Knowles, Paulden F. : Professor, Agronomy and Range Science, Davis

Successes and Iimitations Paulden F . Knowles , Professor , Agronomy and Range Science , Davis since its beginning , the University of Cali - fornia has been actively involved , directly or indirectly , in traditional plant breeding pro - grams , including germplasm collection and of geneticstocks for evaluation , development use in plant breeding programs , development of finished varieties , new crop development , and training of plant breeders . Such plant breeding is actually a form of genetic en - gineering . It involves management of genes and their carriers , the chromosomes . Germplasm collection University personnel have been plant ex - plorers , searching areas where crop plants or - iginated or where their wild relatives exist to bring back to the United States stocks that very often provided characteristics to im - CaliforniaAgriculture , prove our plants ( see September 1977 ) . Germplasm collections have been made for establishedcrops , such as grapes , strawbemes , and safflower ; crops es - tablished elsewherebut not yet grown in Cali - fornia , such as rapeseed and amaranths ; and wild species not yet domesticated , including wild sunflower , guayule , and jojoba . Development of genetic stocks and finished cultivars University researchers have provided ge - netic stocks , which in turn have been used to improve cultivars being developed by both public and private agencies . Often these have involved transfers of characteristics from related wild species . Examples of genetic stocks are : OTomatoes with disease resistance Carthamusox - OSafflower ( from the wild yacantha of the Middle East ) resistant to rust OYellow - dwarf - resistant barley obtained from introductions from Ethiopia of OShort - stemmed high - yielding types rice obtained by using mutagens . This important activity of the University will be advanced by genetic engineering . The Universityâ??s role in development of finished cultivars has yielded economicbene - of all the costs fits to agriculturefar in excess 6 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE . AUGUST 1982 Plant breeding trials with gua - yule , a potential source of rubber , by I ? F . Knowles may yield economic benefits well above research costs . years , in largemeasurebecause of the Univer - peratures . Its seed oil , chemically similar to of U.C . agricultural research . sity breeding program , production of pro - that of the endangered sperm whale , has 75 to 80 percent of the barley crop Today , cessed tomatoes has quadrupled . CaliforniaAgriculture , Au - many uses ( see in Californiais grown to U.C . - developed cul - A U.C . grape breeding program began gust 1979 ) . tivars , which have resulted in yield increases yielding new cultivars in 1946 . Since then a Other potential new crops being investi - of up to 48 percent during the last 15 years . steady flow of cultivarshas been released for gated by the University are sesame and mus - 80percent of the strawberryacreage About tards asa source of oil and protein , amaranths all facets of the grape industry including rai - in California is planted to cultivarsdeveloped as a source of carbohydrate and and triticale sinvarieties , red and white wine varieties , and by the University of California . The new cul - protein , and guayule as a source of rubber . an array of table varieties . Improvements in tivars with high yields and excellent quality table grapes include seedlessness , earliness , of the Universityâ??scontribu - Not the least have expanded the area of production and storage ability , and bright red color . Disease , tions to plant breeding has been the training permit year - round production of fruit . nematode , and insect resistance has been in - Virtuallyall the California asparagus acre - of plant breeders through formal courses , corporated into new varieties , in some cases or age has been planted to University cultivars textbooks on plant breeding , and research through interspecific hybridization . apprentice - type experience under the gui - 40years . The latest in a seriesof seven cul - for of UC - 1 was the first commercial variety dance of a plant breeder . The training has fo - tivars is F , hybrid UC 157 , renowned for its safflower with high levels of oleic acid , in - cused on both basic and applied aspects of of uniform , superior spears and high yields stead of linoleic acid , in the seed oil . Chemi - plant breeding , and graduates serve agricul - tolerance to fusarium wilt . oil . It is an example cally , the oil is like olive ture throughout the world . The Universityhas been deeplyinvolved in of using a single gene to provide a new oil melon breeding sincethe 1920s.The most re - Trends crop . cent developments are short - internode bush of research where the Univer - A new area of honeydew and crenshaw types , cultivars At one time much of the plant breeding sityhas providedleadershipis the development which are easierto harvest and better adapted was supported financiallyfrom state and fed - of dwarf cultivars of peaches and nectarines . to the home garden . eral sources . This support was justified , be - Such dwarf varieties have short internodes , The male - sterile variant in the onion culti - as a whole benefited from the cause society which reduces woody growth , yet have the var Italian Red was discovered in the 1920s , programs . In recent years , with declining same number of leaves , flowers , and fruits as and the first studies on its inheritance were support from public agencies , breeding pro - normal trees . The result is precocious bearing made by the University . This discoveryled to grams have derived much of their financial of many fruits per unit length of stem : if of the hybrid onion industry development support from commodity groups . 1,000trees are planted per acre instead of the as a model for the use of cytoster - and served Where private companies have assumed a usual 100 , yield is doubled . The dwarfing iles in other crops . major role in breedingimprovedvarieties , the gene is being transferred to almonds , where it U.C . cultivars have had a profound effect University has often shifted its emphasis is expectedthat the increased yield , compared on the tomato industry for six decades . Some from developmentof finished varietiesto de - with that of normal trees , will be greater than stepsin cultivar development were : improved of germplasm and to the study of velopment in peaches . selections of cultivar Santa Clara ! cultivar breeding systems . It has sought to have its VF Pearson with bush habit and high yields ; breeding programs complementary to , and New crop development 6 and VF 9 with resistance to fusarium and not competitivewith , those in the private sec - The Universityâ??sresearch program on saf - verticillium wilts ; VF 36 with improved fruit tor . In somecasesthe Universityhas assumed flower , initiated in 1947 , was the necessary VFN 8 and VFN 14 with resistanceto setting ; very long - range , high - risk objectivesin plant first step to commercial development of saf - nematodes ; and VF 145 and 13L in 1954 , and breeding . 1950 . Tests flower beginning in California in 134 and UC 82 , which are more recently UC Training will continue to be an important were conducted both at Davis and in the coun - adapted to completelymechanicalharvest be - of the University . As in the past , the role ties under the supervision of farm advisors . cause of their compact plant type , concen - trend will be towards a better understanding In large part because of the Universityâ??s re - trated fruit ripening , and fruit characteristics . of fundamentals rather than the practice of Because of their superiority , the latter four search , jojoba , a shrub of the Sonoran Des - plant breeding . It will deal with the behavior ert , is now grown on nearly varieties occupy most of the California acre - 16,000 acres in and management of genes and chromo - age and have increased production to the United States . Jojoba performs well with 5 to 7 somes , with basic physiological processes , million tons per year , accounting for 75 to 85 low amounts of irrigation water , low soil fer - and with the interactions of crop plants with percent of U.S . production . Over the last 40 tility , high salinity , and a broad range of tem - pathogens and insect pests . CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE , AUGUST 1982 7