Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The 2008 annual meeting was held Tuesday June 8, 2008 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM on the campus of Cornell University. Dr. Tom Burr introduced himself as the Administrative Advisor of the NE-09 and Director of the NYSAES. Dr. Ian Merwin was Chairman of the committee and made arrangements for the meeting and the afternoon visits to Freeville and Lansing farms. Phil Forsline, Larry Robertson, Charles Simon, Joanne Labate, and Angela Baldo made brief presentations about the activities and research for the past year and referred to the RL report for NE9 for further details. Kim Stoner presented the work with entomology at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Phillip Griffiths briefly discussed his use of bean germplasm and his evaluation of the radish collection and the collection of digital images of foliage and hypocotyls for upload to GRIN. Reports from Brent Loy at New Hampshire and Joseph Goffreda from Rutgers were passed out to the group. Peter Bretting discussed the status of ARS budgets and then discussed the Plant Germplasm Operations Committee meeting held in Ft. Collins, Colorado in June of this year. An impact statement comparing the budgets of NE9 with W6, S9, and NC7 was passed out showing the significantly less support for NE9 versus the other regional germplasm projects. The RL report provided a proposed five year budget to bring the budget of NE9 closer to that for the other germplasm projects. The meeting adjourned for lunch at 12 PM. After lunch the group visited the Freeville farm to observe work with organic agriculture with Michael Gloss and then proceeded to Lansing farm where Ian Merwin presented current research at Cornell with fruit crops.

During the period of October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2008 seed regenerations of vegetable Brassicas, tomatoes, tomatillos, celery, artichokes, celery, buckwheat, and Cucurbits were completed for 1508 accessions. Approximately two thirds of these accessions were grown over two years (seasons) because of their biennial nature. A total of 12,641 accessions of seed-propagated crops were successfully maintained during the past year. The future availability of this germplasm is therefore assured. Approximately 1525 digital images were recorded in during the period of this project from 800 accessions of tomato, onion and winter squash. These are being processed and will be uploaded to GRIN. Characterization data was recorded on 792 accessions of onion and tomato for minimal descriptor list for loading on GRIN to enable stakeholders to better search for their requirements. During the period of this project (from October 1, 2008 through August 14, 2008) a total of 1,322 orders for 22,884 seed germplasm samples and 1,476 orders for 41,726 samples of apple, grape and cherry germplasm were filled for clients and stakeholders. A large number of these samples were distributed in the northeast; 273 seed and 4,616 clonal samples for 487 seed and 24,498 clonal orders were distributed to users in the states that are part of NE-9. Most of the samples of the clonal collection were for DNA and leaf samples for DNA extraction, but multiple samples of cuttings, pollen and seeds of wild species as well as were sent. Delivery of germplasm to clients and stakeholders is the primary way in which the results of this Unit's activities are distributed to the public. A complete data set for 17 descriptors on nearly 900 of the clonal accessions can be found at: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/descriptors/grape. All characters are scored according to OIV recommendations. Digital images of ripe fruiting clusters, intact on the vine have been completed on 414 accessions. These images are being assessed for quality and will be loaded to GRIN. A project was initiated in Spring 2008 to phenotype the grape collection based on a proposal submitted to the Grape CGC. A student was hired in May 2008 supported by the CGC grant and she has collected bloom data on the entire grape collection. This data will be compared with data collected in 3 previous years. Bloom will then be assessed for each of these years using the Growing Degree Day criteria. This data will be published and loaded to GRIN. In addition, the student is taking digital images of leaves on the entire grape collection and later on of clusters and berries on a background grid for better perspective. The grid method has been used for 1600 apple and 50 cherry accessions. During 2008 we completed data analysis and manuscript submission of a multilocus SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) diversity study using a panel of 30 diverse L. esculentum accessions, one breeding line, and one L. peruvianum accession. The first manuscript focused on comparing three sequence-based marker types. The results showed that there was no apparent bias in diversity estimates among marker types developed by various bioinformatics methods (JA Labate, LD Robertson, F Wu, SD Tanksley, and AM Baldo. 