Ingegerd Dormling

Inheritance of autumn frost hardiness in Pinus sylvestris L. seedlings

SummaryInheritance of frost hardiness was analysed making use of a 12×12 incomplete factorial mating design. Owing to space limitations only 59 families could be tested in four experiments. To link the four experiments, some families were common to two or more experiments. The seedlings were grown in climate chambers under conditions inducing autumn hardening. The plants were exposed to a freezing temperature of −10 °C for three hours at night lengths of 11–13 h. A statistical model was developed for analyses of variance of our data. The genetic variation and the variation due to the cultivation regimes during autumn hardening were of the same magnitude. The additive effects were the most important ones for induction of frost damage. No interaction following long-distance crossing was noted. Mixed model equations were used for ranking of the parents. The results obtained support a polygenic inheritance of frost hardiness. The large within-population variation offers good opportunities for hardiness breeding.

Characterization of pinus pinaster seedling growth in different photo‐ and thermoperiods in a phytotron as a basis for early selection

Seedlings of Pinus pinaster families exhibiting monocyclic or polycyclic adult growth patterns, were cultivated in climate chambers during two successive growth periods separated by a period of low temperature to satisfy the chilling requirement. Six treatments combining photoperiod and temperature factors were tested. The morphology of the apex was assessed and height and biomass measured. First season seedlings grown in continuous light varied in apex morphology from the typical juvenile rosette to the adult bud usually found outdoors on 2‐yr‐old plants. It seems possible to distinguish monocyclic and polycyclic populations at an early stage by characters related to development and growth height. The results indicate that special environmental conditions during seedling development may be used as a tool in the search for criteria for early selection.

Germination and phenology of 1-year-old maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aït.) seedlings under continuous light

SummaryNine half-sib families of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aït.), of known vigor and growth pattern (monocyclic vs polycyclic), were grown under continuous light in two temperature regimes. Results of germination and development to the beginning of the second flush are reported here. Families significantly differed for mean date of germination and date of first budset. After 18 weeks of continuous light most of the seedlings had set a bud. High temperature (25° C vs 25° C/20°C) hastened first budset by approximately 5 days. However, 3 families had not reached 75% budset at the end of the experiment. Variation in date of first budset was almost exclusively explained by variation in the period between initiation of primary needles and budset. Further, 2 developmental stages could be distinguished within this period, the boundary between them being the emergence of the first secondary needles. Variation in height at first budset was mostly due to variation in growth rate, not in duration. Possible causes of early budset and implication for selection are discussed.

Genetic variation in photoperiodic preconditioning in Pinus sylvestris L. seedlings

Thirty‐two southern Swedish families of Pinus sylvestris L. from a partial 11×11 factorial mating were grown at four night lengths, 3, 5, 7, and 9 h, from the start of their first growth period. At the end of the growth period, the plants were exposed to increasingly longer nights until total growth cessation. During the second and third growth periods, the plants shared the same growing conditions in the growth chambers, starting with two weeks of 6‐h night followed by night prolongation as in the first growth period. The plants from the 9‐h treatment grew more slowly than those from the other treatments in growth periods 2 and 3. The genetic influence of the growing conditions during the first growth period on the height increment during growth periods 2 and 3 was estimated by the female and male by treatment interaction variances. These variance components were relatively small and totally negligible when data from the 9‐h treatment were excluded from the analysis. The data suggest stability in the par...