Plant Breeding and Genetics: Harvesting the Power of DNA · plant breeders are working on developing even better, more prolific varieties. MAES plant geneticists and microbiologists

MICHIGANAGRICULTURAL

EXPERIMENT STATION

SPRING 2005 VOL. 23 NO. 1

Plant Breedingand Genetics:

Harvesting the Power of

DNA

FINALfutures_spring05.qx6 6/29/05 10:12 AM Page 1

2 | FUTURES

Since its creation, the MichiganAgricultural Experiment Station has beenhelping growers by developing new plantvarieties and cultural techniques. Breedingand variety release are an outgrowth of theHatch Act, passed by Congress in 1887, whichcreated the MAES.

In 1877, William Beal established the firstseed testing laboratory in the United States atwhat was then the Michigan AgriculturalCollege. Beal was also the first person tocross-fertilize corn to increase yield throughhybrid vigor. In 1940, Stanley Johnston,superintendent of the MAES field station atSouth Haven, made history by releasing theRedhaven peach variety, an early-ripening,red-skinned peach he had developed.Redhaven, the first commercial red-skinnedpeach, was one of 11 “Haven” peach varietiesdeveloped at MSU, and it went on to becomethe most widely grown cultivar in the world.

Michigan growers continue to need newvarieties to remain competitive, and MAESplant breeders are working on developingeven better, more prolific varieties. MAESplant geneticists and microbiologists also arecreating new tools that plant breeders canuse when developing these plants. In thisissue of Futures, we feature just a small por-tion of the MAES-supported plant breedingand genetics research.

Biotechnology is used to improve plantsand make food production more efficientand profitable. But because the science is dif-ficult to understand and often poorlyexplained in the media, many people havefears about the technology and its use. TheMSU Plant Transformation Center (PTC), oneof nine such centers around the country, ishelping to ease those fears by providing edu-cation and information about biotechnology.The PTC is a hub for biotechnology tech-niques at MSU, and one of its goals is todevelop biotechnology methods for cropsadvantageous to Michigan agriculture, as wellas provide services and training to MSUresearchers.

Since 1915, MSU plant breeders, many ofthem supported by the MAES, have releasedmore than 300 varieties of plants, from corn,wheat and alfalfa to zinnias, strawberries andspruce trees. Each breeder works closely withMichigan growers to improve the desirable

traits in each crop while keeping yields high.Yet some in agriculture perceive that plantbreeding is becoming the purview of privatecompanies because many plant breedingpositions at public universities are beingeliminated. To address that issue, the PlantBreeding and Genetics Group at MSU organ-ized an international conference on thetopic, the first of its kind. With support fromthe MAES, the group was able to bring inexperts from around the world, and partici-pants were highly enthusiastic about the con-ference and its follow-up work.

Before plant breeders can develop a vari-ety that is insect- or disease-resistant, theyhave to find a source of resistance, usuallyfrom a plant from the same or relatedspecies. Then the scientists have to deter-mine how to cross-breed the plants or isolatethe responsible genes and move them fromone plant to the other. The MAES supportsthe work of a number of researchers whocharacterize themselves as “filling up thetoolbox” of techniques for use by other scien-tists, such as plant breeders. Many timesthese scientists isolate genes or genetic path-ways responsible for desirable traits and thendevelop new techniques to insert the genesinto economically important agriculturalcrop plants.

The history of Michigan State University,the pioneer land-grant institution, is closelytied to the history of agriculture and naturalresources. In honor of MSU’s 150th anniver-sary, each issue of Futures in 2005 will featurea special sesquicentennial article highlightingthe intersection of MAES and MSU history.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Futuresand that it helps you understand moreabout the MAES and the research it funds. Ifyou have comments or questions or wouldlike to subscribe to Futures (it’s free!), sendcorrespondence to Futures Editor, 109Agriculture Hall, Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824-1039, or send an e-mail to [email protected].

For the most current information aboutthe MAES, I invite you to subscribe to the freeMAES e-mail newsletter. Sign up by visitingthe MAES Web site at www.maes.msu.edu/news.htm. Scroll to the bottom of the pageand complete the subscription form.

::: Jamie DePolo

Plant Breeding and Genetics


Spring 2005 | 3

MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION ::: Spring 2005 Vol. 23 No.1

25 Filling Up the ToolboxMAES scientists are creating biotechnology tools to help other scientists improve crops and theenvironment.

30 A History of Good VarietiesThis issue’s special sesquicentennial featurehighlights many of the varieties developed by MSU researchers.

34 Research in the News

39 Directory

All photography by Kurt Stepnitz and Greg Kohuth, University Relationsphotographers, except where noted.

Cover photoilllustration by Christine Altese.

4 Biotechnology: Understanding the Risks and OpportunitiesMAES scientists use agricultural biotechnology toimprove plants and food production and want tomake sure the public is aware of the positives as wellas the negatives of the technology.

10 The MSU Plant Transformation Center:Technology for MichiganThe Plant Transformation Center was created to helpthe state’s diverse agricultural industry benefit frombiotechnology.

12 Bred to FlourishMAES plant breeders have developed some of themost popular and prolific selections and are workingon even better ones.

21 Dedicated to Improving CropsThe Michigan Crop Improvement Association wasfounded in 1908 by a university researcher and stilllooks to MSU for new varieties.

24 Who Will Train the Plant Breeders of theFuture?As plant breeders at public universities retire, they’renot being replaced. The MSU Plant Breeding andGenetics Group sponsored an international seminarto help industry and government representatives,university administrators and scientists tackle thequestion.

4

Jamie DePolo, Editor

Christine Altese, Art Director

John C. Baker, Acting Director

Doug Buhler, Acting Associate Director

Doreen Woodward, Assistant Director

Geoff Koch, Writer

Futures is published quarterly by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment

Station. To receive Futures free of charge write to Futures Editor, 109

Agriculture Hall, MSU, East Lansing, MI 48824, or call (517) 355-0123.

Permission to reprint material in this issue is granted, providing the

meaning is not changed. Credit given to the publication as the source of

the material is appreciated. Use of trade names is for identification only

and does not imply endorsement or criticism of the products.

25

futures


4 | FUTURES

UNDERSTANDING THE OPPORTUNITIES

Scientists who use biotechnologyhave the same goals as traditionalplant breeders: making the foodsupply safer, less expensive, largerand more readily available to theworld’s growing population.


Spring 2005 | 5

Biotechnology

In 1996, only 21 percent of people knew what DNA is, according

to a poll by the National Science Foundation. In 2003, 60 percent

of people knew what DNA is, according to a Harris poll. The

increase in knowledge is good, but it means that 40 percent of

people still don’t know what DNA is. (If you’re not sure, see the

glossary on page 7.)

ITIES AND THE RISKS

SCIENTISTS USE AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

TO IMPROVE PLANTS AND FOOD PRODUCTION.

BUT THERE IS CONTROVERSY. . .

When presented with the statement, “Ordinary tomatoes do not contain genes, while geneti-

cally modified tomatoes do,” more than 60 percent of Europeans agreed, according to a 2002

survey by researchers from the London School of Economics. (Every single tomato in the

world contains genes.) The survey also asked respondents to agree or disagree with this state-

ment: “By eating a genetically modified fruit, a person’s genes could also become modified.”

About half of the respondents agreed. (This statement is untrue.) �In a 2004 survey by the Rutgers

Food Policy Institute, 64 percent of people in the United States classified themselves as knowing “very little” or


6 | FUTURES

“nothing at all” about genetically modified foods.

More than 50 percent thought that chicken in the

supermarket had been genetically engineered (this

is untrue — poultry has not been genetically engi-

neered using today’s advanced technologies,

though traditional breeding has gradually changed

the bird’s genome over time).Clearly, most people don’t completely under-

stand how genetics work. That fuzziness, coupledwith the many terms surrounding the science —biotechnology, bioengineering, genetic engineer-ing, genetic modification, gene splicing, etc. — hasmade the practice of improving plants using the sci-ence controversial to most and quite frightening tosome people.

“People don’t favor what they don’t understand,”said Wayne Loescher, MAES horticulture researcherand ad hoc member of the MSU PlantTransformation Center (PTC) AdvisoryCommittee. “Science has sometimes droppedthe ball in explaining biotechnology. That’swhy the educational component of the PlantTransformation Center is so important. Wehave to provide information and resources topeople.”

WHAT IS BIOTECHNOLOGY?“You people in the developed world arecertainly free to debate the merits of geneticallymodified foods, but can we please eat first?”

— Florence Wambugu, Kenyan plant breeder

Agricultural biotechnology is a collection ofscientific techniques, including genetic engi-neering, that are used to improve plants, ani-mals and microorganisms. Improving plants

has been a goal of every recorded civilization onEarth. Farmers cultivated crops and chose seedfrom the best plants to ensure that next year’s cropwould be as good as or better than the past year’s.This science of selection has given us broccoli, cab-bage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. An early rel-ative, Brassica oleracea, grows wild in western andsouthern Europe; hundreds of years of carefulselection led to these now common foods. Wheat isthe result of three wild grasses being interbred.Nectarines are the result of crossing varieties ofpeaches and plums. In short, certain types ofbiotechnology have been occurring for thousandsof years — as long as people have been growingcrops and eating them.

All living things, including the fruits and vegeta-bles we eat, contain genes that provide the instruc-tions that tell the cells how to function. The infor-mation for many important traits is passed fromgeneration to generation through genes, which aremade of a large molecule called DNA. Every livingthing contains DNA.

DNA is a strand of genes, much like a strand ofpearls. And the amount of DNA is usually quite spe-cific to a species. For purposes of this example, we’llsay the necklace has 40 pearls in it.

In traditional plant breeding, a scientist crossesthe original plant with another variety that has adesirable trait, such as resistance to a disease. Butthe scientist doesn’t know which of the genes(pearls) from each parent plant are in the new off-

“ALL THE RISKS NEED TO BE EVALUATED, BUT

IN THE CASE OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE

BIOTECH CROPS, THESE HAVE BEEN

STUDIED EXTENSIVELY — MORE THAN ANY

CONVENTIONALLY BRED CROP.”

Wayne Loescher, MAES horticulture researcher, studies bio-synthesis and the degradation of sugar alcohols in plants. He often speaks publicly about the risks and opportunities of biotechnology.


Spring 2005 | 7

spring plant — all the genetic information getsmixed up at pollination, and the breeder has nocontrol over which pearls from each parent makeup the new necklace of the offspring. Although thenew plant will have 20 pearls from one parent and20 from the other, exactly which 20 from each isdetermined by a random process. The parent plantthat has the desirable trait may also have someundesirable traits, such as lower yield. Again, thebreeder has no idea which genes have come fromeach parent and must study the new offspring plantand see which characteristics it exhibits. If it is onlya little more disease-resistant, then the breeder maycross the offspring plant with the disease-resistantparent to create another generation and then studyit to see if it is any more disease-resistant. It couldalso have inherited the undesirable trait, which willhave to be removed by backcrossing until the off-spring contain mostly desirable genes. This is why itcan take many, many backcrosses and 15 to 20 yearsto create a new plant variety.

Biotechnology eliminates much of the uncer-tainty. It allows a scientist to take the one gene thatis responsible for the desirable trait and insert onlythat one into the offspring. This technique is knownas gene splicing. Keeping with the example, a singlepearl from one parent’s necklace is inserted into theother parent’s necklace to create the offspring. Theresearcher knows exactly which gene or genes havemoved and can more quickly see if the offspringexpress the desirable trait.

The first food products of biotechnology — anenzyme used in cheese production and a yeast usedfor baking — appeared on the market in 1990. In2001, the acreage planted in biotechnology crops(also known as GMOs — genetically modifiedorganisms, transgenic crops or bioengineeredcrops) was more than 40 times larger than it was in1996. An estimated 5.5 million farmers grew 130million acres of biotech crops in about 15 countries,with the United States, Canada and Argentina lead-ing the way. Nearly half of U.S. corn, 80 percent ofU.S. soybeans and 75 percent of U.S. cotton nowcome from biotech seeds. In 2004, about 167 millionacres of genetically modified crops were grown.

PLANT GENETICS PRIMERCELLSCells are the fundamental units of every living thing. Theinstructions that tell a cell what to do are in the chemical DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid) within the cell.

DNADeoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in all organisms is made up of thesame chemical and physical components. The DNA molecule isa double helix — two spiral strands that wind around eachother like a twisted rope ladder. DNA contains the four basicchemical units of life, known as nucleotide bases: adenine(A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T).

DNA SEQUENCEThe DNA sequence is the particular side-by-side arrangementof the nucleotide bases along the DNA strand. These basepairs form the rungs in the twisted rope ladder structure of theDNA. The order of the base pairs spells out the exactinstructions required to create a organism with its own uniquetraits.

GENOMEThe genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA. Genomesvary greatly in size — the smallest is for a bacterium withabout 600,000 base pairs. The human genome has more than 3billion base pairs. The yeast genome has more than 12 millionbase pairs. The wheat genome has more than 15 billion basepairs, and the E. coli bacterium genome has 4.6 million basepairs.

CHROMOSOMEDNA is arranged into distinct chromosomes — physicallyseparate molecules that range in length from about 50 millionto 250 million base pairs.

GENEEach chromosome contains a number of genes, the basic unitsof heredity. Genes are specific sequences of bases thatencode instructions on how to make proteins.

PROTEINProteins perform most of life’s functions — including cellgrowth, repair, digestion and aging — and make up almost allcell structures. Proteins are large, complex molecules made upof smaller units called amino acids. The chemical properties ofthese amino acids make the protein chains fold up intospecific three-dimensional structures that define theirfunction in the cell. Many proteins are enzymes, which cantrigger or speed up chemical reactions. Other proteins aretransporters, such as hemoglobin, which takes oxygen fromthe lungs to cells in the body.

PROTEOMEThe collection of all proteins in a cell is called its proteome.The genome is relatively unchanging, but the proteomechanges from minute to minute in response to tens ofthousands of signals from within and outside the cell.


8 | FUTURES

William Bealestablished thefirst seed testinglaboratory in theUnited States atthe MichiganAgriculturalCollege (MAC).Beal was thefirst person tocross-fertilizecorn to increaseyield throughhybrid vigor.

1877(Other biotech products include pharmaceuticalproducts such as human insulin and human growthfactor, consumer products such as biodegradablelaundry detergent, stone-washed jeans and towels,and contact lens cleaner. Almost anything withenzymes in it is likely a biotech product.) Virtuallyall of the biotech crops on the market today weredeveloped to reduce crop damage caused by weeds,insects and diseases. In the future, scientists hopeto develop crops that can be used to create newmaterials or energy sources, provide more nutri-ents, treat diseases or serve as vaccines to preventdiseases.

Scientists who use biotechnology have the samegoals as traditional plant breeders:

• Making the food supply safer for consumersand the environment.

• Making food less expensive to produce.

• Increasing the food supply to support a grow-ing population in the face of decreasing tillableland resources.

According to statistics from noted agriculturalresearcher Norman Borlaug, who won the NobelPeace Prize in 1970 for his work on preventing star-vation in less developed parts of the world, food pro-duction in the United States went from 252 million

tons per year in 1960 to 650 million tons per year in2002 with 25 million fewer acres of farmland. Theaverage U.S. farmer in 1940 fed 19 people: todayeach farmer feeds 129 people, and less than 2 per-cent of people in the United States are farmers. Lessthan 2 percent of the population is feeding the other98 percent. No wonder biotechnology is controver-sial — a small group applies the technology and alarge group may be affected by something they havelittle or no understanding of or control over.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIESAs technology advances, it is important that

scientists and regulatory agencies assess theimpacts of both new and existing technologies forfarmworker and consumer safety and for any envi-ronmental effects on plants, animals and watersystems.

“Some of the issues associated with biotechcrops include the emergence of ‘superweeds’ thatwe won’t be able to control, genetic pollution — theidea that the genes from biotech crops can moveinto other plants — and horizontal transfer — thatthe biotech crop genes will move into people orbacteria,” Loescher said. “People are also con-cerned that biotechnology will affect the biodiversi-ty of plants. All these risks need to be evaluated, butin the case of commercially available biotech crops,these have been studied extensively — more than inany conventionally bred crop.”

There are two main ways that the risks of newtechnology are approached. One is known as theprecautionary principle — the technology is notused until it’s possible to prove there is no risk. Theother is to compare the new technology with cur-rent practices to see if using it reduces risk.

Loescher used the biotech crop Bt cotton as anexample. Traditional cotton plants are susceptibleto a number of pests and require numerous appli-cations of pesticides to control them and make thecrop viable. The “Bt” in “Bt cotton” stands forBacillus thuringiensis, a naturally occurring bac-terium that is harmless to people and animals butkills certain pest insects. When researchers createdcotton that manufactures its own Bt, the amount ofchemicals used to control cotton pests was dramat-ically reduced.

“Similar comparisons should be made whennew biotech crops are introduced,” Loescher said.“We need to take into account current practices andtheir associated risks. Statistics show that inAustralia, growers who plant Bt cotton use 45 per-cent fewer pesticides. An article in Science said that

MAES horticulture researcher Ken Sink directs the PlantTransformation Center (PTC). The PTC provides reliablebiotech services to MSU plant scientists and other groups.


Spring 2005 | 9

pesticide poisonings in China have been reducedby 75 percent because of Bt cotton. In the UnitedStates, data from the National Center for Food andAgricultural Policy show that use of Bt corn reducedpesticide application by 46 million pounds in 2001.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and theU.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have estab-lished regulations that govern the production andconsumption of biotech foods. These agencies workwith university scientists and other individuals toensure that the regulations are based on sound sci-ence. All the available evidence to date shows thatfoods from biotech crops are as safe as foods fromnon-biotech crops. There have been no reportsdocumenting illness from biotech foods. This coun-try’s food supply is the safest in the world, but thatdoesn’t mean it is 100 percent safe — outbreaks ofillness from contamination or spoilage of tradition-ally produced foods still occur.

People who don’t want to eat biotech foods havethat choice. They can buy food products that meetcertified organic standards. These standards do notallow the use of genetically engineered foods orprocessing aids.

“I think there are definite advantages to biotech-nology,” Loescher said. “It offers expedient solutionsthat take advantage of the science we now haveavailable to us. Biotechnology is not going to replacetraditional methods — it augments them. It doesallow us to create crops that can be produced inmore environmentally friendly and sustainableways.

“It’s understandable that many people are con-cerned about biotechnology,” he continued. “Manypeople are unfamiliar with the technology and areunaware of the safeguards that are in place to pro-tect the public and the food supply. There is a mis-trust of the industry; the public needs a strongassurance of safety and, unfortunately, the scientif-ic community has not addressed the public’s con-cerns nor effectively communicated the value ofthis technology. We hope the Plant TransformationCenter can help with that.”

NOTHING IS RISK-FREE“Everything we eat is a poison; it is the dosage thatmakes it poisonous!”

— Paracelsus (1493-1541), Swiss medical scholarwho is considered the father of therapeutic medicine

Much of the concern about biotechnologyrevolves around science’s inability to guarantee

absolutely that it is 100 percent safe. Becausebiotechnology is new, people are unsure what anacceptable level of risk for it is. For somethingfamiliar, such as crossing the street, people accept aslight risk because they are comfortable with the

action. But the risk that they could be hit by a carstill exists, even if it is incredibly small.

“There is no zero risk,” Loescher said. “We con-sume about 10,000 natural toxins daily. Roastedcoffee has about 1,000 chemicals. Of 27 tested, 19were carcinogens. Similarly, potatoes, celery, kidneybeans, peach seeds, cassava and wheat all have tox-ins in them. But we’re comfortable with the old andnatural and anxious about the new and synthetic.”

The safety data required by the USDA, EPA andFDA are extensive — much more data are required

MAES scientist Jim Hancock, who breeds blueberries andstrawberries, looks to the Plant Transformation Center when he wants to know if a specific gene is available.

“BIOTECHNOLOGY IS NOT GOING TO REPLACE

TRADITIONAL METHODS — IT AUGMENTS THEM.

IT ALLOWS US TO CREATE CROPS THAT CAN

BE PRODUCED IN MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY

FRIENDLY AND SUSTAINABLE WAYS.”


10 | FUTURES

on biotechnology crops than on traditionally bredcrops, though the outcomes might be the same. Apartial list includes:

• Product description (crop and species names;intended technical effect; intended composi-tional changes; food use: fresh and/orprocessed, feed use; source of the gene andhistory of its use; gene function).

• Molecular characterization.

• Toxicity studies.

• Effects of antibiotic resistance marker genes(analysis of potential horizontal gene transferin humans; analysis of potential horizontalgene transfer in the environment).

• Nutritional data (nutrients, proteins, aminoacids, calories, vitamins, ash, moisture content,crude protein, crude fat, crude carbohydrates).

• Other safety studies (substantial equivalencywith parental variety, literature review andbackground, allergenicity, natural toxicants,anti-nutritional effects, protein digestibility).

• Environmental aspects (field trials at multiplesites, four replicates/site plus isogenic line[s]plus parental variety plus other varieties toestablish a range of values, biology of thecrop analysis, outcrossing and gene flowstudy, gene flow to same species, gene flow torelated and wild species, disease and insectresistance changes).

Michigan is the country’s No. 1 producer of minor or spe-cialty crops – basically, anything that isn’t corn, soybeans,wheat or cotton. Though cherries, blueberries, squash, gerani-ums and cucumbers might be considered minor when com-pared with the millions of acres devoted to the field crops,these high-value specialty crops are hugely important toMichigan agriculture and the state’s economy.

Because private companies don’t make as much moneyfrom specialty crops, research on biotechnology techniqueshas focused on the big, money-making crops. To helpMichigan’s diverse agricultural industry benefit from biotech-nology, the MAES in 2002 created the MSU PlantTransformation Center (PTC), one of nine such centersaround the country. The PTC’s goals are to develop biotech-nology methods for crops advantageous to Michigan agricul-ture, as well as provide biotech services and training to facul-ty members and graduate students, and serve as an educa-tional resource on biotechnology for the public.

“MSU is one of the top universities in the country in plant

biology,” said Ken Sink, MAES horticulture scientist whoserves as PTC director. “We have a lot of good people here,and there are many biotechnology opportunities for impor-tant Michigan crops.”

Part of the center’s mission is to provide reliable biotechservices to campus plant scientists and other groups. So, forexample, if a researcher developing a new asparagus varietydoesn’t have the expertise or facilities to do tissue culture inhis or her lab, the PTC can do the work on a fee-for-servicebasis.

“In Michigan, we have a lot of potential for nutraceuticalsor functional foods [foods that have a health benefit beyondbasic nutrition],” Sink explained. “But our immediate atten-tion is on controlling weeds through biotechnology. This willallow growers to reduce pesticide applications, which is betterfor the environment and more cost-effective.”

As director, Sink employs a postdoctoral researcher in thePTC lab and works with a rotating advisory committee whosemembers represent the broad areas of biotechnology.

“There is a lot of molecular genetics work on campus,” saidJim Hancock, MAES small fruit breeder and PTC AdvisoryCommittee member. “People are interested in the biology butnot the application of the work. The PTC can do contract workto get a certain gene into a specific crop — herbicide resist-ance into strawberry, for example. Then that strawberry germplasm is another tool that plant breeders can use. The PTCalso serves as a clearinghouse of available non-patentedgenes. If you want to know if a gene is available, you can askthe PTC.”

“Having a central location on campus for biotechnologywork is good,” said Dave Douches, MAES potato breeder whois also a PTC Advisory Committee member. “It gives everyonea place to go for training or to get work done and helps to fos-ter collaborations between scientists. Wherever there is aneed in biotechnology, the PTC will try and fill it.”

THE MSU PLANT TRANSFORMATION CENTER: TECHNOLOGY FOR MICHIGAN


Spring 2005 | 11

• Germination and flowering studies.

• Ecological impact (changes in soil degradation;variations from traditional products; change infarming practices; effects on non-targetinsects; residual effects on subsequent crops;resistance management program; crop safetystudy; produce quality; yield studies; andimpact on non-target organisms such as earth-worms, microorganisms, non-target arthro-pods, grazing birds and mammals).

“To me, biotechnology today is similar to therailroad in the 1830s,” said Mariam Sticklen, profes-sor of crop and soil sciences, who has been usingbiotechnology since 1978 and doing genetic trans-

formation since 1987. “In 1838, President AndrewJackson received a letter from concerned citizensdemanding that he stop railroad technology. Theywrote to the president that railroads were allowingtrains to move with a breakneck speed of 15 milesper hour, setting crops on fire, scaring women andlivestock, destroying farm fields and creating otherproblems. People were scared of these big, noisymachines that, yes, occasionally had little prob-lems. I think that’s where we are today with geneticengineering. The genetic engineering systemappears to be moving very quickly, but we’re stillimproving and refining it. We need to be proactiveand improve this very promising technology.”

::: Jamie DePolo

“We have a very big public education mission,” addedRichard Allison, MAES plant biology and plant pathology sci-entist. “This component is just as important as the on-cam-pus technical work. I believe that Michigan can truly benefitfrom biotechnology. With education, we can turn any criti-cisms around and help people see the value of the technolo-gy to the state.”

As part of its initial education and outreach efforts, thePTC is working with the Michigan Association of ScienceTeachers to provide information on biotechnology in generaland the center in particular.

“We know that people don’t know a lot about biotechnol-ogy,” said Kirk Heinze, director of Communication andTechnology Services for the College of Agriculture andNatural Resources, who is also on the PTC AdvisoryCommittee and oversees the center’s outreach efforts.“There’s no better target than young people for this informa-tion. One of the things we want to demonstrate to them isbiotechnology’s role in sustainable agriculture.”

The PTC also maintains close contact with the MichiganDepartment of Agriculture (MDA). MDA toxicologist BrianHughes serves on the Advisory Committee and believes it’sappropriate for MSU to take the lead in educating Michiganresidents about biotechnology.

“MSU is a leader and a credible source of information onbiotechnology research and education,” he said. “The MDA’srole is to track changes in federal biotechnology regulationsand the development of new crops, to ensure their accessibil-ity and proper use, and to make sure the integrity of non-biotech crops is maintained.”

In the near future, Sink hopes to develop commercialproducts for the university that can be licensed and use thosefunds to help support the center.

“We want to reduce pesticide applications, which helpsthe environment and makes agriculture more sustainable,”he said. “We believe we have a role to play, and we have avision. Our work supports Michigan agriculture.”

::: Jamie DePolo

Left to right: Brian Hughes, toxicologist with the Michigan Department of Agriculture; Kirk Heinze, director of Communication and TechnologyServices for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Jim Hancock, MAES small fruit breeder, all serve on the PTC AdvisoryCommittee. Public education about biotechnology is a big part of the PTC mission.

Liberty HydeBailey, MAC horticulturist,established thefirst horticulturelaboratory in theUnited States atMAC. He urgedthat horticulturecould beadvanced bycross-breeding,hybridization,the “chancegrowth ofseedlings” andselection fromwild species.

1880s


12 | FUTURES


Spring 2005 | 13

reeding and genetics have allowed plant agri-

culture to become more productive, more

economical and more environmentally

friendly. Ancient farmers used a form of

genetic engineering as a tool long before it

was a science. By selecting seeds from the

strongest and most disease-resistant plants

in their fields and cross-breeding those

plants with plants of other varieties, they gradually

improved their crops.

The science began to evolve in 1865 when Gregor Mendel,

an Austrian botanist and monk, identified what he called

“hereditary factors” — now known as genes. Three years later

Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biologist, unknowingly discov-

ered DNA — deoxyribonucleic acid. In 1876, Charles Darwin

conducted experiments in breeding and published Cross and

Self Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom. A year after that,

William Beal, a renowned horticulturist at Michigan

Agricultural College (later Michigan State University), estab-

lished the first seed testing laboratory in the United States

and was the first person to cross-pollinate corn to increase

yields. His research demonstrated to farmers the advantages

of hybrid vigor.

Today, MAES plant breeders continue to work closely with

industry and commodity group representatives around the

state to ensure that their breeding programs meet the needs

of growers. From Christmas trees to potatoes to cherries to

blueberries to soybeans and other field crops, the scientists

strive to create crops tailored to the state’s conditions.

“I think all the breeders on campus would say their pri-

mary goal is to develop varieties for Michigan needs,” said

MAES horticultural researcher Jim Hancock who breeds

blueberries and strawberries. “Each crop has different traits

that are desired by our growers, and we work closely with

them to make sure we meet those needs.”

“New varieties are important to farmers — they need

them to stay competitive with other states in terms of yield

and costs,” said Randy Judd, manager of the Michigan Crop

Improvement Association (MCIA). The MCIA promotes the

use of and provides certified seed to Michigan growers for

field crops such as corn, wheat, oats, soybeans and dry

beans. Since 1996, potato growers have had their own associ-

ation, the Michigan Seed Potato Association, that certifies

potato seed.

“MSU is a major source of new material for the MCIA; the

university is critically important to our members,” Judd said.

“We definitely want to encourage the university to continue

to release varieties.”

Michigan growers need new varieties to remain competitive.

MAES plant breeders have developed some of

the most popular and prolific selections and are

working on even better ones.


14 | FUTURES

When DaveDouches cameto MSU in 1988,he was a newlyminted geneticsPh.D. from the University of California-Davis and had done potato research atthe International Potato Research Centerin Peru. By combining traditional cross-ing programs and biotechnology,Douches has released several varietiesover the past 17 years (it takes 10 to 12years to develop a new potato variety)that have good processing traits, moreuniform size and disease resistance.

“We have a very active breeding pro-gram,” Douches said. “Our pipeline isprimed and we’re in the process of releas-ing new varieties. Because it takes a whileto develop a new variety, we tend to have

things happening simultaneously. We’llcontinue to have new releases over thecoming years.”

Michigan, the No. 1 producer of chip-ping potatoes in the country, producedmore than 15 million hundredweight of

potatoes in 2003, which added more than$105 million to the state’s economy,according to the Michigan AgriculturalStatistics Service. Chips are made fromround white potatoes, and processorswant very specific traits in these potatoes.

“They want low sugar content, bruiseresistance, a high level of solid materialand excellent storage ability, with few orno defects — no marks, spots or holes,”Douches explained. “So we start withthat. Growers want potatoes that areresistant to late blight and scab [two dis-eases that dramatically reduce the yieldand marketability of potatoes] and theColorado potato beetle [a voraciousinsect that eats potato plant leavesand significantly reduces the yield].Combining all those things in one potatowould be the Holy Grail of traits. We’re notquite there yet, but we’re starting to com-bine disease resistance with the chippingproperties. And a high yield per acre is agiven. Growers won’t even consider apotato if it doesn’t have good yield.”

This last point underscores one ofDouches’ challenges — because insectsand diseases can be controlled withchemicals, growers may continue to growpotatoes that are susceptible to thesepests because the potatoes are high qual-ity and high yielding.

“We need to have the resistance prop-erties in a high quality potato,” he said.

In 2001, Douches and his teamreleased Liberator, a scab-resistant, chipprocessing round white potato. Another

scab-resistant, chip-processing variety,known as MSG227-2, and a late blight-resistant variety, MSJ461-1, are also beingconsidered for release.

Michigan also has a viable table stockpotato industry — potatoes sold directlyto consumers in grocery stores or othermarkets.

“We have an emerging niche marketfor table stock potatoes,” Douches said.“People want better tasting, locally growngourmet potatoes — they’re looking forspecialty varieties, not the ones you canget anywhere.”

To meet these demands, Douchesreleased Michigan Purple and JacquelineLee, both in 2001. Michigan Purple, as itsname suggests, has purple skin and whiteflesh. Douches described it as a good all-purpose potato for mashing, pan-frying,boiling, baking and microwaving.

“We’ve heard that some growers havebeen successfully marketing the Michi-

BLUE CHIP POTATOSTOCKS

MAES scientist Dave Douches strives to create potato varieties with traits desired by growers,such as excellent storage ability, low sugar content, and resistance to bruise, late blight, scaband Colorado potato beetle.

Douches conducts much of his research onpotatoes at the Montcalm Research Farm, anMAES field research station, in Lakeview.Here, seed potatoes are being planted.

These true potato seeds were extracted frompotatoes grown in Douches’ research green-houses. The seeds are the beginning of anew breeding cycle.


As one of thenation’s top pro-ducers of drybeans, Michiganhas somewhatof a reputation to uphold in bean breed-ing. MSU scientists, many of them affili-ated with the MAES, released 40 varietiesof beans in the 20th century. The programbegan in about 1910, so that means MSUreleased a variety just about every otheryear — quite an accomplishment when ittakes about 10 years to develop a newbean variety.

Frank Spragg was the first plant breed-er hired by MSU, and he released the firstnavy bean variety, Robust, in 1915.Though it was superior at that time,Robust was a vine-type bean that wassusceptible to white mold, mosaic virusand anthracnose, diseases that signifi-cantly reduce yield. In 1956, MSU beanbreeders E.E. Down and Axel Andersondeveloped the Sanilac navy bean, the firstbush-type navy bean. It set the standardfor bean varieties by getting the beans upoff the ground. This meant fewer prob-lems with mold and disease. It was a highquality bean as well.

