A scraggly grapevine collected in 1906 and stored at the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium has yielded clues to when Pierce's disease arrived in California and how the bacterium that causes it has evolved since then. Scientists hope to use that information to prevent and, eventually, treat the deadly blight, which has spread to wine-growing regions around the world.
UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program releases five new strawberry varieties that resist Fusarium wilt, offering high yields and improved fruit quality. These varieties—UC Eclipse, UC Golden Gate, UC Keystone, UC Monarch, and UC Surfline—are designed to meet California's growing agricultural needs and replace susceptible cultivars.
UC Davis researchers discovered genes in strawberries resistant to Fusarium wilt, a deadly soilborne disease. This breakthrough will protect crops, offering future cultivars with the resistance gene and helping safeguard California’s strawberry industry.
UC Davis researchers, led by Allen Van Deynze and Charlie Brummer, are developing spinach varieties resistant to downy mildew, with improved nitrogen efficiency and reduced cadmium uptake. Trials with over 1,700 genetic lines aim for faster, healthier growth.
A UC Davis study reveals that climate change and drought are shifting the range of white pine blister rust disease. The disease is expanding into higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada, threatening pine species like whitebark pine.
UC Davis researchers are developing three Pima cotton cultivars with improved resistance to Fusarium wilt, a disease that devastates crops. This breakthrough could help stabilize cotton production and prevent higher product costs.
