Xylem characteristics in Ulmus americana cultivars and their potential use as a preliminary screening method for Dutch elm disease resistance

Traditional screening of American elm (Ulmus americana) for resistance to Dutch elm disease (DED) often requires many years between initial propagation of trees and inoculation of older trees in the field. Previously published studies have found an association between smaller vessel diameters and in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forest pathology = Journal de pathologie forestière = Zeitschrift für Forstpathologie 2020-12, Vol.50 (6), p.n/a
Main Authors: Beier, Garrett L., Blanchette, Robert A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Branches
Cultivars
Disease resistance
Dutch elm disease
Elm
Environmental effects
Genotypes
Identification methods
Inoculation
Propagation
Ratings
Screening
Seedlings
Stems
Trees
Ulmus americana
Vessels
Water availability
Xylem
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Traditional screening of American elm (Ulmus americana) for resistance to Dutch elm disease (DED) often requires many years between initial propagation of trees and inoculation of older trees in the field. Previously published studies have found an association between smaller vessel diameters and increased resistance to DED, but further validation was needed to determine whether it could provide a rapid screening method to identify candidate trees for further testing. This investigation examined xylem characteristics in main stems of three‐year‐old trees for five cultivars and two wild‐type seedling populations of U. americana with varying levels of resistance to DED. Cultivars with low disease severity ratings tended to have smaller vessel diameters and higher vessel densities than cultivars with high disease severity ratings. Xylem characteristics were also assessed in branches and main stems of larger plant material. Data suggest that the use of main stems is preferential to branches when evaluating large trees, as main stems provided more resolution in differentiating between the genotypes. Results from this study indicate that there is potential for the use of xylem characteristics, such as vessel diameter and vessel density, for selecting trees with putative resistance. However, caution should be used due to the potential effects of the environment, such as the effect of water availability and its impacts on xylem development.
ISSN:1437-4781
1439-0329
DOI:10.1111/efp.12638