Landscape genomics of North American conifers

The long‐term interest of my lab is to understand the molecular basis of plant adaptation to the environment in forest tree populations. A rich history of common garden experimentation has show genetic control of adaptive traits and precise patterning of adaptation across heterogeneous environments. Adaptive traits are assumed to be highly polygenetic but the exact underlying genes were unknown. We have used QTL mapping and association studies in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and Douglas‐fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) to begin to dissect these complex traits to their individual genes. This approach has led to many candidate genes for adaptive traits such as cold‐hardiness and water‐use efficiency. Next we have conducted candidate gene resequencing (Sanger) to discover SNPs. These studies have been done in a large number of North American and European conifers. Gene and SNP annotations are performed and measures of nucleotide diversity and departures from neutrality are estimated. Finally, large populations of geo‐referenced trees are genotyped for SNPs and patterns of demographic and adaptive diversity are estimated.