James F. Hancock

• PhD University of California
• Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University

Charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina is an increasing economic problem in annualized strawberry production systems around the world. Currently there are no effective post-fumigation chemical controls for managing charcoal rot, and no information is available on the genetic architecture of resistance to M. phaseolina in strawberry (Fragari...

Purpose : The nomenclature of the wild strawberries inhabited in Sri Lanka is ambiguous. In Sri Lanka, this species is still named Duchesnea indica which needs a revision. Wild strawberries grow well in natural habitats of upcountry in Sri Lanka. Since the commercial strawberry cultivations gain a popularity in upcountry, the studies on wild strawb...

The soilborne pathogens Verticillium dahliae, Macrophomina phaseolina, and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae are a challenge for strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) growers. The loss of methyl bromide and increasing restrictions on the use of other fumigants due to health and environmental concerns make the development of effective non-fumigant disea...

A diverse strawberry family (FVC11) was created by intercrossing elite native clones of the progenitor species of F. × ananassa Duchesne in Lamarck [F. virginiana Miller × F. chiloensis (L.) Miller]. The impressive performance of FVC11 led us to identify a core subset within the family for conservation and breeding purposes. Cluster procedures were...

Background: Consumers purchase fresh strawberries all year long. Extending the fruiting season for new strawberry cultivars is a common breeding goal. Understanding the inheritance of repeat fruiting is key to improving breeding efficiency. Several independent research groups using multiple genotypes and analytic approaches have all identified a s...

Strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) fruit flavor is due to a complex mix of sugars, acids, and aromatic compounds. Consumers tend to prefer sweeter strawberry cultivars. Therefore, sweetness has been an important target trait for breeders. The majority of strawberry soluble solids are sugars, and soluble solids content (SSC) is used as a proxy to deter...

The RosBREED project is a USDA-NIFA Specialty Crops Research Initiative project focused on leveraging genetic information to improve rosaceous crops such as strawberry. Since its beginning in 2009, RosBREED has developed many genomic resources, including diagnostic tests, to facilitate DNA-informed breeding for horticultural quality and disease res...

A family of the cross of the northern highbush blueberry ‘Draper’ × the southern highbush ‘Jewel’ (D × J) was propagated and phenotyped for plant size, yield, rate of flower, bud, and fruit development, leafing ability, winter hardiness, and fruit quality for 2 years in the field in Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Michigan (MI), and Oregon (OR). In add...

Solanum spp. encompass a greater share of the biodiversity in the world. Sri Lanka, one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world, is the home for wide range of Solanum spp. which have been named and morphologically characterized.However, their origins and times of origin have not yet been resolved. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the o...

Reducing crop losses due to abiotic stresses is a major target of agricultural biotechnology that will increase with climate change and global population growth. Concerns, however, have been raised about potential ecological impacts if transgenes become established in wild populations and cause increased competitiveness of weedy or invasive species...

The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa) is consumed worldwide for its flavor and nutritional benefits. Genetic analysis of commercially important traits in strawberry are important for the development of breeding methods and tools for this species. Although several quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been previously detected for fruit quality...

Supplementary file S1 for "Clarifying sub-genomic positions of QTLs for flowering habit and fruit quality in U.S. strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa) breeding populations using pedigree-based QTL analysis". File contains supplementary tables, S1-S3 and supplementary figures, S1-S10. The tables describe the summary statistics of the phenotypic data, a su...

Supplementary file S2 for "Clarifying sub-genomic positions of QTLs for flowering habit and fruit quality in U.S. strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa) breeding populations using pedigree-based QTL analysis". File contains the average allele representation, the validated pedigree of the individuals used, and the phenotypes and haplotypes of the parents an...

Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) was used to survey genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three biparental strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) populations with the goal of evaluating this technique in a species with a complex octoploid genome. GBS sequence data were aligned to the F. vesca 'Fvb' reference genome in order to call SNPs. Nu...

