Nut cold hardiness as a factor influencing the restoration of American chestnut in northern latitudes and high elevations

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 849-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Saielli ◽  
Paul G. Schaberg ◽  
Gary J. Hawley ◽  
Joshua M. Halman ◽  
Kendra M. Gurney

American chestnut ( Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.) was functionally removed as a forest tree by chestnut blight (caused by the fungal pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr). Hybrid-backcross breeding between blight-resistant Chinese chestnut ( Castanea mollissima Blume) and American chestnut is used to support species restoration. However, preliminary evidence suggests that backcross material may not have the cold hardiness needed for restoration in the northern portions of the species’ range. The cold tolerance of nuts is of concern because reproductive tissues are particularly sensitive to freezing damage. We assessed nut cold tolerance for 16 American chestnut, four Chinese chestnut, and four red oak ( Quercus rubra L.) (a native competitor) sources to better assess genetic variation in nut hardiness. We found that Chinese chestnut nuts were less cold tolerant than American chestnut and red oak nuts and that American chestnut sources from the south were less cold tolerant than sources from the north, with significant differences among sources within all regions. We also assessed how sources varied among temperature zones (sources separated by average winter temperature lows at source locations). Sources from the cold temperature zone were more cold tolerant and less variable in hardiness than sources from warm and moderate zones.

Plant Disease ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (7) ◽  
pp. 1631-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared W. Westbrook ◽  
Joseph B. James ◽  
Paul H. Sisco ◽  
John Frampton ◽  
Sunny Lucas ◽  
...  

Restoration of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) depends on combining resistance to both the chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) and Phytophthora cinnamomi, which causes Phytophthora root rot, in a diverse population of C. dentata. Over a 14-year period (2004 to 2017), survival and root health of American chestnut backcross seedlings after inoculation with P. cinnamomi were compared among 28 BC3, 66 BC4, and 389 BC3F3families that descended from two BC1trees (Clapper and Graves) with different Chinese chestnut grandparents. The 5% most resistant Graves BC3F3families survived P. cinnamomi infection at rates of 75 to 100% but had mean root health scores that were intermediate between resistant Chinese chestnut and susceptible American chestnut families. Within Graves BC3F3families, seedling survival was greater than survival of Graves BC3and BC4families and was not genetically correlated with chestnut blight canker severity. Only low to intermediate resistance to P. cinnamomi was detected among backcross descendants from the Clapper tree. Results suggest that major-effect resistance alleles were inherited by descendants from the Graves tree, that intercrossing backcross trees enhances progeny resistance to P. cinnamomi, and that alleles for resistance to P. cinnamomi and C. parasitica are not linked. To combine resistance to both C. parasitica and P. cinnamomi, a diverse Graves backcross population will be screened for resistance to P. cinnamomi, survivors bred with trees selected for resistance to C. parasitica, and progeny selected for resistance to both pathogens will be intercrossed.


HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 1004B-1004
Author(s):  
Matthew Chappell ◽  
Carol Robacker

While the recommended time to prune abelia is before spring growth initiates, the actual pruning time is often variable and dependent upon labor and plant appearance. As abelia suffers from freeze damage north of zone 8A, pruning may have an impact on the level of freeze damage. Six Abelia genotypes were established in replicated field plots in Griffin, Ga., in 1999. On 3–4 July 2003, half the individuals of each genotype were severely pruned (75% of growth removed). Subsequently, 80 uniform-sized stem tips were randomly collected from plants of each genotype–treatment combination once per month from Oct. 2003 through Apr. 2004. Stem sections were exposed to predetermined temperatures ranging from –3 °C to –27 °C in a temperature bath. The number of stem sections killed in each of two replications out of four possible stem sections was recorded (0 = none dead; 4 = all dead). Data were analyzed with SAS using the Genmod procedure to acquire seasonal results as well as with PROC GLM and means separation to acquire monthly results. Using the Genmod procedure, all genotypes with the exception of `Canyon Creek' were significantly more cold tolerant in unpruned compared to pruned treatments. In this study, Dec. 2003 was the first month with temperatures below freezing at the test site. Proc GLM analysis indicated a significant difference between the pruned and unpruned treatments in Dec. 2003–Feb. 2004. Results of the Proc GLM analysis for the months of Oct. and Nov. 2003 as well as Mar. and Apr. 2004 were nonsignificant (P < 0.05) due to an absence of cold acclimation. These results indicate that mid-season pruning of Abelia genotypes can significantly reduce cold hardiness and lead to serious stem dieback in pruned plants.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 197-200
Author(s):  
Matthew Chappell ◽  
Carol Robacker ◽  
Orville Lindstrom

