Brewer's Gold Research Articles

Vegetative propagation of hops (Humulus lupulus), effect of biostimulants, size and position of cuttings

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of different cutting lengths, the use of biostimulants and diameter of cuttings on hops vegetative propagation. The work was conducted in a greenhouse at the Center for Agricultural Sciences (CCA) at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in Florianópolis/SC, Brazil, between October 2019 and January 2021. In experiment 1, cuttings with one, two and three buds were tested, with and without application of biostimulant SprintAlga TS® (Biolchim) in Brewer's Gold and Cascade cultivars. In experiment 2, cuttings with diameter of 1.5 cm, 2.5 cm and 3.5 cm were tested for Northern Brewer cultivar. In both experiments, survival, rooting, root length, root quality, number of shoots and shoot length were evaluated. In experiment 1, Cascade had lower survival, rooting and development compared to Brewer's Gold. The use of biostimulant increased survival and rooting rates of both cultivars. For Brewer's Gold the use of biostimulant improved root quality and increased shoot number, root and shoot length. For Brewer's Gold, 3-bud cuttings improved root quality and increased number of shoots. For Cascade, 1-bud cuttings showed the highest survival, rooting and development rates. In experiment 2, the highest rates of survival, rooting and the longest root length were obtained with 1.5 cm diameter cuttings. Larger diameter cuttings (2.5 and 3.5 cm) produced fewer shoots, but longer shoots.

INTRODUCTION, HYDROPONIC GROWING POSSIBILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF SOME HOP VARIETIES IN THE ARARAT VALLEY

World hop acreages and production have decreased lately. In contrast, brewing has increased. During 2002 to 2006, in Armenia, beer production increased by 4 times. Under these conditions, having sufficient local raw material for the production of beer has become more difficult. The Institute of Hydroponics Problems NAS RA (IHP) has been growing hops under soil-less conditions since 2003. Previous studies of hydroponic cultivation of Armenian wild hops suggested that cultivated hops production may be successful by applying this technique. We obtained hop varieties Humulus lupulus cv. 'Chinook', 'Crystal', 'Galena', 'Nugget', 'Newport', and 'Hallertauer mittelfruher' rhizomes from the United States Genebank in Corvallis, and 'Brewer's Gold' and 'Northern Brewer' from the German Genebank. They were planted and propagated in the IHP hydroponic station, and placed under soil-less growing conditions. Productivity and α-acid, essential oil and tannins content of the raw hydroponic and soil material were studied. The α-acid was determined by spectrophotometry and essential oils by steam distillation. From 2005 to 2007 'Hallertauer mittelfruher' and 'Northern Brewer' were not established in the Ararat Valley and had a very low productivity in both hydroponic and soil cultures. The remaining cultivars were high yielding in soil-less culture, and exceeded the soil culture on average 1.7 to 2.5 times. 'Brewer's Gold' and 'Crystal' were the exceptions where cone yield was extremely low in soil conditions. We determined that 'Chinook', 'Crystal', 'Galena', 'Nugget', 'Newport' and 'Brewer's Gold' could be recommended for the local hop soil-less production in Armenia to satisfy the national brewing demands.

Genic SSRs for European and North American hop (Humulus lupulus L.)

Eight genic SSR loci were evaluated for genetic diversity assessment and genotype identification in Humulus lupulus L. from Europe and North America. Genetic diversity, as measured by three diversity indices, was significantly lower in European cultivars than in North American wild accessions. Neighbor Joining cluster analysis separated the hop genotypes into European and North American groups. These eight SSRs were useful in uniquely identifying each accession with the exception of two sets of European landraces and a pair of Japanese cultivars, ‘Shinshuwase’ and ‘Kirin II’. An accession from Manitoba grouped with the European (EU) cluster reflecting the group’s genetic similarity to older Manitoba germplasm used to develop ‘Brewer's Gold’ and the gene pool arising from this cultivar. Cultivars grouped closely with one of their immediate parents. ‘Perle’ grouped with its parent ‘Northern Brewer and ‘Willamette’ grouped with its parent ‘Fuggle H’. Wild American accessions were divided into two subgroups: a North Central group containing mostly H. lupulus var. lupuloides and a Southwestern group containing H. lupulus var. neomexicanus accessions. These eight SSRs will be valuable for genotype identification in European and wild American germplasm and may potentially prove useful for marker-assisted selection in hop. PCR products from four previously reported primer pairs that amplify the same intronic SSR regions as do the genic SSRs in this study were compared in eight common cultivars. Different primer pairs generated robust markers at the chs2 and chi loci. However, only the HLC-004B and HLC-006 primer pairs amplified successfully at the chs3 and chs4 loci.

First Report of Hop Powdery Mildew in the Pacific Northwest.

