I've been working on this myself a little, although it's mostly been on the back burner -- I haven't gone farther than trying to grow selfings of Commander Gillette. (All examples of Basye's roses have congenital RMV, CG selfs so readily that it's almost useless as a seed parent, and RMV may occasionally be spread through pollen. That limits the options. Growing selfings and hoping against RMV is a long shot, but I thought it better than giving up without a fight.) Over the last few years, I've heard of RRD-infected Bonica, Stanwell Perpetual, Mermaid, and others that were hoped would be effectively immune. I've even read one isolated report of it infecting R. bracteata itself, though I'm unsure what to think of it. (Dirty pruning shears? Error by the author?) Meanwhile, RRD just spreads and spreads... In any case, I'm prepared to try with any combination of R. carolina, R. palustris, Prairie Fire (arkansana hyb.), Commander Gillette (carolina hyb.), Bonica, Stanwell Perpetual, Harison's Yellow and a few others that seem worth a go. It will be a secondary project for me, and I'm not expecting to accomplish much, but we have to at least try, right? So I was wondering whether there'd been any progress on this, or whether those who know more about RRD than I might have any ideas about what the best choices seem to be at this point.

first .... i have never heard of this.. and am baffled.. not only that you have it on one plant.. but your only other dream plant is susceptible ... what are the odds of that..???? that said.. and based on the above mentioned knowledge base.. i would simply ask.. why in the world.. would you invest in a tree that has a 20 to 30 year life span.. and sit around wondering if and when it will get the problem.. there are so many alternatives that would be more' plant and forget about this specific problem'.. that i dont understand why you would risk it?? ken

Oh, Ann. I would wish all your roses immunity from now until forever, especially the most treasured ones. They are much more than garden plants. The sneaky relentlessness of this contagion is enough to make a rose gardener stark raving mad! Here's hoping for our friend science to point toward a light in the tunnel and for everyone in horticultural and agricultural fields to recognize and act on this very real and voracious threat. Thank you so much for all your contributions to our learning on this forum! Erasmus, I applaud your method and thoughts on RRD spread. I think you are spot on about vigilance. Wildfires start with a cigarette, firecracker or downed power line. Identifying and properly removing and disposing of the first spark can go a long way toward containment as we work toward eradication. Any large monoculture planting can cause huge ecological problems, and a swathe of roses which potentially hosts RRD can become one of the ugliest of ornamental disasters! No plant is maintenance free, but installing roses--Knockouts or any other "disease resistant" variety--in an unsupervised area is especially foolhardy. The marketing implication "plant, water, whack and ignore" can produce devastating consequences for the entire community and far beyond. Genetics may eventually unlock extremely useful information for future breeding and cultivation, but it's not going to alter the current course of this disease. Installing plantings of roses without continuous educated oversight and care is just asking for trouble. Even individual roses strung across private gardens can creat pathways of infection. Residential gardeners, along with every landscaping company and nursery, need to receive four alarm information about RRD. And then there are the unaddressed fields of "wild roses" which are not closely monitored by the highway or agricultural depts. In order to truly contain and eliminate this epidemic, we need to treat it like the plague it is. Observation, containment, elimination, eradication. Carol

The papers did not give the authors affiliation. From other papers by some of the authors it appears that at least some of them are located at the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA. and some are from USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Research Lab. Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA. see the link below. Here is a link that might be useful: link for other work by same authors.