<i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant Phenotypes
The increasing demand for climate-adapted seeds and planting material poses a challenge due to the limited availability, particularly for tree species such as oaks. National parks, known for their large-standing diversity and a wide range of habitats, can serve as valuable sources for identifying tr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/11/2225 |
| _version_ | 1797459253602025472 |
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| author | Marcela van Loo Roman Ufimov Michael Grabner Christian Übl Andrea Watzinger Florian Irauschek Heino Konrad Soňa Píšová Carlos Trujillo-Moya |
| author_facet | Marcela van Loo Roman Ufimov Michael Grabner Christian Übl Andrea Watzinger Florian Irauschek Heino Konrad Soňa Píšová Carlos Trujillo-Moya |
| author_sort | Marcela van Loo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The increasing demand for climate-adapted seeds and planting material poses a challenge due to the limited availability, particularly for tree species such as oaks. National parks, known for their large-standing diversity and a wide range of habitats, can serve as valuable sources for identifying trees suitable for both the initiation of tree breeding and conservation strategies. This study aimed to identify valuable forest genetic resources of the Thayatal National Park in Austria by selecting potentially drought-tolerant phenotypes. For this purpose, we selected 404 mature trees of <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from eight populations growing on medium to dry sites in eight populations. Further, we characterized them for autochthony, genetic structure, genetic diversity using genetic markers (plastid- and nuclear-SSRs) and estimated their age. Finally, we applied wood core analysis to estimate tree response to historical drought events to identify the possible drought-tolerant phenotypes. The age of the trees ranged from 29 to 245 years (as of the year 2023). All <i>Q. petraea</i> trees were inhabiting a plastid haplotype 17a, autochthonous for this area. Nevertheless, the genetic structure estimated by ten nuSSRs revealed a pronounced structure in the dataset, largely caused by young trees exhibiting lower genetic diversity. A total of 85 elite potentially drought-tolerant trees were finally selected based on their morphological response (resistance, recovery ability, resilience, and relative resilience) to three historical drought events (1992–1994, 1947, 1917). The intrinsic water use efficiency and its difference (iWUE and DWiWUE), estimated by isotope analysis of δ13C of latewood in wet (1987) and dry (1994) years, did not correlate with any of the drought response traits (<i>Rt</i>, <i>Rc</i>, <i>Rs</i>, r<i>Rs</i>). We discuss the further use of the selected oak trees for the establishment of seed stands and orchards to enhance seed production and the integration of other omics approaches, such as large-scale high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) and transcriptomics, for in-depth analyses of drought tolerance of selected phenotypes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:48:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5422631f1c724db3b84b34239bcd4eff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:48:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-5422631f1c724db3b84b34239bcd4eff2023-11-24T14:42:45ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-11-011411222510.3390/f14112225<i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant PhenotypesMarcela van Loo0Roman Ufimov1Michael Grabner2Christian Übl3Andrea Watzinger4Florian Irauschek5Heino Konrad6Soňa Píšová7Carlos Trujillo-Moya8Department of Forest Growth, Silviculture and Genetics, Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, 1131 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Forest Growth, Silviculture and Genetics, Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, 1131 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Wood Technology and Renewable Resources, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Konrad-Lorenz-Strasse 24, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, AustriaThayatal National Park Administration, National Park House, Merkersdorf 90, 2082 Hardegg, AustriaInstitute of Soil Research, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Konrad-Lorenz-Strasse 24, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, AustriaDepartment of Forest Growth, Silviculture and Genetics, Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, 1131 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Forest Biodiversity and Nature Conservation, Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, 1131 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Forest Biodiversity and Nature Conservation, Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, 1131 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Forest Growth, Silviculture and Genetics, Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, 1131 Vienna, AustriaThe increasing demand for climate-adapted seeds and planting material poses a challenge due to the limited availability, particularly for tree species such as oaks. National parks, known for their large-standing diversity and a wide range of habitats, can serve as valuable sources for identifying trees suitable for both the initiation of tree breeding and conservation strategies. This study aimed to identify valuable forest genetic resources of the Thayatal National Park in Austria by selecting potentially drought-tolerant phenotypes. For this purpose, we selected 404 mature trees of <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from eight populations growing on medium to dry sites in eight populations. Further, we characterized them for autochthony, genetic structure, genetic diversity using genetic markers (plastid- and nuclear-SSRs) and estimated their age. Finally, we applied wood core analysis to estimate tree response to historical drought events to identify the possible drought-tolerant phenotypes. The age of the trees ranged from 29 to 245 years (as of the year 2023). All <i>Q. petraea</i> trees were inhabiting a plastid haplotype 17a, autochthonous for this area. Nevertheless, the genetic structure estimated by ten nuSSRs revealed a pronounced structure in the dataset, largely caused by young trees exhibiting lower genetic diversity. A total of 85 elite potentially drought-tolerant trees were finally selected based on their morphological response (resistance, recovery ability, resilience, and relative resilience) to three historical drought events (1992–1994, 1947, 1917). The intrinsic water use efficiency and its difference (iWUE and DWiWUE), estimated by isotope analysis of δ13C of latewood in wet (1987) and dry (1994) years, did not correlate with any of the drought response traits (<i>Rt</i>, <i>Rc</i>, <i>Rs</i>, r<i>Rs</i>). We discuss the further use of the selected oak trees for the establishment of seed stands and orchards to enhance seed production and the integration of other omics approaches, such as large-scale high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) and transcriptomics, for in-depth analyses of drought tolerance of selected phenotypes.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/11/2225sessile oakgenetic structuregenetic diversityautochthonywood coresDNA markers |
| spellingShingle | Marcela van Loo Roman Ufimov Michael Grabner Christian Übl Andrea Watzinger Florian Irauschek Heino Konrad Soňa Píšová Carlos Trujillo-Moya <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant Phenotypes Forests sessile oak genetic structure genetic diversity autochthony wood cores DNA markers |
| title | <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant Phenotypes |
| title_full | <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant Phenotypes |
| title_fullStr | <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant Phenotypes |
| title_full_unstemmed | <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant Phenotypes |
| title_short | <i>Quercus petraea</i> (Matt.) Liebl. from the Thayatal National Park in Austria: Selection of Potentially Drought-Tolerant Phenotypes |
| title_sort | i quercus petraea i matt liebl from the thayatal national park in austria selection of potentially drought tolerant phenotypes |
| topic | sessile oak genetic structure genetic diversity autochthony wood cores DNA markers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/11/2225 |
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