Molecular regulation of tree growth and development

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Forests are Canada's most important natural resource, representing 10% of the worlds forests, wotrh $43 billion in exports and providing jobs for almost 400,000 Canadians. Traditionally forests have provided wood and fiber products for building materials and pulp and paper, but with the growing interest in renewable energy sources, trees hold the promise of providing our future fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel. With this growing demand on our forests in the future, it will become increasingly important to have a clear understanding of how trees grow and develop. Recently the first tree DNA sequence was completed, and with this comes the opportunity to understand tree growth and development at the molecular level. My research program will utilize the poplar DNA sequence, together with unique poplar tree resources developed in my own labortory to identify the genes responsible for various aspects of tree growth and development. We have created a large collection of trees by a process known as activation tagging that accelerates the identification of genes responsible for important tree traits. Using this collection of trees we will identify new genes responsible for traits such as growth rate, wood formation, leaf development and disease resistance. We will also transfer this knowledge to poplar trees of importance to Canada for the pulp and paper and bioenergy industries. During the course of this research program 6 graduate students will be trained, three PhD and 3 MSc, and each year 4 undergraduate students will be trained.