The adaptive potential of Populus balsamifera L. to phenology requirements in a warmer global climate.

The manner in which organisms adapt to climate change informs a broader understanding of the evolution of biodiversity as well as conservation and mitigation plans. We apply common garden and association mapping approaches to quantify genetic variance and identify loci affecting bud flush and bud set, traits that define a tree's season for height growth, in the boreal forest tree Populus balsamifera L. (balsam poplar). Using data from 478 genotypes grown in each of two common gardens, one near the southern edge and another near the northern edge of P. balsamifera's range, we found that broad-sense heritability for bud flush and bud set was generally high (H(2) > 0.5 in most cases), suggesting that abundant genetic variation exists for phenological response to changes in the length of the growing season. To identify the molecular genetic basis of this variation, we genotyped trees for 346 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 27 candidate genes for the CO/FT pathway in poplar. Mixed-model analyses of variance identified SNPs in 10 genes to be associated with variation in either bud flush or bud set. Multiple SNPs within FRIGIDA were associated with bud flush, whereas multiple SNPs in LEAFY and GIGANTEA 5 were associated with bud set. Although there was strong population structure in stem phenology, the geographic distribution of multilocus association SNP genotypes was widespread except at the most northern populations, indicating that geographic regions may harbour sufficient diversity in functional genes to facilitate adaption to future climatic conditions in many sites.

Unweaving the population structure and genetic diversity of Canadian shrub willow.

Perennial shrub willow are increasingly being promoted in short-rotation coppice systems as biomass feedstocks, for phytoremediation applications, and for the diverse ecosystem services that can accrue. This renewed interest has led to widespread willow cultivation, particularly of non-native varieties. However, Canadian willow species have not been widely adopted and their inherent diversity has not yet been thoroughly investigated. In this study, 324 genotypes of Salix famelica and Salix eriocephala collected from 33 sites of origin were analyzed using 26,016 single nucleotide polymorphisms to reveal patterns of population structure and genetic diversity. Analyses by Bayesian methods and principal component analysis detected five main clusters that appeared to be largely shaped by geoclimatic variables including mean annual precipitation and the number of frost-free days. The overall observed (HO) and expected (HE) heterozygosity were 0.126 and 0.179, respectively. An analysis of molecular variance revealed that the highest genetic variation occurred within genotypes (69%), while 8% of the variation existed among clusters and 23% between genotypes within clusters. These findings provide new insights into the extent of genetic variation that exists within native shrub willow species which could be leveraged in pan-Canadian willow breeding programs.

Nucleotide diversity and linkage disequilibrium in balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera).

*Current perceptions that poplars have high levels of nucleotide variation, large effective population sizes, and rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium are based primarily on studies from one poplar species, Populus tremula. *We analysed 590 gene fragments (average length 565 bp) from each of 15 individuals from different populations from throughout the range of Populus balsamifera. *Nucleotide diversity (theta(total) = 0.0028, pi = 0.0027) was low compared with other trees and model agricultural systems. Patterns of nucleotide diversity and site frequency spectra were consistent with purifying selection on replacement and intron sites. When averaged across all loci we found no evidence for decay of linkage disequilibrium across 750 bp, consistent with the low estimates of the scaled recombination parameter, rho = 0.0092. *Compared with P. tremula, a well studied congener with a similar distribution, P. balsamifera has low diversity and low effective recombination, both of which indicate a lower effective population size in P. balsamifera. Patterns of diversity and linkage indicate that there is considerable variation in population genomic patterns among poplar species and unlike P. tremula, association mapping techniques in balsam poplar should consider sampling single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at well-spaced intervals.

Enhanced assimilation rate and water use efficiency with latitude through increased photosynthetic capacity and internal conductance in balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.).

In outdoor common gardens, high latitude populations of deciduous tree species often display higher assimilation rates (A) than low latitude populations, but they accomplish less height. To test whether trends in A reflect adaptation to growing season length or, alternatively, are garden growth artefacts, we examined variation in height increment and ecophysiological traits in a range-wide collection of Populus balsamifera L. populations from 21 provenances, during unconstrained growth in a greenhouse. Rooted cuttings, maintained without resource limitation under 21 h photoperiod for 90 d, displayed increasing height growth, A, leaf mass per area and leaf N per area with latitude whereas stomatal conductance (g(s)) showed no pattern. Water-use efficiency as indicated by both gas exchange and delta(13)C increased with latitude, whereas photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency decreased. Differences in delta(13)C were less than expected based on A/g(s), suggesting coextensive variation in internal conductance (g(m)). Analysis of A-C(i) curves on a subset of populations showed that high latitude genotypes had greater g(m) than low-latitude genotypes. We conclude that higher peak rates of height growth in high latitude genotypes of balsam poplar are supported by higher A, achieved partly through higher g(m), to help compensate for a shorter growing season.