For the next 30 years, MSU beanbreeders kept improving on the Sanilacmodel, releasing navy bean varieties thatincorporated resistance to various dis-

eases (Gratiot), zinc tolerance (Saginaw)and improved productivity (Mayflower).In 1968, MSU breeders logged anothermilestone when they released theSeafarer navy bean. Also a bush-typebean, Seafarer is an early-maturing vari-ety. The fact that Seafarer beans could beharvested before other navy beans was anadvantage to growers. The fact that theSeafarer variety was still being grown in1997 indicates its quality and sustainabil-ity. Not many varieties last 30 years — theaverage is about four to seven.

In 1974, MSU released the Montcalmdark red kidney bean, which was resistantto halo blight, another problematic dis-ease for growers.

“A quarter century after its release,Montcalm is still the most widely growndark red kidney bean variety, sought bygrowers for its halo blight resistance andby processors for its superior canningquality,” said Jim Kelly, MAES crop andsoil scientist and dry bean breeder.

In 1989, MSU released its first pintobean, Sierra, to help Michigan growerstake advantage of consumers’ prefer-ences for nachos, burritos and othersouthwestern and Mexican dishes usingthese beans.

Dry bean breeding continues to matchthe needs of growers and consumer pref-erences with beans that will grow well inMichigan. The latest variety, Redcoat, wasreleased in 2004. A list of bean varieties invarious market classes released since1982 can be found at www.css.msu.edu/bean/.

Redcoat is a large-seeded, splotchyred-and-white bean that may appealstrongly to those who are choosey abouthow their food looks as well as how ittastes. Redcoat’s development caused

Spring 2005 | 15

gan Purple in combination with red andwhite potatoes, but it also does quite wellalone. It’s a good-looking potato andgives people options for presenting pota-toes as part of a meal. People like the tasteand its utility in the kitchen.”

Jacqueline Lee, named for Douches’daughter, is a yellow-flesh potato withlate blight resistance. It has a bright,smooth skin and is good for all types ofhome cooking.

“It has an excellent taste quality,very similar to Yukon Gold potatoes,”Douches said.

Because storage ability is such animportant trait for chip processors,Douches works with the Michigan PotatoIndustry Commission (MPIC) to provide

storage demonstrations to Michigangrowers and processors.

Most commercial storage facilitieshouse about 10,000 hundredweight ofpotatoes. If the spuds on the bottom of

the pile are going to succumb to pressurebruises, everyone involved wants to knowbefore the variety is grown.

“About five years ago, the MPIC fund-ed the construction of the B.F. CargillDemonstration Storage Facility next tothe Montcalm Research Farm [the MAESfield research station that specializes inpotatoes],” Douches explained. “Beforethat, we just had some small storage bins.This is truly a partnership between thegrowers, the processors and the universi-ty. The facility allows us to simulate howpotatoes are really stored so the farmerdoesn’t have to take the risk. Processorswon’t buy bruised potatoes. Storagedrives the releases. If a variety doesn’tstore well, it won’t work.”

Frank Spragg, MAC scientist, collect-ed grain from many sources, grew

each separately, selected the most productivestrains, identified the best seeds and multipliedthem. Spragg’s most famous grain variety wasRosen rye, which outyielded conventional vari-eties two to one at the time. Spragg foundedthe Michigan Crop Improvement Association.

1908

BUILDING BETTERBEANS

MAES crop and soil sciences researcher JimKelly has been breeding dry beans at MSUfor more than 25 years. His most recentrelease is Redcoat, a soldier bean.

This striking purple-fleshed potato is a newselection in the MSU potato breedingprogram. Douches says the potatoes will besold at farm markets and used for specialtypotato chips.


Kelly and his bean breeding team to go toTexas and back and delve into DNA tounravel its mystery.

“The opportunity to commercialize amutant bean that we never would haveworked on directly is a nice surprise,

given that bean variety development isusually a 10-year program,” Kelly said.

The Redcoat bean is a Soldier bean.Soldier beans are so named because theirred markings look like the uniforms wornby 18th century European soldiers. In1999, MAES scientists obtained seeds forbasic red kidney beans from a Texas sup-plier. Researchers planted the seeds innorthern Michigan, and most of the plantsdid, in fact, produce the expected redbeans. A small fraction, however, pro-duced beans with striking white splotches.

The researchers first suspected thatthe coloring had an ordinary explanation— perhaps stray seeds from white beanplants had gotten mixed in with the seedsin Texas — or maybe the beans had cross-pollinated with fields of white beanplants nearby.

But when the MAES team searched thearea in northern Michigan where the newred and white beans turned up, theyfound no cross-pollination suspects. Andwhen they infected the plants with twocommon bean diseases, the Redcoatbeans behaved more like other red kidneybeans than white or Soldier beans.

Over the years, red kidney beans havebeen bred to resist mosaic virus andanthracnose. Redcoat proved immune toinfection as well, even though these dis-

eases are often lethal to other Soldierbean varieties.

“Redcoat has the best yield potentialof any Soldier bean,” said Greg Varner,research director of the Michigan DryBean Research Board, who worked withKelly.

What about the possibility of a mix-upin Texas? The scientists inquired andlearned that the Texas supplier had hand-picked the beans sent to Michigan. Theentire batch contained nothing but beanswith the familiar, uniform red coloring.

It’s true that most living organismscarry two copies of each gene. With otherexplanations ruled out, the scientistsbegan suspecting that one copy of thebean color gene had mutated. Theythought that the other gene hadremained normal and still containedinstructions for making red beans. Often,one normal gene is enough to mask theeffects of a mutation. This would explainwhy all the Texas seeds were red.

Random mutations, changes in DNAstructure in the cells of a living organism,happen all the time. Most mutations haveno effect on the organism or its offspring;some prove harmful to the organism.Only a small fraction of mutations turnout to be advantageous. In this case, thebig advantage is for bean lovers whomight see an unusually attractive red andwhite bean in their local markets withinthe next few years.

It took several years’ work in campusgreenhouses, but Kelly finally confirmedhis suspicions: the new coloring wasindeed the result of a rare beneficialmutation of a single gene in the bean’sDNA.

“The single gene mutation of seed coatcolor pattern means that an entirely newclass has the same valuable attributespresent in the commercial red kidneybean class that breeders have worked onfor more than 100 years at MSU,” Kellysaid. “It’s somewhat ironic that one of themost successful bean varieties in the his-tory of Michigan agriculture is the Sanilacnavy bean, developed through mutationbreeding on the MSU campus. Redcoat isthe result of a natural rare mutation thatproved to be beneficial.”

16 | FUTURES

The Redcoat bean’s distinctive coloring is dueto a random genetic mutation. The bean hasa red kidney bean’s valuable attributes.

The work ofMAES blueber-ry breeder JimHancock cameto glorious fruition in 2002. He releasednot one, not two but three blueberry vari-eties that year. Before that, the last blue-berry variety released from MSU was in1977 — a gap of 25 years.

“These blueberries were developedspecifically for Michigan needs,”Hancock explained. “Michigan growersget the most money for their blueberriesat the end of the season because we’re thelast state that has berries left. So one ofour goals was to develop varieties thatwere late-maturing. We also wanted tomake sure they stored well.”

Until Hancock’s releases, Michiganblueberry growers had one late-maturingvariety, Elliott. Elliott produced very highyields, but it wasn’t very flavorful andcould be sour. Growers also had onemajor midseason-maturing variety,Bluecrop, which had average fruit qualitybut didn’t store very well.

Hancock’s three new releases are:• Liberty — named after groundbreak-

ing Michigan Agricultural Collegehorticulturist Liberty Hyde Bailey,the man who established the firsthorticulture lab in the United States(Hancock said he also likes the patri-otism of the name). Liberty maturesslightly earlier than Elliott (about fivedays) but is still considered a latevariety. It also has much better fruitquality.

• Aurora — a name suggested byHancock’s wife, Ann, manager of theMSU Delapa Perennial Garden, afterAurora borealis, the northern lights.Aurora matures about five days laterthan Elliott and can be stored longer.It also has better fruit quality thanElliott.

• Draper — named after highlyacclaimed USDA blueberry breederArlen Draper. Draper matures duringthe early midseason, a little ahead ofBluecrop. But it has much betterfruit quality and flavor and can bestored much longer than Bluecrop.

A BEVY OF BLUEBERRIES

Eldon Down, MAC plant scientist,introduced hybridized Spartan barley

to Michigan’s grain industry.

1928


Spring 2005 | 17

The three are the first major varietiesreleased in 10 years and will grow welleverywhere blueberries are grown now,including all parts of the United States,South America and Europe.

Licensing agreements have beendrawn up through the MSU Office ofIntellectual Property and the varietiesare being sold around the world. Buteveryone at MSU emphasized that theneeds of Michigan producers were con-sidered first.

“We are very sensitive to Michigangrowers’ concerns,” Hancock said. “We

want to make sure we’re giving them whatthey need.”

“Our first duty is to Michigan taxpay-ers, the university and the inventors toensure that inventions are commercial-ized at a reasonable rate of return,” saidTom Herlache, licensing associate in theOffice of Intellectual Property. “And wealso take into account the needs of ourlocal businesses and producers.”

Hancock said that Michigan blueberrynurseries are projecting more than $1million in sales of the new varieties overthe next several years, which is a goodsign of the acceptance of the new vari-eties. Because it takes 6 to 8 years for ablueberry plant to establish itself andreach full maturity, blueberry growers areunderstandably reluctant to take outlarge number of older fruit-bearingplants.

“Michigan has quite a few 70-year-oldblueberry plantations,” Hancock said.“The growers are getting a modest returnfrom them, and it’s very expensive tostart over.”

After his triple success in 2002,Hancock isn’t resting on his laurels. He’scontinuing to work on creating an evenbetter blueberry.

“What do I do for a follow-up?” heasked rhetorically. “My goal is to replacethese varieties eventually. I want to devel-op more varieties with Draper’s storagecapabilities. Liberty and Aurora havesome flaws that can be improved upon.I’m continuing to make crosses and havesome selections that are going into repli-cated trials.”

Hancock also has a fourth selection

that is almost ready for release. The vari-ety, as yet unnamed, matures early in theseason, even earlier than Duke, which isthe most popular early blueberry variety.The unreleased variety has excellent fruitquality and good storage capability,though not as good as Draper’s.

Like much of the plant breeding workon campus, creating new blueberry vari-eties takes time. Hancock made the cross-es for Draper 13 years ago, and the onesfor Aurora and Liberty about 11 years ago.The work is considered fast by blueberrystandards — normally a variety takes 20years of work or more before it’s ready forrelease.

Hancock noted that the blueberryindustry is expanding about 10 percentper year and is projected to keep growingat that rate. As more people join theindustry, more varieties will be needed tokeep up with growers’ and consumers’demands.

One trait that Hancock would like toimprove in the berries, which would alsomeet a growing consumer demand, is the

level of antioxidants. Blueberries areknown to have high levels of antioxidants,plant compounds that may help reducecancer risk, slow down destructive cell

aging processes and boost the immunesystem.

“Liberty has very high levels of antiox-idants, and by making crosses with it tocreate new varieties, we may be able todevelop several new varieties with thesehigh levels,” he said.

Hancock also runs a strawberry breed-ing program and hopes to have somereleases ready in three or four years.

Michigan grows more than 1,000 acresof strawberries each year and the fruit

occupies an important niche market forfarm stand and u-pick operators.

Hancock’s focus is on producing highquality berries with excellent flavor andaroma, as well as breeding in some resist-ance to black root rot. Much of his effortfocuses on capturing genes from wild-type strawberries and breeding them intoelite lines that other breeders could use intheir work.

These tiny plants are microshoots of Draper blueberries in tissue culture. This procedure allowsfor rapid propagation of thousands of shoots in a few months.

Flowers from an Aurora blueberry plant, readyfor pollination. To make crosses, scientistsemasculate and hand pollinate the flowers.

This yellow powder is pollen from a Libertyblueberry plant ready to be used in crosses.Scientists collect the pollen by rolling openflowers between the thumb and forefinger.


18 | FUTURES

Michigan is thecountry’s No. 1producer of pick-ling cucumbers —the 181,000 tonsproduced in 2003added more than $36 million to the state’seconomy. Like many cucurbit (pumpkin,squash and gourd) crops, cucumbers cansuffer severe yield losses from the fungus-like organism Phytophthora capsici. Incucumber fields, the vines can look excel-lent, but the fruit located underneath thevines can be infected. Dark, water-soakedlesions develop first, followed by a dis-tinctive layer of spores that look like pow-

dered sugar on the surface of the fruit.Fruit infection may occur days before thesymptoms become visible, and the fun-gus can spread rapidly through warm,wet fields. Rebecca Grumet, MAES horti-culture researcher, and Mary Hausbeck,MAES plant pathologist, have been

searching for natural resistance toPhytophthora.

“Unfortunately, our screening of vari-eties and wild relatives has not identifieda source of resistance that can be used forbreeding,” Grumet said.

Because the leaves and stems aren’tinfected, Grumet is looking into whetherchanging the architecture of the plantmight work to limit the disease by makingconditions less favorable for the fungus togrow. The researchers hypothesized thatif they could open up the canopy of theplant and at the same time get the fruit upoff the ground, they might be able toreduce plants’ susceptibility to disease.

“There also seems to be an age effect— as the cucumbers get older, they’re notas susceptible,” Grumet said. “We want tofind out why and whether those changescan be used to help make more resistantcucumbers.”

In melons, Grumet is studying how thehormone ethylene may help cantaloupegrowers produce more fruit from plants.

Cucurbit crops have separate maleand female flowers. Only female flowersmake fruit, and plants usually make maleflowers first — probably because it takesmore energy to make fruit, Grumet sug-gested. Because the female flowersappear later on the plant, it takes moretime for the plants to produce fruit, whichmeans a longer growing season for pro-ducers.

“In cucumbers, there is a gene forfemaleness,” Grumet explained. “Thisallows for a shorter growing season andmore uniform fruit set. But there’s not anequivalent gene in melons. The gene incucumbers causes the plant to makemore of the plant hormone ethylene. Wewanted to see whether we could cause asimilar effect in melons.”

To test her theory, Grumet inserted agene into the cantaloupe plants thatcause them to produce more ethylene.The plants had more female flowers andset fruit earlier. Grumet is now studyinghow to direct the gene specifically to theflowers so the plant is not always makingextra ethylene.

In celery, Grumet is again workingwith Hausbeck to tackle fusarium yel-lows, a fungal disease. Fusarium yellows,a long-time problem for celery growers,threatened to wipe out the celery indus-try in Michigan and California 15 years

ago. The disease can’t be controlled withchemicals, and crop rotation and othercultural practices don’t seem to helpmuch, either.

Working with former MAES plantpathologist Mel Lacy, Grumet used a com-bination of tissue culture and traditionalbreeding to produce some fusarium-resistant celery lines, but the plants hadshort stalks, a less than desirable trait incurrent markets. Grumet and Hausbeckare trying to introduce increased heightinto the resistant varieties.

“I think we’ll probably be able torelease two breeding lines in a coupleyears that will have good resistance andquality,” Grumet said. “The lines we areworking with have two sources of resist-ance, which is good in case the fungusovercomes one of them. Some of the linesseem to lose their resistance after a fewyears. We’re hoping ours won’t.”

Michigan became the leading statein the production of processed apple

juice after scientists discovered that apple juicecould be clarified with pectinol A, an enzyme.MAC scientists developed the procedure forflash pasteurization of apple juice, whichbecame the accepted standard.

1933

CONSUMMATE CUCURBITS

MAES horticulture researcher RebeccaGrumet studies cucumbers, melons and othercucurbit crops, and celery. In celery, she isworking to develop varieties resistant tofusarium yellows, a fungal disease.

In cucurbit crops such as melons, only femaleflowers make fruit. Ethylene appears to playa role in the development of female flowers— research has shown that plants engineeredto make more ethylene make more femaleflowers.


Spring 2005 | 19

As the onlypublicly supportedcherry breeder andgeneticist in theentire United States, MAES scientist AmyIezzoni balances an incredible amount ofwork on her slender shoulders. In addi-tion to conducting a tart cherry breedingprogram (which is the top priority), shesearches for and evaluates dwarfing root-stocks for sweet cherries, and providesgenetics and genomics expertise for bothsweet and tart cherries.

“Breeding tart cherries is so importantbecause the entire tart cherry industry inthe country is based on one variety:Montmorency, a 400-year-old varietyfrom France,” Iezzoni explained. “SinceMichigan produces 75 percent of thenation’s tart cherries, the state wouldbenefit greatly from new varieties.”

The industry’s vulnerability because ofits dependence on Montmorency washarshly underscored on the night of April21, 2002. Temperatures plummeted,freezing cherry flowers and reducing pro-duction to only 2 percent of what it nor-mally is, the lowest level since 1945. Theindustry was devastated.

To see if more diversity would haveprevented such dramatic losses, Iezzoniheaded up to the MAES NorthwestHorticultural Research Station in TraverseCity early the next morning to check on

her tart cherry research plots. Of 21 othertart cherry varieties, Iezzoni found that allbut one was much less damaged thanMontmorency by the freeze.

