ASSOCIATIONS OF CANDIDATE GENE SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS WITH WOOD PROPERTY PHENOTYPES IN LOBLOLLY PINE

¹ Environmental Horticulture, University of California, Davis CA 95616

² Southern Institute of Forest Genetics, USDA Forest Service, Saucier, MS 39574

³ Weyerhaeuser Company, Weyerhaeuser Technical Center, Tacoma WA 98477

⁴ Institute of Forest Genetics, USDA Forest Service, Davis CA 95616

Association mapping is a potentially powerful tool in plant genomics to identify genes controlling complex phenotypes of economic importance. Previously, we catalogued single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 20 genes with plausible involvement in the genetic control of wood property traits in pines. Using FP-TDI, we genotyped 60 SNPs in 435 clonally propagated 1st and 2nd generation selections of loblolly pine. Underlying population structure was investigated using 40 SSRs distributed across all linkage groups and the software package Structure (v.2.0). SNP genotypes were tested individually for association with the clonal means of nine physical wood property traits and two chemical wood property traits by analysis of variance. Experiment-wide significance levels were determined by permutation. Conclusions from this first association study in pines will be discussed.