Genomics applied to the study of adaptation in pine species

This manuscript provides an overview on the use of genomics to study pine adaptation to environmental conditions, such as drought or photoperiod. We briefly discuss molecular tools that permit to acquire a comprehensive view of pine genome, such as cytogenetic and genetic linkage maps. We will also discuss the application of two complementary strategies to dissect complex adaptive traits based on linkage disequilibrium between neutral molecular markers and quantitative trait loci: QTL mapping and association analysis. An important step in these studies is the identification of candidate genes involved in the response of pine trees to environmental variation using functional genomic approaches.