“This suggested that the nearly com-plete crop loss that producers experi-enced in 2002 would have been greatlyreduced if the industry had been growingan array of varieties,” Iezzoni said. “Thegoal of my program is to take the risk outof cherry production for growers andincrease their profits.”

When Iezzoni came to MSU in 1981,she had to create a tart cherry breedingprogram from scratch. After evaluatingthe tart cherry cultivars available forbreeding, Iezzoni was quickly disappoint-ed. There was nothing better thanMontmorency available to breed with. If

she didn’t have superior germ plasm(genetic material), she couldn’t developan improved variety. Thus began her 15-year quest to collect quality tart cherrygerm plasm and bring it back to her lab.

“What this superior germ plasm wasand where it would be found, I didn’tknow,” she said. “But in the spring of1983, I set out to find it and bring it to theUnited States.”

After determining that eastern Europe— including Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary,Poland, the former republic of Yugoslaviaand Russia — was the best place to findthe germ plasm, Iezzoni mapped out hercollection trips. The search was compli-cated by the Cold War and U.S. quaran-tine restrictions (the quarantine periodfor wood ranges from 3 to 8 years), butIezzoni nonetheless managed to collectpollen and seed (which did not face quar-antine restrictions) to build her program.

Today, Iezzoni is using that germplasm to breed new cherry varieties thathave traits desired by Michigan growers.

“We’re breeding for a late flower bloomto avoid frost damage — if the flower isn’tthere, it can’t be damaged,” she explained.“We also want consistent production andresistance to cherry leaf spot.”

Caused by a fungus, cherry leaf spot isthe No. 1 disease problem in tart cherries,both in cost and decreased production.The disease is extremely difficult to con-trol during wet spring months.

Other characteristics that Iezzoniwants to incorporate include firmer fruit

(because tart cherries are mechanicallypitted, firmer fruit means higher fruitgrade and quality after pitting, whichmeans more money for growers) and fruitwith deep red color similar to that ofMontmorency. She would also like todevelop varieties with different ripeningtimes so growers can spread out theircosts and equipment and not have to har-vest everything at the same time. Earlierripening times would also mean that thefruit could be harvested before cherryfruit flies hatch and start looking for anorchard on which to feast.

To offer the industry some geneticdiversity, Iezzoni released Balaton, aHungarian tart cherry, in the UnitedStates in 1984. Balaton is a dark burgundycherry (skin, flesh and juice are dark red)that is firm with a sweet-tart taste.Balaton cherries are used to make cherryport, sold fresh, and preserved in Mason

THE CHERRY CHALLENGE

Cherry blossoms are sometimes handpollinated when temperatures belowfreezing are predicted. The trees then startthe fruit-making process before any blossomdamage occurs.

MAES horticulture scientist Amy Iezzoni is the only publicly supported cherry breeder andgeneticist in the United States. Here she hand pollinates her test plots at the Northwest MichiganHorticulture Research Station in Traverse City.


Ask soybeangrowers what theyfear the most, andsoybean aphids,soybean rust andwhite mold willprobably be at the top of everyone’s list.Dechun Wang, MAES soybean breederand geneticist, knows this and is workingto breed resistance to these troublesomepests into new varieties of soybeans.

“Soybean aphids were first found inthe United States in 2000, and now they’rethe No. 1 most damaging pest in soy-beans,” Wang explained.

The pale yellow creatures are less than1/16 inch long, but they caused an esti-mated $120 million in losses for U.S. soy-bean growers in 2003.

Wang is the first breeder in the countryto identify aphid-resistant germ plasmthat could be grown in northern climates.However, the varieties, from China where

the aphid has long been a pest, are low-yielding varieties that need to be crossedwith higher yielding varieties to makethem practical for Michigan growers.

“It takes about 8 to 12 years to developa new variety of soybean,” Wang said. “Wecan get something promising in 4 years,but we need to do long-term, widelyreplicated field trials to make sure thereare no surprises for growers. High yield isstill the No. 1 trait that everyone wants ina variety. We always start with a high-yieldvariety and then try to add other desirabletraits to it.”

White mold, also known as sclerotiniastem rot, is caused by a fungus whosespores can be spread by wind. It affectsgrowers in the upper Midwest and East.Though the disease has been in theUnited States since 1946, it has becomemore widespread recently, causingincreasingly significant yield losses. Thedisease affects 408 species of seven crops:soybeans, sunflowers, canola, edible drybeans, chickpeas, lentils and dry peas. Ithas become such a problem that in 2002the USDA-Agricultural Research Service(USDA-ARS) developed the National

20 | FUTURES

jars and sold as a “glass pack.”“Balaton’s fruit is great, but it does

have some flaws,” Iezzoni explained.“The yields aren’t as high as we’d like;they’re lower than Montmorency yields,which makes some producers hesitant togrow it.”

One of Iezzoni’s multiple researchprojects is exploring whether fruit set isthe weak link in yields. Initial results sug-gest that bees are pollinating Balatonflowers with pollen from the earlier-flow-ering Montmorency and sweet cherrytrees. This suggests that providing an ear-lier-flowering pollen source may increasefruit set in Balaton.

“By the time a variety goes to growers,it can’t have any Achilles’ heels,” Iezzonisaid. “It has to be complete and be able tobe integrated into their systems.

“It takes about 20 years to develop anew cherry variety,” Iezzoni explained.“With the superior germ plasm we areusing, the question is not whether you doit but how will you fund it. My disappoint-ment is that the new varieties will be inthe second generation of the crosses I’vemade, not the first. Accolades go to the

industry for hanging in there with me. Iam very lucky — everyone has been verysupportive.”

In Iezzoni’s lab, graduate student AudreySebolt extracts pollen from cherry flowers.Iezzoni hopes to release new varieties fromthe second generation of crosses she’s made.

Sclerotinia Initiative, a consortium of fed-eral and state university scientists thatincludes 10 land-grant universities(including Michigan State) and five cropcommodity groups.

Partial resistance to white mold hasbeen found in some germ plasm. Wang istrying to put all the partial resistance intoone plant so the resistance level is the high-est it can be. He anticipates that a high-yield soybean variety with some whitemold resistance will be released this year.

Soybean rust, a fungal disease, is prob-ably the disease most feared by soybeangrowers. It is caused by not one but twopathogens:

• Phakopsora pachyrhizi, or Asian rust,is the more destructive pathogen andposes the biggest threat to U.S. soy-beans. The name is somewhat mis-leading — it has been found inAustralia, Africa, South America andHawaii as well as Asia. This pathogenis most commonly associated withsoybean rust.

• Phakopsora meibomiae, by contrast,is less aggressive and is not reportedto cause severe yield loss in soybeans.

“Soybean rust can reduce yields by 80percent,” Wang said. “It is highly mobile,and the spores are blown up from theSouth each year. But because Michigan isso cold, it will not be able to overwinterand is not here — yet. We fear its arrivaland are working to educate farmers abouthow to control it.”

At the end of 2004, the disease was dis-covered in Missouri, South Carolina,Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana,Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama. Inaddition, rust was also found on kudzugrowing near the infected field in Florida.Researchers suspect that rust sporesreached the United States via Hurricane

STRENGTHENING SOYBEANS

As part of his soybean breeding program,MAES scientist Dechun Wang has found somegerm plasm that shows promising resistanceto soybean rust.


Spring 2005 | 21

The Michigan Crop ImprovementAssociation (MCIA) has a long history ofassociation with Michigan State. TheMCIA was founded by Michigan

Agricultural College researcher FrankSpragg in 1908, and until 1968, the man-ager of the MCIA was an MSU employee.The organization also was housed at theuniversity until the mid-1970s, when itbuilt new facilities and moved out toJolly Road in Okemos. From the start, itsmission has been to provide farmerswith sufficient amounts of certified seedfor field crops such as corn, soybeans,wheat, oats, barley and dry beans.Potatoes were included until 1996, whenthe potato growers formed their ownassociation, the Michigan Seed PotatoAssociation, to certify potato seed.

“We’ve always had a close relation-ship with MSU,” said Randy Judd, MCIAmanager, who has been with the organ-ization for 21 years. Judd is an MSUalumnus and has served as manager forthe past 10 years. “Now we’re a non-profit organization funded through userfees, seed sales, certification tag feesand field inspection fees. We receive nostate or university money.”

Certified seed is a quality control pro-gram. If seed is certified, it means that ithas met certain standards set by theMichigan Department of Agriculture forthat crop. Though the United States hasno law that requires the use of certifiedseed, many other countries, includingCanada, do require certified seed, sogrowers who want to export their cropsmust use certified seed.

At one time, Michigan had twoorganizations connected with certifiedseed. In 1997, the MCIA merged withthe Michigan Foundation Seed

Association (MFSA) and took onits mission of working withresearchers and breeders toensure there was enough certifiedseed available to growers, as wellas promoting the use of certifiedseed among producers.

“When the MCIA and MFSAstarted, our main goal was to getimproved seed stock to farmers,”Judd said. “Now we get the seed togrowers and promote its use.”

The process of providing certi-fied seed to farmers begins severalyears before a variety is released.

Once a promising new variety is identi-fied by a plant breeder, a small amountof prebreeder seed is increased for twoto three generations to obtain adequateseed supplies. The crop grown from theprebreeder seed produces breeder seed,which then produces foundation seed.The foundation seed is used to producethe certified seed.

“We usually start the process ofincreasing seed about 3 years before thevariety is released so there is enoughfoundation seed available to meet theneeds of the industry,” Judd explained.“Because we work so far ahead, some-times we do an initial increase on a vari-ety and then the variety isn’t released.That seed is used as grain and we startover again.”

Judd said the MCIA looks to MSU fornew varieties that will keep Michiganfarmers competitive with growers inother states.

“We look to the university to developcrops that have better quality traits andmore disease resistance,” he said. “Weare always looking for new varieties toget to Michigan growers. Farmers knowthat Michigan certified seed will do wellhere and they know that the breeders areworking on problems that are specific tothe state. MSU is a major source of newmaterial for us. I think we have an excel-lent relationship with the university.”

Ivan in September 2004.According to Wang, computer models

project losses of up to 40 percent in majorU.S. soybean regions if the diseasebecomes established. The disease isexpensive to control and requires appli-cation of fungicides at precisely the righttime — otherwise they won’t be effective.

“The disease is also hard to identifyearly,” Wang explained. “It starts as tinyspots on the bottom side of the plant’slower leaves. It can look like other dis-eases, such as brown spot, bacterial pus-tule or bacterial blight. By the time yousee soybean rust on the tops of the leaves,it’s too late.”

Wang has been working for the past 2years to find natural resistance to soybeanrust in soybean plants. Before 2005, thedisease was subject to quarantine andregulated in the United States, so hisresearch could only be done abroad.

“With the potential for loss, you cancertainly understand why bringing rustinto the United States — even for research— was strictly prohibited,” Wang said.“There was only one extremely secureUSDA facility that is conducting limitedtesting.”

So Wang was screening germ plasm forsoybean rust resistance by collaboratingwith researchers in China. He selectedsoybean germ plasm based on the plants’ability to do well in Michigan and thenevaluated the germ plasm in two rustnurseries in China for rust resistance.

“We found some promising germplasm in 2004,” he said. We need to con-duct more tests in 2005 to confirm theresistance. But it’s very exciting.”

MAES wheatbreeder Rick Ward,the son of a cerealgeneticist, is aboutto have somewhatof a wheat baby boom on his hands.

“We’re poised to release four soft win-ter wheat varieties,” he said. “One has redgrain and the others have white grain.”

Ward works mainly with soft whitewheat, which is used as whole grain or

Randy Judd, MCIA manager, says the organizationlooks to the university for new varieties to keepMichigan growers competitive.

DEDICATED TO IMPROVING CROPS

NURTURING WHEAT


22 | FUTURES

heavy bran in breakfast cereals. The floursof both red and white varieties are usedfor crackers, cookies, pastries and manyother products.

Michigan primarily grows winterwheat — the crop is planted in the falland then harvested the next summer.About 40 to 50 percent of the wheatgrown in Michigan is white wheat, partlybecause of the large cereal companylocated in Battle Creek.

“Growers want a wheat that has goodgrain quality and would like it to beresistant to some of the 10 diseases thatwheat succumbs to — scab is seen as thebiggest threat,” Ward said. “We’re movingto release a white wheat that is moreresistant to scab. There is no such thingas a white wheat that is totally resistantto scab.”

Also known as fusarium head blight,scab is caused by several species of fungi.

Rain around the time of wheat floweringis one of the main causes — the fungi likethe damp, warm conditions. The organ-isms that cause scab are the same onesthat rot cornstalks left in the field.

“We have a lot of scab in Michigan andmuch of the Midwest because there is somuch corn stubble in the fields,” Wardsaid. “The fungi stay in the fields on thestubble and then infect the next crop. TheEast has no areas that are safe from scab.”

Besides reducing yield and grain qual-ity, scab also leaves behind mycotoxins,which can cause diseases in animals andmay be harmful to humans. Wheat mustbe tested for mycotoxins. If they arefound, its value drops dramatically.

Ward is also looking for a breedingsolution to sprouting, another problemidentified by growers. Sprouting happenswhen rainy weather occurs just before orafter harvest. The starch and protein inthe wheat start to break down and cansignificantly reduce the quality of thegrain.

“Almost all white wheat varieties aresusceptible to sprouting if it rains,” Wardexplained. “On the other hand, most redvarieties resist sprouting. We are activelyusing sprout resistance genes in ourbreeding program and now havethem in advanced lines, includingone poised for release.”

As part of his breeding work, Wardruns the state variety trials for hiscrop. Each year he compares all theentered varieties and posts theresults online and also distributesthem through Michigan Farm Bureauso growers and seed producers havea guide to yields and disease resist-ance. Because most Michigan wheatis planted in the fall and harvestedthe next summer, it’s imperative thatWard gets the results to growersquickly.

“We publish the variety trial results inAugust, and growers are planting what wejust analyzed in September,” Ward said.“We can analyze the data about a half-hour after cutting so growers can makethe decisions right away.

“The state was dominated by two vari-eties, Frankenmuth and Augusta [alsodeveloped at MSU] until about 1990,” hecontinued. “Now we have much greaterdiversity and better yields. Interestingly,varieties from Kentucky and Virginia do

well here. It’s a win for growers; it’sopened up a huge diversity for them.”

Ward is also studying the genomicstructure of wheat, which has one of thelargest genomes of any living thing. Atabout 16.9 billion base pairs, the wheatgenome is nearly five times the size of thehuman genome. As scientists work tocharacterize this enormous collection ofgenetic material, the first step is to mapout where so-called marker proteins goalong the sequence.

It’s somewhat akin to looking at a roadmap. If you were going to travel on I-75,you would need to know the order of theexits and where and how far apart theyare before you could figure out where tostop. Adding more markers to the wheatgenome map makes it easier for scientiststo orient themselves as they seek to iden-tify genes responsible for specific traits.

“As you make the marker map denser,there’s a greater likelihood you’ll findgenes,” Ward explained.

Ward and his colleagues Perry Cregen,of the Beltsville Agriculture ResearchCenter, and Bikram Gill, of Kansas StateUniversity, have added more than 540markers to the map — a dramatic

increase over the fewer than 2,000 mark-ers that were known when they begantheir work. All their markers begin withthe letters “BARC,” which stand forBeltsville Agricultural Research Center,where the markers were generated. Thelabs of Ward and Gill had the task of dis-covering the position of BARC markers.

“The BARC markers closed many gapsin the previous wheat maps, and thedenser map is enabling scientists aroundthe world to identify the position of per-formance-critical wheat genes,” Ward

Donald Cation, Michigan StateCollege (MSC) plant pathologist,

conducted research on fruit tree disease control.Cation was the first to demonstrate virus trans-mission through soil, and he established virusindexing procedures and the use of virus-freeclones and their distribution to nurseries.

1938-42

In addition to developing new varieties,MAES wheat breeder Rick Ward has helpedadd more than 540 marker proteins to thewheat genome.

Michigan produces mainly winter wheat, which isplanted in the fall and harvested the next summer.


Spring 2005 | 23

said. “I’m very proud to have had thisopportunity. I doubt I will ever makeanother contribution this big to wheatgenetics.”

C o m p a r e dwith most agri-cultural crops,trees grow in adifferent way — out as well as up.

“Trees have secondary growth — trunkwidth growth — as well as primarygrowth,” said Kyung-Hwan Han, MAESforestry geneticist and tree breeder. “Wewant to understand the molecular mech-anisms of secondary growth. Knowingthis has economic implications for thewood products industry, as well as fruitgrowers. There is also an environmentalangle. Trees can hold huge amounts ofcarbon; if we know the gene that controlstrunk growth, we can breed trees that willhold more.”

