Making history: Field testing of blight-resistant American chestnut (Castanea dentata) in the Southern Region
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
The American chestnut (Castanea dentata Marsh. Borkh.) was decimated by an exotic fungus (chestnut blight [Cryphonectria parasitica Murr. Bar]) in the early part of the 20th century. The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) uses a back-cross breeding program to produce a tree that is predicted to be American chestnut in character with blight resistance from Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima Blume). Th e first breeding generation produced in TACF's program predicted to have stable blight resistance is referred to as the "BC3F3" and nuts were first available for testing in autumn 2007. Our objective was to examine first-year response in bud break phenology and growth and to determine competitiveness of TACF's American chestnut breeding material, including the putative blight-resistant generation.