Reproduction, one of the main components of plant fitness, is highly variable in response to environmental cues, but little is known about the genetic determinism underlying reproduction-related traits in forest tree species. There is therefore an urgent need to characterize the genetic architecture of those traits if we are to predict the evolutionary trajectories of forest populations facing rapidly changing environment and mitigate their impacts. Using a full-sib family of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), we investigated the within population variability of seed production and mean seed mass during four consecutive years. Reproductive traits were highly variable between trees and between years. The high narrow sense heritability and evolvability estimated underline the important genetic effect on the variability in seed production and mean seed mass. Despite a large variability over years, reproductive traits show significant genetic correlation between years. Furthermore, for the first time in forest tree species, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with seed production and mean mass of a seed have been identified. While it is commonly assumed and observed that fitness-traits have low narrow sense heritabilities, our findings show that reproduction-related traits may undergo evolutionary changes under selective pressure and may be determinant for tree adaptation.

中文翻译：

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温带橡树物种繁殖相关性状的遗传力和遗传结构。

繁殖是植物适应性的主要组成部分之一，它对环境因素的反应变化很大，但人们对森林树种繁殖相关性状背后的遗传决定论知之甚少。因此，如果我们要预测森林种群面临快速变化的环境的进化轨迹并减轻其影响，就迫切需要表征这些性状的遗传结构。使用带花梗橡树（Quercus robur）的全同胞家族，我们连续四年调查了种群内种子产量和平均种子质量的变异性。不同树木和不同年份的繁殖特征差异很大。估计的高狭义遗传力和进化力强调了遗传对种子产量和平均种子质量变异性的重要影响。尽管多年来存在很大的变异性，但生殖性状在年份之间显示出显着的遗传相关性。此外，首次在森林树种中鉴定出与种子产量和种子平均质量相关的数量性状基因座（QTL）。虽然人们普遍认为和观察到适应性状的狭义遗传力较低，但我们的研究结果表明，与繁殖相关的性状可能在选择压力下经历进化变化，并且可能是树木适应的决定因素。