Genetics Genomics And Breeding Of Poplar PDF Download

Forest species are unique in many ways compared to other domesticated species. Forest trees have long juvenile phases, leading to long and costly selection cycles and requiring selection in several independent stages. Even if this method is operationally effective, it remains costly in terms of time and resources, resulting in a diluted intensity and accuracy of selection.In view of these constraints, trees are good candidates for the implementation of genomic evaluation. Genomic selection (SG) is based on the classification and selection of individuals from the information contained in their genome without using a phenotypic evaluation step and thus accelerating the selection process, in order to identify the situations, criteria and factors in which SG could be a feasible option for poplar. Our study showed that the benefits of genomic evaluation are context-dependent. Genomic evaluation is most effective in theless-advantageous situations, it also benefits from low to medium density genetic information following a high-quality imputation step. Genomic selection could be an interesting option at an early stage, when the accuracy of selection is generally low and genetic variability is abundant.Our work has also shown that it is important to evaluate performance with alternative criteria,such as those related to ranking, especially when these criteria fit the operational context of the breeding programme under study.