2008. EST, COSII, and arbitrary gene markers give similar estimates of nucleotide diversity in cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), submitted to Heredity). The second manuscript focused on variation among accessions. Three populations - primary centers of diversity, contiguous countries, and secondary centers, shared 0.97 of their variation (FST = 0.03). Mean diversity decreased (He = 0.254, 0.152, 0.092, respectively) while the mean coefficient of inbreeding increased (FIS = 0.793, 0.947, 1.000, respectively), in the populations. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was high within but not between loci. Interspecific introgression was observed for at least seven tomato lines and five loci. Complex demographic processes (e.g. bottlenecks, global exchange of germplasm, and introgression from multiple wild species), as are clearly evident in tomato, must be incorporated into inferences regarding the molecular basis of domestication and crop improvement. (Labate, JA, LD Robertson, and AM Baldo. 2008. Multilocus sequence data reveal extensive departures from equilibrium in domesticated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), submitted to Heredity). Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck.) and cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.) are ancient polyploids. When applying molecular markers, allelism can be difficult to distinguish from paralogous copies. We have resequenced 48 gene fragments in both inbred parent lines and one progeny line of the N x B mapping population. Polymorphisms are currently being assessed for good reproducibility and diploidy. SNPs that show favorable properties can be further tested for robustness on a large sample of diverse accessions. The tested markers include candidate genes for agronomic traits and ecological adaptation. These markers will later be used to estimate population structure in B. oleracea to see if broccoli accessions are genetically distinguishable from cauliflower accessions. The polymorphisms will also be valuable for marker-assisted breeding. (Labate, JA, SM Sheffer, LD Robertson, and AM Baldo. 2008. SNP marker development in broccoli and cauliflower (Brassica oleracea). Plants and Soils: Montreal '08 Conference). Cryopreservation in apple is nearly complete with 2275 of the 2508 clones on inventory completed (91% of the collection backed up). These were processed over time from 1993 to 2007 (Towill, L.E., P.L. Forsline, C. Walters, J. Waddell and J. Laufman. 2004. Cryopreservation of Malus germplasm using a winter vegetative bud method: Results from 1915 accessions. Cryoletters 25:323-334). In 2008, we completed graft recovery assays on apple buds stored for 16-19 years (those processed in 1989, 1990, and 1991, 1992 which were part of the original 'Pilot Project'): (Forsline, P.L., C. Stushnoff, L.E. Towill, J.W. Waddell, W.F. Lamboy and J. R. McFerson. 1998. Recovery and longevity of cryopreserved apple buds. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 123:365-370). This grafting was done to make a final determination of viability over the long term. We previously tested viability for the accessions processed only in the year of anniversary for: 1 month; 1 year; 2 years; 4 years; 8 years; and 15 years of storage. This year we determined it was important to remove the rootstock variability and we grafted all 80 accessions across the processing years. That left the only variable as 'years in storage' from 16 to 19 years. Early analysis shows that there has been no decline in viability for most of the accessions when comparing baseline viability with LN storage from 16-19 years. This data is being analyzed by collaborators at NCGRP and a manuscript will be drafted as the sequel to J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 123:365-370 