Chestnut trees

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I hope their info is correct.I have worked with the American Chestnut Foundation planting several acres of 15/16 true American Chestnut and have been quoted that the cross cost almost $250 per seedling by the time they are planted. There were several trees across the east that the blight did not bother. But its been almost 100 years and there is no quick answer. Like the chinese chestnut the worms get into the nut if not sprayed and well taken care of.
 
I hope their info is correct.I have worked with the American Chestnut Foundation planting several acres of 15/16 true American Chestnut and have been quoted that the cross cost almost $250 per seedling by the time they are planted. There were several trees across the east that the blight did not bother. But its been almost 100 years and there is no quick answer. Like the chinese chestnut the worms get into the nut if not sprayed and well taken care of.
I know that this is a 7 year old thread, but @kenny thomas what are your thoughts on this and how long do you think it will be before we can reintroduce them in our area?

 
TN Forestry had a Hybrid Chestnut on their available on their seedling order form for 2021, haven't looked at this year's options yet. The website did not specify the percentages of American / Chinese. Wonder if it would do well and grow upright like the pix we have seen of the original American chestnuts?
 
Contact the American Chestnut Foundation. They have some this 15/16 or greater the original Chestnut. I'm betting the price is much better now. What I quoted is the government price. Lol
 
I hope their info is correct.I have worked with the American Chestnut Foundation planting several acres of 15/16 true American Chestnut and have been quoted that the cross cost almost $250 per seedling by the time they are planted. There were several trees across the east that the blight did not bother. But its been almost 100 years and there is no quick answer. Like the chinese chestnut the worms get into the nut if not sprayed and well taken care of.
You may not have seen this article. https://modernfarmer.com/2021/12/the-great-american-chestnut-tree-revival/

This is the first place that I see someone announcing that the TACF hybrid program did not work, and why it will not work!!! This holds true for any of the hybrid trees. The blight resistance in a hybrid tree is directly proportional to the % of Chinese genes.


""One method utilized by the American Chestnut Foundation is known as backcross breeding. For this method, scientists select and move desirable characteristics from one variety to another. The goal is to isolate the blight-resistance genes from another species and incorporate them into the genetic makeup for American chestnut trees. Leila Pinchot, a research ecologist for the US Forest Service who specializes in reintroducing chestnut trees into the forest, explains backcross breeding as an "approach to incorporate the genes for resistance from Chinese chestnut with the American Chestnut because what we want is a tree that looks and acts American."
Pinchot explains that this method, as shown by geneticist Jared Westbrook's research for the American Chestnut Foundation, turned out to not be the solution in the case of the chestnut tree. The goal of backcross breeding is to isolate two or three genes, but in the case of the chestnut, "there are so many genes for resistance in the Chinese chestnut, that it's just not feasible to combine those with the American chestnut and produce a tree that's mostly American, but still incorporates the genes for resistance from Chinese," says Pinchot.""
 
I know that this is a 7 year old thread, but @kenny thomas what are your thoughts on this and how long do you think it will be before we can reintroduce them in our area?


You may not have seen this article. https://modernfarmer.com/2021/12/the-great-american-chestnut-tree-revival/

This is the first place that I see someone announcing that the TACF hybrid program did not work, and why it will not work!!! This holds true for any of the hybrid trees. The blight resistance in a hybrid tree is directly proportional to the % of Chinese genes.


""One method utilized by the American Chestnut Foundation is known as backcross breeding. For this method, scientists select and move desirable characteristics from one variety to another. The goal is to isolate the blight-resistance genes from another species and incorporate them into the genetic makeup for American chestnut trees. Leila Pinchot, a research ecologist for the US Forest Service who specializes in reintroducing chestnut trees into the forest, explains backcross breeding as an "approach to incorporate the genes for resistance from Chinese chestnut with the American Chestnut because what we want is a tree that looks and acts American."
Pinchot explains that this method, as shown by geneticist Jared Westbrook's research for the American Chestnut Foundation, turned out to not be the solution in the case of the chestnut tree. The goal of backcross breeding is to isolate two or three genes, but in the case of the chestnut, "there are so many genes for resistance in the Chinese chestnut, that it's just not feasible to combine those with the American chestnut and produce a tree that's mostly American, but still incorporates the genes for resistance from Chinese," says Pinchot.""
 
