Background Pyrolysis-molecular beam mass spectrometry (py-MBMS) analysis of a pedigree of Populus trichocarpa was performed to study the phenotypic plasticity and heritability of lignin content and lignin monomer composition. Instrumental and microspatial environmental variability were observed in the spectral features and corrected to reveal underlying genetic variance of biomass composition. Results Lignin-derived ions (including m/z 124, 154, 168, 194, 210 and others) were highly impacted by microspatial environmental variation which demonstrates phenotypic plasticity of lignin composition in Populus trichocarpa biomass. Broad-sense heritability of lignin composition after correcting for microspatial and instrumental variation was determined to be H2 = 0.56 based on py-MBMS ions known to derive from lignin. Heritability of lignin monomeric syringyl/guaiacyl ratio (S/G) was H2 = 0.81. Broad-sense heritability was also high (up to H2 = 0.79) for ions derived from other components of the biomass including phenolics (e.g., salicylates) and C5 sugars (e.g., xylose). Lignin and phenolic ion abundances were primarily driven by maternal effects, and paternal effects were either similar or stronger for the most heritable carbohydrate-derived ions. Conclusions We have shown that many biopolymer-derived ions from py-MBMS show substantial phenotypic plasticity in response to microenvironmental variation in plantations. Nevertheless, broad-sense heritability for biomass composition can be quite high after correcting for spatial environmental variation. This work outlines the importance in accounting for instrumental and microspatial environmental variation in biomass composition data for applications in heritability measurements and genomic selection for breeding poplar for renewable fuels and materials.

Piracicaba 2016 3 RESUMO Caracterização de variações genéticas naturais em tomateiro controlando a competência celular para assumir diferentes vias de desenvolvimento O estudo de variações genéticas naturais afetando a capacidade de organogênese in vitro em tomateiro (Solanum lycopersicum) é promissor devido a existência de uma série de espécies selvagens relacionadas ao tomateiro, que apresentam alta capacidade organogênica in vitro. A caracterização de tais variações é relevante não apenas com o objetivo de manipulação do desenvolvimento vegetal, mas também com o intuito de entender o significado ecológico e evolutivo de tal característica. O objetivo desse trabalho foi caracterizar três loci de tomateiro, cujos alelos vindos de seu parente selvagem S. pennellii aumentam a capacidade de regeneração de gemas caulinares e radiculares in vitro, e analisar o envolvimento de tais loci na fase de aquisição de competência para regeneração. Nós apresentamos no primeiro capítulo a caracterização genética e fisiológica dos loci Rg3C, Rg7H e Rg8F. Os alelos de S. pennellii foram introgredidos na cultivar modelo Micro-Tom (MT), criando as linhagens quase isogênicas (Near Isogenic Lines-NILs) MT-Rg3C, MT-Rg7H e MT-Rg8F. No segundo capítulo nós analisamos comparativamente as NILs MT-Rg3C e MT-Rg1. Uma vez que Rg1 foi proposto como gene chave na aquisição de competência, e assim como Rg3C está localizado no cromossomo 3, acredita-se que Rg3C seja provavelmente ortólogo ao gene Rg1 de S. peruvianum. Após a introgressão dos loci na cultivar MT, as NILs, assim como esperado, apresentaram alta taxa de regeneração tanto de gemas caulinares, quanto de radiculares in vitro, confirmando que os loci foram devidamente introgredidos. A análise do tempo de aquisição de competência e indução, juntamente com a caracterização molecular das NILs, indicam que os genes localizados nos loci Rg3C, Rg7H e Rg8F afetam a regeneração in vitro através de rotas distintas. Enquanto Rg3C diminui o tempo necessário tanto para a aquisição de competência quanto para indução de gemas caulinares, os outros dois loci parecem influenciar apenas a aquisição de competência, no caso de Rg8F, ou a indução de gemas caulinares, no caso de Rg7H. Além disso, apesar de MT-Rg3C apresentar alta ramificação, MT-Rg7H e MT-Rg8F não diferiram de MT nesse aspecto, o que evidencia que a formação de gemas caulinares in vitro não está necessariamente relacionada ao aumento da ramificação. As análises comparativas entre MT-Rg3C e MT-Rg1 indicam fortemente que Rg1 e Rg3C sejam dois alelos de um mesmo gene controlando a alta capacidade de regeneração. Através do cruzamento dos dados de mapeamento disponíveis para esses dois alelos foi possível diminuir o número de genes candidatos à Rg1/Rg3C para apenas 27 genes, que são apresentados nesse trabalho. Palavras-chave: Linhagens de Introgressão; Regeneração; Solanum lycopersicum; Solanum pennellii 4 ABSTRACT Characterization of natural genetic variations affecting tomato cell competence to assume different developmental fates The stud...

