Source: UNIV OF IDAHO submitted to
PROPAGATION AND PRODUCTION PRACTICES FOR NATIVE PLANTS WITH LANDSCAPE POTENTIAL
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1009480
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
IDA01545
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2016
Project End Date
Jun 30, 2021
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Tripepi, R.
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF IDAHO
875 PERIMETER DRIVE
MOSCOW,ID 83844-9803
Performing Department
Plant Soil & Entomological Sci
Non Technical Summary
The use of native plant species in managed landscapes throughout the state and region has caught on slowly due to limited availability from wholesale production nurseries and lack of knowledge about native plant use by homeowners. Production nurseries often cite a lack of information on propagation and cultural practices needed for their production as reasons for growing relatively few native plant species. Nursery managers in different parts of Idaho have mentioned they need more solid information on producing native plants before they would consider adding them to their inventories. Growers want information about propagation and field or container production practices to ensure that they will have a viable plant with a strong potential to survive and thrive in the landscape.The research to be conducted under this Hatch Proposal will involve examining methods to propagate and produce native species, including herbaceous perennials and woody plants that can be used in managed landscapes or for habitat restoration. Propagation seems to be the largest impediment to production of native plant species, yet little is known about the cultural practices that are needed to produce native plants in commercial nurseries. This research program will investigate different methods of propagating and growing native plant species. In addition, potting mixes consisting of alternative components, including composts or biochar, will be examined since container production of landscape plants predominates in the nursery industry due to rapid growth of container stock.Another part of this research project involves determining the methods for producing native plants in containers. Some native plants have very specific rhizosphere requirements for optimum root growth. Therefore, this research will mainly involve examining substrate components that can be used in potting mixes to produce native plants in containers. Bark and peat moss are important components in potting mixes, but these materials are becoming more expensive to use and can be difficult to obtain. For these reasons, alternative components made from various agricultural or forest products wastes may be suitable for use in growth substrates used to produce native plants.The research described in this proposal should be most useful to wholesale production nurseries, but it will also have substantial long-term benefits for the landscape industry in the state and region. By improving quality and increasing the number of available native plant species that can be used in managed landscapes, fewer inputs - that is water, fertilizer, and pesticides - may be needed to maintain the aesthetic value and appearance of managed landscapes. Using fewer inputs for landscape maintenance should save property owners money and reduce the chances for environmental problems due to improper or inefficient pesticide and fertilizer usage. This research will also be useful for propagating native plants to use in habitat restoration. In recent years, drought seems to be increasing across the western U.S., and often times the incidences of fire have increased as well. Native plants have an important role in restoring damaged areas so that the land can again be used for recreation or as a wildlife sanctuary. Therefore, using native plant species in managed landscapes or habitat restoration should be beneficial for homeowners, private residences, commercial sites, and the environment.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
15%
Applied
85%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
20521101020100%
Knowledge Area
205 - Plant Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
2110 - Ornamental trees and shrubs;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this study is to develop propagation and cultural production techniques for native herbaceous and woody plants that have potential for use in managed landscapes or for habitat restoration. Specific objectives include:1. Develop conventional and tissue culture techniques propagation techniques that lead to efficient reproduction of native plant species.2. Develop cultural production practices that can be used during container or field production of native plant species.
