2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) Develop a series of seedless table grapes that ripen from early to late with white, black & red fruit. Fruit must meet shipping & storage requirements with high quality fruit. Emphasis will be placed on the development of early-ripening white grapes with large berry size, reduced hand thinning in the cluster, good sugar development, & attractive appearance. Develop new table grape cultivars resistant to powdery mildew. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Standard breeding methods are being used. This consists of selecting varieties having the most desirable characteristics, hybridizing those varieties, selecting the best offspring and testing them as potential varieties. Tissue culture methods will be used to recover hybrids from seedless by seedless crosses. Advanced selections are tested in demonstration plots to determine commercial potential. Major areas of effort are for the development of seedless types to replace seeded varieties and varieties requiring high production costs. Powdery mildew resistance will also be incorporated into the table grapes from resistance germplasm. Selection for resistance will be done in the greenhouse and field where no fungicide applications are made. Documents Trust with California Table Grape Commission. Log 26495. 3.Progress Report This report serves to document joint research conducted under a Trust Agreement with the California Table Grape Commission for research on the development of new table grape cultivars, including types resistant to powdery mildew. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent project 5302-21220-004-00D, Improvement of Prunus and Vitis Scion and Rootstocks for Fruit Quality and Pest Resistance. There is a need for a series of seedless table grape cultivars with red, white and black fruit that ripen from early to late in the season to provide fresh grapes to the consumer for as long a period as possible. A total of 1,165 table grape seedlings were developed by in-vitro culture from 51 seedless x seedless crosses. They were developed from 11,344 ovules that produced 2,121 (19%) embryos. Eleven new seedless grape selections (1 red, 2 black and 8 white) were determined to be promising and propagated in our 25 vine advanced test plot. They were chosen from 311 table grape selections of which 128 were new in 2006. Over 690 samples for storage tests were evaluated. One late red, one late white, one mid-season white, one early white, and one mid-season black seedless selections continue to show commercial promise. Powdery mildew resistant table grape cultivars are needed to reduce the need for chemical control. Eleven seedless x seedless crosses produced 168 plants and five seeded x seedless crosses produced 1,460 seed, resistant to powdery mildew in greenhouse tests were planted in the field. Forty-eight table and raisin selections were evaluated in one field location with 9 table grape selections having no mildew on leaves, stems, rachis or fruit. Over 167 table and raisin selections in a second field location were evaluated with 37 having no mildew on leaves, stems, rachis or fruit. The project is monitored by the ADODR through active involvement in the day-to-day research activities, and through regular on-site scheduled meetings with the Cooperator and interested stakeholders.