Research Continued from Page 10
“We’ve identified some leaf surface traits we think are associated with the microbi- ome,” Taylor said. Renee Eriksen, a USDA plant physiol- ogist, said research on plant polyphenols in lettuce that offer anti-fungal and an- ti-bacterial benefits may help humans prevent diseases such as colon cancer and Alzheimer’s. Other researchers offered insights on attempts to breed lettuce that is more effi- cient in using water and nitrogen. “We want to identify plants with high nitrogen concentration that will turn car- bon into more plant mass,” said David Still, California State University, Pomona, pro- fessor of plant sciences. Still’s lab is screening lettuce types to find those that fare best with lim- ited nitrogen applications and under drought conditions. “The lettuce cultivars we have now have shallow roots,” he said. “We want to select for more root biomass.” Charlie Brummer, director of the UC Davis Center for Plant Breeding, dis- cussed efforts to breed improved spin- ach varieties. “Some of our lines have quite low cad- mium uptake and might be good candi- dates for breeding,” Brummer said. Some spinach varieties take up cadmium
Opened in November, the Sam Farr Crop Improvement and Protection Research Center in Salinas is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is one of 49 research units at 21 locations in eight western states.
easily, and when grown in the wrong soil, the metal can reach toxic concentrations, he said. One of the greatest challenges facing spinach growers is downy mildew be- cause of its ability to evolve new races in a moist microclimate of densely packed, sprinkler-irrigated plots used to grow clipped spinach. “We are making some progress toward broad spectrum mildew resistance,” Brummer said. Lettuce downy mildew, like its spin- ach counterpart, can evolve to overcome variety genetic resistance, said Richard Michelmore, founding director of the UC Davis Genome Center.
“As plant breeders, we need to be aware of variations in the pathogen and adjust our resistance genes,” he said. During decades of working with lettuce downy mildew, Michelmore has seen re- searchers discover new sources of genetic resistance, only to have the mildew evolve to overcome the genetic resistance. “We need to slow down the boom-and- bust cycle,” he said. “The genetic and mo- lecular resources for stable resistance are increasingly available.” In addition to studying disease resis- tance, Michelmore said researchers will need to develop lettuce varieties amena- ble to machine harvest and able to use
phosphate more efficiently. “The world is running out of phosphate,” he said. “We’ve got to be more efficient.” The research center is dedicated to retired lawmaker Sam Farr, who rep- resented the Central Coast in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 23 years from 1993 to 2016. Farr also served six years as a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and 12 years in the California State Assembly. He led the charge for the new research facilities. (Bob Johnson is a reporter in Monterey County. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)
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July 24, 2024 Ag Alert 11
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