Supplementary Figure 2 for "Genotyping-by-sequencing enables linkage mapping in three octoploid cultivated strawberry families". JoinMap linkage groups with markers derived from parents ‘Tribute’ and ‘Honeoye’ that aligned to Fvb chromosomes

Supplementary tables 1 and 2 for "Genotyping-by-sequencing enables linkage mapping in three octoploid cultivated strawberry families".

Supplementary Figure 3 for "Genotyping-by-sequencing enables linkage mapping in three octoploid cultivated strawberry families". JoinMap linkage groups with markers derived from parents ‘Redgauntlet’ and ‘Hapil’ that aligned to Fvb chromosomes

Supplementary figure S1 for "Genotyping-by-sequencing enables linkage mapping in three octoploid cultivated strawberry families". JoinMap linkage groups with markers derived from parents ‘Holiday’ and ‘Korona’ that aligned to Fvb chromosomes

In Rosaceous crops including strawberry, the RosBREED project is focused on enabling marker-assisted breeding via identification as well as validation of markers that are associated with fruit quality traits. Around the world, strawberry is valued for its organoleptic characteristics and its nutritional content. Fruit quality traits have been prior...

Perpetual-flowering (PF) is a highly desirable trait within cultivated strawberries (Fragaria texttimesananassa) for the commercial and home garden markets. The most widely used source of the PF trait was originally introgressed from a wild F. virginiana subsp. glauca accession collected in the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City, UT in 1955. Thi...

With the goal of evaluating genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) in a species with a complex octoploid genome, GBS was used to survey genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three biparental strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) populations. GBS sequence data were aligned to the F. vesca ‘ Fvb ’ reference genome in order to call SNPs. Numbers...

With the goal of evaluating genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) in a species with a complex octoploid genome, GBS was used to survey genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three biparental strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) populations. GBS sequence data were aligned to the F. vesca ‘ Fvb ’ reference genome in order to call SNPs. Numbers...

Ten seedlings from 36 crosses representing eastern and western North American short day and remontant genotypes were evaluated in 2011 and 2012 in California, Michigan, New Hampshire and Oregon, for phenology, flower related traits, plant characteristics, fruit characteristics and fruit chemistry traits. There was significant variability among geno...

Common strawberry cultivars are hermaphrodites, producing both anthers and pistils in their flowers. However, octoploid Fragaria species are trioecious and different genotypes can be female with pistillate flowers, hermaphrodites, or males with staminate flowers. One female selection, F. virginiana High Falls 22 and three hermaphrodite selections,...

‘Baby Blues’ is a new highbush blueberry (Vaccinium hybrid- 75% Vaccinium corymbosum L. and 25% V. darrowii Camp) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) breeding program in Corvallis, OR, released in cooperation with Oregon State University’s Agricultural Experiment Station. ‘Baby Blues’ is a vigorous, hig...

Much of the cost associated with marker discovery for marker assisted breeding (MAB) can be eliminated if a diverse, segregating population is generated, genotyped, and made available to the global breeding community. Herein, we present an example of a hybrid, wild-derived family of the octoploid strawberry that can be used by other breeding progra...

Lise L. Mahoney,* Daniel J. Sargent, F. Abebe-Akele, Dave J. Wood, Judson A. Ward, Nahla V. Bassil, James F. Hancock, Kevin M. Folta, and Thomas M. Davis Abstract Fragaria iinumae Makino is recognized as an ancestor of the octoploid strawberry species, which includes the cultivated strawberry, Fragaria ×ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier. Here we report t...

The construction of the first genetic map in autotetraploid blueberry has been made possible by the development of new SNP markers developed using genotyping by sequencing in a mapping population created from a cross between two key highbush blueberry cultivars, Draper × Jewel (Vaccinium corymbosum). The novel SNP markers were supplemented with exi...