which included up to 4 years in storage. Cryogenic storage in Malus is very effective in managing our collection because we know that we can recover accessions if they are lost due to an environmental influence in our field plantings. Previously 80 accessions had been rescued mostly due to severe fire blight infestation. In June 2008, we rescued 40 additional accessions by grafting these on EMLA 7 directly in the field nursery. We have been able to better manage the field collections of apple by repropagating on EMLA 7, a semi-dwarf rootstock that limits the vigorous growth that induces 'shoot blight'. The six-year, phased repropagation project was completed with last planting made in spring 2007. In addition, a plant growth regulator (prohexadione calcium, 'Apogee') is being applied routinely to minimize fire blight on shoots. We processed for cryogenic storage in February 2008 at NCGRP 30 more tetraploid cherry accessions. This brings our total to 78 of our 125 accessions now backed up in cryogenic storage. We will test the baseline viability of those 30 in 2009 along with the 10 yr viability of the other 48. This will be done using the graft recovery process where 10 buds/accession are grafted. We collaborated with USDA-ARS National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) in Fort Collins, Co on a project to determine strategies to preserve alleles (in the form of seeds) from wild accessions of Malus collections. We produced 60,000 seeds on trees of Malus sieversii that represent two diverse sites in Kazakhstan. These were from controlled crosses of selected sub sets and the pollinations and harvests were made in 2004-2006. Final seeds were harvested in fall 2006 and seeds were placed in long term storage. Sub sets of these seeds were germinated in fall 2007 to confirm allele recovery. Over 800 seedlings in 2008 were screened for apple scab resistance in an SCA project and leaves were collected to extract DNA to validate the genetic diversity from these crosses. This project is important since it supplements original seed collected from the wild in Kazakhstan in 1995. A Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement (RCA), the Organic Seed Partnership, was initiated with Cornell University and was supported by the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). The Organic Seed Partnership is a continuation of efforts for another current RCA project, the Public Seed Initiative and built on the success of this project. The Organic Seed Partnership provided training and facilities for organic farmers producing organic seed of heirloom and new publicly developed vegetable varieties. It also provided germplasm resources for organic farmer participatory vegetable breeding projects. The project supported efforts with organic farmers, small farmers, and small seed producers in training and demonstrating small-scale seed production of heirlooms and improved public varieties of vegetables. A web site was developed that provided easy access to details about scheduled events, information about seed production and processing, results of on farm trials, and variety descriptions. This website is still maintained to provide useful information to organic farmers. During the period 2003-2008 these projects provided demonstrations, training workshops, and community seed days. More than 10,000 people observed demonstrations at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine, the NOFA summer conference at Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Empire Farm days at Seneca Falls, NY. Workshops and community seed days were conducted for over 700 participants. This has increased the availability of heirloom and new publicly bred germplasm for use by small and organic farmers. Abscission or retention of ripening fruit is a major component of seed dispersal strategies and also has important implications for horticultural production. Abscission-related traits have generally not been targeted in breeding efforts and their genetic bases remain mostly unknown. Collaborating with Horticulturists from Michigan State University, 144 Malus accessions representing wild species, domestic cultivars, and hybrids for abscission-related traits were evaluated. We found that seasonal timing of fruit abscission in wild species and hybrids showed a broad distribution similar to that seen for domestic cultivars, and that internal ethylene concentration at the time of abscission varied