In this project we are re-sequencing 10 individuals from each of 100 beech (Fagus sylvatica) populations from across Europe growing in a common garden in Northern Germany. We aim to elucidate the genetic structure of beech across its distribution range and perform genotype-phenotype and genotype-environment associations to gain insights into the natural genetic variation underlying different traits. Ultimately, we want to develop genomic prediction models.

The collaborative 'FraxForFuture' project includes 27 German research institutions that will conduct various studies on the fungal disease ash dieback, which poses an increasing threat to common ash (Fraxinus excelsior). The subproject 'FraxGen' is focused on studying the genetic aspects of the disease. At the Thünen Institute we do 'breeding-without-breeding' to extract full-sib families, which are used to generate genetic maps for QTL mapping. Additionally, the genetic maps are employed for anchoring de novo genome assemblies generated from Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing data.

This project aims to elucidate the genetic basis of sex determination in poplar. Despite the longstanding interest in sex chromosome evolution and the underlying genetics, the molecular mechanisms have been identified only for a relatively small number of dioecious plant species. In garden asparagus and kiwifruit, for example, recent experimental work has provided evidence consistent with the classical two-gene model of sex chromosome evolution. In poplar, however, we showed that a single gene is sufficient to control dioecy (Müller et al. 2020). Current efforts are targeted at understanding the signaling pathways between the sex determining gene(s) and the floral organ identity networks (Leite Montalvao et al. 2022).