My thread from a couple of years ago refers to a ScienceDaily article about transgenic chestnuts with work being done in Syracuse. Don't you think its likely that your friend's chestnut was a sprout from an old stump?

I agree, that is odd. Grafting would be so much more simple.

As I first started reading I thought it might involve roasting on an open fire...

If the ultimate goal was a sustainable resistant crop (of trees), then pollen was the quicker step to finding resistant seedlings. If the ultimate goal was a saleable crop (of trees), then grafting would be the way to go.

tj

Most of the time in a situation like this, the goal is to introduce or create disease resistance into the species population while keeping all, or at least most, of the species genetics. In other words, the goal would be disease-resistant pure American chestnuts, or, a disease-resistant American chestnuts that are 90% (or whatever) pure. Grafting, while it could be used as a tool to increase supply of research material, would not accomplish this goal.

As TJ said, if nut crop was the main goal, grafting would be the solution, but I don't think that was the goal (sure doesn't sound like it anyway).

I was a little vague. When I said crop above I meant it as a crop of trees as opposed to a crop of nuts. I'll edit it.

tj

I guess I wasn't clear on the grafting. What I meant was to have identical genetic material in case the original tree wound up dead, as in this case. If the tree proved resistant then of course pollen is the way to go. I'm all too familiar with a "one of" that died and the genetics were lost forever.

As far as stump sprouts are concerned,my friend is a professional in his field and I'm sure he can tell a stump sprout from a seedling tree. There are several large trees that I've heard of in this general area that have served as pollen donors. I would hope they were identified as seedlings rather than sprouts. Why use a tree that has been killed by the blight as a pollen donor?

My friend also made the following observations, pretty much also held by his cohorts:

The Dunstan hybrids are more Asian than American, have the growth habit of Asians, are just as susceptible to blight as Americans, and are pretty much worthless.

The 15/16th hybrids are more likely 50/50, have the growth habit of the Asians, but are probably resistant.

Scarlet oak is a reservoir for blight, it doesn't kill the trees, but causes growths at the root collar. That's a new on me.

Personally my friend has nothing against genetically engineering disease resistance, so long as the only genes that are involved are those for blight resistance. He feels that if disease resistance is found, a return to the way the chestnuts were in the past would take a couple hundred years, at least.

Ah, I see what you mean. Yes, grafting would preserve it quickest. Ideally, they should have done both.

tj

In areas were the American chestnut is native, it is given almost mythic status. It combined rapid growth, excellent timber, legendary durability and workability, and excellent nuts, enjoyed by man and beast. For sheer beauty it ranked among the best. Not sure, but in it's heyday it comprised one third of the forest population. It is not native to Wisconsin, but it will grow there. It is native into ME and Ontario.

As far as pollen collection, I heard some trees are pollen trees and some are seed trees. The seed trees have to be accessed to apply the pollen and then protect the fertilized blossoms, so a bucket truck would be a good way of doing that. As far as pollen collection, I'd heard the preferred method was shooting down the blooming branches. The sloppy bulldozer work I blame on the collectors, not the operator, he probably doesn't know any better, the collectors do, or should. The landowner was probably glad to have a free road into his woods lol.

I know of a monster chestnut here in KY IDK how old it is but Id guess 100+ easy. Not sure who to contact about it or getting pollen but it would be a good selection I would say. I love the tree but walking around them and getting a sticker in the foot is not much fun.

A technical climber (or climbers) with botany skills? That's the ticket.

"...a well known entity working on blight resistant chestnuts..."

I hope they weren't responsible for the Chestnut's demise. Now that would be irony!

Too bad they didn't take slips home and graft it into an existing tree they wanted seed from. I'm so far north that there is no blight yet, and there are many isolated trees that can't make filled nuts. If you graft real low, you can cover the union with soil to keep the blight out of it. I suppose they were so pleased to get pollen that they hurried off to use it and didn't come back to check on the tree in time. Too bad. There are 200 year old trees a few hours from my house, but no seednuts, as they are isolated. I have a few twigs in the fridge and a graft from last year, if the mice leave it over winter.