1. Accounting for competition in multi-environment tree genetic evaluations: a case study with hybrid pines
- Author
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Nuno Borralho, Eduardo P. Cappa, Ector Belaber, Maria Elena Gauchat, Cristian Damián Schoffen, Facundo Muñoz, Leopoldo Sanchez, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires] (CONICET), Animal, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (UMR ASTRE), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Département Systèmes Biologiques (Cirad-BIOS), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), RAIZ – Forestry & Paper Research Institut, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Biologie intégrée pour la valorisation de la diversité des Arbres et de la Forêt (BioForA), Office National des Forêts (ONF)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), and This study was funded by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) (grant numbers PNFOR-01104062, MSNES-1242204/5). E.P.C.’s research was partially supported by the National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology of Argentina (ANPCYT, PICT-2016 1048). F.M.’s research is partially supported by research grant MTM2016-77501-P from the State Research Agency of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities jointly with the European Regional Development Fund, FEDER.
- Subjects
Additive and competition genotype–environment interaction ,0106 biological sciences ,Mixed model ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Accounting ,Tree breeding ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Genetic correlation ,Competition (biology) ,Competition model ,Genetic variation ,Gene–environment interaction ,media_common ,Mathematics ,[SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment ,Ecology ,business.industry ,Diameter at breast height ,Forestry ,15. Life on land ,Total heritable variance ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,business ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
International audience; Key message: A novel multi-environment competition individual-tree mixed model resulted in better fit, and greater individual narrow- and broad-sense heritabilities than the model without competition, notably for traits showing competition. In multi-environment tests, the proposed model would allow tree breeders to select genotypes with the best performance in both additive direct and competition breeding values, increasing forest productivity. Context: Genetic merit of trees is known to be affected and interact with local competition effects as well as changes across environmental conditions. Recent studies showed that competition genetic effects can affect the genetic variance and bias the tree breeding values, and its covariance with direct breeding values has been variable across traits. Aims: The present paper extends a mixed-model methodology to the problem of accounting for competition in a multi-environment set of forest genetic trials and exploring its impact on genetic variances as well as the multi-environment genetic correlation. Methods: The proposed model is illustrated using data from two full-sib trials of Pinus elliottii var. elliottii × Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis F1. Dispersion parameters and (co)variance of total breeding values were estimated for diameter at breast height, total tree height, and stem straightness at age 10. Results: For traits showing competition effects (diameter at breast height and total tree height), the proposed multi-environment competition model gave better fit than the simpler model. Accounting for competition increased the direct additive variance, reduced the residual variances, and did not change significantly the across-site additive genetic correlation. However, for diameter at breast height, top 5% best genetic rankings showed differences. Conclusion: When traits are strongly affected by inter-tree competition, the use of the proposed model in multi-environment analyses can efficiently identify the phenomenon with general benefits in the fitting of genetic components and open the door to select on the basis of competitiveness.
- Published
- 2021