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Controlling Chestnut Blight Disease

By Grant Mortenson | Computer Science Major

Trees do have a built-in mechanism for suppressing infections, especially cankers.

Researchers have successfully identified five strains of CHV-1, two found in France, one in Italy, one in Germany, and one in Spain. There is a balancing act that must be performed when dealing with biological methods of control. In order for the hypovirus to spread naturally — negating the need for manual intervention on each tree — the fungus must remain capable of distributing its spores, with the goal of infecting other cankers with the hypovirus. However, in order for the tree to heal, the fungus needs to stop growing and reproducing. Currently scientists are trying to determine the most effective balance between a natural spread of the hypovirus and a hypovirus that is truly effective at controlling C. parasitica. The following passage illustrates the varying effectiveness of the current CHV-1 subtypes.

The French subtypes are more effective at decreasing the growth of C. parasitica, but the Italian subtype is more contagious. Research is ongoing to determine the best method of balancing the transmission and effectiveness of CHV-1 to keep C. parasitica under control. Manual introduction of CHV-1 to cankers has proven successful at inducing hypovirulence in Serbian and Spanish chestnut orchards, but a means of natural transmission of effective CHV-1 has yet to be discovered.

While neither a universally successful hypovirus treatment nor a replacement breed have been created, progress continues. The blight has been in America since 1904, but it is conceivable that we may see a successful treatment discovered within our lifetime. However, it will take another lifetime for those treatments to have any economic effect, since the trees will still need time to grow to their full stature. Our children or grandchildren may yet be able to roast chestnuts on an open fire, thanks to the work of a multitude of researchers across the Atlantic.

Burke, Katie, “Niche contraction of American chestnut in response to chestnut blight.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 42, no. 3 (2012): 614–620. Accessed April 4, 2018. doi:10.1139/X2012–002.

Gunduz, Gokhan, Mehmet Ali Oral, Mehmet Akyuz, Deniz Aydemir, Barbaros Yaman, Nejla Asik, Ali Savas Bulbul, and Surhay Allahverdiyev. “Physical, morphological properties and raman spectroscopy of chestnut blight diseased castanea sativa mill. wood.” Cerne 22, no. 1 (2016): 43–58. Accessed April 4, 2018. doi:10.1590/01047760201622012101.

Rigling, Daniel, and Simone Prospero. “Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight: invasion history, population biology and disease control.” Molecular Plant Pathology 19, no. 1 (2018): 7–20. Accessed April 4, 2018. doi:10.1111/mpp.12542.

Zamora, P., A.B. Martín, R. San Martín, P. Martínez-Álvarez, and J.J. Diez. “Control of chestnut blight by the use of hypovirulent strains of the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica in northwestern Spain.” Biological Control 79 (2014): 58–66. Accessed April 4, 2018. doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2014.08.005.

Grant Mortenson, a Junior at Bethel University in Saint Paul, MN, grew up in rural South Dakota. He is studying for a degree in computer science to become an IT administrator. He was born with profound hearing loss, but enjoys listening to theology podcasts, reading, and mathematics.

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