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Prospects for developing durable resistance in populations of forest trees

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Abstract

Long-lived tree species face a myriad of biotic and abiotic threats over their lifetime, some of the most serious being the presence of non-native diseases or pests capable of killing greater than 95% of trees that are exposed to them. Fortunately, the genetic diversity in many of the affected species also includes some individuals and populations with genetic resistance. Over the last 50 years, applied resistance programs have been undertaken in a range of tree species in the U.S. and resistant parent trees have been selected, tested in seedling inoculation trials and in field trials, selections placed into seed orchards, and the resulting seed used for reforestation and restoration. Both major gene resistance (MGR) and quantitative resistance (QR) have been documented in these resistance programs. However, for each resistance program the question arises whether the resistance will be durable, permitting the species to be used in managed plantations, urban plantings or in native forest restoration over the long-term. Field plantings to-date indicate that in some cases virulence to MGR can arise relatively quickly and QR appears to offer the best opportunity for durability. Ultimately, more time and plantings will be needed to discern if resistance is durable in affected tree species. Changes in climate may alter dynamics that could influence durability of resistance. However, even in the case of virulence to MGR, the pathogen or pest may not spread throughout the range of plantings, and genetic resistance will likely continue to be an invaluable tool for species affected by diseases and pests.

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Acknowledgements

This paper came about as a perspective in contributing to the 2021 conference Society and Policy Influences on Biotechnology Risk Assessment for Restoration of Threatened Forest Tree Species. I thank the organizers Drs. Douglas Jacob and Kas Dumerose for the invitation to present and contribute to this special issue emanating from the conference. The USDA Forest Service provided support for R.A. Sniezko and associated resistance programs in white pines and Port-Orford-cedar. We thank Jim Hamlin for his suggestions on an earlier version. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments of an earlier version of this paper that improved the final version.

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The USDA Forest Service provide funding for RAS.

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  1. USDA Forest Service, Dorena Genetic Resource Center, Cottage Grove, OR, 97424, USA

    Richard A. Sniezko

  2. Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M5, Canada

    Jun-Jun Liu

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RAS had the idea for the article, RAS and JJL reviewed the literature, RAS developed the first draft and JJL provide edits and added content. Both authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Richard A. Sniezko.

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Sniezko, R.A., Liu, JJ. Prospects for developing durable resistance in populations of forest trees. New Forests 54, 751–767 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-021-09898-3

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