Genomics of western redcedar (Thuja plicata) ...

• Main Author: Shalev, Tal James
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2022
• Subjects: First Nations
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0421045; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0421045

Western redcedar (WRC; Thuja plicata) is an ecologically, culturally, and economically important tree species. It is a key successional tree species and a major component of old-growth stands in its range, has been revered and used by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest of North America for millennia, and represents a $1.1B industry. WRC is unique among conifers in that it readily self-fertilizes (selfs) and does not appear to be affected by inbreeding depression for most fitness traits. Further, its tolerance of environmental stressors makes it a focal tree species for future range expansion due to climate change. Development of genomic resources and methods for conifers and other trees has become fundamental over the last decade for better understanding their biology and expediting tree improvement programs for growth and defense traits. As operational forestry shifts from old-growth to second-growth harvesting, using genomic data to better understand the population genetics, demography, and important ...