User:Lquilter/drafts-userified/Zoe Țapu

Zoe Țapu (April 29, 1934 – February 11, 2013) was a Romanian agronomist, senior researcher at the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (INCDA) in Fundulea, creator of an original variety of durum wheat, high-yielding and resistant, adapted to the climate in Central and Eastern Europe and similar regions of the world. During the 1970s when Țapu was heading the team creating new strains at INCDA, Romania was a major producer and exporter of durum wheat.

Biography
Țapu graduated from the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest, earning the doctoral degree in agronomic sciences in 1974. Since 1957 she worked at the newly-founded Institute for Maize Breeding, and then at the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute, from 1962 to 1990, when she retired.

Scientific achievements
Evidencing the possibility of obtaining high yielding varieties from parents with low productivity (through heterosis), between 1967 and 1989, Zoe Țapu developed a research program for improving winter durum wheat, in order to obtain cultivars with fall resistance and high yield, using height-reduction genes from summer durum developed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico. In order to achieve that, she used dwarf plants from CIMMYT, which survived to a mild winter, back-crossing them with Romanian durum wheat varieties. Repeated selection for cold resistance of semi-dwarf variants led to the creation of the first semi-dwarf winter durum wheat varieties, Topaz (1977) and Rodur (1984). This new type of wheat set the ground for further progress in durum wheat breeding in many countries.

Patented wheat varieties

 * Dacia (1971) T. Mureșan, A. Iazagi, N. Ceapoiu, N. Eustațiu, Clemența Miclea, C. Țapu, Zoe Țapu
 * Excelsior (1971) T. Mureșan, A. Iazagi, N. Ceapoiu, N. Eustațiu, Clemența Miclea, C. Țapu, Zoe Țapu
 * Iulia (1974) N. Ceapoiu, N. Eustațiu, C. Țapu, Zoe Țapu, G. Ittu, M. Ionescu-Cojocaru, Floare Negulescu, T. Mureșan, A. Iazagi, Elena Oproiu, C. Milică
 * Ceres (1974) N. Ceapoiu, N. Eustațiu, C. Țapu, Zoe Țapu, G. Ittu, M. Ionescu-Cojocaru, Floare Negulescu, T. Mureșan, A. Iazagi, Elena Oproiu, C. Milică
 * Ileana (1974) N. Ceapoiu, N. Eustațiu, C. Țapu, Zoe Țapu, G. Ittu, M. Ionescu-Cojocaru, Floare Negulescu, T. Mureșan, A. Iazagi, Elena Oproiu, C. Milică
 * Diana (1976) N. Ceapoiu, N. Eustațiu, C. Țapu, Zoe Țapu, G. Ittu, M. Ionescu-Cojocaru, Floare Negulescu, T. Mureșan, A. Iazagi, Elena Oproiu, C. Milică
 * Doina (1977) N. Ceapoiu, N. Eustațiu, C. Țapu, Zoe Țapu, G. Ittu, M. Ionescu-Cojocaru, Floare Negulescu
 * Topaz (1977) Zoe Țapu
 * Rodur (1984) Zoe Țapu