North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[jas39a@earthlink.net]

Is it resistant to fire blight?  In my experience, fire blight is much more 
of a problem than scab.

Eddie Earles

-----Original Message-----
>From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
>Sent: Feb 2, 2009 12:13 PM
>To: NAFEX <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
>Subject: [NAFEX] New Scab Resistant Apple
>
>WineCrisp -- new apple was more than 20 years in the making A new, 
>late-ripening apple named WineCrispª which carries the Vf gene for scab 
>resistance was developed over the past 20 plus years through classical 
>breeding techniques, not genetic engineering. License to propagate 
>trees will be made available to nurseries through the University of 
>Illinois. Being resistant to apple scab is a big plus for growers, said 
>University of Illinois plant geneticist Schuyler Korban, as it 
>significantly reduces the number of chemical fungicide sprays. "Apple 
>scab is the number one disease that growers have to spray for Ð 15 to 
>20 times per season Ð so not having to spray for apple scab lowers the 
>cost for the grower and is better for the environment." Why does it 
>take over 20 years to make an apple? "It takes a long time to develop 
>an apple because you want to test it in different locations, you want 
>to observe it over a number of years, and it takes awhile for an apple 
>to get noticed," said geneticist Schuyler Korban. "I liked it the first 
>time I saw it and I liked the flavor. It has an excellent mix of sugar 
>and acid and a very pleasant flavor, but I was hesitant Research 
>UnitAgriculture
>because of the finish Ð it's not glossy." Korban thought the finish 
>might pose a problem because consumers are accustomed to seeing waxed 
>fruit in stores and may not like the matte finish that Korban calls 
>"scarfy" or dull. "Red Delicious is a very good looking apple, but has 
>no flavor, very bland. It's still ranked as the number one apple in the 
>industry; however, there are more new apple varieties available now." 
>After some time, Korban decided that the crispness and the flavor would 
>be more important factors to consumers than the finish and continued to 
>develop the new apple. His research, in collaboration with breeders at 
>Rutgers and Purdue Universities, will be published in a 2009 issue of 
>the journal of HortScience, and a U.S. patent is currently pending. The 
>apple is available now to nurseries who want to apply for a license to 
>propagate trees and make them available to apple growers nationwide. 
>"There is a nursery in the southeastern part of the United States that 
>really liked the apple and feel that there is a market for it in the 
>south so they're getting a license to grow it." It also takes time for 
>a new orchard or even for an existing orchard to plant new apple 
>varieties. But when WineCrispª cuttings are grafted into a fast-growing 
>root stock, Korban says there could be fruit on the tree in as little 
>as three years. Korban said that the tree is extremely productive and 
>the fruit is firm, but it's not a bright red color. "It's more of a 
>dark red and looks like a deep red wine so we wanted to include 'wine' 
>in the name. It also resembles an older variety that consumers are 
>familiar with called Winesap. "When you pick it up and squeeze it, it's 
>very firm," he said. "We used to call it 'the Rock.' We wanted that 
>characteristic to be in the name so we added 'crisp' and named it 
>WineCrispª. "There's a market for apples with different flavors, 
>different textures, different ripening and maturity dates Ð you don't 
>know what the likes and dislikes of the consumer will be," said Korban. 
>"Some of our recent releases are varieties that focus on late ripening 
>which would prolong the apple-growing season and WineCrispª matures two 
>weeks after Red Delicious. They can be harvested all the way through to 
>the end of October. And in good cold storage, they'll keep for eight to 
>nine months. That's another important trait of this variety Ð it keeps 
>very well in cold storage." The original cross in the breeding process 
>was done at Rutgers in 1989. The seeds were grown into seedlings and 
>inoculated with apple scab at Purdue. Those seedlings that demonstrated 
>resistance to apple scab were split between the three universities as a 
>part of the Purdue-Rutgers-Illinois (PRI) Cooperative Breeding Program, 
>which has been very successful in naming and releasing over 25 
>disease-resistant apple varieties, some with other collaborating 
>partners around the world. Because the University of Illinois made the 
>selection, U of I will be the primary licensing institution. Contact: 
>Debra Levey Larson dlarson@illinois.edu
>217-244-2880 University of Illinois
>Source:EurekAlert.org 22 January 2009