Oregon produces about twenty percent of all hazelnuts consumed. Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB) is a fungal disease that kills hazelnut trees, especially in moist climates. Most hazelnut cultivars are susceptible to this disease. In 1998, Taxol was discovered in certain cultivars of hazelnuts. Of these cultivars, Gassaway had the highest concentration of Taxol while Ennis had the lowest. In this project, we are attempting to discover whether Taxol is protecting the trees from EFB. Methyl Jasmonate (MeJA) and Salicylic Acid are also defense mechanisms of hazelnut cultivars. For this reason, we chose to challenge Ennis and Gassaway cuttings with EFB spores. Some of the inoculated cuttings were exposed to high or low concentrations of MeJA. Differences between the responses to EFB spores were analyzed by Electron Microscope (EM) and HPLC-MS profiles. The EM pictures showed that some spores on Ennis cuttings could germinate. The differences between LCMS profiles of Gassaway and Ennis extracts are being analyzed.<br/>

Comparison of eastern filbert blight resistance in two hazelnut cultivars

249th National Meeting (2015)

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