Correspondence of performance between genetically related clones and seedlings

Abstract

The correspondence of the performance between genetically related vegetative propagules and seedlings, as expressed by the correlation between (1) rejuvenated propagules and seedling progeny of the same parent, (2) vegetative propagules and seedlings from the same family, and (3) seedlings and vegetative propagules taken from them, was investigated. In the absence of propagation effects, expected correlations improved with increasing additive variance and the number of seedlings and propagules tested, and ranged between moderate and high. Effects due to nonadditive genetic variance varied from unimportant, in the case of seedlings and vegetative propagules of the same family, to large, in the case of seedlings and their propagules. Simulation studies demonstrated that propagation effects common to specific clones (C-effects) resulted in a significant reduction in the magnitude of correlations if the covariance with true genetic effects is negative or zero, but had little effect when the covariance is positive. Propagation effects affecting all ramets equally (c-effects) did not cause any change in the correlations. Generally, comparisons between rejuvenated propagules and seedling progeny resulted in higher correlations, and were less affected by propagation effects, than other comparisons. They were also more robust against departures from assumptions of open-pollinated family structure. Results from empirical studies seem to agree well with expectations and suggest that propagation effects might be involved on the correspondence between genetically related clones and seedlings. Implications for selection and clonal deployment strategies need further investigation.