Comparison of host susceptibilities to native and exotic pathogens provides evidence for pathogen-imposed selection in forest trees.

The extent to which spatial structuring of host resistance in wild plant populations reflects direct pathogen-imposed selection is a subject of debate. To examine this issue, genetic susceptibilities to an exotic and a coevolved native fungal pathogen were compared using two Australian host tree species. Damage to common host germplasm of Corymbia citriodora ssp.

On the persistence of reproductive barriers in Eucalyptus: the bridging of mechanical barriers to zygote formation by F1 hybrids is counteracted by intrinsic post-zygotic incompatibilities.

Background And Aims: Many previous studies conclude that pre-zygotic barriers such as mechanical isolation account for most reproductive isolation between pairs of taxa. However, the inheritance and persistence of barriers such as these after the first generation of hybridization is rarely quantified, even though it is a vital consideration in understanding gene flow potential. There is an asymmetrical pre-zygotic mechanical barrier to hybridization between Eucalyptus nitens and Eucalyptus globulus, which completely prevents small-flowered E.

A latitudinal cline in disease resistance of a host tree.

The possible drivers and implications of an observed latitudinal cline in disease resistance of a host tree were examined. Mycosphaerella leaf disease (MLD) damage, caused by Teratosphaeria species, was assessed in five Eucalyptus globulus (Tasmanian blue gum) common garden trials containing open-pollinated progeny from 13 native-forest populations. Significant population and family within population variation in MLD resistance was detected, which was relatively stable across different combinations of trial sites, ages, seasons and epidemics.

The effects of age and environment on the expression of inbreeding depression in Eucalyptus globulus.

Inbreeding adversely affects fitness traits in many plant and animal species, and the magnitude, stability and genetic basis of inbreeding depression (ID) will have short- and long-term evolutionary consequences. The effects of four degrees of inbreeding (selfing, f=50%; full- and half-sib matings, f=25 and 12.5%; and unrelated outcrosses, f=0%) on survival and growth of an island population of Eucalyptus globulus were studied at two sites for over 14 years.

Inheritance of resistance to mammalian herbivores and of plant defensive chemistry in a Eucalyptus species.

Hybridization in plants provides an opportunity to investigate the patterns of inheritance of hybrid resistance to herbivores, and of the plant mechanisms conferring this resistance such as plant secondary metabolites. We investigated how inter-race differences in resistance of Eucalyptus globulus to a generalist mammalian herbivore, Trichosurus vulpecula, are inherited in their F1 hybrids. We assessed browsing damage of three-year-old trees in a common environment field trial on four hybrid types of known progeny.