Identifying and Evaluating Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant
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IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING EASTERN FILBERT BLIGHT RESISTANT HAZELNUTS (CORYLUS SPP.) IN NEW JERSEY By JOHN MICHAEL CAPIK A thesis submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Graduate Program in Plant Biology written under the direction of Dr. Thomas J. Molnar and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey January 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Identifying and Evaluating Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnuts (Corylus spp.) in New Jersey by JOHN MICHAEL CAPIK Thesis Director: Dr. Thomas J. Molnar Eastern filbert blight (EFB), caused by the fungus Anisogramma anomala (Peck) E. Müller, is a destructive disease of European hazelnut (Corylus avellana). While the wild North American hazelnut, C. americana, only experiences minor symptoms, commercially grown C. avellana is extremely susceptible. Anisogramma anomala, whose range includes much of the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains, is considered to be the main impediment to commercial hazelnut production in the East. As such, identifying and developing resistant C. avellana germplasm is critical to establishing an industry in this region. To support this goal, several research projects were undertaken. In the first study, 193 clonal hazelnut accessions spanning multiple Corylus species and inter-specific hybrids were examined for their disease response to EFB in New Jersey. In summary, despite the fact that many of the plants were shown to be resistant in Oregon, some accessions developed EFB in New Jersey. These results support previous work that suggests different isolates of the pathogen are present in the eastern U.S., and resistance may not hold up unilaterally. A second study included searching for new sources of resistance to EFB. New hazelnut germplasm was collected from Russia, Poland, and Ukraine and exposed to EFB. After at least five years of exposure, plants were rated for ii the presence of EFB. At completion, 76 trees from 24 seed lots were found to be free of EFB with several trees that also produced excellent quality kernels. The final study was predicated on evaluating known resistant plants for their flowering phenology in New Jersey. Phenological timing of flowering in hazelnuts is critical to ensure complete pollination and high crop yields. Nineteen hazelnut accessions were evaluated compared to daily temperatures over 4 years. Results showed that the accessions followed a similar progression of bloom each year (both staminate and pistillate flowers), which allowed their placement into Early, Mid-, and Late flowering groups. These findings represent the first efforts to report on flowering and bud break phenology in New Jersey, where the winter climate is colder and more variable than that of Oregon and other commercial hazelnut growing regions. iii Acknowledgements. The author would like to thank C.R. Funk, A. Morgan, M. Muehlbauer, A. Novi, A. Morgan, S. Mehlenbacher, D. Zaurov, J. Honig, W. Meyer, B. Clark, and the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, OR, for their technical assistance and contribution of plant material. Funding for this research comes from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, the Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crops Research Initiative Competitive Grant 2009-51181-06028. Assessment of Host (Corylus spp.) Resistance to Eastern Filbert Blight in New Jersey was originally published in the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, Vol. 137:157-172. Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnuts from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland was originally published in HortScience, Vol. 48:466-473. Flowering Phenology of Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnut Accessions in New Jersey was submitted for publication to HortTechnology on Jan. 1, 2014. iv Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments............................................................................................... iv List of Tables....................................................................................................... vi List of Figures...................................................................................................... vii Literature Review................................................................................................ 1 Literature Cited.......................................................................................... 12 Assessment of Host (Corylus spp.) Resistance to Eastern Filbert Blight in New Jersey................................................................................ 15 Literature Cited........................................................................................... 44 Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnuts from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland............................................................................................. 68 Literature Cited........................................................................................... 88 Flowering Phenology of Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnut Accessions in New Jersey..................................................................... 101 Literature Cited........................................................................................... 128 v List of Tables Assessment of Host (Corylus spp.) Resistance to Eastern Filbert Blight in New Jersey Table 1. Disease attributes of Corylus accessions expressing eastern filbert blight (EFB) caused by Anisogramma anomala............................ 48 Table 2. Corylus accessions showing no signs or symptoms of infection by Anisogramma anomala................................................................. 52 Table 3. General attributes of hazelnut (Corylus spp.) species evaluated for their response to eastern filbert blight (EFB).................................. 62 Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnuts from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Table 1. Summary of response of Corylus avellana germplasm from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland to eastern filbert blight................................... 92 Table 2. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results of nut and kernel characteristics for all individual plants (n = 80) in the dataset.............................. 96 Table 3. Nut and kernel characteristics of select eastern filbert blight (EFB)-resistant hazelnut (Corylus avellana) selections from Russia and Ukraine............................................................................................................ 97 Flowering Phenology of Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnut Accessions in New Jersey Table 1. Hazelnut (Corylus spp.) accessions evaluated for flowering and bud break phenology in New Jersey over the winter seasons of 2008-2009 through 2011-2012............................................................................... 131 vi Table 2. Summary of staminate flower development (Stage 1-3) for 19 hazelnut accessions averaged across 4 years in New Jersey.............................. 132 Table 3. Summary of pistillate flower development (Stage 1-4) for 19 hazelnut accessions averaged across 4 years in New Jersey.............................. 133 Table 4. Summary of vegetative bud development (Stage 1-3) for 19 hazelnut accessions averaged across 4 years in New Jersey.............................. 134 Table 5. Monthly weather summary table and bloom period for staminate and pistillate flowers............................................................................... 135 List of Figures Assessment of Host (Corylus spp.) Resistance to Eastern Filbert Blight in New Jersey Figure 1. Representative samples of nuts and kernels of hazelnut (Corylus sp.) species and interspecific hybrids evaluated in this study................ 64 Figure 2. Example of morphological difference observed in the nut husks (involucres) of the hazelnut (Corylus spp.) species and interspecific hybrids evaluated in this study.......................................................... 66 Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnuts from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Figure 1. Whole nuts, raw kernels, and blanched kernels of select EFB-resistant hazelnut accessions.......................................................................... 100 Flowering Phenology of Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant Hazelnut Accessions in New Jersey vii Figure 1. Progression of staminate flower development in hazelnut..................... 136 Figure 2. Progression of pistillate flower development of hazelnut...................... 137 Figure 3. 4-year average flower and bud development for 19 Corylus accessions between Dec. 2008 and Apr. 2012.......................................... 139 Figure 4. Flower and bud development for 19 Corylus accessions between Dec. 2008 and Apr. 2009........................................................ 140 Figure 5. Flower and bud development for 19 Corylus accessions between Dec. 2009 and Apr. 2010........................................................ 141 Figure 6. Flower and bud development for 19 Corylus accessions between Dec. 2010 and Apr. 2011........................................................ 142 Figure 7. Flower and bud development for 19 Corylus accessions between Dec. 2011 and Apr. 2012........................................................ 143 viii 1 Literature Review The