In this way, the seeds of these trees, which have been selected for their resistance and tolerance to the nematode as well as their shape, straightness, growth and volume production of wood, can be offered this same year to suppliers of forest reproductive material.
The announcement of the inclusion of these six new parents in the Galician Register of Basic Materials was published in the Official Gazette of Galicia on April 16, 2020 in the form of a Resolution of the Ministry of Rural Affairs.
First detected in Portugal in 1999 and in Spain in 2008, the pine nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) is a quarantine disease originating in the USA that causes sudden decline and death of pine trees, and is currently maintained in a demarcated area near Portugal in the province of Pontevedra.
According to trials conducted at this center, these parent plants have a 76-81% survival rate against the pine nematode. This value is higher than the 61% average observed in other studied families.
At CIF Lourizán, the team made up of María Menéndez, Eva Prada, Sergio Frade and Ricardo Ferradás, headed by Raquel Díaz and all of them directed by Enrique Martínez, director of the center, is in charge of the genetic improvement work against the nematode and the increase of other characteristics such as volume and straightness, among others.
Sources:
https://www.xunta.gal/dog/Publicados/2020/20200416/AnuncioG0426-020420-0001_gl.html