Prerequisites for a Black locust genomic selection program

The use of renewable resources as an alternative to fossil fuels has become a priority. Efficient use of forest as a resource for energy and green chemistry purposes require the development of suitable selected genotypes that are competitive and ready to meet the challenges of global change. In this context, the black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia L., is a very promising species which has many advantages in the context of current global change: high phenotypic plasticity, drought resistance, high biomass production and fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. The genetic improvement of woody species using traditional methods can take between 20 to 30 years. These times can be greatly reduced with the development of new selection methods such as genomic selection.
Before starting a genomic selection program, it is necessary to 1) develop new molecular markers to achieve a very dense genetic map for genomic selection, 2) study the genetic diversity of the species present in Belgium and compare it with that of the native area, 3) study the structure and the relatedness of different populations, 4) establish a core collection gathering the most genetically diverse individuals, and 5) as black locust is an exotic species, verify its invasiveness in Belgium.
These 5 steps will be detailed and the first results obtained will be discussed.