Genetic Improvement of Pinus koraiensis in China: Current Situation and Future Prospects

Abstract

Pinus koraiensis (Sieb.et Zucc) is an economically and ecologically important tree species, naturally distributed in northeastern China. Conservation efforts and genetic improvement for this species began in the 1960s and 1980s, with the establishment of several primary seed orchards based on range-wide provenance evaluations. The original breeding objective was to improve growth and wood yield, but during the recent decade, it was redefined to include other traits, such as an enhancement of wood properties, seed oil content, cone yield, and the development of elite provenance with families, clones, and varieties with good tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, improvement processes are slow due to a long breeding cycle, and the number of improved varieties is still low. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the selective improvement of P. koraiensis varieties, such as elite provenance, family, and clones, using various breeding procedures. We collate information on advances in the improvement of P. koraiensis, based on conventional breeding and molecular marker-assisted breeding methods; identify gaps in our understanding of the tree improvement processes; and propose future research directions, which will provide new insight for subsequent genetic breeding research on P. koraiensis.

Development and Transferability of EST-SSR Markers for Pinus koraiensis from Cold-Stressed Transcriptome through Illumina Sequencing

“…Therefore, to protect and utilize precious wild resources of P. koraiensis, it is essential to evaluate the genetic diversity and genetic structure of natural germplasm resources, which provide useful genetic information for the protection of elite wild resources and for further research on the origin and evolution of this coniferous species and its related species. However, due to a lack of genome information, only a limited number of polymorphic molecular markers, such as simple sequence repeats (SSRs), have been developed and used in population genetics studies, which has greatly hindered the application of molecular marker technology in the study of genetic improvement of P. koraiensis [11,12].…”

An Overview of the Practices and Management Methods for Enhancing Seed Production in Conifer Plantations for Commercial Use

“…They are the largest and most important species of gymnosperms with high economic and ecological values, which have a potential life span of 1000 years under natural growth conditions [1]. Conifers include about 613 species, mainly in the Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae and Cupressaceae families that are widely distributed over the world [2,3]. They appeared on earth's surface about three hundred million years ago [4].…”

Estimation of Genetic Parameters and Wood Yield Selection Index in a Clonal Trial of Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) in Northeastern China

“…The improvement of Korean pine dates back more than a half century [7]. To date, significant gains have been realized, and several studies reported some improvements in growth rate, and seed and wood quality [8][9][10][11]. Facing multiple needs and a permanent global change, multi-objective approaches have been suggested for the sustainable management of forest resources [12].…”