New Publication

Dr. Ramón Molina-Bravo, was a PhD student that worked with myself and Dr. Bryon Sosinski at NCSU. Dr. Molina-Bravo just published an article that details a study that he conducted as part of his research. In a nutshell, he was able to identify several plants in a population of seedlings that had higher chlorophyll fluorescence, a trait that is associated with heat tolerance. We are using those individuals in our breeding program to see if they will survive the heat in additional locations and we will be using them in crosses in the near future.  Congrats Ramon! Here is a link to that article. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2011.07.022

Blackberry and Raspberry Post Harvest Evaluation

Evaluation of blackberry post harvest traits

We have an amazing team of scientists at NC State University working on blackberries and raspberries (Team Rubus). One of the newer members of our team is Dr. Penny Perkins-Veazie. Dr. Perkins-Veazie, worked for many years at USDA-ARS as a post harvest physiologist. She is  now located at the Plants for Human Health Institute at the NC Research Campus in Kannapolis. One of the projects we have is the evaluation of raspberry and blackberry fruit post harvest traits. She is also working to determine which varieties contain antioxidant compounds in Rubus fruit.

In the picture above, Dr. Perkins-Veazie shows a graduate student how to evaluate the post harvest traits of blackberries.

There is You Tube a video link to this protocol at:

http://plantsforhumanhealth.ncsu.edu/2011/03/31/rating-blackberries-raspberries-for-postharvest-quality/