‘Osorno’ is a new blueberry cultivar of primarily Vaccinium corymbosum. The rest of its parentage is from V. darrowii (13.3%), V. angustifolium (3.8%), V. tenellum (<1%), and V. ashei (<1%). It is a highly productive cultivar with exceptional fresh fruit quality. It is likely best adapted to the northern highbush production areas where winters are...

Knowledge about the crop biology of economic crops in Africa is needed for regulators to accurately review dossiers and conduct comprehensive environmental risk assessments (ERAs). This information allows regulators to decide whether biotech crops present a risk to biodiversity, since crossing between domesticated crops and their wild relatives cou...

‘Calypso’ is a new blueberry cultivar of primarily Vaccinium corymbosum. The rest of its parentage is from V. darrowii (13.3%), V. angustifolium (3.8%), V. tenellum (<1%), and V. ashei (<1%). It is a highly productive cultivar with excellent fresh fruit quality. Plants of ‘Calypso’ are vigorous and upright. Its canes are numerous and moderately bra...

Today, blueberries are recognized worldwide as one of the foremost health foods, becoming one of the crops with the highest productive and commercial projections. Over the last 100 years, the geographical area where highbush blueberries are grown has extended dramatically into hotter and drier environments. The expansion of highbush blueberry growi...

BACKGROUND: Understanding the genetics of flowering in the strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa) will aid in the development of breeding strategies. OBJECTIVE: To search for quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with remontancy and weeks of flowering in the strawberry. METHODS: Previously collected phenotypic data from two non-remontant 'Honeoye'×remon...

The objective of this study was to evaluate four simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers linked to the FaPFRU Perpetual Flowering (PF) locus for ability to predict this trait in populations with different sources of PF such as: F. virginiana subsp. glauca Wasatch clone represented by ‘Capitola’, ‘Tribute’, and ‘Seascape’; ‘Pan American’ source represe...

N.I. Vavilov, Academician of the V.I. Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences, takes his place as a founding pillar of knowledge in the cathedral of the origin and development of cultivated plants. Relying on the theories of his revered predecessors, Charles Darwin and Alphonse de Candolle, Vavilov developed the concept of centers of origi...

Day-neutrality is a highly desirable trait in strawberry (Fragaria L.)-breeding programs worldwide due to its importance in extending the harvest season in commercial production. Day-neutral genotypes are photoperiod insensitive and will initiate flowers under any photoperiod conditions as long as temperatures are moderate (below 30/26 °C day/night...

Factors Influencing Diversity of Farmers’ Varieties of Sweet Potato in Uganda: Implications for Conservation. There is increasing concern that agricultural intensification is causing loss of crop biodiversity due to displacement of traditional farmers’ varieties by a small number of improved cultivars. Using ethnobotanical surveys, we assessed the...

Knowledge about the genetic diversity and structure of crop cultivars can help make better conservation decisions, and guide crop improvement efforts. Diversity analysis using microsatellite markers was performed to assess the level of genetic diversity in sweet potato in Uganda, and evaluate the genetic relationship between the Uganda’s germplasm...

A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘BB05-61GA-61’ as described and shown herein. ‘BB05-61GA-61’ is a new and distinct low chill tetraploid Southern highbush (Vaccinium) variety of complex ancestry, based largely on V. corymbosum with some genes from V. darrowii, V. angustifolium, V. tenellum and V. ashei. It is a very productive e...

A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘BB07-210FL-18’ as described and shown herein. ‘BB07-210FL-18’ is a new and distinct low chill tetraploid Southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium) variety of complex ancestry, based largely on V. corymbosum, V. ashei, and V. darrowii, with a limited contribution from V. tenellum and V. fuscatum. I...

A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘BB05-185GA’ as described and shown herein. ‘BB05-185GA’ is a new and distinct low chill tetraploid Southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium) variety of complex ancestry, based largely on V. corymbosum and with over 13% V. darrowii and small contributions of V. angustifolium, V. tenellum, and V. as...

