ARS researchers recently announced the release of the first new redbud cultivar developed at the U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, D.C. The new cultivar, named Don Egolf, is a variety of Cercis chinensis, or Chinese redbud. The new redbud's profusion of rosy-purple flowers, compact structure, ease of propagation, seedlessness, and apparent high tolerance to Botryosphaeria dothidia canker have made it a welcome newcomer to nurseries across the country. Since 1994, cooperating nurseries throughout the eastern, southern, and midwestern United States have evaluated Don Egolf with high acclaim. Its ease of propagation by rooted cuttings is an especially valuable trait because redbud cultivars are notoriously difficult to propagate. Because the cultivar is seed-sterile, it produces no fruit, enhancing the shrub's appearance during winter. The new redbud has a compact, vase-shaped, multi-stemmed structure and is hardy in USDA zones 6 to 9. Its dark green, pest-resistant leaves turn yellow in autumn. The prolific bloom, structure, and foliage of Don Egolf make it well suited as a specimen plant, as a part of mixed plantings, or as a highlight at the edge of woodland plantings.

Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit, Beltsville, MD
Margaret R. Pooler, (202) 245-4568, mpooler@asrr.arsusda.gov

ARS researchers have now released a new lilac (Syringa) cultivar called Betsy Ross. This is the first release from ARS' lilac genetic improvement program. The Betsy Ross cultivar was developed from a cross using the lilac Syringa oblata, which was collected in China in 1976. Starting in 1992, the Betsy Ross lilac was released to cooperating nurseries throughout the United States to confirm its superior performance. Its fragrant white flowers, lush green foliage, compact growth habit, disease tolerance, and adaptation to warmer climates ensured its success. One significant advance has been the new lilac's outstanding resistance to powdery mildew, the biggest disease problem for lilacs in the Washington, D.C., area. The new shrub thrives under full sun and can be used as a background planting in a shrub border, as a specimen plant or hedge, or as a mass-planting throughout USDA hardiness zones 5 to 7. Genetic material from this new cultivar will be deposited in the National Plant Germplasm System to make it available to researchers and others interested in developing and commercializing new cultivars.

Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit, Beltsville, MD
Margaret R. Pooler (202) 245-4568, mpooler@asrr.arsusda.gov

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

...With Orsetti Seed Co., Inc., Hollister, CA, to evaluate ARS-developed broccoli breeding lines to determine their potential as true-breeding varieties and as parental lines for developing hybrids. The new lines were developed by ARS scientists in Charleston, SC. Because California produces about 90 percent of U.S. broccoli, testing in that state was needed to determine the full potential of these new lines. The U.S. broccoli crop is worth about $500 million annually. After testing in South Carolina, ARS sent the lines to Orsetti cooperators in California, who planted them in fall and winter for three years. In 1997 and 1999, excessive rainfall significantly damaged winter field trials. But in the other field tests, each line was evaluated for many characteristics, including uniformity; height; days to maturity; head extension, color, shape, firmness, and smoothness; incidence of downy mildew; overall head quality; and other important traits. Typically, Orsetti selected for retesting 5 to 10 broccoli lines out of the 50 sent each year, or the company used them as parents to develop new hybrids. Inbreds were tested every year, while hybrids were tested in the second and third years. Although no new hybrid cultivars have been developed so far, Orsetti continues to further test several ARS inbreds. In addition, they are continuing to test several hybrids that used an ARS inbred as one parent, combined with one of their own.

U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, Charleston, SC
Mark Farnham, (843) 556-0840, mfarnham@awod.com

...With BioGuard Research and Development, Inc., Kennewick, WA, to develop food attractants for German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) and repellents for foraging fire ants (Solenopsis invicta). The German cockroach is the no. 1 indoor insect pest. Cockroach feces, saliva, eggs, and skin left behind on surfaces contain allergens that can be health-threatening to people with asthma. Early roach detection is critical to preventing allergen production and accumulation. Current trapping technology lacks long-lasting, potent attractants to lure roaches into traps. The CRADA partners hope to develop an effective slow-release attractant. Slow-release formulations make traps effective longer and allow early detection of infestations. Ways to repel fire ants, especially from utilities, are also urgently needed. Fire ants forage for food in many places, including telephone switchboxes, air conditioning units, and other electrical equipment. They chew off equipment insulation and may electrocute themselves, releasing pheromones that attract more ants. These ants are also electrocuted. Eventually, dead ants accumulate and short out the electrical system. Part of the agreement will be to further develop ARS patented fire ant repellents into slow-release formulations that could prevent the pests from entering these systems.

Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL
Richard J. Brenner, (352) 374-5855, rbrenner@gainesville.usda.ufl.edu

...With Mycotech Corp., Butte, MT, to develop isolates of the fungus Beauveria bassiana as effective, safe, and environmentally friendly controls for moth pests of vegetable crops. The pests include diamondback moth, European corn borer, corn earworm, fall armyworm, and beet armyworm. ARS scientists are conducting laboratory assays to characterize the effectiveness of about 50 fungal isolates against the larvae of each pest. In the summer of 1998, the scientists conducted small field trials of five selected isolates of B. bassiana. Each isolate was tested against three pests in four field plots totaling about one-quarter acre. In 1999, several novel formulations of the most effective isolate were field-tested against diamondback moth and fall armyworm. The isolate was also tested in combination with a new Bacillus thuringiensis product. Field and greenhouse experiments are planned to compare effectiveness of exposing moths to direct sprays of fungal spores and to spores sprayed on plant foliage. A new isolate of B. bassiana obtained by Mycotech through an Asian collaborator was found to be highly pathogenic to an exceptionally broad range of moth pests. However, the strong biological control potential of this isolate was discovered too late for inclusion in the 1999 field trials.

U.S. Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Laboratory, Ithaca, NY
Stephen P. Wraight, (607) 255-2458, spw4@cornell.edu

...With Phelps Dodge Refining Corp., El Paso, TX, to determine the effectiveness of copper sulfate in protecting channel catfish eggs from saprolegniasis, a fungus disease. Without some preventive action in U.S. fish hatcheries, less than half the estimated one billion catfish eggs produced each year would never become small fry to stock ponds, much less tasty entrees. The egg-destroying culprits in hatchery tanks are cottony waterborne fungi, which can cause much of the investment in 4- to 8-year-old catfish broodstock to go down the drain. Since the 1980s, fish farmers have had only one Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapeutic drug, formalin, to save the eggs. Copper sulfate is a less expensive, less smelly substance that's easier to apply safely than formalin. But does copper sulfate work without harming the young hatchlings? That's a question being addressed by the CRADA. Before entering the agreement, Phelps Dodge was seeking FDA approval for copper sulfate as a treatment for ichthyopthiriasis, a parasitic disease of fish. FDA restricts use of therapeutic agents to diseases defined in an approved label claim, and only commercial companies are allowed to formally apply for FDA approval of their products.

National Aquaculture Research Center, Stuttgart, AR
Billy R. Griffin, (870) 673-4483, bgriffin@spa.ars.usda.gov

Patents

ARS has filed a patent application on active substances in cinnamon that wake up body cells to the hormone insulin—in test tube studies. Because insulin regulates glucose metabolism and thus controls the level of glucose in the blood, the substances may have the potential to delay or prevent adult-onset, or type 2, diabetes. Nearly 6 percent of the U.S. population-15.7 million people-have diabetes, and one-third of them don't even know it. The large majority of diabetes cases are type 2, the kind that emerges when body cells fail to recognize and respond to insulin as well as they once did. The most active of the cinnamon compounds-methyl-hydroxy chalcone polymer (MHCP)-increased glucose metabolism roughly 20-fold in the test tube assay of fat cells. Whether it will be effective in people remains to be tested. MHCP and the other active compounds are water soluble and so are not found in the spice oils sold as food additives.

Nutrient Requirements and Functions Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Richard A. Anderson, (301) 504-8091, anderson@307.bhnrc.usda.gov