Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

...With Chosen Foods, LLC, of Turlock, CA, to create novel, molded snacks from fruit puree. The company will use starch molding technologies developed by ARS scientists to produce fruit-based snacks from apricot, peach, orange, grape and strawberry puree. Growers will benefit from extended processing periods for seasonal crops. Consumers will get more choices when it comes to healthful snacks.
ARS Contact: Tara McHugh, Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA, (510) 559-5864, thm@pw.usda.gov

...With Agracetus, of Middleton, WI, to breed cotton varieties that produce higher-strength fibers. In the scheduled five-year research effort, ARS scientists are evaluating transgenic cotton plants produced by Agracetus, a unit of Monsanto. ARS scientists will select the most promising transgenic plants and cross them, through conventional breeding, with other varieties to develop cotton plants that produce fiber with higher strength than current varieties. Stronger cotton fiber is important to industry because new, high- speed machinery used to produce cotton yarn requires stronger fiber to work most effectively. This new technology has been driven by global competition that has forced manufacturers to produce more cotton yarn and fabric at less cost. Higher-strength fabric could give the United States an edge in the global textile market. U.S. cotton exports are expected to be 7-7.5 million bales in 1996-97--slightly less than the 7.7 million bales in 1995-96 and considerably lower than the near-record 9.4 million bales in 1994-95. Another factor: Clothing that's 100-percent cotton--but still wrinkle-resistant--has become more popular in recent years. But to achieve wrinkle resistance, manufactures must chemically treat the fabric, a process that can cause a 30- to 50-percent reduction in the fabric's strength. Scientists say this impact could be partly offset with fiber that starts out naturally stronger.
Coastal Plains Soil, Water and Plant Research Lab, Florence, SC
O. Lloyd May,(803) 669-5203, cotton@florence.ars.usda.gov

...With Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO, to investigate use of a recently cloned gene to protect tomorrow's tomatoes, bell peppers and other crops against viruses. A team of ARS and University of California at Berkeley researchers were the first to find and copy the gene, called N. Scientists have known for more than 50 years that the gene gives tobacco plants natural protection against the virus that causes tobacco mosaic. This disease can stunt plant growth and reduce yields. More than 150 kinds of plants worldwide are vulnerable to the virus, which takes its name from the yellow and green splotches that form on leaves of infected plants. UC and ARS have a joint patent on the N gene and its potential new uses as a virus-fighter. (PATENT 5,571,706)
ARS contact: Barbara J. Baker, ARS/UC Berkeley Plant Gene Expression Center, Albany, CA, (510) 559- 5900, bbaker@garnet.berkeley.edu

...With Wehah Farm, Inc., Richvale, CA, to create a new process that could boost the taste appeal of fat- free rice cakes. Flavors such as cheese typically are added in coatings applied to the outside of the cake. But this means the flavor ingredients may not reach all of the cake's puffed rice. ARS scientists aim to develop a new process that spreads the flavor evenly. Wehah markets rice cakes and other rice products under its Lundberg Family Farms label. Supermarket sales of rice cakes totaled about $249 million in 1995.
ARS contact: William J. Orts, Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA,(510) 559-5730, orts@pw.usda.gov

...With Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, MI, to study processed wheat bran products' ability to reduce formation of colon cells thought to be precancerous. Scientists have known for more than a decade that lab animals fed raw wheat bran have fewer of these cancer precursor cells, known as aberrant colonic crypt cells. ARS scientists will use bran samples from Kellogg to determine if similar findings occur when lab animals eat processed bran. Wheat bran is the thin, fiber-rich outer layer of the wheat kernel. The bran is used in breakfast cereals, whole-wheat breads, and other products.
ARS contact: Wallace H. Yokoyama, Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA, (510) 559-5695, wally@pw.usda.gov

