Ten juvenile Fraxinus excelsior half-sib families from two Lithuanian populations have been tested in the controlled environment for their response to ash dieback disease caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, detecting changes of genetic variation and heritability, as well as estimating genotype by environment (G×E) interaction and phenotypic plasticity following artificial spring frost and summer drought treatments. In 2014, a batch of 200 four-year-old ash seedlings was used for each treatment and control (no treatment). Health condition, bud flushing phenology and height were assessed for each seedling, and disease incidence and survival ratios were assessed for each family both before (at the beginning of the vegetation season) and after the treatments (at the end of the vegetation season). Disease incidence ratio increased from 0.77-0.80 up to 0.90-0.95. Tree mortality rates during one vegetation season were significantly lower in the frost treatment (21%) than in the drought treatment (25%) or control (31%). None of the tested F. excelsior families were completely resistant to ash dieback, although significant among-family differences in disease incidence and damage rates suggest an additive mode of gene action and thus a quantitative resistance to the disease. Neither disease incidence rates, nor tree health condition scores differed significantly among the applied treatments (including control) indicating in general a negligible effect of the simulated adverse conditions on health status of the ash seedlings. However, G×E interaction was found to be significant (at P > 0.05) for disease incidence, length of necrotic shoots and tree survival, implying that susceptibility of ash families to the dieback disease unequally depends on environmental conditions, and indicating a presence of genetic variation in plasticity and reaction norms of the tested families across environments (treatments). Substantially increased coefficients of additive genetic variation and heritability in health condition following both frost and drought treatments and compared to control showed that simulated stress conditions may noticeably contribute to expression of differences among the tested F. excelsior families in their resistance traits, thus enabling a better evaluation of performance of different families, an effective family selection for resistance, and achievement of a marked genetic gain.
Natural and urban forests worldwide are increasingly threatened by global change resulting from human-mediated factors, including invasions by lethal exotic pathogens. Ash dieback (ADB), incited by the alien invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has caused large-scale population decline of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) across Europe, and is threatening to functionally extirpate this tree species. Genetically controlled host resistance is a key element to ensure European ash survival and to restore this keystone species where it has been decimated. We know that a low proportion of the natural population of European ash expresses heritable, quantitative resistance that is stable across environments. To exploit this resource for breeding and restoration efforts, tools that allow for effective and efficient, rapid identification and deployment of superior genotypes are now sorely needed. Here we show that Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy of phenolic extracts from uninfected bark tissue, coupled with a model based on soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), can robustly discriminate between ADB-resistant and susceptible European ash. The model was validated with populations of European ash grown across six European countries. Our work demonstrates that this approach can efficiently advance the effort to save such fundamental forest resource in Europe and elsewhere.
Abstract:Tree genetic diversity is among the most important factors determining the sustainability of forest ecosystems. The main aim of the present study was to track possible changes in genetic diversity of regenerating populations of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in areas subjected either to a natural disturbance (windthrows and subsequent clear-cutting of the affected spruce stand) or to a changed land-use legacy (pine regeneration on abandoned agricultural land) with the aim of testing whether the new forest generation retains the genetic diversity of the putative maternal stand. Eight highly polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to reveal the genetic diversity and its spatial distribution in the studied tree populations. Self-regenerating juveniles of Norway spruce and Scots pine were spatially random and as genetically diverse as in the putative maternal populations. Genetic differentiation between putatively maternal trees and regenerating juveniles was low for both species. A high genetic diversity and random spatial genetic structure revealed in the regenerating populations provides a basis for the formation of evolutionary and ecologically sound stands able to adapt to ever-changing climatic conditions. Information on the genetic dynamics of the studied natural populations of long-lived coniferous tree species may be important for evaluating possible changes in genetic diversity at a local scale following forest ecosystem disturbances and changes in land-use legacies.
To meet the needs of carbon sequestration and production of raw materials from renewable natural resources for the timber market of the European Union, it is necessary to expand forest plantation areas. The efficiency of short rotation forestry depends primarily on the selection of hybrids and clones, suitable for the local environmental conditions. We postulate that ecogenetic response, ecogenetic plasticity and genotypic variation of different hybrids of poplars (Populus L.) depend both on the type of stressors (spring frosts, summer drought, increased UV-B radiation, warm winters) and peculiarities of the cross-bred species as well as on their genetic preadaptations to native environmental conditions of their origin. The aim of the study was to estimate the ecogenetic plasticity, genotypic variation of adaptive traits and adaptability of Populus hybrids under simulated conditions of the expected climate change. The research was performed with the cultivars and experimental clones of three different intraspecific hybrids of poplars (P. nigra L., P. deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh, and P. trichocarpa Torr. & Gray.) and four interspecific hybrids of poplars (P. deltoides L. × P. nigra, P. deltoides × P. trichocarpa, P. maximowiczii A. Henry × P. trichocarpa, and P. balsamifera L. × P. trichocarpa). Simulated spring frosts and summer drought treatments had a substantial impact on growth of trees, but the hybrid and clone effects were also significant and showed that many hybrids and clones in general retain their features/differences under stressful environmental conditions. A strongly expressed hybrid and clone interactions with simulated frost and drought effects (genotype-environment interaction, G × E) and not strong B-type genetic correlations of the parameters of the same hybrids and clones across different treatments showed different ecogenetic response, plasticity and specific ecological preferences of the clones and hybrids. The sensitivity of hybrids to UV-B radiation varied and depended on the origin of their parental trees and this sensitivity partially reflected their susceptibility also to other stressors. Warm winters adversely effected the growth of some hybrids while others - P. nigra × P. nigra and P. trichocarpa × P. trichocarpa, which parents originated from the southern part of their natural distribution range have increased their growth. This treatment also resulted in reduction of the heritability and genotypic variation of growth traits
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