by over three orders of magnitude. Wild species, domestic cultivars, and hybrids all included representatives that showed abscission of fruit prior to substantial production of ethylene, as well as accessions that retained fruit for a significant period of time following ethylene production. For all accessions that retained fruit, fruit removal resulted in abscission of the pedicel, and exogenous ethylene promoted abscission, suggesting that the abscission zone was functional. Our results suggest important roles for mechanisms independent of fruit ethylene production in abscission. The future availability of vegetable crop germplasm has been assured through continuation of two SCAs for regeneration. Because short-day onions cannot be regenerated at Geneva, an ongoing SCA was continued with New Mexico State University for regeneration of short-day onions as well as an ongoing SCA with University of California for regeneration of wild tomato germplasm. The cultivated tomato germplasm collection at PGRU underwent several major changes in 2006/2007. First approximately 750 unique accessions maintained at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) was incorporated into the collection maintained at Geneva and marked as backups at the NCGRP. All duplicate accessions of tomato from the PGRU and NCGRP were inactivated, though seed is being maintained for possible future genetic studies. The accessions with local numbers ('G') that were left after the inactivation were assigned 'PI' accession numbers, with only a few local numbers maintained for material that is being used in genetic studies and that will not be incorporated into the germplasm collection at this time. Approximately 2,000 samples for backup at NCGRP were sent to replace older, smaller, and poor quality previous backups. This leaves us now with a cultivated tomato germplasm collection of 5,869 accessions. We sequenced 48 loci (22.5 kb) for a panel of 30 diverse L. esculentum accessions, one breeding line, and one L. peruvianum accession. These data will give us precise estimates of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity within domesticated tomato and divergence with a wild relative. The data will be used to test hypotheses regarding selection, drift, and introgression in the tomato gene pool (Labate, J.A., L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, F.Wu, S.D. Tanksley and A.M. Baldo. 2006. DNA polymorphism estimates within domesticated tomato. Sol2006. Madison, WI). The data will also be used to estimate bias in SNP marker types developed by various bioinformatics methods (Baldo, A.M., L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, W.F. Lamboy, and J.A. Labate. 2006. Evaluation of SNP markers across tomato landraces. Plant and Animal Genome XIV, San Diego, CA). Limited genetic variation within the cultivated tomato Solanum lycopersicum has restricted the use of molecular markers as tools for crop improvement. During the past year we have completed the lab work for surveying a set of 51 gene fragments in a tomato geographic diversity panel to analyze Solanum lycopersicum intraspecific variation. This will give us an increased understanding of the nature of variation in our collection. The newly discovered polymorphisms can be used in intraspecific populations for marker-assisted breeding. We continue to lay the groundwork for molecular diversity studies of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) and cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), two closely related botanical varieties. We are resequencing 48 gene fragments using inbred parent line BI87053 (homozygous recurrent inbred Calabrese broccoli) of the N x B mapping population. Primers were chosen based on literature searches and include many candidate genes for agronomic traits and ecological adaptation such as flowering time, secondary metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, disease and pest resistance, phytochromes, floral meristem identity, and ethylene transduction. These markers will later be used to estimate population structure in B. oleracea to see if broccoli accessions are genetically distinct from cauliflower accessions. The polymorphisms will also be valuable for marker-assisted breeding. The majority of the tomatillo collection was characterized in 2005 with data taken for 35 descriptors and with digital imaging of all accessions at several stages of plant phenology. The most import character measured was self-fertility, which was estimated by taking measurements to compare seed production with and without pollinators to determine self-fertility. Several accessions were found that had high levels of self-fertility, a limiting factor in developing breeding programs for this potential new crop in the U.S. Twelve organic farmers in New York evaluated these accessions in 2006 for their potential for production under organic production systems through the Organic Seed Partnership (of which PGRU was a part of) which was funded by the OREI.

