Genetic test and early selection in full-sib families of Pinus koraiensis

To understand the reliability of genetic determination and early selection of Pinus koraiensis, the genetic variation of growth traits of 34 full-sib families in different growth year were investigated and analyzed. The results showed significant differences in female and male parents and their interaction at different ages, and genetic variance components of growth traits between families accounted for over 50% of the total genetic variation. The phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation ranged from 8.61% to 27.29%, and from 6.71% to 19.96%, respectively. Meanwhile, broad-sense heritability and narrow-sense heritability ranged from 0.951–0.999, and from 0.566–0.681, respectively. Correlation analysis shown significant positive correlation coefficients between H, DBH, and V at different ages. Using the multiple-traits comprehensive evaluation method, seven families were selected in different ages. The estimated results of combining ability shown that female parent, male parent and parental combination were F 4, M 11 and F 9 × M 14, respectively. Therefore, the early genetic determination and selection of P. koraiensis could greatly shorten the breeding cycle, improve breeding efficiency, which could provide references for the early genetic determination of other tree species with long rotation age.