scholarly journals Intentional introgression of a blight tolerance transgene to rescue the remnant population of American chestnut

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Newhouse ◽  
William A. Powell
Keyword(s):  
American Chestnut ◽  
Remnant Population

Remnant American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) Near the Historical Western Range Limit in Southwestern Tennessee

Castanea ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 232
Author(s):  
Robert G. Laport ◽  
David Smith ◽  
Julienne Ng
Keyword(s):  
Castanea Dentata ◽  
American Chestnut ◽  
Range Limit

Evolution, natural history, and conservation of black-footed ferrets

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean E. Biggins ◽  
David A. Eads
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Captive Breeding ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Selective Pressure ◽  
Canine Distemper ◽  
Prairie Dog ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Diverse Area ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Remnant Population

Black-footed ferrets were reduced to a remnant population of 10 in 1985 due to diseases (plague, canine distemper), but successful captive breeding and releases have improved the prospects for ferret recovery. Comparisons between black-footed ferrets and Siberian polecats, close relatives that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, allow the following evolutionary speculation. Predation on ferrets and polecats tends to narrow their niches and promote specialization due to requirements for escape habitats. In Asia, that influence is countered by the larger and more diverse area of steppe and alpine meadow habitats for polecats, and by plague which causes large variation in prey abundance. In North America, the selective pressure favoring specialization in ferrets on prairie dog prey and burrows had no strong counter-force before plague invaded. Plague is an immense challenge to black-footed ferret recovery, and several management tools including vaccines and vector control may be necessary to conserve the species.

The politics of genetic technoscience for conservation: The case of blight-resistant American chestnut

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110249
Author(s):  
Jessica C Barnes ◽  
Jason A Delborne
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Plant Biotechnology ◽  
American Chestnut ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
Genetics And Genomics

Innovations in genetics and genomics have been heavily critiqued as technologies that have widely supported the privatization and commodification of natural resources. However, emerging applications of these tools to ecological restoration challenge narratives that cast genetic technoscience as inevitably enrolled in the enactment and extension of neoliberal capitalism. In this paper, we draw on Langdon Winner’s theory of technological politics to suggest that the context in which genetic technologies are developed and deployed matters for their political outcomes. We describe how genetic approaches to the restoration of functionally extinct American chestnut trees—by non-profit organizations, for the restoration of a wild, heritage forest species, and with unconventional intellectual property protections—are challenging precedents in the political economy of plant biotechnology. Through participant observation, interviews with scientists, and historical analysis, we employ the theoretical lens provided by Karl Polanyi’s double movement to describe how the anticipations and agency of the developers of blight-resistant American chestnut trees, combined with chestnut biology and the context of restoration, have thus far resisted key forms of the genetic privatization and commodification of chestnut germplasm. Still, the politics of blight-resistant American chestnut remain incomplete and undetermined; we thus call upon scholars to use the uneven and socially constructed character of both technologies and neoliberalism to help shape this and other applications of genetic technoscience for conservation.

scholarly journals Improving Rooting and Shoot Tip Survival of Micropropagated Transgenic American Chestnut Shoots

HortScience ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison D. Oakes ◽  
Tyler Desmarais ◽  
William A. Powell ◽  
Charles A. Maynard
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Activated Charcoal ◽  
Shoot Tips ◽  
American Chestnut ◽  
Gelling Agent ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Oxidase Gene ◽  
Hardwood Trees ◽  
Rooting Medium ◽  
Exotic Pests

Many hardwood tree species are being threatened by exotic pests, and for some, only genetic engineering can offer a solution before functional extinction occurs. An example of how genetic engineering can be a useful tool for forest restoration is the transgenic american chestnuts, which contain a wheat oxalate oxidase gene conferring resistance to the chestnut blight. Many hundreds of these trees are needed for field trials and eventual restoration plantings throughout its natural range, but production is bottlenecked because of the difficulty of making hardwood trees produce roots through micropropagation. The presence of roots and living shoot tips precede successful acclimatization of tissue culture-produced american chestnut plantlets. In these experiments, we attempted to improve the post-rooting stage of our american chestnut propagation protocol. We examined vessel type, hormone, and activated charcoal concentrations, and using a vermiculite substrate. For plantlets with the best combination of roots and living shoot tips we recommend using semisolid post-rooting medium containing 2 g·L−1 activated charcoal and 500 mg humic acid in disposable fast-food takeout containers. When using vermiculite as a substrate, adding 2.0 g·L−1 activated charcoal to post-rooting medium without a gelling agent was the preferred treatment. Improving the survival rates of the american chestnut plantlets will benefit the american chestnut restoration project by providing more plant material for both ecological studies and eventual restoration, since pursuit of a nonregulated status for these transgenic trees will require extensive field testing. These procedures may also be applicable to other difficult-to-root hardwood trees in transgenic programs, such as american butternut, white oak, and black walnut.

scholarly journals Effects of Temporal Dynamics, Nut Weight and Nut Size on Growth of American Chestnut, Chinese Chestnut and Backcross Generations in a Commercial Nursery

Forests ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 1537-1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Pinchot ◽  
Stacy Clark ◽  
Scott Schlarbaum ◽  
Arnold Saxton ◽  
Shi-Jean Sung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
American Chestnut ◽  
Chinese Chestnut

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of American chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.) somatic embryos

2005 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda D. Polin ◽  
Haiying Liang ◽  
Ronald E. Rothrock ◽  
Mutsumi Nishii ◽  
Deborah L. Diehl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Somatic Embryos ◽  
Castanea Dentata ◽  
American Chestnut ◽  
Agrobacterium Mediated Transformation

In vitro germination and transient GFP expression of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) pollen

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 450-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo D. Fernando ◽  
Javonna L. Richards ◽  
Julie R. Kikkert
Keyword(s):  
Castanea Dentata ◽  
American Chestnut ◽  
In Vitro Germination ◽  
Gfp Expression

Continued Growth of American Chestnut

Science ◽  
1929 ◽  
Vol 70 (1822) ◽  
pp. 538-538
Author(s):  
Arthur P. Kelley
Keyword(s):  
American Chestnut
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