Project Number: 1230-21000-050-04
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 01, 2010
End Date: Aug 31, 2013

Objective:
Characterize germplasm of elms with potential importance to the American nursery industry, concentrating on recently introduced species and on newly discovered genetic races of native species. Analyze genetic diversity among elm accessions and the phylogenetic relationships among them. Provide genetic markers and taxonomically well-identified and characterized germplasm that will be useful for elm research and breeding in the future.

Approach:
Accessions will be identified according to the latest understanding of elm taxonomy, collecting herbarium specimens at different times of the year to allow coding of characters of the flowers, fruit, and leaves, and winter buds. Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships will be analyzed by DNA analysis of appropriate nuclear and chloroplast regions, evaluating new markers as necessary. Genome size and ploidy of representative accessions will be investigated using flow cytometry and (if necessary) chromosome counts.