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Scientia Silvae Sinicae ›› 2026, Vol. 62 ›› Issue (6): 154-165.doi: 10.11707/j.1001-7488.LYKX20250637

• Research papers • Previous Articles    

Comprehensive Evaluation and Selection of Growth Traits in Seedlings of Bt Transgenic Poplar Hybrid Progeny

Siyuan Li1,Sheng Gao1,Jianjun Hu2,Jie Ling3,Yingnan Chen1,*()   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Biotechnology of Educational Department of China Forestry and Grassland College, Nanjing Forestry University Nanjing 210037
    2. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry Beijing 100091
    3. Jiangsu Huanghai Farm Co. Ltd. Yancheng 224000
  • Received:2025-10-22 Revised:2026-01-05 Online:2026-06-10 Published:2026-06-13
  • Contact: Yingnan Chen E-mail:chenyingnan@njfu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective: This study aims to combine the fast-growing traits of Populus ‘Nanlin 895’ with the high insect resistance of Bt-transgenic Populus nigra through hybridization, to analyze the effects of the Bt gene and sex on early growth, and to comprehensively evaluate the growth traits of the hybrid progeny for superior individual selection. Method: The ‘Nanlin 895’ poplar was used as the female parent and two Bt-transgenic Populus × euramericana clones (‘B3-44’ and ‘G-252’) were used as male parents, and two full-sib families were obtained through hybridization. Through seedling cultivation, the final effective sample size of 5 246 F1 hybrid progeny were generated. During the dormancy period, plant height (PH), ground diameter (GD), and first-order branch number (FBN) were uniformly measured. PCR was employed for molecular identification of the Bt gene and progeny gender. The average membership function method and the Breckin multi-trait comprehensive evaluation method were used to comprehensively evaluate the growth traits. Result: 1) The three growth traits of the hybrid progeny exhibited abundant phenotypic variation, with coefficients of variation ranging from 20.3% to 48.3%. The FBN showed the highest level of variation. 2) The positive rate for the Bt gene was 35.3%. At seedling stage, the PH (270.66 cm) of Bt-positive progeny was significantly lower than that (274.23 cm) of Bt-negative progeny, but there were no significant differences in GD or FBN between Bt-positive progeny and Bt-negative progeny. 3) The gender ratio of the progeny was significantly skewed towards males, yet there were no significant differences in seedling growth traits between female and male progeny. 4) The top 100 superior individuals selected by the two comprehensive evaluation methods showed a high degree of overlap (96 individuals). Their mean PH and GD (351.58 cm, 45.48 mm) were significantly increased by 28.8% and 43.1%, respectively, compared to the population mean, and their FBN was more stable. Conclusion: The Bt gene has been successfully introduced into the poplar genome via hybridization, which may exert an inhibitory effect on seedling height growth to a certain extent. The gender of the progeny has no significant effect on early growth. Both the membership function and Breckin methods demonstrate good consistency and reliability for early selection in juvenile poplar. The superior individuals selected in this study provide a solid material foundation for breeding new catkin-free, fast-growing, and highly insect-resistant poplar varieties.

Key words: Populus spp., Bt gene, early sex determination, growth trait, comprehensive evaluation

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