Abstract
To study the mode of inheritance of resistance to snow damage in sugi (Cryptomeria japonica), we crossed varieties that were resistant and sensitive to snow damage using a factorial design experiment. Progenies were investigated 10 years after the establishment of a progeny trial, and basal bending in the half-sib families of sensitive parents was found to be especially large. Regardless of the male parent, the mean basal bending was more than 100 cm in the half-sib families of the sensitive female parent. In basal bending, significant differences were observed between female parents, but not between male parents. The narrow-sense heritability in basal bending was 0.96. Furthermore, we estimated genetic gain using plural selection methods from all progenies. The genetic gain of basal bending was 60 cm. It was concluded that genetic improvement in resistance to snow damage using these crosses was effective.
