Plant & Animal Genomes XIV Conference

January 14-18, 2006
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Association Genetics For Adaptive Traits In Douglas-Fir

Barnaly Pande¹ , Konstantin, V. Krutovsky² , Kathleen, D. Jermstad³ , Glenn, T. Howe⁴ , J. Bradley St. Clair⁵ , Nicholas, C. Wheeler⁶ , David, B. Neale¹

¹  Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

²  Department of Forest Science, Texas A&M University, 2135 TAMU, College Station, TX

³  USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Institute of Forest Genetics, Davis / Placerville, CA, USA

⁴  Department of Forest Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR , USA

⁵  USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, OR, USA

⁶  Molecular Tree Breeding Services LLC, Centralia, WA, USA

Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) displays tremendous adaptive genetic diversity, being found in diverse environments along the west coast of North America. Variation in genes conferring tolerance to cold and drought stress, and in genes controlling the timing of growth may in part be responsible for adaptation to environment. We are using a candidate gene based association genetics to understand the relationship between allelic variation and phenotypic variation in adaptive traits. Using a database of 15, 000 ESTs for candidate gene primer design, candidate genes are sequenced in a panel of 24 megagametophytes to search for SNPs. This panel was selected to represent the diversity in populations across Washington and Oregon. Estimates of nucleotide diversity, linkage disequilibrium and tests of neutrality will be presented. Selected SNPs from this study will be used to test for association with adaptive traits such as spring bud flush and cold-hardiness.