We still have some chestnut trees around here. They are shoots that come up from some of the original stumps, but die off after 4-5 years. I think this is what perpetuates the blight. NY State has some old growth Chestnut stands whose location are a closely guarded secret and used for some of the hybrid breeding programs.
 
You may not have seen this article. https://modernfarmer.com/2021/12/the-great-american-chestnut-tree-revival/

This is the first place that I see someone announcing that the TACF hybrid program did not work, and why it will not work!!! This holds true for any of the hybrid trees. The blight resistance in a hybrid tree is directly proportional to the % of Chinese genes.


""One method utilized by the American Chestnut Foundation is known as backcross breeding. For this method, scientists select and move desirable characteristics from one variety to another. The goal is to isolate the blight-resistance genes from another species and incorporate them into the genetic makeup for American chestnut trees. Leila Pinchot, a research ecologist for the US Forest Service who specializes in reintroducing chestnut trees into the forest, explains backcross breeding as an "approach to incorporate the genes for resistance from Chinese chestnut with the American Chestnut because what we want is a tree that looks and acts American."
Pinchot explains that this method, as shown by geneticist Jared Westbrook's research for the American Chestnut Foundation, turned out to not be the solution in the case of the chestnut tree. The goal of backcross breeding is to isolate two or three genes, but in the case of the chestnut, "there are so many genes for resistance in the Chinese chestnut, that it's just not feasible to combine those with the American chestnut and produce a tree that's mostly American, but still incorporates the genes for resistance from Chinese," says Pinchot.""
Very good article.
 
We still have some chestnut trees around here. They are shoots that come up from some of the original stumps, but die off after 4-5 years. I think this is what perpetuates the blight. NY State has some old growth Chestnut stands whose location are a closely guarded secret and used for some of the hybrid breeding programs.
The blight is a fungus that lives in dead tissue, and will never go away, but there will be more spores where there are chestnut resprouts for the fungus to feed on. There are no known "stands" of trees anyplace within the native range that escaped the blight, or no known individual tree. If any tree escaped the blight it would be 100+ years older than when the blight killed the other trees, and therefor very large. The blight tolerant tree we have developed here in NY is not a hybrid, but a transgenic tree we added just one wheat gene to. See American Chestnut Research nd Restoration Project. https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/
 
When I was looking at the Chestnut Foundation website, they were asking for people to tell them if they were aware of trees in the wild so that they could collect the pollen. I also learned that you can't just plant one tree and expect it to thrive. You need to have at least two.
 
After losing a lot of ash in the last few years its time the US takes biosecurity seriously. So much has been lost. And we here nothing about these encironmental problems just carbon carbon carbon.
 
When I was looking at the Chestnut Foundation website, they were asking for people to tell them if they were aware of trees in the wild so that they could collect the pollen. I also learned that you can't just plant one tree and expect it to thrive. You need to have at least two.
A tree will actually survive best isolated from other trees, as it is less likely to get the blight. BUT they are not self pollinating so you need two trees to get fertile nuts. The problem with TACF's hybrid program they were working on is that as as soon as you cross one of their hybrid trees with a pure American chestnut the resultant nuts/seedling only get 1/2 of the Chinese genes for blight resistance. The hybrid program was s loosing battle, as there are genes for blight resistance on all 12 of the Chinese chromosomes. Therefor it is impossible to get a tree that is mostly American for restoration, and still have enough of the Chinese blight resistance genes... Can't have their cake and eat it too ,,,Just will not work.
 
Likely all of you know that the blight has adapted to live in butternuts and it has also begun to kill them when they are less than 12" in diameter.
 
A tree will actually survive best isolated from other trees, as it is less likely to get the blight. BUT they are not self pollinating so you need two trees to get fertile nuts. The problem with TACF's hybrid program they were working on is that as as soon as you cross one of their hybrid trees with a pure American chestnut the resultant nuts/seedling only get 1/2 of the Chinese genes for blight resistance. The hybrid program was s loosing battle, as there are genes for blight resistance on all 12 of the Chinese chromosomes. Therefor it is impossible to get a tree that is mostly American for restoration, and still have enough of the Chinese blight resistance genes... Can't have their cake and eat it too ,,,Just will not work.
I am not arguing, just curious, can they not do gene modification as they have done with corn and soybeans?
 

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