Development of forest genetics in Russia

Abstract

The history of the development of forest genetics in Russia has been poorly studied, although the information obtained in this field is of great importance for research, both in general genetics and in forest science. Practically the first attempt was made to present materials on this topic. The review of publications of Russian researchers in such sections of forest genetics as population genetics (isoenzyme and DNA polymorphism analysis), karyology and cytogenetics, phenetics, genetics of quantitative features, induced mutagenesis, and genomics is presented. The applied methods are analyzed, and the main results of the studies obtained in each of these directions are summarized. In most detail, with the involvement of a large number of literature sources, studies in the field of population genetics, karyology and cytogenetics have been examined. It was noted that a limited amount of publication did not allow reflection of studies in a number of other areas of forest genetics, for example, in the development of the genetic basis for the resistance of forest woody plants to pathogens and insect pests. The review focuses on the genetics of forest-forming coniferous species that grow in Russia: Scots pine, Siberian stone pine, larch and spruce species, Siberian fir, and some other species. The importance of the conducted studies not only for the genetic analysis of the species reviewed, but also for the identification of other features of their biology is shown. An outstanding role of L. F. Pravdin and Yu. P. Altukhov in the development of Russian forest geneticists was noted. The emergence of new trends in genetics, in particular, epigenetics, poses new difficult but promising tasks for forest geneticists.

Keywords

• forest genetics
• development
• Russia