Genomic approaches to accelerate American chestnut restoration
More than a century after two introduced pathogens killed billions of American chestnut trees, introgression of resistance alleles from Chinese chestnuts has contributed to the recovery of self-sustaining populations. However, progress has been slow because of the complex genetic architecture of resistance. To better understand blight resistance, we compared reference genomes, gene expression responses, and stem metabolite profiles of the resistant Chinese and susceptible American chestnut species. To accelerate resistance breeding, we conducted large-scale phenotyping and genotyping in hybrids of these species. Simulation and inoculation experiments suggest that significant resistance gains are possible through selectively breeding trees with an average of 70 to 85% American chestnut ancestry. The resources developed in this work are foundational for breeding to create diverse restoration populations with sufficient disease resistance and competitive growth.
Authors
- Erik Carlson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0259-6499)
- Paul H. Sisco
- Tomás A. Rush (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3207-1466)
- Sara F. Fitzsimmons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6706-5306)
- Martin L. Cipollini
- Joseph B. James (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6985-2023)
- John T. Lovell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8938-1166)
- Avinash Sreedasyam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7336-7012)
- John E. Carlson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9129-1867)
- Madhavi Z. Martin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6677-2180)
- Thomas M. Saielli
- Melissa Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2015-8844)
- Austin Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1485-7676)
- Cassie Stark
- Kathleen McKeever (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8827-8258)
- William A. Powell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3945-9866)
- Bruce L. Levine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6971-8465)
- Thomas James Ellis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8511-0254)
- David Goodstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6287-2697)
- Jerry Jenkins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7943-3997)
- Nancy L. Engle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0290-7987)
- Florian Carle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9763-598X)
- Shenghua Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7526-9149)
- Susanna Keriö (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1637-5451)
- Alexander M. Sandercock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6897-1856)
- Lake E. Graboski
- Andrew E. Newhouse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9981-8309)
- Joanna Malukiewicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0494-1089)
- Eric V. Jenkins
- Steven N. Jeffers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8668-2812)
- John A. Scrivani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1247-3396)
- Christopher Plott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0109-5174)
- Jared W. Westbrook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8996-1614)
- B. K. Clark
- Tetyana Zhebentyayeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0434-8296)
- Joanna Tannous (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0032-5126)
- Kendra Collins
- Eric J. Evans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3751-0269)
- Jarrett BJ
- Frederick V. Hebard
- Zamin K. Yang
- James McKenna
- LoriBeth Boston
- Stephen Hoy
- Lucinda Wigfield
- Lauren M. Kerwien
- Ciera Wilbur
- Jack Swatt
- Jack Ostroff
- Caragh Heverly
- Vasiliy Lakoba
- Jamie Van Clief
- Caleb Kell
- Xiaoxia Xia
- Jason Holliday
- Jane Grimwood
- Timothy J. Tschaplinski
- Qian Zhang
- Jack Orebaugh
- C. Dana Nelson
- Albert G. Abbott
- Erica Smith
- Jeremy Schmutz
- J. Hill Craddock
Institutions
- Berry College (US)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- The American Chestnut Foundation (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- State University of New York (US)
- Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (AT)
- SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (US)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (US)
- Joint Genome Institute (US)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (US)
- Yale University (US)
- York University (US)
- Southern Research Station (US)
- Timber Institute (CZ)
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology (US)
- Bioenergy Life Science (United States) (US)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Clemson University (US)
- Virginia Tech (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2026-02-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adw3225
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Plant and Fungal Interactions Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 44.88