Editing Chestnut blight (section)

==Life cycle and reproduction==
The primary plant tissues targeted by ''C. parasitica'' are the inner bark, an area containing the conductive tissue, and the cambium, a layer of actively dividing cells that give rise to secondary vascular tissues. In these tissues, the pathogen forms diffuse cankers in which the mycelium overwinters.<ref name="Chestnut blight"/> In the following spring, two types of fruiting bodies will form: [[pycnidia]], usually first, and [[perithecia]].<ref name="Chestnut blight"/> Following rainfall, the pycnidia ooze orange tendrils of conidia, the asexual spores, while perithecia forcibly eject ascospores, the sexual spores.<ref name="Chestnut blight"/><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.forestpathology.org/dis_chestnut.html|title=Forest Pathology - Chestnut Blight|website=www.forestpathology.org|access-date=2017-12-15}}</ref> Upon becoming airborne, ascospores are carried by eddies of wind to new hosts or infect other parts of the same tree.<ref name="Chestnut blight"/> When insects, birds, or other wildlife come into contact with the cankers, they can mechanically disperse the conidia to a new host.<ref name="Chestnut blight"/><ref name=":1" /> Additionally, the asexual spores can be dispersed by rain splash.<ref name=":1" /> Once on the new host, or new area of the tree, the spores can germinate and infect the inner bark through insect wounds and fissures in the outer bark.

If cankers continue to form and expand, the fungus can girdle the stem, severing the flow of nutrients and water to the vital vegetative tissues. The absence of nutrient dispersal will result in above ground tree death.  However, the root system may survive. As a result, American chestnuts exist mainly as shrubs sprouting from the old, surviving roots.<ref name=":1" /> These sprouts usually die of infection by ''C. parasitica'' before reaching sexual maturity.

{{anchor|Management|Hypovirulence|Hypovirus|Sanitation|Chemical control}}