基因研究：英國白蠟樹對枯梢病抵抗力較強(qiáng)

Fears that almost all of Britain’s ash trees face annihilation may be exaggerated, according to a comprehensive genetic analysis of ash across the UK and Europe.

根據(jù)在英國和歐洲大陸對白蠟樹(ash tree)進(jìn)行的全面遺傳分析，有關(guān)英國幾乎所有白蠟樹都面臨滅絕的擔(dān)心可能被夸大了。

The study, carried out by a collaboration of 12 academic research teams and published in Nature, found that British trees are more likely than their continental counterparts to carry genes that protect against ash dieback, a fungal infection with the potential to wipe out 90 per cent of the European ash population.

這項(xiàng)研究由12個(gè)學(xué)術(shù)研究團(tuán)隊(duì)協(xié)同開展，結(jié)果發(fā)表于《自然》(Nature)雜志。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，相比歐洲大陸的白蠟樹，英國的白蠟樹更有可能攜帶抵御白蠟樹枯梢病(ash dieback)的基因;這是一種真菌感染，有可能殺死90%的歐洲白蠟樹種群。

“It’s an encouraging hint that things may not be as bad as we had feared,” said study leader Richard Buggs of Queen Mary University of London and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

“這是一個(gè)令人鼓舞的消息，表明事情可能不像我們此前擔(dān)心的那樣糟糕，”倫敦大學(xué)瑪麗皇后學(xué)院(Queen Mary University of London)和皇家植物園邱園(Royal Botanic Gardens Kew)的研究帶頭人理查德•巴格斯(Richard Buggs)表示。

“But these are preliminary indications and I wouldn’t want to see government policy on ash dieback shaped by the research until we have more evidence for the susceptibility of British trees.”

“但這些都是初步跡象，在我們有更多證據(jù)表明英國白蠟樹的易感性之前，我不想看到針對白蠟樹枯梢病的政府政策受到此項(xiàng)研究的影響。”

The encouraging news comes from the discovery of a link between reduced susceptibility to ash dieback and lower levels of plant chemicals called iridoid glycosides. Most British ash trees produce less of these compounds than continental ones, the genetic analysis suggests.

這一令人鼓舞的消息源于這樣一個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)：較低的白蠟樹枯梢病易感性與較低水平的植物化學(xué)物質(zhì)“環(huán)烯醚萜苷類”(iridoid glycosides)之間存在關(guān)聯(lián)。遺傳分析似乎表明，相比歐洲大陸的白蠟樹，多數(shù)英國白蠟樹生成的這類化合物較少。

Mr Buggs said the findings might explain why ash dieback has not spread as rapidly in the UK as feared in 2012 when the fungus first arrived from continental Europe. “Most of our early models were based on the Danish experience,” he said.

巴格斯表示，這些研究結(jié)果可能解釋了為什么2012年白蠟樹枯梢病從歐洲大陸傳播至英國時(shí)，沒有像人們擔(dān)心的那樣快速傳播。“我們使用的多數(shù)初期模型都是基于丹麥的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，”他說。

The disease causes trees to lose their leaves and eventually die. It has killed millions of plants in eastern and northern Europe since reaching Poland in 1992. Young trees die fast while mature ash often take several years to succumb.

這種疾病會導(dǎo)致白蠟樹落葉，最終枯萎而死。自1992年傳播至波蘭以來，它已在東歐和北歐殺死了數(shù)以百萬計(jì)的白蠟樹。幼樹很快死亡，而成年白蠟樹往往在幾年后死亡。

“Plants use a vast range of chemicals to defend against fungal attack, and the primary objective [of the project] was to identify differences which could be used to screen young ash trees and choose the best ones for replanting,” said co-author Murray Grant of the University of Warwick. “Our findings underline the need for further research to ensure that we select ash trees resilient to present and future threats.”

“植物利用多種多樣的化學(xué)物質(zhì)來抵御真菌侵襲，(該項(xiàng)目的)主要目標(biāo)是識別差異，以便篩選幼樹，挑選出最佳的樹進(jìn)行補(bǔ)種，”研究報(bào)告聯(lián)名作者、華威大學(xué)(University of Warwick)的默里•格蘭特(Murray Grant)表示。“我們的研究結(jié)果突顯了進(jìn)一步研究的需要，以確保我們篩選出對當(dāng)前乃至未來的威脅具有抵抗力的白蠟樹。”

While the genetic analysis is encouraging news for the fungal resistance of British ash, it may have a downside, too. Iridoid glycosides help to protect plants against insect pests, so low levels could make the British trees more vulnerable to the other big threat to European ash, a beetle called the emerald ash borer.

雖然遺傳分析在英國白蠟樹的真菌抗性上帶來了令人鼓舞的消息，但它也可能意味著一個(gè)弱點(diǎn)。環(huán)烯醚萜苷類有助于保護(hù)植物免受蟲害，因此這類化合物的含量較低可能使英國白蠟樹在另一大威脅——一種被稱為白蠟窄吉丁(emerald ash borer)的甲蟲——面前更為脆弱。

The beetle has devastated vast tracts of ash in North America and is spreading westward from Russia into Europe. Although emerald ash borer has not reached the UK, arboriculturists fear its arrival is just a matter of time.

這種甲蟲在北美摧毀了大量白蠟樹，并正從俄羅斯向西擴(kuò)散，直撲歐洲。雖然白蠟窄吉丁尚未抵達(dá)英國，但樹木栽培者擔(dān)心，它們的到來只是一個(gè)時(shí)間問題。