Project Methods
Species included in initial experiments will be native plants that have potential for use in managed landscapes or for habitat restoration in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Improving propagation and container or field production practices for plant species native to the Northwest are needed to improve plant quality and survivability of large numbers of native plants in commercial nurseries. Native plants from other areas of the U.S. may also be used in various studies if we have the expertise to complete the research, particularly for difficult-to-grow native plant species. Propagation of native plant species is an important first step to ensure that these species will be produced in commercial nurseries, yet limited research has been completed for plants native to the Intermountain West. In this research project, seed propagation along with cutting, grafting, or layering propagation may be used to reproduce native plant species. The type of propagation used will depend on the plant species, its growth characteristics, and production objectives. Conventional sexual and asexual propagation methods that may be used in this research are described elsewhere (Hartmann et al., 2011). Certain situations may require clonal propagation of native plants for rapid reproduction of a selected individual (George and Tripepi, 2004; Kalmbacher et al., 2004). If plant numbers need to be increased rapidly or a specific plant species is difficult to propagate by conventional means, micropropagation will be used.Micropropagation - Axillary shoot cultures. If tissue culture is needed for plant reproduction, the method of choice that will be tried first will be micropropagation via axillary shoot proliferation. This technique, axillary shoot proliferation, is the protocol of choice since the explant meristems are already pre-formed (Hartmann et al., 2011), and this technique has reduced chances for inducing variation (Pierik, 1997). Microshoot cultures of plants will be established in vitro when possible. Single-node stem segments will be taken from stock plants grown in a greenhouse (preferable) or outdoor plants (if necessary). For some native species, stem explants can be taken from the flower peduncle (George and Tripepi, 2004). Stem explants taken from stock plants will be surface sterilized with 10% sodium hypochlorite for 20 min and then rinsed three times with sterile distilled water. Fifty explants of each species will be placed on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) with 30 g/L sucrose, 8 g/L agar, and 1 mg/L benzyladenine (BA) at pH 5.6. Woody Plant Medium (WPM, Lloyd and McCown, 1980) with 20 g/L sucrose, 8 g/L agar and 1 mg/L BA at pH 5.2 will also be tried as an establishment medium for some plants. If stem explants fail to become established on either MS medium or WPM, other media, such as Driver Kuniyuki Walnut (DKW) medium (McGranahan et al., 1987) or Chu's N6 medium (Chu et al., 1975), will be tried. Explants will be grown in a culture room at 25oC and receive a 16-hr photoperiod at an intensity of 35 mmole·m-2·s-1.Multiplication, Rooting, and Acclimatization of Micropropagated Plants. Multiplication, rooting, and acclimatization of micropropagated plants will be completed using techniques similar to those described in our earlier studies (Leege and Tripepi, 1993; George and Tripepi, 1994; 2004). In brief, multiplication rates of established microshoots will be adjusted mainly by testing different types and concentrations of cytokinins (Pierik, 1997). In vitro rooting will be attempted by first adding 1 to 10 mM NAA to the basal salt medium that is found best for microshoot establishment and multiplication. Other auxins will be tried for root induction if necessary. Shoots 2 to 5 cm in height will be placed on the rooting medium and then put under low light. Alternatively, single shoots may be transferred to a perlite/peat mix for ex vitro rooting, depending on the species. Rooted shoots will be grown in the greenhouse and their growth will be evaluated. Uniformity of plants produced by micropropagation or shoot organogenesis will be evaluated.2. Develop Cultural Practices for Container or Field Production Once native plant species have been propagated, they can be grown to market size in a commercial nursery. Cultural practices that could be investigated include the amount of irrigation and fertilizer needed for obtaining optimum growth, pruning practices, potting mix components and requirements, transplant timing, root pruning, and harvest timing. Container production of native plants will be studied since a number of new nurseries, particularly in southern Idaho, are producing native species. These companies are interested in examining fertilizer usage, potting mixes and some other cultural practices.Container Production of Native Plants in Alternative Container Media. Producing native plant species in containers will help promote use of these species since homeowners prefer to handle smaller nursery stock that is easy to transport (Davidson et al., 2000). Due to the current economy and prevailing environmental concerns, two of the main components in soilless potting mixes - peat moss and softwood bark - are becoming much more expensive and difficult to obtain. For these reasons, alternative components are being used in potting mixes, but native plant response during production in alternative growth media is unknown. We will complete studies that involve production of native herbaceous and woody species grown in potting mixes made of alternative components, such as composted cattle manure or biochar made from forest waste or agricultural waste products. Various native plant species will be grown in potting mixes amended with 0 to 60% compost or some other amendment. Plant heights, widths (if appropriate), and shoot dry weights will be determined after one growing season. Different alternative components will be tested along with different native species over time. These studies should provide critical information about which