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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1498535

Comparative Transcriptomic and Phenotypic Analysis of Monoclonal and Polyclonal Populus deltoides Genotypes

Provisionally accepted
Macy Gosselaar Macy Gosselaar 1,2*Austin Himes Austin Himes 3Tony Arick Tony Arick 2Chuan-Yu Hsu Chuan-Yu Hsu 2Heidi Renninger Heidi Renninger 2Courtney M Siegert Courtney M Siegert 2Waqar Shafqat Waqar Shafqat 2Daniel G. Peterson Daniel G. Peterson 2
  • 1 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 2 Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, United States
  • 3 Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Populus species are highly valued for renewable bioenergy and bioproducts due to their rapid growth and high productivity. Polyclonal plantings, or mixtures of Populus clones, have shown potential to enhance resource utilization and productivity compared to single-clone stands. This advantage may arise from greater genetic diversity in polyclonal systems, which facilitates niche differentiation and complementary resource use. In this study, we established two clones of P. deltoides in monoclonal and polyclonal plots to investigate how genetic diversity impacts productivity and gene expression. RNA sequencing (RNASeq) of leaf tissue revealed upregulation of several key genes in polyclonal plantings, including an exocyst subunit exo70 family protein H7 (EXO70H7) involved in photosynthetic efficiency and growth, and NDH-dependent cyclic electron flow 5 (NDF5), which contributes to photosynthetic protection. Additionally, expansin-like A3 (EXLA3), a gene crucial for cell wall loosening and plant growth, was also upregulated in polyclonal plots. Phenylalanine metabolism and other secondary metabolic pathways, vital for growth and developmental processes, showed significant enrichment in clone S7C8. Polyclonal plantings demonstrated higher leaf area index (LAI; p < 0.01, 2.96 ± 0.057 m²) and total biomass (p < 0.01, 2.74 ± 0.06) compared to monoclonal plots, suggesting superior productivity in diverse planting systems. While monoclonal plots showed reduced productivity, polyclonal plots exhibited traits indicative of greater nitrogen use efficiency and resource partitioning. This study represents one of the first genetic expression analyses of a large woody species conducted in a field-based setting, bridging molecular research with real-world applications to enhance our understanding of forest productivity.

    Keywords: eastern cottonwood 1, niche differentiation 2, differential gene expression 3, nitrogenuse efficiency 4, Populus deltoides

    Received: 19 Sep 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gosselaar, Himes, Arick, Hsu, Renninger, Siegert, Shafqat and Peterson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Macy Gosselaar, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.