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Abstract

Terpenes are a diverse group of plant secondary
metabolites that mediate a plethora of ecological interactions
in many plant species. Despite increasing research
into the genetic control of important adaptive traits in some
plant species, the genetic control of terpenes in forest tree
species is still relatively poorly studied. In this study, we
use quantitative genetic and quantitative trait loci (QTL)
analysis to investigate the genetic control of foliar terpenes
in an ecologically and commercially important eucalypt
species, Eucalyptus globulus. We show a moderate to high
within-family broad-sense heritability and significant genetic
basis to the variation in 14 of the 16 terpenes assayed. This is
the first report of QTL for terpenes in this species. Eleven
QTL influenced the terpenes overall. One QTL on linkage
group 6 affected six of the seven different sesquiterpenes
assayed (plus one monoterpene), which, in combination with
highly significant correlations between these compounds,
argues that their variation is influenced by a QTL with
pleiotropic effect early in the biosynthetic pathway. We
examine the homology of these QTL to those found in a
closely related eucalypt, Eucalyptus nitens, and provide
evidence that both common and unique QTL influence
terpene levels

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	O'Reilly-Wapstra, J and Freeman, JS and Davies, NW and Vaillancourt, RE and Fitzgerald, H and Potts, BM
Keywords:	Eucalyptus . Genetic variation . Plant secondary metabolites . QTL . Terpenoids
Journal or Publication Title:	Tree Genetics & Genomes
ISSN:	1614-2942
DOI / ID Number:	10.1007/s11295-010-0350-6
Additional Information:	The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com
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