WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have developed a breed of American chestnut trees that are resistant to the fungal blight that decimated them during the early 1900s.
But Purdue University forestry experts said the return of the more than 100-foot-tall species isn't imminent.
"We are on the verge of overcoming chestnut blight but there is a whole new set of obstacles to get past yet," said Associate Professor Douglass Jacobs.
To reintroduce the American chestnut, he said, researchers must get past several policy limitations, gather new data, educate the public about the species and address new threats posed by exotic pests.
Once dominant across much of the eastern United States, the American chestnut was known for its annual largesse of nuts, rot-resistant wood and sheer size. But an introduced Asian fungus nearly eliminated the tree.
A breeding program begun by the American Chestnut Foundation has produced a blight-resistant hybrid tree that contains 94 percent of the American chestnut's genetic material, Jacobs said.
Nevertheless, the blight-resistant trees aren't likely to be available to the public for about a decade, he added.
The project is detailed in the journal Biological Conservation.