Metabolite profiling and expression analysis of flavonoid, vitamin C and tocopherol biosynthesis genes in the antioxidant-rich sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.).

In this study, phenolic compounds were analyzed in developing berries of four Canadian grown sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) cultivars ('RC-4', 'E6590', 'Chuyskaya' and 'Golden Rain') and in leaves of two of these cultivars. Among phenolic acids, p-coumaric acid was the highest in berries, while gallic acid was predominant in leaves. In the flavonoid class of compounds, myricetin/rutin, kaempferol, quercetin and isorhamnetin were detected in berries and leaves. Berries of the 'RC-4' cultivar had approximately ⩾ 2-fold higher levels of myricetin and quercetin at 17.5mg and 17.2 mg/100 g FW, respectively, than the other cultivars. The flavonoid content in leaves was considerably more than in berries with rutin and quercetin levels up to 135 mg and 105 mg/100 g FW, respectively. Orthologs of 15 flavonoid biosynthesis pathway genes were identified within the transcriptome of sea buckthorn mature seeds. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of these genes in developing berries indicated relatively higher expression of genes such as CHS, F3'H, DFR and LDOX in the 'RC-4' cultivar than in the 'Chuyskaya' cultivar. Vitamin C levels in ripened berries of the Canadian cultivars were on the high end of the concentration range reported for most other sea buckthorn cultivars. Orthologs of genes involved in vitamins C and E biosynthesis were also identified, expanding the genomic resources for this nutritionally important plant.

Investigating the drought-stress response of hybrid poplar genotypes by metabolite profiling.

Drought stress is perhaps the most commonly encountered abiotic stress plants experience in the natural environment, and it is one of the most important factors limiting plant productivity. Here, we employed untargeted metabolite profiling to examine four drought-stressed hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) genotypes for their metabolite content, using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The primary objective of these analyses was to characterize the metabolite profile of poplar trees to assess relative drought resistance and to investigate the underlying biochemical mechanisms employed by the genotypes to combat drought. Metabolite profiling identified key metabolites that increased or decreased in relative abundance upon exposure to drought stress. Overall, amino acids, the antioxidant phenolic compounds catechin and kaempferol, as well as the osmolytes raffinose and galactinol exhibited increased abundance under drought stress, whereas metabolites involved in photorespiration, redox regulation and carbon fixation showed decreased abundance under drought stress. One clone in particular, Okanese, displayed unique responses to the imposed drought conditions. This clone was found to have higher leaf water potential, but lower growth rate relative to the other clones tested. Okanese also had lower accumulation of osmolytes such as raffinose, galactinol and proline, but higher overall levels of antioxidants such as catechin and dehydroascorbic acid. As such, it was proposed that osmotic adjustment as a mechanism for drought avoidance in this clone is not as well developed in comparison with the other clones investigated in this study, and that a possible alternative mechanism for the enhanced drought avoidance displayed by Okanese may be due to differential allocation of resources or better retention of water.

Fatty acid composition of developing sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) berry and the transcriptome of the mature seed.

BACKGROUND: Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a hardy, fruit-producing plant known historically for its medicinal and nutraceutical properties. The most recognized product of sea buckthorn is its fruit oil, composed of seed oil that is rich in essential fatty acids, linoleic (18:2 ω-6) and α-linolenic (18:3 ω-3) acids, and pulp oil that contains high levels of monounsaturated palmitoleic acid (16:1 ω-7). Sea buckthorn is fast gaining popularity as a source of functional food and nutraceuticals, but currently has few genomic resources; therefore, we explored the fatty acid composition of Canadian-grown cultivars (ssp. mongolica) and the sea buckthorn seed transcriptome using the 454 GS FLX sequencing technology. RESULTS: GC-MS profiling of fatty acids in seeds and pulp of berries indicated that the seed oil contained linoleic and α-linolenic acids at 33-36% and 30-36%, respectively, while the pulp oil contained palmitoleic acid at 32-42%. 454 sequencing of sea buckthorn cDNA collections from mature seeds yielded 500,392 sequence reads, which identified 89,141 putative unigenes represented by 37,482 contigs and 51,659 singletons. Functional annotation by Gene Ontology and computational prediction of metabolic pathways indicated that primary metabolism (protein>nucleic acid>carbohydrate>lipid) and fatty acid and lipid biosynthesis pathways were highly represented categories. Sea buckthorn sequences related to fatty acid biosynthesis genes in Arabidopsis were identified, and a subset of these was examined for transcript expression at four developing stages of the berry. CONCLUSION: This study provides the first comprehensive genomic resources represented by expressed sequences for sea buckthorn, and demonstrates that the seed oil of Canadian-grown sea buckthorn cultivars contains high levels of linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid in a close to 1:1 ratio, which is beneficial for human health. These data provide the foundation for further studies on sea buckthorn oil, the enzymes involved in its biosynthesis, and the genes involved in the general hardiness of sea buckthorn against environmental conditions.