A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘BB06-540FL-12’ as described and shown herein. ‘BB06-540FL-12’ is a new and distinct low chill tetraploid, as illustrated and described, Southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium) variety based largely on V. darrowii. It is a productive, very early season ripening variety with high quality fresh mar...

Factors Influencing Diversity of Farmers’ Varieties of Sweet Potato in Uganda: Implications for Conservation. There is increasing concern that agricultural intensification is causing loss of crop biodiversity due to displacement of traditional farmers’ varieties by a small number of improved cultivars. Using ethnobotanical surveys, we assessed the...

A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘BB05-58GA-1’ as described and shown herein. ‘BB05-58GA-1’ is a new and distinct low chill tetraploid Southern highbush (Vaccinium) variety of complex ancestry, based largely on V. corymbosum with some genes from V. darrowii, V. angustifolium, V. tenellum and V. ashei. It is a very productive ear...

A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘BB05-251MI-14’ as described and shown herein. ‘BB05-251MI-14’ is a new and distinct high chill tetraploid Northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium) variety of ancestry based largely on V. corymbosum with a limited number of genes from V. angustifolium. It is a productive late season variety that r...

A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘BB05-274MI-139’ as described and shown herein. ‘BB05-274MI-139’ is a new and distinct high chill tetraploid Northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium) variety of ancestry based largely on V. corymbosum with a limited number of genes from V. angustifolium. It is a productive late season ripening var...

Strawberry is one of the five fruit crops included in the USDA-funded multiinstitutional and trans-disciplinary project, "RosBREED: Enabling Marker- Assisted Breeding in Rosaceae". A Crop Reference Set (CRS) was developed of 900 genotypes and seedlings from 40 crosses representing the breadth of relevant diversity and encompassing founders used in...

An objective of the multi-institutional RosBREED project is to develop genome scans in strawberry and other rosaceous crops and use them for identifying and validating QTL for fruit quality. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are useful genetic polymorphisms as they are very abundant in the genome and are amenable to high-throughput genotyping....

The RosBREED project is focused on enabling marker-assisted breeding via discovery and development of DNA tests for the most valuable QTLs that are associated with traits that are important to breeders, producers, and consumers of rosaceous crops, including strawberry. The production season for strawberries is a very narrow window of a few weeks in...

In Rosaceous crops including strawberry, the RosBREED project is focused on enabling marker-assisted breeding via identification as well as validation of markers that are associated with fruit quality traits. Around the world, strawberry is valued for its organoleptic characteristics and its nutritional content. Fruit quality traits have been prior...

The RosBREED project is focused on enabling marker-assisted breeding via discovery and development of DNA tests for the most valuable QTLs that are associated with traits that are important to breeders, producers, and consumers of rosaceous crops, including strawberry. The production season for strawberries is a very narrow window of a few weeks in...

An objective of the multi-institutional RosBREED project is to develop genome scans in strawberry and other rosaceous crops and use them for identifying and validating QTL for fruit quality. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are useful genetic polymorphisms as they are very abundant in the genome and are amenable to high-throughput genotyping....

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is an introduced horticultural crop in Sri Lanka. It has an increased potential of generating a higher income if the cultivation is developed as an industry. But the major problems faced by strawberry cultivation are unavailability of suitable varieties that meet the consumer demands, varietal identification t...

Strawberry is the most consumed Rosaceae small fruit in the world where flavor is a key for the success of a new cultivar. Overall flavor in strawberry is driven by a balance between sugars, acids, and several aroma compounds. Strawberry breeders are interested in using markerassisted selection to combine better flavor with remontancy (day-neutrali...

The global demand for berry fruits has increased significantly in recent years across all the main crops, partly due to the perceived health benefits derived from their consumption and also because of changes in agronomic techniques that have widened the availability and distribution of these crops. As a result, berry fruits can be purchased virtua...

The primary goal of this research was to evaluate the relative importance of strawberry fruit quality and plant traits to strawberry producers. Previous studies focus on strawberry traits that impact postharvest quality and marketable yield; however, studies emphasizing the importance of these traits to strawberry producers are scarce. To investiga...