plants grow well in various amendments used in potting mixes. The experiments will also help us determine what percentage of the alternative component can be used in the potting mixes to obtain optimum plant growth.Data Analyses A completely randomized design will be used for tissue culture experiments, whereas a randomized complete block design will be used for container and field experiments. If tissue cultures are placed on different shelves in the culture room or growth chamber, a randomized complete block design will be used to test for variation in plant regeneration or growth from shelf to shelf. Statistical analyses used on the data will depend on the type of data. For instance, regeneration percentages are categorical data and will be analyzed by categorical modeling tests (either Proc CATMOD or GENMOD when using SAS). The maximum likelihood estimation procedure will be used to test single degree-of-freedom contrasts for regeneration percentages. Discrete data, such as number of shoots formed or number of roots formed, can be analyzed by analysis of variance (Proc GLIMMIX) if the means are deemed important or by categorical modeling if the range of shoot or roots formed on plants needs to be known. For quantitative data, single degree-of-freedom contrasts or, when appropriate, multiple comparison tests will be used to determine specific relationships among treatments. Class comparisons will be used to test the effects of different quantities of growth regulators. Arcsine or log transformation of data may be necessary to reduce the variability of the data.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences: Nursery growers (of ornamental and native landscape plants), landscape maintenance companies, nurseries specializing in plant tissue culture, horticulture scientists at universities and private companies, and U.S. Forest Service personnel involved in habitat restoration. In addition, potting mix companies and scientists that complete experiments with potting mixes. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The lab technician has learned bioinformatics and DNA preparation skills for Next Generation Sequencing for Sequel II sequencer. Part-time technical help has learned to extract DNA from soil samples and to complete Polymerase Chain Reactions for isolated bacterial DNA. The graduate student has learned statistics, foliar mineral analysis techniques and manipulation of mineral levels in plant tissue culture media. Undergraduate students have learned how to make plant tissue culture media and how to complete axillary shoot proliferation of in vitro herbaceous and woody plant species. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from the studies were presented to nursery stock producers and landscapers at a statewide nursery grower meeting in January 2020. In addition, research results were sent to the granting agencies who post the research reports on their websites for the public to read. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period our goals are: Finish sequencing bacterial DNA and publish the results from the study investigating the usefulness of liquid microbial amendments added to greenhouse and field containers. Continue to optimize culture medium for little-leaf mockorange and complete spectral analyses of the shoots compared to foliar nutrition data. In addition, we will publish the results from this study. Continue culture medium experiments for the mirabilis species to increase shoot multiplication and shoot acclimatization to greenhouse conditions.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? For Goal 1: The goal of this study was to use foliar nutrition and shoot growth data to develop and optimize a tissue culture medium to multiply in vitro shoots of Philadelphus microphyllus. The results from this study demonstrated that zeatin and the five selected minerals had strong positive effects on shoot growth, promoting dry weight production and taller shoots for most of the minerals tested. Based on these results, we recommend the following levels of zeatin and mineral concentrations to be used to promote in vitro (tissue culture) growth of little-leaf mockorange: 1.1 µM zeatin, 60 mM N, 1.25 mM P, 3 mM Ca, 1.5 mM Mg, and 150 µM Fe. A culture medium with these concentrations of minerals and zeatin should promote in vitro shoot. We successfully established an endangered plant species, Mirabilis macfarlanei, MacFarlane's 4 o'clock, in plant tissue culture this past year and are completing experiments to increase shoot multiplication during Stage II and acclimatization during Stage IV of axillary shoot production. For Goal 2: The goal of this study was to evaluate the growth of container-grown greenhouse plants and field (container)-produced plants in response to applications of liquid microbial amendments and evaluate changes in the potting mix bacterial populations in response to applications of liquid microbial amendments. We showed that average canopy diameter, shoot dry weight and root dry weight of petunias and firechalice grown in the greenhouse as well as firechalice and mockoragne grown in containers outdoors were unaffected by microbial amendments, thus demonstrating the four tested microbial products failed to promote plant growth. In addition, sequence analysis of bacteria in the potting mixes indicated population diversity increased over time and distinct differences in the bacterial species within the media became less distinct overtime. We also found that the bacteria in the amendments failed to dominate in the potting mixes.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Hathaway NA, Love SL, Tripepi RR. 2020. Micropropagation methodology for Douglas maple (Acer glabrum var. douglasii). Native Plants Journal 21:353-358.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Khajehyar, R, and Tripepi, RR. 2020. Different cytokinins and their concentrations affect shoot growth of little-leaf mockorange (Philadelphus microphyllus A. Gray) in tissue culture. American Society for Horticultural Sciences.


