DNA MARKER TECHNOLOGIES: IT’S APPLICATION TO THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE UTILISATION OF MALAYSIAN FOREST TREE SPECIES
Norwati M., Lee S. L., Kevin, N. K. S, Lee, C. T., Siti Salwana, H., Ng C. H. and Tnah, L. H.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797144
Fax: 03-62804614
Email: [email protected]
Forestry and forest genetic resources are important to the livelihood of mankind. Genetic diversity of forests is seen not only as a natural reserve but also as a potential resource. Human intervention on the natural forests has put a great pressure on the ecosystems.
Many species of interest have depleted very rapidly from their natural habitat and some suffer potential extinction. Therefore conservation, sustainable use and management of Forest Genetic Resources are crucial for present and future generation.
At FRIM, most of the time genetic materials or germplasm from the forests are used by researchers and breeders for selection to increase a tree's resistance to a disease, improve the quality of its products, or make it more suitable for use in agro forestry.
Conservation of these forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee their availability for the use of present and future generations. Therefore, information on population genetics of forest plant species is essential for the successful implementation of conservation and tree improvement programmes.
In conservation programmes, this information would be useful in designing sampling strategies for ex situ conservation and sustainable forest management. At the same time such information can be used in tree improvement programmes to provide adequate guidelines in designing sampling strategies, clone identification and tracking desirable genes for early selection in tree improvement programme.
At the Genetic Unit, the issue of conservation of important tropical species is approached through two notable issues, which are a) Genetic diversity evaluation of species based on their status (such as endemism, rare, threatened or endangered etc.) and; b) effect of logging on genetic diversity. For the former, some of the species studied include Aquilaria malaccensis, Dyera costulata, Shorea lumutensis, Hopea bilitonensis, H. subalata, H. odorata, Neobalanocarpus heimii. As for the effect of logging, some of the species studied include Shorea leprosula, S. ovalis, S. curtisii and S. macroptera. For these purposes, Genetic Unit has developed various types of genetic markers such as isozymes, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPDs) and microsatellite. This paper addresses FRIM research findings from these studies.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: [email protected]
