Science In Our Valley: Fire Blight Resistant Apple Varieties

Science In Our Valley is a series of weekly seminars free and open to the public. Each series features the research of local scientists and invited guest speakers. The purpose of the series to encourage the development of an engaged regional scientific community and share the incredible research happening in our own backyard. Enabling more efficient development of fire blight resistant apple varieties with Sarah Kostick Fire blight, an economically damaging bacterial disease that impacts Washington apple production, is currently partially controlled through chemical applications. Breeding resistant apple varieties offers a potential sustainable, long-term solution. This presentation will cover (1) phenotypic evaluation of resistance/susceptibility to fire blight in apple, (2) discovery of genetic regions associated with observed resistance levels, and (3) how this information can be used to more efficiently develop new apple varieties resistant to fire blight.