The genetic basis for variation in the concentration of phenolic glycosides in Salix sericea: an analysis of heritability

Abstract

Willows and many other members of the Salicaceae often produce phenolic glycosides, and the concentrations of these are known to vary among plants. We used progeny from a factorial half-sib quantitative genetics experiment with Salix sericea to determine whether the concentration of two phenolic glycosides, salicortin and 2′-cinnamoylsalicortin, show additive heritability. We found that the concentration of salicortin was much higher than 2′-cinnamoylsalicortin, and that both compounds showed additive genetic variation. However, the heritability of these two chemicals differed dramatically. We obtained heritability values of 0.20 for salicortin and 0.59 for 2′-cinnamoylsalicortin. Plant growth parameters were not strongly correlated with the concentrations of these phenolic glycosides.