Introducing 'Champagne,' new disease-resistant fig

LSU breeding program produces new fig selection for home orchards

2010-09-22

(Press-News.org) BATON ROUGE, LA—The ancient fig tree, first imported to the United States during the 16th century, thrives in areas of California and the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast areas of the U.S. One of the most popular trees grown in Southern backyards, fig is favored for its versatile fruit and low-maintenance production.

Charles E. Johnson, Ed O'Rourke, and James E. Boudreaux, from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, introduced a new fig they named "Champagne" in a recent issue of HortScience. According to the report, the new fig performed well in grower trials and home orchards. It was selected for public release because of its superior fruiting characteristics. 'Champagne' produces a distinctive fruit when ripe, with a yellow exterior and a unique "gold to caramel" internal color. "This feature should present a marketing opportunity for local outlets", noted the authors.

'Champagne', previously unofficially named and propagated as 'Golden Celeste', was developed by the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station (LAES) to provide a productive, good-quality fruit that ripens during the traditional fig harvesting period (early July in Baton Rouge). The fruit of 'Champagne' is persistent and does not require pollination. 'Champagne' was found to be slightly more resistant to defoliation caused by the fig leaf rust and leaf spot than 'Celeste'.

The authors noted that one limitation is the tendency of the fruit of 'Champagne' to have a partially closed eye at maturity, which, under humid conditions, could increase the amount of fruit spoilage compared with 'Celeste'. "However, field notes did not denote a greater tendency for fruit spoilage than other cultivars. When the fruit is harvested at the proper stage for processing (firm ripe), this should not present a problem", the research concluded.

The LSU AgCenter does not have nursery trees of 'Champagne' available at this time, but limited quantities of dormant cuttings are available for research upon request.

INFORMATION: The complete study and abstract are available on the ASHS HortScience electronic journal web site: http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/cgi/content/full/45/2/310

Founded in 1903, the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) is the largest organization dedicated to advancing all facets of horticultural research, education, and application. More information at ashs.org

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Food for thought, er, well ...

2010-09-22

Ever wonder why it's such an effort to forget about work while on vacation or to silence that annoying song that's playing over and over in your head? Mathematicians at Case Western Reserve University may have part of the answer. They've found that just as thinking burns energy, stopping a thought burns energy - like stopping a truck on a downhill slope. "Maybe this explains why it is so tiring to relax and think about nothing," said Daniela Calvetti, professor of mathematics, and one of the authors of a new brain study. Their work is published in an advanced online ...

NASA study shows desert dust cuts Colorado River flow

2010-09-22

Snowmelt in the Colorado River basin is occurring earlier, reducing runoff and the amount of crucial water available downstream. A new study shows this is due to increased dust caused by human activities in the region during the past 150 years. The study, led by a NASA scientist and funded by the agency and the National Science Foundation, showed peak spring runoff now comes three weeks earlier than before the region was settled and soils were disturbed. Annual runoff is lower by more than five percent on average compared to pre-settlement levels. The findings have ...

Farm, forest lands being protected -- but not always for farming or forestry

2010-09-22

CORVALLIS, Ore. – More than 35 years after Oregon began one of the nation's most ambitious land use planning programs, a new study suggests it's still difficult to demonstrate that it has accomplished one of its primary goals – protecting agricultural lands and a thriving forest, farm and ranching industry. There's some evidence that the laws have provided a "measurable degree of protection," scientists say in the report. However, there are also impacts that were little anticipated or considered four decades ago, such as the growth of "hobby farms" in which farming or ...

NASA-funded study shows desert dust cuts Colorado River flow

2010-09-22

Snowmelt in the Colorado River basin is occurring earlier, reducing runoff and the amount of crucial water available downstream. A new study shows this is due to increased dust caused by human activities in the region during the past 150 years. The study, led by a NASA and UCLA scientist and funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), showed peak spring runoff now comes three weeks earlier than before the region was settled and soils were disturbed. Annual runoff is lower by more than 5 percent on average, compared with pre-settlement levels. The findings ...

Vitamin D protects against obesity-induced endometrial cancer, GUMC researchers say

2010-09-22

Washington, DC – Findings from an animal study suggest that obese women can reduce their increased risk of endometrial disease if they take vitamin D supplements, say researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. The scientists report in Cancer Prevention Research published online today that 25 percent of obese mice fed a vitamin D supplemented diet developed endometrial cancer, while 67 percent of obese mice not treated with the vitamin developed cancer. They also report that vitamin D offered no protective effects for normal weight mice; whether ...

New fluorescence technique opens window to protein complexes in living cells

2010-09-22

Fluorescent microscopy makes use of molecules, such as green fluorescent protein (GFP), that emit colored light when illuminated with light of a specific wavelength. Molecules like GFP can be used to label proteins of interest and can reveal information about the relationships of molecules within cells. Fluorescence polarization, also known as anisotropy, is specific parameter of fluorescence that can provide additional information about the properties of individual molecules. Fluorescence anisotropy has been used to study isolated molecules. Now, a recent study describes ...

The Achilles' heel of tendons

2010-09-22

Tendons are the body's marionette strings, connecting bones to muscles that raise an eyebrow or propel us into a full run. That is, until an unusually forceful or awkward pull on the strings leaves us with a sprain, strain or tear. Surgeons attempt to repair over 300,000 of these injuries every year, and doctors visits for sore tendons run into the millions. Using a combination of nanoscience and biomedical and civil engineering to explore tendon structure from atoms on up, researchers have unraveled part of the mystery behind why we have problems with our tendons. A ...

Stroke gene discovered

2010-09-22

A Dutch-German medical research team led by Harald Schmidt from Maastricht University, Netherlands, and Christoph Kleinschnitz, University of Würzburg, Germany, has discovered that an enzyme is responsible for the death of nerve cells after a stroke. The enzyme NOX4 produces hydrogen peroxide, a caustic molecule also used in bleaching agents. Inhibition of NOX4 by an experimental new drug in mice with stroke dramatically reduces brain damage and preserves brain functions, even when given hours after the stroke. These findings will be published next week in the online, open ...

CRP genetic variants crucial in interpreting inflammatory disease activity

2010-09-22

CRP is commonly used as a serum marker for inflammation or infection, but the genetic effects of CRP variants on acute-phase serum CRP concentrations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis may be large enough to have a clinically relevant impact on the assessment of inflammatory disease activity, which in turn may influence therapeutic decision making. Furthermore, failure to take into account the potential for genetic effects may result in the inappropriate reassurance or under-treatment of patients simply because they carry low-CRP associated genetic variants. These are ...

Community health workers can effectively manage children with malaria and pneumonia

2010-09-22

Community Health Workers can safely and effectively provide integrated management of pneumonia and malaria to communities by dispensing amoxicillin to children with non-severe pneumonia and artemether-lumefantrine to children with malaria (after using rapid diagnostic tests). Furthermore, these activities result in a significant increase in the proportion of appropriately-timed antibiotic treatment for non-severe pneumonia and in a significant decrease in inappropriate use of antimalarials. These are the results from a study by Kojo Yeboah-Antwi from the Boston School ...

TF-rs1049296 C>T variant modifies the association between hepatic iron stores and liver fibrosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease

ASH publishes clinical practice guidelines on diagnosis of light chain amyloidosis

[Press-News.org] Introducing 'Champagne,' new disease-resistant fig
LSU breeding program produces new fig selection for home orchards

Introducing 'Champagne,' new disease-resistant fig

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: