SELECTION OAK SEEDLING FOR THE RAPID GROWTH BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND CYTOGENETIC INDICATORS

The plantations of the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L) are the most valuable forestry, ecological, economic and environmental resource. To implement measures for the reproduction of forests, it is necessary to create artificial plantations with planting material with improved hereditary properties. In this regard, the selection of high-quality seeds and fast-growing seedlings of Quercus robur is an extremely topical issue. For the study, we selected objects of oak forests, which have a different degree of recreational load, but are located in identical forest conditions. When collecting experimental material and analyzing the data obtained, generally accepted breeding approaches and methods of statistical processing of results were used. The method of selection by phenotype and fixation of a trait in the offspring justifies itself, but requires acceleration and deepening of knowledge in this direction with the use of modern methods of marker selection. In this connection, the purpose of the work on identifying additional selection criteria that allows for the selection assessment of seedlings is relevant. A close correlation has been established between the height of seedlings and the mitotic index; the height of the seedlings and the pathology of mitosis. It is proposed to use the mitotic index without taking into account cells at the stage of prophase and pathology of mitosis as additional criteria for selecting seedlings for growth rate. On the basis of a comprehensive assessment of the above morphological and cytogenetic characteristics, it is recommended to select highly adaptive and fast-growing seedlings to create forest cultures of Quercus robur