Genomic selection in western redcedar: from proof of concept to operational application.

Publisher: Wiley on behalf of New Phytologist Trust Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9882884 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1469-8137 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 0028646X NLM ISO Abbreviation: New Phytol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Oxford : Wiley on behalf of New Phytologist Trust
Original Publication: London, New York [etc.] Academic Press.

Selection, Genetic* ; Genome, Plant* ; Genomics*/methods ; Plant Breeding*/methods; Proof of Concept Study ; Quantitative Trait, Heritable ; Models, Genetic ; Phenotype ; Reproducibility of Results ; Trees/genetics ; Linkage Disequilibrium/genetics ; Plant Leaves/genetics

Forests face many threats. While traditional breeding may be too slow to deliver well-adapted trees, genomic selection (GS) can accelerate the process. We describe a comprehensive study of GS from proof of concept to operational application in western redcedar (WRC, Thuja plicata). Using genomic data, we developed models on a training population (TrP) of trees to predict breeding values (BVs) in a target seedling population (TaP) for growth, heartwood chemistry, and foliar chemistry traits. We used cross-validation to assess prediction accuracy (PACC) in the TrP; we also validated models for early-expressed foliar traits in the TaP. Prediction accuracy was high across generations, environments, and ages. PACC was not reduced to zero among unrelated individuals in TrP and was only slightly reduced in the TaP, confirming strong linkage disequilibrium and the ability of the model to generate accurate predictions across breeding generations. Genomic BV predictions were correlated with those from pedigree but displayed a wider range of within-family variation due to the ability of GS to capture the Mendelian sampling term. Using predicted TaP BVs in multi-trait selection, we functionally implemented and integrated GS into an operational tree-breeding program.
(© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.)

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Genome Canada and Genome British Columbia; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Province of British Columbia Land-Based Investment Strategy Tree Improvement program

Keywords: conifer; forestry; genomic selection; molecular breeding; resilience traits; western redcedar; wood quality

Date Created: 20240807 Date Completed: 20241017 Latest Revision: 20241017

20241018

10.1111/nph.20022

39107899