As part of this work, Han has learnedthat the body weight of the trunk is anenvironmental cue that tells the tree if ithas enough support and is able to meetthe water needs of the canopy. A signal-ing molecule tells the trunk to makemore wood tissue if the tree’s needs aren’tbeing met.

“It’s logical, but it’s never been provenin an experiment before,” he said.

As part of the international team thatsequenced the genome of Populus tri-chocarpa, a poplar tree, Han is at the fore-front of forestry genetics research. Thepoplar was the first tree genome to besequenced, and it may help scientistspinpoint the genes that cause the tree togo dormant in winter and become activein the spring, another of Han’s researchprojects.

“We’re trying to understand the genesthat trigger trees’ annual growth cycle —move it in and out of dormancy,” Hansaid. “Day length plays a role, as doestemperature. We want to know whichspecific genes control dormancy andhope to identify them in about 2 years.”

This work, too, will have economic andenvironmental implications, especiallyfor the Michigan tree fruit industry. By

giving the trees even a 1- or 2-week longerdormant period, researchers may be ableto prevent severe damage and loss fromspring frosts and freezes, like the one thatdevastated the state’s cherry industry in2002.

“We’re also curious about how treeswill respond to global warming,” Hanadded. “If the temperature changes butday length doesn’t, how will the treesrespond?”

Han also hopes to help make the win-ter holidays a little greener for some treegrowers.

According to statistics from theMichigan Department of Agriculture, the2.5 million to 3 million Christmas treesharvested each year contribute about $41million to the state’s economy. Michiganhas about 830 Christmas tree growers andmore than 54,000 acres of Christmastrees. Michigan grows eight varieties oftrees, including the traditional scotchpine, eastern white pine, Colorado bluespruce and Douglas fir. Michigan ranks

third in the nation in the number ofChristmas trees grown and second inacreage devoted to the growing ofChristmas trees.

Christmas trees also play a role inenvironmentally friendly land use andfarmland preservation. Tree farmersplant trees for a holiday season 7 to 10years in the future. For every tree harvest-ed, up to three are planted. As Christmas

trees grow, they produce oxygen andclean water and provide wildlife habitat.After the holidays, trees can be recycledby chipping and used in landscaping,recreational trails, playgrounds or mulch.Whole trees can be recycled for erosionand pollution control projects.

“We’ve surveyed growers to learn thetraits that were most important to them,”Han said. “Herbicide resistance was theiroverwhelming response. They want to beable to reduce their costs and use onetype of herbicide, regardless of variety.The growers face intense competitionfrom artificial trees, so we want to helpthem as much as we can.”

Han is also studying how to create an“on-demand” tree. By identifying thegenes responsible for a tree’s characteris-tics, such as height and shape, he could

genetically engineer a tree to grow to onlya certain height and have a certain num-ber of branches — a designer tree to meetthe needs of today’s very particular con-sumers.

“But that’s down the road a little bit,”Han said. “It’s not available yet. But oncewe have the technology, we’ll be able todo it.”

::: Jamie DePolo and Geoff Koch

MSC scientists bred apricot varietiesthat could be grown in Michigan.

Until this time, 90 percent of the U.S. crop wasgrown in California.

1939

Kyung-Hwan Han, MAES forestry geneticist and tree breeder, helped sequence the genome of thepoplar tree and hopes to produce new varieties of Christmas trees with traits desired byMichigan growers.

UNDERSTANDING WHATMAKES TREES TICK


24 | FUTURES

WHO WILL TRAIN THE PLANT BREEDERS OF THE FUTURE?

In an article in the Feb. 6,2003, issue of the British sci-ence journal Nature, molecu-lar biologist Jonathan Knightprofiles how public-sectorresearch into classical crop

breeding is withering and being supplanted by “sexier” high-tech methods. But without breeders’ expertise, moleculargenetic approaches might never bear fruit.

“Breeding positions at public universities are often notbeing refilled or are being replaced by molecular biologists,”said Jim Hancock, MAES horticultural scientist and small fruitbreeder. “It’s happening worldwide, and everyone is starting towonder where the new breeders will come from as currentbreeders retire.”

Members of the Plant Breeding and Genetics Group at MSUdecided to tackle the question head-on and organized a sym-posium, “Plant Breeding and the Public Sector: Who Will TrainPlant Breeders?”, March 9-11 on campus.

“This is the first time the question has been addressed in aforum like this,” Hancock said. “We wanted to bring togetherinternational breeders, U.S. university scientists, industry andgovernment organizations, and other funders to develop anaction plan. The MAES provided the seed money to make it hap-pen, and that allowed us to invite the best speakers. We wereable to secure exactly the people we wanted. We received a lot ofpositive comments. I was very pleased with the symposium.”

This shift to hiring molecular biologists instead of tradition-al breeders is being fueled by the notion that private industrybreeding programs are sufficiently meeting the world’s needs.Also, university funding cuts have resulted in less support forapplied field programs, which has pushed current public plantbreeders to focus their work on more basic research that canbe supported by federal grants and the private sector.

“The field has changed so much,” said Karolyn Terpstra, adoctoral student in plant breeding and genetics. Her workfocuses on incorporating improved resistance to white moldinto dry beans. “There are so many more tools now, and plantbreeders graduating from universities now are expected toknow traditional plant breeding as well as genomics. The uni-versities are looking for people who can do research in molec-ular biology because that’s where the money is, while industrymay be looking for someone with strong training in tradition-al breeding.”

According to Hancock, the loss of plant breeding programsis of great concern to both the domestic plant breeding indus-try and the international community. A large number of plantbreeders in developing nations were trained at U.S. universi-ties, and almost all the private North American breedersattended land-grant universities.

“The bottom line is that we must find a way to keep a criti-cal mass of applied geneticists and plant breeders at publicinstitutions in the United States and around the world, if we

want to maintain our training programs in plant breeding,”Hancock said. “Once all the breeders retire, who will be left totrain the new students?”

The five invited symposium speakers and their topics were:• P. Stephen Baenziger, Eugene W. Price distinguished pro-

fessor at the University of Nebraska: Plant BreedingTraining in North America

• Fred Bliss, senior director of research and developmentspecial projects, Seminis Seeds, and former Will W.Lester endowed chair at the University of California:Plant Breeding in the Private Sector of North America.

• Gurdev Khush, former head of plant breeding at theInternational Rice Research Institute and recipient of theWorld Food Prize in 1996: Plant Breeding Training in theInternational Sector.

• Michael Morris, senior economist at the World Bank andformer director of the economics program for CentroInternacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIM-MYT): Building Capacity for International PlantBreeding: What Roles for the Public and Private Sectors?

• Elcio Guimaraes, senior officer for cereal/crop breedingfor the United Nations Food and AgricultureOrganization: Assessment of National Plant Breedingand Biotechnology Capacity Worldwide.

At the symposium, participants worked on three majorquestions: what type of training do plant breeders need, howwill minor/specialty crop varieties be provided, and how canpublic and private entities work together to train new breed-ers? Terpstra and other plant breeding and genetics graduatestudents served as recorders for the break-out groups and arealso doing the bulk of the report writing.

“Our goal now is to issue the proceedings of the symposiumand the reports of the break-out groups,” Hancock said. “Wehope to have them done in about 8 months. We’re also devel-oping an action plan and will make recommendations abouthow to train plant breeders using Hatch funds. MAES scientistRebecca Grumet is spearheading this initiative.”

“At the conference, the government officials and privatecompany officials and university scientists were grapplingwith the same questions that we’re discussing in our graduateseminar,” Terpstra said. “It was gratifying to see that these well-respected and intellectual people had the same concerns. Itmade me feel like our opinions were valuable and our com-ments were well-received. A lot of great ideas came out of thesymposium. Of course, the challenge is implementing them.But I left the symposium very excited about the field and aboutwhat we can accomplish.”

Anyone interested in the topic who did not attend the sym-posium but would still like to be involved can e-mail Hancockat [email protected]. Copies of the symposium’s presenta-tions and reports are online at www.hrt.msu.edu/PBSymp/.

::: Jamie DePolo


Spring 2005 | 25

BEFORE MAES POTATO BREEDER DAVE DOUCHES CAN DEVELOP A POTATO VARIETY THAT

is resistant to scab, either he or another scientist has to find a plant that isalready resistant to the disease. Then scientists have to determine how tocross-breed a potato plant with the resistant plant. They might try to deter-mine the gene or genes responsible for the resistance, isolate them andthen try to insert them into a potato plant through a variety of methods. AtMichigan State University, the MAES supports the work of a number of sci-entists who characterize themselves as “filling up the toolbox” of biotech-nology techniques for use by other scientists, such as plant breeders.

“I use biotechnology to attempt to solve problems that are either impos-sible or close to impossible to solve through traditional plant breeding,”said Mariam Sticklen, professor of crop and soil sciences, who has been

Filling Up the Toolbox

Filling Up the Toolbox

MAES scientists are creating

biotechnology tools to help

other scientists improve crops

and the environment

Mike Thomashow, MAES microbiologist andmolecular geneticist, found the genetic pathwaythat controls freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis. Hiswork may lead to crops that can tolerate lowertemperatures.


26 | FUTURES

using biotechnology since 1978. She has developed systems togenetically engineer crops such as potatoes, rice and turfgrassesto improve their resistance to insects and diseases as well as theirtolerance to salt and drought. By boosting resistance to pests anddrought, biotechnology allows producers to reduce the amountof pesticides and irrigation water they apply, which helps theenvironment and saves money.

CAN A CORN PLANT BECOME A MINI ETHANOL PLANT?

One of Sticklen’s current projects is attempting to engineercorn leaves to make the enzymes needed for ethanol production.Ethanol can be made from any plant material that containsenough sugar or materials that can be converted into sugar, suchas starch or cellulose. Corn grain contains starch that is relativelyeasy to convert into sugar. To produce ethanol, corn is groundand then its starch is converted into sugar. The sugar is then fer-mented into ethanol. However, corn as grain or starch is alreadyvaluable.

“I wanted not only a scientific but also an economic challenge,so I started working on corn,” Sticklen said. “I felt that corn farm-ers weren’t getting the benefits they deserve. Corn prices are lowand I wanted to find a way to add value to corn. There is so muchbiomass [stalks and leaves] left over when corn is harvested, Istarted thinking about ways we could use that and make it morevaluable. A few other scientists were thinking of buying expensiveenzymes to add to corn biomass to convert into sugar and theninto ethanol. My goal has been to produce a corn variety thatproduces its own enzyme, so after harvest one could chop it andconvert it into alcohol sugars.”

Sticklen thought that developing corn with higher levels of theenzymes needed for ethanol production would make the excessbiomass more valuable.

“Ethanol production from plant biomass requires cellulaseenzymes,” she explained. “We have already produced one of theseenzymes in corn. We have made the corn leaves and stems pro-duce high levels of the enzyme. This will be an extremely lucrativemarket for corn growers. Imagine selling corn crop biomass foralternative fuel production.”

Sticklen has also started studying how corn leaves could beengineered to make a protein that has the potential to help stopthe transmission of the virus that causes AIDS.

“HIV/AIDS is not transmissible through saliva because there is

a protein in saliva that kills the virus,” Sticklen said. “A companyin California has found the gene for making that protein.”

The company has been able to produce small quantities of theprotein, which retails at an extremely high price — $500 permicrogram. Because the protein is so expensive, no large-scalestudies have been done on its ability to prevent or control thespread of HIV. But Sticklen and other scientists are intrigued.

“When the protein is manufactured, it loses its shape, so thecompany has to go back in and reshape it, which is very expensiveand contributes to the protein’s high cost,” Sticklen said. “We’reattempting to put it into corn, and we think that it will keep itsshape there. Just to be sure, we’re adding another bit of geneticmaterial that will help.”

The techniques that Sticklen develops could potentially beused to add value to any crop with a relatively large amount ofbiomass that is thrown away as waste. Several other scientists areworking on various aspects of the research. Hesham Oraby, a doc-toral student from Egypt, is attempting to insert the genes thatproduce the enzymes necessary for ethanol production into rice.

“In developing countries, rice is a huge crop,” he explained.“Nothing can be done with the rice straw after harvest, so muchof it is burned. This contributes to the high levels of asthma andair pollution. I’ve experienced it in Egypt — there’s just a hazeeverywhere when rice straw is burning. It stings your eyes andmakes it hard to breathe.”

Regulators are starting to notice. In California, it is illegal toburn rice straw.

“If we could use the rice straw for something useful, then therewould be a market for it and growers wouldn’t have to burn it —they could sell it,” Oraby added.

STRESS RELIEF FOR PLANTSWhen MAES microbiologist and molecular geneticist Mike

Thomashow came to MSU in 1986, he wanted to know how plantsevolved mechanisms to withstand stresses such as cold anddrought. His goal was to improve stress tolerance in plants.

“I make tools that other people use,” Thomashow said. “I wantto understand what limits plants’ ability to thrive.”

Almost 20 years later, after being elected a member of theNational Academy of Science and receiving the Alexander vonHumboldt Foundation Award (the most prestigious award foragricultural research in the United States), Thomashow is inter-nationally recognized for his work on the molecular mechanismsof cold acclimation in plants.

Environmental stresses such as temperature and water avail-ability are the main limiters of the geographic boundaries ofcrops. Michigan’s comparatively short growing season and harshwinters are why the state doesn’t have a thriving citrus industry.

Eldon Down, MSU plant scientist, produced the Sanilac navy bean, animportant Michigan variety. It was the first variety produced from

parent beans that had been irradiated to create a plant that matured earlier.

1957

“I make tools that other people use. I want to

understand what limits plants’ ability to thrive.”


Spring 2005 | 27

By understanding how plants evolved specific mechanisms totolerate environmental stresses, specifically cold, Thomashowhoped to be able to find the genes responsible. He succeeded,brilliantly.

“We found the CBF cold-response pathway in Arabidopsis [asmall plant in the mustard family],” Thomashow said. “This is thegenetic pathway that controls freezing tolerance.”

The CBF cold-response pathway is a small family of cold-responsive genes. Within 15 minutes of a plant being exposed tolow but non-freezing temperatures, these CBF genes are turnedon. After about two hours, the CBF genes turn on other genes thatmake up a regulatory element, the CBF regulon. After a few daysof the CBF regulon genes being turned on, the plant’s freezing tol-erance increases. The CBF regulon genes also increase the plant’stolerance to drought and high salt concentrations. WhenThomashow and his colleagues created plants that had their CBFgenes turned on all the time, they found that the plants had bet-ter freezing tolerance.

Plant breeders at universities and private companies are nowworking to use this pathway as a type of master control switch tocontrol a suite of genes responsible for dehydration stress, whichcan be caused by drought, freezing and high salinity.

“Now we want to optimize the expression of the genes and seeif we can influence various plant species and create improvedvarieties,” Thomashow said. “There are a number of plants thatare freezing tolerant, such as wheat and canola. In those we’retrying to increase the tolerance now that we know what the path-way is.”

But other plants, such as tomatoes, rice and potatoes, have nofreezing tolerance. These plants pose new questions forThomashow and his research team. Do these plants even have aCBF pathway? Do they have parts of one? If they have a CBF path-way, is it defective? Is that why the plants have no freezing toler-ance? Could it be fixed?

“We’re now looking at those plants,” Thomashow said. “In thetomato, we’ve found that it has a complete CBF pathway, but theCBF regulon is very simple. It has only 10 genes. We want to knowwhy it is so simple — is there a mutation in another regulatorygene? Does it mean that the regulatory system sits in front of onlya few genes?”

Thomashow also wondered if there were any other cold-response pathways that controlled hydration and perhapsworked in partnership with the CBF pathway. He found one.Called ZAT12, this pathway activates a much smaller suite ofgenes. If just the ZAT12 genes are turned on, the freezing toler-ance increase is also smaller. He continues to look for other path-ways, but so far the genes that turn on the most after cold expo-sure are in the CBF pathway.

“Our challenge is to take the knowledge we have of the systemand use it to improve our strategies,” Thomashow said. “Can weratchet up the genes that turn on the CBF main switch andimprove cold tolerance?”

Unknowingly, breeders were selecting for varieties that hadtheir CBF genes turned up before anyone knew the CBF pathwayexisted.

“When we looked at cold-tolerant plants, we found their CBFsystems are turned up very high,” Thomashow explained. “Whichmakes sense. Growers want plants that are more cold-tolerant, so

those are the ones that are selected for the next season.“When I came to MSU, we didn’t know any of this stuff,” he

added. “It’s been fun to learn and discover it. The MAES deservescredit for supporting my ideas. There’s still a lot to be learnedabout this pathway and any other pathways that may act in par-allel to it.”

