Genetic variation in resistance to pine pitch canker and western gall rust in Monterey pine (Pinus radiata D. Don): Results from a three-country collaborative field trial

Abstract

In 1998, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand agreed to work together in a program designed to test their elite breeding lines and to test for the genetics of resistance to pitch canker (causative organism Fusarium circinatum). Pitch canker was first discovered in the United States in 1946 and in California in 1986. The first discoveries in California were in ornamental plantings, and the disease was first found in native stands of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) in 1992. By 1997, pitch canker was found in 22 counties in California, and the Board of Forestry established a "Zone of Infestation." Early estimates of resistance levels were as low as 3 percent. Pitch canker is also found in Spain, South Africa, Chile, Haiti, Mexico, Portugal, and Chile. The pathogen has not been found in Australia or New Zealand, and its introduction could result in an economic disaster to the respective softwood forest industries. Due to the widespread use of Monterey pine around the world, there was interest in assessing the risk of forest plantations outside the United States for pitch canker.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the fourth international workshop on the genetics of host-parasite interactions in forestry: Disease and insect resistance in forest trees

Citation

Matheson, A.C.; Mark, W.R.; Stovold, G.; Balocchi, C.; Smith, N.; Brassey, C. 2012. Genetic variation in resistance to pine pitch canker and western gall rust in Monterey pine (Pinus radiata D. Don): Results from a three-country collaborative field trial. In: Sniezko, Richard A.; Yanchuk, Alvin D.; Kliejunas, John T.; Palmieri, Katharine M.; Alexander, Janice M.; Frankel, Susan J., tech. coords. 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. pp. 253-255.