Accelerating Pine Genomics - Mississippi Genome Exploration Laboratory - MGEL - Daniel G. Peterson - Genomics, Cytogenetics, Molecular Genetics

ACCELERATING PINE GENOMICS

America is dependent upon the health and fecundity of southern yellow pines (specifically loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., and related species), the most valuable and widely planted trees in the U.S. Loblolly pine is the primary source of pulpwood for the entire U.S. paper industry and the most economically important crop of any kind in the southeastern states. Pines and other trees are arguably America's greatest natural resource benefiting humans and wildlife in countless ways. The yearly value of wood, paper, and other tree products equals or exceeds that of every other U.S. crop while the ornamental, aesthetic, recreational, and ecological value of trees is immeasurable.

The demand for wood/fibers from southern yellow pines is projected to increase 35-40% within the next 50 years to accommodate the needs of a growing populace and to offset decreased tree harvesting in western and northern states. However, the number of acres reserved for tree growth is likely to decline. Consequently, the U.S. forest products industry is looking for ways to significantly increase wood yields per acre, a pursuit greatly limited by a paucity of information on pine genes. Isolation, sequencing, and characterization of the genes of loblolly pine represents a means to (1) better understand the evolutionary success of pine, (2) develop environmentally sound strategies for dealing with pine diseases and pests, (3) effectively manipulate genes responsible for pines many economic traits, and (4) maximize yield per acre. However, the loblolly genome, like other gymnosperm genomes, is exceedingly large (1C = 21.3 billion base pairs) and is primarily composed of non-genic repetitive elements (> 84%) making characterization of pine gene space difficult. Additionally, many of the genetic, molecular, and cytogenetic resources enjoyed by other crop species are lacking or underdeveloped for pine.

MGEL's Pine Research

In 2004, a group of scientists lead by MGEL's Daniel G. Peterson were awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation's Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) to generate important molecular and cytogenetic resources for loblolly pine and utilize these resources to provide insight into the structure and evolution of the pine genome. The resulting multi-institutional project, DBI-0421717, has come to be known as the Accelerating Pine Genomics project or APG for short. The information generated in APG studies and the molecular resources themselves are providing the foundation for physical mapping and sequencing of the pine genome. Such molecular genetic information is critical if we are to protect pines and other forest trees from introduced pests and pathogens and develop of plantation pines for renewable raw material/energy production. See the Accelerating Pine Genomics website for details.

Refereed Publications or Book Chapters (to date) with MGEL Personnel as Authors

Lamoureux et al. 2005, Bunge et al. 2006, Plomion et al. 2007, Dennis et al. 2007, Chouvarine et al. 2008, Saha et al. 2008a, and Saha et al. 2008b.