| Title |
Investigators | Department | Objectives | Approach Keywords | Progress Reports | Impact Statements | Publications | |
Project * COL00270A(See Project History for COL00270) | |
| Title | Environmental and Genetic Determinants of Seed Quality and Performance |
| Investigator(s) | Hughes, H; |
| Department | Horticulture and Landscape Architecture |
| Objectives | 1. Determine the influence of pre-harvest stress on seed quality. 4. Develop technologies to assess seed quality, improve seed performance and enhance seed utilization. |
| Approach | Seed set in winecups will be evaluated both within and between populations to gain a better understanding of this influence on seed set and fill as well as relative vigor. Salt grass seed will be evaluated for relative performance between fresh seed and stored seed as well as the influence of seed priming treatments on germination and stand establishment. |
| Keywords | saltgrass, winecups, seed biology, seed germination, seed quality, seed production |
| Progress Reports | |
| 2004 | Research continues on the induction of flowering and seed set of native and endangered species . Additional efforts have included the inheritance of copper induced ipt gene in transformed watermelon. Production of stable seed propagated lines with this gene should provide resistance to the 2 major fungal pathogens. SALTGRASS. Flowering induction treatments are being repeated to verify the previous years research which demonstrated that a specific genotype from the front range of Colorado can be induced to flower when dug in November and treated by burning the tops, followed by greenhouse growth. Additional lines from the same provenance have been treated and appear to be developing flowers as well. Crosses will be made to determine if normal seed set can occur in the greenhouse after flower induction has occurred. WATERMELON. Watermelon, transformed with the Cu-ipt gene, has shown resistance to both Fusarium wilt and gummy stem blight when sprayed with copper sulfate to activate the gene . T1 progeny have also been shown to be resistant to these diseases. Additional observations have shown that transformed plants activated by spraying of the copper sulfate, give rise to seedless fruit. This may be an additional way that seedless watermelon fruit can be produced for commercial use. |
| 2005 | Research continues on the induction of flowering and seed set of native and endangered species. Additional efforts have included the inheritance of copper induced ipt gene in transformed watermelon. SALTGRASS. Flowering induction treatments were repeated a second year with additional clones from the front range of Colorado. The 2 additional clones did not respond to flowering induction treatments. Flowering in saltgrass clones was significantly influenced by specific clone, sampling time in the field, burning treatment and nitrogen fertilization. Furthermore, there were significant interactions among these treatments. The interactions between clone and sampling time, burning and sampling time and nitrogen fertilization and burning were highly significant. The three-way interaction among clone, sampling time and burning was smaller but still significant. WATERMELON. Watermelon, transformed with the Cu-ipt gene, has shown resistance to both Fusarium wilt and gummy stem blight when sprayed with copper sulfate to activate the gene. Resistance has been observed in the T2 generation as well. Seed production in the T1 and T2 generations by plants that are not sprayed with copper sulfate is much reduced as compared to nontransformed plants. |
| 2006 | Horned poppies, Glaucium sp, are herbaceous perennial plants that are drought tolerant and have attractive flowers. They are native to the Mediterranean and Middle East. Because of their attractive flowers as well as drought and salt tolerance they are being evaluated for introduction into the ornamental trade. Seed germination is reportedly difficult and has had limited investigation. Preliminary studies with Glaucium flavum seed has demonstrated both stratification and scarification may be of value. Stratification seems to be of greater significance. Current efforts are looking at G. corniculatum, acutidentatum and grandiflorum to determine if similar treatments will stimulate germination. |
| Impact | |
| 2004 | The induction of flowering in the greenhouse should facilitate crossing plans with some lines, leading to the development of improved turf type for use in the turf industry. The demonstration that the Cu-ipt gene can be passed from the T0 generation to the T1 generation offers a potential means of controlling the two major diseases in watermelon, as well as offering a new way to produce seedless fruit for commercial use. |
| 2005 | The induction of flowering in the greenhouse should facilitate crossing plans with some lines leading to the development of improved turf type for use in the turf industry. This process is highly variable depending on genotype of the clone. The demonstration that the Cu-ipt gene can be passed from the T0 generation to the T2 generation offers a potential means of controlling the two major diseases in watermelon as well as offering a new way to produce seedless fruit for commercial use. |
| 2006 | The initial success of this work is stimulating greater interest in this genus as a possible new herbaceous perennial for Colorado. The introduction of these plants into the ornamental trade will be of special value because of their tolerance to heat, drought and salt. It will give the homeowner an attractive herbaceous perennial that will require less water and be more tolerant of poor soils. |
| Publications | |
| 2004 |
Goktepe, F. and H. Hughes. 2004. Activation of Isopentyl Transferase (ipt) Gene in Transformed Watermelon Influences Seed Number and Other Characteristics. HortSci. 39:821. Goktepe, F. and H. Hughes. 2004. Evaluation of Resistance to Gummy Stem Blight (Didymella bryoniae) Disease in ipt (Isopentenyl Transferase) Transformed Watermelon. HortSci. 39:820 Goktepe, Fahrettin. 2004. Evaluation of Plant Characteristics and Disease Resistance in Cu-IPT Transformed Watermelon cv. Crimson Sweet. Ph.D. Dissertation. Colorado State Unviersity. 109 pages. Rukavina, Hrvoje and H. Hughes. 2004. Induction of Flowering in Saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) . HortSci. 39:790. |
| 2005 |
Alenazi, Mekhled. 2005. Influence of Storage Temperature and Time in Storage on Pigment Content of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). M. S. Thesis. Colorado State University, Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Fort Collins, CO. 55 pages. Goktepe, F. and Hughes, H. 2005. Nonspecific Fusarium wilt resistance in watermelon using copper inducible IPT gene. HortSci. 40:1016. Rukavina, H., and Hughes, H. 2005. Flowering induction in saltgrass ecotypes. 2005 Annual Meeting Abstracts. (ASA/CSSA/SSSA). Rukavina, H., Hughes, H., and Qian, Y. 2005. Freezing tolerance of saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) ecotypes. HortSci. 40:1106. |
| 2006 |
Mekhland, A., H. G. Hughes, C. Stushnoff, D. Holm. Influence of storage time and temperature on anthocyanins in potato tubers. 2006 Annu. Meet, ASHS, New Orleans, LA. HortScience, 41:1038 . Rukavina, H., H.G. Hughes, and Y.L. Qian. 2006. Freezing tolerance of 27 saltgrass ecotypes was similar in 2004 and 2005. Annu. Meet., ASHS, New Orleans, LA. HortScience, 41:1038. Rukavina, H., R. Johnson, and H.G. Hughes. 2006. Phenotypic variation of saltgrass accessions relative to geographic and climatic factors. In Abstracts Annu. Meet, ASA-CSSA-SSSA, Indianapolis, IN. 12-16 Nov. 2006. Rukavina, Hrvoje Harry. 2006. Phenotypic Variability, Cold Hardiness and Flowering Induction of Saltgrass (Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene) Clones. Ph.D. Dissertation. Colorado State University. 72 pages. |