The class and lab. activities lectures will be focused on the following groups of topics/abilities.
- General introduction to plant biotechnology: history, global significance of modern plant biotechnology, biotech trees;
- Model plants for tree species: the need of a model plant for tree species;
- Vegetative propagation and tissue culture (tree cloning, micropropagation, cryopreservation, callus culture, haploid plants, protoplast isolation, production of secondary metabolites);
- General introduction to the genetically modified trees; Methods of genetic transformation of forest trees (Agrobacterium, biolistic, and electroporation)
- Applications of recombinant DNA technology for the improvement of forest trees
- General introduction to the Omics sciences (genomics, proteomics and metabolomics)
- Sequencing of tree species (history and main methodologies), Next generation sequencing
- Molecular markers history, molecular markers currently used in plant biotechnology
- Marker Assisted Selection

1. Plant Cell Culture, essential methods (2010). Edited by M.R. Davey and P. Anthony. Wiley-Blackwell.
2. Tree biotechnology (2014). Edited by K. G. Ramawat, J. M. Mérillon, M. R. Ahuja. CRC Press.
3. Plant Biotechnology and Agriculture: Prospects for the 21st Century (2012). Edited by Altman A and Hasegawa PM. Accademic Press.
4. Plants, genes, and Crop Biotechnology (2003). Edited by M.J. Chrispeels & D.E. Sadava. Jones and Bartlett publishers.
Non-attending students are encouraged to contact the teacher for information about the program, teaching materials, and how to evaluate the benefit.

The course is organized into four major sections:
1) summary of basic genetic principles (mendelian and molecular genetics);
2) population genetics;
3) quantitative genetics;
4) basic principles of genetic improvement of forest trees.

1) SUMMARY OF BASIC GENETIC PRINCIPLES

a) Mendelian genetics
- Mendel's principles
Monohybrid crosses: the principles of dominance and segregation; dihybrid crosses: the principle of independent assortment.
- Extension of Mendel's principles: partial dominance, codominance, multiple alleles, epistasis, genetic linkage, pleiotropy.

b) Molecular genetics and cytogenetics
- Structures of DNA and RNA.
- The central dogma of molecular biology: replication, transcription and translation, the genetic code.
- Gene structure and regulation.
- The organization of DNA in chromosomes, mitosis and meiosis, chromosome theory of inheritance,
- Genomics.
- Mutations.
- Polyploidy.

- Causes and types of variability in forest stands.

2) POPULATION GENETICS
- Genetic structure of populations: genotype and allele frequencies.
- The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium law: assumption and predictions of the law; implications of the law in natural populations.
- Mating systems and inbreeding: influence of inbreeding on genotypic frequencies, inbreeding coefficient, inbreeding depression in forest trees.
- Forces that change allele frequency (evolutionary forces): mutation, migration, selection and genetic drift.

3) QUANTITATIVE GENETICS
- Characteristics of quantitative traits.
- Study of the amount of phenotypic variation for a quantitative trait.; statistical tools: samples and populations, frequency distributions, mean, variance and standard deviation, correlation and regression analyses.
- Estimating the relative contribution of environmental and genetic effects on the observed phenotypic variability: heritability and its estimation in forest species.
- Estimating the genotypic value of parental phenotypes by the analysis of offspring: clonal and breeding values; general combining ability and specific combining ability.
- Genetic gain or genetic progress in a tree improvement program: realized gain and predicted gain on the basis of quantitative genetics theory; clonal and breeding genetic gain.
- Genetic correlations: genetic correlations between two distinct traits (traits/traits correlations); genetics correlations of the same trait expressed at different ages (juvenile/mature correlations); genetic correlations of the same trait expressed in different environments (genotype x environment interaction).

4) BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GENETIC IMPROVEMENTS OF FOREST TREES
- Genetic improvements under natural regeneration systems.
- Scope and structure of forest tree improvement programs.
- Population types and activities in the breeding cycle of tree improvement programs.
- Characteristics of different types of populations: base population, selected population, breeding population, external population.
- Propagation population: clonal seed orchards, seedling seed orchards.
- Objectives and functions of genetic tests in the breeding cycle of tree improvement programs.

Notes and slides of the lectures provided by the teacher.
Textbook: Forest Genetics (2009), Editors: White T.L., Adams W.T., Neale D.B. ISBN 9781845932855