In Vitro

Foundation Plant Services

Guide to the Strawberry Clean Plant Program
Contents:
MeristeM plant production strawberry viruses wHy tissue culture is used disease testing dna fingerprinting references ordering uc davis licensing prograM 2 5 5 6 8 9 10 10 For over 50 years, the Department of Plant Sciences Pomology Program at the Davis campus of the University of California (UC) has been thehome of one of the most successful strawberry breeding programs in the world. Cultivars developed by the Plant Sciences Department are patented and licensed by UC Davis Technology Transfer Services, and maintained at and distributed by Foundation Plant Services (FPS). Maintenance and distribution involves annual disease and identity testing, production and distribution of tissue culture meristem tipexplants, and distribution of conventionally propagated plants produced off-site by special agreement. FPS tests and maintains advanced selections produced by UC strawberry breeders, ensuring the smooth release of disease-tested propagating stock when new cultivars are introduced. Virus testing and therapy services are also available for domestic non-UC cultivars. This publication describes theUniversity of California strawberry licensing program and the process and procedures for establishing and maintaining healthy Foundation strawberry planting stock. ABOUT FOUNDATION PLANT SERVICES Foundation Plant Services is a self-supporting department in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. The FPS mission is to produce, test, maintain anddistribute disease-tested plant propagation material; to provide importation, quarantine, virus testing and virus elimination services; to coordinate release of UC-patented plant cultivars; and to link researchers, nurseries and growers.
Foundation Plant Services University of California One Shields Avenue Davis, California 95616-8600 Phone: (530) 752-3590 Fax: (530) 752-2132 Email:fps@ucdavis.edu Web: http://fps.ucdavis.edu

FPS has grape, strawberry, fruit and nut tree, sweet potato and rose programs; each is funded by the industry it serves. FPS is accredited by the California Department of Food and Agriculture registration and certification programs for grapevines, strawberries, and fruit and nut trees. Foundation level stock of all University of California-patented strawberry,grape, fruit tree and nut tree cultivars is grown and distributed by FPS to licensees. Every year, visitors from around the world come to FPS to view the state-of-the-art facilities and inquire about the clean plant programs. An advisory committee comprised of members from UC, nurseries, growers and the California Strawberry Commission provides the guidance and financial support that makes thestrawberry program a strong and vital part of California agriculture.

October 2008

Production of Meristem Plants
A ‘meristem plant’ is the term used in industry to refer to a plant grown in tissue culture from a meristem tip. The main reasons for producing meristem plants are to eliminate pathogens from planting material and to reinvigorate plants. Meristem plants produce many more daughterplants than are produced by conventionally-propagated plants. A ‘meristem tip’ consists of meristem tissue plus one or two leaf primordia, and is approximately 0.4 to 0.5 mm in size. Meristem tissue is found in young growing points where cells are dividing but have not yet differentiated into leaves, stems or other organs. The following steps describe the process of producing strawberry ‘meristemplants.’ The process—from mother plant to meristem plant in potting soil—takes approximately one year. 1. Mother plants The original strawberry plant material for a UC cultivar is provided by the UC strawberry breeder before release, and is tested repeatedly over several years before becoming a mother plant (also known as nuclear stock). Mother plants are propagated conventionally by runner...