Genetic relationships and origin of commercial clones of Nangouhi, a vegetatively propagated cultivar of hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa)

Abstract

Nangouhi, a vegetatively propagated cultivar of hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), includes several vegetatively propagated clones with commercial uses. The genetic diversity, relationships, and origin of Nangouhi were evaluated using ten highly polymorphic microsatellite markers and compared with those of natural hinoki populations. In terms of their genetics, Nangouhi clones appeared to be more closely related to each other than to natural populations. Parentage analysis indicated that clone N14, which is commonly found in the grounds of old shrines and temples, is a parent of 11 of the other clones, of which N6 and N13 had genotypes identical to N14 at eight and seven loci, respectively. These clones could have been produced by crossing N14 and genetically related individuals. Assignment tests were used to determine the genetic origin of Nangouhi clones using 25 natural hinoki populations as a reference. The possible sources of most of the clones were the Hikosan population in Kyushu and the Besshiyama population in Shikoku; however, several clones could not be assigned to any natural population. Crosses between Nangouhi and genetically unrelated plus tree clones and recurrent selection from the possible source populations are recommended for future breeding of Nangouhi.

Genetic structure analysis of cultivated and wild chestnut populations reveals gene flow from cultivars to natural stands

“…The average probability of non-exclusion of an incorrect father using this approach was 1.5 × 10 −7 . Assignment tests have been used to infer the origin of cultivars in several crops [70][71][72] . Assignment based on Bayesian criteria for computation for the 92 cultivars was carried out in GeneClass 2.0 73 by using the wild populations as reference sets.…”