What is APG? - In 2004, a group of scientists lead by Daniel G. Peterson (Mississippi State University) were awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation's Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) to generate important molecular and cytogenetic resources for pine and utilize these resources to provide insight into the structure and evolution of the loblolly 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 vital to protecting pines and other forest trees and to developing safe and powerful means of efficiently improving plantation pines for renewable raw material/energy production.

Loblolly pine - Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is an organism of tremendous economic/ecological importance and a key representative of the gymnosperms, an ancient lineage of plants that dominate many of the world’s temperate and boreal ecosystems (Earle 2005).  Loblolly pine's fast growth, amenability to intensive silviculture, and high-quality lumber/pulp have made it the cornerstone of the U.S. forest products industry and the most commonly planted tree species in America – approximately 75% of all seedlings planted each year are loblolly pines (McKeand et al. 2003).  These features have also made P. taeda a prime biofuel feedstock and a promising tool in efforts to curb greenhouse gas levels via carbon sequestration.

Value of APG - Isolation, sequencing, and characterization of the genes of loblolly pine represents a means to better understand the evolutionary success of pine, to develop environmentally sound strategies for dealing with pine diseases and pests, to effectively manipulate genes responsible for pine's many economic traits, and to maximize yield per acre.  However, the loblolly pine genome, like other gymnosperm genomes, is exceedingly large and is composed primarily of non-genic repetitive elements, making characterization of the parts of the pine genome containing the genes (the gene space) difficult.  In addition, many of the genetic, molecular, and cytogenetic resources enjoyed by other crop species are lacking or underdeveloped for pine.  APG is generating several of the key resources needed to bring pine genomics "up to speed."  Moreover, the APG team is using these resources to investigate important biological questions (see Project Goals).