Abstract
Unlike herbaceous, annual crops, trees are not highly domesticated and, therefore, have wild relatives with which they are interfertile. They are also long-lived perennials that produce copious amounts of pollen and seed, which are often disseminated over considerable distances by the wind. Federal regulators have made it clear that before transgenic trees can be grown commercially in the U.S., it will be necessary to develop a strategy to mitigate the risk of transgene spread into the environment. One way to satisfy this requirement is to genetically engineer reproductive sterility. Because of its many useful attributes, poplar has becomethe model tree species for research community. However, because of its relatively long juvenile period, the development of a reliable sterility system for poplar is taking longer than expected. By having an early-flowering genotype of poplar, it will be possible to make much faster progress in our efforts to develop a reliable transgene-confinement system. We have identified a genotype ofPopulus alba that can be induced to flower within nine months of being regenerated.
Literature cited
Braatne JH, Rood SB, Heilman PE (1996) Life historty, ecology, and conservation of riparian cottonwoods in North America.In RF Stettier, HD Bradshaw Jr, and PE Heilman, TM Hinckley, eds, Biology ofPopulus and its Implications for Management and Conservation. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp 57–85
Brunner AM, Goldfarb B, Busov VB, Strauss SH (2003) Controlling maturation and flowering for forest tree domestication. In Transgenic Plants: Current Innovations and Future Trends, CN Stewart, ed, Horizon Press, UK, pp 9–44
Ellstrand NC (2001) When transgenes wander, should we worry? Plant Physiol125: 1543–1545
Han K-H, Meilan R, Ma C, Strauss SH (2000) AnAgrobacterium transformation protocol effective in a variety of cottonwood hybrids (genusPopulus). Plant Cell Rep19: 315–320
Kim M-S, Klopfenstein NB, Chun YW (1997) Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Populus species. In Micropropagation, genetic engineering, and molecular biology of Populus, NB Klopfenstein, YW Chun, M-S Kim, MR Ahuja, eds, Gen Tech Rep RM-GTR-297. US Dept Agric-Forest Service, Fort Collins, CO, pp 51–59
Kuvshinov V, Koivu K, Kanerva A, Pehu E (2001) Molecular control of transgene escape from genetically modified plants. Plant Sci160: 517–522
Lavendar DP, Zaerr JB (1985) Temperate conifer forest trees.In Handbook of Flowering, AH Halevy, ed, Vol 1. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp 1–13
Leple JC, Brasileiro ACM, Michel MF, Delmotte F, Jouanin L (1992) Transgenic poplars: Expression of chimeric genes using four different constructs. Plant Cell Rep11: 137–141
Meilan R, Ellis D, Pilate G, Brunner A, Skinner J (2004) Real and perceived challenges with transgenic trees.In Forest Biotechnology: Scientific Opportunities and Social Challenges. SH Strauss and HD Bradshaw, eds. Resources for the Future Press, Washington D.C. in press)
Meilan R, Han K-H, Ma C, DiFazio SP, Eaton JA, Hoien E, Stanton BJ, Crockett RP, Taylor ML, James RR, Skinner JS, Jouanin L, Pilate G, Strauss SH (2002) TheCP4 transgene provides high levels of tolerance to Roundup® herbicide in field-grown hybrid poplars. Can J For Res32: 967–976
Meilan R, Brunner A, Skinner J, Strauss S (2001) Modification of flowering in transgenic trees.In A Komamine, N Morohoshi, eds, Molecular Breeding of Woody Plants. Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, pp 247–256
Meilan R (1997) Floral induction in woody angiosperms. New Forests14: 179–202
Skinner JS, Meilan R, Brunner AM, Strauss SH (2000) Options for genetic engineering of floral sterility in forest trees.In Molecular Biology of Woody Plants, SM Jain, SC Minocha, eds, Vol 1. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 135–153
Strauss SH, Meilan R, DiFazio SP, Brunner AM, Leonardi S, Skinner JS, Krutovskii K, Mohamed R (1999) Tree Genetic Engineering Research Cooperative Annual Report: 1998–1999. Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University, 44 pp
Strauss SH, Meilan R, DiFazio SP, Mohamed R, Brunner AM, Leonardi S, Skinner JS, Krutovskii K (1998) Tree Genetic Engineering Research Cooperative Annual Report: 1997–1998. Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University, 45 pp
Strauss SH, James RR, Brunner AM, DiFazio SP, Meilan R (1997) Tree Genetic Engineering Research Cooperative Annual Report: 1996–1997. Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University, 36 pp
Strauss SH, Rottmann WH, Brunner AM, Sheppard LA (1995) Genetic engineering of sterility in forest trees. Mol Breed1: 5–26
Tzfira T, Zuker A, Altman A (1998) Forest-tree biotechnology: genetic transformation and its application to future forests. TIB TECH16: 439–446
Weigel D, Nilsson O (1995) A developmental switch sufficient for flower initiation in diverse plants. Nature377: 495–500
Yuceer C, Kubiske ME, Harkness RL, Land SB (2003) Effects of induction treatments on flowering inPopulus deltoïdes. Tree Physiol23: 489–495
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meilan, R., Sabatti, M., Ma, C. et al. An early-flowering genotype ofPopulus . J. Plant Biol. 47, 52–56 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030228
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030228