Three tolerant Pinus pinaster families, from the breeding program of the Lourizán Forest Research Center, are included in the Spanish Forest Reproductive Material Catalogue

Pine wilt disease, caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is the main threat to pine stands in Europe. Breeding for tolerance to this nematode is one of the main strategies for coping with the disease in the most severely affected countries. Since Pinus pinaster and Pinus radiata are very valuable, both ecologically and economically in Galicia (North-western Spain), tolerance to this nematode was included some years ago in the Galician Pinus pinaster and Pinus radiata breeding programs developed at the Lourizán Forest Research Center. Since 2013, a research group from this research center has performed several inoculation assays under greenhouse conditions. Specifically, in Pinus pinaster 91 families out of the 116 from the breeding program were evaluated. Three of these families showed higher tolerance and stability among assays than the other families evaluated (25-30% higher survival), so were considered as tolerant. These three families have been included in the Spanish Forest Reproductive Material Catalogue, as parents of families, so they will be available for future plantations soon.

Authors: Raquel Diaz Vazquez, María Menéndez Gutiérrez, Eva Prada Ojea, Enrique Martínez Chamorro (Lourizán Forest Research Centre, Department of Silviculture and Improvement).

For more information, please visit https://lourizan.xunta.gal/en/transfers/pinus-pinaster-resistant-pine-wood-nematode

or watch this video https://www.gciencia.com/videonautas/nematodo-lourizan/