Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund 2012-2013 Request for Proposals (RFP) 019-B ENRTF ID: Project Title: Finding Disease Resistant Elm Trees in Minnesota B. Forestry/Agriculture/Minerals Topic Area: Total Project Budget: $ 431,000 Proposed Project Time Period for the Funding Requested: 3 yrs, July 2013 - June 2016 Other Non-State Funds: $ 0 Summary: Native Minnesota elms resistant to Dutch elm disease exist and represent a valuable resource that can be used to fight this invasive disease and restore elms to their previous grandeur. Name: Robert Blanchette Sponsoring Organization: U of MN Address: 1991 Upper Buford Cir, 495 Borlaug Hall St. Paul MN 55126 Telephone Number: (612) 625-0202 Email robertb@umn.edu Web Address http://forestpathology.cfans.umn.edu/default.htm Location Region: Statewide County Name: Statewide City / Township: _____ Funding Priorities _____ Multiple Benefits _____ Outcomes _____ Knowledge Base _____ Extent of Impact _____ Innovation _____ Scientific/Tech Basis _____ Urgency _____ Capacity Readiness _____ Leverage _____ Employment _______ TOTAL ______% 05/04/2012 Page 1 of 6
Environ nment and d Natural Resource es Trust Fu und (ENRT TF) 2012 ‐ 20 013 Main Proposal PROJECT TITLE: Findin g Disease Re sistant Elm T Trees in Minn esota I. PROJEC T STATEMEN NT We prop ose to find el ms from acro oss Minnesota a with resista ance to Dutch h elm disease , test them ri gorously and have e a large num mber of gene tically differe ent trees wit h resistance available so that this ma gnificent shade tre ee and import tant forest sp pecies will be brought back k to its previo ous grandeur. . D utch elm dise ease has killed d millions of e elms in Minn esota over th he past five de ecades. So m any trees have e died people e have just ab bout given up hope for this s tree. Losses s from this in vasive and ex xotic pathogen have been d evastating an nd it has caus ed an ecolog ical disaster. Elms are mag gnificent tree es. There is n no tree more beautiful or w well suited fo r urban cond itions than th he elm. They t tolerate salt, pollution and other str resses better than other tr rees. Removin ng and dispos sing of diseas sed trees and other con ntrol program s are expensi ive. Municipa al budget cons straints over recent years have meant that less funds s are available e for control a and elm mort tality has incr reased steadi ly. We now f find other introduce ed pests, such h as the Emera ald Ash Borer r, threatening g Minnesota a ash trees and d the need for r new trees to b be used for re planting in ur rban areas is greater than ever. Elms ar re also play a vital part in t the ecology o f Minnesota’ s forests. The eir seed provi des importan nt food for wi ildlife, they ar re excellent t rees for wetlan nds and add t to the biodive ersity of a hea althy forest (f for example, 213 species o of moths and butterflie s are support ted by elms). Elms can also o be used for making furni iture, boxes, c crates and ot ther wood pro oducts. Th here is new h hope for the e elm! We have e observed th at some elms s have survive ed the diseas e and these surv vivors appear r to have spec cial character ristics making g them resista ant to Dutch e elm disease. I In our prelimina ry work, seed dlings were gr rown from th hese trees and d were injecte ed with the fu ungus. Result ts show som me trees survi ve. Having a large genetic stock of hard dy and resista ant native Mi nnesota elms s is vital to fig ght this deadl y fungus. Our r proposed pr roject would: : 1. Survey and identify resistant elm m trees. From m preliminary research sup pported by th e Minnesota Turf and Grou nds Foundati on we identif fied and teste ed several elm ms and found d 3 with differ rent levels of resistance e. We have in nformation fro om arborists and city fores sters about m many other ca andidate elms s from thro oughout Minn nesota that ap ppear to be re esistant. They y survive whe ere all other e elms have die ed. Screening g (injecting wi ith the fungus s in greenhou use and field t trials) will ide entify which o of these trees s are truly resis stant. Once tr ree are select ed they will b be propagate d using meth hods we recen ntly develope ed. 2. Screen selected tree es. To determ mine if trees a are resistant, rigorous test ing is needed d. This is done e in two steps s by injecting trees with th e fungus in g reenhouse st tudies followe ed by addition nal field testi ng. The prelim minary data s hows that elm ms resistant t to Dutch elm disease exist t in Minnesota a. Our testing g will show whi ch trees are r resistant and with state wi ide screening g we