Journal Article

Modern Strategies to Assess and Breed Forest Tree Adaptation to Changing Climate

Bedoya-Canas, Larry E., Restrepo-Montoya, Manuela, Cortés, Andrés J.

2020

Overview

Studying the genetics of adaptation to new environments in ecologically and industrially important tree species is currently a major research line in the fields of plant science and genetic improvement for tolerance to abiotic stress. Specifically, exploring the genomic basis of local adaptation is imperative for assessing the conditions under which trees will successfully adapt in situ to global climate change. However, this knowledge has scarcely been used in conservation and forest tree improvement because woody perennials face major research limitations such as their outcrossing reproductive systems, long juvenile phase, and huge genome sizes. Therefore, in this review we discuss predictive genomic approaches that promise increasing adaptive selection accuracy and shortening generation intervals. They may also assist the detection of novel allelic variants from tree germplasm, and disclose the genomic potential of adaptation to different environments. For instance, natural populations of tree species invite using tools from the population genomics field to study the signatures of local adaptation. Conventional genetic markers and whole genome sequencing both help identifying genes and markers that diverge between local populations more than expected under neutrality, and that exhibit unique signatures of diversity indicative of “selective sweeps.” Ultimately, these efforts inform the conservation and breeding status capable of pivoting forest health, ecosystem services, and sustainable production. Key long-term perspectives include understanding how trees’ phylogeographic history may affect the adaptive relevant genetic variation available for adaptation to environmental change. Encouraging “big data” approaches (machine learning—ML) capable of comprehensively merging heterogeneous genomic and ecological datasets is becoming imperative, too.

• Publisher: Frontiers Media SA,Frontiers Media S.A
• Subject: Adaptation / assisted gene flow / Breeding / Breeding status / Cellulose / Climate change / Cloning / Conservation / Ecosystem services / Environmental changes / Forests / Gene sequencing / Genetic diversity / Genetic improvement / Genetic markers / Genetics / genome-wide association studies / genome-wide selection scans / Genomes / genomic prediction / Genomics / genomics of adaptation / Germplasm / Global climate / Lignin / Local population / Machine learning / Natural populations / Plant Science / Plant species / Population studies / Populations / Reproductive system / Signatures / Sustainable production / Trees / Whole genome sequencing