Acceleration of Forest and Fruit Tree Domestication by Genomic Selection

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Trees are important sources of food, fibre, fodder, fuel, and timber. Fruit and forest trees provide habitat for wildlife, sequester carbon, and protect soil and water resources. Despite a very long history of domestication of some fruit tree species, such as apple, domestication and breeding of many tree species is still in their early stages. The domestication of trees can be accelerated by modern tree breeding practices. Advances in genomic technologies are providing valuable tools to tree breeders. Breeders can be more efficient in improving the traits of interest to increase productivity, and develop genetic resources that can adapt to changing environment and have resistance to disease and pests. In this chapter, we first briefly examined the current status of major forest (conifers, eucalypts) and fruit trees (apple, peach, pear) breeding across the world. We then described the breeding strategies employed to improve the populations. A summary of genomic resources available for major tree species is also covered. The challenges and opportunities of genomic selection applications are finally summarized.
Keywords: Breeding; Domestication; Genomic selection; Population improvement; Trees