Genomic Tools in Applied Tree Breeding Programs: Factors to Consider

The past three decades have seen considerable research into the molecular genetics and genomics of forest trees, and a variety of new tools and methods have emerged that could have practical applications in applied breeding programs. Applied breeders may lack specialized knowledge required to evaluate claims made about the advantages of new methods over existing practices and are faced with the challenge of deciding whether to invest in new approaches or continue with current practices. Researchers, on the other hand, often lack experience with constraints faced by applied breeding programs and may not be well-equipped to evaluate the suitability of the method they have developed to a particular program. Our goal here is to outline social, biological, and economic constraints relevant to applied breeding programs to inform researchers, and to summarize some new methods and how they may address those constraints to inform breeders. The constraints faced by programs breeding tropical species grown over large areas in relatively uniform climates with rotations shorter than 10 years differ greatly from those facing programs breeding boreal species deployed in many different environments, each with relatively small areas, with rotations of many decades, so different genomic tools are likely to be appropriate.

Automated summary

Over the past three decades, research on molecular genetics and genomics of forest trees has advanced significantly, leading to the development of new tools and methods that could be applied in breeding programs. However, breeders and researchers face different challenges due to their distinct perspectives and constraints. Breeders need to evaluate the benefits of new methods compared to existing practices, while researchers should understand the limitations and requirements of applied breeding programs. As different breeding programs have diverse characteristics, such as climate and rotation length, appropriate genomic tools may vary accordingly.