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QTL influencing growth and wood properties in Eucalyptus globulus

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Abstract

Regions of the genome affecting physical and chemical wood properties (quantitative trait loci (QTL)), as well as growth, were identified using a clonally replicated, outbred F2 family (112 genotypes, each with two ramets) of Eucalyptus globulus, planted in a field trial in north-west Tasmania. Traits studied were growth (assessed by stem diameter), wood density, cellulose content, pulp yield and lignin content. These traits are important in breeding for pulpwood, and will be important in breeding for carbon sequestration and biofuel production. Between one and four QTL were located for each trait, with each QTL explaining between 4% and 12% of the phenotypic variation. Several QTL for chemical wood properties were co-located, consistent with their high phenotypic correlations, and may reflect pleiotropic effects of the same genes. In contrast, QTL for density and lignin content with overlapping confidence intervals were considered to be due to independent genes, since the QTL effects were inherited from different parents. The inclusion of fully informative microsatellites on the linkage map allowed the determination of homology at the linkage group level between QTL and candidate genes in different pedigrees of E. globulus and different eucalypt species. None of the candidate genes mapped in comparable studies co-located with our major QTL for wood chemical properties, arguing that there are important candidate genes yet to be discovered.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP0453704) with industrial partners Gunns Ltd., the Forests and Forest Industries Council of Tasmania, the STBA, Forestry Tasmania, RAIZ, seedEnergy Pty. Ltd., Timbercorp Ltd. and WA Plantation Resources Ltd. We thank Kelsey Joyce and Gunns Ltd. for access to the trial site and help with clonal propagation, as well as Linda Ballard and Geoff Downes for NIR predictions and Paul Tilyard for data management.

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  1. School of Plant Science and CRC for Forestry, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 7001

    Jules S. Freeman, Simon P. Whittock, Brad M. Potts & René E. Vaillancourt

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  1. Jules S. Freeman
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  2. Simon P. Whittock
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  3. Brad M. Potts
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  4. René E. Vaillancourt
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Correspondence to Jules S. Freeman.

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Communicated by D. Grattapaglia

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Freeman, J.S., Whittock, S.P., Potts, B.M. et al. QTL influencing growth and wood properties in Eucalyptus globulus . Tree Genetics & Genomes 5, 713–722 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-009-0222-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-009-0222-0

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