CRANBERRY AND BLUEBERRY BREEDING, DISEASE, AND INSECT MANAGEMENT

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: SPECIAL GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0219168
• Grant No.: 2009-34155-19957
• Proposal No.: 2009-03532
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2009
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2010
• Grant Year: 2009
• Program Code: [AY]- Cranberry/Blueberry Disease & Breeding, NJ

Recipient Organization
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
3 RUTGERS PLZA
NEW BRUNSWICK,NJ 08901-8559

Performing Department
Blueberry/Cranberry Research Center

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.

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

30%

Applied

50%

Developmental

20%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
201	1120	1080	10%
201	1121	1080	10%
211	1120	1130	10%
211	1121	1130	10%
212	1120	1160	10%
212	1121	1160	10%
216	1120	1130	10%
216	1121	1160	10%
502	1120	1080	10%
502	1121	1080	10%

Knowledge Area
212 - Pathogens and Nematodes Affecting Plants; 211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems; 201 - Plant Genome, Genetics, and Genetic Mechanisms; 502 - New and Improved Food Products;

Subject Of Investigation
1120 - Blueberry; 1121 - Cranberry;

Field Of Science
1130 - Entomology and acarology; 1160 - Pathology; 1080 - Genetics;

Keywords

insect and disease resistance

mating disruption

insect monitoring

reduced-risk pesticides

gis

remote sensing

health benefits

genetic enhancement

Goals / Objectives
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. This proposal has three levels of organization where we will: 1) 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, and 2) Increase levels of genetic resistance to insects and diseases, improve fruit quality and productivity through genetic enhancement. 3) 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. 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.

Project Methods
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.

Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Results from our 2010-2011 research were presented at several regional, national, and international meetings: Presentations include six at an international meeting (North American Cranberry Research and Extension Workers Conference, North American Veterinary Conference, Berry Health Symposium), three at national meetings (P.A.G.E., American Phytopathological Society, Entomological Society of America), one regional meeting (Entomological Society of America Eastern Branch), and grower meetings across North America including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington State, Quebec and British Columbia. Pest biology and management and cultivar information were provided to numerous blueberry and/or cranberry growers at local meetings (New Jersey Blueberry Open House, American Cranberry Growers Association winter and summer meetings, Ocean Spray growers meeting, and four NJAES Blueberry and Cranberry Twilight meetings, and at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention in Hershey, Pennsylvania). A national press release was issued for the study presented at the Berry Health Symposium. Growers have adopted the use of our new cranberry varieties and over 1200 acres have been planted resulting in higher productivity in food provision. US patent application was submitted for a cranberry variety, CNJ95-20-20, with exceptional traits for the fresh fruit market. Canadian Breeders Rights Appli. Cert. # 06-5575 was obtained for cranberry variety CNJ97-105-4. Genetic markers were developed from "Next-generation sequencing" providing a preliminary cranberry genetic map. Collaborative work was initiated with Dr. Juan Zalapa, USDA-ARS molecular geneticist. A degree-day model to predict key stages in blueberry development was launched and updated in the world-wide-web site (http://benedick.rutgers.edu/Blueberryweather/). Our outreach programs provided pest biology and management, cultivar, and health benefits information to numerous blueberry and cranberry growers, IPM agents, consultants, government agents, and the general public. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
In 2011, we continued testing two sex pheromone formulations, plastic bubbles and SPLAT, for oriental beetle mating disruption and found that both provide good control. We surveyed entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) three times during the blueberry growing season to isolate and identify EPNs effective against oriental beetle grubs. Red, green, and yellow color traps were attractive to blunt-nosed leafhoppers, a key pest of cranberries. The flight activity of cranberry fruitworm and Sparganothis fruitworm males was monitored in four blueberry and four cranberry farms, respectively; these data will be used to develop a degree-day model. Pyramid traps baited with grandisoic acid (aggregation pheromone) and benzaldehyde (plant volatile) were tested to monitor plum curculio populations. Several insecticides were tested for curative control against plum curculio larvae. New unregistered insecticides were evaluated for efficacy against blueberry maggot, blueberry aphids, and Sparganothis fruitworm. Aphid-resistance crosses were made in highbush blueberry and 2000 blueberry progeny were evaluated for season, machine harvestability, and fruit quality. Top performers were moved to an advanced selection block. In cranberry, crosses were made to improve fruit rot-resistance, 1500 progeny were evaluated for rot resistance, and 600 progeny were planted in field plots. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of fruit flavonoids was detemined for various varieties. Advanced selections were planted in trials at Wisconsin and British Columbia farms. The main outcome from health benefit studies was a comparison of MIC results before and after exposure to pre and post cranberry urines from canines. Results suggest that cranberry consumption in canines can reduce the MICs of key antibiotics used to treat UTI. For several of the bacteria with pap gene clusters encoding P fimbriae, there was a reduction in MICs (2- to 3-fold) of Amoxicillin:Clavulanate acid (5:1 ratio), Enrofloxacin, and Cephalexin, but no change in MICs for Amoxicillin. These findings are important because canines harbor genetically identical strains of uropathogenic bacteria to those that infect humans. Thus, these strains may serve as potential sources of infection in the human population. Since the bacteria that cause canine UTI are becoming resistant to antibiotics, these findings suggest long-term potency and usefulness of antibiotics maybe enhanced with concurrent cranberry component admistration in the treatment of canine UTIs. Results from this study were utilized to help in the development of a cranberry powder tablet for use in canines to mainta in urinary tract health and enhance susceptibility to antibiotics used to treat urinary tract infections.

Publications

• Barry, J.D., Rodriguez-Saona, C.R., Polk, D.F., and Zhang, A. 2010. Seasonal abundance, life history, and parasitism of Caloptilia porphyretica Braun (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), a leafminer of highbush blueberry. J. Econ. Entomol. 103: 284-291.
• Oudemans, P.V., B. I. Hillman, D. Linder-Basso; J.J. Polashock (submitted Oct. 4, 2010) Visual inspections of nursery stock fail to protect new plantings from Blueberry scorch virus infection. Crop Protection (submitted)
• Howell, A.B. 2010. Cranberry supplements for urinary tract health in companion animals. Canadian Vet. 5:18-19.
• Kerry, R., Gimenez, D., Oudemans, P. & Goovaerts, P (2010). Investigating the potential of Area-to-Point kriging for defining management zones for precision farming of cranberries. geoENV VII Geostatistics for Environmental Applications.
• Koo, H., S. Duarte, R.M. Murata, K. Scott-Anne, S. Gregoire. G.E. Watson, A.P. Singh, N. Vorsa. 2010. Influence of cranberry proanthocyanidins on formation of biofilms by Streptococcus mutans on saliva-coated apatitic surface and on dental caries development in vivo. Dental Caries 44:116-126.
• Liburt N.R., K.H. McKeever, J.M. Streltsova, W.C. Franke,6 M.E. Gordon, H.C. M. Filho, DW Horohov, R.T. Rosen, C.T. Ho, A.P. Singh and N. Vorsa. 2010. Effects of ginger and cranberry extracts on the physiological response to exercise and markers of inflammation in horses. Comparative Exercise Physiology 6:157-169.
• Rodriguez-Saona, C., and D. Polk. 2009. SPLAT-OrB: A new pheromone formulation for oriental beetle mating disruption in blueberries. Proceedings of the 85th Annual Cumberland-Shenandoah Fruit Workers Conference.
• Singh A. P., T. Wilson, A.J. Kalk, J. Cheong, N. Vorsa. 2009. Isolation of specific cranberry flavonoids for biological activity assessment. Food Chem. 116: 963-968.
• Singh A.P. , R.K. Singh, K.K. Kim, K.S. Satyan, R. Nussbaum, M. Torres, L. Brard, N. Vorsa. 2009. Cranberry proanthocyanidins are cytotoxic to human cancer cells and sensitize platinum-resistant ovarian cancer cells to paraplatin. Phytotherapy Res. 23:1066-1074.
• Polashock, J. J., F. L. Caruso, P. V. Oudemans, P. S. McManus and J. Crouch (2009) Population structure of the North American cranberry fruit rot fungal community using morphological and phylogenetic affinities Plant Pathology published online first Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3059.2009.02120.x
• Rodriguez-Saona, C., Vorsa, N., Singh, A., Johnson-Cicalese, J., Szendrei, Z., Mescher, M., and Frost, C.J. 2011. Tracing the history of plant traits under domestication in cranberries: potential consequences on anti-herbivore defences. J. Exp. Bot. (Accepted Pending Revision).
• Rodriguez-Saona, C., Polk, D., Holdcraft, R., Chinnasamy, D., and Mafra-Neto, A. 2010. SPLAT-OB reveals competitive attraction as a mechanism of mating disruption in oriental beetle. Environ. Entomol. In Press.
• Rodriguez-Saona, C., Polavarapu, S., Barry, J., Polk, D., Jornsten, R., Oudemans, P. and Liburd, O. 2010. Color preference, seasonality, spatial distribution and species composition of thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in highbush blueberries. Crop Protection 29: 1331-1340.
• Rodriguez-Saona, C., and Frost, C. 2010. New Evidence for a multi-functional role of herbivore-induced plant volatiles in defense against herbivores. Plant Signaling & Behavior 5: 56-58.
• Georgi, L., R.H. Herai, R. Vidal, M.F. Carazzolle, G.G. Pereira, J. Polashock, N. Vorsa. 2011. Cranberry Microsatellite Marker Development from Assembled Next-Generation Genomic Sequence. Molecular Breeding: DOI 10.1007/s11032-011-9613-7.
• Rodriguez-Saona, C., Kaplan, I., Braasch, J., Chinnasamy, D., and Williams, L. 2011. Field responses of predaceous arthropods to methyl salicylate: A meta-analysis and case study in cranberries. Biological Control dx.doi.org 10.1016 j.biocontrol.2011.06.017
• Rodriguez-Saona, C., Parra, L., Quiroz, A, and Isaacs, R. 2011. Variation in highbush blueberry floral volatile profiles as a function of pollination status, cultivar, time of day and flower part: implications for flower visitation by bees. Ann. Bot. 107: 1377-1390.