scholarly journals Genetic variation in phenology and growth among and within Norway spruce populations from two altitudinal transects in Mid-Norway

Silva Fennica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Skrøppa ◽  
Arne Steffenrem

Progenies from open pollinated cones collected in natural populations of Norway spruce ( (L. Karst.)) distributed along two altitudinal transects in Mid-Norway were tested in the nursery, in short term tests and in long-term field trials. The populations showed clinal variation related to the mean annual temperatures of the populations, with the earliest bud flush and cessation of shoot elongation and lowest height at age nine years for the high altitude populations. Within population variation was considerable as the narrow sense heritability for these traits was 0.67, 0.31 and 0.09 in one transect and 0.55, 0.18 and 0.14 in the other transect, respectively. Lammas shoots occurred in the short term trials with large variation in frequency between years. There was significant family variation for this trait, but also interactions between populations and year. The variance within populations was considerably larger in the populations from low altitude compared to the high-altitude populations. Significant genetic correlations between height and phenology traits and damage scores indicate that families flushing early and ceasing growth late were taller. Taller families also had higher frequencies of damages. Selection of the top 20% families for height growth in short term tests at age nine years gave a simulated gain of 11% increased height growth at age 18 years in long term trials at altitudes similar to those of origin of the populations. The gain was negative when high altitude populations were selected based on testing in the lowland.Picea abies

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 768-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mats Hannerz ◽  
Johan Sonesson ◽  
Inger Ekberg

Genetic parameters were estimated for traits observed in one short-term "farm-field" test and in seven long-term field trials of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). The trials, located in southern and central Sweden, were based on subsets of 201 open-pollinated families derived from plus trees grafted in seed orchards. Observations of height growth and phenology in the farm-field test were made during years 2-4, and trees in field trials were assessed for height and damage at 9-14 years of age. Narrrow-sense heritabilities for height-growth traits in the field trials varied from 0.05 to 0.47. Heritabilities in the farm-field test were approximately 0.80 for date of bud burst, 0.35 for leader lignification, and 0.20 for frequency of seedlings with free growth. Early bud burst and a high degree of free growth in the farm-field test were genetically correlated with lower height and higher frequency of ramicorns and frost damage in the field trials. Height in the farm-field test was poorly and inconsistently correlated with height in the field. Genetic correlations for final heights among the field trials were usually significant and in the range of 0.7 and above. Correlations did not decline with distance between trials, suggesting that local climate is more important than regional climatic zones when matching site and genotype.


Author(s):  
Cynthia M. Beall ◽  
Kingman P. Strohl

Biological anthropologists aim to explain the hows and whys of human biological variation using the concepts of evolution and adaptation. High-altitude environments provide informative natural laboratories with the unique stress of hypobaric hypoxia, which is less than usual oxygen in the ambient air arising from lower barometric pressure. Indigenous populations have adapted biologically to their extreme environment with acclimatization, developmental adaptation, and genetic adaptation. People have used the East African and Tibetan Plateaus above 3,000 m for at least 30,000 years and the Andean Plateau for at least 12,000 years. Ancient DNA shows evidence that the ancestors of modern highlanders have used all three high-altitude areas for at least 3,000 years. It is necessary to examine the differences in biological processes involved in oxygen exchange, transport, and use among these populations. Such an approach compares oxygen delivery traits reported for East African Amhara, Tibetans, and Andean highlanders with one another and with short-term visitors and long-term upward migrants in the early or later stages of acclimatization to hypoxia. Tibetan and Andean highlanders provide most of the data and differ quantitatively in biological characteristics. The best supported difference is the unelevated hemoglobin concentration of Tibetans and Amhara compared with Andean highlanders as well as short- and long-term upward migrants. Moreover, among Tibetans, several features of oxygen transfer and oxygen delivery resemble those of short-term acclimatization, while several features of Andean highlanders resemble the long-term responses. Genes and molecules of the oxygen homeostasis pathways contribute to some of the differences.


2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhui Weng ◽  
Kathy Tosh ◽  
Yill Sung Park ◽  
Michele S. Fullarton

Abstract Polycross-pollinated white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) families were evaluated in field and retrospective nursery tests in 1989, 1991, and 1992, respectively. Height growth was measured at age 10 for the field tests and at ages 1 to 6 for the retrospective nursery tests. Except for a few cases, the family mean correlations between nursery and field heights were significant for the 1989 and 1992 series, and their corresponding genetic correlations ranged from low to medium (from 0.37 to 0.74). Because of heavy noncrop competition, height growth in the 1991 nursery series showed consistently lower heritabilities and correlations with field performance compared with those of the other two series. Early nursery selection by theoretical prediction was generally efficient for the 1989 and 1992 series. Rank classification analysis indicated that application of early nursery selection should be used with caution for identifying elite families but could be used to cull inferior families or clones, apply multiple-stage selection, or perform positive assortative mating.


