Anagnostakis Sandra L
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT 06504.
Plant Dis. 2012 Oct;96(10):1392-1403. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-04-12-0350-FE.
The genus Castanea (family Fagaceae) is found in north temperate climates around the world, and is highly prized in many different cultures for its nutritious nuts and valuable timber. Selection for larger, better-tasting nuts has been ongoing in Asia and Europe for centuries. Early trade routes moved European chestnut trees (C. sativa) west of their native range (in the Caucasus mountains), and the Romans then moved them across their empire to provide support posts for grapevines, as well as for the nuts. Cultivar selection in Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Portugal has been extensive, and regional favorites developed. The many uses of the wood of American chestnut made this "all purpose" tree extremely valuable in its native range in North America. Nut production was important as a food source for rural families and many species of birds and animals. The other American species in the genus Castanea are classed as chinquapins, and may be divided into several or lumped as a single species. The small nuts from these trees and bushes serve primarily as mast for wildlife. Two serious diseases of chestnut trees changed the direction of chestnut research in the United States. Ink disease, caused by the root pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi, was discovered to be the cause of widespread death of chestnuts and chinquapins in the southern United States, which had been observed since about 1850. This imported pathogen probably came into the southern United States before 1824. The second chestnut disaster was the introduction of chestnut blight disease, which was first found in the United States in 1904. The pathogen causing the lethal cankers is an Ascomycete now known as Cryphonectria parasitica. The longest continuing chestnut breeding program in the United States is in Connecticut.
栗属（壳斗科）分布于世界各地的北温带气候区，因其营养丰富的坚果和珍贵的木材而在许多不同文化中备受珍视。几个世纪以来，亚洲和欧洲一直在选育更大、口感更好的坚果。早期的贸易路线将欧洲栗树（欧洲栗）带到了其原生范围（高加索山脉）以西，罗马人随后将它们带到了整个帝国，用于为葡萄藤提供支撑柱以及获取坚果。土耳其、意大利、西班牙和葡萄牙进行了广泛的品种选育，并培育出了当地受欢迎的品种。美国栗木的多种用途使其在北美原生范围内成为极其珍贵的“万能”树种。坚果生产作为农村家庭以及许多鸟类和动物的食物来源至关重要。栗属的其他美洲物种被归类为矮栗，可以分为几个物种或归为一个单一物种。这些树木和灌木的小坚果主要作为野生动物的食料。两种严重的栗树病害改变了美国栗树研究的方向。由根部病原体樟疫霉引起的墨汁病被发现是自1850年左右以来美国南部栗树和矮栗广泛死亡的原因。这种外来病原体可能在1824年之前就进入了美国南部。第二次栗树灾难是栗疫病的引入，该病于1904年首次在美国被发现。导致致命溃疡病的病原体是一种子囊菌，现在被称为寄生隐孢壳菌。美国持续时间最长的栗树育种项目在康涅狄格州。