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences: Nursery growers (of ornamental and native landscape plants), landscape maintenance companies, nurseries specializing in plant tissue culture, horticulture scientists at universities and private companies, and U.S. Forest Service personnel involved in habitat restoration. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided training and professional development opportunities for three undergraduate students, one M.S. student, one Ph.D. student, and the laboratory technician. The three undergraduate students working on the research projects learned how certain types of plant growth data were taken, how to make tissue culture media, and how to subculture shoot cultures. The M.S. student completed several tissue culture studies, and this student learned how to make media, calculate different concentrations of additional salts, and how to take data on in vitro shoots. The Ph.D. student learned how to make tissue culture media, and how to subculture shoot cultures, how to analyze plant growth data, and how to use spectral imaging (with a spectrometer) as a method to deterine plant health. The lab technician improved her statistical analysis skills when completing analyses of the various types of data and improved her techniques for culturing monocot species. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results are described during presentations to the nursery and landscape industries and at meetings with the gardening public. Proper acknowledgement of my public funding from USDA NIFA was acknowledged at the end of my presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The goals for the tissue culture with native plant research are to (1) figure out other tissue culture methods to use to promote establishment of the plant species struggling to survive in culture (e.g., skunkbush sumac and a new selection of Douglas maple), (2) complete additional shoot multiplication studies and rooting studies with little-leaf mockorange and oceanspray, (3) complete tissue mineral analyses and spectral analyses of the mockorange species to model shoot culture health without having to take foliar samples, and (4) publish the micropropagation protocols, which will enable growers to produce large numbers of these native plants, and Dr. Love's selections can then be released to the landscape trade.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments from the past year include strongly improving shoot multiplication for a Douglas maple, a little-leaf mockorange selection and a native phlox selection. In addition, we have proliferating shoot cultures of Calchortus nitidus, C. elegans, and C. macrocarpus maculousus (three species of sago lily) and camas Camassia quamash (all bulbous species). We just started to get one selection of skunkbush sumac to grow in culture. In addition, we started rooting experiments for Holodiscus discolor since some genotypes root easier than others. Rooting experiments on three serviceberry clones were also completed so that a manuscript is almost ready to submit for publication. I finished co-advising one M.S. student with Dr. Love, and this student completed his M.S. degree this past summer. Other accomplishments last year included starting a large experiment with testing microbial solutions (containing putative beneficial bacteria) on greenhouse grown petunia and firechalice (herbaceous perennial) and field container grown Lewis' mockorange and firechalice. Results from this past year were (1) for the greenhouse study, none of the microbial products improved plant growth, but one product inhibited plant growth, (2) we are still analyzing the data from the outdoor study, but the microbial products failed to improve plant growth, and (3) we are still in the process of determining if the microbial products affected the microbiome in the potting mixes. Two potting mixes were used including a peat-based mix and a bark-based mix. The solutions failed to improve plant growth in both mixes with the species we used in the studies.

Publications


    Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Target audiences: Nursery growers (of ornamental and native landscape plants), landscape maintenance companies, nurseries specializing in plant tissue culture, horticulture scientists at universities and private companies, and U.S. Forest Service personnel involved in habitat restoration. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided training and professional development opportunities for four undergraduate students, one Ph.D. student, and the laboratory technician. The four undergraduate students working on the research projects learned how certain types of plant growth data were taken, how to make tissue culture media, and how to subculture shoot cultures. The Ph.D. student completed several tissue culture studies, and this student learned how to make media, calculate different concentrations of additional salts, and how to take data on in vitro shoots. The lab technician improved her statistical analysis skills when completing analyses of the various types of data. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from tissue culture research with firechalice (Epilobium canum garrettii) were written in manuscript and a refereed journal paper was published in January 2018. In addition, research results are described during presentations to the nursery and landscape industries and at meetings with the gardening public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, a grant proposal will be submitted to support more research in establishing and multiply Idaho native woody plants in tissue culture. The goal of this research project is to stabilize and establish the three species (Acer glabrum, Prunus emarginata, and Holodiscus discolor) in tissue culture so that the numbers of the selected clones can be built up rapidly to enable the plants to be released to the public. In addition, we will attempt in vitro inoculation of these species with mycorrhizae. We will also continue our research in examining microbial solutions added to soilless potting mixes to determine if the microbial solutions improve the growth of treated plants. This research will involve a greenhouse study as well as container plants grown in the field.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Major accomplishments for this project this past year were (1) testing 14 diploid genotypes of litchi tomato for the ability to form tetraploid plants, (2) forming/regenerating 25 new tetraploid plants to be used for breeding to obtain triploid plants (from seeds), (3) screening 51 triploid plant lines for their ability to regenerate shoots from leaves, (4) reproducing 1,440 triploid plants via tissue culture so that these new plants can be tested for their abilities to induce nematode hatch and prevent reproduction of the nematodes, (5) planting 1,300 triploid plants in the field to determine their growth and sterility, and (6) calculate costs for producing each sterile triploid plantlet via tissue culture. Of the eight native plant selections we have tried to establish in culture this past year, two species multiplied well (Philadelphus microphyllus and Holodiscus discolor), three selections are barely surviving in culture (Phlox keleysi, Ribes leptanthum, and Rhus triolobata - one accession), and and two failed to grow well and died (Rhus trilobata - one accession, and Celtis reticulata). We have just begun to multiply the established plants and have many experiments to complete before the plants are stabilized in culture, but two plant species (selected for their flowering characteristics) may grow well. We will have to figure out other tissue culture methods to use to promote establishment of the plant species struggling to survive in culture. If the two species can be readily reproduced via tissue culture, the plants should have good commercial value due to their attractive flowers.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Alosaimi, A.A., R.R. Tripepi, and S.L. Love, 2018, Micropropagation of Epilobium canum garretti (Firechalice) by axillary shoot culture. HortScience 53:62-66.


    Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Target audiences: Nursery growers (of ornamental and native landscape plants), landscape maintenance companies, nurseries specializing in plant tissue culture, horticulture scientists at universities and private companies, and U.S. Forest Service personnel involved in habitat restoration. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided training and professional development opportunities for five undergraduate students, one M.S. student, and the laboratory technician. The five undergraduate students working on the research projects learned how certain types of plant growth data were taken, how to make tissue culture media, and how to subculture shoot cultures. The M.S. student completed several tissue culture studies, and this student learned how to make media, calculate different concentrations of additional salts, and how to take data on in vitro shoots. The lab technician improved her statistical analysis skills when completing analyses of the various types of data. She also attended a national conference for the American Society for Horticultural Sciences in 2017. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from tissue culture research with firechalice (Epilobium canum garrettii) were written in manuscript and accepted as a refereed journal paper (and will be published in January 2018). In addition, research results are described during presentations to the nursery and landscape industries and at meetings with the gardening public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, a grant proposal will be submitted to support more research in establishing and multiply Idaho native woody plants in tissue culture. The goal of this research project is to stabilize and establish the three species (Acer glabrum, Arctostaphylos patula, and Holodiscus discolor) in tissue culture so that the numbers of the selected clones can be built up rapidly to enable the plants to be released to the public. We will also continue our research in trying to improve plant regeneration efficiency of litchi tomato plants. The goal of this research project is to reduce the costs of producing tissue culture plantlets making the plantlets more affordable to use as a trap crop for potato cyst nematode.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Impact from trying to Obtain Sterile Litchi Tomato plants - Goal 1: develop tissue culture procedures for efficient reproduction Potato Cyst Nematode is a problem for potato growers in southeastern Idaho, but litchi tomato can be used as a trap crop for this nematode species, thereby offering a biological agent to help eliminate this pest. Since litchi tomato is considered an invasive plant, obtaining sterile plants would be useful for making it a valuable biological control agent to eradicate PCN in Idaho. We have proven the concept of generating tetraploid plants and crossing them with diploid plants to obtain seeds that have a triploid genome. The Idaho Potato Commission asked that we complete the field study with triploid plants during the summer of 2017. The plants grew well in vitro and in the greenhouse as well as transplanting well in the field. Two triploid lines were planted in the field and grew well. In addition, few seeds formed in the fruits, and their viability and ploidy level have to be tested (in 2018). We have shown the sterile litchi tomato plants can be readily mass produced. If large numbers of triploid plants from seeds cannot be generated, asexual plant propagation can be readily used. The concern, however, is the cost per plantlet. This cost will need to be reduced to make using asexually propagated triploid plants affordable as a trap crop for farmers. If this trap can eliminate the PCN in the southeast Idaho potato fields, growers there can once again start to grow potato crops that can be sold out of the area. In addition, the triploid plants can be used in other parts of Idaho or anywhere in the world where PCN is a problem. Major accomplishments for this project this past year were (1) forming/regenerating close to 65 new tetraploid plants, a number of which were used for breeding to obtain triploid (putatively sterile) plants (from seeds), (2) growing two specific triploid plants for reproduction for field testing: the two genotypes were cloned by shoot organogenesis from leaves and by stem cuttings via hydroponic production, and (3) reproducing just over 2,300 triploid plantlets via tissue culture and acclimatizing these plantlets in the greenhouse and then outdoors. Tissue culture plantlets and hydroponically produced plants were shipped to southern Idaho and planted in nematode infected fields. Fruits were randomly collected from plants in the field and checked for seed production to verify the fruits were lacked seeds. A total of 22 seeds were found in ~1,700 fruits. Testing on seed viability and ploidy level will be determined in 2018. Impact from tissue culture propagation of native plants - Goal 1: develop tissue culture procedures for efficient reproduction The use of native plant species in managed landscapes throughout the state and region has caught on slowly due to limited availability from wholesale production nurseries. The objective of this research was to develop plant tissue culture techniques that could be used to propagate a dwarf selection of western serviceberry and a small herbaceous plant called firechalice. The owner of the nursery that has the commercial rights to the plants from Dr. Love's research program has told me that he has started the patent process for the serviceberry selection and will now release these two plant species at least one or two years earlier than planned since so many plants have been produced by tissue culture (compared to the number of plants that could have been released by conventional plant propagation methods). This early plant release may allow the nursery to sell $15,000 to $20,000 worth of the new plants in 2018. Major accomplishments for this project last year included try to put three native plant species into plant tissue culture to reproduce the plants rapidly so that the improved selections of native plants can be released to the public more quickly than by conventional propagation. Although we have just started to increase the number of stem cultures established in tissue culture (i.e., we are at the very early stages of this research), we have established Acer glabrum, Arctostaphlos patula, and Holodiscus discolor, in tissue culture. In addition, we refined the rooting process for the dwarf serviceberry selection and the firechalice selections during the past year. One manuscript was submitted and accepted by a journal, and the second one is almost ready to submit. I am co-advising one new M.S. student with Dr. Love, and this student is completing tissue culture research on propagation of native plants.

