Genes controlling adaptive traits of pine and spruce trees

Climate change has received increasing attention in recent decades. The question of adaptation of forest forming species to these changes is of great importance in strategic planning of reforestation. Plant adaptation depends to a large extent on individual genes responsible for the response to growing conditions. One of the groups of genes responsible for adaptive traits are photoreceptors, which determine the plant's response to light quality. The aim of the research was to identify polymorphisms in two genes of photoreceptors in pine and spruce growing in the Leningrad region. To study the genes, primers were designed for the sequence of genes in the reference genome of Norway spruce. DNA was isolated from spruce and pine needles by STAB method. PCRs were performed using the designed primers on DNA from both species. The PCR products obtained were analyzed by Sanger sequencing. Sequencing revealed 13 SNPs in the PhyO gene, including 12 heterozygous SNPs in the pine population and 1 polymorphic SNP in the spruce population. The data obtained indicate the conservativeness of the PhyO gene, in which, despite a significant number of heterozygous sites in pine, there are no species-specific mutations. The identified polymorphisms result in 5 non-synonymous substitutions in the amino acid composition, including a mutation described earlier in Swedish populations of Norway spruce as the first case of latitudinal cline detection in this gene. The presence of the previously described polymorphism in another geographic population of Norway spruce may indicate the importance of the gene in shaping the adaptive response of the plant. When analyzing the CRY1 gene, 35 SNPs were detected, including 34 species-specific SNPs and 1 polymorphic SNP in the spruce population. This polymorphism has not been previously described in Norway spruce.