Initial DNA Results and Apple Blitz 2019!
Photo by Matt Talarico
Save the date for the 2019 Apple Blitz! We are making preparations for our second annual Apple Blitz set for Saturday, September 21, from 8am to 1pm. We are so grateful for all of our community volunteers and citizens volunteers who helped us sample and survey apples across Boulder County last year. We have space for 60 volunteers this year and will be focusing on finding and sampling apple trees from Open Space areas. Please fill out our online volunteer form to secure your place!
We have preliminary DNA results!
Earlier this summer, undergraduate Dustin Bailey, and graduate students Deidre Jaeger and Chris Smith prepared the DNA samples and sent them to the USDA labs for sequencing. We have preliminary results! Deidre and Chris have been working hard at matching markers to known varieties so that we can determine which varieties are occurring in Boulder County. Of the 500 samples that were sent for analysis, only 100 or so samples had perfect matches. Most of the others were missing one marker to make a perfect match. Deidre and Chris, and possibly some summer Bridge students, will be cross checking the DNA results with photos and ecological data of each tree to make sure we can name that tree with greater confidence. Be on the look out for an email in the coming months for the results for your tree!
These are the varieties found in our sampling from 2018. Are any of these new to you?
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We want to thank Carol Coe, Edward and Karin Vanbaak, Jim Van Eman, and Elisabeth Glass for supporting the Apple Tree Project by donating through the University of Colorado Advancement. Your generosity will help with the Apple Blitz 2019!