PhD student

Reproductive Biology of Melaleuca alternifolia and Implications for Breeding

E-mail: Liliana.Baskorowati@anu.edu.au

Melaleuca alternifolia is the principal commercial source of Australian tea tree oil. M. alternifolia occurs in three main chemical varieties (chemotypes); rich in either 1,8-cineole, terpinolene or terpinen-4-ol. The latter is the variety that has undergone most commercial development. Hence, the importance of breeding for increased yields and higher oil qualities to improve production efficiencies and marketability of the oil.

A breeding program to improve the yield and quantity of foliar oils from plantations of Melaleuca alternifolia in Australian commenced in 1993.

The principal objectives of this study are to gain a better understanding of the reproductive biology of this species. The present study complements the Australian M. alternifolia breeding program implemented by NSW Agriculture and CSIRO (Doran et al., 2002). For any tree genetic improvement program, knowledge and manipulation of the reproductive biology of M. alternifolia are essential to the design and implementation of the genetic improvement program.