Silver fir genome decoded: A tree species for the forest of the future

Silver fir (Abies alba) is an evergreen coniferous tree species in the Pine family. It is native to Europe and can live up to 600 years. Silver fir became popular in the 18th century as the Christmas tree par excellence until it was replaced by the longer-lasting Nordmann fir. As a result of climate change, silver fir is becoming increasingly important in silviculture as a substitute or complement for the economically important spruce especially in mountain regions. In addition, silver fir is also successfully cultivated in Northern Germany and Denmark. Its shade tolerance makes it suitable for mixed beech stands. Due to its drought tolerance it outperform spruce in dry areas.

«AA_WSL01» is written in blue on an inconspicuous fir tree in the «Rameren» forest in Birmensdorf near Zurich in Switzerland. The DNA for the first sequenced silver fir genome – the complete genetic material – was obtained from its seeds and needles. Worldwide, silver fir is only the sixth conifer species sequenced – which is not surprising as coniferous trees have extremely large genomes with many repetitive DNA sequences. For this reason, sequencing of silver fir was quite challenging and only possible thanks to international collaboration. The research team decoded a total of 18 billion base pairs, which is six times the human genome. The resulting short sequences were put together to larger sequence regions in an enormous bioinformatic effort. It's comparable with a huge puzzle that someone tries to solve without a template. It will still take a long time until all parts are put in the right order and assembled into complete chromosomes (2n=24).

Still, the effort is worthwhile, because a genome sequence helps to understand the genetic diversity within the species and to select trees with desirable characteristics. By developing and using molecular markers, the characteristics of young plants can be determined without having to grow and monitor them for many years. In particular, tree breeders want to understand which trees grow best at which sites. Forest management is already directing its practice towards converting uniform spruce forests back to mixed spruce, fir, beech forest. Thus, the decoding of the silver fir's giga-genome is an investment into the future of an important tree species and in sustainable forest management.

Detailed Information:

Mosca E, Cruz F, Gómez Garrido J, Bianco L, Rellstab C, Bazin E, Brodbeck S, Csilléry K, Fady B, Fladung M, Fussi B, Gömöry D, González-Martínez SC, Grivet D, Gut M, Hansen OK, Heer K, Kaya Z, Krutovsky KV, Kersten B, Liepelt S, Opgenoorth L, Sperisen C, Ullrich KK, Vendramin GG, Westergren M, Ziegenhagen B, Alioto T, Gugerli F, Heinze B, Höhn M, Troggio M, Neale DB 2019. A reference genome sequence for the European silver fir (Abies alba Mill.): a community resource in support of climate change research. G3—Genes, Genomes, Genetics.

Link to the original publication: dx.doi.org/10.1534/g3.119.400083

The publication was created in the framework of the international Silver Fir Genome Project (SFGP) – a community-based initiative, which is supported by several international scientific institutes.

For further information please visit the SFGP-website:

For further questions please contact:
PD Dr. Matthias Fladung, matthias.fladung@thuenen.de
PD Dr. Birgit Kersten, birgit.kersten@thuenen.de