Aradhaya, M.K., C.F. Weeks, and C.J. Simon 2004. Molecular characterization of variability and relationships among seven cultivated and selected wild species of Prunus L. using amplified fragment length polymorphism. Scientia Horticulturae. 103:131-144 Aradhya M.K., G.S. Dangl, B.H. Prins, J.M. Boursiquot, M.A. Walker, C.P. Meredith, C.J. Simon 2003. Genetic structure and differentiation in cultivated grape, Vitis vinifera L., Genetical Research 81:179-192 Aradhya, M.K., C.J. Simon, and D. Potter 2006. Origin, evolution, and biogeography of Juglans L: A phylogenetic perspective. Acta Horticulture 705:85-94 Aradhya, M.K., D. Potter, and C.J. Simon 2005. Cladistic biogeography of Juglans (Juglandaceae) based on chloroplast DNA intergenic spacer sequences. In: Darwin's Harvest: New approaches to the Origins, Evolution, and Conservation of Crop Plants. Motley, T.J., Zerega, N., and Cross, H. (eds.), Columbia University Press, New York. 143-170 Baldo, A.M., D. Huntley, L.D. Robertson, and J.A. Labate. 2004. High-throughput SNP prediction in tomatoes based on ESTs. p. 14 In Program Abstracts, Tomato Breeders Roundtable, Annapolis, MD. Baldo, A.M., D. Huntley, L.D. Robertson, and J.A. Labate. 2005. High-throughput SNP prediction in tomatoes based on ESTs. p. 7 In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XIII, San Diego, CA.. Baldo, A.M. and J. Labate. 2003. Polymorphism prediction. p. 126 In Conference Program, ISMB 2003, Brisbane, Australia. Baldo, A.M., J. Labate, and L.D. Robertson. 2004a. A search for molecular diversity in tomato. p. 147 In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XII, San Diego, CA. Baldo, A.M., J. Labate., and L.D. Robertson. 2004b. Prediction of single nucleotide polymorphisms in domestic tomato: How useful is EST sequence diversity? In Conference Program, Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology 2004, Glasgow, Scotland. Baldo, A.M., W.F. Lamboy , L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, and J.A. Labate. 2007. Genetic variation among tomato landraces. p. 33 In Final Program, 2007 Tomato Breeders Roundtable, State College, PA Baldo, A.M., W.F. Lamboy, C.J. Simon, J.A. Labate, Y. Wan, and S.M. Sheffer. 2007. SNP validation and genetic diversity in cultivated tomatoes and grape. p. 144 In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XV, San Diego, CA. Baldo, A.M, Malnoy, M., Aldwinckle, H.S. 2008. A Search For Novel Apple Resistance Genes Among Wild And Rootstock Accessions. p. 233. In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Baldo, A.M., L.D. Robertson, and J.A. Labate. 2005a. Discovery of highly polymorphic genes in tomato cultivars. In Conference Program, Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology 2005, Detroit, MI. Baldo, A.M., L.D. Robertson, and J.A. Labate. 2005b. Highly polymorphic genes in cultivated tomato. HortScience 40:999. Baldo, A.M., L. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, and J.A. Labate. 2006. Polymorphism among EST-based markers in tomato. p. 20 In Final Abstracts Guide, 2006 Tomato Breeders Round Table & Tomato Quality Workshop, Tampa, FL. Baldo, A.M., L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, W.F. Lamboy, and J.A. Labate. 2006. Evaluation of SNP markers across tomato landraces. p. 146 In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XIV, San Diego, CA. Baldo, A.M., L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, W.F. Lamboy, and J.A. Labate. 2008. Genetic diversity in tomato: SNPs from various sources show similar amounts of polymorphism and bottlenecking due to domestication. p. 6. In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Baldo, A.M, Volk, G.M., Olmstead, J., Iezzoni, A. 2008. Resistance Gene Analogs In Cherries (Prunus spp.). p. 236. In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Bassett, C.L., Wisniewski, M.E., Baldo, A.M., Artlip, T.S., Farrell, R.E. 2008. Differential Expression Of Genes In Apple During Gradual Water Deficit Conditions. p. 136. In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Berger, J.D., L.D. Robertson, and P.S. Cocks. 