Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) in Western North America.

ABSTRACT: Whitebark pine (WBP, Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is an endangered conifer species due to heavy mortality from white pine blister rust (WPBR, caused by Cronartium ribicola) and mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae). Information about genetic diversity and population structure is of fundamental importance for its conservation and restoration. However, current knowledge on the genetic constitution and genomic variation is still limited for WBP. In this study, an integrated genomics approach was applied to characterize seed collections from WBP breeding programs in western North America. RNA-seq analysis was used for de novo assembly of the WBP needle transcriptome, which contains 97,447 protein-coding transcripts. Within the transcriptome, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were di

SUBMITTER: Liu JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5161329 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature