Long-Term Evolutionary Response of Huon Pine to Climatic Fluctuation

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

DNA sequence information from subfossil wood specimens, hundreds to thousands of years old, would promote our understanding of temporal as well as spatial genetic variation in long-lived forest tree species. Huon pine and Siberian pine have been used extensively in dendrochronological analyses to infer climate variability in the late and post-Pleistocene periods in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Subfossil wood samples range in age from present day to 15,000 years before present and encompass periods of increased amplitude of climate change and human mediated disturbance. Using state of the art DNA sequence based technology, we will evaluate the feasibility of obtaining genetic information from nuclear, chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes from exactly dated wood samples of these species. Rigorous criteria to authenticate DNA extraction and PCR - amplification from subfossil wood will be incorporated in all phases of this study. Genetic data from historical specimens could open broad new areas of investigation related to plant evolution, biodiversity, forensics and archaeology. Knowledge of the scale of genetic change in forest tree populations related to variability in climate and habitat alteration represent fundamental problems in plant biology, important for gene conservation strategies and global energy policies.