Genetic Analysis of Growth Traits and Selection of Superior Families and Individuals in Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sieb. & Zucc.)

Taking the 35-year-old Korean pine half-sib family progeny test forest in the National Korean pine Improved Variety Base of Wangqing Forestry Bureau in Jilin Province as the research object, this study conducted a comparative analysis of differences and genetic variation on four traits: tree height, breast-height diameter(DBH), timber volume, and crown width among 46 families. Based on the results of genetic testing, superior families and individual trees were selected to provide excellent breeding materials for the future upgrading and transformation of the improved variety base and the establishment of high-generation breeding populations. The results showed that there were significant differences in DBH and timber volume among families(P < 0.05), and there were relatively rich variations in growth traits within and between families, providing a good basis for genetic improvement of traits. Compared with other traits, timber volume had a higher phenotypic variation coefficient and genetic variation coefficient, and artificial selection could achieve greater genetic progress. The heritability of family for tree height, DBH, timber volume, and crown width were 0.2026, 0.3408, 0.3523, 0.2278. The phenotypic and genetic correlations among growth traits were positively correlated, and the correlation between DBH and timber volume reached a very significant level(P < 0.01). Based on the above analysis results, timber volume performance and estimated breeding values(using the BLUP method) were used as the main evaluation indicators, and finally, three superior Korean pine families and 150 superior individual trees were selected.