- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Three citrus trees that produce inedible fruit at the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center in Visalia may be a game-changer for the citrus industry, reported Ezra David Romero on Valley Public Radio.
The trees are thought to be resistant to huanglongbing, a severe disease of citrus that has devastated the Florida industry and could become a serious problem in California. The citrus-saving potential of the three 34-year-old trees was outlined in an article by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources writer Hazel White in the most recent issue...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Riverside research that resulted in the new, seedless mandarin variety Tango was featured in a Smithsonian magazine article written by Sarah C. Rich.
The story recounts how plant geneticist Mikeal Roose used irradiation on W. Murcott budwood to induce mutations that improve the fruit.
“Farmers have long selected citrus varieties that are low-seed, that have the same kinds of chromosomal rearrangements stimulated by the same thing—there’s natural radiation around all the time and it can affect the trees at any time.”
The advantage of inducing mutations, Roose...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A new, virtually seed-free mandarin will for the first time be sold in California grocery stores, but consumers may not even notice, according to an AP story by Jeff Nachtigal published late last week. Google News reports that the article made its way into about 200 news outlets.
The story was also written up by reporter Mark Muckenfuss of the Riverside Press-Enterprise in mid-January.
UC Riverside began releasing budwood for Tango mandarins in 2006; more than a million trees are now growing in California. Their first commercial crop is being...
