Catching up with climate change by shortcuts in breeding
Joint Nordic efforts to prove the concept of Breeding Without Breeding (BWB)
Coordinator: Rosario García Gil, SLU, epost
Funding: 1 045 000 SEK
Duration: 2022–2024
Catching up with climate change by shortcuts in breeding; Joint Nordic efforts to prove the concept of Breeding Without Breeding (BWB).
As a result of climate change, breeders have been forced to develop new tools for breeding to meet a shifting target. In this context, genetic tools such as Breeding Without Breeding (BWB) have regained attention as an alternative to traditional long-term breeding strategies which require structured and costly field trials.
In the Nordic countries, up to 70% to 90% of Scots pine and Norway spruce planted stands are regenerated using improved forest reproductive material (FRM) obtained from a seed orchard. As a result, the genetic composition of those planted stands provides the possibility to implement BWB using a DNA-based tool called molecular marker.
First, this information will help monitor the level of genetic diversity in planted stands. Secondly, combining pedigree information with phenotypic data will make it possible to measure the genetic gain directly in planted productive stands. And thirdly, the planted stands can be used as ad hoc progeny trials and a basis for selection of the most promising trees (genotypes) to next generation breeding populations or to improve the composition of existing seed orchards.
In this project, we will (i) select a set of well-performing molecular markers and development of a joint low-cost genotyping platform for Scots pine; (ii) conduct pedigree reconstruction of open-pollinated progenies from planted stands, and (iii) make use of the selected molecular markers to conduct a proof-of-concept study to test the feasibility of BWB as a realistic cost-effective alternative to conventional trial-based breeding.
The project will not only contribute with knowledge for the implementation of a game-changing model of tree breeding but also enhance collaboration across Nordic countries which share similar breeding strategies and vision of forest sustainability. We also aim to reach stakeholders, breeders, the forest industry, and decision-makers, who will be the first to benefit from the results of this project.