Project Number: 6657-21000-005-04
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 20, 2006
End Date: Apr 18, 2010

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to determine if host plant tolerance to hardlock is controlled by a genetic system consisting of one or a few genes or by a genetic system consisting of numerous genes that are inherited in a quantitative way.

Approach:
Several F2 populations, developed by Cooperator and putatively segregating for hardlock tolerance, will be evaluated under field conditions at Cooperators's breeding station in Sellers, SC, and ARS' Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence, SC. A total of 400 plants per population will be space planted, evaluated, and scored for tolerance to hardlock at the end of the growing season at each location. Parental lines used to develop the F2 populations and a check cultivar known to exhibit extreme hardlock susceptibility will also be evaluated and scored for tolerance to hardlock. Leaf samples will be harvested from 10 randomly selected plants within each parent plot and the susceptible check cultivar plot. All leaf samples will be stored at -80 degrees C for possible future DNA analysis. Data collected from each location and F2 population will be input into a personal computer. The population data will be tested against expected single gene and two-gene genetic ratios to determine if hardlock tolerance is simply inherited.