2003. Agricultural potential of Mediterranean grain and forage legumes 2) Anti-nutritional factor concentrations in the genus Vicia. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 50: 201-212. Borejsza-Wysocka, E.E., Norelli, J.L., Baldo, A.M., Farrell, R.E., Bassett, C.L., Aldwinckle, H.S. 2008. High-Efficiency Generation Of RNAi Mutants Of Apple By Use Of Multi-Vector Transformation. p. 232. In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Cramer, C.S. and L. D. Robertson. 2005. Seed increase of short-day onion accessions. Allium Improv. Newsl. 14:18-20. Cramer, C.S. and L. D. Robertson. 2005. Seed regeneration of short-day onion accessions in the U.S. collection. HortScience. 40:998. (Abstr.) Dangl, G.S., K. Woeste, M.K. Aradhya, A. Koehmstedt, C. Simon, D. Potter, C.A Leslie, and G. McGranahan 2005. Characterization of 14 microsatellite markers for genetic diversity analysis and cultivar identification of walnut. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 130(3):348-354 Fazio, G., H.S. Aldwinckle, G.M. Volk, C.M. Richards, W. J. Janisiewicz, and P.L. Forsline. 2008. Progress in evaluating Malus sieversii for disease resistance and horticultural traits. Acta Horticulturae (accepted). Fazio, G., P.L. Forsline, H. Aldwinckle, and L. Pons. 2008. The Apple Collection in Geneva, NY: A Resource for The Apple Industry Today and for Generations to Come. New York Fruit Quarterly 3:3-6. 16: 5-8. Forsline, P.L. and H. S. Aldwinckle. 2004. Evaluation of Malus sieversii seedling populations for disease resistance and horticultural traits. EUCARPIA Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics; 1st to 5th September 2003, Angers, France. Acta Horticulturae 663: 529-534. Forsline, P.L. and K.E. Hummer. 2006. Fruit exploration supported by the National Plant Germplasm System 1980 to 2004. HortScience 42:200-202. Forsline, P.L. H.S. Aldwinckle, E.E. Dickson, J. J. Luby, and S.C. Hokanson. 2003. Collection, Maintenance, Characterization and Utilization of Wild Apples of Central Asia, p. 1-61. In: J. Janick, P. Forsline, E. Dickson, R. Way and M. Thompson (eds.). Horticultural Reviews, vol. 29. Wild apple and fruit trees of Central Asia. Wiley, New York. Forsline, P.L., J. Luby, and H.S. Aldwinckle. 2008. Fire blight incidence on Malus sieversii grown in New York and Minnesota. 11th International International Workshop on Fire Blight Conference. Acta Horticulturae (accepted). Huntley, D, Baldo, A.M., Johri, S, and Sergot, M. SEAN: SNP prediction and display program utilizing EST sequence clusters. 2006. Bioinformatics 22(4):495-496 Janisiewicz, W., Robert Saftner , William Conway and Philip Forsline. 2008. Preliminary Evaluation of Apple Germplasm from Kazakhstan for Resistance to Blue Mold Decay Caused by Penicillium expansum After Harvest. HortScience 43:420-426. Labate, J.A. 2008. Ch. 2 Molecular markers in germplasm conservation. p. 45-74. In C. Kole and A. Abbott, (ed.) Principles and practices of plant genomics vol 2. Science Publishers, Inc., Enfield, New Hampshire, USA; Plymouth, UK (in press). Labate, J.A. and Baldo, A.M. 2005. Tomato leaf tissue Lycopersicon esculentum STS genomic, sequence tagged site. Accessions BV448051 to BV448073. Labate, J.A. and Baldo, A.M. 2007. Anonymous genomic sequence of tomato. Accessions EU365695 to EU365773. Labate, J.A. and Baldo, A.M. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and Insertion/Deletion polymorphisms (Indels) in four cultivated tomato lines. Submitted to dbSNP. NCBI ss# 76883011 to 76883086, 77106585 to 77106606. Labate, J.A. and Baldo, A.M. Tomato SNP discovery by EST mining and resequencing. 2005. Molecular Breeding 16(4):343-349 Labate, J.A., and A.M. Baldo. 2005. Tomato SNP discovery by EST mining and resequencing. Mol. Breeding 16:343-349. Labate, J.A., S. Grandillo, T. Fulton, S. Muños, A.L. Caicedo, I. Peralta, Y. Ji, R.T. Chetelat, et al. (39 total authors). 2007. Ch. 1 Tomato. p. 1-125. In C. Kole, (ed.) Genome mapping and molecular breeding in plants: Volume 5 Vegetables. Springer Publishing Co., NY. Labate, J.A., L.D. Robertson, A.M. Baldo, and T.N. Björkman. 2006. Inflorescence identity gene alleles are poor predictors of inflorescence type in broccoli and cauliflower. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 131:667-673. Labate, J., L. Robertson, and T. Bjorkman. 2003. Genotypes at the BoCAL-a locus in B. oleracea do not predict broccoli, cauliflower, and purple cauliflower phenotype. HortScience 38:736. Labate, J.A, L.D. Robertson, and T. Bjorkman. 2004. Utility of BoCAL-a and BoAP1-a genotypes in identifying broccoli and cauliflower accessions. HortScience 39:773. Labate, J.A., L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, W.F. Lamboy, and A.M. Baldo. 2007. DNA sequence analyses of tomato germplasm conserved at the Plant Genetic Resources Unit (PGRU). p. 51 In The 4th Solanaceae Genome Workshop 2007, Jeju Island, Korea Labate, J.A., L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, F.Wu, S.D. Tanksley and A.M. Baldo. 2006. DNA polymorphism estimates within domesticated tomato. PAA/Solanaceae Abstract 366. Madison, WI. Labate, J.A., L.D. Robertson, S.M. Sheffer, W.F. Lamboy, F. Wu, S.D. Tanksley, and A.M. Baldo. 2007. EST, COSII, and arbitrary markers give similar estimates of nucleotide diversity in cultivated tomato (S. lycopersicum). p. 15 In Final Program, 2007 Tomato Breeders Roundtable, State College, PA Labate, J.A., S.M. Sheffer, W.F. Lamboy, and A.M. Baldo. 2008. Genomic sequences of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) for comparison of three marker types. Direct submission to GenBank. Accessions EU797528 to EU797577. Labate, J.A. and Baldo, A.M. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and Insertion/Deletion polymorphisms (Indels) in four cultivated tomato lines. 2008. Submitted to dbSNP. NCBI ss# 76883011 to 76883086, 77106585 to 77106606. Labate, J.A. and Baldo, A.M. 2008. Anonymous genomic sequence of tomato. NCBI accessions EU365695 to EU365773. Labate, J.A., Robertson, L.D., Baldo, A.M. and Bjorkman, T. Inflorescence identity gene alleles are poor predictors of inflorescence type in broccoli and cauliflower. 2006. JASHS 131(5):667-673 Labate, J.A., Robertson, L.D., Baldo, A.M., Sheffer, S.M. and Bjorkman, T. 2006. Brassica oleracea var. italica, GSL-ELONG, partial cds. Accessions DQ445730, DQ445731. Labate, J.A., S. Grandillo, T. Fulton, S. Muños, A.L. Caicedo, I. Peralta, Y. Ji, R.T. Chetelat, et al. (39 authors in total). 2007. Tomato. p. 1-125. In C. Kole (ed.) Genome mapping and molecular breeding in plants: Volume 5 Vegetables. Springer Publishing Co., NY. Luby, J.J., D. S. Bedford and P.L Forsline. 2004. Winter hardiness in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Malus core collection. EUCARPIA Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics; 1st to 5th September 2003, Angers, France. Acta Horticulturae 663: 605-608. Malnoy, M., Baldo, A.M., Carlisle, C.M., Bowatte, D., Borejsza-Wysocka, E.E., Norelli, J.L., Farrell, R.E., Bassett, C.L., Gardiner, S.E., Aldwinckle, H.S. 2008. Identification And Mapping Of Genes Differentially Expressed During Interaction Of Resistant And Susceptible Apple Cultivars (Malus Xdomestica) With Erwinia amylovora. p. 232. In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Myers, C. T., and P. L. Forsline. 2008. Pest resistance status of hybrid releases housed in USDA's "core" Malus germplasm collection. Entomological Society of America, Eastern Branch. Annual Meeting, 9-11 March, 2008, Syracuse, NY. Myers, C.T., T.C. Leskey and P.L. Forsline. 2007. Susceptibility of fruit from diverse apple and crabapple germplasm to attack from plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). J. Econ. Entomol. 100(5): 1663-1671. Myers, C.T., W.H. Reissig, and P.L. Forsline. 2008. Susceptibility of fruit from diverse apple and crabapple germplasm to attack from apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Journal of Economic Entomology. J. Econ. Entomol. 101(1): 206-215. Norelli, J.L., Gardiner, S.E., Malnoy, M., Aldwinckle, H.S., Baldo, A.M., Borejsza-Wysocka, E.E., Farrell, R.E., Lalli, D.A., Celton, J.M., Bassett, C.L., Korban, S.S., Wisniewski, M.E. 2008. Using Functional Genomics To Develop Tools To Breed Fire Blight Resistant Apples. p. 232. In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Postman, J., K. Hummer, E. Stover, P. Forsline, L.J. Grauke, F. Zee, T. Ayala-Silva, R. Krueger, and B. Irish. 2006. Fruit and Nut Genebanks in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System. HortScience 41:1188-1194. Richards, C.M., Gayle M. Volk, Ann A. Reilley, Adam D. Henk, Dale Lockwood, Patrick A. Reeves, and Philip L. Forsline. 