Abstract North of USDA hardiness zone 7B, abelia suffers from freeze damage. Cultural factors may impact abelia's level of cold hardiness. To determine whether mid-season pruning affects the level of freeze damage, six abelia genotypes were tested in Griffin, GA. Plants were established in replicated field plots in 2001 and on July 3–4, 2003, half the individuals of each genotype were severely pruned. Laboratory freeze tests were conducted monthly on pruned and unpruned plants of each genotype from October 2003 to April 2004. Over the winter, all genotypes with exception of ‘Canyon Creek’ were significantly more cold tolerant in unpruned compared to pruned treatments. Analysis of each month independently revealed a significant difference among genotype-pruning treatment combinations from December 2003 to February 2004. Results for October and November 2003 and March and April 2004 were not significant due to an absence of cold hardiness. These results indicate that mid-season pruning of abelia may significantly reduce cold hardiness and lead to serious stem dieback in pruned plants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Gao ◽  
Tongxin Dou ◽  
Weidi He ◽  
Ou Sheng ◽  
Fangcheng Bi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Banana is a tropical fruit with a high economic impact worldwide. Cold stress greatly affects the development and production of banana. Results In the present study, we investigated the functions of MaMAPK3 and MaICE1 involved in cold tolerance of banana. The effect of RNAi of MaMAPK3 on Dajiao (Musa spp. ‘Dajiao’; ABB Group) cold tolerance was evaluated. The leaves of the MaMAPK3 RNAi transgenic plants showed wilting and severe necrotic symptoms, while the wide-type (WT) plants remained normal after cold exposure. RNAi of MaMAPK3 significantly changed the expressions of the cold-responsive genes, and the oxidoreductase activity was significantly changed in WT plants, while no changes in transgenic plants were observed. MaICE1 interacted with MaMAPK3, and the expression level of MaICE1 was significantly decreased in MaMAPK3 RNAi transgenic plants. Over-expression of MaICE1 in Cavendish banana (Musa spp. AAA group) indicated that the cold resistance of transgenic plants was superior to that of the WT plants. The POD P7 gene was significantly up-regulated in MaICE1-overexpressing transgenic plants compared with WT plants, and the POD P7 was proved to interact with MaICE1. Conclusions Taken together, our work provided new and solid evidence that MaMAPK3-MaICE1-MaPOD P7 pathway positively improved the cold tolerance in monocotyledon banana, shedding light on molecular breeding for the cold-tolerant banana or other agricultural species.


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

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changbing Huang ◽  
Chun Jiang ◽  
limin Jin ◽  
Huanchao Zhang

Abstract Background:Hemerocallis fulva is a perennial herb belonging to Hemerocallis of Hemerocallis. Because of the large and bright colors, it is often used as a garden ornamental plant. But most varieties of H. fulva on the market will wither in winter, which will affect their beauty. It is very important to study the effect of low temperature stress on the physiological indexes of H. fulva and understand the cold tolerance of different H. fulva. MiRNA is a kind of endogenous non coding small molecular RNA with length of 21-24nt. It mainly inhibits protein translation by cutting target genes, and plays an important role in the development of organisms, gene expression and biological stress. Low temperature is the main abiotic stress affecting the production of H. fulva in China, which hinders the growth and development of plants. A comprehensive understanding of the expression pattern of microRNA in H. fulva under low temperature stress can improve our understanding of microRNA mediated stress response. Although there are many studies on miRNAs of various plants under cold stress at home and abroad, there are few studies on miRNAs related to cold stress of H. fulva. It is of great significance to explore the cold stress resistant gene resources of H. fulva, especially the identification and functional research of miRNA closely related to cold stress, for the breeding of excellent H. fulva.Results A total of 5619 cold-responsive miRNAs, 315 putative novel and 5 304 conserved miRNAs, were identified from the leaves and roots of two different varieties ‘Jinyan’ (cold-tolerant) and ‘Lucretius ’ (cold-sensitive), which were stressed under -4 oC for 24 h. Twelve conserved and three novel miRNAs (novel-miR10, novel-miR19 and novel-miR48) were differentially expressed in leaves of ‘Jinyan’ under cold stress. Novel-miR19, novel-miR29 and novel-miR30 were up-regulated in roots of ‘Jinyan’ under cold stress. Thirteen and two conserved miRNAs were deferentially expressed in leaves and roots of ‘Lucretius’ after cold stress. The deferentially expressed miRNAs between two cultivars under cold stress include novel miRNAs and the members of the miR156, miR166 and miR319 families. A total of 6 598 target genes for 6 516 known miRNAs and 82 novel miRNAs were predicted by bioinformatic analysis, mainly involved in metabolic processes and stress responses. Ten differentially expressed miRNAs and predicted target genes were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR(q-PCR), and the expressional changes of target genes were negatively correlated to differentially expressed miRNAs. Our data indicated that some candidate miRNAs (e.g., miR156a-3-p, miR319a, and novel-miR19) may play important roles in plant response to cold stress.Conclusions Our study indicates that some putative target genes and miRNA mediated metabolic processes and stress responses are significant to cold tolerance in H. fulva.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlene N. Kelly ◽  
Geoffrey W. Schwaner ◽  
Jonathan R. Cumming ◽  
Timothy P. Driscoll

