1/26/2024 0 Comments Blight resistant chestnut![]() The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) has 16 volunteer-run chapters ranging from Maine to Alabama. To financially support the research and development of American chestnut hybrids with improved blight resistance you can join our Seed Level Membership program and receive seeds from our most blight-resistant selections. We continue to improve blight resistance in our breeding program by inter-breeding the most resistant trees within each generation and selecting the most blight-resistant progeny. to determine if these hybrids have sufficient blight resistance and competitive ability for restoration in eastern forests. We have planted selected hybrids in over 40 restoration trials in the eastern U.S. Selected hybrids have inherited between 60% and 90% of their genome from American chestnut and exhibit blight resistance on spectrum that is intermediate between American chestnut and Chinese chestnut. We have recently incorporated genomics to accelerate selection of the most blight-resistant trees ( learn more here). After nearly 30 years and three generations of breeding, we have nearly completed selection of the most blight-resistant chestnut hybrids in two seed orchards from our flagship breeding program in Meadowview, Virginia. Our strategy is to backcross Chinese chestnut × American chestnut hybrids to American chestnut over one or more generations to dilute out genes from Chinese chestnut except those that confer blight resistance. We use traditional breeding to generate hybrids that combine the blight resistance of Chinese chestnut with the timber-type form of American chestnut.
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