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Variations in cone and seed phenotypic traits among and within populations of Aleppo pine in Jordan

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Abstract

Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) is one of the most valuable species in the Mediterranean basin and is mainly used in reforestation programs in Jordan to combat desertification. Currently little is known about genetic variation in this species in Jordan. Thus, the aim of the study was to assess inter- and intra-population variation in cone (cone length, cone width, cone weight, and number of seeds per cone) and seed traits (seed length, seed width, 100-seed weight and germination). For this purpose, four natural and five planted populations were considered, and cones were collected from 15 to 20 open-pollinated families in each population and eight traits were analyzed. The results showed significant (p < 0.05) inter- and intra-population variation in cone and seed traits. More of the variation was among populations than within populations. The natural populations exhibited relatively higher phenotypic variability in cone and seed traits than the planted populations. Cone and seed traits showed positive correlations with altitude but negative correlations with mean annual temperature, suggesting that altitudinal factor should be considered in future reforestation program. The findings demonstrate the presence of moderate genetic variation in seed weight, which can be exploited to initiate an improvement program for the species and for ex-situ conservation in gene banks. Establishment of field gene banks at various locations and environments is necessary to preserve genetic resources of Aleppo pine.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Science and Technology Program of Fuzhou, China (2021-P-033) and Science Foundation for The Excellent Youth Scholars of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (KXJQ19015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry College, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Emad Mustafa, Mulualem Tigabu & Ming Li

  2. Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and the Afliated Directorate of Forestry, Bani-Knanah, 2099, Jordan

    Emad Mustafa

  3. Southern Swedish Forest Research Center, Faculty of Forest Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 49, 230 53, Alnarp, Sweden

    Mulualem Tigabu

  4. National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), PO Box 639, Baqa’a, 19381, Jordan

    Abdallah Aldahadha

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  1. Emad Mustafa
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  2. Mulualem Tigabu
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  3. Abdallah Aldahadha
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  4. Ming Li
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Contributions

EM, MT and LM developed the idea; EM designed and performed the experiment, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper. ML and MT designed the experiment and revised the paper. AA took part in field and lab work and revised the paper.

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Correspondence to Ming Li.

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The study had been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, Jordan and got the permission to collect and analysis the genetic materials and use the results for publishing as peer-reviewed article in a relevant journal.

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Mustafa, E., Tigabu, M., Aldahadha, A. et al. Variations in cone and seed phenotypic traits among and within populations of Aleppo pine in Jordan. New Forests 55, 289–304 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-023-09978-6

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