Plant pathologist Paul G. Smith, the founder of pepper genetics and a retired professor at UC Davis, has been recognized for a lifetime of contributions that continue to shape plant sciences today.
Smith was a professor in the former UC Davis Department of Vegetable Crops, one of four departments that merged to become the current Department of Plant Sciences. His contributions were recognized at the recent 25th International Pepper Conference in Tucson, Ariz.
Josh Hegarty, a postdoctoral researcher in the Dubcovsky Lab in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis, is leading a project to develop commercial varieties of triticale to be grown for forage and feed. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or NIFA, is granting a $300,000 investment as part of their Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
Christine Diepenbrock, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, and several researchers from Cornell, Michigan State, Purdue, and North Carolina State Universities have collaborated to identify and thoroughly dissect 11 genes underpinning natural variation in levels of carotenoids, including those with provitamin A activity, in maize kernels.
Red, ripe strawberries are the hallmark of spring in California. Two new varieties from the Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis, will provide consumers with big, flavorful strawberries throughout fall and winter, too.
“These cultivars were developed to provide high-quality fruit from late summer through the holidays,” said Steve Knapp, director of the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program and professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.
The Department of Plant Sciences has released six new varieties of organic dry beans which are higher yielding, and are resistant to bean common mosaic virus (BCMV), a disease that prevents bean plants from maturing promptly and uniformly. Spearheading the project were Ph.D. candidate Travis Parker, Distinguished Professor Paul Gepts, and Charlie Brummer, professor and director of the Plant Breeding Center at UC Davis.
The Public Strawberry Breeding Program, UC Davis, has released five new varieties that will help farmers manage diseases, control costs, and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer, and pesticides. Two of the varieties could increase yields by almost 30 percent.
Breeding crops has been practiced for millennia — new technology has greatly enhanced the ability of plant breeders to feed the world’s growing population, while spearheading a new era of agriculture in harmony with nature and people. Sustainability, Disease resistance, and Labor efficiency are pressing issues in plant breeding.
Sweet and juicy strawberries that are easy to handle, high-yielding, and disease-resistant. An international team of scientists led by UC Davis and Michigan State University has taken a step that might allow breeders to grow strawberries that meet those needs.