Plant, Animal & Microbe Genomes X Conference

January 12-16, 2002
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Workshop: Forest Tree Genome Mapping
            

MICROARRAY ANALYSIS AS A TOOL FOR IDENTIFYING TARGET GENES INVOLVED IN WOOD FORMATION

¹ Forest Biotechnology Group, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

² Institute of Paper Science and Technology, 500 10th Street, N.W., Atlanta,GA

³ Centre de Recherche en Biologie Forestiere, Pavillon E. Marchand, Universite Laval,Quebec, Canada, G1K 7P4

⁴ College Station, TX Texas A&M University

⁵ Institute of Forest Genetics, USDA Forest Service, Davis CA 95616, USA

The process of wood formation in loblolly pine is of interest for economical and biological reasons. The underlying molecular regulation of the formation of secondary xylem in plants is not well known, and is of particular interest in trees. There are currently more than 60 000 ESTs sequenced from six different tissue types in loblolly pine as a result of past and present sequencing efforts (web.ahc.umn.edu/biodata/nsfpine). We have applied microarray techniques to establish a platform of information on gene expression patterns that are directing detailed molecular studies aimed at identifying a functional context for known and unknown wood related genes. Current studies aimed at identifying new target genes for genetic manipulation of wood properties are discussed.