Gloeckner Foundation Announces Grants

The Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation, Inc. recently awarded 22 grants totaling $175,000 to 14 universities. Since the foundation was established in 1960, its support of floriculture research has totaled $5,125,810.90. The following is the list of awards granted:

• Louisiana State University (Jeff S. Kuehny) - Understanding premature dormancy and emergence of Hippeastrum. $8,000.

• North Carolina State University (Brian A. Krug and Brian E. Whipker) - Establishing best management practices for avoiding boron deficiency in pansy and gerbera plugs. $8,000.

• North Carolina State University (Colleen Y. Warfield and Eric L. Davis)- Development of a PCR-based detection assay for foliar nematodes in ornamental host plants tissues. $10,000.

• Ohio State University (Michelle L. Jones)- Protein expression profiling during flower senescence: A proteomic approach to enhancing postproduction quality. $9,000.

• Purdue University (Natalia Dudareva) - Improvement of postharvest quality and floral scent performance of snapdragon flowers. $10,000.

• Texas A&M University (Carlos Borgan) - Monitoring and managing resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides in Bemisia whiteflies. $8,000.

• Texas A&M University (Terri Starman and Yin-Tung Wang) - Determining the exact nutrient and thermal requirements for optimum growth and flowering of Hybrid Nobile Dendrobium as a potted plant. $9,000.

• Texas A&M University (Yin-Tung Wang) — Temperature effects on precision flowering of phalaenopsis orchids. $8,000.

• USDA — Scott T. Adkins and Dennis J. Lewandowski) - Effect of virus infection on hibiscus cutting production and characterization of a newly detected hibiscus-infecting Tobamovirus from Florida. $9,000.

• University of Florida (J. Chen and R.J. Henry) - Developing methods of inducing somatic embryogenesis for schefflera propagation. $4,500.

• University of Florida (David G. Clark) - Gene function analysis in transgenic petunias. $9,000.

• University of Florida (Zhanao Deng and Brent K. Harbaugh) - Breeding for improvement of cold tolerance in caladium. $ 8,000.

• University of Florida (James L. Gibson and Christopher B. Cerveny) - Stock plant management of tropical plants. $6,000.

• University of Georgia (Mark van Iersel) - Irrigation automation in greenhouses: Better crops with less water. $5,500.

• University of Illinois (Raymond A. Cloyd) - Alternative management strategies to control fungus gnats, Brady ssp. (Diptera: Sciardae) in greenhouses using extracts derived from organic soil components. $ 10,000.

• University of Washington (Veronica S. Di Stilio) - The genetic basis of flower variation in thalictrum (ranunculaceae). $8,000.

• Virginia Tech and University of Florida (Holly L. Scoggins and James L. Gibson) - Establishing minimum critical nutrient standards for herbaceous perennials. $12,000.

New York Florists’ Club Grants

• Cornell University (Mark Bridgend and Eduardo Oblate) - Late summer and fall production of cut lily flowers. $6,000.

• Cornell University (William B. Miller and Hye-Ji Kim) - Improvement of postharvest quality in tulips using Gibberellin 4+7 and Benzyladenine. $6,000.

• Cornell University (John P. Sanderson) - Developing the use of the hunter fly, Coenosia attenuate, as a predator of greenhouse pests. $8,000.

• Stoney Brook University (Douglas J. Futuyma) - The evolution of novel plant insect interactions. $5,000.

• University of Rhone Island (Jeffery A. Adkins) - Molecular genetic control of floral induction in Hydrangea macrophylla. $8,000.