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American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

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Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#111

Post by robbiep »

DuskStar wrote: post #81
nebul wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hard thing with taste is that it's usually the sum of many quantitative traits, each one being governed by several genes which can be located on different chromosomes, as seen in tomato[1]. Transferring enough of them into the modern genome through backcross would probably require a crazy amount of generations... or a crazy amount of luck :) [1] https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erf058

Or, you know, CRISPR.

CRISPR as currently used is not functionally capable of cutting and pasting large swaths of the genome, it is for small specific edits

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#112

Post by JohnTHaller »

tsol wrote: post #48
nebul wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone wanting to learn more about this breeding technique, it's called backcrossing[1]. It's also used for agricultural crops, but requires many generations. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backcrossing

Simple, yet effective. I've heard it said modern fruits are relatively tasteless compared to their older counterparts because they are bred for size and hardiness. I wonder if these can be backcrossed as well to produce more flavorful fruits with similar sizes

For an example, the red delicious apple. 75% of the Washington state's apples in the 1980s. It was bred for color and shelf life and, in the process, they bred out the taste. In 2000, a congressional bailout was approved for the growers that had lost $760 million dollars over a 3 year period due to the now-worthless apples.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#114

Post by joe_the_user »

Interestingly, I just walked out to a large chestnut tree on Spring Street by my place in Nevada City, CA and measured it's circumference - I got 127 inches, roughly - getting the tape measure around it was a bit challenging. It might be 40-50 feet tall but there is another much taller with less diameter down the hill from it (tree mentioned in article is 50 ft tree, 35 inch diameter, pretty average for here).

There are many chestnut trees in the town, planted in the gold rush days, I believe. last fall, I gathered enough nuts walk around town to supplement my diet for a few months. The nuts haven't started falling this year.

Of course, these tree survived the blight because they're well outside the range of the Eastern Chestnut. But still, if someone wants to see chestnut trees, they're here and probably in a lot of places where they were planted outside their range.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#115

Post by Cupertino95014 »

daniel-cussen wrote: post #105
Cupertino95014 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I love nuts of all types, but not the chestnut. It's really more like a small potato than a nut. I wonder if the old ones tasted better.

Dude I have just the recipe for you. Come on down to Chile and ask for puré de castañas. The really oppressed Chilean women make it the best, it's highly unique, I actually thought I could eat a chestnut because I used to eat this dish, kept biting into absolute bitterness. But bitter isn't bad, now that I'm addicted to something bitter (an undisclosed stimulant) I prefer bitterness to sweetness, but not everyone can…

I'm hungry now.

I'm sure chestnuts can be good in lots of ways, but "nutty" isn't one of them.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#116

Post by AlbertCory »

audiodude wrote: post #108
audiodude wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a joke, but I do have questions in general about "Certified Non-GMO" versus "Modern day bananas, corn and tomatoes look nothing like they did 400 years ago". There are some types of genetic modifications that are considered "natural" and "OK" and somehow there are others that are "artificial" and "scary", but damned if I know which are which.

To play devil's advocate to myself and possibly answer my own question: I imagine there are ecological effects of GMO (some of your corn SHOULD get killed by insects). Not to mention the fact that GMO seeds are probably mostly sold by god-awful Monsanto.

Maybe someone with an agricultural background would have an easier time researching this, but:

"mostly" Monsanto? Or is that just an older, famous example? Lots of companies sell seeds in mass quantities -- are you saying none of them sell GMO seeds?

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#117

Post by peteradio »

joecool1029 wrote: post #72
mod wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's okay, it's very unlikely that it's not a hybrid.

I have one that's not a hybrid. It's a stressed tree in blight range (Hunterdon, NJ) but it soldiers on. Last year I got a few dozen chestnuts off of it. Normally I can only get a few. (I also have two seedlings sprouted from chestnuts I gathered a few years back)

How'd you get your tree originally? Do you think it has some resistance? How large is it now?

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#119

Post by audiodude »

AlbertCory wrote: post #116
audiodude wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To play devil's advocate to myself and possibly answer my own question: I imagine there are ecological effects of GMO (some of your corn SHOULD get killed by insects). Not to mention the fact that GMO seeds are probably mostly sold by god-awful Monsanto.

Maybe someone with an agricultural background would have an easier time researching this, but: "mostly" Monsanto? Or is that just an older, famous example? Lots of companies sell seeds in mass quantities -- are you saying none of them sell GMO seeds?

That's why I said probably. I just know Monsanto is famous for their "copyright" seeds that are genetically modified and you're not allowed to keep the next generation of seeds.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#120

Post by billfor »

Every year around this time we seem to get somebody posting Chestnut tree articles that imply that it's impossible to grow an American chestnut tree or that somehow American chestnuts are rare. My Dunstan Chestnut tree is doing tremendously well after 5 years, and it has a circumference of more than a foot. They even sell them in Walmart now. What am I missing? Here is the link if you need one:https://chestnuthilloutdoors.com/learning-center/dunstan-che... They are very easy to grow.
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