    Publications

    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Knerr, A.J., S.M. Royals, R.R. Tripepi, and J.E. Kuhl. 2017. Optimization of shoot organogenesis from litchi tomato leaves. Abstract (for the International Conference of Plant Cells In Vitro: Fundamentals and Applications II. held in Vienna, Austria)
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Knerr, A.J., and R.R. Tripepi. 2017. Evaluation of four biochars as potential media amendments for container plant production. Abstract (for the annual meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Sciences, held in Hawaii).


    Progress 07/01/16 to 09/30/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The target audienced of the research was nursery stock growers who produce plants in containers, plant propagators at nurseries, and the scientific horticulture community interested in plant propagation via tissue culture. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This research provided training activities for the undergraduate students helping with the research and professional development for the Ph.D. student completing much of the research. The undergraduate students learned and completed advanced professional skills, such as making tissue culture media and learning how to subculture plants in vitro. The students helped all year allowing them to attain very high proficiency with plant tissue culture techniques and one laboratory analytical procedure (flow cytometry). This research also provided training activities for the graduate student completing the research for her dissertation. The graduate student learned and completed advanced professional skills, such as making tissue culture media, learning how to subculture plants in vitro, and designing/planning experiments. The graduate student attained a high proficiency with plant tissue culture techniques and statistical analyses of data. I spent much time working one-on-one with the graduate student. Professional development activities for the graduate student included increased knowledge and skills in plant tissue culture and scientific writing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information from this past year's research on plant tissue culture have been communicated with a commercial nursery. Information about biochar use in potting mixes was presented at a regional nursery and landscape conference last year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Native Plant Propagation: During the next reporting period, we may complete several rooting experiments with the dwarf serviceberry ecotype to determine why a form of sequestered iron seems to improve rooting of micropropagated shoots. In addition, we will write manuscripts for refereed journals so that the research results with the two species can be published. Finally, we will attempt to establish two or three additional selected species of native woody plants in tissue culture to increase their propagation speed and efficiency. Potting Mix Study: During the next year, we will complete analysis of all the biochar data to determine if we can get a publication out of the various research projects.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Several accomplishments have been made during the past year with this project. We improved the shoot multiplication of a new dwarf serviceberry ecotype and found a way to root the shoots at very high percentages. For a selected ecotype of fire chalice, we developed a complete micropropagation protocol - from shoot establishment and multiplication to rooting and acclimatization - to increase the number of plants readily available to release to the nursery industry. Both of these accomplishments will enable these two improved selections of native landscape plants to be propagated commercially and released to the public within the next two years. Research with biochar mixed in bark-peat based potting mixes has shown that two types of biochars - including an "engineered" biochar - did little to promote shoot growth of Douglas spirea and firechalice even though 0, 5, 10, 15 or 20% (by volume) biochar was used in the potting mixes. Based on three years of biochar studies that included five different types of biochars, the main reason to use a biochar in soilless potting mixes would be to sequester carbon in the mix (and allow nurseries to obtain financial benefits for sequestering carbon at their business).

    Publications

    • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Alosaimi, A.A. 2016. Improving shoot growth and multiplication of native plants in tissue culture. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Idaho.