A mature ash nicknamed Betty is offering new hope against ash dieback disease after the tree in an ancient woodland was the first to be identified as possessing a strong tolerance to the disease.
Scientists from a government-backed consortium of universities and research centres made the breakthrough after comparing the genetics of infected and uninfected trees with different levels of tolerance to ash dieback disease in Devon, Oxfordshire, Norfolk and in European woodlands.
The Nornex consortium, a team of British and Scandinavian researchers led by the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, has developed three genetic markers to enable them to predict whether a tree is likely to be tolerant to the disease, raising the possibility of using selective breeding to develop strains of disease-resistant trees.
The Guardian: 'Betty' the ash tree offers hope against deadly dieback disease
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