Scientists identify useful tree growth genes
January 1, 1970
BY Lisa Gibson
Posted June 7, 2010, at 10:05 a.m. CST
Two University of Manchester, U.K., scientists say they have identified the two genes that can make tree trunks grow fatter, increasing the amount of biomass generated and speeding up growth.
In the summer, the cells in a tree trunk divide, the trunk gets fatter as the new cells become wood and the process stops in the winter, according to Simon Turner, professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Manchester. This growth is carefully regulated by factors such as climate, evidenced by fatter growth rings in a warm year and the opposite in cold or dry summers. "So the tree controls how much wood it makes each year by regulating how much the wood-making cells divide and this is dependent upon factors such as climate and day length," he said. "We think this regulation is down to the expression of two genes: A receptor (PXY) in the dividing cells and a ligand (signal) from the adjacent cells that is recognized by the receptor and tells the cells to divide." If these genes are known, it is possible to make more of the signal, in this case CLE41, and cause the trees to divide more, Turner said.
Turner and his colleague Peter Etchells, also of the Faculty of Life Sciences, have tested this process on Arabidopsis, which does not look like a tree, but has a similar vascular system. Turner said they assume the dividing cells are regulated similarly in trees because trees possess similar genes to PXY and CLE41, and they are found in the same place. The scientists know the process also works in tobacco and should work on any dicot such as poplar, eucalyptus and crops such as soybeans and alfalfa. "Because other potential crops such as maize, switchgrass and miscanthus are rather different (monocots), it is not clear whether it will work in these species," Turner said.
It's hard to predict how much more biomass can be produced using the genes, as the difference is huge in Arabidopsis and less dramatic in tobacco, he said. "I would guess for a tree, (the alteration can produce) anywhere from 20 to 50 percent more biomass, although obviously this needs to be demonstrated," Turner said. The scientists are growing poplars in a lab to test their process further and have only used plants grown inside or in a greenhouse so far.
Two University of Manchester, U.K., scientists say they have identified the two genes that can make tree trunks grow fatter, increasing the amount of biomass generated and speeding up growth.
In the summer, the cells in a tree trunk divide, the trunk gets fatter as the new cells become wood and the process stops in the winter, according to Simon Turner, professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Manchester. This growth is carefully regulated by factors such as climate, evidenced by fatter growth rings in a warm year and the opposite in cold or dry summers. "So the tree controls how much wood it makes each year by regulating how much the wood-making cells divide and this is dependent upon factors such as climate and day length," he said. "We think this regulation is down to the expression of two genes: A receptor (PXY) in the dividing cells and a ligand (signal) from the adjacent cells that is recognized by the receptor and tells the cells to divide." If these genes are known, it is possible to make more of the signal, in this case CLE41, and cause the trees to divide more, Turner said.
Turner and his colleague Peter Etchells, also of the Faculty of Life Sciences, have tested this process on Arabidopsis, which does not look like a tree, but has a similar vascular system. Turner said they assume the dividing cells are regulated similarly in trees because trees possess similar genes to PXY and CLE41, and they are found in the same place. The scientists know the process also works in tobacco and should work on any dicot such as poplar, eucalyptus and crops such as soybeans and alfalfa. "Because other potential crops such as maize, switchgrass and miscanthus are rather different (monocots), it is not clear whether it will work in these species," Turner said.
It's hard to predict how much more biomass can be produced using the genes, as the difference is huge in Arabidopsis and less dramatic in tobacco, he said. "I would guess for a tree, (the alteration can produce) anywhere from 20 to 50 percent more biomass, although obviously this needs to be demonstrated," Turner said. The scientists are growing poplars in a lab to test their process further and have only used plants grown inside or in a greenhouse so far.
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