AbstractThe soil microbiome plays an essential role in processing and storage of nitrogen (N) and carbon (C), and is influenced by vegetation above-ground through imparted differences in chemistry, structure, mass of plant litter, root physiology, and dominant mycorrhizal associations. We used shotgun metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatic analysis to quantify the abundance and distribution of gene families involved in soil microbial N and C cycling beneath three deciduous hardwood tree species: ectomycorrhizal (ECM)-associated Quercus rubra (red oak), ECM-associated Castanea dentata (American chestnut), and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM)-associated Prunus serotina (black cherry). Chestnut exhibited the most distinct soil microbiome of the three species, both functionally and taxonomically, with a general suppression of functional genes in the nitrification, denitrification, and nitrate reduction pathways. These changes were related to low inorganic N availability in chestnut stands as soil was modified by poor, low-N litter quality relative to red oak and black cherry soils.IMPORTANCEPrevious studies have used field biogeochemical process rates, isotopic tracing, and targeted gene abundance measurements to study the influence of tree species on ecosystem N and C dynamics. However, these approaches do not enable a comprehensive systems-level understanding of the relationship between microbial diversity and metabolism of N and C below-ground. We analyzed microbial metagenomes from soils beneath red oak, American chestnut, and black cherry stands and showed that tree species can mediate the abundance of key microbial genes involved in N and (to a lesser extent) C metabolism pathways in soil. Our results highlight the genetic framework underlying tree species’ control over soil microbial communities, and below-ground C and N metabolism, and may enable land managers to select tree species to maximize C and N storage in soils.


2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Pereira da Cruz ◽  
Sandra Cristina Kothe Milach ◽  
Luiz Carlos Federizzi

Cold tolerance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) during the reproductive stage is important to guarantee high yield under low temperature environments. Field selection, however, does not allow identification of adequate tolerance sources and limits selection of segregating lines due to variable temperature. The objective of this study was to devise methods for distinguishing rice genotypes as to their cold tolerance at the reproductive stage when evaluated under controlled temperature. The effect of cold temperatures was investigated in six rice genotypes at 17°C for varying length of time (three, five, seven and ten days) at two reproductive stages (microsporogenesis and anthesis). Cold tolerance was measured as the percentage of reduction in panicle exsertion and in spikelet fertility. Evaluating cold tolerance through the reduction in panicle exsertion did not allow for the distinction between cold tolerant from cold sensitive genotypes and, when the reduction in spikelet fertility was considered, a minimum of seven days was required to differentiate the genotypes for cold tolerance. Genotypes were more sensitive to cold at anthesis than at microsporogenesis and, as these stages were highly correlated, cold screening could be performed at anthesis only, since it is easier to determine. Rice cold tolerance at the reproductive stage may be characterized by the reduction in spikelet fertility due to cold temperature (17°C) applied for seven days at anthesis.


2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-282
Author(s):  
S. Sharma ◽  
H. Chaudhary

Seventy-eight doubled haploid (DH) lines, derived from 21 elite and diverse winter × spring wheat F 1 hybrids, following the wheat × maize system, were screened along with the parental genotypes under in vitro and in vivo conditions for cold tolerance. Under in vitro conditions, the 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) test was used to characterize the genotypes for cold tolerance. Based on the TTC test, only one doubled haploid, DH 69, was characterized as cold-tolerant, seven DH and five winter wheat parents were moderately tolerant, while the rest were susceptible. Analysis of variance under in vivo conditions also indicated the presence of sufficient genetic variability among the genotypes (DH lines + parents) for all the yield-contributing traits under study. The correlation and path analysis studies underlined the importance of indirect selection for tillers per plant, harvest index and grains per spike in order to improve grain yield. It was also concluded that selection should not be practised for grain weight per spike as it would adversely affect the grain yield per plant. When comparing the field performance of the genotypes with the in vitro screening parameters, it was concluded that in addition to the TTC test, comprising a single parameter, other physiological and biochemical in vitro parameters should be identified, which clearly distinguish between cold-tolerant and susceptible genotypes and also correlate well with their performance under field conditions.


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