Researchers offer tree genome database to aid science

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new database of tree genes has been released by Oregon and Swedish researchers in an effort to speed up basic and commercial research.

The database describes about 102,000 sequences of the most commonly expressed genes in the type of trees that includes poplars, cottonwoods and aspens.

The database will help scientists find specific genes in a matter of minutes — compared to the decades or even centuries it would have taken before it was available, said Steven Strauss, a professor of forest science at Oregon State University.

“This is an important fundamental step toward doing the type of genetic and biotechnology research with trees that we’ve been able to do with only the most scientifically well-known plants,” said Strauss, co-author of an article on the database in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Genes which are “expressed” in plants or animals are only a fraction of the total DNA in their cells. But they help determine how an animal or a plant functions, such as how a tree forms its bark, leaves, roots and wood, or responds to environmental stresses.

“There’s still an enormous amount we don’t know about the genetic function of trees at the most basic levels,” Strauss said.

The gene database will help researchers study wild plants as closely as traditional experimental species bred from rice, corn, and Arabidopsis — a tiny member of the mustard family that scientists call the “lab rat” of plants, Strauss said.

According to the database, nearly all the tree genes were similar to Arabidopsis despite different directions taken during the past 100 million years of evolution.

The database also suggests that genetic engineering of plants would not produce new characteristics, but simply modify existing characteristics, Strauss said.

Trees, which are among the most ancient plant life forms, have a very complex genetic makeup that has resisted many of the traditional genetic research techniques that are used with other plants.

Scientists say a better understanding of tree genetics could allow them to modify the structure and chemical makeup of trees for a variety of uses, including elimination of pollutants from soil, or the creation of renewable stock for bioenergy and fiber products.