Download (PDF 143 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/44170.pdf
Abstract
The elm breeding program carried out in Italy at the Institute of Plant Protection - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricercje (CNR) during the last 40 years aimed to develop Dutch elm disease (DED)-resistant elm selections specific to the Mediterranean environment. The need for genotypes adapted to Mediterranean conditions was evident from the poor performance of the Dutch elm clones in the hot and dry areas of central Italy, and the opportunity to breed better adapted hybrids was offered by the favorable adaptation in Italy of the Siberian elm (
Ulmus pumila L.), a species that does not thrive in central Europe and the Netherlands. For this reason, a base of valuable individuals of native elms was bred with several accessions of Asian elm species that proved to easily acclimate to different conditions in the Mediterranean region. As a result, four resistant hybrid elms have been patented and released to the market, and many experimentally tested DED-resistant elm hybrids of different parentage are under evaluation to be released in the near future.
Parent Publication
Citation
Santini, Alberto; Pecori, Francesco; Pepori, Alessia L.; Ghelardini, Luisa. 2012. Genotype x environment interaction and growth stability of several elm clones resistant to Dutch elm disease. In: Sniezko, Richard A.; Yanchuk, Alvin D.; Kliejunas, John T.; Palmieri, Katharine M.; Alexander, Janice M.; Frankel, Susan J., tech. coords. 2012. Proceedings of the fourth international workshop on the genetics of host-parasite interactions in forestry: Disease and insect resistance in forest trees. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-240. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. p. 132.