Background Pyrolysis-molecular beam mass spectrometry (py-MBMS) analysis of a pedigree of Populus trichocarpa was performed to study the phenotypic plasticity and heritability of lignin content and lignin monomer composition. Instrumental and microspatial environmental variability were observed in the spectral features and corrected to reveal underlying genetic variance of biomass composition. Results Lignin-derived ions were highly impacted by microspatial environmental variation which demonstrates phenotypic plasticity of lignin composition in Populus trichocarpa biomass. Broad-sense heritability of lignin composition after correcting for microspatial and instrumental variation was determined to be H2 = 0.56 based on py-MBMS based on ions known to derive from lignin. Heritability of lignin monomeric syringyl/guaiacyl ratio (S/G) was H2 = 0.81. Broad-sense heritability was also high (up to H2 = 0.79) for ions derived from other components of the biomass including phenolics (e.g., salicylates) and C5 sugars (e.g., xylose). Lignin and phenolic ion abundances were primarily driven by maternal effects, and paternal effects were either similar or stronger for the most heritable carbohydrate-derived ions. Conclusions We have shown that many biopolymer-derived ions from py-MBMS show substantial phenotypic plasticity in response to microenvironmental variation in plantations. Nevertheless, broad-sense heritability for biomass composition can be quite high after correcting for spatial environmental variation. This work outlines the importance in accounting for instrumental and microspatial environmental variation in biomass composition data for applications in heritability measurements and genomic selection for breeding poplar for renewable fuels and materials.

Background Pyrolysis-molecular beam mass spectrometry (py-MBMS) analysis of a pedigree of Populus trichocarpa was performed to study the phenotypic plasticity and heritability of lignin content and lignin monomer composition. Instrumental and microspatial environmental variability were observed in the spectral features and corrected to reveal underlying genetic variance of biomass composition.Results Lignin-derived ions (including m/z 124, 154, 168, 194, 210 and others) were highly impacted by microspatial environmental variation which demonstrates phenotypic plasticity of lignin composition in Populus trichocarpa biomass. Broad-sense heritability of lignin composition after correcting for microspatial and instrumental variation was determined to be H2 = 0.56 based on py-MBMS based on ions known to derive from lignin. Heritability of lignin monomeric syringyl/guaiacyl ratio (S/G) was H2 = 0.81. Broad-sense heritability was also high (up to H2 = 0.79) for ions derived from other components of the biomass including phenolics (e.g., salicylates) and C5 sugars (e.g., xylose). Lignin and phenolic ion abundances were primarily driven by maternal effects, and paternal effects were either similar or stronger for the most heritable carbohydrate-derived ions.Conclusions We have shown that many biopolymer-derived ions from py-MBMS show substantial phenotypic plasticity in response to microenvironmental variation in plantations. Nevertheless, broad-sense heritability for biomass composition can be quite high after correcting for spatial environmental variation. This work outlines the importance in accounting for instrumental and microspatial environmental variation in biomass composition data for applications in heritability measurements and genomic selection for breeding poplar for renewable fuels and materials.

Fine-scale meiotic recombination is fundamental to the outcome of natural and artificial selection. Here, dense genetic mapping and haplotype reconstruction were used to estimate recombination for a full factorial Populus trichocarpa cross of seven males and seven females. Genomes of the resulting 49 full-sib families (N = 829 offspring) were re-sequenced, and high-fidelity biallelic SNP/INDELs and pedigree information were used to ascertain allelic phase and impute progeny genotypes to recover gametic haplotypes. The fourteen parental genetic maps contained 1820 SNP/INDELs on average that covered 376.7 Mb of physical length across 19 chromosomes. Comparison of parental and progeny haplotypes allowed fine-scale demarcation of cross-over (CO) regions, where 38,846 CO events in 1,658 gametes were observed. CO events were positively associated with gene density and negatively associated with GC content and long terminal repeats. One of the most striking findings was higher rates of COs in males in 8 out of 19 chromosomes. Regions with elevated male CO rates had lower gene density and GC content than windows showing no sex bias. High-resolution analysis identified 67 candidate CO hotspots spread throughout the genome. DNA sequence motifs enriched in these regions showed striking similarity to those of maize, Arabidopsis and wheat. These findings, and recombination estimates, will be useful for ongoing efforts to accelerate domestication of this and other biomass feedstocks, as well as future studies investigating broader questions related to evolutionary history, perennial development, phenology, wood formation, vegetative propagation, and dioecy that cannot be studied using annual plant model systems.