This research was supported by USDA 1890 Research Capacity Building Grant #00-38814-9539 awarded to Dr. Kirk W. Pomper at Kentucky State University. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Pomper for taking me on both as a research assistant in his program and as a graduate student, and thank both Dr. Pomper and Dr. Robert Geneve, my co-chairs, for their invaluable guidance in the research and writing processes; and Dr. Douglas Archbold, committee member, for his input on this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Jeremy Lowe, Mr. Eric Sherrow, and Ms. Angie Whitehouse of KSU’s pawpaw research program for their assistance in carrying out experiments and data collection in the greenhouse and field.
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