expect to o find a large number of th hem. 3. Study d defense mech hanisms in re esistant trees . What make s an elm resis stant to disea ase? Chemica l and physical b barriers are pr roduced by tr rees to stop in nvading path ogens. This w work will iden ntify the tree’s s defense m mechanisms. O Once this is k known, these characteristi cs can be loo ked for in new w selections resulting i in a rapid me thod of scree ening trees w ith resistance e. 4. Field te esting of elms s. Our goal is s to obtain a d diverse select tion of elms f rom Minneso ota that are geneticall y different bu ut all have res sistance. Field d testing is es ssential and w will be done o on trees from our prelimina ry research a s well as new w selections m made from thi is project. Fie eld testing wil ll also be used d to identify tr rees with the best growth and hardines ss characteris stics. II. DESCRI IPTION OF PR ROJECT ACTIV VITIES Activity 1 : Identify and d grow resista ant Minnesot a elms for tes sting. Bud dget: $113,00 00 With the help of lando owners, park a and city perso onnel, arboris sts and our su urveys of the Minnesota landscape e we will iden ntify large, ma ature elms tha at have surviv ved heavy pre essure from D Dutch elm dis sease. 1 05/04/2012 Page 2 of 6
Cuttings will be taken from the growing tips of these trees and rooted and/or grafted to obtain propagate sufficient numbers of each tree for disease screening. Local arborists will be employed to help in obtaining the branch cuttings needed from the growing tips of these surviving large trees. Outcomes Completion Date 1. Find and propagate 20 Minnesota elms that appear to have disease resistance 6/2014 2. Find and propagate an additional 30 Minnesota elms with disease resistance 6/2015 Activity 2: Screen selected elms for resistance . Budget: $118,000 Using previous successful methods, replicated studies of selected seedlings will be grown in the greenhouse. The Dutch elm disease fungus will be injected into these trees and disease monitored. Outcomes Completion Date 1. Complete disease screening for elms obtained during the first year 9/2015 2. Complete disease screening for second year elm selections 3/2016 Activity 3 : Study tree defense mechanisms to better understand disease resistance Budget: $99,000 Trees with resistance have mechanisms that help defend against the invading fungus. These can include chemical and physical barriers formed in the tree as well as genetic differences. These investigations will identify the mechanisms involved and use them as screening tools for more rapid selection of additional trees having these characteristics associated with resistance. Outcome Completion Date 1. New tools obtained to rapidly screen future elms for resistance 6/2016 Activity 4: Field testing of selected clones with resistance. Budget: $101,000 Field plantings and evaluations will be done to the selected test trees in a natural setting to insure they are resistant, evaluate growth characteristics and determine their suitability for planting throughout Minnesota. Outcome Completion Date 1. Field planting and field screening of selected elms 6/2016 III. PROJECT STRATEGY A. Project Team/Partners Dr. Robert Blanchette (Co ‐ PI, UMN) is a professor and Benjamin Held (UMN) is a research scientist in the Department of Plant Pathology. They will take part in the finding and screening of resistant elms, as well as studies to elucidate resistance mechanisms. Dr. Jeff Gillman (Co ‐ PI, UMN) is an associate professor and Chad Giblin (UMN) is a research scientist in the Department of Horticulture Science. They will take part in finding, propagating and field planting of resistant elms. Additional partners include arborists, park and city foresters and landowners throughout the state. B. Timeline Requirements The time line of 36 months will allow selection and propagation of elms to occur, screening of the materials in the greenhouse and establishing field trials. C. Long ‐ Term Strategy and Future Funding Needs The main goal of this research is to identify and propagate resistant elms from Minnesota. Testing for resistance must be rigorous and thorough and field trials will be established. Although some information will be completed from the field, it can take 5 ‐ 6 years for more comprehensive observations. These field trials will continue at the University Research Center after the project has ended. It will also take a few years to propagate the selected trees in sufficient numbers so they are available for release to the nursery industry and the public. 2 05/04/2012 Page 3 of 6
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