Research

The blueberry breeding program focuses on developing both southern highbush and rabbiteye blueberries adapted to the US southeastern growing environment. Commercial blueberry production in the southern eastern region is challenged by multiple biotic and abiotic stresses. It is important to address these production constraints through discovering and integrating host resistance into elite cultivars. In addition, improving fruit quality, flavor, and mechanical harvestability are top priorities for blueberry cultivar improvement. To address these critical needs, we are actively making new crosses, creating, and expanding the genetic pool of our breeding program through interspecific hybridization. We are also seeking to increase the efficiency of interspecific crosses through in vitro ploidy induction. We are working with our collaborators to identify the genetic controls of blueberry phenological development that are critical to mitigate the economic loss to early freeze and heat stress damages. We are developing phytophthora root rot resistant genetic mapping populations to identify and integrate genetic resistance in our breeding pipelines. We are evaluating fruit and bush qualities, making new selections, and advancing top selections in growers’ field trials. We are enthusiastic about collaborating with scientists and industry representatives from public and private sectors to develop, trial, and advance blueberry genetic materials.

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