Clonal rootstocks and nursery
The research activities carried out by the Chestnut R&D Center are aimed at selecting and evaluating the agronomic performances of new clonal rootstocks, that represent the new frontier in intensive chestnut cultivation. The main studied features of clonal rootstocks are the compatibility with C. sativa cultivars, as well as the resistance or tolerance to Phytophthora spp. and Cryphonectria parasitica.
The Center developed two innovative propagation methods for clonal rootstocks, C-roots and C-box, that proved to be effective on chestnut.
The research on clonal rootstocks involves the study of phenolic compounds and their role in compatibility: indeed, they play an important role in the graft-union formation during the callusing stage, where an intense production and subsequent accumulation of these secondary metabolites occurs. This accumulation in the wound tissues may cause marked effects on growth and metabolism of the shoots. Therefore, research activities aim at investigating the differences in polyphenolic content in Castanea spp. scion and rootstock tissues and understanding if they can be used as chemical markers as early detection of graft compatibility, as already done on other fruit species.
The Chestnut R&D Center – Piemonte has assigned the responsibility and coordination of the studies and scientific research of this activity to Dr. Giovanni Gamba, PhD in Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences.
Gamba, G., & Mellano, M. G., 2021. Nasce la certificazione vivaistica volontaria per la castanicoltura italiana: istituito dal Mipaaf il Centro per la conservazione e premoltiplicazione del castagno. Castanea, 18, 16-17. ISSN: 2284-4813
Gamba G., Donno D., Mellano G.M., Beccaro G.L. Impiego di composti polifenolici come potenziali marcatori per la precoce identificazione di compatibilità d’innesto in Castanea spp. XIII Giornate Scientifiche SOI, Catania, Italy.
Gamba, G., Cisse, V., Donno, D., Razafindrakoto, Z.R., Beccaro, G.L. Quali-Quantitative Study on Phenol Compounds as Early Predictive Markers of Graft Incompatibility: A Case Study on Chestnut (Castanea spp.) (2022) Horticulturae, 8 (1), art. no. 32.
Gamba, G., Donno, D., Mellano, M.G., Beccaro, G.L. Graft incompatibility in chestnut: a multidisciplinary approach for early identification in Castanea spp. (2023) Acta Horticulturae, 1366, pp. 429-434.
Gamba, G., Mellano, M.G., Donno, D., Malacarne, E., Rocca, M., Corgnati, M., Bergero, P., Beccaro, G.L. Advances in the chestnut nursery industry: The new Castanea spp. conservation and certification center (2023) Acta Horticulturae, 1366, pp. 283-287.
Gamba, G., Marchisio, S., Tomatis, A., Mellano, M. G., Beccaro, G. L., 2023. Portinnesti del castagno, serve una filiera italiana. L’Informatore Agrario, 8, 55-58. ISSN: 0020-0689
Mellano, M. G., Rosso, L., Gamba, G., & Beccaro, G. L., 2022. La nuova certificazione vivaistica per il castagno. Castanea, 20, 9-11. ISSN: 2284-4813
Mellano, M. G., Rosso, L., & Gamba, G., 2022. Castanicoltura certificata: dall’astone al supermercato. Castanea, 20, 8. ISSN: 2284-4813
Gamba G., Mellano M.G., Donno D., Malacarne E., Rocca M., Corgnati M., Bergero P., Beccaro G.L. Advances in the chestnut nursery industry: the new Castanea spp. conservation and certification center. XXXI International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022), Angers, France.
Gamba G., Donno D., Mellano M.G., Beccaro G.L. Graft incompatibility in chestnut: a multidisciplinary approach for early identification in Castanea spp. XXXI International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022), Angers, France.