Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance?
Forest trees are beleaguered by the ever-increasing onslaught of invasive pests and pathogens, with some species in danger of functional extinction. Recent successes in developing resistant populations using traditional tree breeding assures that some of the affected species will persist in future f...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Forests |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/12/2382 |
| _version_ | 1797381034625466368 |
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| author | Richard A. Sniezko Jennifer Koch Jun-Jun Liu Jeanne Romero-Severson |
| author_facet | Richard A. Sniezko Jennifer Koch Jun-Jun Liu Jeanne Romero-Severson |
| author_sort | Richard A. Sniezko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Forest trees are beleaguered by the ever-increasing onslaught of invasive pests and pathogens, with some species in danger of functional extinction. Recent successes in developing resistant populations using traditional tree breeding assures that some of the affected species will persist in future forests. However, the sheer number of threatened species requires increases in breeding efficiency. The time is right to consider how the use of genomic resources might aid breeding efforts in the next 20 years. Any operational benefit of genomic resources will be minimal without closer collaboration between tree breeders, forest managers, and genomic researchers. We reflect here on what attributes were responsible for the success of traditional resistance breeding programs and whether advances in genomics can realistically accelerate breeding. We conclude that the use of genomics to directly advance resistance breeding efforts in the next 20 years will be limited. Major obstacles will include factors such as the undomesticated nature of most tree species, the quantitative genetic nature of resistance in many species, and the lack of adequate funding to accelerate and more fully develop genomic resources. Despite these limitations, genomic tools have potential to help increase our understanding of the nature of resistance, and the genetic variability in the host, which can aid in the deployment of resistant populations and may assist in marker-assisted selection, particularly for major gene resistance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:45:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2acb829b0dfc498c8e1e38b853fb94b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:45:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-2acb829b0dfc498c8e1e38b853fb94b62023-12-22T14:09:35ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-12-011412238210.3390/f14122382Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance?Richard A. Sniezko0Jennifer Koch1Jun-Jun Liu2Jeanne Romero-Severson3USDA Forest Service, Dorena Genetic Resource Center, 34963 Shoreview Drive, Cottage Grove, OR 97424, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Delaware, OH 43015, USACanadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5, CanadaDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USAForest trees are beleaguered by the ever-increasing onslaught of invasive pests and pathogens, with some species in danger of functional extinction. Recent successes in developing resistant populations using traditional tree breeding assures that some of the affected species will persist in future forests. However, the sheer number of threatened species requires increases in breeding efficiency. The time is right to consider how the use of genomic resources might aid breeding efforts in the next 20 years. Any operational benefit of genomic resources will be minimal without closer collaboration between tree breeders, forest managers, and genomic researchers. We reflect here on what attributes were responsible for the success of traditional resistance breeding programs and whether advances in genomics can realistically accelerate breeding. We conclude that the use of genomics to directly advance resistance breeding efforts in the next 20 years will be limited. Major obstacles will include factors such as the undomesticated nature of most tree species, the quantitative genetic nature of resistance in many species, and the lack of adequate funding to accelerate and more fully develop genomic resources. Despite these limitations, genomic tools have potential to help increase our understanding of the nature of resistance, and the genetic variability in the host, which can aid in the deployment of resistant populations and may assist in marker-assisted selection, particularly for major gene resistance.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/12/2382biotechnologydisease and pest resistanceforest treesgenomic resourcesresistance breedingrestoration |
| spellingShingle | Richard A. Sniezko Jennifer Koch Jun-Jun Liu Jeanne Romero-Severson Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance? Forests biotechnology disease and pest resistance forest trees genomic resources resistance breeding restoration |
| title | Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance? |
| title_full | Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance? |
| title_fullStr | Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance? |
| title_short | Will Genomic Information Facilitate Forest Tree Breeding for Disease and Pest Resistance? |
| title_sort | will genomic information facilitate forest tree breeding for disease and pest resistance |
| topic | biotechnology disease and pest resistance forest trees genomic resources resistance breeding restoration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/12/2382 |
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