The Application Of Genomics To Sitka Spruce Tree Improvement.

Abstract

The GenESIS research is a new four year project funded by DAFM and features researchers from Teagasc, UCD, Trinity College Dublin, NUI Galway, National Botanic Gardens assisted by Coillte and hopes to document the genetics of Sitka spruce forests in Ireland and develop genotyping tools to assist tree-breeding efforts. The new research involves the development of a new genotyping platform that will be utilised for assessing differences in the genetic makeup of trees, used to assess diversity in Sitka spruce populations, for DNA fingerprinting, and also for genomic selection which has the potential to accelerating tree breeding efforts.