A somatic embryogenic system was created using material from the British
Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range’s Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr)
breeding program for resistance to the white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi Peck.). The
goal was to provide a system that could aid in understanding the phenotypic and
genotypic variation that exists in these traits. Embryogenic lines were derived from
controlled crosses of parental genotypes previously ranked for the abundance of three
physical bark traits: sclereid cells, constitutive resin canals and traumatic resin canals.
The number of filled seeds per cone from controlled pollinations was low, with a mean of
9.4 ± 6.8 (mean ± SD), compared to open-pollinated material, which had greater than 40
seeds per cone. The mean induction rate (to embryogenic cultures) was 7 %, ranging
from 0 % to 56 % by cross. Of 135 genotypes, 88.1 % produced mature embryos. The
number of embryos produced varied by culture. Nearly all (44 of 45) genotypes
germinated, with a mean germination rate of 80 %. The overall conversion rate of
somatic embryos to plants was 5.5 %. A novel method of cryopreservation that used a
temperature pretreatment but did not require dimethyl sulfoxide was tested.
Embryogenic cultures were recovered from 31 % of genotypes (n = 112). Genotypic and
phenotypic variation were observed during each stage of the somatic embryogenic
process. This project demonstrated that somatic embryogenesis and cryopreservation can
be used to create a system to study phenotypic and genotypic variation in Sitka spruce. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/3363 |
| Date | 09 June 2011 |
| Creators | Prior, Natalie Annastasia |
| Contributors | Aderkas, P. von |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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