Does maternal environmental condition during reproductive development induce genotypic selection in Picea abies?

In forest trees, environmental conditions during reproduction can greatly influence progeny performance. This phenomenon probably results from adaptive phenotypic plasticity but also may be associated with genotypic selection. In order to determine whether selective effects during the reproduction are environment specific, single pair-crosses of Norway spruce were studied in two contrasted maternal environments (warm and cold conditions). One family expressed large and the other small phenotypic differences between these crossing environments. The inheritance of genetic polymorphism was analysed at the seed stage. Four parental genetic maps covering 66 to 78% of the genome were constructed using 190 to 200 loci. After correcting for multiple testing, there is no evidence of locus under strong and repeatable selection. The maternal environment could thus only induce limited genotypic-selection effects during reproductive steps, and performance of progenies may be mainly affected by a long-lasting epigenetic memory regulated by temperature and photoperiod prevailing during seed production.