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Molecular approaches to forest tree biology
Forest Ecology and Management, 43 ( 1991 ) 179-180
179
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
Preface Molecular approaches to forest tree biology The purpose of this special issue of Forest Ecology and Management is to introduce forest tree biologists to contemporary molecular approaches for addressing traditional problems. The need for whole plant level experimentation will continue to be important, but methods from molecular biology now permit experimentation at the subcellular level. Forest trees have not been given the same attention as agricultural crops and other plants, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, during the enormous growth in plant molecular biology in the last 10 years. Although much has been learned about basic plant processes, it is difficult to extrapolate results to woody plants and little has been learned about processes unique to forest trees. Tree biologists can narrow this gap by beginning to adopt molecular approaches to traditional areas of research. The authors of the seven papers in this volume have attempted to outline molecular approaches that they are using to investigate their problem areas. We hope that these papers provide model approaches for forest biologists and provide encouragement to employ molecular approaches to other areas of forest biology. Genetic engineering for insect resistance in forest trees is a much discussed topic among forest biotechnologists. Strauss, Howe and Goldfarb are the first to present an in-depth analysis of how this actually might be achieved. They point out that it is a rather simple matter to insert a gene for resistance, such as Bt, into a forest tree, but the difficult aspect is to determine how to ensure that such a gene is expressed at the right time and place and in the sufficient amount. Bradshaw, Parsons and Gordon describe one class of genes, woundresponse genes, whose regulatory sequences might precisely control the expression of insect resistance and disease resistance genes. Bradshaw et al. have isolated several such genes from poplar and have begun to characterize their regulatory sequences. The physiological basis of drought tolerance in forest trees is a topic of broad interest. Newton, Funkhouser, Fong and Tauer describe several approaches to identify and isolate genes which are associated with drought tolerance in trees. In contrast to drought, trees can also be stressed by flooding. Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is a key enzyme in anaerobic metabolism and has been studied in numerous plants and animals. Harry and Kimmerer review anaerobic metabolism in trees and describe several surprising and unique aspects of ADH genes and their expression in trees. The growth and maturation of long-lived perennial plants is not something that can be
0378-1127/91/$03.50 © 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.
180 studied in the standard annual plants used in plant molecular biology. Knowing something about the molecular biology of phase change from the juvenile to the mature state could have great practical importance in forestry. Hutchison and Greenwood describe the approaches they are using to identify genes which control this process. They point out that differences in gene expression between these two states are likely to be very subtle and difficult to detect. Gustafsson, Jansson, Lidholm and Lundberg have studied two photosynthetic and light-regulated genes in detail. Their paper again describes aspects of gene structure and expression which are apparently unique to forest trees. The final paper in this volume focuses on the molecular biology of wood formation in trees and possible approaches to genetic engineering of wood properties. Whetten and Sederoff are concentrating their efforts on understanding the molecular biology of key enzymes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway. We hope that this volume will promote further interest in applying molecular approaches to forest tree biology. Molecular biology has the power to tie together the traditional disciplines of forest biology (physiology, genetics, ecology, silviculture, pathology and entomology) in a way that has not been previously possible. DAVID B. NEALEand CLAIRES. KINLAW USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 1960 Addison Street, P.O. Box 245, Berkeley, CA 94701, USA
179
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
Preface Molecular approaches to forest tree biology The purpose of this special issue of Forest Ecology and Management is to introduce forest tree biologists to contemporary molecular approaches for addressing traditional problems. The need for whole plant level experimentation will continue to be important, but methods from molecular biology now permit experimentation at the subcellular level. Forest trees have not been given the same attention as agricultural crops and other plants, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, during the enormous growth in plant molecular biology in the last 10 years. Although much has been learned about basic plant processes, it is difficult to extrapolate results to woody plants and little has been learned about processes unique to forest trees. Tree biologists can narrow this gap by beginning to adopt molecular approaches to traditional areas of research. The authors of the seven papers in this volume have attempted to outline molecular approaches that they are using to investigate their problem areas. We hope that these papers provide model approaches for forest biologists and provide encouragement to employ molecular approaches to other areas of forest biology. Genetic engineering for insect resistance in forest trees is a much discussed topic among forest biotechnologists. Strauss, Howe and Goldfarb are the first to present an in-depth analysis of how this actually might be achieved. They point out that it is a rather simple matter to insert a gene for resistance, such as Bt, into a forest tree, but the difficult aspect is to determine how to ensure that such a gene is expressed at the right time and place and in the sufficient amount. Bradshaw, Parsons and Gordon describe one class of genes, woundresponse genes, whose regulatory sequences might precisely control the expression of insect resistance and disease resistance genes. Bradshaw et al. have isolated several such genes from poplar and have begun to characterize their regulatory sequences. The physiological basis of drought tolerance in forest trees is a topic of broad interest. Newton, Funkhouser, Fong and Tauer describe several approaches to identify and isolate genes which are associated with drought tolerance in trees. In contrast to drought, trees can also be stressed by flooding. Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is a key enzyme in anaerobic metabolism and has been studied in numerous plants and animals. Harry and Kimmerer review anaerobic metabolism in trees and describe several surprising and unique aspects of ADH genes and their expression in trees. The growth and maturation of long-lived perennial plants is not something that can be
0378-1127/91/$03.50 © 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.
180 studied in the standard annual plants used in plant molecular biology. Knowing something about the molecular biology of phase change from the juvenile to the mature state could have great practical importance in forestry. Hutchison and Greenwood describe the approaches they are using to identify genes which control this process. They point out that differences in gene expression between these two states are likely to be very subtle and difficult to detect. Gustafsson, Jansson, Lidholm and Lundberg have studied two photosynthetic and light-regulated genes in detail. Their paper again describes aspects of gene structure and expression which are apparently unique to forest trees. The final paper in this volume focuses on the molecular biology of wood formation in trees and possible approaches to genetic engineering of wood properties. Whetten and Sederoff are concentrating their efforts on understanding the molecular biology of key enzymes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway. We hope that this volume will promote further interest in applying molecular approaches to forest tree biology. Molecular biology has the power to tie together the traditional disciplines of forest biology (physiology, genetics, ecology, silviculture, pathology and entomology) in a way that has not been previously possible. DAVID B. NEALEand CLAIRES. KINLAW USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 1960 Addison Street, P.O. Box 245, Berkeley, CA 94701, USA