Genomic selection has become a transformative approach to the improvement of animals and plants in the last two decades. This research demonstrated how genomic selection can optimize forest improvement programs, accelerating the selection process and improving precision in the choice of the best individuals. The work "Genomic Selection in Forest Trees Comes to Life: Unraveling ITS Potential In An Advanced Four-Generation" was published in the magazine Frontiers in Plant Science.
Eduardo Cappa - researcher from the Institute of Biological Resources of the Natural Resources Research Center (CIRN) at INTA and independent researcher of CONICET -, explained that “unlike traditional methods, which require many years of observation in the field to evaluate the growth and quality of wood, the genomic selection uses DNA information to predict the performance of the trees without the need to wait for so long”.
The scientists who carried out the research analyzed four generations of Eucalyptus Grandis and compared the genomic predictions with the real growth and quality data of the wood obtained in the field. This tool uses genomic and observable characters of a group of reference trees to estimate the potential of other trees that only have genomic data, but that were not yet evaluated in the field.
“The results showed that genomic selection is especially effective in improving characteristics such as wood density and pulpable performance, while volume growth is still more difficult to predict precisely,” Cappa said.
However, the researcher explained that “it was confirmed that training the genomic models with information from relatives close to the candidates for selection significantly improves prediction capacity, which could be key to applying this technology in large -scale forest improvement programs.”
“This study highlights the enormous potential of the genomic selection to make the improvement of more efficient trees, reducing costs, evaluation times, and allowing selecting higher individuals with greater precision.” With these advances, “the forestry sector can optimize the production of wood and other derived products, contributing to the sustainable development of planted forests,” said Cappa.
“It is reduced, or even eliminated, the need to perform prolonged and expensive field tests of the offspring, which are normally required for genotypic evaluation,” said the specialist. In that sense, this work highlights INTA’s ability to carry out avant-garde research and apply state -of-the-art tools in the genetic improvement of forest programs.