A MASTER SWITCH FOR PLANT GENESTo create its hugely successful line of Roundup-Ready crops,

including corn, soybeans and canola, the Monsanto Companyidentified and patented a specific sequence of DNA called a pro-moter. Promoters sit in front of genes and tell the plant when toturn on the expression of the gene. The promoter that Monsantopatented, the 35S promoter, is known as a general promoter andis on all the time. Monsanto inserted it into crops and the pro-moter basically told the plants to turn on the genes that madethem tolerant to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup. So growerscould use Roundup to kill weeds without harming their crops.

Because Monsanto owns the promoter, the company controlswho gets to use it. Scientists can use the promoter free of chargein experimental attempts to improve crops, but use of the 35Spromoter in commercial varieties is controlled by Monsanto.

After several years of research, MAES plant biologist RichardAllison identified a new promoter that functions in a similar wayto the 35S promoter. Like Monsanto’s 35S promoter, Allison’s pro-moter was derived from a virus. In this case, the promoter camefrom a virus infecting a Michigan blueberry crop.

“This promoter is like a switch,” Allison explained. “You put itin front of any gene and it tells the gene to turn on. It would allowus to bypass the 35S promoter that Monsanto owns. BecauseMSU would have the patent on this new promoter, it would allow

Scientist Mariam Sticklen has developed systems to geneticallyengineer crops such as potatoes, rice and turfgrass to improve theirresistance to insects and diseases.


28 | FUTURES

scientists here to use it to develop new crop varieties.”Through the MSU Office of Intellectual Property, he filed for a

patent on it in March 2004. He expects to have the patent in about2 years.

“There has been a lot of interest in this by MSU researchers,”

said Tom Herlache, licensing associate in the Office of IntellectualProperty. “We haven’t started advertising the licensing processoutside yet.”

Allison is also working on a new way to transform plants.Though the work is extremely promising and he’s very excitedabout it, Herlache cautioned him not to say much because thepatent application for it has not yet been published.

“Large-seeded legumes, such as dry beans and soybeans, bothof which are an important part of Michigan agriculture, are diffi-cult to transform with the techniques that we now have,” Allisonsaid. “We’ve refined a promising approach for the introduction offoreign genes into these crops. It would put MSU in a nice posi-tion with the intellectual rights to this technology.”

A third tool that Allison is just beginning to work on is some-what similar to his promoter work. But instead of having a virusresistance gene turned on all the time, that gene would turn ononly when the virus entered the cell. Then the resistance genewould turn on and kill the cells around the virus and lock thevirus in the dead cells.

“The plant is basically the same, except if it contracts a virus,”Allison said. “The mechanism of having the virus turn on the geneis what I’m working on. We think this type of plant might be moreacceptable to people who are opposed to biotechnology becauseit’s different only if and when the virus enters.”

CREATING INDUSTRIAL PLANTSWith gas prices firmly parked above $2 per gallon, many con-

sumers are revisiting the idea of alternative fuels. As gas prices goup, so does public discussion about ways to power vehicles andmachinery with something other than crude oil products. MAESplant biologist John Ohlrogge has never stopped talking aboutalternative oil products. His research career is focused on geneti-cally engineering oilseeds to create products for the chemicalindustry, including plastics, polymers and oils.

“If we can create plants that produce more oil or oil with spe-cial properties, it gives farmers more options — a chance to growa higher value crop,” Ohlrogge explained. “It provides alternativesto crude oil.”

Ohlrogge passionately believes that these plant oils will helpincrease income for farmers all over the world.

Many of the larger chemical companies are interested in usingcrops to produce chemicals that have traditionally been made asbyproducts of crude oil. Polyurethane, for example, can now bemade from plant oils. Currently, conventional soybean oil with nogenetic engineering is being used to make polymers.

“With some genetic modifications, we could make that

process better and easier,” Ohlrogge said. “We can create a plantthat does some of the chemical reactions in the plant, so thechemical company doesn’t have to do it. This reduces the amountof refining the company has to do, which makes it more cost-effective. The profit margin for commodity chemicals is tiny, so ifwe can make an oil that is less expensive or more attractive, com-panies will use it because it can now compete with crude oil. In asense we’re replacing industrial plants with green plants.”

The genetic modifications that Ohlrogge refers to involve mak-ing the oil molecule more reactive. To do this, he is working to iso-late genes from natural plant systems that already do the chem-istry. For example, the Sterculia foetida tree, also known as kapuhor kelumpang, is a large tropical tree with orange-red flowers thatproduce red seed pods. The flowers don’t smell very nice, but theseeds are rich with oil and Ohlrogge thinks one of the fatty acidsin the seeds could be very valuable.

“We have isolated the genes that make this fatty acid and areworking toward introducing these genes to oilseed crops that canbe grown in Michigan,” he explained. “We’re not introducing

“We can create a plant that does some of the

chemical reactions in the plant. The potential

markets in the chemical industry are enormous.”

MAES plant biologist John Ohlrogge wants to create plants thatproduce more oil or oil with special properties to give farmers theopportunity to grow higher value crops.


Spring 2005 | 29

them into crops grown for food — we’re looking at specialty cropsthat aren’t used for food, such as crambe and flax and possiblytobacco. Crambe might be similar to canola agriculturally.”

The fatty acid in Sterculia foetida is unusually reactive,Ohlrogge said, and he thinks it would be used in lubricants andplastics. It is just one of the fatty acids that Ohlrogge’s lab hasworked on over the years.

“Isolating the genes is the easy part,” he said. “Getting them towork efficiently in plants and producing a new type of crop is thedifficult part. It may require about 10 more years before we willsee large-scale commercial production. However, the potentialmarkets in the chemical industry are enormous.”

Polymers and plastics made from plants not only offer farmershigher value for their crops, they are often biodegradable, sousing and disposing of this type of oil would be far less taxing onthe environment than a non-biodegradable product. Ohlroggethinks that in the future, outboard motor oil, snowmobile oil andchainsaw oil will be based on plant oils to protect the environ-ment.

“There are some biodegradable chainsaw oils available now,”he said. “They are now required in some places — mainly inEurope. In the future, Michigan might require that onlybiodegradable oil can be used on state forest and park land tokeep our water and forests clean.”

TECHNIQUES FOR MICHIGAN CROPSWhen scientists use biotechnology to transform plants, they

transform only a small number of cells. The challenge is to createthe conditions that allow only those transformed cells to growand not the others.

The standard way to do this is to use a selectable marker — anantibiotic-resistant gene or a herbicide-resistant gene, for exam-ple. Then when the antibiotic or herbicide is applied to the cul-ture, the non-transformed cells are killed.

“Almost all these selectable marker genes are patented, howev-er, and the patents are owned by chemical companies,” explainedMAES horticulture scientist Wayne Loescher, who has long stud-ied the molecular mechanisms for biosynthesis and the degrada-tion of sugar alcohols in plants. “If I want to use those patentedgenes, the companies that own them want a cut, which is under-standable. This is a particular problem for horticultural cropsbecause their acreage is much smaller than that of corn, wheatand soybeans. There is no economic incentive for the companiesto do this work themselves. And it is especially an issue inMichigan because many of these comparatively smaller horticul-ture crops are important to the economy.”

In his research, Loescher worked out the metabolic pathwaysfor mannitol (a type of plant sugar) synthesis and identified andsequenced the genes involved. One of the genes may be able to beused as a selectable marker.

“It would be very nice to have a selectable marker that MSUcould own and use and not have to worry about paying a big com-pany for,” Loescher said. “So far, we have dramatic results intobacco, but we want to see if it works in Michigan crops.”

Loescher has placed the similar genes in Arabidopsis, a plantcommonly used in biotechnology research. The plant then beganto make mannitol, which it doesn’t normally make, and the man-nitol enhanced the salt tolerance in the plant. This may have

worldwide implications.“Having to use brackish water for irrigation is a global prob-

lem,” Loescher explained. “Farmers are relying on irrigation moreand more to improve productivity. Sometimes the only water theycan get has high salinity.”

Biotechnology is also important for Michigan growers.Loescher said that biotechnology will ensure that the horticul-

tural crops important to Michigan, such as cherries, blueberriesand cucurbits, have good regeneration procedures.

“There is a long list of crops that don’t have good, consistenttechniques because they’re smaller than corn or rice or soybeans,”he said. “Arabidopsis and tobacco are easy to do, but they’re notbiologically similar to most horticultural crops. We can’t predicthow specific plants will respond to the various procedures. Wehave to use the models we have and then move beyond them todevelop techniques for crops that are important for Michigan.[MAES scientist and Plant Transformation Center director] KenSink is doing this type of work. These techniques are turning out tobe different for each crop. We’re not going to be able to convincepeople in Iowa to work on blueberries. There is no value for themthere. MSU has to do this type of work for our growers.”

::: Jamie DePolo

MSU horticulturists Shigemi Honma and O. Heeckt successfullyhybridized snap and lima beans. This hybridization transferred the

early germination ability and early maturity of the snap bean to the limabean so it could be planted earlier.

1958

Dry beans and soybeans, important crops in Michigan, are difficult totransform with current techniques. Richard Allison, MAES plantbiologist, is working on a new way to transform these crops and hasfiled a patent application for it.


In 1940, Stanley Johnston, superintendent of the MAES field

station at South Haven, made history by releasing the

Redhaven peach variety, an early-ripening, red-skinned peach

he had developed. Redhaven, the first commercial red-skinned

peach, was one of 11 “Haven” peach varieties developed at

MSU, and it went on to become the most widely grown cultivar

in the world.

Though not a geneticist, Johnston knew that Michigan peach

growers needed an early-ripening variety to invigorate the

industry. His Haven peaches joined a long list of MSU-devel-

oped crops that offered economic advantages to growers and

nutritious and plentiful food to consumers.

Breeding and variety release are an outgrowth of the Hatch

Act, passed by Congress in 1887, which created the Michigan

Agricultural Experiment Station and allocated $15,000 per

year for agricultural research in each state. Today the MAES

budget exceeds $78 million and covers a wide variety of

research, from production practices to environmental quality

and food safety.

Michigan State University is celebrating

its 150th anniversary in 2005. MSU is the

pioneer land-grant institution, and its

history is closely tied to the history of

agriculture, natural resources and rural

communities in the state. The Michigan

Agricultural Experiment Station was

founded on Feb. 26, 1888 — 33 years after

MSU was founded — and the MAES has

played a significant role in shaping

MSU’s research legacy and its priorities

for the future. Each issue of Futures in

2005 will feature a special

sesquicentennial article highlighting the

intersection of MAES and MSU history.

M I C H I G A N S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y

S E S Q U I C E N T E N N I A L

30 | FUTURES

A History of Good Varieties

The corn variety trial at MSU celebrates its 70th anniversary in2005. Former MAES corn breeder Elmer Rossman developed morethan 45 hybrid varieties and more than 40 inbred varieties forMichigan growers.


Growers have always needed new varieties to remain com-

petitive, and in the 117 years since the founding of the experi-

ment station, MAES plant breeders have been helping growers

do just that. MSU has released more than 300 varieties of

crops — from apples, blueberries and peaches to wheat, dry

beans, petunias and snapdragons. Though none has

approached the wide popularity of the Redhaven peach, many

have been extremely important and beneficial to growers.

Many of the same MAES scientists who conduct breeding

research also oversee variety trials of the same crops they

breed. This work is also extremely important to growers.

“The trials are unbiased sources of information that let every-

one know how each variety performs in various locations

around Michigan,” said Keith Dysinger, a research assistant at

the MSU Agronomy Farm, who oversees the corn variety trials.

“MSU produces publications each year for a multitude of crops

that growers can use as a guide.”

Seed companies pay a fee to have their varieties in the trial.

The number of varieties in each year’s trial varies from crop to

crop. Corn usually has about 300, wheat has about 85, and

soybeans had more than 200 varieties in the 2004 trial.

One of the oldest trials, the corn variety trial celebrates its

70th anniversary in 2005. Dysinger has been working on the

corn trials for 33 years, so he’s seen just about half of them.

“The history of Michigan agriculture has strong ties to corn,”

Dysinger said. “In 1887, Professor Beal first cross-pollinated

corn to create hybrid vigor. Dr. Elmer Rossman developed more

than 45 hybrids and 40-plus inbred varieties suitable for

Michigan between 1948 and 1989. MSU started the corn tri-

als in 1935, just at the point when hybrids were starting to

make their mark by out-producing the open pollinated lines

used at the time.”

The corn hybrid variety trials helped Michigan corn growers

choose the best varieties for their growing conditions and made

a large impact on the amount of corn grown in the state. In

1950, about 1.7 million acres were planted in corn. In 1982,

it was 2.83 million acres. At the same time, yields were

increasing. The new hybrids doubled the average corn yield in

less than 20 years.

“In terms of acreage and cash value, corn remains

Michigan’s No. 1 crop,” Dysinger said. “Though Michigan has

many other crops that rank in the top five nationally. Michigan

growers continue to use MSU variety trial information to help

them make choices about which varieties to plant. We have a

good reputation, and our challenge is to keep presenting quali-

ty data. We’re now working with other states in our region to

standardize the data and are conducting joint trials. This makes

it easier for growers and seed companies to compare data

from several states.”

::: Jamie DePolo

Spring 2005 | 31

Keith Dysinger, research assistant at the MSU Agronomy Farm,oversees the corn variety trials. He’s been working on them for 33 years and has seen almost half the trials.

Harry Murakishi, MSU plant pathologist, studied the effect oftobacco mosaic virus (TMV) — a virus that attacks vegetables — on

the survival rate of tomato cells from resistant and susceptible varieties. Hiswork offered a way to screen thousands of cells for TMV resistance.

1958


32 | FUTURES

Alfalfa Hardigan 1920Webfoot 1989Big Ten 1990

Apple Rootstock MARK 1982

Apricot Goldcot 1967Traverse 1978

Barley (Spring) Michigan Black Barbless 1918Michigan Two Row 1918Spartan 1918Bay 1945Coho 1969Bowers 1975

Barley (Winter) Michigan Barley 1914Cass 1969Lakeland 1969Norwind 1972Odin 1973

Begonia Spartan Beauty 1993

Black Bean Domino 1981Black Magic 1981Blackhawk 1988Raven 1993Phantom 1999Jaguar 2000Condor 2004

Blueberry Keweenaw 1951Bluehaven 1967Northland 1967Tophat 1977Bluejay 1978Aurora 2002Draper 2002Liberty 2002

Broccoli Spartan Early 1960

Carrot MSU 1558 1963MSU 3489 1963Spartan Bonus 1969Spartan Sweet 1969Spartan Delite 1971Spartan Fancy 1971MSU 1558A 1971MSU 1558B 1971MSU 5986B 1971Spartan North 1972Spartan Classic 1976Spartan Premium 1976Spartan Winner 1976MSU 872A 1976MSU 872B 1976MSU 5988C 1976Spartan Delux 1977Spartan Bonus 80 1981Spartan Classic 80 1981Spartan Delite 80 1981Spartan Delux 80 1981

Carrot Spartan Fancy 80 1981Spartan Premium 80 1981Spartan Winner 80 1981

Cauliflower Green Ball 1971Self-Blanche 1973White Empress 1979Stovepipe 1980

Celery Michigan Golden 1933Michigan State Green Gold 1951Spartan 162 1958Golden Spartan 1974

Corn (Open-pollinated) Duncan 1920M.A.C. Yellow Dent 1922Polar Dent 1927

Corn (Inbreds) MS 24 1954MS 206 1954MS 109 1957MS 111 1957MS 121 1957MS 125 1957MS 126 1957MS 24A 1958MS 12 1958MS 116 1961MS 211 1961MS 1334 1962MS 4 1963MS 106 1963MS 107 1963MS 132 1963MS 213 1963MS 214 1963MS 57 1969MS 80 1969MS 92 1969MS 93 1969MS 100 1969MS 140 1969MS 142 1969MS 141 1970MS 68 1972MS 153 1972MS 145 1972MS103 1972MS 70 1975MS 71 1975MS 72 1975MS 74 1979MS 200 1979MS 221 1988MS 222 1988MS 223 1988MS 224 1988MS 225 1988

Corn (Hybrids) Michigan 561 (T) 1936Michigan 1218 (T) 1936Michigan 21A (T) 1939Michigan 20D 1943Michigan 29D 1943

Corn (Hybrids) Michigan 250 1951Michigan 350 1951Michigan 480 1952Michigan 570 1953Michigan 160 1955Michigan 420 1955Michigan 430 1955Michigan 475 1955Michigan 300 1958Michigan 370 1960Michigan 425 1960Michigan 490 1960Michigan 620 1960Michigan 400 1962Michigan 270 1963Michigan 550 1965Michigan 402-2X 1965Michigan 280 1966Michigan 500-2X 1966Michigan 463-3X 1967Michigan 200 1967Michigan 275-2X 1968Michigan 568-3X 1968Michigan 510-2XHLHT 1969Michigan 555-3X 1969380-3X 1970511-3X 1971572-3X 1971396-3X 1971333-3X 1972410-2X 1972560-2X 1972407-2X 1974575-2X 19742013 19752833 19752853 19753093 19755443 19753102 19764122 19765802 19765922 1979477 1980

Cranberry Bean Michigan Improved Cranberry 1969Cardinal 1982Coral 2005

Cucumber (Pickling) National Pickle 1929Spartan Dawn 1963Spartan Champion 1964Spartan Reserve 1964Spartan Progress 1967Spartan Advance 1968Spartan Valor 1968Spartan Salad 1972Spartan Jack 1973MSU 305 M ?MSU 183 C 1973Spartan Magic 1981Spartan Pride 1981Spartan Spirit 1981Spartan Wonder 1981

Grasses Wintergreen Chewings Fescue 1969Tetrelite Annual Ryegrass 1969Beaumont Meadow Fescue 1969

Great Northern Bean Alpine 1992

The following is the most complete listing of varieties developed at MSU that has been compiled so far.

