into juice and concentrate by 2 treatments (heat and SO2), and a control. Qualitative, and quantitative anthocyanin and polyphenolic content were monitored after each processing step. Major losses occurred after the initial processing steps. Juice processing by-product contained a substantial amount of anthocyanins and polyphenolics (>42%...
Landscape plants are highly diverse and nursery producers often grow thousands of taxa to satisfy the varied needs and aesthetic tastes of consumers. Related to this diversity, ornamental plant breeders must be nimble and diverse in their approach. Two seemingly disparate studies were conducted to investigate improving ornamental shrubs –...
The cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the world’s most important staple crops, ranked fourth after maize, rice, and wheat. While the potato’s success is due largely to its high yield, it also benefits from its broad global acceptance, and its ability to be used by the consumer...
