Genetic differentiation in functional traits among wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) half-sib lines

Abstract

Understanding intra-specific variation in leaf functional traits is one of the key requirements for the evaluation of species adaptive capacity to ongoing climate change, as well as for designing long-term breeding and conservation strategies. Hence, data of 19 functional traits describing plant physiology, antioxidant properties, anatomy and morphology were determined on 1-year-old seedlings of wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) half-sib lines. The variability within and among half-sib lines, as well as the estimation of multi-trait association, were examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's honestly significant difference test and multivariate analyses: principal component analysis (PCA), canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) and stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to evaluate linear correlation between the study parameters. The results of the ANOVA showed the presence of statistically significant differences (P < 0.01) among half-sib lines for all study traits. The differences within half-sib lines, observed through the contribution of the examined sources of variation to the total variance (%), had higher impact on total variation in the majority of the examined traits. Pearson’s correlation analysis and PCA showed strong relationships between gas exchange in plants and leaf size and stomatal density, as well as between leaf biomass accumulation, intercellular CO2 concentration and parameters related to antioxidant capacity of plants. Likewise, the results of SDA indicate that transpiration and stomatal conductance contributed to the largest extent, to the discrimination of the wild cherry half-sib lines. In addition, PCA and CDA showed separation of the wild cherry half-sib lines along the first principal component and first canonical variable with regards to humidity of their original sites. Multiple adaptive differences between the wild cherry half-sib lines indicate high potential of the species to adapt rapidly to climate change. The existence of substantial genetic variability among the wild cherry half-sib lines highlights their potential as genetic resources for reforestation purposes and breeding programmes.

Intraspecific variations in leaf functional traits of Cunninghamia lanceolata provenances

“…In the long process of evolution and succession, plant species with widespread geographical distribution will respond adaptively to long-term changes in climate and geographical environment, thereby forming specific geographical provenances, which also reflects the long-term adaptation strategy of plants to the growing environment [1]. Thus, the ecological importance of intraspecific variation in functional traits of a species has gained increasing attention among researchers [2][3][4][5]. It has been shown that intraspecific trait variations can provide insights about trait responses to environmental variations and genetic improvement [6,7].…”

Variability of tolerance of Wild cherry clones to PEG-induced osmotic stress in vitro

“…In addition to its importance in fruit production, there is considerable interest in its wood by the furniture industry, but it also has a significant role in agroforestry (Russell 2003). Along with its economic role, it has ecological significance because the conservation of genetic variability of this species is considered to be an important part of the preservation of biodiversity, in general (Stojnić et al 2021). Therefore, many European countries have developed long-term breeding projects to improve the species' wood production and increase its tolerance to predominant biotic and abiotic stressors (Ducci et al 2013, Poljaković-Pajnik et al 2019.…”