Genotypic effects on accelerated propagation of oil palm breeding materials selected(Elaeis guineensis jacq.)using somatic embryogenesis

Vegetable oil production from oil palm(Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)is an important industry due to the rising demand every year.The somatic embryogenesis culture can propagate oil palm duplicate as parent plant,which can be selected as breeding material to produce new planting germplasm with high production or disease resistance.This study aims to evaluate the genotypic effect of somatic embryogenesis,while immature leaflets were employed as explants.The culture used embryo induction medium based on Murashige and Skoog(MS)modifications that contained 5 mg/L Naphthalene Acetic acid(NAA)and 0.5 mg/L Benzyl Amino Purine(BAP).The genotypic effect was statistically significant in the percentage of callus induction,producing somatic embryos,and germination embryos.In this study,we successfully cloned thirteen oil palm genotypes(GE-02,GE-03,GE-06,GE-07,GE-09,GE-23,GE-24,GE-27,GE-28,GE-32,GE-33,GE-34,and GE-35),with the highest number of somatic embryos formed on GE-27 with a percentage of 70.1%.The cloning was successful in accelerating the propagation of oil palm for materials breeding programs to create new varieties with high production and disease resistance.It is necessary to observation the performance of these clones in the field in terms of mantle flower appearance.

Lack of Evidence for Local Adaptation of the Endangered Karner Blue Butterfly to Its Sole Larval Hostplant—The Wild Lupine

Local adaptation is an important process that drives the evolution of populations within species, and it can be generally expressed by the higher fitness of individuals raised in their native habitats versus in a foreign location. The influence of local adaptation is especially prominent in species that subsist in small and/or highly isolated populations. This study evaluated whether the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) is locally adapted to its exclusive larval host plant, the wild lupine (Lupinus perennis). To test for local adaptation, individuals from a laboratory-raised colony were reared on wild lupine plants from populations belonging to either their native (Indiana) or a foreign (Michigan and Wisconsin) region. For this purpose, lupine plants from the different populations were grown in a common garden in growth chambers, and one Karner blue larva was placed on each plant. Fitness traits related to growth and development were recorded for each butterfly across populations. Days from hatching to pupation and eclosion showed gender-specific significant differences across wild lupine populations and plant genotypes (within populations). The percent survival of butterflies (from hatching to eclosion) also differed among plants from different populations. These results indicate that wild lupine sources can affect some developmental traits of Karner blue butterflies. However, growth-related traits, such as pupal and adult weight of individuals reared in plants from native populations did not differ from those of foreign regions. The apparent absence of local adaptation to wild lupine suggests that, at least, some individuals of this species could be translocated from native populations to foreign reintroduction sites without experiencing decreased fitness levels. However, future studies including more populations across the geographical range of this butterfly are recommended to evaluate other environmental factors that could influence adaptation on a wider spatial scale.

Family selection and evaluation of Larix gmelinii var.principis-rupprechtii(Mayr.)Pilger based on stem analysis data at multiple sites

Larix gmelinii var.principis-rupprechtii(Mayr.)Pilger is an important native tree species in North China with advantages of fast growth,straight trunk,and good wood properties.The multi-year and multi-site breeding research of families of the species has not been reported previously.Based on diameter at breast height(DBH),height and volume of 25 families on four experimental sites,we calculated variance components,genetic parameters,juvenile and mature trait correlations and made genotype main effect plus genotype×environment interaction effect(GGE)biplot based on the breeding values estimated using the method of best linear unbiased prediction(BLUP).Compared with height,DBH and volume had higher heritability and larger variation coefficients,making them the more suitable traits for family selection and evaluation.Based on these,GGE biplots containing 20 combinations of site×age were drawn using data at 13 to 17 years when the interactions between family and location were strong.Test sites classifications based on DBH,and volume were inconsistent,with two categories for DBH and one for volume.The Guyuan site was the most suitable with strong discriminating ability,high representativeness and stability among tree ages.Integrating the ranking results of DBH and volume,families 66,76,82 and 111 were high-yielding and stable,families 78 and96 were high-yielding with above average stability,families72 and 79 were high-yielding with below average stability,whereas stability of family 100 was inconsistent between DBH and volume.Early selection based on DBH was convenient and reliable,and can be made at seven years.This study provides support for the selection of Larix gmelinii var.principis-rupprechtii families in Hebei province and an example for the application of stem analysis data from multiple sites in tree breeding.