...With Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, IA, to assist ARS and University of California at Berkeley researchers in scrutinizing key genes from corn. Certain genes that these scientists found and cloned may have an important role in orchestrating corn's growth. Biotechnologists might be able to restructure the genes to boost yields or enhance plants in other ways. The ARS and UC scientists will use Pioneer Hi-Bred's "Trait Utility System for Corn" (TUSC) to reveal the jobs these genes perform. TUSC relies on a tactic called the loss-of-function strategy, in which a gene is turned off in experimental plants. This reveals what role the gene would have played had it not been turned off. Though seemingly indirect, the approach ranks as one of the fastest ways to reveal which trait a gene controls. The TUSC technology employs genes known as jumping genes or transposons, which can land on a gene and knock it out of action.
ARS contact: Sarah C. Hake, ARS/UC Berkeley Plant Gene Expression Center, Albany, CA, (510) 559-5907, maizesh@nature.berkeley.edu

Lightweight concrete of the future might be made with an inexpensive aggregate made from wheat starch. A new ARS process converts the wheat starch into a tough, rubbery substance called an aquagel. The aquagel is combined with cement, which is then poured and cured. The resulting concrete could weigh only 50 to 90 percent as much as regular concrete. The low weight and high insulation value of the new concrete might make it suitable for soundproofing, thermal insulation, flooring, roofing tiles, pool decking and other applications in which low- to moderate-strength, nonstructural concrete often is preferred to normal-weight concrete. ARS' own tests indicate the new product has uniform density--an important property lacking in some lightweight concrete made with foams or foaming agents. The new aggregate also may require less energy and labor to produce. ARS has arranged for a non-USDA lab to test the new concrete's density, strength and other characteristics. (PATENT 5,595,595)
Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA
Gregory M. Glenn, (510) 559-5677, gmg@pw.usda.gov

Inexpensive bee traps, first developed by ARS scientists, now are being commercially used to capture honey bee swarms that are too close for comfort to homes, schools and recreation areas. In Tucson, AZ, a private firm uses the traps to protect areas such as the Desert Museum, Tucson International Airport and golf courses from the highly defensive Africanized strain of honey bees. It is inadvisable for homeowners to try to use the traps themselves because of the dangers associated with handling large numbers of possibly angry and defensive bees. ARS originally developed the traps and their accompanying lure to give advance warning of Africanized bees' presence. The traps, made from pressed wood pulp, resemble pots used in plant nurseries. The single entrance hole for bees can be plugged to trap them inside.
Carl Hayden Bee Research Laboratory, Tucson, AZ
Justin O. Schmidt, (520) 670-6380, jschmidt@ccit.arizona.edu

Most commercial apple and pear growers in the Pacific Northwest now spray their trees with calcium, an ARS-developed treatment to reduce bitter pit, cork spot, alfalfa greening and internal breakdown--flaws that can leave the fruit unmarketable. The calcium treatments cost as little as 22 cents a tree per year. Without calcium sprays, up to half the harvest of some apple varieties like Braeburn could be culled before they reach the market. ARS researchers who developed the technology are still working to pinpoint the best time to apply the calcium. Growers currently spray by calendar dates. The research is funded partially by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.
Tree Fruit Research Laboratory, Wenatchee, WA
Stephen R. Drake, (509)664-2280, drake@tfrl.ars.usda.gov

Cotton that's harvested while very wet could still wind up with good marks for quality, thanks to an ARS- designed conveyor belt dryer now being adopted by U.S. cotton gins. The machine dries the cotton at a lower temperature for a longer time than a conventional tower dryer. This allows sufficient drying time without damaging the cotton. Two gins in Texas and one in Virginia are already using the dryer. Also, a kenaf processing plant in Mississippi uses the dryer to prepare kenaf for making a variety of products including textiles and paper. Kenaf is a bamboo-like relative of cotton. ARS is working with Cotton, Inc., of Raleigh, NC, to use the dryer on cotton seeds destined for cattle feed. They are developing technology to coat the seeds with wet starch and then dry them. The slick coat prevents the seeds from clumping together and jamming farm equipment. ARS scientists initially worked with the Chickasha Cotton Oil Company of Casa Grande, AZ, to develop the dryer.
Cotton Production and Processing Research, Lubbock, TX
Roy V. Baker, Jr./Joseph W. Laird, (806) 746-5353, wlaird@mail.csrl.ars.usda.gov

Last Updated: July 14, 1997
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