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Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus (European beech), the ecologically and economically most important broadleaved tree species in the Czech Republic, was strongly reduced in the past. Today there are efforts to increase the proportion of beech to ensure optimal forest tree species composition. When extensively reintroducing beech, it is important to acquire more detailed knowledge of genetic diversity. Thirteen important beech populations in different stands in the territory of the Czech Republic were genotyped using 12 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers. The genotypic data from adult trees imply genetic differences between the populations. The estimated genetic diversity expressed as Shannon's information index ranged from 1.73 to 1.92. Thirteen beech populations showed excess homozygotes, as indicated by positive fixation index (F) values (F = 0.005-0.115). The pairwise FST values indicated low genetic differentiation between the 13 Czech beech populations, because they were greater than zero, that means they confirmed the presence of population structuring in Czech European beech. Not significant linear correlations were observed between genetic and geographic distances of the 13 beech populations studied on the basis of microsatellite markers. Twelve microsatellite markers were verified as highly polymorphic and suitable for genotyping of European beech populations.

(1) Background: Populus ×canescens (Aiton) Sm. is a fast-growing woody plant belonging to the family Salicaceae. Two poplar genotypes characterized by unique phenotypic traits (TP11 and TP20) were chosen to be characterized and tested for a physiological and transcriptomic response to Cd stress. (2) Methods: A comparative analysis of the effects of exposure to high cadmium (Cd) concentrations (10 µM and 100 µM) of TP11 and TP20 was performed. (3) Results: Neither of the tested Cd concentration negatively affected plant growth; however, the chlorophyll content significantly decreased. The potassium (K) content was higher in the shoots than in the roots. The magnesium concentrations were only slightly affected by Cd treatment. The zinc content in the shoots of TP20 was lower than that in the shoots of TP11. Cd accumulation was higher in the roots than in the shoots. After 10 days of exposure, 10 µM Cd resulted in comparable amounts of Cd in the roots and shoots of TP20. The most significant change in transcript amount was observed in endochitinase 2, 12-oxophytodienoate reductase 1 and phi classglutathione S-transferase. (4) Conclusions: Our study provided new insights for effective assessing the ability of different poplar genotypes to tolerate Cd stress and underlying Cd tolerance.