密歇根州的研究人员致力于培育更强壮的苹果树
📖 逐句对照翻译
Researchers in the U.S. state of Michigan are looking for ways to help apple trees survive bad weather.
美国密歇根州的研究人员正在寻找帮助苹果树抵御恶劣天气的方法。
To do this, one researcher plans to use a late bloomer.
为了做到这一点，一位研究人员计划使用一种晚开花的植物。
The late blooming tree is a native Michigan apple tree known by the scientific name Malus coronaria.
这种晚开花的树是密歇根州本土的苹果树，学名为Malus coronaria。
To fight freezing temperatures, the tree blooms two or three weeks later than trees that produce cultivated varieties of apples like Honeycrisp or Red Delicious.
为了对抗冰点以下的低温，这种树比那些结出蜜脆或红蛇果等栽培苹果品种的树晚两三周开花。
“That doesn’t sound like a lot, but almost always that’s enough for the flowers to escape the killing spring frost,” said Steve van Nocker.
史蒂夫·范诺克说：“这听起来似乎不多，但几乎总是足以让花朵躲过致命的晚霜。”
He is a professor and plant geneticist at Michigan State University.
他是密歇根州立大学的教授兼植物遗传学家。
Van Nocker wants to identify the genes responsible for the Malus coronaria’s delayed blooms.
范诺克希望找出导致野苹果延迟开花的基因。
Then he will use those genes to develop more frost-resistant apple varieties.
然后他会利用这些基因培育出更抗寒的苹果品种。
Van Nocker’s project is one of many ways researchers and growers are trying to make apples more resilient.
范诺克的项目只是研究人员和种植者试图让苹果更具适应力的众多方法之一。
They say this is important because of climate change.
他们说这一点很重要，因为气候变化。
Other researchers are making similar efforts.
其他研究人员也在做出类似的努力。
Jared Buono is the director of Cornell University’s Hudson Valley Research Laboratory in New York state.
贾里德·布奥诺是纽约州康奈尔大学哈德逊河谷研究实验室的主任。
Buono’s lab is adding solar panels to its experimental orchard.
Buono的实验室正在为其实验果园安装太阳能电池板。
He said growers are experimenting with solar panels in Europe and South Korea.
他说，种植者正在欧洲和韩国试验太阳能电池板。
The panels protect fruit from hail and sun damage but also let in light and heat when necessary.
这些面板保护水果免受冰雹和阳光伤害，同时在必要时还能让光线和热量进入。
University of Maryland researchers recently announced the development of a more heat-tolerant apple variety.
马里兰大学的研究人员最近宣布，他们研发了一种更耐热的苹果品种。
At Penn State University in Pennsylvania, a team built an unmanned vehicle that uses propane fuel to warm trees up as it moves around an orchard.
在宾夕法尼亚州的宾夕法尼亚州立大学，一个团队建造了一辆无人驾驶车辆，它在果园中移动时使用丙烷燃料为树木加温。
Buono said these efforts can ease the effects of bad weather.
博诺表示，这些努力可以减轻恶劣天气的影响。
On May 18, 2023, frost damaged trees across New York state and cut apple production by 20 percent.
2023年5月18日，霜冻损害了纽约州各地的树木，导致苹果产量减少了20%。
A recent Washington State University study examined weather in apple growing areas from 1979 to 2022.
华盛顿州立大学最近的一项研究考察了1979年至2022年苹果种植区的天气情况。
It said the top apple producing states of Washington, Michigan and New York reported fewer cold days and more warm fall nights than they used to.
报告称，华盛顿、密歇根和纽约这三个苹果产量最高的州，其寒冷天数比过去减少，而温暖的秋夜则有所增加。
Washington state also has reported more extreme heat.
华盛顿州也报告了更极端的炎热天气。
The study said warming temperatures could cause trees to come out of dormancy too early and increase the risk of sunburn.
研究称，气温升高可能导致树木过早结束休眠，并增加晒伤的风险。
This hurts the quality of apples.
这会影响苹果的品质。
Malus coronaria is also called sweet crabapple.
毛叶海棠也被称为甜海棠。
It was once so common in Michigan that its blossoms were named the state flower in 1897.
它曾在密歇根州极为常见，以至于其花朵在1897年被定为州花。
But, van Nocker said it appears to be disappearing.
但范诺克表示，它似乎正在消失。
The trees that remain often produce little new growth or fruit.
剩下的树木往往长不出多少新枝，也结不出什么果实。
Van Nocker and graduate student Lily Christian recently took cuttings from some trees.
范诺克和研究生莉莉·克里斯蒂安最近从一些树上剪下了插枝。
They will test them to make sure they are fully Malus coronaria and not a hybrid variety.
他们将对它们进行检测，以确保它们完全是花红（Malus coronaria），而非杂交品种。
Then, the cuttings will be grafted onto apple rootstock.
然后，将插条嫁接到苹果砧木上。
They hope to get healthy trees using this method.
他们希望通过这种方法获得健康的树木。
Their goal is to identify the genes that cause late blooming and create a variety of apple that can be sold in markets.
他们的目标是找出导致晚开花的基因，并培育出一种可以在市场上销售的苹果品种。
Van Nocker is also sending seeds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
范诺克还将种子送往美国农业部。
If the tree continues to disappear, he hopes to save its genes this way.
如果这种树继续消失，他希望用这种方式保存它的基因。
Making a later-blooming commercial apple could take more than 10 years.
培育一种晚熟的商业苹果可能需要10年以上的时间。
If a Malus coronaria is crossbred with a commercial apple tree to make a new hybrid, it would take four or five years for that tree to start producing apples.
如果將馬魯斯冠花蘋果與商業蘋果樹雜交培育出新品種，這棵樹需要四到五年才能開始結果。
Crossbreeding would continue until researchers developed an apple with the desired qualities of both varieties.
杂交会一直持续，直到研究人员培育出兼具两个品种所需特性的苹果。
But van Nocker said it is important to try.
但范诺克表示，尝试是很重要的。
“With climate change, it’s quite possible that apples won’t be able to be produced in Michigan in the future,” he said.
他说：“随着气候变化，未来密歇根州很可能无法生产苹果了。”
“That’s why cultivar improvement, especially in terms of frost resistance, is so important.”
这就是为什么品种改良，尤其是在抗霜冻性方面，如此重要。
I’m Anna Matteo.
我是安娜·马特奥。
Dee-Ann Durbin reported this story for the Associated Press from Washington.
迪-安·德宾在华盛顿为美联社报道了这则新闻。
Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English.
安娜·马特奥为VOA英语学习频道改编了此内容。