2010 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIETA GOENAGA ◽  
JUAN JOSÉ FANARA ◽  
ESTEBAN HASSON

SummaryFood shortage is a stress factor that commonly affects organisms in nature. Resistance to food shortage or starvation resistance (SR) is a complex quantitative trait with direct implications on fitness. However, surveys of natural genetic variation in SR at different geographic scales are scarce. Here, we have measured variation in SR in sets of lines derived from nine natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster collected in western Argentina. Our study shows that within population variation explained a larger proportion of overall phenotypic variance (80%) than among populations (7·2%). We also noticed that an important fraction of variation was sex-specific. Overall females were more resistant to starvation than males; however, the magnitude of the sexual dimorphism (SD) in SR varied among lines and explained a significant fraction of phenotypic variance in all populations. Estimates of cross-sex genetic correlations suggest that the genetic architecture of SR is only partially shared between sexes in the populations examined, thus, facilitating further evolution of the SD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrie Klinger

Abstract Seaweeds play essential ecological and biogeochemical roles and support important industrial applications. Sustaining natural populations of seaweeds under climate change while simultaneously putting seaweeds to use in climate solutions requires that we weave together disparate lines of inquiry—the ecological and the industrial—to create a more holistic perspective and integrated research agenda. Innovation in the use of seaweeds must be more than aspirational—it requires evidence of effectiveness in the short term, and a promise to sustain nature and people in the long term.


2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Q. D. Goodger ◽  
Ian E. Woodrow

The rare Australian tree Eucalyptus yarraensis Maiden & Cambage is cyanogenic, a quantitative trait potentially indicative of genetic diversity. Cyanogenic plants are capable of releasing cyanide from endogenous cyanide-containing compounds. Cyanide is toxic or deterrent to generalist or non-adapted specialist herbivores. Consequently, cyanogenic plants are afforded an effective means of chemical defense. In this paper we characterize quantitative variation in cyanogenic capability, known as cyanogenic polymorphism, in E. yarraensis for the first time. We show that the cyanogenic glucoside prunasin (R-mandelonitrile-β-D-glucoside) is the only cyanogenic compound in E. yarraensis foliage. We also show that two natural populations of E. yarraensis display extensive intra- and inter-population variation in foliar prunasin concentration. The high prunasin concentrations reported in this paper represent the highest yet recorded for mature eucalypt leaves. The cyanogenic variation could not be attributed to measured physical and chemical parameters, supporting the hypothesis that the variation is genetically based. A preliminary progeny trial also supports this hypothesis, with narrow sense heritability estimated at 1.17 from three half-sibling families. The variation in cyanogenic capability may be a useful tool in the development of a conservation strategy for the species.


2013 ◽  
Vol 308 ◽  
pp. 188-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia A. Sohn ◽  
Timo Gebhardt ◽  
Christian Ammer ◽  
Jürgen Bauhus ◽  
Karl-Heinz Häberle ◽  
...  

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Rogers ◽  
R. F. Stettler ◽  
P. E. Heilmann

Growth and morphology of 308 black cottonwood (Populustrichocarpa Torr & Gray) clones were studied at one plantation site in northwestern Washington. The material was derived from both open-pollinated seed and branch cuttings from 10 natural populations in major river valleys west of the Cascade Range, between central Oregon (latitude 44°44′) and southern British Columbia (latitude 49°05′). Most of the clones (258) were derived from open-pollinated seedlings, with approximately six from each of two to five selected parents per population. Fifty of the clones were ramets from five field-selected ortets per population. Each clone was represented by two ramets in each of two blocks in a randomized complete block design. Three-year height and diameter growth displayed the largest amount of variation at the clonal level, followed by lesser amounts at the family and population levels. A significant block × clone interaction, combined with some responses contrasting with earlier studies on a different site, suggests that the interaction of genotype with environment is important for this species. Weak clinal trends were observed, despite a large degree of within-population variation. Narrow-sense heritability estimates and their standard errors were 0.10 ± 0.08 and 0.13 ± 0.09 for 3rd-year height and diameter, respectively. Significant trait correlations were obtained between volume and branch characteristics. The implications of these results and their relationship to other ongoing work in black cottonwood are discussed.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e0150184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marine Breitwieser ◽  
Amélia Viricel ◽  
Marianne Graber ◽  
Laurence Murillo ◽  
Vanessa Becquet ◽  
...  

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