嘿嘿视频

嘿嘿视频 Releases 5 Strawberry Varieties Resistant to Deadly Fungal Disease

Strawberries Selectively Bred for Fusarium Wilt Resistance and High Yields

News
A new strawberry variety called Eclipse is held in a hand. The variety was bred to be resistant to Fusarium wilt, a deadly fungal disease.
嘿嘿视频 has bred five new varieties of strawberries, including Eclipse, shown here. All are bred to be resistant to Fusarium wilt, a deadly fungal disease. (Jael Mackendorf/嘿嘿视频)

Quick Summary

  • 88% of nation's strawberries are grown in California
  • Fusarium wilt is one of the most common reasons for strawberry crop loss and death
  • Disease has spread quickly after fumigant methyl bromide was phased out of use
  • Strawberries have improved flavor, characteristics for near year-round growing

The University of California, Davis, is releasing five new strawberry varieties that are resistant to the soilborne disease Fusarium wilt, have high yields and improved fruit quality.

UC Eclipse, UC Golden Gate, UC Keystone, UC Monarch and UC Surfline are available for sale to California nurseries from .

Roughly 88% of strawberries grown in the nation come from California. Fusarium wilt is one of the most common reasons for crop loss and death, and yet 55% to 59% of cultivars planted in the state since 2014 have not been resistant, according to 嘿嘿视频 research.

This is the first release from the 嘿嘿视频 where all the cultivars have Fusarium wilt resistance. They are meant to replace susceptible plants on the market such as Monterey, UCD Royal Royce and UCD Valiant.

嘿嘿视频 "Eclipse" strawberries shown growing in rows inside a greenhouse in Santa Maria, CA.
UC Eclipse strawberries grown in Santa Maria, California (Jael Mackendorf/嘿嘿视频)

Monarch was also developed specifically as a prototype for mechanical harvesting 鈥 another first out of the breeding program, which dates to the 1930s and has released 72 patented cultivars over the decades.

鈥淭hese provide the same yield or better and they are Fusarium resistant,鈥 said Steve Knapp, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and director of the 嘿嘿视频 Strawberry Breeding Program. 鈥淭hey have a better collection of traits. They鈥檙e superior.鈥

Dangerous pathogen

Fusarium wilt didn鈥檛 present much of a danger to strawberry crops until after the fumigant methyl bromide was phased out of use in the United States in 2005. But the pathogen had always been in the soil, and cases of wilt appeared a year later and increased over time, leading to concerns that a Fusarium wilt pandemic could destroy the crop in California.

鈥淭he disease has taken off fast and we need to react quickly to address the need,鈥 said Glenn Cole, a breeder and field manager with the Strawberry Breeding Program.

Learn more about the 嘿嘿视频 Strawberry Breeding Program. (Jael Mackendorf/嘿嘿视频)

 

Knapp said the program tries to 鈥渆ncourage people to consider things like disease resistance,鈥 and routinely invites growers and other experts to events showcasing research breakthroughs and improved cultivars.

Varieties for the seasons

The new strawberry varieties each have improved flavor and characteristics that allow for near year-round growing around California, where about 1.8 billion pounds of the fruit are harvested each year. Some of the cultivars are adapted for production in the southern part of the state while others do well under the long daylight hours of summer along the coast.

Eclipse, a 鈥渟ummer plant鈥 cultivar, has the potential to increase grower profitability as it produces in the fall and winter, and yields during research testing were 54% higher than similar cultivars. 鈥淲e expect this cultivar to have wide commercial appeal,鈥 Knapp said. 鈥淓clipse is going to eclipse them all.鈥

Six "Keystone" strawberries with three cut in half shown with black backdrop.
A harvested UC Keystone strawberry grown in Santa Maria, California, is shown sliced in half. It鈥檚 resistant to Fusarium wilt, and produces high yields late in the season. (Cindy Lopez Ramirez/嘿嘿视频)

 

UC Golden Gate and UC Keystone are 鈥渄ay neutral.鈥 Those type of cultivars grow throughout the summer on about 60% of strawberry farming acres in the state. The 鈥渟hort-day鈥 plants UC Surfline and UC Monarch are resistant to Verticillium wilt and Phytophthora crown rot.

UC Surfline and UC Eclipse are firmer and promise longer shelf lives. UC Monarch provides growers with improved fruit qualities relative to other mass-produced cultivars and has characteristics needed for advances in mechanical harvesting, Knapp said.

Genetic tools

Breeding program experts have long been researching ways to improve strawberry cultivars so the crop can withstand pests, disease and other stressors. To find plants that had Fusarium wilt resistance, they obtained the DNA of thousands of plants in field studies. The scientists also developed genetic tools to screen the plants and identify the genes that have resistance to the Fusarium pathogen.

Knowing that information allowed the team to breed resistance into and develop new cultivars, at a faster rate than previous efforts. 鈥淭hese tools have allowed us to sweep out the susceptibility and bring in resistance,鈥 Knapp said.

Media Resources

Media Contacts:

Primary Category

Secondary Categories

Food & Agriculture

Tags