推动美国标志性树种栗树的恢复

Genome-informed breeding and new transformation approaches could improve disease resistance of the American chestnut tree Steven H. Strauss and Gancho T. Slavov The American chestnut tree (Castanea dentata) nearly died off a century ago when the fungal pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica decimated chestnut forests across the eastern United States. The loss had large effects on Indigenous and European settler populations as well as on numerous wild species. Restoration efforts have been nearly as long, pursued by scientists and advocated by rural and urban forest lovers alike. Early attempts focused on traditional hybridization-based breeding methods with disease-resistant Asian chestnuts. Over the past several decades, genetic engineering became a prominent approach to producing blight-resistant trees. …