Genetic Control of Growth, Biomass Allocation, and Survival under Drought Stress

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecophysiology and Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2019)

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Building 502, Clunies Ross St, Black Mountain ACT 2601, Australia
Interests: forest genetics; tree breeding

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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Forest Sciences, Universidad Católica del Maule, Av. San Miguel, Talca 3605, Chile
Interests: forest physiology; drought stress; forest rehabilitation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reduced rainfall and increased temperature are predicted to raise drought stress in many forest regions of the world. Because of the land shortage in high-rainfall areas, it is important to study genetic variation in survival and early growth on drought-prone sites. There is an increasing need to identify and develop production systems suitable for these sites. Targeted breeding and deployment of germplasm with better adaptations to drought-prone sites are an alternative to species replacement.

There is a large body of literature about physiological and morphological traits affecting the response of forest trees to drought stress. However, there are relatively few studies concerning the genetic control of these traits. Significant differences have been found among geographic origins for traits related to water stress in nursery and field trials. However, more knowledge is needed at the genetic level, including estimates of the genetic variances, genetic correlations, and heritabilities of adaptive traits.

The adaptive responses of trees include both genetic adaptations and phenotypic plasticity. Plastic responses will be highly important for adaptation in forest trees, as drought stress is projected to increase. The physiological mechanisms that are controlling plant performance under drought stress need to be better understood. We encourage studies from all related fields, in native and introduced species, including both original experimental studies and reviews to contribute to this Special Issue.

Dr. Miloš Ivković
Dr. Sergio Espinoza M.
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • drought stress physiology
  • biomass allocation
  • genetic parameters
  • tree breeding
  • forest genetics
  • forest management
  • phenotypic plasticity

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 2485 KiB  
Article
Transcriptomic Responses of Dove Tree (Davidia involucrata Baill.) to Heat Stress at the Seedling Stage
by Qinsong Liu, Ramesh R. Vetukuri, Wenjuan Xu and Xiao Xu
Forests 2019, 10(8), 656; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10080656 - 5 Aug 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4112
Abstract
The dove tree (Davidia involucrata Baill.), a tertiary relic species, is adapted to cool climates. With the progression of global warming, high-temperature stress has become the primary environmental factor restricting geographic distribution, ex situ conservation, and landscape application for D. involucrata resources. [...] Read more.
The dove tree (Davidia involucrata Baill.), a tertiary relic species, is adapted to cool climates. With the progression of global warming, high-temperature stress has become the primary environmental factor restricting geographic distribution, ex situ conservation, and landscape application for D. involucrata resources. However, the detailed molecular events underlying D. involucrata responses to heat stress are poorly understood. Here, we conducted RNA-Seq-based gene expression profiling in D. involucrata seedlings during the time course of a 42 °C heat treatment (0, 1, 6, and 12 h). After de novo assembly, we obtained 138,923 unigenes, of which 69,743 were annotated in public databases. Furthermore, 19,532, 20,497 and 27,716 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified after 1 h (HS1), 6 h (HS6), and 12 h (HS12) of heat treatment in comparison to 0 h (HS0), respectively. Based on a KEGG enrichment analysis, the two pathways “protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum” and “plant hormone signal transduction” are hypothesized to play vital roles during heat response in D. involucrata, and their potential interactions during heat stress are also discussed. In addition, 32 genes encoding putative heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs) were found to be associated with the response of D. involucrata to heat stress. Finally, the expression patterns of eight heat-responsive genes derived from qRT-PCR were in agreement with their transcript level alterations, as determined by a transcriptome analysis. Taken together, our transcriptomic data provide the first comprehensive transcriptional profile affected by heat stress in D. involucrata, which will facilitate further studies on the improvement of heat tolerance in this rare and endangered species. Full article
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