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A unique, multidisciplinary team composed of Rutgers University and USDA scientists has been assembled to develop this proposal. The fundamental objective is to develop tools, techniques and technologies to help blueberry and cranberry growers improve on farm efficiency, enhance ecological sustainability and provide increasingly healthful crops for human consumption. <P>
This proposal has three levels of organization where we will: <OL> <LI> Develop cultural, biorational, and precision management methods aimed at locating and reducing losses to cranberry and blueberry crop production due to disease, insect and climatic factors while minimizing the use of pesticides<LI>Increase levels of genetic resistance to insects and diseases, improve fruit quality and productivity through genetic enhancement.<LI> Identify and utilize the phytochemical potential of these two crop species for both agronomic as well as human health. Research will focus on blueberry and cranberry breeding using traditional breeding and selection cycle methods for cultivar enhancement.</ol> Germplasm and progenies will continue being screened for novel and enhanced fruit phenolic profiles, disease resistance as well as other traits of interest. We will also develop the first complete genomic sequence for cranberry. Phytochemical studies targeting health benefits and identifying healthful components of the cranberry fruit for treating human pathogens such as E. coli as well as finding biochemical mechanisms for disease and insect resistance will be conducted. Insect management will develop IPM strategies such as biological control with insecticidal nematodes, mating disruption, and development of insecticide treated spheres. Several aspects of basic biology and seasonal life history of blueberry maggot and blossom worm, two major pests, will be investigated. Novel, selective, reduced risk insecticides will be evaluated leading to registration for use in blueberries and cranberries. Disease management research is aimed at development of precision based methods including GIS, GPS and remote sensing to detect and quantify crop loss and to design implementation maps for cultural control methods such as drainage systems and irrigation timing. In addition crop loss assessments will provide growers with economic information on specific diseases. Concurrently, plant phenology based disease prediction models are under development for improved spray timing and will target two diseases cranberry fruit rot and blueberry anthracnose.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: New Jersey is the nation?s second largest producer of highbush blueberries and the nation?s third largest producer of cranberries. In 2007, New Jersey-grown blueberries and cranberries brought in over $110 million in farm sales. Successful cultivation of blueberries and cranberries requires ongoing research to develop disease and insect resistant varieties and to develop environmentally-sound pest control management strategies. The Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry & Cranberry Research & Extension in Chatsworth, New Jersey supports growers in New Jersey, and nationally by: 1) breeding broadly adapted varieties with superior yield and improved fruit quality and pest resistance; 2) developing IPM technologies that minimize pesticide use, thereby decreasing environmental impacts, and; 3) investigating value-added products, including enhancement of beneficial health properties. The research programs at the Center address farm and environmental interests, at the state and national levels, by providing the advanced technology for the future sustainability of both crop industries, ensuring the competitiveness of growers in New Jersey and nationally. The Center maintains the largest blueberry/cranberry germplasm collection in the world, and over 80% of the highbush blueberry acreage in the United States and Canada is planted with varieties developed by the Center. In addition, the USDA-ARS National Blueberry Breeding Program is based at the PE Marucci Center. The Center is on the cutting edge of research of the benefits of blueberry and cranberry consumption and human health, including disease prevention. Researchers at the Center have identified and published on the properties of cranberries which prevent urinary tract infections. Cranberry constituents have been identified that show promise in preventing inflammation, cancer, heart disease and arthritis, as well resensitizing drug resistant ovarian cancer cells to drug therapy. This project enables the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station to leverage funding from the state and the cranberry and blueberry industries to continue and extend these research programs. In the absence of this complementary Federal support, funding from these other sources would be severely compromised. In addition, federal funding has been critical in enabling the NJAES faculty to successfully secure competitive research funding for this research.
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APPROACH: We will evaluate the efficacy of SPLAT OrB in disrupting oriental beetle mating. Experiments will test the effect of point-source density on male trap captures. We will evaluate the efficacy of Bacillus thuringiensis japonensis for white grub control in cranberries. Grubs will be exposed to seven concentrations of Btj toxin. Field experiments will be conducted to examine the attraction of blunt-nosed leafhoppers to different color traps: blue, red, yellow, green, white, and transparent. Traps will be checked once a week in the lab for the presence of leafhoppers and beneficial insects. Experiments will be conducted to determine the best timing for insecticide applications against cranberry fruitworm. Data will be used to calculate degree-days accumulated from the time of first male catch until oviposition. We will valuate the potential of an attract-and-kill approach for blueberry maggot control. Efficacy of attractants, exposure time, and concentration of toxicant(s) will be optimized in these experiments. A critical step in the development of anthracnose involves the migration of the pathogen from infected bud scales (overwintering stage) to developing fruit. Under this proposal we will determine the timing of fungal growth and investigate the hypothesis that the fungus grows epiphytically for significant portions of its lifecycle. Blueberry scorch virus is believed to move long-distance via infected plant material. In this project we are conducting a long-term experiment to track the rate of infection, survival and establishment of blueberry cuttings from infected and non-infected mother plants of the variety Duke. Current evidence suggests that the causal agent originally ascribed to fairy ring disease, Psilocybe agraiella, is incorrect. We have recent evidence that suggests a basidiomycete in the Pucciniomycotina as the causal agent. Under this objective we will investigate components of the disease cycle to determine if an alternate host is required and if the population structure indicates sexual reproduction. Timing of spore production and fruit infection will be examined for important cranberry fruit rot causing fungi. Spore trapping will be used to monitor spore production and timing in plots receiving fungicide and in untreated controls. These data will be compared with temperature, rainfall and leaf wetness. Breeding and selection for cranberry cultivars with improved productivity, increased levels of fruit rot resistance, enhanced phenolic profiles and anthocyanin production will be continued. For this proposal, we will evaluate blueberry hybrids for resistance to gypsy moth and aphids. In 2009, resistant plants will be intercrossed (modified F2) and backcrossed to highbush blueberry to improve mummy berry resistance and fruit quality. Fruit chemistry of Vaccinium germplasm in the breeding program will be evaluated, including anthocyanin content, soluble solids (brix), titratable acidity (TA), and flavonoid profiles. We will also determine if canine E. coli susceptibility to antibiotics changes following exposure to urine collected from canines that have consumed cranberry powder.