Cowpea cultivar 95-104

A cowpea cultivar designated 95-104 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of cowpea cultivar 95-104, plants and plant parts, and to methods for producing a cowpea plant produced by crossing cowpea cultivar 95-104 with itself or with another cowpea cultivar. The invention also relates to methods for producing a cowpea plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic cowpea plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to cowpea cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from cowpea cultivar 95-104, to methods for producing other cowpea cultivars, lines or plant parts derived and to the cowpea plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid cowpea seeds, plants and plant parts produced by crossing the cowpea cultivar 95-104 with another cowpea cultivar

Cowpea cultivar 92-674

A cowpea cultivar designated 92-674 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of cowpea cultivar 92-674, plants and plant parts, and to methods for producing a cowpea plant produced by crossing cowpea cultivar 92-674 with itself or with another cowpea cultivar. The invention also relates to methods for producing a cowpea plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic cowpea plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to cowpea cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from cowpea cultivar 92-674, to methods for producing other cowpea cultivars, lines or plant parts and to the cowpea plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid cowpea seeds, plants and plant parts produced by crossing the cowpea cultivar 92-674 with another cowpea cultivar

Cowpea variety 951135

A novel cowpea cultivar, designated 951135, is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of cowpea cultivar 951135, plants, and to methods for producing a cowpea plant produced by crossing the cultivar 951135 with itself or another cowpea variety. The invention further relates to hybrid cowpea seeds and plants produced by crossing the cultivar 951135 with another cowpea cultivar

Effect of Media Constituents on In Vitro Culturing of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Shoot Tip and Leaf Disk Explants

Cowpea is an important legume food crop that is commonly grown in Arkansas and numerous other southern states. The application of biotechnological approaches for the improvement of U.S. cowpea genotypes is currently not possible due to the lack of a regeneration and transformation system. Therefore, the first priority of our research efforts is the development of a plant regeneration system that will facilitate plant transformation studies. In an effort to optimize the media requirements for tissue culturing cowpea, we evaluated the in vitro response of shoot tip and leaf disk explants to various levels of Murashige and Skoog (MS) macro and micro nutrients, vitamins, and iron. One commercial cultivar, Early Scarlet (formerly 91-135), and one advanced Arkansas breeding line, 91-245, were used as tissue sources. Shoot tips were cultured on media augmented with 5 mg/L kinetin and 0.01 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Multiple shoots were produced from shoot tips, and these grew well when cultured on full strength MS. However, increasing MS levels to 1.5 times the standard concentration induced taller shoots from both genotypes. Leaf disks were cultured on MS media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 1mg/L 2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Callus proliferation was greatest on media containing full strength MS supplemented with 0.5 mg/L BAP and 1 mg/L 2,4-D. The effects of the media constituents were genotype dependent, with Early Scarlet generally producing larger shoots and greater amounts of calli. The results obtained from this study demonstrate that the plant genotype and growth hormones have the greatest influence on cowpea growth in vitro. Therefore, in developing a cowpea regeneration system, it will be necessary to test numerous genotypes in combination with various growth regulators. To improve regeneration frequencies the media components can be optimized for the genotypes of interest

A new race of downy mildew threatens spinach

A new race of downy mildew is threatening spinach in several California and Texas growing areas. Two fungicides, metalaxyl and Aliett, may help control the disease