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  • From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
  • To: Gardenwriters on Gardening <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [gwl-g] FW: Toward a Better Sugar Beet
  • Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 07:12:35 -0700

Speaking of beets...

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From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 07:20:55 -0400
To: ARS News subscriber <lonrom@hevanet.com>
Subject: Toward a Better Sugar Beet

STORY LEAD:
Toward a Better Sugar Beet
___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Don Comis, (301) 504-1625, comis@ars.usda.gov
April 12, 2004
___________________________________________

A team of Agricultural Research Service scientists in East Lansing,
Mich., is well on its way toward developing sugar beets with improved
seedling vigor, higher sugar content, enhanced disease resistance and
other valuable traits.

J. Mitchell McGrath, a geneticist at the ARS Sugar Beet and Bean
Research Unit in East Lansing, leads the team, which has given the Beet
Sugar Development Foundation of Denver, Colo., a simple test for
seedling emergence. The emergence test has already led to commercial
varieties with higher germination rates.

The team also discovered two possible genetic markers for seedling
vigor, which is the ability of a seed to sprout and of the seedling to
survive in adverse environments.

Regarding high sugar content, the researchers found a possible marker
to predict beets with this trait when they're about seven weeks old,
instead of waiting for full growth in about 25 weeks. McGrath and
colleagues theorize that beets with the highest sugar content aren't
better at storing sugar, just better at keeping the concentration high
by letting less water in.

The scientists are also on the trail of the genes for resistance to two
major seedling disease agents: Aphanomyces and Rhizoctonia. Disease is
the main threat to a seedling's survival in its first month. The
researchers have developed a test for Aphanomyces seedling disease and
used it to show there are two genes for resistance. They're also
examining sugar beet germplasm to develop ideas that could help in
breeding for resistance to Rhizoctonia seedling disease.

Read more about the research in the April issue of Agricultural
Research magazine, available online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/apr04/beet0404.htm

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
___________________________________________

* This is one of the news reports that ARS Information distributes to
subscribers on weekdays.
* Start, stop or change an e-mail subscription at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/subscribe.htm
* NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/news
* Phone (301) 504-1638 | fax (301) 504-1648







  • [gwl-g] FW: Toward a Better Sugar Beet, Lon J. Rombough, 04/12/2004

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