Infestation by blueberry gall midge, Dasineura oxycoccana Johnson, is common in northern highbush blueberries, but its effects on crop productivity are unknown. We examined whether infestation by blueberry gall midge reduces flower bud production when compared with uninfested shoots, and how infestation at different times affects the crop response. From the fall of 2009 to the spring of 2011, t...

Further clarification is needed to address the paradox that memory formation, aging and neurodegeneration all involve calcium influx, oxyradical production (ROS) and activation of certain signaling pathways. In aged rats and in APP/PS-1 mice, cognitive and hippocampal Ca(2+) dysregulation was reversed by food supplementation with a high antioxidant blueberry extract. Here, we studied whether ne...

Blueberries are a type of vegetation with spectral signatures similar to that of forest and grass. Due to their size, they are difficult to distinguish when intermingled with tall grass. Blueberries are grown in the vicinity of evergreen forests to shield them from the wind and save them from freezing. It is also difficult to distinguish blueberries from forest by normal classification methods....

Many collaborators and graduate and undergraduate students have been involved in the work summarized below. We also thank the Oregon Blueberry Commission, Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission, Oregon Strawberry Commission, Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research, the Washington Blueberry Commission, NIFA-OREI, Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Oregon Blueberry Farms, Sakuma Bros. Farms & Nurs...

In order to identify genetic components in flowering pathways of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.), a transcriptome reference composed of 254,396 transcripts and 179,853 gene contigs was developed by assembly of 72.7 million reads using Trinity. Using this transcriptome reference and a query of flowering pathway genes of herbaceous plants, we identified potential flowering pathway ge...

European honey bees Apis mellifera are important commercial pollinators that have suffered greater than normal overwintering losses since 2007 in North America and Europe. Contributing factors likely include a combination of parasites, pesticides, and poor nutrition. We examined diet diversity, diet nutritional quality, and pesticides in honey bee-collected pollen from commercial colonies in th...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of blueberry treatment on histone acetylation modification of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver disease in rats. Laboratory rats were randomly divided into control, hepatic fibrosis, blueberry treatment, blueberry intervention, and natural recovery groups. Rats in the model groups were treated with CCl4 administered subcutaneous...

Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is an important crop grown throughout Florida. Currently, most blueberry growers use honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to provide pollination services for highbush blueberries even though bumble bees (Bombus spp.) have been shown to be more efficient at pollinating blueberries on a per bee basis. In general, contribution of bumble bees to the pollinatio...

BACKGROUND Chemopreventive effects and the underlying mechanisms of blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) are not clearly understood in human. We hypothesized blueberry would work via antioxidative and epigenetic modulation, which is similar to vitamin C. METHODS We performed a pilot and non-inferiority study in healthy young women (n = 12), who consumed vitamin C (1 g/d) or 240 mL of blueberry juice (t...

Approximately 87% of flowering plants in the world are pollinated by animals. Bees are some of the most economically and ecologically important pollinators, necessary for the production of about one third of all crops. One such crop is highbush blueberry, grown throughout Rhode Island in small acreages. I conducted a survey of the bee species foraging on managed blueberry farms throughout Rhode...