| The project will investigate oak species under climate change aspects from various angles. Turkey oak (Quercus cerris) and other species or possible hybrids from Southeastern Europe will be analyzed compared to Austrian stands . Selections will be done also in their native countries. Existing provenance tests with pedunculate oak (Qu. robur) in Austria will be characterized for their phenotypic plasticity. Red oak (Qu. rubra) stands in Austria will be analyzed for their genetic variation and possible use as seed sources. All genetic tests will be based on latest genomic data, e.g. new, high-quality reference genomes of Qu. cerris and Qu. rubra.
For Turkey oak, trees and stands in Austria will be measured and assessed, and compared to stands in its distribution centre in SE Europe. The genetic potential of the Austria trees will be estimated by comparing their genomic configuration. Relations between tree performance and general levels of genomic variation will reveal whether the species shows effects of marginality in Austria, which could be a general deficit in genetic variation, but also accelerated adaptation to local conditions.
For Qu. pubescens (downey oak) and its possible hybrids described in SE Europe, individuals and stands with promising growth characteristics will be visited and described. A thorough genetic investigation will aim at revealing the possible hybridization events that led to the special taxa present in these countries. Crossing experiments in Austrian seed orchards will try to re-create such hybrids and assess the resulting seedlings.
For pedunculate oak, the Austrian provenance trials, and individual trees selected there, will be tested for phenotypic plasticity (the ability of a given genotype to form various phenotypes under contrasting conditions) in drought stress experiments . This will be done in the field and under controlled conditions in a climate chamber (using grafts). Gene expression and a metabolomic analysis (determination of all metabolites) will be measured under simulated water stress and regeneration, in order to quantify differences among provenances and individuals.
For red oak, aims of the project are to identify provenances (original North American and European/Austrian), to determine genetic diversity and diversity, adaptation potential especially under drought stress, and the development of genetic and genomic approaches for characterizing drought-related genes. |