Growth gains from selective breeding in a spruce hybrid zone do not compromise local adaptation to climate.

ABSTRACT: Hybrid zones contain extensive standing genetic variation that facilitates rapid responses to selection. The Picea glauca × Picea engelmannii hybrid zone in western Canada is the focus of tree breeding programs that annually produce ~90 million reforestation seedlings. Understanding the direct and indirect effects of selective breeding on adaptive variation is necessary to implement assisted gene flow (AGF) polices in Alberta and British Columbia that match these seedlings with future climates. We decomposed relationships among hybrid ancestry, adaptive traits, and climate to understand the implications of selective breeding for climate adaptations and AGF strategies. The effects of selection on associations among hybrid index estimated from ~6,500 SNPs, adaptive traits, and

SUBMITTER: MacLachlan IR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5775489 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature