Phenotypic Variability and Genetic Diversity in a Pinus koraiensis Clonal Trial in Northeastern China.

David Kombi Kaviriri,Qinhui Zhang,Jingyuan Wang,Damase P Khasa,Xiangling You,Jinpeng Zhang,Xinxin Zhang,Xiyang Zhao,Luping Jiang

doi:10.3390/genes11060673

David Kombi Kaviriri, Qinhui Zhang + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11060673

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Abstract

Combining phenotypic and genetic characteristics in a genetic variation study is of paramount importance to effectively orient the selection of producers’ elite trees in a seed orchard. In total, 28 phenotypic characteristics and 16 microsatellite loci were used to analyze the clonal genetic variation, to characterize the genetic diversity, and to refine the genetic classifications of 110 Pinus koraiensis clones grown in the Naozhi orchard in northeastern China. All clones were significantly different in most traits. Most of the phenotypic characteristics showed great genetic variation among clones, while the genotypic differentiation was weak between the selection sites of clones. The SSR markers showed a relatively high level of genetic diversity (Na = 4.67 ± 0.43, Ne = 2.916 ± 0.18, I = 1.15 ± 0.07, Ho = 0.69 ± 0.04, He = 0.62 ± 0.02, and mean polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.574), with higher heterozygosity as an indication of a lower probability of inbreeding events in the orchard. Despite weak correlation coefficients between dissimilarity matrices (r(A/B), range equal to 0.022, p-value < 0.001), the genetic and phenotypic classifications congruently subdivided all the clones into three major groups. The patterns of phenotypic trait variations and genetic diversity are valuable to effectively select materials in breeding programs of P. koraiensis.

Highlights

Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc (Korean pine) is an important economic timber species that dominates the mixed broadleaf-conifer forests in northeastern China [1]
Traits related to the cone, seed, and nut were more stable, with repeatability values ranging from 0.80 for coat thickness to 0.98 for cone width, indicating that the observed differences in fruit characteristics were more related to clone identity than to the environment
The average growth performances of clones was significantly different; most of the characteristics showed moderate to very high levels of significant differences (0.05 ≤ p-value ≤ 0.001) based on ANOVA (Table 1), apart from stem straightness degree and cone number, for which the difference was not significant between clones, with p-values equal to 0.553 and 0.993, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc (Korean pine) is an important economic timber species that dominates the mixed broadleaf-conifer forests in northeastern China [1]. Et Zucc (Korean pine) is an important economic timber species that dominates the mixed broadleaf-conifer forests in northeastern China [1]. P. koraiensis naturally occurs in a reduced area within northeastern China, north of North Korea, central Japan, and southeastern Russia [3]. It is widely appreciated for its use in internal and external construction, due to the high quality of its. Genes 2020, 11, 673 wood [3]. The nuts of this species are used for a variety of nutritional products and therapeutics [4]. Artificial Korean pine forests are grown throughout northeastern Chinese provinces [7]

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