However, a coterie of anti-biotech activists organized as The Campaign to STOP GE Trees are opposing the petition to the USDA. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to give their blight-resistant American chestnut "nonregulated status" which would allow the blight-tolerant bioengineered trees to be planted without restriction as part of restoration programs. Now the ACF and ESF researchers are officially petitioning the U.S. It works the added gene does indeed protect American chestnuts from the blight. To that end, the researchers have added a gene from wheat that produces the enzyme oxalate oxidase that breaks down the oxalic acid the fungus uses to attack chestnut trees. More recently, the ACF has been collaborating with researchers at the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) to use modern biotechnology to endow American chestnut trees with blight resistance. The goal is to produce an American chestnut tree that retains essentially only the blight resistance genes from the Chinese chestnut tree. The American chestnut is now almost entirely gone from the landscape except for a few stumps in the woods that still produce shoots that the blight kills before they reach 15 feet in height.įor more than 30 years, the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF) has been engaged in a privately financed program in which its geneticists have been crossbreeding American chestnuts with blight-resistant Chinese chestnuts. American trees had simply never evolved resistance to this parasite. The blight fungus was probably brought to America on imported nursery stock of Chinese chestnuts. Then came the Asian chestnut blight in the early 20th century that killed over 3 billion American chestnuts basically causing the tree to become functionally extinct throughout its natural range. The fast-growing American chestnuts often reached five feet in diameter and 60–100 feet in height. Foresters used to quip that an enterprising squirrel could travel from Maine to Georgia on the interlocking branches of chestnut trees. So, think of chestnuts as an investment in your kids or grandkids future, while making your yard a more environmentally-friendly place.The American chestnut was once the dominant hardwood species in Appalachian mountain forests, comprising as much as 40 percent of the overstory trees in the climax forests of the Eastern United States. Under ideal conditions they may take up to 15 years to fully mature. Plant trees 25 feet apart and protect the young trees from mice and rabbits chewing the bark and deer nibbling the tops. Plant chestnut trees on well-drained, moist soil in full sun. They supply food, shelter and homes for a whole host of insects, birds and mammals. While the tree nuts are great for roasting on your open fire and making breads and other baked goods, these trees are fantastic wildlife plants. They start producing nuts in about 5 years and produce best with two different varieties. Hybrid chestnut trees grow into statuesque 30- to 50-foot tall specimens in the landscape. But those trees haven't been approved for sale yet. There's even been genetic engineering work done on American chestnut trees to introduce a gene to thwart the blight. In fact, some of these hybrids, such as 'Dunstan', are available for sale. They've been crossing American chestnuts with the more blight resistant Chinese chestnuts with good success. The American Chestnut Foundation has been working to develop blight resistant hybrids. Unfortunately, the chestnut blight wiped out most of the trees about 100 years ago, but we still can grow versions of the American chestnut in our yards. We all know the famous holiday song, “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” It harkens back to a time when chestnuts grew in abundance in our forests from Georgia to Maine.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |