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Genetic control of growth and shoot phenology in juvenile loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) clonal trials

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Abstract

Southern pine genetic improvement programs have selected for faster early growth which has often increased yields over unimproved material, and some of this improvement is likely attributable to variation in growth phenology among genotypes. However, the genetics of shoot growth phenology traits are not well characterized. Loblolly pine cuttings and seedlings from parents originating in the Atlantic coastal plain (ACP) and Florida and grown on sites established in Palatka, FL and Cuthbert, GA were assessed for shoot phenology and growth traits during the second year and for growth in year 6. Individual-tree clonal repeatability in different growth and shoot phenology traits varied from 0.09 to 0.79 in cuttings, and was lower in Palatka than Cuthbert. Non-additive components of heritability were lower, with a few exceptions, than additive effects. Additive and genotypic correlations across sites were high (>0.6) for all traits measured in cuttings and for most seedling traits, suggesting low genotype × environment interactions between these two sites. Compared with progeny from crosses between ACP parents, progeny of Florida parents started growth earlier in the season and ended later. Strong genetic correlations were observed between second-year phenology traits and sixth-year height and diameter. This suggests some two-year traits could be useful for early selection of high-performing genotypes.

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Acknowledgements

The present work was funded by the Forest Biology Research Cooperative, the Cooperative Forest Genetic Research Program, and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Coordinated Agricultural Project Award #2011-68002-30185. In addition, financial support to L.M.P. was provided by the Fulbright-Bunge and Born fellowship and the National Institute of Agriculture Technology (INTA) of Argentina. The authors further acknowledge Greg Powell and Fabian Hergenreder who took the measurements during the second growth season, as well as Plum Creek Timber Company and Mead Westvaco Corporation for providing the land and general management for the study sites in Palatka and Cuthbert, respectively, and for providing the measurements from the sixth growth season. Finally, the authors would like to thank Ronald Lanner for his guidance and feedback on shoot terminology, as well as the reviewers for their suggestions to improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Tania Quesada, Liliana M. Parisi, Dudley A. Huber, Salvador A. Gezan, Timothy A. Martin, John M. Davis & Gary F. Peter

  2. Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    John M. Davis & Gary F. Peter

  3. Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    John M. Davis & Gary F. Peter

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  1. Tania Quesada
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  2. Liliana M. Parisi
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Correspondence to Gary F. Peter.

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Communicated by R. Burdon

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Quesada, T., Parisi, L.M., Huber, D.A. et al. Genetic control of growth and shoot phenology in juvenile loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) clonal trials. Tree Genetics & Genomes 13, 65 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-017-1143-y

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