Highlights of 1998-1999

• Greg O'Neill completed his Ph.D. dissertation entitled "Genetics of fall, winter, and spring cold hardiness in coastal Douglas-fir seedlings."
• Christine Lomas completed her M.S. thesis entitled "Physiology and genetics of drought hardiness in coastal Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] seedlings."
• The Cooperative staff moved to brand new facilities in Richardson Hall.
• Shoot damage due to drought ranged widely among 39 full-sib families in the Seedling Drought Physiology Study, suggesting that selection among families for increased seedling drought hardiness would be quite effective. There appears to be little genetic association between drought hardiness in seedlings and growth potential in favorable moisture regimes.
• A calorimetric investigation based on a subset of families from the Seedling Drought Physiology study found that respiration parameters were generally reduced under moisture stress, but that families can differ in the degree of their response. Family differences in respiration traits expressed when seedlings are grown under well-watered conditions may be useful for predicting drought hardiness.
• The magnitudes of annual growth ring variables (e.g., earlywood width, latewood density, latewood proportion) are sensitive to moisture availability in the growing season in which a ring is produced. X-ray densitometry analysis of increment cores from sapling-age trees in one progeny test site showed that families differed widely in their response to past summer droughts.
• Nine potential microsatellite (SSR) marker loci were identified for use in Douglas-fir seed orchard studies. Preliminary analysis revealed as many as 10-12 different variants (alleles) at some loci in DNA samples from less than 20 individuals. A plan was approved for a 15-year study to evaluate alternative miniaturized seed orchard designs in Douglas-fir.

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