[MassChestnutOrchards] FW: matacf minutes aug. 2009

[Fred Hebard]

Michael,

You merely select the best trees at each site.

Fred

On Aug 23, 2009, at 3:36 PM, Mike or Penny Novack wrote:

>
>>
>>  For example, two of my Lincoln lines are replicated at Hawley. Why
>> shouldn't some of our F2 nuts from these Chelmsford and Topsfield  
>> lines
>> come from crosses in both places involving these lines? The  
>> alternative
>> would be for Lincoln to wait two years for Hawley to catch up. I  
>> really
>> don't see the point.
>>
>>
>>
> Perhaps more to the point, Kendra, why would you necessarily expect  
> the
> same test outcomes under different environmental conditions? By  
> genetics
> the pure Chinese trees at Hawley (elev ~1800', exposed to wind) should
> be more resistant to blight than the F1 controls and the BC3 trees but
> will probably test as highly susceptible. That's because they are
> already stressed to the survival point (I have taken the 2009 status
> measurements but not yet entered all the data -- but I can tell you  
> that
> NONE of the surviving Chinese trees up there are achieving "treehood",
> at most being just smallish bushes and some of them appear to be going
> down to blight. Doesn't mean much if you genes say "seal up the
> infection site quicker" if your growth has already been slowed to a
> crawl by the harsh weather.
>
> The point is that not all of our trees can survive (do more than  
> barely
> survive) at the Hawley site even without the blight. Our selection of
> individuals done at Hawley for relatively highest resistance and other
> desirable traits is including the trait "able to survive in the  
> harsher
> climate parts of the chestnut's range". We can't do that selection
> except at a hash conditions site like Hawley.
>
> Michael
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