Hop powdery mildew (HPM) was first observed in commercial hop (Humulus lupulus L.) fields in Washington State on 10 June 1997 near Toppenish in the Yakima Valley. The disease appeared throughout the valley in 1997; by mid-July, scattered fields throughout the Yakima growing area reported HPM. Approximately 2,000 of 30,000 acres in production were not harvested in 1997 due to HPM. The pathogen apparently perennated in buds, and flagshoots originating from infected buds were observed during March and April 1998 at various locations throughout the Yakima Valley. During the 1999 growing season, the majority of hop acreage in Washington State was affected, and most fields planted to susceptible cultivars contained at least one infected plant. HPM was initially discovered in southern Idaho during early July 1998, in two adjacent fields of hops in Canyon County. HPM was found ≈644 km (400 miles) north in another hop-growing region of Idaho, Boundary County, during mid-July 1998. HPM eventually was observed in more than 20 Idaho hop fields. The initial discovery of HPM in Oregon's Willamette Valley was made during late-July 1998, in two neighboring hop fields. By the end of the growing season, HPM was observed in nine commercial fields representing 3.7% of the hop production acreage in Oregon. Affected cultivars include Brewer's Gold, Chinook, Cluster, Columbus/Tomahawk, Eroica, Fuggle, Galena, Golding, Liberty, Olympic, Perle, Symphony, Tettnanger, Willamette, and Zeus. Infected basal leaves of bines had small whitish circular spots on adaxial surfaces. In some cases, blisters preceded direct observation of the fungus. Cones also were infected, appearing stunted and malformed. The pathogen usually was visible on infected cones but sometimes was found only under overlapping bracts. Cleistothecia have not been observed in the field to date. Conidia were transferred to leaf disks (12 mm diameter) excised from greenhouse-grown cv. Galena hop plants. Inoculated leaf disks were incubated on moistened filter paper in glass petri dishes at 20°C with illumination provided for a 12 h day by two cool-white fluorescent bulbs. HPM lesions with chains of unicellular, barrel-shaped conidia (30 to 36 × 15 to 18 μm) were visible within 7 days. The causal agent was identified as Sphaerotheca macularis (Wallr.:Fr.) Lind (synonym S. humuli (DC.) Burrill) on the basis of conidial shape and size as well as host range (1). Reference: (1) D. J. Royle. 1978. Powdery mildew of the hop. Pages 381-409 in: The Powdery Mildews. D. M. Spencer, ed. Academic Press, New York.

Plant regeneration from stem and petiole-derived callus ofHumulus lupulus L. (hop) clone Bragança and var. Brewer’s Gold

Plant regeneration was achieved from both a spontaneous clone (Braganca) and Brewer's Gold variety ofHumulus lupulus. The results obtained for these two different genotypes were compared. The organogenic ability of petiole and stem segments was tested on three different basal media supplemented with 0.025 mg (0.14 μM) indole-3-acetic acid/L and 2 mg (8.87 μM) 6-benzylaminopurine (N6-benzyladenine)/L. These conditions induced rather heterogeneous responses, which depended mainly on the explant source and the genotype. Because of the high organogenic competence revealed by the spontaneous clone on modified Murashige and Skoog medium, several hormones in different combinations were tested to optimize conditions for adventitious shoot regeneration in this clone. The best relation between the average shoot number/callus and the regeneration rate was achieved with 0.025 mg (0.14 μM) indole-3-acetic acid/L and 2 mg (8.87 μM) 6-benzylaminopurine/L or with 0.02 mg (0.11 μM) indole-3-acetic acid/L and 1.5 mg (6.97 μM) kinetin/L, which enabled 72 and 59% of regeneration, respectively. The regenerated plantlets could be acclimatized with 90% success.

A comparison of alteration assemblages associated with Archean gold deposits in Western Australia and Paleozoic gold deposits in the southeast United States: Reply

A comparison of high-alumina mineral assemblages spatially associated with the Haile and Brewer gold deposits in the Paleozoic Carolina slate belt (CSB) of the southeast United States and the Sons ...

A comparison of alteration assemblages associated with Archean gold deposits in Western Australia and Paleozoic gold deposits in the southeast United States

A comparison of high-alumina mineral assemblages spatially associated with the Haile and Brewer gold deposits in the Paleozoic Carolina slate belt (CSB) of the southeast United States and the Sons of Gwalia and Mount Celia gold deposits in the Archean Norseman–Wiluna greenstone belt (NWGB) in Western Australia suggests a similar hydrothermal origin and subsequent metamorphic and deformational history. A common hydrothermal origin is supported by the striking similarity in whole-rock chemistry, even though there were probably significant variations in original unaltered protoliths. An analysis of rocks from each of the deposits that contain high-alumina minerals demonstrates that the protoliths were leached of alkalis with respect to aluminum and have a ratio of Al2O3/Na2O + CaO + K2O greater than three. Although the rocks contain abundant high-alumina minerals, the aluminum content in these rocks is not unusually high, and it does not appear that there has been any significant transport of aluminum either into or out of the rocks that were altered.The most common high-alumina minerals found in rocks affected by the feldspar destructive alteration event include andalusite, kyanite, pyrophyllite, kaolinite, and sericite. Other minerals present in variable amounts include diaspore, chloritoid, alunite, natroalunite, paragonite, and topaz. It is possible that some of these minerals formed during the early hydrothermal alteration event and were recrystallized during metamorphism. Regardless of when the high-alumina minerals formed, textural relations suggest that the rocks had been hydrothermally altered by the time the metamorphic minerals formed. A comparison of alteration from the deposits studied in the CSB and the NWGB suggests there are many similarities to acid-sulfate alteration associated with geothermal areas, such as Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, and with acid-sulfate gold deposits, such as Goldfield, Nevada. Thus, it is possible that the protolith of the metamorphosed rocks in the CSB and NWGB contained an alteration assemblage that included alunite, pyrophyllite, and kaolinite.A generalized paragenetic sequence determined from petrographic and field observations, beginning with regional metamorphism, follows: (i) formation of andalusite, kyanite, chloritoid, and topaz during prograde metamorphism, depending on whole rock chemistry, (ii) formation of pyrophyllite and quartz-rich pods during silicification of aluminosilicate-bearing rocks, (iii) bedding parallel schistosity and fracturing produced by a deformational event, (iv) fractures filled by quartz, sericite, pyrophyllite, or calcite, (v) folding of early layering in the rocks to form a crenulation cleavage accompanied by introduction of quartz veins at high angles to foliation; and (vi) retrograde metamorphism of andalusite–kyanite-pyrophyllite to produce an assemblage of kaolinite ± diaspore.The spatial association of the acid-sulfate alteration with gold mineralization, together with comparison of analogous alteration associated with younger unmetamorphosed acid-sulfate gold deposits, suggests that at least some of the gold was introduced during the early premetamorphic alteration event. The present location of gold in each deposit is a result of local changes brought about by later metamorphic and deformational events.

Glandular trichomes of Humulus lupulus var. Brewer's Gold: Ontogeny and histochemical characterization of the secretion

Leaves of Humulus lupulus possess two types of glandular trichomes: ‐ peltate (lupulin) and bulbous.Peltate trichomes are formed from a protodermal cell by two anticlinal divisions in perpendicular planes, followed by two periclinal ones that give rise to the initials of the head cells, the basal and the stalk cells. Head cells divide successively in radial and irregular planes. Fully developed peltate trichomes are built of a glandular head consisting of 30 to 72 cells, four stalk cells and four basal cells.Bulbous trichomes are also formed from a protodermal cell by an anticlinal division followed by two periclinal ones that produce the initials of the glandular head cells, and the basal and stalk cells. Fully developed bulbous trichomes consist of four (occasionally eight) head glandular cells, two stalk cells and two basal cells.The density of peltate trichomes decreases with the expansion of the leaves.Both peltate and bulbous trichomes secrete essential oils. Peltate trichomes are the preferential site for the synthesis of bitter resins. Tannic acids could not be detected histochemically either in peltate or in bulbous trichomes. Both types of trichomes produce secretion that accumulates in the subcuticular space, being released, in the case of bulbous trichomes, by rupture of the cuticle.

Hop Yield Stimulation by Triploid Males Under Field Conditions1

Triploid male hops (Humulus lupulus L.) have the potential for yield stimulation of diploid female cultivars without excessive production of unwanted seeds, as shown from earlier hand‐pollination experiments during the 1972 and 1973 growing seasons. However, confirmation of these data from commercial field testing of triploid pollinators was still needed before specific pollinators could be recommended to growers.Twelve triploid male hop genotypes were field‐tested or cone yield stimulation in a commercial seedless‐hop production area. Cone yields of a 6.8 ha field of ‘Brewer's Gold,’ a diploid cultivar, pollinated by triploid males averaged 30% higher than those of an untreated 12 ha control field nearby. The α‐acid content in the cones from the two fields did not differ significantly. However, production of α‐acid, which is the desired product, was substantially higher for the field pollinated by triploid males due to higher cone yields. Seed‐set due to triploid males averaged 4% compared to the 2% background seed‐set of the control. Females in the immediate vicinity of triploid pollinators showed substantial cone‐size and weight stimulation. There were significant differences in seed production of Brewer's Gold plants fertilized by different triploid pollinators, reflecting variation in synchronization of flowering with Brewer's Gold, as well as differences in amount of pollen production among males. Seeds from the triploid‐pollination treatment averaged about half the weight of seeds from the control yard. In another experiment, seeds from hand‐pollination of diploids with triploid males contained about 25% fewer lipids and 14% less crude protein than those from pollination by diploid males involving the same female test plant.Commercial use of triploid pollinators in seedless‐hop production areas would probably result in a seed content of 2 to 3% and a cone‐yield increase of 15 to 25%, accompanied by a corresponding increase in α‐acid production per ha. Eight triploid males were identified as suitable Brewer's Gold pollinators under Oregon conditions.