Blueberry cultivar development has never been this vibrant. Twenty years ago, most of the commercial cultivars had been ably developed by the USDA-ARS program headed by Arlen Draper or the North Carolina State University program under Jim Ballington. While there had been successes in the early breeding of cultivars adapted to low-chill regions, the...

Strawberry is one of the five fruit crops included in the USDA-funded multi-institutional and trans-disciplinary project, "RosBREED: Enabling Marker-Assisted Breeding in Rosaceae". A Crop Reference Set (CRS) was developed of 900 genotypes and seedlings from 40 crosses representing the breadth of relevant diversity and encompassing founders used in...

In an effort to implement marker-assisted breeding in Rosaceae, many traits need to be characterized in diverse germplasm. The USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative-funded RosBREED project includes breeding programs of four Rosaceae crops (apple, peach, cherry and strawberry). Phenotyping each crop for specific horticultural and commercial t...

Key message: The blueberry FLOWERING LOCUS T ( FT )-like gene ( VcFT ) cloned from the cDNA of a tetraploid, northern highbush blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is able to reverse the photoperiodic and chilling requirements and drive early and continuous flowering. Abstract: Blueberry is a woody perennial bush with a longer juvenile period th...

Red stele (Phytophthora fragariae Hickman var. fragariae) is a devastating root rot disease in strawberries (Fragaria L.). Several sources for genetic resistance are exploited in breeding and several race-specific R-genes are known. Recently, a tightly linked SSR marker was found for the Rpf1 gene at Wageningen-UR, The Netherlands. As part of the “...

In an effort to implement marker-assisted breeding in Rosaceae, many traits need to be characterized in diverse germplasm. The USDA–NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative-funded RosBREED project includes breeding programs of four Rosaceae crops, apple, peach, cherry, and strawberry. Among them, strawberry is the only perennial herbaceous species....

n an effort to implement marker-assisted breeding in Rosaceae, many traits need to be characterized in diverse germplasm. The USDA–NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative-funded RosBREED project includes breeding programs of four Rosaceae crops, apple, peach, cherry, and strawberry. Among them, strawberry is the only perennial herbaceous species. P...

The cultivated strawberry of South America, the octoploid Fragaria chiloensis L. has a long and interesting history. While the origin of the species in Chile cannot be completely determined, it is suspected to be an introduction from North America by birds. After making landfall in Chile, the species spread from the coast into the mountains develop...

BACKGROUND: Flower initiation in strawberry is often classified by photoperiod sensitivity; however, temperature also plays a major role in determining flower initiation. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to determine the role heat tolerance plays in regulating remontant flowering in a segregating population of strawberry, Fragaria×ananassa. METHODS: Non-rem...

The ability to obtain reliable information is critical for decision makers. We examined sources of information about plant biotechnology available on the internet to identify credible, high calibre websites. Google-based searches were performed using: 'plant biotechnology', 'plant genetic engineering', 'genetically modified organisms', 'GMO', 'livi...

This study analyzed the light quality and quantity under colored shading nets, together with their effects on physiological and morphological traits for Vaccinium corymbosum L. cv. Elliott. Different spectral ranges and shade intensities (25%, 50% and 75%) were produced using colored netting (black, red and white) along with a control (full sun). T...

Blueberry cultivars are subject to freezing damage in the winter and early spring. C-repeat binding factor (CBF) genes are transcription factors known to induce the expression of genes associated with cold acclimation and freezing tolerance. A CBF-encoding gene (BB-CBF) was isolated from the northern highbush blueberry Bluecrop (a cold-tolerant cul...

An efficient protocol for genetic transformation of rutabaga (Brassica napus var. napobrassica) cultivar “American Purple Top Yellow” was developed by optimizing several factors influencing gene delivery and plant regeneration. A two-step regeneration protocol, adapted from canola, was optimal for rutabaga regeneration using hypocotyl explants. Tra...

