College of Forestry

Forest Biotechnology Laboratory

Genetic transformation of hops


With support from USDA, we are working to develop gene-editing and transformation (gene transfer) systems in North American hop varieties to aid breeding for key traits, such as disease resistance, flavor quality, and flowering. Part of this work is to customize regeneration (cell to plant differentiation) for individual high value clones, such as for Cascade as shown below. Of the different cytokinins (shoot-inducing hormones) tested in Cascade, high levels of BAP were most effective at inducing new shoots in tissue culture.

Bar graph and photos: Cascade de novo shoot generation after 8 weeks.