Jämförelse av tillväxtrytm mellan somatiska plantor och fröplantor av gran : en studie av tre fältförsök

Abstract: Somatic embryogenesis (SE) has the potential to become a useful vegetative propagation method within the Swedish forest tree breeding programme. During the process of propagation, a loss of genotypes results in an uneven production of plants per clone. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible effects of such variation on the phenology of somatic and zygotic plants. In the measured field trials, SE-propagated plants and seedlings from 49 half-sibling families of Norway spruce, Picea abies, were compared. Shoot flushing was assessed in spring 2017 and the frequency of proleptic shoots was investigated in autumn 2017. Shoot flushing was analysed using a t-test and the frequency of prolepsis was analysed using a 2–test. The results showed that somatic plants and zygotic plants did not differ in shoot flushing. The frequency of prolepsis differed among the field trials. One out of three field trials showed significantly higher frequency of prolepsis. The appearance of prolepsis was higher amongst zygotic plants than somatic plants in all the field trials.