Functional genomics and cell wall biosynthesis in loblolly pine

  • Ross Whetten
  • Ying-Hsuan Sun
  • Yi Zhang
  • Ron Sederoff
Chapter

Abstract

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is the most widely planted tree species in the USA and an important tree in commercial forestry world-wide. The large genome size and long generation time of this species present obstacles to both breeding and molecular genetic analysis. Gene discovery by partial DNA sequence determination of cDNA clones is an effective means of building a knowledge base for molecular investigations of mechanisms goveming aspects of pine growth and development, including the commercially relevant properties of secondary cell walls in wood. Microarray experiments utilizing pine cDNA clones can be used to gain additional information about the potential roles of expressed genes in wood formation. Different methods have been used to analyze data from first-generation pine microarrays, with differing degrees of success. Disparities in predictions of differential gene expression between cDNA sequencing experiments and microarray experiments arise from differences in the nature of the respective analyses, but both approaches provide lists of candidate genes which should be further investigated for potential roles in cell wall formation in differentiating pine secondary xylem. Some of these genes seem to be specific to pine, while others also occur in model plants such as Arabidopsis, where they could be more efficiently investigated.

Key words

EST sequencing microarrays Pinus taeda xylogenesis wood formation 

Abbreviations

AGP

arabinogalactan protein

APRP

adhesive proline-rich protein

EST

expressed sequence tags

GRP

glycine-rich protein

OMT

O-methyltransferase

PHY

phytocyanin

PRP

proline-rich protein

XET

xyloglucan endotransglycosylase

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2001

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ross Whetten
    • 1
  • Ying-Hsuan Sun
    • 1
  • Yi Zhang
    • 1
  • Ron Sederoff
    • 1
  1. 1.Forest Biotechnology GroupNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighUSA

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