STORY LEAD:
Biotech Bouquet in the Works
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ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Jan Suszkiw, (301) 504-1630, jsuszkiw@asrr.arsusda.gov
July 14, 1999
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Sturdier breeds of lily, gladiolus and other cut-flowers may come from the
greenhouse of Kathryn Kamo and her colleagues in a Beltsville, Md.,
laboratory operated by the Agricultural Research Service, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's chief research agency.
Using biotechnology, the scientists are seeking to do what conventional
breeding has not achieved: produce commercial cultivars with resistance to
viruses that menace the nation's $15 billion floriculture industry. One is
the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), a disease-causing pathogen that aphids
spread to flower crops while probing for sap.
Spraying insecticide is one recourse. But the practice can be costly and
harmful to beneficial bugs. As an alternative, Kamo's team genetically
engineered 30 strains of gladiolus with built-in defenses. About 250 of the
plants are growing in a greenhouse at the U.S. National Arboretum's Floral
and Nursery Crops Research Lab in Beltsville. Operated by ARS, the arboretum
itself is located in Washington, D.C.
The gladioli, now in full bloom in Beltsville, are resplendent in yellow and
pink flowers. But soon, they'll be artificially infected with CMV so
scientists can check for signs of resistance or susceptibility.
Virus-induced streaking in petals, brown spotting in leaves, and other
unsightly symptoms can diminish a cut-flower's aesthetic value, according to
Kamo, a plant physiologist.
She is particularly anxious to test the gladiolis' durability, since they're
the first ornamental bulb crop to be engineered with a "gene gun." The
device has enabled scientists to fire bits of genetic material, called viral
DNA, into cells grown from the bulbs of the gladiolus cultivars "Peter
Pears" and "Jenny Lee." From the cells, scientists grew whole plants.
This summer's greenhouse studies will help show whether two viral coat
proteins and an enzyme in the plants will foil CMV's ability to replicate
and cause disease. The trick for scientists is perfecting an inoculation
technique that leaves little doubt of disease resistance. From there, it
would be up to commercial florists to develop the gladiolis into new
varieties.
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Scientific contact: Kathryn Kamo, ARS Floral and Nursery Crops Research Lab,
Beltsville, Md., (301) 504 5350, fax (301) 504-5096, kkamo@asrr.arsusda.gov.
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