Cost Effective Micropropagation Systems for Delivery of Elite Genetic Plants to the Field for Agricultural Production

The Phase I effort demonstrated that vegetative propagation can be a cost-effective replacement for seed in the production of transplants for seedless watermelon. Mass propagation techniques may now be economically applied to other field-transplanted horticultural crops and the potential benefits for U.S. agriculture can be extended to the rapid introduction of new varieties from several technologies including elite selections, genetic transformants, in vitro grafted selections and periclinal chimeras. Tissue-Grown scientists are working on a new variety development technology, based on the creation of interspecific chimeras, that may have immediate application for creation of elite disease resistant Cucurbit, Brassica and Solanum crops. With this Phase II proposal, Tissue-Grown outlines a project which combines large scale micropropagation with novel variety technologies to demonstrate that vegetatively propagated watermelon and tomato transplants with genetic-based resistance to Fusarium can be delivered on a commercial scale to the U.S. market. A key element for meeting the economic feasibility criteria for U.S. markets will be the delivery of high value germplasm that can compete with traditional seed based transplants. Tissue-Grown proposes that the combination of mass propagation with disease resistant transplants can provide a significant economic opportunity for vegetable production in the U.S.