Worldwide demand for highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is rapidly growing, due in part to high consumer demand for its many health benefits. Marker assisted breeding techniques are currently being developed to aid in more efficient development of improved cultivars with increased nutritional content and overall plant fitness in varying c...

The use of a comprehensive germplasm set representing materials that breeders use is critical for efficiently enabling systematic and statistically robust validation and utility assessment of jewels in the genome (high value marker–locus–trait (M-L-T) associations). Therefore, at the onset of the RosBREED project, 12 demonstration breeding programs...

Stevia rebaudiana (stevia) is an herbaceous perennial native to Paraguay that produces high concentrations of non-toxic, non-nutritive ent-kaurene diterpenoid glycosides, some of which are approximately 300 times sweeter than sucrose. Stevia is an obligate outcrossing species, thus likely maintaining a high degree of heterozygosity and subject to i...

Red stele (Phytophthora fragariae var. fragariae) is a devastating root rot disease in strawberries (Fragaria) in most regions of the world where soils stay cool and moist. Several sources for genetic resistance are exploited in breeding, and several race-specific R-genes have been distinguished. Recently, a tightly linked SSR marker was found for...

The genetic variability that developed in plants during their evolution forms the basis of their domestication and breeding into the crops grown today for food, fuel and other industrial uses. This third edition of Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species brings the subject up-to-date, with more emphasis on crop origins. Beginning with a desc...

Anthracnose fruit rot is an important disease of blueberries, and losses are common in humid growing regions. Most commercial cultivars are susceptible and the disease is usually managed with fungicides. However, a few cultivars are considered resistant. The objectives of this study were to: (i) compare different inoculation techniques for anthracn...

To optimize Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, factors influencing gene delivery, selection of transformed cells, and plant regeneration were investigated using two major switchgrass cultivars, including a lowland tetraploid cultivar Alamo and an upland octoploid cultivar Cave-in-Rock (CIR). Transient expression studies monitored by...

Blueberry cultivation has increased dramatically as production has shifted into new regions. Blueberries are now widely available as food and also processed to be used in medicine and pharmaceuticals for their antioxidant properties. This new and practical book covers the major topics of interest to blueberry breeders and researchers including bota...

Although Vaccinium cultivars have been generated exclusively through the traditional methods of controlled hybridization and deliberate selection, genetic transformation could provide a powerful approach to supplement conventional breeding methods for Vaccinium by introducing genes of interest. A reliable transformation system depends on efficient...

The stability of transgenes was investigated in highbush blueberry cultivars transformed with either gus A (and npt II for selection with kanamycin) in ‘Aurora’ or bar in ‘Legacy’. Transgenic ‘Aurora’ shoots were cultured on selection medium with 50 mg L kanamycin and non-selection medium separately for 5 years. They showed no apparent morphologica...

Fruit consumption in the UK, particularly of berry fruits, is expanding rapidly and consumer demand for blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) is at record levels with UK growers unable to meet current demand. Consumers are aware that eating fruit can be pleasurable and with appropriate packaging, convenient, but blueberry remains unfamiliar to a wide cross...

Because of their recognized health benefits, there has been increased demand and consumption of blueberries in recent years. Great strides have been made in blueberry cultivar development since its domestication using traditional breeding approaches. However, genomic tools that could be used to hasten improvement are lacking. The aim of our Special...

Protocols have been developed to allow for the safe testing of experimental GE crops through confined field trials to prevent, among other things, the escape of genes from the trial site. They rely primarily on isolation distance from non-GE relatives. Subsequent decisions about the unconfined release of GE crops primarily revolve around whether th...

Since the mid-1990s, when the technology was first introduced, the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops has grown exponentially. In the U.S. alone, adoption rates for transgenic cotton, corn, and soybeans are between 70-90%. Across the globe, 14 million farmers grow GE crops in more than twenty countries. Yet many countries are discussi...