CROP VARIETY YEAR RELEASED CROP VARIETY YEAR RELEASED CROP VARIETY YEAR RELEASED


CROP VARIETY YEAR RELEASED CROP VARIETY YEAR RELEASED CROP VARIETY YEAR RELEASED

Great Northern Bean Matterhorn 1998

Kalanchoe Michigan State 1942

Kidney Bean (Dark Red) Charlevoix 1961Montcalm 1974Isles 1993Red Hawk 1997

Kidney Bean (Light Red) Manitou 1967Mecosta 1974Isabella 1981Chinook 1991

Kidney Bean (White)/Alubia Beluga 1998

Lettuce Great Lakes 1942Tendergreen 1955Spartan Lakes 1968Chesibb 1969Domineer 1972Superbib 1980

Lima Bean Spartan Freezer 1968

Muskmelon Superb Golden 1939Spartan Rock 1958MSU 1C 1969

Navy Bean Robust 1915Michelite 1937Sanilac 1956Seaway 1960Saginaw 1961Gratiot 1964Seafarer 1968Tuscola 1973Swan Valley 1981Neptune 1981C-20 1982Laker 1983Mayflower 1988Huron 1993Newport 1994Mackinac 1997Seahawk 2003

Oats Alexander 1911College Success 1916Wolverine 1916Worthy 1917Huron 1938Eaton 1945Kent 1947Bonham 1947Jackson 1954Coachman 1964AuSable 1964Heritage 1976Pacer 1988MI-88-0-30 1995Ida 1997Ruby 1997

Onion Michigan Sweet Spanish 1945Spartan 1957Spartan Era 1963Spartan Gem 1963Spartan Banner 1966Spartan Bounty 1966

Onion Spartan Sleeper 1974Spartan Banner 80 1980Sweet Sandwich 1982Spartan Supreme 1997

Peach Halehaven 1932Kalhaven 1938Redhaven 1946Fairhaven 1946Richhaven 1955Sunhaven 1955Suncling 1961Cresthaven 1963Glohaven 1963Jayhaven 1976Spartancling 1976Sweethaven 1976Newhaven 1978MSU II 7(26) 1999

Pear Spartlet 1972

Pepper Spartan Emerald 1964Spartan Garnet 1968Frommage 1972Sonnette 1974Spartan Ruler 1976

Petunia Mary Michie 1993

Pinto Bean Sierra 1989Aztec 1992Kodiak 1998

Pink Bean Sedona 2005

Popcorn Michigan Popcorn No. 1 1958Michigan Popcorn 1-A 1958

Potato Pontiac 1939Onaway 1956Tawa 1957Arenac 1961Emmet 1961Russet Arenac 1965Saginaw Gold 1988Michigold 1989Spartan Pearl 1991Jacqueline Lee 2002Michigan Purple 2003Liberator 2002Boulder 2003Beacon Chipper 2005

Raspberry Early Red 1951

Red Bean Merlot 2003

Rye Rosen 1912Wheeler 1970

Snap Bean Spartan Arrow 1963Spartan Pride 1974Green Ruler 1976Spartan Ruler 1976Golden Ruler 1979

Snapdragon Spartan Bronze 1952Spartan Rose 1952

Snapdragon Tahiti White 1952

Soldier Bean Redcoat 2004

Soybean Dimon 1989Felix 1990Apollo 1992Olympus 1993Titan 1998Skylla 2004

Spruce Tree Spartan Spruce 1982

Strawberry Scarlet 1978

Sugar Beet USH20 1971USH23 1981SR80 1993SR97 2003

Tomato Victor 1941Early Chatham 1943Spartan Hybrid 1943Spartan Red 8 1961Spartan Pink 10 1962Moto-Red 1968Droplet 1971Rapids 1971Mini-Spartan 1980

Wheat Red Rock 1913Berkeley Rock 1922Baldrock 1932Ionia 1969Tecumseh 1973Frankenmuth 1979Augusta 1979Hillsdale 1983Chelsea 1992Lowell 1993Mendon 1993Ramrod 1996Bavaria 1998MSUD6234 2003MSUD8006 2004

Zinnia Spartan Rainbow 1993

Spring 2005 | 33


34 | FUTURES

Project GREEEN Awards ResearchDollars for 2005

Project GREEEN (Generating Researchand Extension to meet Environmentaland Economic Needs), Michigan’s plantagriculture initiative at MSU, awardedgrants for 28 new research projects forfiscal year 2005. Almost $1.7 million wasavailable in Project GREEEN grant moneythis funding cycle, of which $850,000 wasappropriated to new projects. Theremaining dollars were directed towardprojects that started in 2003 or 2004. Allprojects target priority issues affectingMichigan’s plant agriculture industries.

A total of 75 new project proposals and30 continuation proposals requestingapproximately $3.3 million were receivedfor consideration in this year’s selectionprocess.

Research projects were funded in thecategories of basic research, appliedresearch and extension/education/demonstration. New projects were fundedacross the spectrum of Michigan’s plantagriculture industries, on topics rangingfrom restoring community landscapesdevastated by the emerald ash borer anddeveloping market-ready, shelf-stableproducts to enhance profitability of thestate’s tree fruit industries to integratingendangered species protection withagricultural commodity production.Other research topics funded by ProjectGREEEN in 2005 include developing newweed control systems for soybeans andcorn, strategies to limit Phytophthora dis-ease in vegetables and more frost-tolerantbedding plants for Michigan’s greenhouseindustry.

“The research and outreach projectsselected for Project GREEEN fundingaddress industry-identified priorities andhave met the rigors of scientific peerreview,” said Doug Buhler, coordinator ofProject GREEEN and acting associatedirector of the Michigan AgriculturalExperiment Station. “These research and

outreach projects reflect the partnershipand cooperative relationship that existsbetween the plant industry groups,agribusiness, the Michigan Departmentof Agriculture and Michigan StateUniversity.”

“Project GREEEN has meant a greatdeal to Michigan’s agriculture and naturalresources since its inception,” said DanWyant, former director of the MichiganDepartment of Agriculture. “It’s truly aunique model of industry, governmentand university working together to identi-fy needs and produce tangible results.From helping develop tools that sustainfood safety and address exotic pests toefforts that protect Michigan’s environ-ment and adapt to rapidly emergingissues, Project GREEEN is key to helpingkeep Michigan agriculture successful andlocal communities and economies strongfor generations to come.”

A complete listing of 2005 newly fund-ed and continuing Project GREEENresearch projects can be found atwww.greeen.msu.edu/newspage.htm.

Water Cooling Research ProactiveStep for Cherry Industry

As water conservation and regulationgain attention, Michigan fruit growersand processors are looking for ways to beproactive about reducing water use. Mostnotably, Michigan’s $80 million tart cherryindustry is looking at developing newstrategies to maximize water efficiencywhile increasing profitability for bothgrowers and processors.

“There’s no question that a lot of wateris used during the cherry harvest andhandling process,” said Phil Korson,director of the Cherry Marketing Institute.

Cherries are harvested by machine andplunged into a cool bath of well water tocushion their entry into the holding tankand remove field heat. The cherries areflushed with more water to clean and coolthem, and additional water is used duringtransporting, processing and handling.Most of the water used then flows intoon-site holding ponds from which it isreleased back into the soil or distributedvia surface irrigation.

Within the past decade, a trend hasdeveloped among some cherry producersand processors to cool cherry fruit in

chilled water (below average well watertemperature of 48 to 50 degrees F) byusing refrigerated water chillers. Their usecan both reduce the amount of waterused and improve fruit quality.

Korson said chilled water allows thefruit to cool to a lower temperature morequickly, making the cherries firmer andbetter able to withstand the pittingprocess. The chilled water can also berecirculated so that less total water isused.

Dan Guyer, MAES biosystems and agri-cultural engineering researcher, is study-ing both the economic and the environ-mental advantages of using chilled water.

“Many cherry growers and processorshave said that using chilled water resultsin a firmer, higher quality cherry, butthere is limited data to back up the anec-dotal evidence,” he said. “We’re looking atfour main research questions. First, doesusing chilled water reduce the amount ofwater used? Second, does fruit qualityactually improve? Third, does it result ingreater overall net returns to producers?And lastly, does it reduce the challengesassociated with water disposal?”

Guyer said that during data collectionlast summer, researchers looked at tem-perature profiles within several tanks withwell water and mechanically chilled water.

“We found greatly varying tempera-tures throughout the chilling tanks evenafter several hours of chilling,” he said. “Itled us to ask a lot more questions abouthow much water at what temperatureworks best. For example, what tempera-tures and flow rates will best chill thecherries to the desired temperature with-in a time frame that is practical for theproducer? Should the cherries be rapidlycooled and held, or cooled gradually overthe time of holding? And what are theimpacts of these protocols on cherryquality?”

For now, Guyer said, whether an oper-ation should implement mechanical chill-ing and water recycling depends on manyfactors, including the rate of return oninvestment, actual improved fruit qualityand the size of the fruit operation. Guyerhopes to determine guidelines for thesetopics as research progresses.

“Ultimately, our objective is to makesure the cherry industry is sustainable in

Research in the news

Cisplatin, an anti-cancer agentdeveloped by MSU biophysicist

Barnett Rosenberg, was approved by the FDAafter several years of testing. It was lauded asthe most effective anti-cancer drug in 20 years.Cisplatin resulted from experiments Rosenbergconducted with electric currents and bacteriagrowing in culture.

1978


Spring 2005 | 35

the future, both economically and from anenvironmental stewardship perspective,”Guyer said.

“This research is a big deal for the indus-try,” Korson added. “It’s definitely a proac-tive step forward. We know there is a needto conserve water, and this research isaddressing it before it becomes a problem.”

Researchers Investigating UsingAnimal Composting at MeatPackaging Plants

Restrictions in the use of animalbyproducts in animal feed and otherproducts have created a new set of con-cerns for meat processors. Historically, arendering truck would pick up theunwanted animal tissue and bones. Atone time the processors were paid for thematerial, but today the render service hasbecome an increasing expense. In somecases, processors don’t have an outlet,regardless of the costs, so the materialends up in landfills.

To help processors address this con-cern, Dale Rozeboom, MAES animal sci-ence researcher, has conducted an on-sitedemonstration project with Jones FarmMeats of Saranac to study the feasibility ofcomposting meat processing byproducts.Rozeboom, who also studies dead animalcomposting on farms, believes there is aplace for composting at the meat process-ing plants as well.

“We hope to show that a small meatprocessing business can use compostingto effectively, safely and economicallyconvert inedible byproducts into a prod-uct that can be used beneficially by cropand plant growers,” Rozeboom said. Heestimated that there are 100 to 200 smallmeat-processing plants in Michigan thatmay benefit from this project if it leads tochanges in the Bodies of Dead AnimalsAct (BODA).

At this time Michigan law (the Bodiesof Dead Animals Act and the NaturalResources and Environmental ProtectionAct) requires that processors must obtaina special permit to compost. Jones FarmMeats was granted permission to com-post as a demonstration facility.

“The last time we paid a renderer itcost us $15,000 a year,” said Karl Jones,owner of the meat plant. “At one point inthe 1970s, renderers paid us around

$40,000 a year — it was what we lived on.”Jones and his family have been in themeat packing business since 1883.

The demonstration at Jones FarmMeats began in January 2004. Rozeboomand private consultant Howard Persondesigned a composting facility to handlethe 600,000 pounds of byproducts gener-ated at the plant each year.

The composting process requires anoptimum carbon to nitrogen ratio forproper decomposition. Maintaining theright balance of organic matter and bulk-ing material is critical to proper compost-ing. To help speed up the compostingtime, the byproducts are run through agrinder so everything is broken into 3-inch or smaller pieces. The byproductsare then moved to the composting site.

When new byproduct material isadded to the compost pile, dried sawdustor other organic material is also added asa carbon source. Jones Farm Meats islocated across the road from a large dairyoperation, which supplies used sawdustbedding for use along with dried sawdust.

As microbial decomposition takesplace, the pile is turned or moved to allowfor proper aeration. The piles are turnedwhen compost temperatures drop below100 degrees F for a week or two. Compostis aerated at least once a month and maybe turned two or three times a month. Alayer of dry material is put down underthe compost pile to absorb any leachate.If runoff develops or the pile begins toslip, it is pushed back into the bin.

Rozeboom said that under the currentBODA, compost piles containing animaltissues need to be covered. Part of thisproject was to evaluate possible runofffrom an unroofed structure. All bins slopein toward one another to prevent runoffout of the bins.

After at least three months of activecomposting, the compost is removedfrom the bin and piled elsewhere for cur-ing. At this point the material, which issimilar in texture to dairy manure, couldbe applied to farm fields. Curing makesthe compost a potential potting mediumor mulch for the greenhouse industry.

Rozeboom and Person have beenmonitoring gases produced during activecomposting. They have found very lowlevels if a biofilter cap or fresh layer of

sawdust is kept over the pile during com-posting.

Controlling animals, especiallyrodents, around the area was an initialconcern, but they have found that fencingaround the area and keeping an adequatelevel of sawdust over the pile have pre-vented problems with insects and ani-mals in the area. Rozeboom said the pilesstay too hot for rodents and fly larvae.

Rozeboom and the owners of JonesFarm Meats are pleased with the first-yearresults. The plant owners are savingmoney in rendering expense and may atsome point see an income source fromthe compost. This type of compostingmay have a place at small meat process-ing plants.

MAES Scientist Named Crop andSoil Sciences Acting Chair

Jim Kells, MAES weed scientist, wasappointed acting chairperson of theDepartment of Crop and Soil Sciences inApril. Former chairperson Doug Buhler isnow serving as acting associate director ofthe MAES and acting associate dean forresearch for the College of Agriculture andNatural Resources (CANR).

Kells has been a faculty member inthe Department of Crop and SoilSciences since 1982. In addition to histeaching and MAES appointments, healso serves as an MSU Extension projectleader, and he has served as associatechair of the Department of Crop and SoilSciences since 2003. He has worked inleadership roles with both the WeedScience Society of America and theNorth Central Weed Science Society, andhe has served on numerous professionalreview committees.

Kells’ program excellence has beenrecognized with the MSU OutstandingExtension Specialist Award and theMichigan Association of Extension AgentsSpecialist of the Year Award, among oth-ers. He is a double graduate of MSU, with


Dennis Fulbright, MAES plant pathol-ogist, used biotechnology to isolate a

virus that helped save the American chestnutfrom Chestnut blight, a fungal disease that nearlywiped out the species. Foresters see Chestnutblight as the worst ecological disaster in NorthAmerican history. The virus makes the fungusless virulent so it does not kill the trees it infects.

1982


36 | FUTURES

both a bachelor’s degree in crop and soilsciences and a doctorate in weed science.He received his master’s degree in weedscience from the University of Kentucky.

“I am very pleased that Jim has agreedto take on this responsibility,” said JeffreyArmstrong, dean of the CANR. “I am look-ing forward to working with him in thisleadership capacity.”

MAES Acting Director Featured inDetroit Free Press

An editorial by John Baker, MAESacting director, on how President Bush’sproposed budget cuts to agriculturalresearch funding would harm Michiganwas featured in the Detroit Free PressMay 3. To read Baker’s comments, visitwww.freep.com/voices/columnists/ebaker3e_20050503.htm.

High Fidelity Keeps Human DNAAssembly Line Humming

It turns out that building cars andbuilding life have a lot in common –success all comes down to quality control.

MAES scientists have made a majordiscovery about the inner workings ofgenetic coding, mapping out the mecha-nisms of one of life’s most elemental func-tions: RNA synthesis. Their work has cru-cial implications for understanding how anormal cell forms a tumor and how avirus runs amok.

The work was published in the May 13edition of the scientific journal MolecularCell.

Behind the basic research is a storythat melds exquisite nanotechnology inliving systems and cutting-edge biochem-istry and molecular biology with a systemof checks and balances.

“RNA synthesis is at the hub of humangenetic control. It’s important for under-standing cancers, viral infections andnormal human development,” saidZachary Burton, MAES biochemistry andmolecular biology scientist. “If you wantto understand and control things such asviral infections and tumors, this funda-

mental process has to be understood inevery detail. This is basic science, but it’sbasic science with practical application.”

Burton and his team study how RNA ismade from a DNA template. DNA is thegenetic material that holds the blueprintfor life. DNA dictates orders to RNA tomake the proteins that give a cell its iden-tity. Mistakes in RNA synthesis can lead tocancer or can support the life cycle of aninvading virus. Researchers consider con-trol of RNA synthesis to be a huge issue inhuman health. It is also the foundation ofhow living systems function.

In the world of molecular biology,much attention has been given to howRNA is made. Burton explained that it issimilar to an industrial assembly line,with DNA being a conveyer belt to loadbuilding blocks, or bases, called nucleo-side triphosphates (NTPs) to hook upwith a growing strand of RNA.

Burton’s insight was to discover thatthe NTP bases preload to the DNA tem-plate several steps before they are addedto the growing RNA chain.

This idea contradicts the prevalentview of how RNA and NTP bases hook up.Preloading of NTPs hints at a previouslyunknown quality control station to main-tain accuracy of RNA synthesis. If an NTPdoesn’t match up properly with DNA, thesystem stalls – and even backs up to cor-rect the error.

“We’re able to show how an error willbe sensed and corrected,” Burton said.“The quality control system checks NTPloading several ways. If it doesn’t matchthe criteria, it gets booted out.”

In addition to better understandinghow errors are prevented, Burton’sresearch team also learned ways thaterrors are corrected during rapid RNAsynthesis. To learn about error correction,Burton’s team stalled the DNA conveyerbelt. They did this using a deadly mush-room toxin, alpha-amanitin.

Finding evidence of quality controlgives some perspective to the elegance ofcell creation. Burton said it does notmean mistakes never occur. The assemblyline analogy holds up there. The humansystem has an acceptable level of errorrequired to allow for the speed at whichcells must reproduce.

“RNA polymerase is one of nature’s

great designs,” Burton said. RNA poly-merases are found in bacteria, yeast,plants and humans. The design hasendured because of this fidelity mecha-nism for RNA synthesis. “This is a triedand true design, and our study explainswhy this is an enduring design.”

Other co-authors of “Dynamic ErrorCorrection and Regulation ofDownstream Bubble Opening by HumanRNA Polymerase II” are research associ-ates Xue Gong and Chunfen Zhang, inBurton’s lab, and Michael Feig, MSUassistant professor of biochemistry andchemistry.

MSU Receives $5.9 Million KelloggGrant for Land Use Policy Researchand Education

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation hasannounced a $5.9 million investment overthree years in the Michigan StateUniversity Land Policy Program to supportland use policy research, education andinnovation to be done in partnership withPublic Sector Consultants (PSC), aLansing-based public policy research firm.

“This grant continues the foundation’scommitment to increase awareness ofimportant land use issues in Michiganthrough people and land programming,”said Rick Foster, Kellogg Foundation vicepresident of Food System and RuralDevelopment. The principal partner inimplementing the grant will be the MSULand Policy Program (LPP), directed bySoji Adelaja, John A. Hannah distin-guished professor in land policy andMAES affiliated researcher.

The people and land (PAL) program-ming idea has received substantial creditfor helping to change the Michigan land-scape. The PAL approach focuses on edu-cating citizens and policy-makers aboutland use issues, informing them of inno-vative policy tools and alternativeoptions, and convening organizations tounderstand various perspectives andimplement appropriate land use agendas.

Through PAL grant making, municipalleaders have gained easier access to valu-able training and information to helpthem in making land use decisions. Citieshave been given tools to establish stan-dards showing that they are ready forredevelopment — helping them to


Jack Preiss, MAES biochemist,and his colleagues discovered

that bacterial genes could increase a plant’s rateof starch production.

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remove barriers to redevelopment whilepromoting collaboration between publicand private sectors. As a result of dia-logues facilitated by PAL, diverse partner-ships have been established to help sus-tain Michigan’s agriculture industry andrural character by promoting local farm-land preservation programs and greeninfrastructure planning.

Bill Rustem, the president of PublicSector Consultants, who directed previ-ous PAL work, will serve as co-director ofthe Phase III PAL work with Adelaja.

“PAL’s accomplishments have beensecond to none in raising the awarenessof land use issues in the state,” Rustemsaid. “But much more needs to be done.MSU’s Land Policy Program is positionedto take the lead in demonstrating how anengaged university and creative facultymembers can support Michigan commu-nities and government with research-based information as they work to makesmarter land use decisions.”

“PAL III funding will allow us to estab-lish a sustainable land use change infra-structure that will compete nationally inattracting resources to implement effec-tive land use solutions in Michigan,”Adelaja said.

“We at Michigan State University areexcited to have the generous support ofthe Kellogg Foundation to enhance ourwork with the people of Michigan to findinnovative solutions to one of the mostcritical issues affecting both quality of lifeand economic competitiveness,” saidMSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “Inthe spirit of a 21st century land-grant uni-versity, we will build on our partnershipthrough PAL and will align our researchand engagement priorities to bring newknowledge to bear on the importantissues of land use and land use policy.”

Land Policy Program goals underPhase III of PAL include deliveringfocused, timely and relevant research toland use stakeholders, engaging univer-sity faculty members to provide appro-priate expertise to Michigan communitiesand governments, leveraging Michiganresources to attract competitive nationalfunds and reshaping the university’sExtension outreach activities to empowerland use decision makers.

Cooperative Brings Nutritious FoodChoices, Opportunities to UrbanCommunity

An effort to refurbish a defunct farm-ers’ market to help revitalize a neglectedurban area is turning a roadblock into anopportunity.

A new cooperative, called Branches ofthe Vine Food Buyers Cooperative, is mak-ing fresh produce available to low-incomeresidents in an east Detroit neighborhoodwho are without a nearby grocery store.

The farmers’ market initiative waslaunched nearly three years ago by theMichigan Coalition of Black Farmers(MCBF) when the group approachedMike Score, Washtenaw County MSUExtension agricultural agent and MSUProduct Center for Agriculture andNatural Resources innovation counselor,about creating a link between agricultureand urban consumers. The MCBF hopedto refurbish the Chene & Ferry MunicipalPublic Market — a fixture in the neigh-borhood for more than 40 years before itwas converted into a recycling collectioncenter that closed permanently in 1988 —into a market where the neighborhood’slow-income residents could buy freshproduce and other horticultural products.Until recently, the community’s onlysource for groceries within a 7-mile radiuswas a convenience store located near themarket.

The MCBF, with help from Score andthe MSU Product Center, reopened thenew Chene-Ferry Farmers’ Market lastSeptember. Under the original plan, Scoreand local groups would manage the mar-ket and the MCBF would act as the go-between with produce wholesalers. Afterabout 13 weeks, however, organizers real-ized that they had underestimated theamount of time and money needed tomake the facility suitable for deliveringgoods to the community.

The site may eventually be convertedto a full-scale market, but Score estimatedthat it would cost nearly $2 million tobring the facility up to code and make itcompletely functional.

“There was no place to store producethat we didn’t sell,” Score added. “A sec-ond obstacle was that people from out-side the neighborhood were uncomfort-able coming to the area.”

It was at this point that the MCBF initi-ated discussions with Branches of theVine Food Buyers Cooperative, a localfood organization managed byPeacemakers International Ministries.

Now area residents can place their gro-cery orders at the PeacemakersInternational Ministries on Chene Streetfrom Monday through Thursday and pickthem up on Friday. The cooperative, com-pletely staffed by volunteers, buys its foodin bulk from a wholesaler to fill theorders, which are sorted and packaged foreach customer.

“Members of the community are veryexcited about the cooperative,” Score said.“Some residents have even talked aboutstarting urban gardening projects to helpfill orders for the local community.”

The cooperative will purchase whole-sale as much produce and as many horti-cultural products as it can from farms inWashtenaw and Lenawee counties. Foodthat cannot be grown locally will beshipped in from farms in neighboringregions.

“The cooperative supports communi-ty agriculture,” Score said. “The goal ofthis initiative is to provide local residentswith access to wholesome, nutritiousfood for less than what it would costthem to purchase similar products at thegrocery store.”

The cooperative’s organizers are willingto share their business plans with othercommunity leaders so that the idea canbe replicated in other neighborhoods. Sofar, several other Detroit communitiesand the southeastern Michigan cities ofYpsilanti and Adrian have received copiesof the business plan.

“Besides providing fresh food, this pro-gram is also an opportunity to educatepeople about agriculture, health andnutrition, and enlighten them about allthe jobs involved in agriculture — agricul-


Neogen Corporation, a Lansingbiotechnology company, marketed a

kit developed with biotechnology techniques byMAES scientist Jim Pestka to screen for aflatoxinB-1, a poison produced by a fungus that cancontaminate spices, corn, small grains, cotton-seed, peanuts and dairy products. The kit isused by grain elevator operators and dairyproduct distributors to detect aflatoxin before itgets to consumers.

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ture is not just about the food deliverysystem, it has a role in many jobs andcareers,” said Ralph King, executive direc-tor of the MCBF. “If this program is suc-cessful, I think it could lead to a renais-sance in the area.”

The Chene-Ferry Farmers’ Marketproject and urban revitalization effortshave been supported by a number of pro-grams, including Project GREEEN, theMCBF, MSU Extension, the MSU ProductCenter for Agriculture and NaturalResources, the MSU Land Policy Program,the C. S. Mott Group for Sustainable FoodSystems at MSU and PeacemakersInternational Ministries.

Michigan’s Tourism IndustryProjected to Rebound in 2005

After four consecutive difficult years,Michigan’s tourism industry will experi-ence modest growth this year, if a forecastpresented at the Michigan TourismOutlook and Legislative Conferenceproves to be correct.

A research team headed by DonHolecek, MAES scientist and director ofMichigan State University’s TourismResource Center, projects that the num-ber of Michigan travelers in 2005 willincrease by 2 to 3 percent over last year’snumbers, and travelers’ spending willincrease by a similar amount. In prepar-ing their forecast, the team reviewedtrends in a multitude of factors known toinfluence travel activity in Michigan andsurveyed industry leaders across the state.

The projected growth for Michigan’stourism industry is slightly below theaverage registered over the past 20 yearsand would not be enough to recoup loss-es registered since 9/11 and the subse-quent economic recession.

Holecek noted that many of the eco-nomic variables that the research teamconsiders are less favorable for industrygrowth than they were at this time lastyear. For example, rising interest rates

and oil prices are combining to slow eco-nomic growth in the United States. Theunemployment rate in Michigan remainsthe highest in the nation. So, if not theeconomy, then what forces do the MSUresearchers believe will boost tourism in2005?

“An aging population with more leisuretime and disposable income whose tastefor travel is growing provides a base thatis fueling long-term growth in demand fortravel,” Holecek said. “Weakening currenteconomic conditions will only partiallyoffset this overall long-term travel growthtrend.”

A Michigan vacation will remain a rela-tive bargain in 2005 despite a projectedincrease in prices, other than for gasoline,of about 3 to 4 percent. The higher priceof gasoline is not expected to significantlyinfluence Michigan’s overall tourismindustry, largely because positive impacts,such as encouraging trips of shorter dis-tance, will offset negative impacts, suchas some reduction in total number oftrips taken.

Even more important in the team’sprojection is the weather factor.Michigan’s prime tourist attraction is itsabundance of natural resources. Theseare most attractive when weather condi-tions are favorable for outdoor recreationactivities.

Unfavorable and abnormal weatherconditions persisted in late spring andacross much of the summer travel seasonin Michigan last year. This depressed per-formance of the industry in 2004. A returnto more normal weather conditions,assumed in MSU’s forecast, supports theconclusion that the tourism business willbe better this year than last year, especial-ly in areas of the state and among busi-nesses that cater to outdoor enthusiasts.

Project GREEEN Garden Offers FreshFood, Educational Opportunities forSchool Children

When Project GREEEN research fund-ing was awarded to the Department ofHorticulture to perform its winter babyleaf salad greens production research atthe MSU Horticulture Teaching andResearch Center four years ago, fewwould have imagined the ripple effect itwould have on local elementary school

students.“Project GREEEN funding combined

with sustainable agriculture researchfunding provided us with a means toexperiment with growing salad greensyear round in unheated greenhouses —and the results led to grants from the W.K.Kellogg Foundation and the USDA HigherEducation Challenge Grant Program tostart the MSU Student Organic Farm[SOF] and opened the door for a lot ofother projects,” said John Biernbaum,MAES researcher and SOF faculty coordi-nator. Among these other projects was anopportunity in 2003 to partner withLansing’s Gunnisonville School to expandits children’s garden to include a green-house.

“With the original garden, we wereable to harvest the salad greens onlybefore summer break, and then by fall thefrost would get everything,” explainedLaurie Thorp, MSU director of theResidential Initiative on the Study of theEnvironment, who has worked closelywith Gunnisonville School over the pastfive years. “Now we are able to have mul-tiple harvests in both the spring and fall— and the cafeteria has access to fresh,locally produced food that it can serve tostudents.”

Biernbaum reported that last sum-mer’s completion of the greenhouse,funded by a North Central SustainableAgriculture Research and Education(SARE) program grant, resulted in freshsalad ingredients for the entire 200-plusstudent body by the second week ofDecember last year.

“Kids do eat vegetables if you offerthem something with flavor,” Biernbaumadded. “Kids will eat spinach, radishes,carrots — all kinds of things — if they’refresh and have flavor.”

In addition to offering more variety inthe cafeteria, Thorp and graduate studentEmily Reardon worked with teachers atGunnisonville to develop creative les-sons on horticulture and science thatsatisfy the state-mandated curriculum.

“The garden and unheated greenhouseprovide a living classroom that makeslearning more meaningful to students,”she said. “The students take ownershipof it, and it makes their learning moretangible.”


Chris Sommerville, MAES researcher,used genetic engineering techniques

to make a plant produce a biodegradable plasticin its tissue. Sommerville combined genes ofAlcaligenes eutrophus, a bacterium that makestiny amounts of natural plastics called biopoly-mers, with a gene of the mustard plant,Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Spring 2005 | 39

Richard AllisonAssociate Professor of Plant Biologyand Plant Pathology368 Plant Biology [email protected]

Dave DouchesProfessor of Crop and Soil Sciences486 Plant and Soil Sciences Building517-355-0271, ext. [email protected]

Keith DysingerResearch Assistant, Crop and SoilSciences286 Plant and Soil Sciences [email protected]

Rebecca GrumetProfessor of Horticulture342 Plant and Soil Sciences Building517-355-5191, ext. [email protected]

Kyung-Hwan HanAssociate Professor of Forestry117 Natural Resources [email protected]

Jim HancockProfessor of Horticulture A342C Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding517-355-5191, ext. [email protected]

Kirk HeinzeDirectorCommunication and TechnologyServices310 Agriculture Hall517-432-1555, ext. [email protected]

Tom HerlacheIntellectual Property Officer246 Administration [email protected]

Brian HughesMichigan Department of AgricultureP.O. Box 30017Lansing, MI 48909 [email protected]

Amy IezzoniProfessor of HorticultureA342D Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding517-355-5191, ext. [email protected]

Randy JuddManager, Michigan CropImprovement AssociationP.O. Box 21008Lansing, MI [email protected]

Jim KellyProfessor of Crop and Soil Sciences370 Plant and Soil Sciences Building517-355-0271, ext. [email protected]

Wayne LoescherProfessor of Horticulture and Cropand Soil SciencesA328 Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding517-355-5191, ext. [email protected]

John OhlroggeUniversity Distinguished Professor ofPlant Biology362 Plant Biology [email protected]

Ken SinkProfessor of Horticulture and Cropand Soil Sciences; Director, PlantTransformation CenterA336 Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding517-355-5191, ext. [email protected]

Miriam SticklenProfessor of Crop and Soil Sciences362 Plant and Soil Sciences Building517-355-0271, ext. [email protected]

Michael ThomashowUniversity Distinguished Professor ofCrop and Soil Sciences andMicrobiology and MolecularGenetics310 Plant Biology [email protected]

Dechun WangAssistant Professor of Crop and SoilSciencesA384E Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding517-355-0271, ext. [email protected]

Rick WardAssociate Professor of Crop and SoilSciencesA382 Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding517-355-0271, ext. [email protected]

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Documents

Plant Breeding and Genetics: Harvesting the Power of DNA · plant breeders are working on developing even better, more prolific varieties. MAES plant geneticists and microbiologists