Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (BMEL) (07/2021-07/2024). Waldklimafonds. Rubra-Select: Auslese und Charakterisierung von hochwertigem Vermehrungsgut bei Roteiche unter Berücksichtigung der Trockenstresstoleranz. Selection and characterization of high quality reproductive material with increased drought stress tolerance for Quercus rubra.. Referenznummer: 2220WK03A4. Postdoc: Dr. Hieu Cao, TA: Pia Meyer

Rubra-Select will lay the foundation for the production and delivery of high quality reproductive material of Quercus rubra L. for Germany in the face of climate change. The project aims at the selection and propagation of trees with superior phenotypes (plus trees) considering their geographic origin as well as their genetic diversity and adaptive potential. The selection of plus trees will be conducted in planted stands and in provenance trials based on quality, growth, vitality and genetic marker (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, SNP) information. Additionally, plus trees will be characterized at selected biomarkers to assess their adaptive potential. Progeny trials will be established to test for differences in drought tolerance among plus tree progenies.

Finally, the genetic basis of growth characteristics and drought stress tolerance will be analysed in a seedling trial under controlled conditions. Specifically, metabolome and transcriptome and genome analyses will be used for the development of new drought stress markers responsible for the adaptation to drought stress conditions. Genome-wide association analyses of genetic variation with trait variation (drought related traits, metabolites) will be conducted to identify and validate gene markers for growth and drought stress adaptation.