2008. Genetic diversity and population structure in Malus sieversii, a wild progenitor species of domesticated apple. Journal. (submitted to Tree Genetics and Genomics). Robertson, L.D., A.M. Baldo, S.M. Sheffer, and J.A. Labate. 2004. Use of Sequence-based polymorphisms for studying genetic diversity of winter squash. Eighth Eastern Great Lakes Molecular Evolution Meeting. Ithaca, NY Robertson, L.D., A.M. Baldo, S.M. Sheffer, and J.A. Labate. 2004. Sequence-based amplified polymorphisms (SBAPs) are useful for studying genetic diversity of winter squash. p. 153 In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XII, San Diego, CA. Robertson, L.D., and J.A. Labate. 2007. Genetic resources of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. esculentum) and wild relatives. p. 25-75. In M.K. Razdan and A.K. Mattoo (eds.) Genetic improvement of Solanaceous crops vol. I: Tomato, Science Publishers Inc., New Hampshire, USA; Plymouth, UK. Rupasinghe, H.P.V, G.M. Huber, C. Embree, and P.L. Forsline. 2008. Red-fleshed apples as a source for functional beverages. Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology Conference. May 25-27, 2008. Samuelian, S.K., Baldo, A.M., Pattison, J.A., and Weber, C.A. 2008. Isolation and linkage mapping of NBS-LRR resistance gene analogs in red raspberry ( Rubus idaeus L.) and classification among 270 Rosaceae NBS-LRR genes. Tree Genetics & Genomes. Electronic Online First article http://www.springerlink.com/content/n423jnx741586448 Saleh Al-Turki, Mohamed A. Shahba, Philip L. Forsline and Cecil Stushnoff. 2008. Biodiversity of total phenolics, antioxidant capacity and juice quality in apple cider taxa. Koean Journal (pending). Sheffer, S.M., J.A. Labate, T.N. Bjorkman, L.D. Robertson and A.M. Baldo. 2004. BoGSL-ELONG as a candidate diagnostic marker in phenotypically diverse brassica populations. Eighth Eastern Great Lakes Molecular Evolution Meeting. Ithaca, NY Simon, C.J. 2004. Genetic conservation of nonseed materials. In: Encyclopedia of Plant and Crop Science1:1. Robert G. Goodman (ed), Marcel Dekker Inc. pp.1-3 Simon, C.J., Y. Wan, H. Schwaninger, G.-Y. Zhong, J.A. Labate, and A.M. Baldo. 2008. Nucleotide polymorphism analysis in Vitis: A broad survey across the grape genus. p. 240 In Final Abstracts Guide, Plant and Animal Genome XVI, San Diego, CA. Stushnoff, C., A.E. McSay, J.J. Luby, and P.L. Forsline. 2003. Diversity of phenolic antioxidant content and radical scavenging capacity in the apple germplasm collection. XXV1 International Horticultural Congress. Symposium 21 (Plant Genetic Resources: The Fabric of Horticulture's Future). Acta Horticulturae 623: 305-312. Sun, Lingxia, . Steve van Nocker, and Philip L. Forsline. 2008. Natural Variation for Fruit Abscission in Apple (Malus). HortScience 43: 1271. Sun, Lingxia, Steve van Nocker, and Philip. L. Forsline. 2008. Natural Variation in Fruit Abscission-Related Traits in Apple (Malus). Euphytica. (accepted). Towill, L.E., P.L. Forsline, C. Walters, J. Waddell and J. Laufman. 2004. Cryopreservation of Malus germplasm using a winter vegetative bud method: Results from 1915 accessions. Cryoletters 25:323-334. Vision T, Chacon M, Tsompana M, Robertson L, Pena Lomeli A, Ponce O (2006). Microsatellite variation and population structure in tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica Lam.). PAA/Solanaceae Abstract 408, July 23-27, Madison, WI Volk G.M., Ann A. Reilley, Adam D. Henk, Christopher M. Richards, P.L. Forsline, and H.S. Aldwinckle. 2005. Ex situ conservation of vegetatively propagated species: Development of a seed-based core collection or Malus sieversii. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 130: 203-210. Volk Gayle, Christopher M. Richards, Ann A. Reilley Adam D. Henk Patrick A. Reeves Philip L. Forsline Herb S. Aldwinckle. 2008. Genetic diversity and disease resistance of wild Malus orientalis from Turkey and southern Russia. Journal J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 133: 383-389 Volk, G.M., Christopher M. Richards, Philip L. Forsline, and Herb Aldwinckle. 2008. Diversity of wild Malus germplasm available in the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System. HortScience 43: 1136. Volk, Gayle M., Christopher M. Richards, Philip L. Forsline, and Herb S. Aldwinckle. 2008. Assessment of the genetic diversity and disease resistance of wild Malus orientalis seedlings from Turkey and Southern Russia. 4th International Rosaceae Genomics Conference.